#i started giggling about this after getting rid of the chopsticks

[silverteacups]

this has definitely been done already but it's so funny to me. WHERE'S MY FOOD??

[animeloverskylarmoon]

Madara Uchiha (Naruto) - Extra

He was sure that was the last he would see of you. But apparently not. 

“Why the hell are you here again!!” 

You giggled, puffing your cheeks. 

“Is that anyway to greet a friend that brings you eternal peace?” 

You made a face and he just continued to complain about you being a nuisance. 

Truthfully, you weren’t sure why you came back. Usually once the soul was settled, you never went back. After all, you’re a guide. You can pretty much come and go as you please, but there really wasn’t a point in revisiting once they were truly happy. 

You really have no reason to come back, but..but something about Madara just draws you in, closer. 

So it became a habit. You would visit him, sometimes when Obito was there. The first time the boy saw you he was smiling. 

“(L/N)-san!” 

You were a bit surprised he knew who you were. 

“Ah, hello.” 

He was waving happily, and when Madara broke the corner, he just frowned. 

“You again.” 

You just gave him a smile, and Obito took your hand. 

“Oni-san says you’re really nice and pretty, let’s play.” 

The words made you blush. 

“I never said that!!” 

He was vehemently denying it, but Obito just kept tugging on your arm as he guided you to the chair. 

Your visits didn’t stop, and after a while, Madara gave up trying to get rid of you. It’s not like he could truly control it. Somehow you’d become an unspoken member of the family. 

Most times you’d stop in when Madara was cooking. Obito would be on the tv, or in the living room drawing pictures or playing a game. 

Today he was drawing something at the dinner table as Madara cooked. 

“What are you drawing Obito?” 

He perked up. 

“It’s Oni-san, you and me! We’re a family!!” 

He held out the crayon, gripping his drawing and all you could do was stare. No one had ever done something like that for you. Given the fact that you were a celestial being, it sort of made sense. 

But still. 

Madara glanced over, taking in the expression you wore as you continued to admire the picture. 

At the time, he said nothing. 

At the start your visits had been a bit annoying, mainly because you’d just pop up whenever you wanted. But there were times where he seemed to forget that you were a powerful being. You looked so human, and acted so carefree. 

He couldn’t imagine what it was like, having the job you did, but he noticed that you seemed to love it. Helping people. Sometimes you would talk about it, and your expression would grow soft. Your responsibility was large, and important. 

He was living proof. 

Despite it all he knew one thing. 

He admired you.

That was it. 

That had to be the only reason that he often found his gaze in your direction.

Enamored.

That had to be it. 

“Uchiha-san~” 

You were grinning and he glared as you hopped into the room. Obito was already seated with his chopsticks in hand, and when you saw the bowl that Madara held out for you, all you could do was blink. 

“You keep popping up, so I might as well feed you.” 

You laughed, taking the bowl happily. 

“Oni-san’s food is the best!!” Obito cheered.

Madara looked away, a small flush on his cheeks. You just continued to laugh at his clear embarrassment from the praise. 

Yes, you’d gotten used to seeing both of them. 

It was something you looked forward to. 

The following night when you showed up, you took notice of the quietness. Nothing but Madara’s movements in the kitchen. He hummed in acknowledgement to your presence, and you looked around. 

“Where’s Obito?” 

You were looking forward to seeing the little munchkin. 

“He’s sleeping over at Itachi and Sasuke’s.” 

You hum. 

“That’s unfortunate. I guess I can hang out with you.” 

“You can just leave if you want to!!” 

You laughed at his little yell. 

His temper was pretty adorable. 

Every meeting brought you new experiences and you were able to see different sides of Madara. He liked to act like he was this tough guy, but there were times when he’d let his tender nature show. 

Like the times he’d subconsciously do something sweet. Like wipe the excess rice off your cheeks when you got a bit too enthusiastic eating his food. You figured he was just used to cleaning up after Obito, so it came naturally. 

Sometimes you would linger on the couch after the meals. 

“I have a guest room if you’re gonna stay.” 

He spoke as he continued to dry the wet dishes. 

He said it so casually, and you found yourself just looking at him. 

He’d adjusted so well, and you realized that he finally seemed happy. But at some point he’d started to also subconsciously take care of you. 

That was a bit strange. 

Souls typically regarded you more strongly for obvious reasons, yet every time you were around Madara, he acted as though the both of you were the same. 

No different from a comrade or a friend. 

“It feels..nice..” 

Madara turned and when he raised a brow, you realized that you’d said that aloud. You spun around quickly to cover your face and he frowned, moving closer. 

“Why the hell are you acting all weird.” 

He reached for your shoulder, and when you turned, he didn’t anticipate the slits of your irises. It wasn’t just the change in your eyes, but the redness of your cheeks, he was a bit taken aback. He released you altogether, and you stumble, making a hasty exit. 

After that, it was a while before he saw you again. He didn’t realize how much he’d gotten used to your presence until you’d stopped showing up. 

Obito’s question one night had him uncertain. 

“Oni-san, where is (L/N)-san?” 

He wasn’t sure what to tell Obito. He was still trying to make sense of the look you wore. He frowned, looking at his palm. 

“I didn’t imagine it. She was…she was blushing..” 

The thought made his heart give a thump, and he grumbled under his breath. 

A few more nights passed and you still hadn’t shown up. He realized if he wanted to see you again, he would have to call you.

“Oii, I know you can hear me!!” 

He felt a bit foolish calling out to you. If anyone saw surely they would think he was crazy. 

Thankfully Obito was asleep. 

His head turned when he heard footsteps. 

You looked a bit hesitant when you stepped out. 

He needed answers. 

“Last time, what the hell was that about?” 

Madara’s eyes felt probing, and you hugged yourself, unsure of what to say. You’d never grown so close to any single person before. This was uncharted territory. Before you were always so confident in your words, your actions. Madara was always the one left frazzled, yet you were the one now blushing. 

“I-I don’t know I..” 

You couldn’t find the words. It’s why you’d stayed next to the window. You hoped the space would keep your thoughts at bay, but just being in the room with him felt like too much. 

“Do you have feelings for me?” 

The question made your eyes dart up, and you were startled, because somehow he’d managed to cross the room without you knowing. You meant to make another run, but he took your wrist softly, pressing his free hand to the wall, caging you there. Your eyes shook, lip quivering. 

“I have feelings for you.” 

Your eyes grew wide at his confession, and he finally released your hand. You couldn’t speak, you weren’t sure what words to say that would be coherent. This time he took a step, and when he cupped your cheek, all you could do was look at him. His dark hues had you breathless. 

“I have feelings for you..” 

He repeated softly. 

Your breath came out ragged, and when he started leaning in, your heart raced. Your hand ended up laying on his shoulder, and when he finally closed the distance, you gripped into the cloth, brows knitted, body quivering. You’d never had such an experience, this was amazing. When his free hand pulled you closer, and he deepened the kiss, your legs almost gave out. 

“His tongue is…” 

You let out a trembling moan, and Madara pulled away, breathing heavy. You weren’t much better. The second he caught sight of your expression, something inside of him shook. He couldn’t help himself. He pinned you against the wall, claiming your lips much more desperately than before, and all you could do was clench your hands into his shirt. 

You couldn’t believe it, you’d actually been bested by the infuriating man. 

How poetic.

[ofchrysoprase]

ofsyzygies​:

Although her joke was silly, she was delighted when the boy joined in with a few cheesy jokes of his own. Soft giggles shook her body, a hand coming up to cover her mouth. “It’s good they take such important safety measures. Going alone sounds very dangerous,” She agreed. “You guys should at the very least have a buddy system.”

Her head inclined with interest as he explained that Jiwon had only recently moved to Shrike. They must have had a really profound friendship for him to move over a decade later to be close to his friend. Then again, that was just an assumption. After all, she had moved halfway across the world as well and it was not really borne of any innate loyalty toward her father or desire to be closer to him. Of course, she did want him to like her and she desperately wanted to get to know him. That was just the thing though, she didn’t know him. Perhaps circumstance had been at play for Jiwon and Hoseok as well. One thing was for sure, it was obvious from her interaction with the former that he cared deeply about Hoseok. “Oh, um,” Her nose wrinkled slightly; she felt a little self-conscious all of a sudden. “Well, I hope it’s okay. It’s my first time making it so I’m a little worried it won’t… I don’t know. I hope you like it.”

She nodded jerkily in confirmation. “Mhm, it is Japanese,” She affirmed without explaining what it meant. That was a conversation for another day. “I just think it really suits him. It always takes me a while to name my bunnies. Gigi probably was the one I named the fastest. Maybe ‘cause I just picked a name I thought sounded cool without thinking much about it and now I call her Gigi because she really isn’t much of a Girugamesh, is she?” She wondered out loud. 

“I’m sure it’s good,” Hoseok argued with a small frown. It was going to be infinitely better than his own cooking, that was for sure. Not that he had even bothered attempting to recreate any of his parents’ dishes - both of them were good cooks and he had been spoiled in that sense, never having to worry about needing to provide for himself. His adoptive parents had similarly been greatly invested in feeding him well, although their dishes had been completely different from anything he was used to at home. The adjustment hadn’t been overwhelming on its own, but it added up to all the other changes. Being presented with something as simple as a seaweed soup shouldn’t have been this nostalgic or shocking and yet it was.

To back up his own words, he reached for the thermos and carefully unscrewed the top, making sure it wasn’t too hot before taking a small sip. It still burned his tongue a little bit, but in the moment he couldn’t care less. “I love it,” He breathed out, swallowing hard to get rid of any emotions that threatened to bubble up. Suddenly he was very grateful for the topic of bunny names, whilst he awkwardly reached for a pair of chopsticks to start digging into the lunch Aki had made. “I don’t really know what a Girugamesh is.” He admitted, trying to copy the same pronunciation as he feared to butcher the name completely. “But Gigi is a cute name. Um, I’ve never had any pets before... Tsuki.”

[lostinthewiind]

Piss Off Your Parents - Part 9

Ukai Keishin - Haikyuu

Synopsis: freshly turned 18, you want to prove to your parents that you aren’t a child for them to push around anymore. First, get a job at the local corner store. Second, use the store owner’s 26-year-old son with piercings and a cigarette addiction to piss your parents off. Third, accidentally fall in love.

Rating: PG13

Warnings: arguing, harsh language, swearing

Song → 18 by Anarbor

Previous → Part 8

Next → Part 10

The trek up the stairs from the store to the apartment felt like climbing a never-ending escalator that was going the wrong way. After the day you had had, you were both mentally and physically exhausted and ready to call it a night early.

Thankfully, as if you had finally hit a stroke of luck that day, Keishin had texted you saying that he would pick up dinner on the way home, saving you the exertion of having to leave the apartment again. So, with that information in mind, you kicked off your shoes for the day and fell unceremoniously onto the couch in the living room.

As you sat down, you heard the envelope in your back pocket crinkle and the sudden noise seemed to completely fill the otherwise silent apartment.

Ah yes, the envelope.

Pulling the decision to your future out of your back pocket, you stared at it for what felt like another hour or so. No matter how long you held the envelope in your hands, you couldn't force yourself to open it. You simply didn't want to.

At some point between when your mother had handed it to you and now, you had subconsciously decided that you wanted to choose your own path forward despite what the decision letter may or may not say.

Feeling strangely empowered and confident, you stood to your feet and ventured into the bedroom where you slipped the envelope into one of the drawers Keishin was letting you keep your clothes in and tucked it underneath one of your sweaters. Maybe one day you would open the damn thing when whatever was inside wasn't weighing so heavily on your mind and future, but today was not that day.

Just then, you heard the front door open and knew Keishin had arrived home. Closing the drawer, you plastered a smile across your face and exited the bedroom to greet your boyfriend.

"Welcome home, Dear," you giggled, trying your best to fake the part of a doting housewife. "How was the volleyball game?"

Keishin chuckled softly as you took the takeout bags from him. "It was a close game, but they pulled it together in the last set and won."

"Oh, good!" You placed the bags onto the table before retrieving some plates and chopsticks from the kitchen.

"How was your day?" he asked as he pressed a chaste kiss to your cheek.

You sighed as you thought back on your day. "It was okay," you answered, not really wanting to go into much more detail than that. You doubted Keishin wanted to hear about your minuscule problems with rude customers after the long day he had clearly had.

Keishin, however, picked up on your uncertainty right away. "Doesn't sound okay," he commented. "Want to talk about it?"

You shrugged. "Just some shitty customers. Seems I had forgotten how poorly low-level workers are treated sometimes . . . just threw me a little," you said. "I'll be fine. Just glad the day is over now."

"You and me both." He flashed a smile as he turned to head for the bedroom. "I'm just going to change quickly and then we'll eat."

"Sounds good." You started dishing out some of the food. "I was also thinking we could watch a movie tonight as well. I could use something to clear my mind."

"Sitting on the couch with a beer is an ideal evening in my book," you heard him respond faintly from the bedroom. "There's a new action movie that came out. I think it's about-"

You waited for Keishin to finish his sentence, but when he didn't, you cocked your head and looked toward the bedroom doorway. Before you had the chance to call out to him, he appeared in the doorway shirtless, eyebrows furrowed and the envelope from the university in his hand.

"W-why do you have that?" you asked, the look on his face upon discovering the letter making your heart drop. "That was in my drawer . . . why were you going through my things?"

"I was looking for my sweater, the one you always steal," he answered. "Y/N . . . what is this?"

Rounding the table and approaching Keishin, you snatched the envelope out of his hand. "That is one of the many reasons why my day today was so shitty."

As you turned to head for the kitchen to toss the envelope in the garbage and rid your life of it, Keishin followed you. "You didn't get in?" he inquired.

You shrugged. "I have no idea. I didn't open it."

As you moved to toss the letter into the trash, Keishin grabbed your wrist and stopped you. "Why are you throwing it out if you didn't open it yet?"

"Because I don't care what it says. I've decided that I'm going to stay here with you and work at the store. This is the life I want . . . the life I get to choose for myself."

"You should still open it," he reasoned. "You might change how you feel about it when you see the result."

"I don't want to change how I feel about it." You shook your head as you gently pried your wrist out of his grip. "No need to make things more difficult than they need to be. I've had enough difficulty for one lifetime, thank you very much. This decision is easy, and best of all, it makes me happy."

Gesturing to the envelope, Keishin sighed. "But this is what you wanted. When you told me about your dream to play soccer at the University of Tokyo, your face lit up. Why are giving up on your dream before you've even given yourself a chance to experience it?"

"Dreams can change, Keishin," you told him before sighing and deciding to humour him for a moment. "Okay, let's say I open this letter and somehow did get in. What then? I couldn't pay for that school in my wildest dreams; not without my parents' help. Sometimes dreams are just childish and unrealistic. So I found a new dream, one with us living here together."

"You could apply for student loans. Tons of people do." He folded his arms across his chest. "I don't think this is about the money or your parents. I think this is about us. You've gotten comfortable here."

Throwing your hands up into the air in exasperation, you huffed. "And so what if I have? Is that really so bad?"

"I just don't want you to throw away an opportunity like this over me."

"Over you?" you cocked a brow. "Because you're, what, trash? Not worth it? A lowlife? A burnout?"

Keishin bit at his bottom lip. "You know what's not what I meant."

Inhaling deeply, you glared down at the god-forsaken envelope in your hand and began to tear at the top. "Let's not fight about something that probably isn't even going to happen." You pulled the letter out and unfolded it, your eyes scanning the text quickly. "The University of Tokyo is notoriously difficult to get into and I-"

Keishin quirked a brow when you stopped mid-sentence. "What does it say?"

A broken laugh was the only thing you could manage as you lowered the letter and shook your head. "Un-fucking-believable." You handed the paper over to Keishin, the edge crumpled from where your grip had tightened when you read the decision.

Keishin looked at the page for all of two seconds before he found the bolded 'Congratulations' and a huge grin spread across his face. "You got in!" He was way more excited than you were about this. "This is good news. You can play soccer at the University of Tokyo. Come on, you can't tell me this doesn't make you at least a little happy."

"I wish it did," you answered honestly. "I wish it were that easy."

"It is! It can be." Keishin set the letter down on the counter and took your hands in his. "Student loans, part-time jobs, it's all possible. Sure, it might be a little tricky to work out, but it's totally possible."

When you didn't respond, Keishin hooked his fingers under your chin and tilted your head up to look at him. "Accept the spot at the university. Follow your dream," he told you.

". . . but I'll have to leave you." You felt the words catch in your throat and tried your hardest not to start crying. "You make me happy—you're the first thing that's made me genuinely happy in a long time—and I don't want to leave that for a chance at something that might not even work out."

"But what if it does work out? You don't know that it won't," he said softly. "Don't end up like me, looking back at your past and wondering what might have been if you had just chosen a different path. I know this might seem good enough for now, but how will you feel after ten or twenty years of working the same dead-end job for the same shit pay all while getting treated like shit by people who look down on you? Look at how one day of catering to pretentious assholes made you feel. Do you really want to live the rest of your life like that?"

"But what about you?" you asked, your voice shaky.

Keishin dropped his head, a few stray strands of hair falling into his face. Unlike that morning, when he had been asleep with loose hairs in his face, he looked annoyed and frustrated now. The bags under his eyes and tension lines on his forehead were a stark contrast to the soft, peaceful face you had woken up to that morning.

"Don't throw this away over me," he repeated. "Don't throw your future away over a 26-year-old burnout."

Lip quivering, you sucked in a deep breath. "I thought you were different . . . but you're just like everyone else."

Keishin eyed you. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You said I should make my own decisions and live my life how I wanted but it was all a facade." You slipped your hand out of his and took a step back. "In the end, you're just like everyone else . . . you think you have a right to plan my future for me without giving me a say in the matter. You want to tell me how to live my life just like my parents."

"How could you say that?" Keishin almost snapped but managed to collect his anger before he did. "All I want is what's best for you."

You scoffed as you wiped a tear from your cheek. "If I had a penny for every time I've heard that I'd have enough money to pay for the University of Tokyo and then you'd get your damn wish . . . I'd be gone."

"When did I ever say I wanted you gone? Why are you so adamant that going to Tokyo means we can't be together?"

"Why are you so against just letting me make my own decision about this?! Why do I have to go to play soccer at that fucking university and leave you? I don't want to leave you!"

"Why not? Why are you so damn hung up on someone like me?!"

"Because I love you!" The two of you froze in place the second those words left your mouth. Chest heaving from the shouting and high emotions, you snapped your mouth shut before you said anything else in the heat of the moment.

Eyes wide, Keishin stared at you like a deer in headlights. "You what?"

You debated whether or not you should repeat what you had said, but by then, the damage had been done. "I love you," you breathed. "And I know you told me not to fall in love with you . . . but I did. I fell hard and fast and now I'm stuck in you and I cannot possibly leave you so please stop asking me to."

You waited for what felt like an eternity for Keishin to say something, say anything. He opened his mouth a few times like he was about to, but nothing ever came out.

"Keishin . . ." You took a cautious step forward. "Please say something."

Keishin swallowed hard before looking you directly in the eyes. "If I said I didn't love you back, would you go?"

You felt your heart crack and the sensation of being punched in the gut spread throughout your entire body. "Is that what you're saying? You don't love me?"

"If I didn't, would you leave?"

You inhaled sharply. "If you look me in the eyes right now and tell me that you don't feel the same way that I do; that everything over the past few months has meant nothing to you, there would be no possible way I could stay in Miyagi," you answered truthfully. "If you tell me that you don't love me and that you never have, I would have no reason to stay in this prefecture."

Keishin's lips parted once more. "Y/N . . . I-" His brown eyes locked onto yours and you could feel what he was about to say even though he never did. "I . . . I can't do this right now."

With that, he brushed past you, grabbed a sweater from the bedroom and threw it on before storming out of the apartment, leaving you and the now cold takeout food alone.

Tears in your eyes and a lump in your throat, you turned to look over your shoulder at the decision letter sitting on the counter, practically taunting you.

You should have thrown the thing out the second your mom dropped it off. Or better yet, maybe you should have never made that deal with Keishin and applied for the university in the first place.

[baekhansol]

N.D.A | f.l

ℕ𝕠𝕟 𝔻𝕚𝕤𝕔𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝔸𝕘𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 (ℕ.𝔻.𝔸.) noun

a contract by which one or more parties agree not to disclose confidential information that they have shared with each other as a necessary part of doing business together.

Happy Birthday, Felix Lee!

𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞 : fluff!

𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 : mature

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 : best friend Felix x gn + nonverbal reader

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 : 3.7k

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 : reader is nonverbal, JYP is an asshole, wanting to lie about having been eating well, food/eating, mentions of wearing masks, I think that's it ?

𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭 : Felix has always been your best friend, and takes care of you when you can't

𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 : this was beta read by the lovely Dee Dee over at @sugasbabiie . Her notes and edits were wonderful as always 💜

this is also a friendly reminder that my blog contains nsfw elements, so do not follow me if you are a minor.

At one simple glance into your eyes, once allowing yourself a moment of vulnerability with your best friend, Felix knew what a terrible day you must have had. He immediately pulls you into a warm hug, pausing in case he meets resistance before squeezing you and holding you tightly.

"Have you eaten well?" He softly asks you, playing with your hair as he sways you back and forth.

You wanted to lie and say yes. You really did. But you couldn't get yourself to respond that way, so instead, you shake your head no.

"I'll make something then," he says simply, pulling back to look you in the eyes.

Felix finds tears welling up in your eyes, so he cups your cheek with one hand. "Have you taken your meds?" He checks.

When you nod, his expression gives away a brief flash of relief before turning back to genuine concern.

"Good. Why don't you go put your pajamas on and start getting ready for bed then, hmm?" He suggests, smiling sweetly.

You hesitate, considering saying no. You rack your brain, but the fog from your mental state makes the task difficult. You were fairly certain you'd never been braless around Felix before, but at the same time, you really didn't want to wear one.

"It's okay, y/n," he softly assures you.

Looking into his eyes, you remind yourself he has sisters. So you nod as a soft whimper accidentally escapes you.

You retreat to the bathroom, scrubbing your face harshly as you wash it. You try to get rid of the self-hatred and body insecurities that consumed your entire body, but particularly your face. Of course, it didn't help.

A whine of irritation escapes you before you apply the rest of your skincare. Afterwards, you slowly shuffle to your bedroom. You stare at what pajamas you have clean (which isn't much) and end up in a long sleeved shirt to hide your arms and pajama shorts. You made sure the pair wasn't too free flowing, as you didn't want to flash Felix by some weird accident since you didn't wear underwear to bed.

You slowly shuffle out to the kitchen, finding Felix at the stove throwing something together. Padding closer, you notice him making ramen. You ask him what he is doing with a soft “Hm?”

He gestures for you to come closer before speaking, “You had some ramen, so I’m making it with eggs. And now I’m adding in vegetables, see?”

When you nod, he smiles. “Do you want to grab a bowl for yourself? I already ate,” Felix assures you.

You nod and timidly get yourself a bowl and chopsticks, your hands unsteady. You manage to set down the bowl without dropping it, and Felix notices your lack of stability.

He moves from the stove, getting a plastic cup with a lid and straw, pouring you a cup of water before getting himself a glass. Felix sets it at the table before returning to the stove, getting your ramen together in your bowl. “Will you sit down, Y/N?” he asks gently.

You nod and sit, sipping your water and swinging your legs. Felix soon places the bowl in front of you, and you begin to eat slowly. He sits next to you after getting a napkin, watching you to ensure you don't eat too quickly.

Following “Dr. Lee’s” orders, you finish the entire bowl of ramen. Once done, he inquires, “Go brush your teeth, okay? Do you need to take your night meds?”

You pout but nod, getting up and taking the cup of water with you. You take your medicine before slowly brushing your teeth, trying not to let the sensation overwhelm you. When you finally finish, you pad back out to find Felix, who was currently cleaning the dishes.

You huff at him, upset that he was doing them for you. He wasn’t just doing the ones he cooked with, but even the ones you had left in the sink.

He says nothing but smiles when you hug him from behind and bury your face into his shirt. When he finishes and dries his hands, you drag him to the bathroom and get out a spare toothbrush, silently offering him to stay overnight.

“Go lay in bed; I’ll come and join you soon,” he says. When you nod, he takes the toothbrush and gets himself ready for bed.

You lay in bed playing games on your phone, curling up under your sheets. Felix soon comes back, grabbing a book off your bookshelf. He sets his phone on your bedside table, placing his there as well. Felix sits on your bed, leaning against the wall and spreading his legs.

“Come here,” he suggests, patting the spot between his legs.

You hesitate before sitting up, moving to sit in his lap, resting against his chest. He opens the book in front of you, making you giggle when you realize what it is.

“Didn’t your mom buy you this?” he asks, kissing your cheek before resting his chin on your shoulder. You nod as he opens the book. “I still can’t believe she knew it was a Star Wars storybook and didn’t think it was a children’s book,” he laughs.

A little giggle escapes you, and Felix beams. He begins to read, his gentle voice helping to lull you to sleep. When he finishes the book, he helps you lay down and tuck you in. He puts the book back and turns off the light, smiling at the soft whine escaping you.

You wiggle a little, subconsciously craving his hold. "Lixie?" You manage to murmur, not even realizing it was your first words since he came over. But he knew.

"I’m here," he assures you, climbing into bed with you and spooning you. Felix wraps his arm loosely around your waist, handing you one of your stuffies to cuddle. "This okay?" He checks with you.

You nod, relaxing into him and falling back asleep.

"I love you," Felix says lowly, and you can't quite tell if you were dreaming or not. You two had said that you love each other plenty of times before, but this time seemed different.

You wake up in the morning alone and immediately begin to panic.

"Felix?" You cry out, stumbling out of bed.

You're quick to find him in the kitchen and nearly cry out of relief.

"I didn't leave; I'm just making breakfast," he assures you, setting down the spatula and hugging you close.

When you pull away, he looks at you intently, a smile creeping onto his face. "Good morning, sweetheart," Felix says, causing you to blush.

"Morning," you manage, glancing down.

"Go take your medicine. And don't worry about being nonverbal or not, okay?" Felix says.

You tried not to go nonverbal around others, but you had mentioned your frustration to Felix before. People, especially your parents, always ended up forcing you into talking. It made you uncomfortable and took up extra energy, exhausting you quicker. Felix was rather understanding at the time, but you were always afraid to be around him while nonverbal due to the struggle of communicating. But at the moment, it was going surprisingly well. You figure it's his patience and caring nature.

You go and do as he says, briefly wondering why he was telling you what to do and why you found it so easy to listen. You shrug and come back out, sitting at the table as Felix places a plate of eggs and toast in front of you.

"Eat up, please," he says, joining you with a plate of his own.

You begin to eat, letting out a happy hum as you do.

Felix’s smile grows before he clears his throat. "I have to go into the studio today, but I'm not comfortable leaving you alone, even if I take all of your sharp objects," he admits, his expression turning serious.

You look intently at your plate, finding the yellow of the eggs to be a lovely color suddenly.

"Will you come to the studio with me? You can stay somewhere quiet and read for homework, if you'd like," Felix offers, watching closely for your reaction.

You'd never gone to the studio before. There had been times where Felix had said it would be okay, but you never had the chance. You wanted to, but you were worried about saesangs, getting Felix in trouble, starting a scandal… you had, and have, a lot of anxiety around it.

You hesitate before nodding slightly, causing Felix to grin in absolute delight.

"Okay! Great! And the second thing is… can I borrow clothes? I know you sometimes wear boxers to bed, and I just need a clean shirt and sweats…" Felix asks, and this time it was his turn to blush.

You laugh a little and nod, hoping your clothes would fit him.

"Great! Then after we get ready, I'll drive us there," he decides, smiling to make sure it was okay with you.

You nod in agreement, giving him a sense of relief.

You go use the bathroom, relieved that he didn't get up and leave without saying goodbye, or that the whole thing was a dream or strange hallucination. You take your medicine before going back to the kitchen, sitting at the table where Felix had already begun to eat.

You hum softly as you eat, letting him know to the best of your ability that you appreciate his actions.

Once you finish your plate, you bring them to the kitchen sink and wash them. You go to pick up the pan, but you can tell it’s too hot to wash. You leave it aside to cool down, drying your dishes as Felix washes his own.

After drying your hands as well, you head to your room with Felix to get ready for the day.

Felix helps you make your bed, but you manage to do most of it yourself so it was made the way you like it. You sit down and hug one of your pillows, watching as Felix goes through your clothes and picks something out to wear. He ends up picking out your clothes as well, getting you a soft shirt, your favorite pants, and a hoodie that he could have sworn belonged to him at one time.

He opens your underwear drawer before you can stop him, a noise of distraught escaping you. Felix ignores it just as he ignores your sex toys and lubricant, finding a pair of boxers for himself and a soft, simple pair of cotton panties for you along with a wireless bra.

Felix shuts the drawer and sets what he chose for you on the bed, the soft blush adorning his cheeks visible.

"I'll change in the bathroom, ok?" He states, gathering his borrowed clothes and shutting the door behind him.

In shock, you stare at the door for a moment before managing to get yourself dressed and tossing your dirty clothes in the hamper. You get up and head to the bathroom, greeted with an open door. Felix had already changed and was borrowing your hairbrush.

"Sorry," he apologizes, somewhat sheepishly.

You shake your head and dismiss it with a wave of your hand, silently letting him know you didn't mind.

"Turn around," he says.

You give him a confused look but turn around regardless, watching his reflection in the mirror. Felix runs the brush through your hair, careful about your ears. He sets the brush down and runs his fingers through your hair, braiding it. Felix then ties it off with a hair tie, beaming in pride at his creation.

You give him an appreciative smile before he asks, "are you ready?"

You shake your head, pulling out your makeup.

"You know you don't have to," he begins.

You shake your head more stubbornly, crossing your arms with a huff before you point to your concealer. Felix chuckles, and much to your surprise, he begins to do your makeup. You turn to lean against the sink, watching as he concentrates on doing your makeup. His soft breath fans over your cheeks, and you were secretly glad you gave him a toothbrush.

Felix doesn't take long, giving you only base makeup. He does your eye makeup very simply, looking through your lip products before choosing the one he wants for you. Felix applies the glossy tint, his concentration on your lips causing you to blush.

"There," he softly murmurs, stepping back for you to look in the mirror as he pockets the lip tint.

You beam at him, turning and hugging him. He gently rubs your back before leading you to the door.

"Ugh, socks!" He remembers, turning back and heading to your bedroom.

You laugh and go to the kitchen, somehow managing to start cleaning the dishes. Felix comes back and looks confused, only to realize what you were doing. He helps by drying the dishes, watching as you tie up the trash.

"Eggs," you say pointedly.

"Good idea," he hums, going and putting on his shoes.

You notice he grabbed your backpack and keys, so you put your own shoes on.

As you throw out the trash, Felix goes and starts your car. You soon join him, using the hand sanitizer you carry for situations like this.

Felix turns on soft music, driving to the company after ensuring you were both wearing your seatbelts.

Once he parks, he grabs masks from his bag for you both. Felix puts his on before going to the passenger side door and helping you with yours. He slings your backpack over his shoulder, locking your car before leading you inside. You don’t notice Felix’s fingers twitching, but you did wish you were holding hands. Even in your sensitive state, you knew holding hands here and to the JYP building was not a good idea, as the possibility of saesangs taking a photo and starting drama was too high for either of your likings.

Once inside, security tries to stop you. “It’s okay, they’re with me,” he assures the guard, taking your hand as he shows them his ID.

The security guard stares you down before nodding and taking both of your temperatures. The guard stands to the side, letting Felix take you to the elevator and towards their practice room. He doesn’t let go of your hand, rubbing his thumb over your knuckles.

Once off the elevator, another security member is about to stop you before they notice Felix holding your hand. “Excuse us,” he says, leading you around them. Their puzzled expression doesn’t go unnoticed by you, but you were glad they didn’t try to stop you.

He stops outside a room, pointing to it. “This is Channie hyung’s room, okay? If you need to go there for somewhere quieter, he won’t mind,” Felix explains, quickly pulling out his phone to check something. “Then we are practicing in this room today,” he says, leading you to a different door and opening it.

It was loud, as some of the others were stretching, talking, and dancing. Hyunjin smiles and waves as soon as he notices you, while most of the others shout their greetings. Changbin runs over and is about to hug you, but Felix stands in front of you, since Changbin was prone to hugging without asking.

“Do you want a hug?” Felix asks you, wanting you to be comfortable.

You hesitate before nodding, stepping around Felix and hugging Changbin. Changbin picks you up and spins you around, giggles escaping you.

“How are you? I can’t believe you came!” Changbin cheers as he sets you down, a grin on his face.

You step back into Felix, who gently holds your shoulders as you lose your balance. You look up at him, worry clouding your features.

“Y/N is… having some trouble talking right now. So, simple yes or no questions work best for them,” Felix explains, squeezing your shoulders reassuringly before letting you go.

“Oh, okay,” Changbin says, nodding despite not clearly understanding. “Sorry, Y/N, I didn’t know,” he adds, smiling.

You shrug a little, feeling your cheeks heat up.

“They don’t normally leave home when it happens. They generally are stressed and overwhelmed, so it helps them cope and is easier just to let them… communicate in other ways,” Felix further explains, moving to stand next to you and resting his hand on your back.

When you tense up, he withdraws his hand, but you stop him by grabbing his arm and shaking your head. Felix gently rubs soothing circles on your back as you accommodate yourself with the new space.

Chan comes over at the same time, smiling brightly. “It happens normally to neurodivergent people, right? Especially autistic ones?” Chan asks, looking at you for confirmation. You nod, and he continues. “Is it okay if I put my hand on your shoulder?” he asks. When you nod a second time, Chan places his hand on your shoulder and squeezes lightly. “I’m happy you came! If you need a break, you can go to my studio room, okay? Did Felix show you where it is?”

You nod, glancing at Felix.

“Okay, good! Today might not be the best day though,” he admits, looking to Felix.

“What do you mean by that?” Felix asks, rubbing your back.

Chan removes his hand from your shoulder and says in a hushed voice, “JYP is supposed to come to practice today.”

“I’m sure everything will be fine,” Felix responds with a tight lipped smile.

Once Felix makes sure you are comfortable sitting down, he produces earplugs from his pocket (you have no idea where or how he got them), and sets them in the palm of your hand. “In case it gets too loud,” he murmurs, smiling.

He straightens up as the choreographer enters the room, who they greet and thank. They soon start practicing, and you find yourself carefully stuffing the earplugs in your ears. You watch them in awe, looking at each of them practicing the new moves. Your eyes always come back to Felix, and you soon find yourself grinning like a fool. The song was amazing, and you wrote a note down in your phone to tell Chan, Changbin, and Jisung later on.

Right as they start a break, JYP himself comes into the room. You look up from your phone, the blood draining from your face as you try to meet Felix’s eyes. They immediately turn around and greet him, bowing and thanking him for his time.

“Show me what you have so far,” JYP says, heading towards you, standing in front of the mirror. That’s when he notices you. His eyes narrow and he walks over to you, and you immediately bow in greeting.

You feel the anxiety bubbling in your chest, threatening to overwhelm you as your breathing becomes irregular.

“You’re not an intern. Who are you?” he inquires, resting his hands on his hips.

You gape up at him, but thankfully Felix is quick to come to your aid.

“Sorry, JYP! This is my partner, Y/N. They can’t talk right now, since their doctor has their voice on rest-” Felix begins, only to be interrupted. Your eyes widen in shock as he introduces you as his partner, quickly trying to hide your surprise as he lies for you.

“So they’re sick? They shouldn’t be here then!” JYP demands, his face reddening in anger.

“No! They just aren’t supposed to talk because they had vocal chord surgery, that’s all!” he explains, doing his best to pull the lie.

Felix’s words seem to console and calm JYP, who huffs.

“Someone’s going to have to give them a non-disclosure agreement then,” he huffs, looking at the staff as if to tell them they needed to. “I will have a conversation with you later, Yongbok,” JYP sneers.

You knew Felix was in for it, but he gives you a charming smile before starting to practice.

You notice JYP’s glare every now and then, so when they take a break you make a beeline for the door, heading to Chan’s studio room and sending Felix a text with an explanation. You’re so caught up in remaining calm and composed that you almost bump into who turns out to be Mina from Twice.

Your eyes widen and you apologize, bowing and managing to say a soft, “I’m sorry.”

Once in Chan’s studio room, you move his chair and curl up under his desk. You put the hood of your hoodie over your head, doing some deep breathing. You take out the earplugs and put them in your pocket before turning on some soft, soothing music.

You close your eyes and don’t realize you had fallen asleep until Felix comes in the room, calling your name. Before he panics, he notices you under the desk. He bends down and offers you his hand, saying, “C’mon, you must be uncomfortable.”

You take it and he helps you stand up, your back popping as you do so.

“Are you hungry? It’s been a while since breakfast, and we all stopped and had lunch,” he explains, gently letting go of your hand.

You shove the hood off of your head, grabbing his forearms. “Did you mean what you said?” you ask, your eyes wide as your cheeks flush.

“What I said?” he asks, perplexed.

You stare at him for a moment before blurting, “You called me your partner…”

“Oh,” Felix says, his voice small. “About that…” he begins, subtly checking his pulse before rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable…”

“Do you want me to be your partner?” you bluntly rephrase.

Felix’s cheeks turn pinker and pinker as he nods ever so slightly. “I’ve thought about asking you before, but never did. I wasn’t sure if you felt the same way, and you’re my best friend…” he murmurs.

“Well…” you shyly begin. “You’re patient, caring, and help me when I go nonverbal. You’re understanding of my space and sometimes I swear you know me better than myself. You’re… Well, pretty much everything I want in a boyfriend…”

“Really?” Felix asks, surprised at your admission.

“Yeah…” you murmur with a nod, glancing downwards as you loosen your grip on his arms. You look back up and bite your lip before shyly asking, “Will you kiss me?”

Felix blinks, but smiles before pulling down both of your masks and giving you a soft kiss on your lips. You whine softly, so he cups your cheek and kisses you again.

After he pulls away, he smiles and giggles, “So about that non disclosure agreement…”

[dazz-linglight]

Hello! Can I request a sub!Jay imagine about him having an oral fixation but is sort of embarrassed to tell the reader about it, so he just sticks to sucking on his own fingers and other stuff? When the reader and him got into a relationship she always saw him sucking on everything, and it really turned her on. While they’re having sex she mentions it and he admits he’s always wanted to suck on the reader’s body, and after that his mouth is always attached to her breasts or fingers

(I love this 👉👈 thank you for the request!)

You noticed from before you started dating Jay how he keeps putting anything possible in his mouth. Pens, pencils, his fingers, chopsticks, candy. It’s distracting the way he wraps his pretty lips around something and sucks on it. It’s somewhat sensual and you can’t help but get turned on.

You thought it was a stress thing, but he always has the urge to occupy his mouth. When you accepted to go out with him you found cute when he kissed the back of your hand as a greeting. He always notice when you change your nail polish. He took you to an ice cream date once, your ice cream started melting a little and dripped to your finger, before you could get a napkin Jay held your finger up and licked it clean.

He’s been having dirty thoughts lately and it makes him embarrassed, but he can’t stop thinking about having his mouth on your body. When he closes his eyes he can only think about sucking your fingers. When you meet him at school he smooches the corner of your lips casually and when you're alone he loves a good, long making out session. Every time you style your hair up he wants to suck and kiss hickeys into your skin.

Now, you can hear the rain pattering against the bedroom window, your boyfriend groans and dives deeper under the covers, burying his face into your warm chest.

"Are you awake?" You asks softly, caressing his hair into place and he grunts in response.

"My baby must be tired, you've been napping for over an hour."

"I definitely am." He sighs confirming your observation. "It's finally weekend and I have the chance to do nothing, so that's what I'm gonna do."

"Fair point." You chuckle, hands trailing lower and grazing Jay's back and waistband, causing him to shudder and hook his leg between yours. His thick, muscled thigh feels a little too good and now you can feel something else too.

"Hey."

"Hmm?"

"Are you hard?"

"Maybe." He mumbles out even though his body is clearly very awake. You scratch his back slightly and watch him squirm until he reaches out to take your hand off and bring it up to his lips, kissing your fingers. After that he got quiet, keeping your hand on his cheek.

"Earth to Jay?"

"Huh? Sorry, I got distracted."

"Do you need something on your mouth?"

“You’ve noticed?”

“Kind of hard not to, I’ve seen the way you look at my fingers..” His face flushed bright red.

“I-I didn’t mean to.. It was a coincidence.”

“Really? You weren’t thinking about sucking on my fingers?" You quizz with fake simpathy in your tone and expose your hand right in front his eyes in a playful manner.

"Can I?" This is like a dream come true for him.

"Of course, my love." You trace his lips lightly and close the distance to kiss him. He let out a groan sucks on your tongue for as long as he can before you have to break away to breath properly and takes the chance to go down, spreading kisses on your neck and collarbones and lifted your hoodie to bite and suck on your nipples until they were glistening, swollen and sore from the constant attention. He absolutely adores the squishiness and the feeling of having you in his mouth.

You lift your hips to get rid of your shorts and underwear to quickly change positions to ride him and press his length in, filling you up nice and slow. Once he's fully sheathed, he pulls you in to leave marks all over your neck. You start rocking your hips in a languid pace, reaching to wrap a hand around his neck and the other coming up to insert two fingers on his mouth. You sit up to move faster and stare at his dazed expression, warm tongue caressing your digits in such a sensual way while also massaging your insides with his cock. He could go on for hours like this, satisfying both of your needs to the sound of the rain. You admire his flushed face, giving a gentle squeeze to his neck.

“Aww baby.” you coo at him and it’s enough to make him babble in embarrassment, coating your fingers in saliva and you giggle at his flustered state. "You look so cute under me."

You find a good rhythm to grind down on him, feeling him deep and deliciously until you reach your first high, getting your whole body electrified for a few seconds. Riding it out, you hear Jay whine and suddenly feel a surge of energy to keep rocking back and forth to make him release. You let go of his neck and hear him getting louder, calling you by your pet name half demanding and half begging you to continue. To gain a bigger reaction, you bounce and grind harder, fluttery breaths filling the room. It feels too good to stop now.

You smile in victory as he bucks his hips into you do hard that makes you lose balance and fall against his chest. Between panting and whining your name, he thrusts up into you to milk every last bit of energy and cum out of himself. At last you both release together, fingers into your hips as he fills you with an exhausted moan and thrust. You collapse, whimpering and shaking from the heavy, overstimulated finish. After recovering your breathings, Jay brings your face up for a fond kiss.

After that day, it turned into a normal occurrence to Jay have some part of you in his mouth, sometimes not even sexually. It helped him relax after a long day of work and you were happy to help whenever he needed.

[sooibian]

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Pairing: Kyungsoo x fem!Reader ft. big brother Junmyeon, arch enemy Sehun

Genre/Themes: Established Relationship AU, Fluff, Crack, Loosely inspired by the anime Horimiya

Warnings: Sexual themes, themes of sadism and masochism (nothing explicit), slight swearing.

Description: It’s Sehun’s wedding party. Kyungsoo knew these couple of hours with you were going to be anything but pleasant, however, he didn’t expect things to spiral so quickly. 

A/N: Thank you @his-mochi-cheeks​ for encouraging me to upload this. Shy tagging my closeted dandanies @vampwrrr​ and @changshapatrol​​ since this one sparked joy.

Word count: 2.7k

*****************************************

To Kyungsoo, the best thing about weddings was the feast but since you sat sulkily sipping on green juice - whatever the fuck that monstrosity was made of - he couldn't muster the courage to gorge on bulgogi and galbi in front of you. Especially not since it was a "your side of the family" wedding and your big brother Junmyeon wouldn't quit looking at him as if he were a ticking time bomb.

He’d gone out with you for five years before finally asking you to marry him four years ago. As much as he tried, Kyungsoo failed to make peace with the fact that Junmyeon still hadn't warmed up to him. Kyungsoo firmly believed in cause and effect and he just couldn’t tell when and how he’d faltered to warrant such iciness from Junmyeon. Events like these made his thoughts tread deeper into the “where did I go wrong?” labyrinth with no escape in sight.

Kyungsoo’s stomach growled, the proximity to the buffet area wasn’t helping. He stupidly slapped a hand on it as if to stop the sound from reaching you but despite the loud music and raucous conversations, you noticed. So you offered him a sip of the disgusting green gloop which he politely declined.

Shrugging, you sing-songed mindlessly, "Oof the barbecue stall sure looks inviting."

He suspiciously studied the ever so slight movements in your features, every microexpression and chose the safest response of taking your hand in his, lacing your fingers together, and planting a soft kiss between your knuckles - conscious of the fact that he’d have to tolerate the hunger pangs for just a bit longer. He was dead sure you’d ask him to stop at a McDonald's on your two hour drive back home. None of these green gloop diets have lasted over twelve hours.

Resting his chin in his hand, Kyungsoo peered over his glasses and looked around the luxuriously and aesthetically decorated lawn. In front of the gazebo Oh Sehun and his bride slow-danced to a song he couldn’t recognise. Sehun's hand mischievously slipped down his bride's waist and she teasingly punched his chest in response. She giggled and swayed in his arms as Sehun looked into her eyes with all the love glimmering in his own. Thinking back to his own wedding day, Kyungsoo smiled to himself and planted yet another kiss on your hand. Features contorted by the nasty taste of the juice, to him you still looked just as radiant as you did on your wedding day. In the moment he wanted nothing more than to join the couples on the dance floor, wrap his arms around your waist, and sway to the rhythm of the romantic, soft beats.

So he turned to you and asked enthusiastically, “Lets dance?”

“Kyungsoo - ,” pinching the bridge of your nose, you only reacted with a scowl.

Your damp response instantly soured his expression. “Come on! Don’t be such a sourpuss!” He exclaimed, tugging at your arm.

Kyungsoo observed keenly as your gaze reluctantly turned to a euphoric Sehun. Through gritted teeth, you justified, “It’s my arch-nemesis’ wedding. What do you expect?”

Junmyeon was the Academic Director of Museum Studies at Seoul National University and Sehun was his favourite student, almost like a younger brother to him and as his biological sister, you somehow felt threatened by their relationship. Over the years, your insecurity had manifested in the way of an inexplicable resentment towards Sehun.

“Why did we even come, then?” Kyungsoo reasoned.

“To avoid having to listen to Junmyeon whinging and whining for an eternity,” you dead-panned.

“You mean the way I’ve been tolerating your whining ever since we received the wedding invite?” Kyungsoo grumbled.

Wagging your finger at him, you said, “That’s a low blow, Kyungsoo.”

Crossing his arms over his chest, Kyungsoo pursed his lips and continued arguing with you, “Who even brings their own meal to a goddamn wedding?”

You rolled your eyes before listlessly scrolling through your phone. Kyungsoo understood exactly what you were upto. While you didn’t want anybody to fault you for skipping the wedding, you needed to make it known to everyone present that you were here merely out of courtesy.

On the other hand, Kyungsoo was quite fond of Sehun. The guy was fun and even-tempered and Kyungsoo truly admired people who were uncomplicated, people with whom he could freely speak his mind. It’s why he fell in love with you in the first place and stayed in love...despite all of your pettiness and quirks. Quirks that made Kyungsoo shake in his boots. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, pushed those thoughts out of his head and heaved a sigh of relief upon realizing that your eccentricity wouldn’t rear its ugly head at a family celebration.

He was jolted out of his reverie by Junmyeon who slammed a plate of dakgalbi in front of him. Kyungsoo immediately shoved his phone into an inside pocket of his blazer, inwardly reprimanding himself for behaving all the more suspiciously in front of your elder brother.

Squinting sceptically, Junmyeon remarked, “I didn’t see you at the buffet -”

“Ah - we’ve been meaning to -” Kyungsoo tried explaining the situation without having to put you in a spot. He thought, after an uncomfortably long pause, Junmyeon would drop the conversation, but he didn't. Kyungsoo gingerly ran his fingers over his brows to check if Junmyeon's intense glare had burned holes into his head. You on the other hand had your gaze fixed on your phone and didn’t break character even for a second - not even to help your husband out of an awkward conversation. So Kyungsoo picked up a pair of chopsticks to help himself to a piece of dakgalbi but Junmyeon slapped his hand away and snarled, “Ladies first.”

"O-of course," Kyungsoo stuttered, pushing the plate towards you.

"I don't wanna eat," you answered the two men, eyes now on a blank screen. Left with no choice, Kyungsoo slowly and sadly put his chopsticks down, his stomach making its annoyance known, while Junmyeon started to nag you for acting 'uppity as usual'.

Your show of indifference when Junmyeon animatedly whisper-scolded you, had started to make Kyungsoo anxious. The moment he tried to excuse himself to the bathroom, he felt your bare foot on his shoe and he froze into a still frame.

Kyungsoo shook his head at you and mouthed, 'Not now!' but you merely shot him a sweet smile in response.

"Are you even listening to me?" Junmyeon lambasted you.

"No and I haven't been listening for quite sometime now." Your reply sent a chill down Kyungsoo's spine. He was feeling a lot of things...all at once and with your toes boldly riding up his shin, he thought he'd burst at the seams. He made a mental note to have certain ground rules in place for situations like these - you weren’t much of a listener but this time he was sure to make himself heard.

"You won't be eating either?" Junmyeon asked Kyungsoo, shooting him yet another indignant glare. Kyungsoo smoothly moved his chair out of your reach but just as he extended his hand towards the plate, Junmyeon huffed angrily and walked away with it and Kyungsoo felt his heart sink to his stomach.

Tormenting Kyungsoo with a game of footsie for a while, you excused yourself to the ladies room. Ten minutes later, his phone chimed with a text from you.

'Can you come and get me? I think I'm lost.'

'No.' He replied. He was determined to not walk into your trap.

Kyungsoo clearly remembers the first time he was introduced to that side of your personality. Freshman year - it had been a few months since he'd asked you out. One evening, when things had gotten hot and heavy between the two of you, he had heard you say, 'Slap me, Soo.'

At first he thought he'd heard wrong so he ignored you but you said it again causing him to immediately pull away. Aghast, he asked, 'What did you say?'

'Slap me,' you blinked at him.

He intently studied your face - the most beautiful and the least punchable face he'd ever laid his eyes on. He wanted to do many things to you and all of them essentially involved making you feel loved and cherished and what you were asking of him was the exact opposite of how he felt about you. 

Eyes wide and lips pursed, you stood for a reaction but he would give you none. 

'Don't you love me?' You asked softly, batting your eyelashes at him. Little did you know, in that moment, he was too numb and too naked to make sense of the situation. 

At first he faulted his own personality. Kyungsoo was known to have picked a few fights here and there, had multiple piercings, and visible tattoos. Over the years, he got rid of it all and started dressing preppy but nothing changed. You still continued to ask of him something he was unwilling to give. So after a few ups and downs in your relationship, Kyungsoo finally reconciled with the fact that you were something of a sadist masochist only when it came to him.

His phone buzzed with your reply: 'The gardens at this hotel are ginormous. There's no staff here, I don't know how to find stupid lanky boy's stupid wedding party. I'm waiting by the restroom area please come and get me? ❤️'

Kyungsoo knew that you were directionally challenged. He'd test you at random and you could never tell left from right. Also, the lawn did sprawl over a considerable area but something just didn't feel right. Chewing on a hangnail, Kyungsoo sat thinking of a fitting reply only to receive another text from you.

A tempting one.

'If you come and get me now, we'll get out of here directly. No need to go back to the party.'

'What about your brother?' Asked Kyungsoo.

His phone blinked with a 'Pfft 🤪'

Patiently, he reiterated, 'I asked, what about your brother?'

'I promise I'll deal…'

'....?'

'Nicely 😘'

'Ok ❤️'

.

.

.

Kyungsoo gaped at you while you twirled his tie between your fingers and pleaded with him in a sultry voice, "Just once? Please?"

He was well aware that you knew for a fact he couldn't refuse you. Nevertheless, this time he firmly held his ground, "Are you crazy? Your entire family, your brother is just a couple metre's distance from here!"

"Kyungsoo please?" You caged him between a grainy concrete wall and your torso. The only respite to Kyungsoo in that situation was the fact that the area was poorly lit and there was not a soul in sight.

He cupped your face in his hands, planted a chaste kiss on your forehead and crouched down to whisper against your lips, "I'm not - I'm not sla- I'm not doing any of that here. Let's go home." After a lot of struggle, he finally managed to free himself from your Senior Superintendent General of Police grasp with a smirk on his face that said all your police training got nothing on him.

"Let's go," he held your hand and took a long stride towards the exit but you stayed firmly rooted to your place.

"Drag me out of here, then," you commanded.

You didn't budge and Kyungsoo wouldn't have caved under any other circumstance but…. he was hungry. Really hungry - making his stiff spine melt like candle wax. So he steeled himself, looked into your eyes, dropped his tone to a gruff, husky tenor, grabbed your wrist a little too tightly and threatened you, "Move your ass, __. Don't make me tell you again."

Exasperated, he rolled his eyes at the way yours twinkled at his crass behaviour.

"Gimme more," you said breathily.

The only way to get out of here was to stay in character so Kyungsoo did exactly that. He roughly pushed you against a wall (as gently as he could if it makes sense) and growled, "What makes you think you can act all buddy buddy with me, you ditz!" but before he could go any further he heard a man's voice yell, "How dare you!?"

Startled like a deer caught in headlights - in this case the flashlight of Junmyeon's latest iPhone - Kyungsoo turned around to find the brawny man leaping at him in attack mode at full throttle. Kyungsoo ducked, anticipating a heavy physical impact but it didn't come. He opened his eyes to you tackling Junmyeon to the ground and scolding him, "How dare you encroach upon our privacy and attack my husband!" while twisting his arm at every emphasis.

Very rarely was Kyungsoo grateful about the fact that you were a cop and this was one such occasion. He quickly moved to get you off of Junmyeon's back while the man cried out in pain, defending himself, "Pri-privacy? This is a bloody public place!"

Panting, you eventually let go of Junmyeon, fixed your hair and earrings and straightened your satin silk very pale pink dress (one that was almost white under the wrong lighting but despite Kyungsoo's repeated requests, you ended up in white at a wedding). But as soon as Junmyeon regained composure, he lunged to attack Kyungsoo again, screaming, "I always knew that there was something off about you!"

"Yah yah yahhhh!" You held Junmyeon back like you would do a violent criminal as Kyungsoo ducked again out of fear.

"Enough!" You shrieked at Junmyeon.

Kyungsoo's big brown eyes were fixed on your brother's terrifying demeanour as he barked, "I can't believe you're scolding me after what I just witnessed! That man, that man was hurting you!"

"That man? Better watch your tone Oppa, he's my husband!"

"You can't be that blinded by love or...whatever this is! Does he have something on you? You can tell me! You know I know all the right people to get you out of this mess -"

"Hyungnim -" Kyungsoo attempted to defuse the extremely tense situation but stopped short as you held your hand up at him.

"For heaven's sake, I'm happy, healthy, and safe in my marriage. That's all you need to know. Now go back to your baby brother's celebration and leave us alone!" Hand on your hip, you squeezed your eyes shut and pinched the bridge of your nose.

"I'm not going anywhere until you explain what just happened," Junmyeon glowered at Kyungsoo.

The younger man didn't know how to clarify this without embarrassing you and in a state of blind panic all he could think of admitting to some sort of a dissociative identity disorder. But before he could lose any more brownie points with your brother, you came to his rescue albeit not doing much to help his already strained relationship with Junmyeon.

"Kyungsoo, you don't have to tell him anything. You, Sir, talk to me. No need to drag my husband into this mess!"

Junmyeon scoffed before breaking into a hysterical laughter, "You're unbelievable, little sister. Unbelievable!"

Kyungsoo closed his eyes, drew in a deep breath, and started, "Hyungnim, I- "

"You have the unmitigated gall to still be standing here!" Junmyeon snapped at Kyungsoo, causing the younger man to bury his face in his hands. When the brother sister duo fell silent, Kyungsoo looked up again to find Jumyeon taking furiously long strides towards the wedding party.

"I told you this was a bad idea," Kyungsoo said quietly, rubbing the corner of his eye, as you wrapped your arms around him and buried your face in his chest.

"I'll fix it, I promise. I'll speak to him when he's calmed down a little," you replied, softly patting your husband's back, "Do you want to stop at a McDonald's on our way back?

Kyungsoo chuckled, squeezing you in a tight hug and kissing the top of your head, "I hate you."

"I love you, too!" You chirped, and his features lit up with his beautiful heart-shaped smile.

"So? McDonald's?" You asked coyly.

He cradled your face in his hands and pressed his lips to yours. When you drew a staggered breath in response, he felt a wave of heat flushing through him. You giggled against his lips causing Kyungsoo to firmly pull your body to his. He scooped you up in his arms, kissing you with an increased fervour and rendering you breathless.

Gently pulling away, he answered in a husky, gruff voice, "Sure, dumb bitch. Took you long enough."

[purpleyellow]

Make a deal

BTS extra member + NCT extra member 

Sunny’s Masterlist + Bee’s Masterlist

“Can this be considered an extra post?” 

a/n: This is basicaly 50/50 sunny and bee so I’ll just add it to both of their masterlists :p also, I had in mind to post it this weekend but life got busy so there you go. 

“I didn’t know you and Sunny were friends” Jaehyun tried to make small talk as he and Bee walked towards the restaurant down the block. Both idols had long coats and masks to prevent people from recognizing them on the busy street. 

“We met a few times” The girl looked up at him before staring at the sidewalk and mumbling “I didn’t know we were friends either, to be honest”

“Friendships just happen. One day you met each other and in the other, boom, you’re friends” He gestured an explosion with his hands while talking, “She said she didn’t want to third wheel, so maybe that’s why she asked you to come”

“She would be third-wheeling?” Bee giggled at him and he wrapped an arm on her shoulders while opening up the door for them to go inside.

“Her words, not mine” Jaehyun rolled his eyes before scanning the place and pointing to a table in the far back “There they are, let’s go”

The place itself wasn’t well lit, and in the corner of it, there was a pool table along with some dart games. Both girls mentally noted that this wouldn’t be their first choice for dinner, the American college bar spirit was a bit too obnoxious for them.

“Sunny was dying so we already ordered,” Jungkook said after they went through the formalities of greeting each other. He and the girl sat on one side of the table while Jaehyun and Bee sat on the other. “Hope that isn’t a problem”

“That’s fine. I’m starving too” Jaehyun agreed without a second thought and gave a thumbs up to a waiter, who nodded and turned around to grab something. Looking back at the table, the boy placed a hand on Bee’s shoulder “You can legally drink, right?”

“Uh, I guess” She stumbled over her words with wide eyes “I’ve never actually drink before though, do you think-”

“Well, I’ll give you your first shot and we can make Doyoung jealous later” Jaehyun chuckled making her sigh nervously. 

“There’s a first time for everything right” Sunny gave her a gentle smile “You can try it and if you don’t like the taste we can order a soda to share. I’m not the biggest fan of soju myself”

Soon enough, the waiter came with a green bottle and four little cups, setting everything in the middle of the table and excusing himself off. Jaehyun taking the role to fill everyone’s cups and getting his own filled by Jungkook, who also started a cheer.

“To a very random dinner,” He humorously commented before the four of them downed their shots.

The two girls frowning afterward, Sunny from having alcohol on an empty stomach and Bee from the burn the liquid gave her.

“I don’t think she enjoyed it very much” Jungkook laughed as she opened and closed her mouth to get rid of the aftertaste.

“No, no. It’s not that is bad. It just. It’s different” Bee shook her head trying not to seem unpleased.

“Maybe you’ll like it better once the food arrives” Sunny laughed and then dropped her body on the chair, far too hungry to hold herself up anymore “Talking about it. How much longer do you think it’ll take?” 

“It should be coming anytime” Her member noded to the empty place “Hold up for a minute and don’t die on me, Jin Hyung will kill me if you do that” 

“I don’t know if I can, I already see the dark tunnel, it’ll take a second before the light shows up too” She rolled her head dramatically before fixing up her posture and sitting like nothing had happened. 

The food arrived a considerable amount of time later and the four young adults fell in silence while eating, it was only when half of it was already gone that Jaehyun and Jungkook began talking about a random topic and the two girls were left not knowing what to do next.

“Sorry if this felt sudden” Sunny placed a hand over her mouth to hide her chewing “Namjoon overreacted and had me tag along with Jungkook, so I thought if you came too it would make things less uncomfortable”

“No, no. It’s fine. I was a little surprised at first but I’m happy to be here” Bee smiled as she reached over to the dumplings “Some of my members say I should go out more too, I think I get what you mean”

“What? No, that wasn’t it. I mean the boys used to nag me into making friends before too but that wasn’t the case today” Sunny chuckled not paying attention to where she was going with the conversation “I didn’t have lunch today, that’s why he had Jungkook drag me out here”  

“You skipped a meal?” Bee frowned worried as the older waved her off like it was nothing.

“No. I mean, yes. But that’s nothing to mind really. Don’t you just… get carried away with work and forget to do the things humans need in order to survive?” She gestured with the chopsticks as she spoke and with each word, Bee’s eyes grew more worried. “Okay, I might have exaggerated a little”

“Unnie, I understand work is important but you don’t need to set yourself aside in order to get things done” The young girl started to talk, nervous that she might be stepping over a line.

“I get it, you don’t need to worry” Sunny laughed a little uncomfortable that she had brought up that topic. Cleaning her throat she shook off the matter “I just wasn’t on top of my game today, that’s all. It’s a little weird but I do enjoy working” 

“As long as you’re fine” Bee gave her a tight-lipped smile and Sunny snapped her fingers at her, nodding happily as she chewed on her noodles.

The two boys sitting next to them excused themselves since they were already satisfied and walked to the pool table, leaving the girls by themselves, which wasn’t much of a difference for Sunny, considering they were already having two different conversations. 

Bee on the other hand sighed and stretched her limbs, feeling much more comfortable than before. Noticing the older had raised an eyebrow at her clear relief, the girl cleared her throat and fixed her coat like nothing had happened. 

“You and Jaehyun aren’t close?” Sunny tried not to laugh at her change of behavior and Bee inevitably became flushed.

“It’s not that… We’re- I guess, it’s awkward but it’s okay” She stumbled over herself and ended up giggling at her own reference of the NCT content. “I’m sorry, we’re just not the closest people. Also, I might have made him mad earlier this week”

“I get it. You have too many people around, it can get overwhelming. Sorry for assuming you and him were friends” The older smiled fondly, very amused at how the girl found trouble to explain the weird relationship.

“Thank you for it actually, we should be bonding more now that all of us are going to be promoting together” Bee laughed along with her “This might have been the second time we even talked this year”

“Well, I’m happy to be part of this bonding exercise” Sunny winked at her before leaning over the table “It must be hard to deal with that many people”

“You get used to it earlier than expected” She shrugged her shoulders while feeling her cheeks with her palms. “I mean, it is hard to keep up with how everyone is with you, but I’m getting by”

“What do you mean?” The older asked, interested in the different dynamics found in their groups. 

“It’s like, event X happens, and then after it’s over you have three groups of people. The first one got over it with you, the second seems wary but lets you live normally. Then the third group seems unable to let it go and constantly reminds you of it” Bee talked with her eyes fixated on the table, trying to make as much sense as possible “It is pretty hard to keep track of who belongs in which group”

“Are you talking from experience? You can share more if you’re comfortable” Sunny smiled as Bee stole a glance at Jaehyun, who had his back facing the table the whole time.

“I had this crush on a groupmate” She mumbled making the older hiss “Yeah, it’s bad I know”

“Things can get complicated, I can see that” Sunny nodded trying to explain herself “But there’s nothing illegal about it, feelings can’t be controlled” 

“Well, it didn’t last long enough to develop into something more serious if you’re worried” Bee chuckled at her covering up her reaction “But like I was saying, some of the boys still look at me like I just lost a limb or something”

“Wait, so like, the twenty-something of them know about it?” She gasped when the possibility hit her, the younger laughing at her wide eyes. 

“No, well, not that I know at least. And it’s only just two of them who make me feel pitied. Not that big of a deal now that I think about it” She shrugged her shoulders again making Sunny frown.

“But it is. You told them you’re over whoever it is right?” Sunny asked and she nodded “Then that’s all there is, they don’t need to make you feel bad for it”

“I mean, I can see that they don’t mean to harm me or anything” Bee tried to defend her words “I get a little annoyed but I try to move on since they aren’t” 

“Oh, totally. It’s coming from a good place, but at the same time, your business is yours to take care of. For some things, your word needs to be final and they need to understand that” Sunny looked firmly at her “It can be tricky to find a balance in sharing things with your friends but not letting them overstep on your life”

“I guess I’m lacking on the later” Bee smiled sadly before turning into a surprised face “Oh, we can make a deal”

“A deal?” The girl frowned at her happily nodding.

“Yeah, I’ll be firmer with my words and you’ll take care of yourself” She clapped making Sunny laugh despite wanting to be serious.

“What’s with everyone thinking I don’t care for myself?” She rolled her eyes grinning at her expectant face. “Okay, deal. But I’m going to check in to see if you’re actually doing it”

“That’s fine by me” Bee giggled while shaking her hand. Remembering what JAehyun had said in the begining of the night, she hapily said “I guess this is our Boom moment”

“What?” Sunny frowned but got waved off by the younger.

“Nevermind”

[favdream]

[  *  ]       important headcanons to consider   …        source

can they use chopsticks  —  she can , but rarely does  .      it's mostly whenever mark or anthony gets takeout street food and doesn’t     forget them , or if she goes out with jessica and / or nick to a local     place and doesn't have access to a fork  .  she was a little     clumsy at first , and still is , but she’s capable of picking the food now     and not spill it everywhere , which in her eyes is good enough      .  she is , however , the kind of person who enjoys chugging down     food at high speed , and given chopsticks demand a little coordination     from her , it isn’t her prefered method of eating given she’s more at ease     with a fork  .

what do they do when they can’t sleep  —  if she is meant to wake up early in     order to perform a kill , then she’ll get up and get ready in advance ,     maybe review some of the information handed to her by anthony or do a     quick search on her phone in order to have a better clue on how to handle     it  .  if not , then she’ll either look up funny memes or videos     on her phone , maybe candy castle-related work , or listen to music      .  after jessica’s “passing” in issue six , she develop issues with     sleeping properly through the night if not pursuing the rest of the     ambidrex 20 so it’s not all that uncommon that she finds herself     struggling to rest properly and winds up awake most of the night      . 

what would they impulse buy at the grocery     store  —  candy , slurpies and other sugary treats  .  deep     down , she is still a child , and thus , if the opportunity arises , she’s     not over buying candy for herself and giggling that she’s going to have     candy for breakfast or lunch  .  however , she’s not a frequent     customer , as anthony and mark are the ones who do the groceries , with     anthony taking over after nick and paolo’s death , and starting from that     point , he gets very picky with his granddaughter’s diet  .        

what order do they wash things in the shower      —      hair’s always first , with her first rinsing it in order to get rid of     whatever may have stuck in her hair , whenever it is dirt , blood or the     musk of exertion after playing field hockey or training with her     grandfather  .  then , she’ll use her shampoo and conditioner     before washing her face , scrubbing down and rinsing it all  !!

what’s their coffee order  —  she doesn’t drink coffee , but if the     opportunity rises , she’ll go most often with a pumpkin spice latte ,     given her love of pumpkins and everything fall and halloween  .

what sort of apps would they have on their     smartphone  —  unsurprisingly , following nick’s murder and anthony     deciding to train her in order to take on the ambidrex 20 , she doesn’t     use her phone much  .  that aside , i’d say she probably has a     myriad of phone games which she plays while riding the train to school ,     most definitely a genshin equivalent based on mia picking up the game a     while back  .  i also imagine she’d have twitter , which she     mostly uses the retweet funny memes and posts from jessica , but starting     from halloween , it is filled to the brim with notifications she doesn’t     check  .  she also has the normal , regular music app , and     probably spotify as well , and she checks her emails  .  maybe     also snapchat so she can send jessica silly pictures of her first thing in     the morning , like using soap on her face to make a mustache  . 

how do they act around children  —  addison quite enjoys spending time with     children , though granted she is still a child herself  .  in     general , she’s pretty well behaved aroun them  .  she     especially likes spending time with them , since it means she can     introduce some of her favorite shows to them and talk about cheery cherry     and anime with them  .  post-nick , she’s just sad they can’t     stay that innocent forever , and is a little envious they can remain as     clueless as they wish while her own innocence was robbed away from her     through the events of the vivaldi murders and irene’s + elena’s     scheming  .

what would they watch on tv when they’re bored     and nothing they really like is on  —  old movies , mostly random westerns she     finds on the retro channel  .  they’re all movies she’s seen     with anthony for the most part , so it acts as perfect background noise     for her to take some time off for herself and stop acting like her     grandfather’s perfect soldier  /  the wolf of rivergrove  .

tagged by :     stolen from a friend long ago. tagging :     anyone who’s up for doing it :) 

[svtshine]

Jeonghan as your Sugardaddy

Pairing: Jeonghan x reader

genre: Sugardaddy!au

Type: scenario

extras: As always, requests are welcomed. This was really fun to write ngl.

Jeonghan had never stayed in a relationship longer than 10 days.

he only needed a shower to get over someone

which was why he wanted a relationship where, he would just need to spoil someone, and in return get his needs taken care of.

If it’s one thing Jeonghan couldn’t get rid, was his money.

Damn this man is stacked

and he’s willing to spend it

The first time the both of you met was when you were working as a bartender.

There were tons of human beings at the club since it was the most popular hour. Sweaty beings pressing against each other, lips finding each other desperately at the side.

It was a long night as always. Your shift was going to end in 30 mins and you couldn’t wait to get out of the shorts and revealing shirt you had to wear

Your bed awaits you.

You focused on making the next drink as Jeonghan walked in.

He was going to meet your boss for an upcoming business deal.

When he first walked in though, he couldn’t take his eyes of you, alike many other men at the bar.

The way you made the drinks while looking so sexy and hot. He just wanted a taste.

Jeonghan could hardly even pay attention to the person infront of him.

“Who’s that” pointing towards you. Your boss turned his head and recognised you.

“That’s Y-y/n, as i was saying sir-“

Jeonghan didn’t look away from you at all. “I’ll raise the price. But i want only her to stay”

Jeonghan was going to invest in that bar, he didn’t need the pervious employees, only you.

Your boss closed the bar early and gathered all the employees.

“Listen, i’ve sold the bar to this man, Yoon Jeonghan sir. The rest of you have to find new jobs now.”

You felt eyes on you as you face the man named ‘Yoon Jeonghan’

“except for Y/n” Everyone looked at you in confusion. Even you raised your eyebrows.

You weren’t the BEST bartender, why the hell did they want you?

The rest of the employees left and Jeonghan motioned for you to follow him to the back.

The private room had a nice couch

“Now darling, as you’ve heard, this bar is officially mine now.” The strange yet hot man spoke.

“i need you, not as a bartender but you to be my sugarbaby” Your eyes widened. You weren’t unfamiliar with the term, but you’ve just met this guy and who knows what kind of person he actually was.

He held up a finger when you opened your mouth to retaliate. “Now, your job will be easy. Keeping me company when i go to events, and fulfilling my requests for you. While you get cash every month from me and any present you want”

He moved closer to you, gently grabbing you by the chin. “You just have to be my good girl”

You moved away from him. This hot, attractive stranger was asking you to be his sugarbaby?

you didn’t know whether to be confused or disgusted

ok both kind of

i mean you didn’t know who he even was till today.

“You should know darling, i get whatever i want and i want you.” Smirking at you

“your apartment building isn’t very expensive at all to me you know. If you didn’t agree to be my sugarbaby, you could very well end up jobless and homeless in a blink of an eye” God you so badly wanted to wipe that smirk off his angelic face

How could someone look so angel-like but be so cunning

So you agreed to the deal.

Jeonghan actually spent a lot of time with you. Given he was a ceo and he needed to attend lots of events.

During which he makes fun of snobby rich people with you and asks you questions about yourself.

He may be a little cheeky but he’s also a very kind man, you’ve come to realise.

He made you move into the same apartment building as he was in.

High rise building, with the most amazing scenery of the city.

Jeonghan surprises you with a present everyday.

It could be a bouquet of flowers with a small card, a necklace, a watch, earrings, dresses, heels.

Sometimes he’d buy items worth millions to thank you for joining an event with him that lasted two hours only.

His favourite thing to do with you, is to relax in his private jacuzzi with you after a long day at work.

Jeonghan loves the feel of your smooth skin against his and you sitting on his lap in the jacuzzi, planting soft and gentle nibbles on his neck and massaging his shoulders.

Damn was he in paradise

He slowly started to realise he was falling in love with you, when he noticed how much you reminded him of home

Returning to his apartment was never returning “home”. But he’d be in his office and thinking about, “What is my Y/n doing at home” or “What did she cook for tonight’s dinner”

That one time you went home to visit your family, he stepped home announcing. “Y/n i’m home” before realising you went to visit your family after seeing the table you left on the table for him to reheat

He felt so disappointed when you didn’t greet him as usual.

his apartment just felt so empty without you. It didn’t feel like ‘home’.

After getting to know Jeonghan, you wanted to give him something in return as well.

He made you so happy everyday. You felt so alive and happy around him. His presents made you happy, but you knew he deserved some too.

You knew you were playing a risky card. You fell in love with him way before he did.

You dugged out whatever savings you had from previously

With a total of 5k you bought him a small and cheap rolex.

Yeah of course you knew it probably meant nothing to him, but you knew getting this for him was worth it even if he decided not to wear it ever.

You were extremely nervous when you were going to present it to him. He had just returned home and you were watching him reheat the food that you cooked for him.

“I’m sorry baby, i know it’s been a while since i took you out but, work really had me cooped up” He said, brushing through his hair. His spectacles still lying on his nose bridge

You knew how hard he worked for the company so you smiled at him and made sure he knew you understood.

You excused yourself to get the watch.

“Hannie” he mumbled a ‘yeah’ as he munched on to your food. You nervously hid the watch behind you and continued.

“This may not seem like much but i wanted to do something for you” You brought out the watch and presented it to him.

“i’m sorry, it’s not even that nice. I used the savings i had from my previous jobs and got you this. You deserve more than this though han”

Jeonghan placed his chopsticks down on the table top and stared at the watch. You didn’t know if he really didn’t like it or not but the anxiety was creeping up onto you as he continued staring at the watch.

“I’m sorry hannie, it’s okay if you don’t like it-“

You reached for the watch, but jeonghan grabbed your wrist and gently brough you onto his lap.

That was when you realised, he had shed a couple of tears. Your eyebrows raised in alarm as you brush away his tears.

“Sweetheart, this has got to be the best gift anyone has given me.” he whispered to you

“It’s been so hard, but having you by my side makes everything better.” He took off his current watch and replaced it with the one you bought for him.

“Thank you, thank you so much my love. i’ve never felt more lucky to have met you” Kissing you on the nose and the face. Rubbing the sides of your leg up and down.

“I love you so much, please stay with me forever Y/n. Not as my sugarbaby but my lover as well. i really can’t imagine my life without you. As corny as it sounds” And of course you agreed, giggling at the end.

a year gone by, Jeonghan’s still wearing the watch as well as the shiny ring that adorned his left ring finger.

Similar to the one you had on your ring finger.

Masterlist

Wonwoo Sugardaddy!au | Mingyu Sugardaddy!au

[damnzawa]

DEMON SUMMONING 101 — A. SHOUTA

Warning(s): SMUT SMUT (badly written one), Dom!Aizawa (?)

Note(s): Holy shit &#*&(@ this was my first time writing smut so please pardon my french. This was requested by lovely reader @snapped-chopstick! Anyways, enjoy I guess haha... (drowns in holy water) Also requests are open! Even for the AU FEST!

—

You never intended for any of this to happen. You just stumbled upon that weird book and did one of those rituals just for shits and giggles. You never expected it to actually work. Heck, you don't even know what it did! All you know was when you opened your eyes, a black-haired, onyx-eyed, handsome looking human(?)—you weren't sure—appeared infront of your eyes, rambling about being a demon servant or whatever. You were pretty sure you were gonna die on the spot.

Were you hallucinating? Maybe. Did someone put magical mushrooms on your pizza? Maybe.

All that's certain is that the human/demon, whatever, wasn't going to leave you alone.

"Why can't you just go? Is this like a punishment for accidentally summoning you?" You asked him one morning as he was preparing breakfast for the two of you. Although you hated to admit it, his presence was kinda growing on you.

He's been with you for exactly two months now. He never left your side—except when going to the bathroom—and respected your boundaries, he never complained about your dingy apartment nor your subpar cooking, heck he never even complained about you summoning him! You were confused as hell. He never demanded anything from you too which was a bit weird since demons or other creatures on TV usually asked for something in return when they're summoned, for example, your soul.

He just stayed by you and accompanied you, blessing you with his presence and dry humor. He stayed by you, a mere mortal.

"I told you. I can't go unless I've fulfilled your wish." Aizawa—that was his name apparently—replied as he flipped a pancake.

"I wished for you to get rid of the cockroach from the bathroom last night. Isn't that enough for you to go?" Aizawa's eye twitched at that. Of course it wasn't fucking enough. Demons usually tasks that are greater than that, like killing the president, protecting the summoner's son until he dies and whatnot. So, yes. Removing cockroaches wasn't enough.

And besides, he doesn't want to leave yet.

"I'll leave once I give you what you truly desire like fame, money, power, even a moon."

"Well I desire a nice breakfast. So you can go now after this." Truthfully, you don't desire anything. You had a nice paying job, a roof over your head, food, air, what's there to desire? You were satisfied with how you live right now. You were happy.

Well maybe except for the fact that you're lonely but that doesn't mean anything.

"Do you want me to go that badly?" No. You don't. In fact, you wanted him to stay longer. You wanted him to stay by your side for as long as you want because damn, he's such a good companion. He's blunt, a bit cold and rough around the edges, funny, and etc. But you don't wanna be that person. It just felt wrong, yet right at the same time. You were conflicted. And him not going away made things harder for you even more.

"Yes. It's a waste of time for you to be here."

"I wanted to be here." Aizawa replied.

"Why though? There's nothing interesting here at all. It's just the mortal world."

"Well, you're in it, right? That's enough reason for me to stay." You were dumbfounded by his answer. Where did this all come from? Why did he say that? Did he really mean those things?

Why you?

"I rarely answer to summoning calls Y/n. Yet, somehow, when you called for me... I got lured in."

"Is this because of my soul?" You asked him, completely serious. You were hoping what he was saying was that he reciprocated your feelings. You were hoping that was the case.

"No." It wasn't your soul that made him stay.

"Then was it the deepest, darkest, desire thingy? What's the reason you can't leave?" Aizawa was now becoming annoyed at your pestering. Clearly, you had been oblivious to his affections for you.

In one swift motion, he has you pinned against the wall. His face was just inches from yours. You stared up at him and gulped. Was this happening? Holy shit.

"You." He simply answered your question before capturing your lips with his in a searing kiss. It was full of passion, love, lust. The kiss conveyed what you wanted to know.

Suddenly, you were lifted up. As if on instinct, you wrapped your legs around Aizawa's waist as the kiss deepened.

Aizawa's hands began to wander, slipping under your shirt easily. He cupped your breast making you gasp, earning him the entrance to your mouth. Your tongues fought for dominance, Aizawa being the clear winner. He unclasped your bra and began to fiddle with one of your nipples, making goosebumps appear on your body.

His cold hands wondering your body, touching you, ignited a warmth within your body. Your stomach began to churn as you anticipated what's gonna happen next.

Lost in the kiss, you let your hands wonder too. Feeling him through the fabric of his shirt, eyes widening for a fraction of a moment once you realized how toned his body was.

Aizawa pulled away and looked in your eyes, as if asking for confirmation that you do want this just as much as he does. One look in your eyes and he already has his answer.

Yes.

A thousand times yes.

Carefully he layed you down on the sofa and stripped your clothes off, slowly, teasingly, making your breath hitch. You want him to touch you. You want him now, and all his teasing isn't helping you out at all.

"Not yet, baby." He whispered in your ear as he straddled you, careful not to crush you with his weight. He nipped your ear then proceeded to bite and suck on your neck leaving you a moaning mess.

You bucked your hips against his, creating friction. Aizawa chuckled at your eager self.

"Say what you want, Y/n. Use your words, kitten." Kitten? Shit, that petname made your insides melt even more.

Heat pooled in your lower region while you struggled to say what you want.

"What was that kitten? Tell Daddy what you want."

"I... Fuck me."

"Now, now, Kitten. That's not how you properly beg." Aizawa said teasingly as his hand started nearing the waistband of your sweatpants.

"Please fuck me Daddy." Aizawa grinned at that and quickly removed your sweatpants, along with your panties.

"Such a pretty little thing. So wet for me." Aizawa inserted a finger inside making you gasp in pleasure. Satisfied with your response, Aizawa kept pumping his finger in and out. Soon, he added another. Then another. He kept hitting the right places and it made you feel heaven. You were close. You can feel it. But before you can enjoy the sweet joy of release, Aizawa removed his fingers and licked them, gazing at you with that lustful look in his face.

"Aizawa... Daddy... please." You begged as you tried rub your thighs together, but failed. Aizawa chuckled and kept your legs apart.

"Please what Kitten?"

"Please fuck me." And with that, Aizawa removed his pants and briefs, letting you see all of him.

He lined his dick up in your entrance and slowly by slowly pushed in. You moaned in ecstasy as you felt Aizawa inside you. After a few moments, he was finally inside you, all of him was. He started to push in and out, creating a steady rhythm for the two of you. Your insides were welcoming him greatly, and damn was this heaven?

"Daddy... f-faster."

Aizawa continued to pick up the pace and soon enough you felt yourself clench your walls around him, signalling that you were near.

"Cum for me, Kitten." And with that, you felt yourself release. Aizawa continued pounding into you, his own release nearing too. After a few moments, Aizawa released his seed within you, filling you up to the brim as you both panted. Aizawa collapsed beside you and smiled.

"I think... I think I have that wish now."

"Really? What is it?"

"Stay with me. Stay with me Aizawa."

"It's Shouta. And I'd gladly do so, Y/n."

[kyuuppi]

(Un)planned (requested)

Pairing: Orihara Izaya x Pregnant!Reader

Genre: fluff, a lil crack-y

Word Count: 4.9k

As you walk out of the hospital you can’t help but to feel as if you’re in a dream, as if nothing is real. The only thing tying you to reality are the freshly printed documents verifying your pregnancy that feel unnaturally heavy in your purse. The reality of the situation was easier to accept than you expected, really. You have been married for a while and you can recall several instances in which you two hadn’t been exactly safe with your escapades. Being pregnant is not something that bothers you either—you have always wanted to have children at some point in your life. The only problem, the only thing keeping you from feeling properly excited by the news is the father of the child itself—Orihara Izaya. It is not something the two of you had ever discussed and, knowing first hand just how dangerous his field of work as one of Japan’s best information brokers...well, you aren’t sure if you two could create a healthy environment for a child to grow up in. Providing love and food on the table was one thing, providing safety and security was another.

At the thought of food your stomach involuntarily grumbles. You didn’t realize just how hungry you are until now. You hadn’t eaten all day, the nervousness about the doctor’s visit having ruined your appetite. It is by sheer coincidence that you notice a familiar face only a few meters ahead entering the infamous sushi bar. You follow after him without hesitation.

“Welcome to Russia Sushi,” Simon greets with a grin.

You smile in return before sidling into the booth next to the blond man you had followed in.

“Hi, Shizuo,” you greet shyly. The man nods in acknowledgement, already looking over the menu.“Y/n,” he returns coolly, “how have you been?” His gaze suddenly darkens as his grip on the laminated menu tightens and you can already tell what he’s about to ask next.

“Has...the flea been treating you well?”

You have no doubt one word of complaint about Izaya would have Shizuo tearing the city apart to kill him. Shizuo was one of the first people in Ikebukuro you had met who you could call a “friend.” Although he wasn’t the type to frequent brunch dates and sleepovers to watch anime and gossip, he always made sure to greet you with a small smile, regardless of how his day was going, and had promised to protect you if you ever needed it.

It was already several months into your friendship when you had started dating Izaya and at first Shizuo had...not been happy, to say the least. To the blond, Izaya was incapable of genuinely caring about anyone but himself. There was always an interior motive and the people around him would always be in danger. After several long, long months of persuasive speaking on your part (naturally Izaya just got a kick out of teasing the man about your relationship rather than seeking approval), an official marriage to the man, and Shizuo seeing you still remaining unharmed through it all, Shizuo finally seems to accept your relationship—or at least tolerate it. However, you know one bad word about Izaya and Shizuo would be ready to kick his ass to Hong Kong on your behalf.

‘I wonder what he’d think about me not telling Izaya about the pregnancy.’ You mentally sour at the thought and physically shake your head to get rid of it.

“He’s been an angel,” you joke. Shizuo scoffs and you end up giggling as well. Regardless of disagreeing on just how bad Izaya is, you both know he’s far from an angel.

He had always been more curved horns and pointy tail than halo and wings...but you love him all the same.

Before Shizuo can verbally respond (likely with an insult about ‘the flea’), Simon appears behind the bar before you two, ready to take your orders. As usual, Shizuo places his order first so that you have a little longer to decide.

“I’ll take the natto sushi—” you can’t help but to shiver in disgust at the sound. “—and today’s special.”

You perk up at that.

“Special?”

Simon grins at your interest.

“Yes, today’s special is yummy drink, tastes just like Russian seaweed farms! Special is very good.”

The idea of a Rusian seaweed farm drink is moderately concerning but between Simon’s excitement and Shizuo’s unbothered look you decide to order it against your better judgement, along with some fatty tuna.

Izaya must really be rubbing off on you.

You and Shizuo share a few minutes of idle talk while you wait for your orders. He tells you of the most ridiculous people he has had to collect debts or protect Tom Tanaka from this month and your laughter has you forgetting about all of your pregnancy worries. You’ve completely relaxed by the time drinks arrive and you take a sip without hesitation.

“Mmm,” your eyes widen as you regard Shizuo, “this is actually really good!”

Shizuo offers a rare boyish grin before he sips his own pale green drink, watching you go in for more.

“Right? You can hardly even tell there’s any vodka in it.”

 ‘Vodka!?’

You gasp, accidentally inhaling extra liquid before you begin spluttering in panic. Shizuo quickly jumps into action, harshly patting your back but careful not to use too much strength. Half of the restaurant is looking your way in concern and even Simon looks like he’s just about to catapult himself over the bar to help you when you finally calm down and your choking is reduced to harsh pants while you try to catch your breath. You think most of the drink had been expelled in your coughing fit but you still feel queasy and anxious. What if it hurts the baby?

“Y/n, are you okay?’ Shizuo asks, hand awkwardly rubbing your back in an attempt to be comforting. “Are you allergic or something.”

“N-no, it’s not that I’m allergic but...I can’t have alcohol for a while.”

Shizuo raises a brow at that and you feel grateful that everyone seems to have returned to their own work by now, no longer staring at you. Simon has left the bar to attend to a customer in one of the private dining rooms, leaving you and Shizuo essentially alone in your corner of the sushi restaurant.

“Why can’t you have alcohol for a while? You used to love sake.”

He sends a teasing smirk with the last part, referring to an embarrassingly drunken moment you’d had a few weeks into living in the city. Shizuo had sworn to never bring it up again but clearly he paid that particular oath no mind.

“Well, um…”

You begin to fidget nervously. Originally you had no intentions of telling anyone about the baby but...Shizuo was a good friend, maybe your closest friend in Ikebukuro aside from Celty. You have no doubts he would be nothing but supportive and kind to you in a time when you need it most—that is, after he gets over the idea of another person sharing Izaya’s DNA being brought into the world, of course.

“Promise me you won’t tell anyone—not even Izaya. Especially not Izaya.”

Shizuo perks up at that, seeming interested in the prospect of you having something not even Izaya, your husband and the greatest information broker in all of Japan, knows about. Perhaps a small part of him would even relish in having something to keep from Izaya, some sort of “one-up” on the man.

“Of course,” he replies immediately, nodding.

You take a deep breath, bracing yourself.

“I’m pregnant.”

Everything seems to pause at your confession. Shizuo sits stock still and as the silence stretches on you begin to fear he didn’t hear and you’ll have to repeat it. However, before you can open your mouth to repeat those incriminating words, you’re startled by a sharp snap and look down to find the wooden chopsticks in Shizuo’s right hand broken in half. You trust him and know he would never hurt you but your heart rate still spikes and you tense in your seat, hand subconsciously resting over your stomach protectively. Shizuo's wide eyes follow the movement.

“Y-you're…" He finally stutters out. "...whose is it?"

You gawk, suddenly offended.

"Wh-who!? It’s Izaya's, you dumbass, who else!"

"I didn't want to make any assumptions!"

Your anger quickly dissolves into giggles at Shizuo's panicked expression and he visibly relaxes at the sound. There are a few moments of moderately comfortable silence between the two of you before Shizuo sighs and speaks again.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised, you've been married for a while now." His expression sours once he mentions marriage and you can tell he's internally reliving some of his worst encounters with your husband.

"I just can't believe there's going to be two of them now," he pouts. "That annoying piece of—"

"Hey," you interrupt, a teasing smirk on your face. "That's my baby daddy you're talking about."

Shizuo’s pales, looking like he'll throw up in disgust at any moment and you can't help but to laugh.

Maybe this whole pregnancy thing isn’t so bad.

. . .

You had been wrong—very wrong.

After your impromptu lunch with Shizuo, as you were walking out with your extra bag of fatty tuna to-go, it suddenly hit that you were about to go to the home you shared with Orihara Izaya pregnant with the unplanned child he knows nothing about. You nearly had a panic attack several times on the walk there as you mentally played through a multitude of scenarios of how to tell him and what his reaction might be. Izaya is involved in dangerous, illegal work—you can’t imagine a family and kids fits anywhere in that. You were lucky enough to have been asked to marry the man—there’s no way he would be ready for children as well.

‘Would he tell me to get rid of it?’

You had worked yourself so much on the way that by the time you arrived to the apartment you were mentally exhausted and barely managed to place the sushi in the fridge before you collapsed on the couch and turned on the television to zone out until Izaya came home.

A few hours later a sound at the front door jolted you to attention.

“I’m home~!” a man’s voice cheerfully booms from the entrance.

You silently pray to every god in existence that you can pull an Oscar-worthy act before plastering a smile on your face and standing to greet your husband.

“Welcome home, Izaya! I bought fatty tuna, it’s in the fridge.”

Izaya’s vermillion eyes seem to sparkle at that and he immediately makes his way to the kitchen after shedding his trademark faux fur-trimmed coat. That buys you enough time to contemplate your next course of action and how you will break the news to him. You know that, despite the fact he enjoys games and toying with others for as long as he deems entertaining, he expects direct answers from the people who work for him like Namie or Celty. But how could you possibly just outright say you’re pregnant right now? The man is humming to himself while stuffing his face with sushi right now for god’s sake—the mood is totally off!

“—Y/n?”

Your own name startles you out of your thoughts and as you blink to tune back into the outside world you find Izaya learning against the counter directly across from you, eying you with mirth as he holds the plastic container of sushi, nearly half empty by now.

“My, my. Someone seems a bit distracted today,” he taunts lowly. You tense at that, fearing he’s about to ask you what you’re thinking about.

Luckily, he seems to be feeling merciful today as he simply repeats what he was saying while you were zoned out, his tone back to almost childish glee.

“I was saying I met with Goto-chan today—y’know the one who was on ‘vacation’ for while—” he uses air quotes with the free hand not holding up the sushi and you can’t help but to smile at that, unhealthily endeared by this odd, dangerous man.

“—well turns out he has a kid now. He even brought her to our meeting with his gang; what terrible parenting~! Right, Y/n-chan?”

You gulp before barely managing a nod of agreement, suddenly extremely uncomfortable with the topic of conversation.

“I would never take my own young offspring to a place like that. Sometimes meetings end very badly, y’know~,” he continues on. You’re suddenly aware of the sweat collecting at your brow despite the moderate temperature in the apartment and you wonder if the panic is showing on your face.

 ‘He...he doesn’t know anything yet...right?’

There’s a beat of silence in which you two just stare at each other. Your face feels clammy and hot but you try your best to maintain a neutral expression while Izaya’s lips are curved into their usual smirk with a playful glint in his deep red eyes—along with something else you can’t quite read but somehow evokes a ball of dread to form deep within your gut.

A few seconds later and the moment is gone as Izaya turns away to dispose of the empty sushi contained and is rambling on about something else you don’t have the energy to even pretend to listen to as relief washes over your body.

The rest of the night is spent curled up on the couch watching cartoons while Izaya works, not bringing up the topic of children again for the rest of the night. You decide waiting a little longer to tell him wouldn’t hurt—you just need some time to gather your thoughts and plan exactly how to tell him.

. . .

Somehow “a little longer” becomes “a lot longer” as every time you approach Izaya with a speech already planned, you look into his eyes and immediately chicken out. To make matters worse, you aren’t sure if you’re just being hyper-aware of all things related to children now or if the whole world is really out to get you but it seems babies are everywhere. A few days after that night you turned on the TV to watch something with Izaya only to find a pregnancy documentary of all things on which Izaya insisted you two watch because he wanted to “learn more about the development of his precious humans.” Another few days after that the two of you were on a rare evening walk together when a small, crying child approached the two of you claiming to have lost his mother while chasing a dog. Izaya unexpectedly took over the situation and handled it exceptionally well, diligently looking for the boy’s mother with you while keeping him entertained to the point he didn’t even want to say goodbye to Izaya when you two finally found his mother.

External factors like that made things a little more difficult for you as you attempted not to let your secret slip out but other factors were a lot more difficult to hide—such as your slowly but steadily growing belly and strange new mood swings. The former was easily remedied by electing to wear your looser more comfortable clothing. Izaya had never been a physically affectionate partner so you didn’t have to worry about him noticing your stomach in a hug or anything like that and he never pushed when you turned down his occasional sexual advances at night citing that you were too tired or had a stomach ache. Your mood swings and other hormonal changes, however, were not so avoidable.

The first time you had raised your voice at him—and over something so small as coming home half an hour later than he said he would—came as a surprise to both of you. After a moment of wide eyed staring from both sides he seemed to recover quickly though and teased you about missing him too much. A few times you had also spontaneously burst into tears for no apparent reason, to which he simply pulled you into his side and started telling you a random funny story about his adventures at work until your tears stopped.

But even with Izaya being so unintentionally helpful in keeping your secret, the pressure and guilt of constantly lying to your own husband and the man famed for knowing everything gradually eats at you day-by-day, hour-by-hour, and minute-by-minute until you are constantly seeking a relief from the stress. Sometimes that comes in form of finishing a whole box of chocolates, sometimes via napping for six hours straight, and sometimes through social media and chatrooms.

One Thursday afternoon you log in to the chat for the first time since finding out you’re pregnant, pleasantly surprised to see your two favorite members already online.

▶▶ [USER01] has entered the chat.

[Tarō Tanaka] Hello, User-san. Long time no see.

[Setton] we missed u User-chan.

You smile, instantly feeling better with the online presence of your friends.

[USER01] hey, guys. whats up?

[Setton] Tanaka-san was just talking about volunteering at the daycare.

[Tarō Tanaka] Ah, I just had some freetime…

[Setton] don’t be modest. ur really amazing Tanaka-san.

[Tarō Tanaka] Ahaha, really it’s nothing! I just played with some babies for a few hours...

[Setton] nonsense. don’t u think Tanaka-san is cool, User-chan?

You take a second too long to answer, suddenly feeling anxious by the reminder of daycares and babies. You wonder if you and Izaya will leave your own child at a daycare some day...if he even accepts the child.

[USER01] ah, yeah..very cool

[Tarō Tanaka] User-san are you alright? You seem a little off today, you’re usually more talkative...

[Setton] u know u can tell us anything. we’re friends.

You hesitate to type, your trembling hands hovering over the keyboard as you consider your options. On one hand, you feel guilty at the prospect of telling more people who are not your husband before actually telling Izaya himself. As the father, regardless of his reaction, he deserved to be the first to know. On the other hand, keeping these overwhelming feelings to yourself makes you feel as if you’ll burst at the seams. So much stress can’t be good for the baby.

  [USER01] well, to be honest I’m….

▶▶ [Kanra] has entered the chat.

[Kanra] Yahoo~! (≧∇≦)/

[Kanra] What is everyone talking about today?? owo

[USER01] nothing much!! just the weather..it has been so hot lately!

[Tarō Tanaka] But it’s September…

[Setton] ???

[Setton] ah yeah, nothing much i guess...how are u Kanra?

[Kanra] Ehh~ What’s with this weird atmosphere!? I feel like everyone is keeping secrets from Kanra-chan! (●´^｀●)

[USER01] no way!! not at all! ah, its already this late? I have to get dinner soon, bye-bye!!

[Tarō Tanaka] It’s only 2 o’clock though...

▶▶ [USER01] has left the chat.

Your laptop closes with a resounding tap and you release the breath you didn’t realize you were holding. Izaya seems to have impeccably awful timing. You hate to think you were moments away from confessing your secret right in front of him and two mutual friends in a public chat room. You’re fairly certain that must be among the top ten worst ways to announce a pregnancy.

Frazzled, you head to the kitchen to make a snack.

After shuffling through the refrigerator for a few minutes, pushing aside suddenly unappetizing leftovers of Chinese take-out and pizza, you settle on sliced pineapple, kimchi, and a pack of microwaveable rice from the cabinet. Even you knew the combination was abhorrent in normal circumstances, but for the past few weeks you found yourself craving obscure combinations of food from ice cream drizzled with honey mustard to canned tuna and chocolate.

You are only a few bites in when you hear the familiar sounds of the front door opening and your husband announcing his arrival. The lanky man immediately slips into the kitchen to greet you with a small peck on the top of your head.

“I see my favorite little human is enjoying one of her...creations again,” Izaya comments.

When you look up you catch the split second of disgust on his features as he eyes your bowl before he quickly schools his expression back into something more neutral. You almost laugh.

“Do you want me to make you some?” You can’t help but to tease, trying your best to feign a serious expression as you ask.

Izaya looks mildly horrified before playing it off with a dismissive laugh.

“No thanks, I already ate.”

He gracefully breezes past you to make his way through the living room and to his personal office in the back where he make quick work of logging into his desktop. It is a usual occurrence—despite being home his work is never truly finished. He has to be flexible in his field, ready to gather new intel the moment it becomes available. It is strange to compare Izaya to anyone with a regular job but you often find yourself thinking he must really love his career if he invests so much of himself into it. You’re sure that by now he has done enough odd jobs to no longer need the money to live the rest of his life worry-free and yet he continues to work relentlessly, never taking a vacation day once in the years you’ve known him.

“By the way,” Izaya calls out, interrupting your thoughts.

“I have some things to take care of in Ōsaka this weekend. I’ll be back Sunday night.”

He glances up from his computer to send you a teasing smirk.

“Try not to get too lonely without me~”

You nearly choke on a piece of pineapple as you fluster, immediately denying his claim despite his obnoxious laughter drowning out your protests.

It is not until you lie in bed that night, trying to fall asleep, that you recognize this could be the moment you’ve been waiting for.

. . .

The next morning, after seeing Izaya off for the weekend, you grab your laptop and log into your nearly forgotten Pinterest account to look for cute pregnancy announcement ideas. With Izaya physically out of the house for more than 24 hours you feel the pressure of constantly hiding all clues lifted off your shoulders and you feel free to properly put something together that you hope will result in a more positive reaction from him than just blurting it out of the blue. You have to periodically remind yourself that this is his child as much as it is yours and he is just as responsible for creating it so that you don’t psych yourself out imagining him blaming you for potentially ruining his life.

A majority of the pins you scroll through are immediate no’s. They’re either way too corny or tacky and you highly doubt Izaya would appreciate the humor in a “thx for knocking me up!” sticker.

...Okay well maybe he would but you certainly wouldn’t.

By the twelfth page you feel exasperated. You’re almost tempted to just send him an “I’m pregnant” text right now to get it over with—at least you won’t be there to see his expression in realtime. That’s when you stumble upon the pin. You immediately click the little square before it loads into an image that takes up your full screen. On the image is a white marble background, likely a kitchen countertop, with a round white cake in the center with the words “we’re having a baby!” sprawled on top in purple icing.

It is simple, to the point, cute, and most importantly—cake.

Who doesn’t love cake?

 ‘Well, Izaya doesn’t really like sweet things that much…’

You mentally tell your self-conscious to shut up. A cake would be perfect.

With your mind made up, slam your laptop shut and get dressed to go to your nearest bakery and place your order.

. . .

On Sunday afternoon you pick up your cake from the bakery, only mildly embarrassed by the amount of times the owner bids you a “congratulations” and “your husband is lucky man!” When you make it back to the apartment and open up the blue pastry box on the counter everything suddenly feels very real. The cake itself is perfect—exactly like the picture you saw that day on Pinterest. A white buttercream base with beautiful purple letters spelling out “we’re having a baby!” in cursive. There are even small yellow flowers surrounding the edges, as suggested by the shop owner.

It looks absolutely delicious but you feel like you’re going to throw up.

According to Izaya’s text that morning he’ll be back within three hours from now and that’s when you’ll have to wordlessly hand him this cake and watch as his expression morphs into something you’ve likely never seen before.

‘What if he just abandons us?’

Your right hand unconsciously wraps over the now noticeable little bulge on your stomach. It’s too late to have second-thoughts, you reason with yourself, the longer you draw this out the worse it will be. You decide a quick nap would do some good to ease your nerves. You’ll set your alarm for half an hour from now then clean the apartment and put on some soothing cartoons until Izaya gets home. After gingerly placing the cake box in the refrigerator you shuffle up the stairs to the bedroom. You’re unconscious almost as soon as your head hits the pillow.

. . .

When you peel your eyelids open you find yourself feeling more calm than you remember feeling after a nap. You stretch each of your limbs and wriggle your toes as you allow your foggy brain to properly wake up.The rays of light streaming through the blinds seem to radiate a comforting warmth to fight of the chill of the bedroom.

 ‘Wait...light!?’

A rush of panic overtakes your system and you scramble to find your phone on the bedside table, nearly screaming when you read the blaring white digits on the screen.

 9:07AM

You didn’t just take a nap, you slept through the night.

Your head whips around to find the other side of the bed neatly made, just as it was when you climbed in bed yesterday. Maybe you still had a chance—maybe some unforeseen thing happened and Izaya had to spend an extra night in Ōsaka. You nearly trip and faceplant several times in your haste to rush downstairs and into the kitchen where you’d hid the cake.

Placing the cold box on the counter, your hands tremble lightly as they slowly lift the lid.

You heart skips a beat.

One perfectly sized slice was missing, leaving only a few crumbs in its wake.

You don’t even have time to have a proper mental breakdown before a door slams shut. “Ah, I see you’re finally awake~!”

Almost in slow motion your eyes slide from the cake to the tall black haired man holding a bag of what some distant part of your brain recognizes as breakfast from your favorite café. Izaya looks unbothered, irritatingly so, as if he had no idea of the inner turmoil you are currently experiencing.

“You must have been exhausted—you didn’t even stir when I came in last night.”

He has the audacity to exaggerate a pout as he whines, “it made me feel unwelcome, y’know~”

“Th-the...cake...” you barely manage to stutter out, struggling to make sense of the current situation.

“Hmm?” he hums, the smirk of his lips making it apparent he knows exactly what you’re thinking.

“Ah, yes, thank you for the treat~ I don't usually like sweets but this one was surprisingly delicious~!”

He begins to casually place his bags on the counter across from you and pull out the breakfast items, explaining nothing more and even humming a bit to himself as he works to sort the food.

God you want to punch him.

You swallow thickly to steady yourself before trying again.

“S-so what do you think about...it” you ask, awkwardly gesturing to your stomach..

"Hmm? Ah, the vanilla was good but there was a little too much icing—"

"NO DUMBASS, I WAS TALKING ABOUT THE BABY!” You finally snap, face bright red in anger.

Izaya only guffaws, laughing as if you had just cracked the joke of the century. You’re only split seconds from throwing the whole cake at him when his laughter finally dies down and he slides around the counter and to your side. He wraps his arms around your waist, hands gently resting on either side of your belly and you feel your heart flutter unexpectedly at the tenderness of the action.

“You’re so cute when you think you’re hiding something from me.”

Your breath hitches.

“Wh-what? What do you mean by that—” you desperately attempt to turn to face him but his hold keeps you firmly in place.

“I’ve known since day one~” he sing-songs, sounding annoyingly proud of himself. “I’m surprised you finally decided to tell me though. I was starting to think you’d wait until you went into labor and needed a ride to the hospital,” Izaya jokes. “No way,” you protest, “that’s literally impossible—there’s no way you could have known already.”

He moves one arm from your body to swipe at some frosting on the forgotten cake, bringing it over to your lips in an offering you accept without thinking, taste buds tingling at the sweetness.

“Silly Y/n—I’m an expert at planning, y’know? All those times we ‘forgot’ to use protection weren’t an accident~”

Your whole body seems to erupt in flames as a blush takes over your face. This time, you really do hit him.

“I-idiot!!”

[bittersweetmelxdy]

May i please get a scenario where gavin and mc are in highschool; dont quite know eachother yet but gavin overhears some guys talking about her and he decides to teach them a lesson,,pretty please i've been thinking about this non-stop since i read something similar in one of his dates(??at least i think it was one of his dates)

Yes, it was his ‘Old Days’ Date (I think that’s what it’s called), and because of that date, you may notice this has some elements from that date, as I wanted to show the scenario where MC never finds out about it, and I hope you like it x

Title: the silent protector and his beloved girl

Pairing: Gavin x MC

Words: 1,806

It was early April, the cherry blossoms had recently bloomed, and the petals danced in the air as the gentle breeze weaved its way between the branch, jostling the blossoms. The early morning air, littered with the sounds of students, joking and talking as they made their way towards the campus. A girl stopped at the gates of Loveland High School, hearing someone call her name and she spun around, uniform skirt fanning out around her legs, bright smile painting her lips. The two friends ran up to the girl as she waited patiently for them to catch up, and the three of them chatted happily as they entered the main school building. Unbeknownst to the trio, as they walked through the school grounds innocently, a group of boys, hiding on the side of the building, eyed them up and down, especially the girl known across school as their ‘Campus Belle’. The leader of the boys who was crouched close to the floor, his figure half-shrouded in the shadows, smirked at stood slowly, eying his friends, silent words being exchanged between them as they entered the building.

A lone figure stood in the gates of the campus, all other students giving him a wide berth out of pure fear. The boy had just come back from a week suspension, his cheek still sporting a white bandage, and his knuckles mildly bruised. His honey-toned eyes narrowed, watching the boys enter the building, and his glare scared the students around him, their faces paling and pitying the people on the receiving end. As Gavin entered the building, he made his way over to his locker, and glancing out the corner of his eye, he saw you.

You were two years his junior, he had never interacted with you personally, but he somehow had your loudmouth friend following him around claiming he and him were now friends, so he was never starved for updates. He was content to watch you from afar, your beauty making you worth of the ‘Campus Belle’ title, but that wasn’t what truly captivated Gavin. Gavin knew that your status as the ‘Campus Belle’ did you no favours, he often sadly had to watch from afar as jealous classmates would talk about you viciously when you weren’t present. Along with jealous female classmates, Gavin gritted his teeth, jaw clenched tight as he recalled the leering glances some boys gave you, his fist tightening on the locker door. Seeing you were making your way down the corridor, waving to your friends who were making their way upstairs to the classroom, and you stayed on the ground floor walking towards the offices. Seeing that a couple of the boys from earlier were about to follow you, Gavin slammed his locker shut with loud bang, walking at least 5 metres behind you, cutting off the boys from you, silently protecting you as you headed over to talk to the music teacher, and Gavin seeing you safe, turned to speak to Mr Keller as he prepared to return to school after the suspension.

Lunchtime finally crawled around, every student breathing a sigh of relief as the bell rang through the school grounds. You and your friends moved your tables close together, choosing to sit around your seat, which was directly next to the side of the classroom, the sliding panels pulled back to reveal the corridor. You and your friends opened your lunchboxes, grabbing your chopsticks and digging in, chatting happily about the newest TV shows, idol performances and general gossip. Looking to the side you saw that Minor was rooting around his desk and after asking what he was looking for, he pouted telling you he couldn’t find his wallet to buy lunch. Laughing at his antics you smiled and dug in your backpack for your purse, handed him enough money to buy his lunch, him thanking you profusely before dashing off to buy lunch. What you didn’t know, was that Gavin saw the whole interaction, he was standing, leaning against the windows to outside, watching you through the sliding panels as you ate lunch. His usually cold gaze, melting into warmth as he watched you laugh and giggle carelessly, oblivious to the world around you. He watched you interact with Minor, and when you lent your friend money, his heart was touched at your kindness, reminding him of that day in the rain where your kind soul stopped to look after that poor stray kitten, despite the heavy downpour soaking you to the bone. He recalled you bright eyes, their light barely hidden by your glasses, stray hairs sticking to your face, as he threw his uniform jacket over both of your heads, ushering you to safety. To this day he could still faintly smell the scent of your shampoo, the thing that disrupted him from his musings was the reappearance of Minor, who was incessantly chattering at him. Gavin choosing to offer him a one-word response, left his post watching over you, to go each lunch on the roof, Minor following him the whole way.

It was after school, and Gavin took up his usual spot, sitting hidden between the boughs of the gingko tree, the green leaves shielding his presence from others. He sat quietly and calmly; his head leaned back against the trunk of the tree, as he heard the familiar and calming sounds of his girl playing the piano. The songs weren’t overly complicated, and she did often stumble through passages she wasn’t as well-practiced on, but Gavin could clearly hear the emotion in her tone, the clear notes soothing his troubled thoughts. However, unfortunately the peaceful moment was not to last, Gavin’s closed eyes twitched as he heard the callous words of the boys below him, thoroughly ruining his reverie.

“Hey, are you sure you want to go for her, there are easier girls...” one of the boys said, disturbing the quiet, but the conversation didn’t interest Gavin at first.

“Yeah but none of them are our ‘Campus Belle’, are they?” the leader of the group sneered your title, making Gavin’s jaw twitch.

“I’ve heard Gavin’s got his eye on her.” another member mockingly said, and Gavin glared down at them, as the others started to laugh.

“Gavin? The school overlord? Does he really believe he deserves to be with a girl like that?” the first member laughed as he spoke, a pit settling in Gavin’s stomach, knowing with your good grades and kind heart, you and he were worlds apart.

“Plus, I heard he’s transferring soon...” the fourth member of the group finally spoke up, sing-songing his open-ended sentence.

“I’d take the chance with Gavin for a girl with legs like that.” the leader spat on the ground, a sinister smile growing on his face, “Can you imagine, how he’d react having his beloved girl all over me? The revenge alone would be worth all the trouble he’s been putting us through.”

The leader, noticed a small statured freshman hovering at the corner of the building, knowing that this kid was there to hand over his protection money, the leader nodding to his friends and the four of them moved from below the piano room, walking to the alley behind the school building. A few seconds passed, before a ‘whoosh’ was heard as Gavin landed on the ground, having jumped from the tree. His eyes narrowed, an unusual cold breeze rattling through the school yard, taking a step in the direction of those boys. Pausing for a moment, he looked back up at the piano room, hearing his girl had moved on to play what he considers now as ‘their song’, a stark contrast to the brutal scene about to occur.

Gavin walked around the corner, leaning against the wall of the school, watching the leader and his followers bully the poor freshman into forking over his protection money.

“I thought he paid you last week, is your protection that expensive?” Gavin’s cold tone cut through each person present, the leader let go of the freshman’s collar, and the poor boy scuttled out of the alley, head down, Gavin watching him leave.

“What, terrorising us one more time before you leave?” one of the followers mocked him, “Is the school finally getting rid of you?”

Gavin glared at the boy, the force of his stare causing the boy to shrink back, “That’s none of your business.”

“But after you leave, your beloved girl will no longer be under your personal protection, meaning she’s free to take,” the leader arrogantly walked closer to Gavin, stopping right in front of him and getting in his face as he whistled in a low tone, “And with a waist and legs like hers, I would mind taking care of her mysel-”

He didn’t finish that sentence, as Gavin had punched him straight in the jaw, the leader being knocked clean off his feet from the punch. However, he scrambled back to his feet, launching himself at Gavin with his friends as backup. What followed, was a fight where Gavin took on all four guys, the sounds of punches being thrown, and grunts of pain permeated the afternoon air. Finally, the fight ended with the four guys nursing their injures on the floor, Gavin being the only one left standing, panting from exertion. Not sparing them a second glance, Gavin turned and left the alleyway, leaving the aftermath leaving with a simple parting sentence.

“Don’t even let me hear, you went anywhere near my girl.” his cold no-nonsense tone, not inviting any argument from his opponents.

As he approached the gates of the high school, he froze in his steps, seeing you on the phone, your bike balanced on the gate post beside you, and keeping his presence quiet he came within earshot.

“It’s fine Dad, I can pass by the grocery store on the way home.” you listened to your Dad’s response and giggled slightly, “Yeah, yeah. I’ll be safe. Bye love you!” you ended the phone call and swung your leg over the bike and set off.

Gavin watched entranced, as you rode off, your hair flying behind you, and for a moment he wondered how your hair would look if he took you on a flight. But he shook his head sadly, remembering the words of the boys, he and you were worlds apart, you were the ‘Campus Belle’ and he was the ‘School Overlord’, there was no chance for the two of you. However, knowing how kind your soul was, he hoped the letter would reach you, if only so he could tell you the goodbye you deserved before he disappeared.

Gavin cast his eyes to the sky, allowing the warmth of the sun’s rays to warm his face, and whispered a wish to the wind, “Please, fate give us a chance...”

[write-it-good-imagines]

The Masked Ghost - Jackson Wang AU

HELLO FOLKS, HERE COMES YOUR ADORABLE AUTHOR AFTER HARSH WINTERS OF WAITING!!! Ahem, well, I took my time, but this is one of the stories I really am proud of. It originally started as inspiration from the ‘100 ways’ MV and song but you know me; I love myself a good read. I hope you all enjoy it as much I enjoyed writing it~ I hope the details are historically accurate, I tried documenting myself first so it would make the experience more real.

Synopsis: The heavy burden of the crown will soon become Prince Jackson’s responsibility. He wants to be a good ruler to his people and correct the mistakes of his ancestors. He seeks the help of a famous rebel among his people to guide him through the process. The urban legend is, however, an old friend of the Prince.

15.6k words, Emperor AU, somewhat soulmate au too, Historical inspiration, crime, explicit violence, love

“My dear son, there will be a time when the feeling of love won’t be a fleeting breeze, but a fulfilling storm and it shall last as long as your heart keeps on beating.  “

“How will I know it, Mama?”

“Oh, Jackson, you will feel it battling so violently in your chest, it’s an unmistakable feeling. You will just know.”

 Prince Jackson opened his eyes abruptly, the light of dawn bathing the room through the beautifully embroidered drapes of his royal chamber. He let out a low groan of displeasure and stood up to adjust to the low lighting. A lazy hand was brought up to rub at his eyes. He woke up a little earlier than usual, he figured. His servants weren’t swarmed around him to make sure he was offered everything he needed from the moment he opened his eyes.

He crawled out of bed and tightened the bead of his robe as he walked to the side door of his chamber so he could breathe in the fresh air of the morning. The garden was stretching vastly outside his porch and he took a couple of barefooted steps outside, the grass tickling his feet. His days of being a crown prince were rapidly coming to an end, along with the freedom he previously enjoyed. His father was ready to retire and let him inherit all the heavy responsibilities of the throne. Jackson let out a sigh and looked up at the sky. The bold rays of the sun engulfed the garden and he sheltered his face with the back of his hand.

“Your majesty! What are you doing outside? You aren’t even dressed!”

Jackson closed his eyes momentarily, his moment of peace quickly falling to pieces. He turned his body to the source of the voice, greeting the old gardener with a warm smile. He was the only one actively serving Jackson at his age; he had always felt like a grandfather to him.

“Did the servants cause you displeasure?”

“Not at all,” Jackson replied with a chuckle. “I woke up a tad earlier and I figured I’d enjoy the calm—“

The frail door of his chamber was opened once again, the loud sound indicating the rush and panic of the servants who failed to find him in his bed.

“While it lasted, your majesty?” the old man laughed, patting Jackson’s arm lightly.

The young girls bowed their heads stiffly and waited as the lead servant and tailor approached Jackson with a look of disapproval on their features. “Your majesty, you should not walk so hastily around, especially without your shoes! What if you hurt yourself, your majesty?”

Jackson nodded imperceptibly and dipped his head towards the old man before walking ahead of his two most worried servants. “What could possibly happen to me? Step on a rock?”

He heard the young girls giggle at his remark and were immediately scolded by the senior servant. “You should take this more seriously, your majesty! You will be emperor soon! What will everyone make of you if you show yourself so carelessly?”

Jackson extended his arms to allow his tailor to dress him into his appropriate clothes. His room became crowded in an instant with people who were either making his bed or arranging his table with the necessary tools for the morning routine. He turned his back to the young girls during the time of his fitting, trying to ease some of their embarrassment.

“Your majesty, are you sure you do not want anyone to come and shave you?”

Jackson shook his head, bringing his hands to his waist to tie the golden sash over the black chest piece. His fingers lingered over the small embroidered details which formed an elegant pattern on top of the charcoal silk. He was among the few men at the palace who opted for trousers which often rose eyebrows for the lack of elegance. His outfit was completed by the gauntlets adorning his forearms. The tailor took a good look at his prince. “I have never seen anyone who suits black and gold more than your majesty does. Although your palette is rather poor in terms of colors.”

Jackson laughed and buttoned his collar. “Thank you for your sincerity. My father would have had you beheaded for this.”

The man bowed his head in terror, so Jackson placed a hand on his shoulder.  

“Maybe you should follow his example, your majesty!” The head servant folded her arms over her chest. She was one of the few seniors in the palace who disagreed with the friendlier approach Jackson had with all of the servants. He was known for being kind and humble, someone who tried treating everyone with respect, no matter their job or title. Everyone adored him for being such a sympathetic royal and there were many who competed for being assigned to him. Although those part of the older generation questioned his extended kindness. They did not see it fit for a future king. Especially since it attracted greedy females around him.

“How can I abuse my power? These people are my servants, not my slaves.” Jackson sat down at the table and took the blade in between his fingers to get rid of his facial hair.

“Prince, forgive my ignorant outburst.” She bowed to Jackson. “I wouldn’t want people to take advantage of your otherwise bright nature—“

“Are they, though?”

Jackson smirked at the voice of his best friend and closest advisor, Guiren, who leaned against the doorframe. The girls formed a line to bow to him and steal some glances.

“I wouldn’t recommend mistaking his majesty’s kindness for weakness.”

“Ah Guiren, weren’t we supposed to meet for breakfast?” Jackson wiped his face clean with a white piece of cloth, sewed with the same sophisticated design. “You came here to shadow my popularity among the servants?”

The girls blushed at Jackson’s words and were ushered outside by the lead servant. “We’ll leave you to master Guiren, your majesty. The breakfast is ready to be served in the main backyard, as you requested.”

“Then that would be all, thank you. I would like us to be alone at this time.”

The seniors bowed to Jackson before retreating out of his chamber. Guiren approached his best friend with a smug expression imprinted on his features. “As much as I want to, I cannot top you, Jackson. The queue of females desiring to climb in your bed is long enough to circle the empire twice. It beats me how you simply refuse to summon any to your chamber.”

Jackson waved his hand dismissively. “That is of no concern to me now. You showing up so eagerly means you took care of what I asked.”

“I have some interesting things to share with you, indeed. The soldiers are full of gossip.”

The two of them walked to where the breakfast was served, avoiding the topic on their way there. One of the first lessons Jackson’s father taught him was that walls have ears and people’s trust is as fray as a cherry blossom flower in late spring. And he knew himself how many people were executed because of betrayal or plotting against the empire over trivial interests such as riches.

Guiren was the right hand of the military general and was regarded highly in their ranks. He had been too young to participate in the last big war but was otherwise trusted with many little revolts scattered across the empire and had an immeasurable amount of talent in swordsmanship. And Jackson’s mentor in the art.

“Before I tell you about it though, why do you seek their help? What are you afraid is going to happen?”

Jackson took the chopsticks in between his fingers. “One of the many advantages of the royals is that they are rarely revealed to the wider public and that gave me the possibility to go among our people. I’ve heard some worrying words that a new war is boiling.”

Guiren followed his example. “That was before the public ceremony last month. You were introduced as our new king, though.”

Thanks to his endeavors among the people of the empire and his occasional help with the field works, Jackson was enthusiastically received as their new monarch. He knew how important it was for people to put their trust in their king and how necessary it was for them to believe the king can serve them accordingly. It was a steady path toward peace. However, he did not help people just for the sake of it. He really enjoyed putting a smile on their faces and easing their hardships in however manner he could. He was deeply saddened to see how much misery the upper class poured upon them. And the people loved him in return.

“So who keeps you informed?”

“The old gardener, remember him? His granddaughter runs a bathhouse.”

Guiren chuckled. “Well, figures you would put your looks to good use. That’s smart, though. A bathhouse is a commonplace for fresh information.”

Jackson agreed and put his bowl of rice down. “Your turn.”

“Well, what do you want me to begin with?”

“Isn’t it obvious? The beginning.”

Guiren scratched at his nape and clicked his tongue. “Okay. But make sure you chew the food before I tell you.”

“Ah come on, just say it.”

“The Masked Ghost is supposed to be a woman.”

Jackson choked on his food. Guiren quirked his eyebrow at him, handing him his cup of tea.

“Told you.”

“That’s impossible.” Jackson shook his head and took a sip from his tea. “Thirty officials killed over the past month, countless other thieves and criminals mysteriously dead and you tell me she’s a woman?”

“She’s certainly been building her reputation in the empire, but believe me when I say she is worshipped by common folk because she brings them the justice us royals fail to. My sources cannot be wrong about this.”

Jackson took his chin in between his thumb and index. “My father showed me some of the bodies. Those were clean cuts of the jugular.”

Guiren nodded. “I suppose his majesty only told you the bright part of the story. Some of the officials she killed were applying the tax law too harshly on farmers and often overworked them for an extra coin. But the others that she killed were known for their abusive behavior towards women and their violent outbursts that led to innocent girls being murdered in the process. One of your cousins was her target for a short while. It looked like he was innocent so he was spared.”

Jackson winced. He knew the King tried his best to reduce the abuse rate in the country because history taught him it comes with drastic consequences, but he could only do so little about his officials. There was no written law that women were not meant to be toys of the thirsty wolves.

“There’s more. They say the Masked Ghost entered a fight with 10 of our trained palace guards because she was caught beating a thief to literal death. Word has it she was so skilled with a sword that they couldn’t even scrape her. She’s been regarded as a highly wanted murderer ever since.”

Jackson tilted his head toward a group of birds playing around the pond in the yard.

“That being said,” Guiren continued after having finished his plate. “I won’t let you meet The Ghost.”

“No.”

“Jackson, are you insane? She’s shown no remorse toward any of her victims. Do you think she’ll spare you because you’re set to become King? She was so close to killing your cousin, a royal by blood.”

Jackson looked back at Guiren with a determined look in his eyes. “I need the ghost to teach me how to wield a sword and how to fight.”

“I do plenty of that.”

“You don’t. Because they don’t allow you to. What am I supposed to do if an actual war comes, Guiren? Sit pretty on my throne and watch you sacrifice yourselves for me?”

Guiren let out a scoff. “That is our duty, your majesty.”  

Jackson shook his head and looked away. “I cannot put my life in the hand of my subjects. Even if I trust you with my life Guiren, I refuse to be helpless. And honestly, now that I’ve heard the whole story, I kind of understand her reasons.”

Guiren blinked in surprise. “Killing high government officials because she doesn’t like the law?”

“The Ghost might take the law in her hands. But it is just, however wrong. She does what we cannot.”

Guiren acknowledged Jackson’s words, despite the fact that he hated how much truth resided in them. He was a dedicated follower of the written law even if he did not completely agree with it because it was the right thing to do. And Jackson knew, too. Rules are meant to keep a society in order and are meant to be obeyed, no matter the personal beliefs. That was what a monarch did. What Jackson soon had to do.

“Listen, Jackson.” Guiren sighed. “I know you will be a great ruler especially because you are not a tyrant. But don’t succumb to your own heart. It will bring much disorder. And you alone cannot turn around habits that all of us inherited for ages. It’s how your father and his predecessors kept this empire flourishing. By abiding to the customs and to the law.”

“I am aware of that.” Jackson said, defeated.

“But that doesn’t make you change your mind, now does it?”

The two of them laughed and Guiren gave his friend a tiny bit of paper. “I need a skilled person in the field. I need to keep track of everything so I can reduce the violence and the blood, no matter how little.”

  After his evening duties finished, a whole lesson taught by his father and his advisors about politics and economics, Jackson was sent back to his chamber for the night. He waited for the servants to exit his room and whistled in a distinctive tone to let an awaiting Guren know he would be thus unsupervised. He was given common clothes and a cape to mask his silhouette from the curios eyes and then swiftly sneaked out of the palace thanks to his friend’s authority and his secret routes.

The night was in full bloom, the darkness thick even with the torches lit around the capital to provide some light. There weren’t many people walking the streets and it made it even easier for him to move around. Jackson checked the writing on the bit of paper and was still perplexed by how vague it was. Guiren did not give him an exact location in the clue so he strolled around the back alleys, trying to find something for guidance. His feet stopped abruptly and dug into the dirt when the unexpected cold of a blade made contact with the skin of his neck.

“If it isn’t Prince Wang taking a night walk on my turf. Or should I say King Wang?”

Jackson felt a cold shiver traverse his spine. The voice belonged to a woman indeed, but the harshness of it told him there would be but a wrong word to his end.

“What are you doing here all alone?”

Jackson gulped and felt the tip of the blade tracing a vein in his neck. He knew you would have killed him long ago if you felt like it. “I wish to speak with you.”

He heard you chuckle and, in spite of the rather crucial situation he found himself in, thought it was a beautiful sound. “Oh? I knew I was famous in the palace, but I did not expect a royal coming down here with a speech prepared for me. Speak quickly before I change my mind.”

Jackson couldn’t afford to hesitate. He went there to convince The Ghost to be his partner. “I want you to teach me how to wield a sword.”

If he hadn’t had a blade dangling at his throat, he would have allowed himself to be entranced by your beautiful laugh. You stepped lightly from behind him, your blade now lowered to your hand and you started playing with it as you kept on laughing.

“You know, the lady who sells rice cakes mentioned you are an entertainer but I didn’t expect you to amuse me this much!”

Jackson took a good look at you as you placed yourself before him. Your face was covered entirely by the impressive porcelain mask so as not to leave any clue of your facial traits and the dragon pattern painted on it was majestically executed. You certainly were taller than he expected you to be, matching him evenly, and your body was covered in a thoroughly crafted crimson leather armor, with black and brown assortments. The only thing he could only catch a glimpse of in the endearing moonlight was your ebony hair, braided in a style he did not recognize. It must have been one of the foreign treats he had read in the papers brought to the palace by the naval officers.

“I did not intend to humor you. My reputation precedes me, yet now I am but serious.”

You turned your back to him. “Go home, Prince. This is not a place for you flimsy royals.”

“I beg of you. I want to be a King worthy of his people, capable of shielding them from danger. And as I am now, I am incompetent.”

You stopped in your tracks and tilted your head towards him. You were taken by surprise; never in your life have you heard of any royal who walked among the commoners, let alone beg one of the nation criminals to teach him how to better himself. You heard rumors about him and spied on his activities when he was out in the empire but it was never enough to convince you he was any different from his predecessors. He came out of the same cocoon after all.

“This empire has never had a King worthy of his people, your majesty.”  Jackson could hear how acid his title was in your mouth. “You royals are born with a silver spoon in your mouth and you think the world belongs to you. What do you know about what these people are going through to keep your filthy egos in place and your stomachs full? Just so they could live to see the morning sky another day. Pathetic.”

Jackson could not see your face but he could feel your anger boiling inside of you. You were more than justified to spit at him and mock him; he was well aware all you said was the truth. Almost everything.

“Don’t you fight for what you believe in to make a change?”

You knitted your eyebrows. Your silence was an indicator to continue. “I want to help these people make a change. I want to at least try. And there is no use in telling you the masters and politicians at our court do not teach us how to forge a change. But I am not stupid to overlook it.”

“Your father failed in doing so. What makes you different?”

“My father did not try to understand your people.”

You turned completely to him and took your first look at him. Women all over the country fawned over his good looks and in all honesty, you were a woman too. All of the royals were refined, still, and you did not allow yourself to be enraptured by it. The stern look in his eyes made you question his intentions. You fought for a leader who would lead his people for the people, not for himself. Even if the King was not a bad ruler, he failed to serve his people. You actually wondered if his son was any different.

You took your sword out from the scabbard and threw it at him. Much to your surprise, he caught it by the hilt. Jackson looked at the exquisite sword and wondered if it was slightly lighter than the ones at the palace.

“If you manage to touch me with that sword, I’ll consider.”

You sensed the hesitation. “I am a woman but I could kill you easily if I felt like, your majesty. I thought you treated me as an equal.”

Jackson nodded. You were right, he came to you for help because you were the skilled one. No matter how many crimes you had under your belt, he felt the strong sense of righteousness oozing from you. He was convinced it was not easy for you.

He dashed over to you in a leap, swinging his sword in mid-air. You deflected the sword with your knife, taking a step back to steady yourself. You certainly did not expect such a well-placed swing. Jackson seized the momentum to bring his other foot to the front and glide the sword through the air. You countered it with the back of your knife, his eyes making direct contact with yours.

“It would seem like they did teach you something, your majesty.”

Jackson took a cross-step to the back, the sound of metal scraping on metal echoing in the night air. “I shall take that as a compliment.”

You smirked at his words and anticipated his next move. Jackson twirled the sword in his hand as he walked toward you, taking a full swing from above. You lowered your body to the ground in a lunge and then quickly jolted up to disarm him. Jackson barely dodged to the side. You pushed forward and he leaned backward, using the support of his hands to do a backflip. He rested on the ground for a second.

“You are so intense, Ghost.”

“Too bad you are never going to see that for yourself, Prince.”

Jackson’s eyes widened in shock at your remark and that cost him his loss. He was left wide open and you threw your knife accurately, inches to the side of his head, to force him to lose balance then rushed forward, pushing him to the ground. Your knee was placed on the fuller as you straddled him, one of your hands grabbing jokingly at his throat. “It is my victory, your majesty.”

You leaned over him to grab your knife from the ground and then sprung up. Jackson was at a loss for words. It was not that he did not expect you to beat him, he certainly lost his chance because of your rather vulgar words, followed by your indecent position atop of him. He draped an arm over his eyes and laughed under his breath. “It is.”

You sheathed your sword and watched him as he stood back up. He parted his lips to say something but reconsidered it, bowing his head to you instead. “I lost fairly but is there something I could do to change your mind about this?”

You walked over to him, raising his chin up with the back of your knife before twirling it in your hand to offer it to him. Jackson was not a stranger to weapons and close combat and his agility and quick reflexes with a sword certainly served for a pleasant surprise. You decided to play along.

“I feel generous tonight.”

Jackson took the knife from your hand and stole another glance at your eyes before you turned to walk away. It was a scorching shade of amber.

 “So, how did it go last night?”

Guiren countered Jackson’s punch and went in for a high kick. Jackson put his arms together to absorb the impact.

“She is really skilled. She might have laughed at me at first though.”

Guiren chuckled. “What did you say? Teach me your ways?”

Jackson jumped back and wiped the sweat traversing his forehead. “Something like that. She threw me her sword and said that if I hit her once, she’d teach me.”

“Oh?” Guiren smirked and unbuttoned the collar of his uniform. “What then?”

“I lost, of course. But she gave me this knife as a gift so I figure I might see her again.”

Guiren examined the knife and let out a whistle. “This is a perfect hunting knife with a wide blade. I wonder where she gets these from.”

“Her sword was lighter than the ones we use here, too. I think she might have ties to the European weapon merchants.”

“So what you are telling me is that she put you to shame with a mere knife that she also offered you and deliberately agreed to teach you swordsmanship? Did you take her to bed?”

Jackson thought back to the part of the story he omitted to tell Guiren. Under no circumstance should he find out he might have fantasized a little. “Uhm, no, colonel, cease this nonsense at once. “

“I hate it when you bring out the aristocracy on me, your majesty.” Guiren laughed and resumed his fighting stance. “But in all seriousness, you should be careful. You might be playing right into her hand.”

Jackson nodded and put up his guard, bracing himself for another brawling with Guiren. He knew The Ghost was most likely entertaining herself and must have had other plans for him. Seeing you in action motivated him even more; he had to win your trust somehow and make you regain your faith in the crown. It was the best-case scenario for the both of you and for the empire. He could use your intel and your skills and, in exchange, you would benefit from a fair ruling. Even more so as Guiren hinted at military tensions between the empire and other states. He had to make a bold move before his coronation.

 “Lady Y/n, how do you read this word?” one of the little children seated by your side pointed at the book, his curious eyes eliciting a bright smile from your lips.

“This?” You wrapped your free arm around him, pulling him on your lap. The other children protested collectively and crawled all over you. “This is justice, little one.”

“Justice?” another girl perked up at you. “What does it mean?”

You took a deep breath and tried to mask the heavy feelings you were carrying in your chest. You couldn’t show those children what disappointment was before their lives had even started.

“Hmm, well, justice means treating people fairly around you. It also means I am equal to you and you are equal to me.”

“So like how Prince Jackson treats us?”

You opened your arms and the children rushed into your embrace. You wanted to trust the Prince more than anyone but it was never an easy task. Monarchs had failed your country countlessly and it was hard to believe it would all come to an abrupt end.

“Okay children, leave our Lady Y/n be. Time is up.”

You giggled at their whines and gave each a hug as they went their way. You stood up and straightened the material of your skirt, fitting the sash after. “You were mean, Uncle! You know no one reads to the children.”

“I cannot wait to see the day when your own little dwarfs will cling to your side.” Your uncle offered you some freshly baked sweets which you took gratefully. “Do you truly dislike every man in the country?”

You giggled. “There will be a long and impossible road to my marriage, Uncle. No one deserves to carry the heavy burdens of The Ghost.”

“Speaking of which,” he began as he started walking among the cheerful people in the streets “I started investigating the Small Treasurer. It shan’t be long before we uncover his treacheries. But I understand there is another reason you sent word to the guild?”

You nodded your head. “Prince Wang came looking for me last night. I was surprised to find him wandering so close to our secondary post.”

“So what did he want?”

“This is the unthinkable part, Uncle. He wanted me to mentor him in swordsmanship.”

Your uncle took his chin in between his fingers. “It must have been that young Colonel, Guren. His web weaves vast into the empire. We have had trouble in the past accessing bits of information because of his own informants.”

You brought your hands to your hair to tie it loosely at the base of your neck. It was an unusually sunny day for the season. “He is a cunning one but I understand he would rather die than betray his Prince.”

“That is correct. What will you do, then? You know the Guild has been supporting the Prince from the shadows. It seems he will be a mighty ruler.”

“Certainly he is talented.” You nodded your head and your attention was captivated by a group of young boys waving to your direction. You smiled at them and returned the gesture. Your popularity among the other folk was a suitable cover for the day and it also served for cheap gossip. “I have decided to keep in touch with him for the time being.”

“Good. Perhaps you might take advantage of his loose tongue. Have you thought about going to the banquet? We can secure an invitation for you and for all one knows, you could have fun.”

Your hand caressed a piece of yellow silk resting on the table of one of the street vendors. You asked politely for it and paid the merchant in coin. As much as you loved your perfectly fitting armor, you adored sewing your own dresses, or offering them to the girls who were unable to afford them.

“Uncle, you know my opinion about these unnecessary feasts. It is a complete waste of coin. But I shall go if I see fit.”

Many times did you wonder about the infamous feasts of the palace. You had never gone to one before but had often heard impressive tales of the spectacle and of the people attending from all over the world; it was a true cultural asset. Although you wished some of the coin spent would go to improve the life of the citizens, you couldn’t help but desire to go to one.

“I would not mind if a foreign Prince asked for my niece’s hand in marriage, too.”

You laughed and livened up at his words. “Who would do such a thing, Uncle?”

“You ought to not underestimate yourself!” He scolded you with a bright glint in his eyes. “You are beautiful and smart and young. Should they marry you, they will be blessed!”

“Ah, I do not know how to obey a man. They would not stand me.”

 The rest of the day was spent helping around the animal farm, alas without your full focus. Your mind kept darting back and forth to your previous encounter with the Prince. The serious look in his eyes when he spoke about dedicating his crown to the people deeply bothered you. After your parents had died at the hands of cowardly officials who only knew the art of squeezing coin out of people’s pockets, you had spent your adolescence years training and absorbing knowledge so you’d be able to fight their mistreatment. You wouldn’t allow yourself to believe in any of their descendants. Yet Prince Jackson managed to ignite a spark in your beliefs.

You were meditating when he made his appearance in the same back alley you had clashed the night before. You heard his light steps as he approached, not daring to interrupt you.

“You came, your majesty.” You opened your eyes and jumped up. You noticed a sword resting at his side and the eagerness on his face.

“Could you not mock me any further? If you dislike my title, then do not use it at all.” He whined as he pushed back the hood from his face. You folded your arms over your chest and chuckled.

“Should I not address you at all?”

“My name is Jackson.”

“I thought you beheaded people for not using your royal titles.”

It was his turn to laugh. “I don’t think I could ever behead you no matter how hard I tried.”

You also noticed he dropped his aristocratic pattern of speech and that he relaxed his stance in your presence. You couldn’t understand how he was so trusting in a stranger. In a murderer.

“Well, Jackson, shall we begin?”

A thing you appreciated about him from the get-go was his diligence. He was a quick study, undoubtedly blessed with both natural talent and perseverance. He was following your every move, executing it gracefully and it was easy to guess he would, someday, surpass your abilities if you kept on mentoring him. He was one of the few royals by blood who had the genes of a warrior. So you saw no problem in pushing his physical limits from the start.

Jackson had good stamina. He understood you’d push his buttons in a somewhat sadistic manner but he was determined to keep up with you and prove his worth. He was fascinated by your even breath throughout the training and his respect for you grew. Not only did you have endurance but your moves were swift and elegant, not making any unnecessary motions. You looked like a feather, waltzing with the wind.

Jackson knew his own sword swings were becoming sloppier with each heavier breath taken. You had to step by his side, trailing your hand over his arm to correct his posture. You felt his muscles easing under your touch. “You always have to keep your sword pointed to your enemy. This way, he won’t be able to sway your defense so easily.”

Jackson nodded and straightened his arm. He was convinced your breath would have fanned over his neck had the mask not covered your face. He was getting distracted.

“We shall stop for the night. I don’t want your body to be sore in the morning without any logical explanation to your servants.”

Your fingers slid down his forearm slowly, igniting an unknown flare in his veins. He was definitely getting distracted.

“Thank you.” He muttered quietly, clearing his throat. “Say, uhm,…Ghost.”

“I won’t tell you my name.” you stated, sheathing your sword.

“I didn’t mean to ask that, although I am slightly disappointed.” He laughed and you found yourself staring a little longer at the way his eyes curved into crescents. “Could you maybe teach me about other things as well?”

“Oh? Such as?”

He walked over to you, his hands resting on his hips as he managed to even his breathing. “I want to learn about the outer world. You look like you could teach me about its wonders.”

You didn’t know if it was his ruffled hair glowing in the moonlight or the way his defined chest rose every time his lungs filled with air but there was something about him that softened The Ghost. Before you could put your guard up, you agreed.

“I am unaware of how good of a teacher I am.”

Jackson smiled brightly; it made you look away. “I am sure you are a great one.”

“You should go back to the palace.” You said dismissively, trying to shake off the disturbance. Jackson sighed and took his cloak from the ground, glancing at you with the corner of his eye. He wished to stay a little while longer. He threw the black fabric over his shoulders; you were gone before he had his chance to say goodbye.

 The next morning came too fast. Jackson opened his eyes and a rough groan evaded his chest at how heavy his body felt. He somehow managed to drape his arm over his eyes, putting in an inhumane amount of effort to ignore the pain in his muscles.

“Your majesty, are you not feeling well?” The head servant inquired, evident worry sketched all over her face. Jackson wanted to curse.

“Prepare a hot bath for me. I feel like I could die.”

The girls exchanged concerned looks among them before rushing out to express the Prince’s wish.

“There is an ominous flu in the air, your majesty. It might make your body weaker.” The head servant rushed to his side, helping him prompt himself up. “It is curious how you contacted it. Was it cold in your chamber last night, your majesty?”

A certain vicious female put me through Hell. “It was fine. I guess the season is to blame.”

“Should I send for your advisors to reschedule your day?”

Jackson pushed himself out of bed, adopting a funny stance as he stood. “No, I should be fine after the bath. I have a lot to do today and I cannot possibly afford to cancel it.”

One thing he managed to do best during that day was to attract the curious looks of servants and high officials alike as he was unable to walk properly. The young girls started chatting amongst themselves and it embarrassed the Prince to his core. Guiren was certainly aggravating the situation by involving himself with them and adding fuel to the fire. He made a mental note to punch Guiren as soon as he could. Even his brain felt atrophied. He couldn’t sit in the usual lotus position during his final lessons and some of the teachers had trouble containing their amusement at his struggles.

It lasted a couple of days until his body gradually got used to the effort. The first time you saw him walking with a cane to support his numb limbs, you nearly died of laughter. Jackson had never been that ashamed in his life. However, he got to enjoy the serene song of your laughter. He stole glances at the way your eyes would crinkle whenever you’d smile too wide and he had thought it unable to be jealous of a mask until then. He could not see your face but he was convinced you were beautiful.

After you had your fair share of laughter, you showed him a couple of exercises that would ease the tension in his muscles, guiding him closely throughout the process. He joked it was only fair to give him a massage and it took him a couple of moments to peel himself off the ground after a not so gentle push you gave him.

However, his inability to perform taxing battle stances meant you’d have more time to uncover tales about the world. It wasn’t a particular chronological order in which you told your tales; it was rather up to Jackson himself to decide what he was curious about. That night, you began unraveling the wonders of Greek Mythology because he only got vague answers from the adults at the court. It was a long and mighty history, so you took your time to travel through it, emphasizing some facts here and there, exaggerating others.

You had a mysterious way with words. Jackson found himself hypnotized by the way you’d express the universal history so carefully, yet so vividly he could extend his hand and brush his fingers over the events. Even as you resumed your battle training, you’d keep on telling which made it easier for him to grow accustomed to the art as he tried to put himself in the shoes of all the huge figures that came before him. And he could not get enough of your unique voice and the way it would liven up every otherwise dull word.

The nights started passing alarmingly faster and the expectation of seeing you again growing ardently. He was attracted to you like a moth to the flame, dangerously and all at once. Every minute that he spent in your company melted in the spiral of time so curiously that it felt like an eternity and a fleeting second all at once. What was more, he was convinced in his heart that the Ghost was only a sturdy façade of your true self. You weren’t what people made you to be: violent, barbaric, always lusting for blood. But you were so carefully hidden in the shell of the Ghost that it was almost impossible to tear yourself out of it.

Ironically, Jackson became eager to finish his duties at the palace successfully and speedily so he could gain some extra time to rest. Traversing back and forth between his royal assignments and the night rendezvous he had with you was demanding. The ministers and other highly ranked officials were extremely pleased with his hard work and started looking forward to having another dedicated King. Jackson couldn’t fathom what his father was thinking. For the time being, he kept his needed distance, doing his best not to give out any reason for doubt.

 Three days before the royal banquet, you decided to bring Jackson a gift for his dedication. It seemed unlikely you would grow accustomed to your nightly meetings but you started looking forward to them. You wouldn’t admit it to yourself, but you underestimated him dearly. He was not a transparent person as you made him be; he truly was dedicated and trusting in the good nature of people. He had a subtle sense of humor and a fine eye for details that topped all of your expectations of him. He still was a Prince and the future King of the empire but he couldn’t be more human in your eyes. Before you knew it, you started respecting him. The small something he ignited in your chest was burning zealously and it was more and more difficult to tear your mind off him. You thought you found a friend in him.

That night, he was the first one to arrive. The sound of air slashed by the metal of his sword guided you to him and you smiled to him, even if would never see it.

“I see you were eager to start your training, your majesty.”

At first, using his title was meant to bring disrespect to him but it gradually developed into one of the ways you’d tease him.

“Hello to you too, Ghost.” Jackson chuckled and turned to you. “This was meant to wake me up. I had a full day and I guessed I would fall asleep waiting for you.”

“I think I am on time?” you approached him and unveiled the present. Jackson’s eyes widened at the new type of sword he was shown. With a significantly thin but sharp blade and a guard over the handle, it was an impeccable type of weapon he had never seen before.

“This is called a sabre and is of Spanish origins. Only knights and the cavalry use these in Europe. Gentlemen and nobles in France, Italy, and Spain are taught how to fight with these swords from a frail age.”

“It… it is beautiful. Where did you get this?”

“I wouldn’t be the Ghost if I didn’t have connections. Only a handful have been brought on the continent and I am one of the owners. Or I will have been. It’s yours if you want it.”

Jackson darted a hopeful look at you. He was moved. “You cannot be serious.”

“Those hefty swords that soldiers use might work for you, but they do not bring out your true potential. The sabre is not meant for brute force but rather for swift approaches and agile attacks. You’re quick on your feet and you mostly defend your body from attacks through dodges. It should work for you.”

“But if only a couple… I cannot take it from you.”

You shook your head and extended your gloved hand to place on his shoulder. “It’s my good luck present for you, your majesty. I can teach you how to make use of it.”

Jackson was very conflicted at the time. You had kept a steady distance from him, merely acting as a teacher to him, and he thought it foolish to bring his hopes of getting to know you up. He started nurturing the selfish desire that you’d soon take off your mask and show yourself to him so he could make sense of the disturbing feelings whirled in his chest. And he considered doing it himself if he ran out of patience. You giving him such a masterpiece to guard had an irreversible effect on him that he’d make sense of at a later and unexpected time.

“But not tonight.”

Jackson’s forehead wrinkled. “Why.”

“That… is not your concern, unfortunately. I cannot stay. Should you wish to learn how to maneuver it, I will be waiting tomorrow night.”

The night engulfed you in its darkness and an oppressing feeling of disappointment nested in Jackson’s stomach as you disappeared.

 “You’re late, Y/n.”

You clicked your tongue and took out your mask, throwing it on the guild table. All of the other seven members of the council were gathered around, waiting collectively for you.

“Where were you?” the oldest and founding member questioned as you checked your braided hair. “Where’s the sabre?”

Out of the many arts they taught you, developing a persuasive nature, and the ability to lie without any smallest twitch in the muscles of your face were the ones you mastered best.

“I took a detour to bring it home, hence my late appearance.”

The co-founder grabbed at the bridge of his nose. “You knew we were discussing important matters tonight. May it not repeat again.”

“Sir.” You nodded and shifted your weight from one leg to the other. “The plans are in order I presume?”

“Complications have appeared.” Your uncle spoke sternly, handing you a set of papers. “This is the incriminatory proof that the treasurer has been abusing his power to fill his pockets. However, his authority wasn’t the only thing he managed to abuse.”

You skimmed through the papers, getting a general idea of the issue. It was pretty clear what you had to do. “Continue?”

“This man has been shielding assassins in his house.” Your master chimed in. “He has plotted the public death of both the King and Prince Wang on the night of the banquet.”

Your eyes widened and you looked up hurriedly at him. The founder continued.

“It’s the perfect cover. Various royals from all over the continent are bringing their daughters to win over Prince Wang’s heart and those who will not be chosen will be set up as murderers driven by revenge. It is not so unusual for assassins to sneak into such large public events.”

You clenched your fist, folding the papers in your hand in the process. “How did we not see this?”

“That snake has skilled confidants. It was very hard to obtain this bit of information because his guards are swarming around him all day long and his associates are, partly, royals who wished to overthrow the Prince but couldn’t due to their extended lineage.”

“This cannot happen.” You stated bluntly, raising the curiosity of all who were present. “Prince Wang is our only chance at correcting this empire. If he dies, there won’t be any shortcuts.”

You were taken aback by the words coming so effortlessly out of your mouth. You never cared for royals and had always despised them from the core of your existence. Why were you so protective over Jackson then?

“It will not happen.” The founder spoke through the silence, his eyes examining you thoroughly. “You are going to the banquet and so is your master. You are to prevent this from happening and extract the Treasurer silently from the event. Without any major events.”

Your uncle tilted his head to look at you. He was getting suspicious of your involvement with the Prince.

“What can you tell us about the Prince, Lady Y/n?” the cofounder challenged you and you had to bite into the plush of your cheek to hold back a rude remark.

“What about him?”

“We know you’ve been faithfully seeing him every night for the past 20 days. You have been mentoring him in swordsmanship and close combat. Why?”

A dark smirk crept on your lips. The low light of the candle lit in the middle of the wooden table brought a ghastly picture on your face. “Did you not want a competent King? I am making sure of that.”

“You’re playing with fire, little Lady. Are you sure he hasn’t charmed his way into your skirt?”

“Enough!” the founder rose his voice before you got the chance to curse at the other man for his irresponsible accusations. Although it assuredly made you ponder over the fact that you were bothered by the whole meaning of the banquet. “Does the royal family suspect anything?”

“No.” You turned abruptly to the founder. “They are concerned over outer military conflicts and eventual riots of the peasantry but they are not aware of the fact their lives are threatened.”

“And it shall stay like this,” your master concluded. “We cannot execute our mission without full discretion. I trust Y/n enough to dismiss your words, co-founder. We will carry our duty.”

The meeting ended with a final revision of the plan and the older men retreated to their respective homes. You were prepared to follow their examples and wanted to put the mask over your face again when your uncle grabbed you by the wrist. “You gave him the saber, didn’t you?”

Your gaze was fixated to the grand door of the hall, your back turned to him. You didn’t answer.

“Y/n, my darling, do you have feelings for the Prince?”

“No.” you answered too fast for your own liking. “And I didn’t reveal my identity to him either, Uncle. I don’t trust him.”

Except you did trust him. And it was the first lie you weren’t convinced to say. Your uncle let go of your hand and you put back your mask.

“Out of all men, why does it have to be the Prince, Y/n? You can never have him.”

You pushed the door open and gulped down a burdensome sentiment. “I know.”

 The way back to the palace had never felt so lonely. Jackson managed to sneak back in successfully but he couldn’t shake off the disappointment eating at him. Just when he thought he was so close to laying the last brick, you crushed all his efforts yet again. Did he truly mean nothing to you? What was he lacking that he could not improve? What was missing from him so important that you kept yourself hidden so far away from his grasp?

Jackson hid the sabre neatly in the small space he dug into the floor, among his many other treasured possessions.  Frustration was getting the best of him. Even the trivial task of undressing himself proved to be difficult as his fingers trembled with silent anger. The door to his chamber opened unexpectedly made him lash out his resentments.

“Who gave you permission to enter my room—“

Jackson froze at the sight of his father coming in. He rushed to bow to him, keeping his eyes focused on the colored carpets.

“So you are back, my son.”

He was ruined. The beating he would receive was one thing but explaining his situation with The Masked Ghost was a whole other matter. He had to come up with something. He remembered you telling him that panic was never a good solution to problems and that he should always analyze his situation before acting.

“Father, I was not expecting you at this hour.”

“You would have known I came by earlier had you been in your chamber.”

Jackson straightened his body and watched his father hide his hands in the large sleeves of his night attire. His face did not dictate anger.

“I know you have been sneaking out for a while, Jackson. You know we have moved up the ceremony of ascension the day after the banquet and you still waste your nights irresponsibly in town. I thought we have cleared it already.”

“My apologies, father. “ Jackson dipped his head in a bow, his hands brought together. No words would be able to save the situation.

“Is it a woman, my son? Why do you not bring her to court so she could properly become your consort?”

Jackson looked away, failing to provide an answer. It was not an easy question his father asked but it appeared he did not know why he was sneaking out; that settled most of his concerns.

“No mind, you would have, had she desired so.” He nodded his head softly. “But it has to end, boy.”

The King walked closer to Jackson and placed his hands on Jackson’s shoulders. “You will pick a woman fit to be your consort in just a few days and you will not have the need to satisfy your desires in secrecy. Kings do not lower themselves like that, Jackson.”

“Yes, father.” He pursed his lips. Jackson knew he pushed his luck doing what he was. “What did you wish to see me about?”

“Ah, I almost forgot.” The King pulled back and snaked his hand into his robe to pull out a beautifully carved wooden box. Jackson opened it and saw a handmade brooch, adorned with precious stones in an elegant foreign design. It was a piece of dazzling jewelry.

“You should gift it to your future woman.”

Jackson forced a smile. He disliked the whole masquerade that tradition was and the very thought of it made him sick in the stomach.

“I don’t want you going out anymore, understood? I shall grant you tomorrow night to say whatever you wish to say and that is it. I have high expectations of you. Do not make me change my mind about you, not after you’ve worked so hard.”

Jackson bowed to the King as he walked out of his chamber and let out a heavy sigh. He threw the little box on the bed and plopped down in the comfort of the blankets. He fell asleep thinking how much you’d love the brooch.

 “You’re dead silent today, your majesty.” Guiren pointed out as he munched on his breakfast. “I figured you would teach me more of those impressive techniques the Ghost showed you! Those are dandy.”

Jackson threw his chopsticks on the table, the mention of you making him lose his appetite. “Father found out I was sneaking out.”

Guiren quirked a brow. “I apologize. How bad is it?”

“Not extensively bad. He does not know I have been seeing the Ghost but he made it very clear to stop.”

“Of course you should. You will soon choose a wife, of course, you should focus your attention on her. Women are so picky and need a lot of pampering, especially daughters of rich royals—“

“This is wrong, Guiren.” Jackson sighed exasperatedly. “All of this is so wrong. I just…I can’t.”

Guiren clicked his tongue. “Is it wrong because it is not the woman you want?”

Jackson placed his hand over his eyes, rubbing at his temples. He didn’t know what to think anymore, what was the truth and what was not. He disagreed with it from the beginning but the idea grew more and more gruesome by the second. Jackson figured what Guiren was implying but he was so confused himself that he could not provide a valid answer.

“Tell me, Jackson. What is it so special about The Masked Ghost? She is just a criminal.”

“It’s not about her, Guiren. And she is not just a criminal. This woman is more intelligent than all of the teachers in the palace combined. “

And a very good listener, too. “She is bad news, Jackson. Little does it matter that she is skilled or intelligent or whatnot. She is a criminal at the end of the day. And people don’t change. Give up on her before it comes back haunting you. That is one thing I am unable to save you from.”

 Jackson’s steps were weighty as he walked to your meeting place. An abundance of feelings was pressing relentlessly over his shoulders, an unknown territory he did not have the knowledge to explore. Guren’s words were reverberating in his ears. He had to let you remain a ghost in spite of the caustic cravings in his chest.

He hoped to have a leisure last conversation with you so he could work on letting you go with peace of mind. When he saw you did not have your sword either he smiled to himself sadly. You read each other’s minds.

“I was worried you might scold me.” Jackson began in a melancholic tone. “But I won’t have to worry about that.”

Your body remained motionless at his words. “Follow me.”

Jackson let you take the lead and followed you to a nearby open plain that uncovered the beauty of the night sky. The dark horizon was embellished with glowing stars, the moon ruling over the world all mighty. You seated yourself on the grass and pat the spot beside you so Jackson would do the same.

“You never cease to amaze me.” Jackson commented, the vibrant light of the moon mirrored in his eyes.

You looked at him and found him ethereal, a work of art of all the known and unknown deities of the world. He was truly a handsome creature.

“Neither do you” you replied, although more to yourself.

Jackson chuckled lightly, his eyes focused on the nocturnal view. “I cannot see you anymore.”

You hugged your knees to your chest, relieved the sentence came out of his mouth and not yours. It felt a little less painful if he said so, although it didn’t ease the storm in your stomach. It was fine like that. You did not want him to hate you. He had to forget you and to forget, he couldn’t nurture hate for you because it would be engraved upon his heart. You knew that whatever one wished to forget, must not be preceded by hate. The memory you wanted him to have of you had to be a cherished one, not one of an obscene criminal.

“I understand.” You replied after a short while, a chilly breeze carrying your unsaid confession to the horizon. “How does it feel to know you’ll have the finest women on the continent battling for a place in your heart?”

“I…I don’t want any of it.” Jackson leaned on his back, extending his arm to the infinity of the stars. “It is wrong to make a draft and pick a woman as simply as you’d pick your attire for the day. Then drag them to bed to convince them they are acknowledged by the royal lineage. I want…”

Jackson’s voice trailed off and he let his arm fall to the ground. “…to love someone.”

Another endearing breeze masked a gasp that escaped your lips and you tilted your head to look at him. His face was painted with an old sadness of a soul that traversed the galaxy in search of a missing love and returned to the Earth to find it.

You clutched your chest in a desperate attempt to dissipate the suffocating air in your ribcage. You couldn’t stay. The longer you stayed by his side, the more you’d get pulled toward his existence and it was painful as flesh on shattered glass. You rose hastily to your feet, walking a couple of steps away from him.

Jackson waited a few moments in the grass, resisting the urge to stand up and follow after you. He tilted his head to the side and noticed your silhouette defying the peace of the landscape. He had to sit up to make sure he saw it right; your hair was let down, unbraided, the waves in your strands resembling the unsettling waves of the sea. Your mask was in your hand. He was incapable to catch a glimpse of your face as your back was turned to him and your hair was guarding your identity faithfully. It was the most distinctive shade of ebony his eyes had ever witnessed.

“I pray that you find the love you deserve someday, your majesty.”

Jackson reached out to you but was powerless to stop you as you melted into the night, your voice a distant echo.

  “I did not anticipate so many people coming to the palace.”

Your eyes struggled to comprehend the multitude of things happening all at once. As soon as the guards allowed you to pass through, you were met by a sea of people swarming all over the place, competing against one another through the diversity of their outfits and appearance. The plaited decorations dangling from the rafters were coming alive in the beams of light shed by the lanterns. The small origami figures resembled flowers blooming from the twigs and the bold aroma of traditional food invited you to lose yourself in the unparalleled tableau.

You felt your master’s hand on top of your head and blushed as you snapped back to reality. “I know it is beautiful. I wish from the bottom of my heart you could enjoy it as you saw fit.”

You nodded and straightened your hand-made dress. You made good use of the bright yellow silk you bought from the street merchant the other day, making a dress befitting your silhouette. Your uncle praised you on the sewn floral details on the lapel and the elegant choice of bringing a white embroidery over the color. You had a small knife hidden in the golden sash tied in a ribbon around your waist. You also let your hair fall charmingly over your shoulders, trembling with each little step you took. The hair accessory holding part of your locks behind your ear was a daring gift from your Uncle. The single emerald on it complimented your attire perfectly.

“I know, Master. But we’re here to do our jobs. We should split up to cover more ground. The palace is indeed humongous.”

“You remember the blueprints?”

“I know where to bring them.”

A large amount of people was both an advantage and a disadvantage. You could blend easily in the crowd and hide your tracks but there were many guards supervising the area. And you had to concentrate your attention in many places at once. It was the hardest when you stepped inside the grand hall of the palace thanks to the forged papers from the guild. It was supposed to be a restricted area for the royals only but the air was suffocating with so many humans gathered in one place.

According to tradition, the Prince was allowed to roam free among the public, to greet them and receive their prayers before midnight. He also enjoyed the liberty of immersing himself in the traditional dances, alas was only in the restricted space to ensure his involvement with royal women. You decided it nearly impossible for the Prince to spot you amidst such mass of people so you took the liberty to examine the situation for any suspicious figures you were instructed about. The thrones in the far end of the room were empty which offered an extension of time.

It was, however, easier said than done. You recognized some of the lords but most of them remained unidentified to you and you weren’t exactly aware of what you were looking for either. You sneaked to the side of the room, trying to get a better angle.

“I do not recognize you, my Lady.”

You turned your body toward the source of the voice and met Colonel Guiren, his eyes studying you curiously. You smiled in response, thinking of ways to subtly extract bits of information about the people present. “Ah, Master, I beg your pardon, I am but another face in the crowd.”

The smirk shaping on Guiren’s face suggested you successfully captured him with your words. “I might be mistaken but there is no one around resembling your pulchritude.”

You couldn’t help but let out a giggle. He wasn’t as talented in speech as the Prince but he was a charmer himself. “You are exaggerating, Master. I cannot help but feel lacking in comparison to some of the women here such as—“

You turned your attention to the crowd, hoping to draw a quick response from the Colonel when the words froze and pulverize on your lips. You saw Prince Jackson distinctively staring at you through the many females gathered around him.

 “Oh, Jackson, you will feel it battling so violently in your chest, it’s an unmistakable feeling. You will just know.”

It was a beautiful war raging inside of him. The moment he laid eyes on the beautiful creature on the other side of the room, he knew it was you. The surreal shade of ebony of your hair confirmed his suspicions. And the way you carried yourself, the way your eyes crinkled ever so familiarly as you spoke were the same outstanding lines he repeatedly saw nights in a row. But your sublime features and lines in your face and skin were breathtaking. What was he doing before he met you? What did his heart do, with all the love?

Jackson’s eyes locked with your amber ones for a fading second before your sudden rush to leave meddled with his intentions of rushing over to you. He remembered his mother’s words faithfully and the hammering heart in his chest urged him to follow after you. He wouldn’t let you go again. He now made sense of the hesitation that chained him three nights prior; he was meant to meet you in your entirety and not in the dim space between mask and shadows.

Jackson chased after you, his eyes never peeling off your silhouette, pushing people out of his way. You must have realized he figured out your identity with just a glance and he wondered if you regretted your decision of showing yourself to him if you ran so fast to avid him. He barely made it in time to catch you by the wrist and held on tighter as you tried to rip yourself from his grasp. All eyes were fixated on the two of you as the tune of another melody started and Jackson pulled you into himself, forcing you to dance with him to hide you from the crowd.

“It’s you.” He barely managed to whisper, your hands in his setting fire to his fingertips. You swayed your body to the tune, forcing yourself to remain composed. Little did he know your body was reacting just as violently as his, thunder and rain cracking your insides little by little.

“You are destroying my cover, Prince.” You leaned over to him to whisper in his ear then backed away, making a pirouette. Jackson extended his arm and placed his hand on your exposed forearm, causing a fire to erupt in your veins.

“How are you here?”

His eyes were smoldering as he memorized even the tiniest characteristic of your face. You suddenly felt so small under his gaze and could only hope your cheeks weren’t turning red. His touch on your arm was magnetic.

“Do not mistake my intentions, your majesty.” You hissed, stripping yourself of him. You dug your teeth into your tongue, biting down a whine from the painful lack of contact. “I am not here for you.”

“Don’t lie to me.” Jackson grabbed you by the waist and pulled you to him once again, his eyes never leaving yours. “How are you here?”

You looked to the side for a second and noticed the suspicious movements of two men chatting with your target not far from where you stood. You leaned up and brushed your cheek over his, your lips speaking sharply in his ear. “Your life is in danger, Jackson. You need to leave and you need to do it now.”

“What?” He meant to look at you but you cupped his cheek to keep him in place. Those unknown men left their positions while you spoke.

“Don’t move. I lost sight of them.”

You brought your other hand to your sash, fingers resting on the knife. You felt Jackson’s body stiffen. “What is going on? You are scaring me—“

You pushed Jackson away and placed yourself in the way of a throwing knife that penetrated your shoulder, a dangerous miss from the collarbone. The aim was not as steady as the culprit wished it would be but you didn’t hesitate with yours and made a clear throw which stabbed him in the throat. You clicked your tongue. He was dressed in an expensive robe; you knew it would not be plausible he tried to take the Prince’s life.

The panicked crowd started screaming and running around to get away from the horrific incident as rapidly as possible. Two other masked assassins appeared on the scene, facing you from either side. You removed the knife from your shoulder and tore your overcoat to grant yourself some extended movement. A timid stream of blood started flowing out.

“You need to get away from here.” You ordered Jackson.

“No. I am staying here to fight—“

Guiren grabbed Jackson by the arm and dragged him away despite his fervent protests. “The Ghost is right, your majesty. We need to get you to safety.”

You dipped your head to Guiren and offered Jackson a sliver of a smile in hopes of easing his worried stance. You turned your full attention to your opponents who had already drawn their swords and made a quick analysis of the situation. It was highly unlikely you would come off victorious.

You braced yourself for your attackers, managing to swiftly dodge the first swing of a sword. You twirled your body from between them and leaned to the side to parry the other sword with your knife. You kicked the attacker’s hand and threw him off balance. The sword flew out of his hand and you knelt down to grab it, scarcely escaping a deadly blow that still cut deeply into your thigh. You sloppily threw your knife to one of them and he caught it in his hand because of thick layered armor.

The rowdy noise of the guards coming made the assassins give up on your fight and run away. You didn’t have enough time to follow their example and were surrounded by the soldiers. The sword made a sharp sound as it bounced off the ground, your hands raised to either side of your head to signal your surrender. One of the guards stepped on the fresh wound in your thigh and a horrid screech evaded from the depth of your chest. You were prompted up forcefully, your master watching the scene helplessly. You signaled him silently to walk away as they dragged you to their prison.

 The dungeon was hauntingly silent as Jackson dashed through the murky hallways to where Guiren told him you were brought. The Colonel was following close behind him to supervise his actions and put a halt to any premature decisions. Hope flickered in his heart at the silence, wishing they hadn’t started torturing you. Jackson was stupefied to see your standing body tied in rusty chains by either wrist, your skin colored purple from the hits you took and various fresh cuts dug into your flesh.

At a closer look, the Treasurer had a dagger in his hand, your blood dripping relentlessly from its blade. The King and another two soldiers were watching intently and the Treasurer forced the dagger into your collarbone, eliciting a mere groan from you. Your lack of displayed discomfort irritated him.

“This is for my brother, you bitch!” He took a full swing at your stomach and you spat the pool of blood in your mouth on his clothes in response. Guiren had to hold Jackson with both hands to restrain him.

The King rose his hand in the air to stop his Treasurer from sticking the blade into your throat. The King stepped closer to you and one of the soldiers grabbed you by the hair to force you to look at him. The pain was rapidly getting unbearable and you felt lightheaded. It took every ounce of effort to keep yourself awake.

“Are you The Masked Ghost, child?”

You remained silent at his question and the same soldier kicked you in the small of your back. You let go of the chains you had been holding on and felt your body leaning forward. “Answer the King!”

You lifted your eyes and caught Jackson’s frame staring at you with his mouth slightly agape and his fists clenched. The look of despair on his face would be etched in your senses for as long as you had left to live. You wanted him to rush out of there.

“I will show you what it means to threaten the royal council and its King.”

The Treasurer took off his overcoat and moved quickly to remove his sash and overskirt. The next thing that would follow would be him raping you and you hoped from the bottom of your heart Jackson would walk away before it was too late.

“Is this the kind of King you want to be, your majesty?” you groaned in a weak tone, your eyes fixated on Jackson’s numb frame. The King turned to his son with interest imprinted on his features.

But you were right. Jackson was set to become King of the Empire in a matter of hours and having his prisoners abused without a proper trial was only a fraction of the laws everyone was so casually stepping upon. Seeing you so stubbornly refusing to satisfy their desires of hearing you beg and cry for your life after they butchered your body so carelessly broke Jackson’s heart. But more than anything, it showed him how much of a coward he was.

“Stop.” Jackson stepped forward, much to the disapproval of the Treasurer.

“Prince? Allow me to teach this whore a lesson—“

“I think I told you to stop. Did I stutter?”

You had never thought Jackson capable of owning such a caustic glint in his eyes. You noticed his breathing was uneven as if he was struggling to contain himself. “Walk away from the prisoner at once. She thought she saved my life; should I not be the one to offer my gratitude?”

The Treasurer bowed his head and stepped back, dressing himself. The King noticed the change of behavior and pondered over its meaning. Earlier that day, he had received a set of papers anonymously, incriminating the Treasurer and his family for high treason. It didn’t seem too credible back then.

“Guards, take the Treasurer to a cell in the upper level. Make sure he gets comfortable.”

The guards did not hesitate to take the man away in a torrent of questions and pleadings.

“The girl shall be executed tomorrow as an offering to the new King.”

Jackson turned to his father abruptly. “Father—“

The King stopped by Jackson’s side, his eyes facing forward. “This decision belongs to me. It is up to you however you choose to carry it or not. If this girl here is the Ghost and you had been seeing her, this is a difficult decision you have to make. But she stays in the cell and that is not debatable. Guiren, please make sure the Prince does not make any hasty decisions.”

Guiren bowed to the King and then came closer to see you. “Nice to finally meet you, Ghost.”

“Don’t make me spit in your face too.” You moaned, taking a harsh hold of the chains. You assumed you had a couple of broken ribs and most likely damaged kidneys from the kick in your back. “Leave me be.”

Jackson couldn’t bear to look at you. He fantasized about holding the love of his life in his protective arms, worshipping her body with every tender touch ghosting over her skin, not chained up like a wild animal, carved open barbarically. You were so divinely beautiful but so devilishly destroyed by the primitive hands of men. Someone like you was meant to be glorified. And those eyes, those amber eyes that gnawed at Jackson’s existence.

“Let us go, Colonel.” Jackson spoke absentmindedly and you watched his back as he walked away. You could finally let out the sobs and the tears welling up in your eyes.

 The next morning you were brought to the inside yard of the palace where the ceremony of ascension would take place. You were forced back into your senses after a bucket of icy water was thrown on your numb body; it washed some of the dirt on your figure but you were sure you looked beyond pitiful. You were dragged in front of the officials who took your time to spit on you and address you pieces of their minds. You were thrown to the middle of the area, on your knees, and were tied mercilessly like the lowest scum on Earth. You laughed to yourself. You had never foreseen such a pathetic ending for the Ghost. And you knew no one was foolish enough to come for you. The security was too tight.

The ceremony was beautiful. A zealous round of applause welcomed Prince Jackson as he stepped among his followers. You lifted your head to look at him. He was dressed in a carefully crafted traditional attire, befitting of a King. The details embroidered on the silk were unlike any you had ever seen, complementing the colors in an imposing image. Jackson’s face was implacable and his every gesture was calm and accentuated. You smiled and looked up to the sky. It was painted a serene blue.

You felt your conscience slowly drifting away. Everything surrounding you became a vibrant buzzing. You didn’t know when the religious part of the ceremony passed, or when Jackson made his oath as King, but you didn’t need to. Getting to know Jackson over the past month would seem a trivial matter, yet you felt as if you had known him forever ago. You regretted having so little time to spend with him. You wondered how he saw you beyond your shell, how he saw you talking with your body and with your words. You wondered if he could read all of the truth in your nature. You wondered if you were the only one knowing that your soul and his soul have met many years ago and have been old friends.

A tear traversed your cheek. It was the first time you envied the Gods for their immortality. But wasn’t that the crimson beauty of a human life? Would you ask to be anything else? Would you rather suffer losing everything you loved best in the world day after day rather than having it slip from your fingers once and then never again?

You felt powerful arms lifting you from the ground. It must have been time for your sentence.

You rose your head from the ground and saw Jackson walking over to you in a slow, agonizing manner. The crown on his head suited him well. You were shoved to the side, near what you figured would be your execution spot. Jackson stopped a couple of steps away from you and you made eye contact with him. You couldn’t read him.

“This woman shall not be executed today, not ever. No one dares lay a finger on her without my permission.”

One of the Ministers questioned King Jackson’s words. “Your Majesty, she killed a high official last night! She deserves to die.”

“Do you defy my words?” Jackson didn’t even bother glancing in his direction.

“Your Majesty, we have reports she might be The Masked Ghost, cold-blooded murderer of the royals and high clerks—“

Jackson made a dismissive gesture with his hand and the courageous minster was brought forth. “Behead him.”

“Your Majesty—“

You couldn’t believe your ears. It was clear you weren’t in your right mind and you must have died in the dungeon, your body probably rotting in a canal. You dug your nails into the palm of your hand to identify if your sensorial perception was still functioning. You were convinced of it when the former Minister’s head rolled on the concrete at your feet. Jackson didn’t even flinch.

“And while we are discussing the matter, there is no available proof that this woman is the Ghost.”

The Treasurer stepped out of line. “Your Majesty, she killed my brother! You cannot let her live.”

“Bring the Treasurer over here too. His punishment will be death by a hundred cuts.”

The crowd started murmuring among themselves. Jackson took out a piece of paper from his robe and showed it to the public. It was the report your guild sent to the previous King, signed and approved while he was in active duty. “You are hereby charged with high treason for abuse of power and threatening the life of the King.”

The Treasurer was taken away under the terrified eyes of the crowd. You looked over to the previous King and you could swear you detected pride on his features.

“Let this be a lesson for anyone who dares to cross me. Starting with this moment, every high ranked official and clerk will be under my strict supervision and any form of breaking the law, no matter how mild and no matter the position in the country will be punished by death.”

Jackson extended his hand to run his thumb over your bruised cheek. “Excepting her. She is my woman.”

Silence fell over the yard before it burst in a storm of cheers. ‘Long live the King’ resounded deep into the Empire. You heard Jackson giving instructions to his servants to bring you to his room and summon all the talented healers of the Empire to check on your condition. He gave you one last soft look before he left to salute the people of the empire outside of the palace court.

You were untied and you would have fallen to the ground if a pair of gentle arms hadn’t caught you. You opened your eyes to see Guiren supporting your weight before lifting you in his arms to carry you inside the palace.

“Guiren…”

“Don’t worry. You will be okay…” he paused and pursed his lips in a cheeky smirk “Your Majesty.”

“What just happened?” you let out a low groan, every cut in your body burning. “Shouldn’t you follow him?”

“See, I do not know what happened because this is a side of Jackson I had never seen before, but one I greatly look forward to.”

You noticed Guiren did not talk hollowly, addressing Jackson as a royal, but rather with a never-ending amount of respect as a confidant, a friend and as King. “He explicitly ordered me to stay by your side and make sure you are offered whatever you need. He would have made sure of that himself but you know, duty cannot wait.”

Guiren put you down on a stool outside what you gathered to be the bath. He talked indistinctively with an old servant, instructing her on how to clean your wounds and what kind of ointment to use as a first-aid measure. He then knelt down to your level.

“I will be outside should there be anything you dislike or want. Don’t hesitate to call me, your majesty.”

“Stop calling me that.” You nodded your head at him and allowed yourself to be carried by the young women inside the bath. Guiren laughed. “I wouldn’t if I knew your name.”

 You had never been so pampered in your entire life. There were at least a dozen women constantly crowding around you, taking turns to provide any comfort necessary. Five young servants attended to your body, along with the head servant, who helped clean you thoroughly, after which she followed Guiren’s instructions devotedly. None of them said any words to you and you stayed in a mortifying silence. You took some initiatives to do things yourself but every time you did, you were met by an oppressive stare from the head servant.

The young girls dried your body with soft linen and the senior made a gesture for the tailors to come in with a large selection of fine dresses. Your ears were red from embarrassment but as you saw no window for escape, you chose a simple burgundy one, in case your wounds might open up again. After that, you were carried to King Jackson’s royal chamber and tucked in his bed successfully. You let out a long moan at the softness of the bed and you witnessed the servants panic collectively.

“It is fine.” You assured them and turned to the head servant. “Would it be possible to leave me rest for the time being? I am very tired.”

She looked at you and sighed. “If that is your wish, your majesty. I shall call the healers at a later time, then.”

You would have protested at the tittle everyone nonchalantly addressed you by. You hated being treated as a superior human being, just as you heard the title so carelessly abused in the past by the upper class. However, your eyelids were heavy and you couldn’t explore the subjects any further as you fell into a deep slumber.

 You had no idea how much time passed while you slept. You wrinkled your forehead and opened your eyes, an unknown source of warmth enveloping your hand. You tilted your head on the pillow and found Jackson sitting on the edge of the bed, both his hands holding your small one. He was not dressed in his distinctive royal attire anymore but in a casual black and golden outfit.

“How much did I sleep?”

“It’s almost midnight.”

You sighed and tried sitting up. Jackson rushed to help you and put all the existing pillows to your back to support your body. Your damaged shoulder was still stinging in pain.

“I understand the healers have yet to examine you.” Jackson spoke softly, worried by the unpleasant expression on your face. “Should I summon them?”

You were taught by your guild how to determine the condition of your body after a fight and you normally would not need any help in doing so. The torture you underwent left you with a big question mark in your mind, however. You nodded your head and Jackson called for the healers. Most of your own predictions were accurate. You had three broken ribs and a fractured collarbone, but your kidneys did not show any sign of failure for the time being and your wounds were skillfully mended to before they infected. All of them commented on the excellent build of your body and estimated a speedy recovery.

One of the healers handed Jackson a list of herbs and ointments you would have to use, along with a proper diet to ensure the building of anatomic tissue. You thanked all of them kindly as they went their way then turned to Jackson who visibly relaxed.

“Thank God.” He sighed. “Should I call for a meal? Are you hungry?”

“I don’t think I can eat.” You shook your head and looked at him. “Why did you spare my life? You should have let me die.”

There was a grim feeling that engulfed Jackson’s entire body at your words. He looked at you with the softest eyes you had ever seen and sighed deeply. “Stop saying such hurtful things.”

“It’s the truth. I am The Ghost—“

“I love you.”

You were perplexed by his words. The heart in your chest reacted instantly, hammering so uncontrollably fierce. “I knew ever since our first encounter that I’ve loved you, dear hell, even before that I am sure. I just knew. You captivated me with every little thing that you would do. I would have traded my life to know the real you that you refused so adamantly to show me. It was especially hard that night on the plain. I chose to respect your wish that you just might not want me the way I desired you.”

Tears were threatening to fall from Jackson’s eyes. “You appeared at the banquet and I swear I could have never mistaken you. And you were just…just perfect. I wanted you to be my Queen. It had to be you and no one else. It occurred to me I had been waiting for you my entire life and now I know why. The entire Universe conspired to help me find you.”

You started crying before you knew it. You were sobbing quietly, the droplets falling from your eyes with comfortable ease. Jackson was smiling through his own tears as well, taking your face in his hands to wipe away your sadness. “I knew you were lying to me. These beautiful amber eyes sold you out.”

Jackson wrapped his arms around you protectively, ever so gentle as to not hurt you. You buried your head in the crook of his neck and cried peacefully. Every tear shed felt like medicine; you were so content with not having to hide anymore that you could not stop until you had no more tears left to cry.

“I am so sorry, Jackson. I am sorry. I love you too, so much.”

Jackson caressed your hair, curling his fingers through its softness. He pulled back to kiss the crown of your head. “I fell in love with a woman whose name I do not know. And I greatly wish to call you by your name.”

You nodded softly and leaned into his chest. The sound of his heart beating was so calm. “Y/n. Y/n, L/n. Also professionally known as The Masked Ghost.”

“Y/n…” he repeated quietly and all of a sudden your heart calmed down to Jackson’s own rhythm. Him calling your name felt immensely right, a harmonious sound that no other living creature could reproduce. You realized what was missing from you; it was the same person you kept on denying, the only one who was worthy of calling you by your name. It came as a revelation that you and Jackson have been destined to find each other, destined to do great things together.

“Say, Jackson.” He pulled back, placing you down gently back on the pillows. “Why is everyone calling me ‘your majesty’?”

“Oh, that.” Jackson chuckled and got out of bed to put out some of the candles. “I think that because I endearingly called you ‘my woman’…things happened.”

You blinked a couple of times to accommodate yourself to the lack of light. “I might need some time to adjust to that.”

Jackson climbed in beside you pulling the covers over you. You felt him hesitate. “What do you mean by that?”

“Am I not your woman?”

You couldn’t see him but you knew he breathed in a smile. “Does that mean you will stay?”

Jackson helped you lower your body to the mattress and shifted on his side to face you. He was fighting a difficult battle with his urge to pull you to him and kiss every part of your body but he settled to just listening to your voice. For your own sake.

“I wish to continue my activity as the Ghost. Even if you reform the aristocratic class, there will still be criminals and thieves on the loose. People cannot conquer them on their own.”

Jackson agreed. “I figured you would say this. There is no one in the Empire besides me and Guiren who know you are the Ghost. I told a very convincing story to the Council.”

“So you do not want me to cease my activity?”

“How could I forbid you a part of who you are?”

Your hand found his and gave it a small squeeze. Jackson brought your hand to his lips to place a kiss to the back of it. “I need the Ghost to lead the Empire. I need her knowledge and her skills and the faith she gives people. I originally wanted to convince the Ghost to be my partner, until she decided it willingly. And I know better than to anger you.”

You giggled. “I promise I will teach you everything I know. I think I still have a duty to pay with the sabre.”

“Oh, talking about gifts, I almost forgot.”

You watched Jackson curiously as he draped his arm to the table by the bed, pulling its drawer. He took out a small wooden box. “Open it.”

You took the box in your hands and opened it to reveal a refined brooch. You recognized the design; you wanted to buy it personally from the foreign merchant but it had been promised to the royal family. You smiled widely. “Thank you, Jackson. I actually wanted to have it for myself and I was so disappointed to hear it was a lost cause.”

“My father gave it to me saying I should give it to the woman I picked at the banquet. I think that woman picked me, instead.”

Jackson smiled at the sight of the pink hue on your cheeks. He put the box back into the drawer and nested himself beside you, not letting go of your hand. “Tell me another story.”

You hummed and relaxed your body. His hand in yours was anchoring you to reality. A heavenly reality. You would have to learn to adapt to the royal life but it was a sacrifice you were willing to make for those you swore to protect when you put on the mask. You would have to settle your affairs with the guild and show them the new path you were forging, reassure them and the folk The Masked Ghost was still a servant of the people. But you had a good partner walking by your side every step of the way.

“Allow me to tell your majesty the tale of The Masked Ghost.”

[oxhaven]

Splendor Shadow / hybrid!au - Yoongi

1. | Jungkook | Taehyung | Hoseok | Seokjin | Jimin

Night shift was always the worst.    

You catered to drunken men all night long only to get them more drunk the more drinks they ordered. You hated the way they cried and complained over their high-paying jobs they were privileged to have and all their sleazy remarks they would make to you and your co-workers. Still you powered through, in that dim-lit underground bar serving drinks and a listening ear to all who were paying. 

“Nari, have a drink with me.”

You huffed out a sigh before turning your head with eyes of sympathy to the girl who was sprawled out on the bar counter top looking at the ceiling. 

“It’s Wednesday, Dahyun.”

No matter how good she looked every night you knew what your dear friend was going through. Just like every night you would wipe down the tables and sweep the floor as your co-worker made the ugliest of noises; suffering with a broken heart.

“And I’m an alcoholic, now let me pour you a drink.”

“Dahyun, not tonight.” You sighed, making your way to the back closet to the side to deposit the mop after mopping the floor clean only to have it dirtied by tomorrow. You closed the door shut, hand drooping on the knob as you dragged your feet over to the counter top and hoisted yourself up to sit beside your friend. She instantly moved her head to your lap, a pout on her lips as she sighed out.

“I promise we can go shopping this weekend and you can tell me all about your woes and troubles-”

“You already know my woes and troubles.” She interrupted, voice filled with sadness and a slight annoyance. “I’m heartbroken and a mess and I want to drink.”

“You should have drank with the guys who were begging you to drink with them.” You countered, hoping to get on her nerves enough so she would be distracted from the heartache. 

“All of those drinks were going on a tab so I couldn’t risk it.” She answered matter-of-factly, voice softening as her hazel eyes stared up at you with an attempted cute pout. “I much rather drink with you anyways.”

You rolled your eyes and raised your other thigh to push at her head, hearing her whine out in bitterness. “We can drink this weekend, go home.”

She sat up and pushed herself off the counter with a stretch, dragging her feet towards the exiting door after grabbing her purse. “Fine, I have a bottle waiting for me at home anyways.”

You shook your head and chuckled before getting off the counter as well, grabbing the abandoned towel for the last run through of wiping the counter and bottles before you had to close up. “Take care, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Her body was already out the door as a nimble arm raised with a wave goodbye. “See ya.”

You heard the jingle of the bell as the door closed and you hurried with wiping the counter down. Your eyebrows furrowed, trying to focus on your task at hand as you felt the thoughts of doubt begin to invade your mind. Working here was starting to take its toll on you, wishing for something new, something different. You wanted more and needed to make something of yourself while you were still young.

You shook your head and huffed out, trying to rid yourself of the insistent thoughts.

“Just keep swimming Nari, just keep swimming.”

*

With a jingle of the keys you got the hard lock open, pushing open the old creaking front door of your apartment. You huffed out as you pressed your back against the door to close it, leaning back and locking it securely. Your eyes widened when you realized the lights were on, knowing fully well they were off when you left this morning. A bright smile covered your face as you dropped your bags to the ground and hurried straight for your bedroom. 

You kicked your shoes off halfway when you realized they were still on, almost tripping through the doorway as you slapped your hand against the wall and hitting the lightswitch expertly. 

“Suga!”

Sure enough a body dressed in black was lying there on the mattress, seemingly dead until you saw the twitch of the slick, orange tail. 

You all but flew to the bed, jumping onto him with giggles and glee mixing with his groan. “I missed you!”

“Mm.” You heard him hum with his face stuffed into the pillow before he turned his head to the side with a sigh. “Get off Nari.” 

You listened to his command after smacking a kiss on the back of his head, pulling the hood of his jacket off as you pushed up to hover over him. You smiled in adoration at the orange cat ears popping upright, blowing a breath to make them twitch. “You didn’t even bother to come to the bar tonight to visit me.”

A hum was his only reply as you pouted, staring down at his resting face that feigned with sleep. You couldn’t help yourself, falling back onto him and hearing his grunts of disapproval as you smacked small kisses against his lips. 

“Did you eat?” You finally asked, when your lips grew sore from puckering, snuggling your face into his as you fell to the side.

“I’m not hungry.” He voiced out, deep and tired and you almost regretted waking him as his body shifted for his arms to wrap around you. With eyes still closed he breathed in before releasing it deeply through his nose, letting you snuggle into him some more. You struggled to get an arm out of his hold, reaching up to let your fingers scratch through his head and hear his deep purrs sound from his chest. 

“I’m surprised you’re in the house before me.” You softly admitted, pushing your forehead against his lips and relishing the feel of being in his arms. “You’re usually out saving the strays.”

You felt him press his lips in a kiss against your skin, your body feeling the rumble by him clearing his throat. “How was work?”

You gave a light shrug, your mind blanking out as you let your eyes close. “Same old, same old. I can’t wait to find a new and better job.”

“What, you don’t like working at a rundown smelly old bar?”

“You pretty much summed up why.” You chuckled before sitting up with a stretch and hovering over his body again. “I want something more rewarding and worth this business degree.”

He almost took your breath away, tired eyes opening to show you pretty brown orbs staring up at you. He took a moment to stare at you, not being able to tell if his look was out of love or annoyance. He smacked his lips before his face contorted in discomfort as he stretched and yawned. “Well as a cat who roams the streets all day, I suppose I could keep my eye out for some job applications.”

You moved up just as he did, the both of you sitting up right on the bed. You pressed another quick kiss against his lips before getting up, managing to grab his hand and dragging him up with you. “It’s alright. I’m more worried about you spending your time out there.”

You heard him sigh behind you as you led him out into the kitchen, letting go when you reached the table and headed over to the cabinets. You got to work in fixing up a quick meal, settling on some ramyun as you took out two packets for you two to share. “Hybrid control is very serious right now, and they’ve been spending less time trying to get hybrids back to their homes and more of reselling them.”

“How about you become an inside cat?” You didn’t mean to say it out loud, it was a thought in your head that you voiced out many times already. Still, you held your breath and waited for a response from the person at the table as you turned your head around to sneak a peek. 

“You know that’s not going to happen.”

You released your breath and pouted, seeing your love with his head laying on his arms, orange ears twitching forth as his tail lazily swished about. You said nothing more, focusing on getting the noodles boiled as you poured in the seasoning. 

You made sure to have a towel under the pot before setting it on the table, steam rising in the air when you took the lid off. He lifted his head to the smell of spicy chicken, a small smile gracing your face as he lifted up the chopsticks you set for him to dig in. You grabbed your own and went in after him, lifting a forkful of steaming noodles and blew them carefully before slurping them into your mouth.

You chewed slowly to savor the flavor, watching Suga eat hungirly all the while burning his mouth. “Hey, at least think it over.”

“I have thought it over.”

“I’m not saying don’t go outside at all, just stay in while I’m at work and when I’m not at work I’ll make sure to go with you wherever you wanna go.” you rasped, serious eyes challenging him though he took no notice of you. He continued to eat and avoided your eyes as you pressed your lips together and ran a hand through your silky hair. “Think about the way I feel, Suga.”

He didn’t give you an answer, continuing to eat the ramyun you made. You knew after a while he wasn’t going to answer, seeming as this was how all your arguments went. You gave up all together, joining back in before he finished the noodles without you.

You stirred your silver chopsticks through the broth, playing with the small bits of noodle that floated about. You glanced over when you heard him scoot back in his chair, getting up to quickly deposit his chopsticks in the sink and head back to the bedroom. “Thanks for the meal, I’ll be in bed.”

You watched him go, scoffing lightly to yourself before you got up yourself to start on the dishes. As infuriating as he could be, you knew you wouldn’t stay mad at him for too long. This was just the way he was, ever since the two of you met. 

But still, you wished he paid a bit more attention to how you felt.

You caught the light off in the kitchen after you were done, dragging your feet straight to the bathroom for a past-midnight shower and then to sleep. A flick of the lightswitch and your eyes going wide, introduced to a sight you didn’t see often. 

Red bouquets of roses littered around the small bathroom, filling it with the flowery smell of a garden. You closed the door behind you gently, leaning against it as a bright smile you couldn’t hold back covered your face. 

“Look at what my Yoongi dragged in.”

[gustafsnightangel]

Shattered Lives Ch 25 Pt 1

He rose before her and smiled at her sleeping form all sprawled out over the mattress and hoped she woke less stressed than the past few days. They were making it work, there were some rough patches but they were still learning to be a family, a couple. He’d really messed up yesterday and stepped over a line with her, it was no wonder she’d lost her shit. He had usurped her independence, forced her brother on her and the kids, made her feel anything but the intelligent, beautiful woman she was. Not what he’d intended at all.

Quietly collecting the charm from the nightstand he had Brendan keep an eye on things for a hot minute and went to the garage. It was important for her to still have these connections with her brother. He was hoping the books in her office would be perceived as that as well.

Friday couldn’t come soon enough he thought as he changed Lily and sat her with Brendan. He’d see her purge the grief again and he had his own agenda. He’d burn that fucking notebook, he had a feeling she’d finished and that it was weighing on her now too. He didn’t want anything else piling onto her plate if he could help it, he couldn’t watch her go through last night again. It tore at his soul seeing her like that. He wanted to love her, for her to let him love her, but it would only happen when she was ready for it to happen. He couldn’t force it, and maybe unknowingly he had been, too much, too quickly.

“Morning love.” He murmured as those talented lips destroyed her neck. She rolled over and wrapped herself around him kissing that mouth she’d craved.

“Good morning.” She purred, her kiss sinful. A fresh start she thought, she had to try and put yesterday behind her. That started by her not being so much of a control freak.

“Fuck me, Friday can’t get here soon enough.” He growled. “You need to get up love, cases to slay.”

She didn’t want to, she wanted to curl up with him and rock his world.

“I could kiss you all damn day.” She said dreamily and gave him one last blazing lip lock before pulling the sheets back.

“Saturday you can do that if you want.” He chuckled. She seemed happier today so far, the stress of yesterday left where it belonged. “Come on, up you get.”

She did the adult thing and climbed out of bed and headed to the shower after kissing him again. Letting the blistering hot water pound on her face she thought about what transpired last night, the guilt for raging at him like she did weighed heavily. Rarely did she lose her temper but when pushed, when cornered, she went nuclear and in spectacular fashion.

She’d hurt him, could see her words had cut him deeply and she had no idea how to heal that wound. How did she let him take care of her, how did she let him in without losing sight of who she was? She wouldn’t see her identity, her independence lost to a man ever again, the first time was bad enough.

She also had to tell him about his notebook and knew that was going to kick him after last night. Sometimes life just didn’t play fair or nice, it just got messy.

“You look as sinful as ever.” He growled as she came out of the bedroom as he went in to take a shower.

“Wait until you see what’s under it.” She purred and kissed him so his brain short circuited.

“Oh, that’s not fair.” He breathed. “You can’t tease me like that all day.”

“Ha! Yeah I can.” She giggled and kissed him before wrapping her arms around his half naked body. “Hey, um, not to drop a bombshell on you after last night but, I finished your notebook.” She said gently as she pulled back to looked at him. He blew a breath out, and looked at her. “We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but I figured you would like to know I’d finished and to have it back in case you wanted to do something with it.” She kissed him tenderly, that love flooding his system.

“Do you have anything you want to talk about, ask me about?” He asked shakily and was relieved when she shook her head.

“Not unless you want to talk about it. Thank you, for letting me read it. So I could understand what she did, who she was, what she is.” She said softly hoping she hadn’t set him up for a shitty day, the remnants of last nights argument was bad enough. He rested his forehead against hers and breathed. He could burn it and be done.

“Thank you.” He said gently and kissed her, the love pouring out of him. “Thank you for reading it. I know it wasn’t easy.”

“No, it wasn’t.” Her finger trailed his jaw. “You ok?”

“Yeah I think so.” He was a little taken back. He knew this day would come and thought he was prepared for it but it still stung. His relationship, his faults, his thoughts, laid bare for someone else to read. He’d been terrified she’d read it and leave, those old wounds sneaking into his psyche and wreaking havoc.

“I didn’t mean for it to fuck up your day.” She said softly and cupped a palm to his face stroking a thumb over his cheekbone.

“It hasn’t. I’m relieved actually.” He looked at her. “I can finally be rid of it.” His smile settling her. “I can put it in its place.” His kiss was searing, that burn of passion, of love.

“Join me for lunch today?” She asked. “Just lunch.” She added when he smirked.

“I’d like that.” He kissed her again and started the shower. “Go eat. You need to get going soon and you need food.”

“Mmm.” She agreed and kissed him again. “You’re always so tasty.” Grinning she walked away. She heard the groan and couldn’t help but laugh, it was the reaction she’d hoped for to pull his mind back from Ana. Seeing him for lunch would give her the chance to make sure he was ok, she knew this would destroy him if he stayed in that headspace for too long.

She smiled as she sat in his car and adjusted the rear view mirror, her fingers gently caressing the Celtic charm. It was the little things he did that floored her the most. He knew that lump of silver was special to her and without a second thought placed it where it belonged, even though this wasn’t even her car. Even when she’d hissed and spat at him last night like some mentally deranged cat.

The morning flew by, well he thought, that’s what you get when you go car shopping. He hadn’t purchased it, yet, but if her car was indeed a brick he had something lined up to make her life easier until she could purchase her own.

Her admin all but swooned at his feet, poor kid, and he had to stifle the chuckle as she did that dreamy sigh as he walked into Sildie’s office. Sildie was a sight, on the phone railing some poor schmuck, the deadly tone quite arousing when it wasn’t at him. He closed the door quietly and sat at the coffee table to wait until she finished. Setting their lunch out he grinned when he heard the phone click and her unmistakable “asshole” as she breathed out.

“That was an interesting one sided conversation.” He said, humor thick in his voice.

She snorted a laugh. “I love chewing up opposing counsel and spitting them out for breakfast when they think they can be lazy and still expect to hoodwink me and win.” Her fingers flew over the keyboard as she logged her conversation and the progress, or lack thereof, of the case.

“I take it said lawyer isn’t winning today.” He grinned.

“No, no he is not. He’s about to have a very unpleasant afternoon.” She ripped her glasses off and looked at him as he pulled the Chinese takeout from the bag and placed it on the table.

“What?” He asked, looking up as he felt her gaze upon him. Those eyes of glacial blue were undressing him.

“Nothing, just enjoying the view.” She smirked and leaned her head on her hand, damn he looked fine in that dress shirt, she thought, and how she wanted to fuck him in it.

He got up and stalked to her, those ridiculously long legs eating up the carpet with ease, nothing but a predator stalking it’s prey in those eyes. Spinning her chair slowly so she was facing him he placed those massive hands on the arm rests and leaned down to kiss her, slow, seductive, and she was sure, highly illegal.

“Hi beautiful.” He said, that low timbre she loved rumbling out of him.

“Hi handsome.” She kissed him, that unhurried sinful kiss that set fire to his brain.

“You’ll get us into trouble if you kiss me like that here.” He murmured, her pussy throbbing for his touch. “Come and eat before it gets cold.” He held out his hand for her and she took it, his touch sending all sorts of lovely sparks through her system. As she stood his arm snaked around her waist and he pulled her to him, that soft curvy body pressing against him. He kissed her, that lustful burn that had her melting in his arms.

“I love it when you kiss me like that. Makes me all gooey.” She giggled.

“I know.” He growled and kissed her like it all over again.

They sat and ate, talking of the astronomical cost it was going to take to fix her car.

“I don’t see the point in fixing it when you could get a new one for half that again.” He said, eating another delicious morsel of chili beef.

“Yeah.” She sighed out, and poked her chopsticks into the rice angrily. “Just, fucking fuck.” She huffed, defeated.

“What is it love?” He looked at her and she blew a breath out.

“I’ve spent the last year squirreling money away to section off part of the living area for Lily’s room and now that’s going to have to wait, again, because I need a new car. It’s just... fuck.” She spat. “I’m just sick of planning, working hard and saving like crazy to have it all go pear shaped. I’m just tired of it.” Her voice trembled and she got up to pace. “I’m tired of working my ass off and getting fucking nowhere.”

He could hear the threatening tears. The remnants of last night slinking their way back in. “Hey.” He soothed and stood, sweeping her into his arms gently as she walked past. “Don’t cry love.”

“Mmnot.” She mumbled as she held onto him, she wanted too though. Her thoughts were still raw from last night for more disappointment and stress.

“We’ll work it out.” He kissed her temple. “For the moment you have my car and I’m more than happy for you to use it. I only use it for longer trips so I can catch a cab if I need to go anywhere.”

“But I don’t want it messing with your schedule either. It’s your car you should be able to use it when you want to.” It came out more of a whine than a statement and she hated sounding like a petulant child, but it really wasn’t fucking fair.

“It’s not. Hey.” He hooked a finger under her chin and tipped it up so she’d look at him. “Use the car. It’s a squeeze for you guys but use it ok? For as long as you need to.”

“Ok.” She said and he could tell she wasn’t happy about it.

“It’s either that or I buy you one.” He quipped, knowing what her reaction would be.

“And I’ll be extremely angry with you if you do.” She looked at him and he saw the fire kindle in those eyes.

“That’s what I thought. Use the car Sildie. It sits there half the time collecting dust anyway.” He kissed her. “But I understand your frustration. We’ll sort it out ok? Give it some time, let things settle down, there’s no rush.” Especially when things could potentially change come Christmas, he thought. “What else is troubling you love?” He asked and kissed her gently.

“You sure you’re ok?” She asked quietly. “I didn’t want to blindside you this morning but I felt like I did.” She rested her forehead on his. “I didn’t mean to, especially after my bitch fit at you last night. Which again, I’m sorry.”

“I’m ok, we’re ok, and you didn’t blindside me, I had a feeling you were getting close to finishing it.” He looked at her. “Reading it upset you.” It was more of a statement than a question.

“Yes.” She kept her answer short not wanting to force him to talk about any of the contents from that toxic book.

“I’m sorry. I never meant for it to get under your skin.” He never meant for any of it to touch her or her life. His sensitive goddess, she felt everything so keenly.

“It’ll be fine, it’s just, she’a a nasty piece of work.”

“She is. Was that part of being upset last night?” He asked softly.

“A little, I think it just got added to everything else.”

“I’m sorry.”

She kissed him. “I’m glad I read it though. You’re enough, and you’re stronger than her.”

“I am, and I have an ace up my sleeve this time. I also have you to help me get through anything that decides to try and kick my ass again.” He smiled.

“Always love.”

“Come finish your food, you haven’t eaten enough.” He guided her to the small two seat sofa and sat next to her.

He glared at her as she stole a coconut shrimp off his plate and grinned at him.

“Damn it woman I was saving that.” He said playfully.

“You should eat them first, that way I can’t steal them.” She quipped with a grin.

“You’d find a way.” He grabbed her hand when she went in for the kill again which had her giggling. He brought her hand to his mouth and ate the shrimp that she’d managed to skewer on her chopsticks not taking his eyes off hers. “Mine.” He growled and she bit her bottom lip gently when her pussy suddenly throbbed for him. That look made her all sorts of needy. “Careful love.” That dangerous tone making her wet. He pulled her in sharply and kissed her, sucking her bottom lip free. “You don’t want to be teasing me with that lip here.” He warned.

“I need it to be Friday.” She whispered. Fuck me she thought, the way he looked at her was enough to have her almost climax.

“One more day.” He kissed her seductively until she moaned softly. “Eat your food.”

“Tease.” She grinned.

She went and made tea once she’d eaten and found she liked knowing he was comfortable coming here for lunch. It was one of those normal things that made her day brighter. She knew it wouldn’t be everyday but for those days he could swing it she would cherish them.

“I swear you’ve broken my admin.” She said, setting the tea down and closing the door again. Her admin was trying to find an excuse to walk past her office to catch a glimpse of him.

“All I said was hello.” He chuckled.

“I think she has a crush on you. She went all dreamy eyed when she saw the flowers Monday.” She wouldn’t tell him she was just as wistful. They sent her to mush every time he sent them.

“Did you get all dreamy eyed?” He smirked as she sat beside him.

“Not a chance.” She said a little too quickly and he grinned.

“I like turning you to mush.” He growled and kissed her sweetly.

“You did when I got in your car this morning.” She murmured, her fingers trailing his jaw and resting at the deep V of his shirt. “Nearly made me cry.”

“It’s important to you.” He shrugged.

“It is, thank you.” She kissed him.

“You working late tomorrow? I saw your calendar.” He said sipping his tea.

“Yeah, I need to square some things away before you kidnap me for four days.” She chuckled.

“Want me to pick up the kids?” He asked gently and watched her. He didn’t want to push, especially after last night, but it made sense.

“Only if you’re ok with it. I don’t want to dump them on you if you have things to do.” She said hesitantly. “I think it would be nice for them, for you.” She shrugged. “Time to bond.”

“My calendar is pretty clear until after Christmas.” He leaned over and kissed her. “You drop them off tomorrow morning, I’ll come by for lunch and collect the car to pick them up. Just don’t stay at work too late. I won’t be happy if I have to come and collect you on the way to our getaway.” He said gently.

“I should be done around seven. Just depends what sort of day I have.”

“I’ll have a car pick you up.” He said without thinking.

“I’ll catch a cab.” She shot back and he knew he was toeing that line and left it well alone.

“I like taking care of you Sildie, when you let me.” He said gently.

“I know, just don’t like being coddled. It suffocating.”

“I’ll try to remember that. I don’t do it intentionally love.” I do it because I love you, he said silently.

“I know.” She leaned her forehead against his. “I like it when you take care of me, but I’m having to learn to let you. I have to consciously let go of the control. I’m not used to having someone like you be there for me. I like it though.” She added and let her fingers feel his chest, trail the edge of the deep V. “It makes me feel safe, you make me feel safe.”

“Good.” He murmured and felt his heart swell, he was doing something right at least. He understood her need for control, with how her life had taken such a dramatic change in direction it wasn’t surprising. She needed to feel in control of everything to know she had done the best she could for the kids. It was an enormous amount of pressure she put on herself and hoped he could relieve some of that pressure for her.

The light knock at the door broke them apart as Sildie got up to answer it.

“My one o’clock is here.” She said collecting all the trash from their meal.

“Then I had better get going.” Not that he wanted to.

“Thank you for lunch, this was nice.” She said softly.

“We can do it again when ever you want love.”

“Tomorrow, for sure.”

“It’s a date.” He cupped her gently around the neck and drew her close, his kiss destroyed her brain and curled her toes.

“I love it when you kiss me like that.” She sighed.

“I know.” He growled.

“Turning me into mush before you leave, that’s not fair love.” She grinned.

“I’ll make it up to you tonight.” He growled. “I want to see what you’ve got hiding under this.” He said tugging her blouse gently.

“Come on I’ll walk you out.” She chuckled. “And no breaking my admin please, I need her coherent.”

“Maybe I’ll hook her up with Valter.” He smirked as he pulled on his coat.

“Oh hush.” She chuckled, playfully slapping him. “I think she’d prefer you or Alex.”

“She couldn’t handle Alex.”He kissed her, one of longing, a promise of more. “And I’m taken.” He murmured. “Very, very, taken.”

“See you for hockey?” She asked gently as they walked out.

“You will.”

“Bye love.” She said quietly and he noticed she tensed slightly as he went to kiss her in view of her entire office. Still too new for her with everyone watching he thought.

“Bye.” He said and kissed her cheek softly. “Relax, they’ll lose interest soon enough. Just keep ignoring it.”

“I’m trying.” She said softly and nodded.

She willed the flush of heat, the red that was no doubt staining her face to disappear as she walked her client back to her office. She didn’t like an audience when she kissed him and she knew it was only going to get worse as they went out together more. She worried about how that would affect the kids and knew she’d have to talk to him about it.

She didn’t want them approached by reporters or fans wanting the scoop on their relationship, or have their faces plastered across magazine covers. Yes he was famous, but they were entitled to a private life and she’d see they got it. The kids were off limits, no exceptions.

With the day done she collected the kids and headed to the rink. Gustaf was already seated when they arrived and smiled as Lily squealed a dad dad and ran to him, a little wobbly still, but running.

“Well hello little lady.” He chuckled as she hugged him tightly, snuggling her in. “Hello lovely lady.” He said snaking an arm around her and kissing her.

“Hi.”

“Everything ok?” He asked, the stress in her voice wasn’t what he’d hoped for tonight.

“It’s fine. We just need to talk about the kids and reporters.” She said getting the twin situated.

“What happened?” She watched as his entire demeanor changed, suddenly fiercely protective, of her, of the kids. She relaxed, no doubt in her mind he’d rip them to shreds if they fucked with the kids.

“Nothing, and I’d like to see we keep it that way.”

“Absolutely.” He kissed her again slowly and felt her relax.

“Just something that’s been circling my head since this afternoon.”

“Talk tonight?” He didn’t want this getting out of hand, he wanted it off her mind and her plate, and he should have thought of it sooner.

“Sure.” She kissed him quickly and sat as Brendan’s team took the ice.

With a 2-1 win they headed home, the twins goofing off with an overtired Lily in the back seat keeping her from imploding completely.

“Ama?”

“Yeah B.” She chuckled at the outrageous raspberry noises coming from the back seat.

“Can you phone us Friday night? When you get to wherever Gustaf’s taking you?” Brendan asked quietly.

She looked over at the teen as she pulled up at a stoplight. “Of course.” He was scared and she should have seen it. Oh hell she should have been ready for this. It would be the first time they’d been separated for more than a day since the crash took their parents. And you fucking idiot, she swore in her head, you should have seen this coming a mile away. “If it’s too much B I’ll cancel.” She didn’t want to, she’d been looking forward to some adult time, but if this was going to spiral him she would, the kids came first.

“No, I don’t want... you guys need some time together and I don’t want to ruin it.” He mumbled.

“Look at me B.” The teen did and her heart sank, the kid was terrified. “You guys come first and if it’s too much, Gustaf will understand, so will I.”

“No, I still want you to go, just call when you get there?” He asked again.

“You’re sure? Absolutely a million percent sure you’re ok with it?” The kid nodded. “And yes I’ll call when we get there. I’ll even send pics.” She smiled.

“Do you know where you’re going?” He asked as the light went green.

“No clue.” She chuckled as she drove. Brendan snickered and the grin said it all.

“You know don’t you? You holding out on me?” She joked.

“Yep and I’m soooo not telling.” He giggled.

“Oh come on he won’t know.” She said slyly.

“Nope. You’re gonna love it though.”

“Yeah well we’ll see.” She said pulling into Gustaf’s parking space. She frowned at the car next to her, someone had parked in her spot. “Damn it. The nerve of some people.” She grumbled as she pulled Lily out and cuddled her in. She’d deal with that once the kids were upstairs. Just because her car had died didn’t mean her parking space was no longer hers.

Gustaf had beaten them home and dinner was waiting for them, the boys whooping when they saw it was pizza. Hockey nights had turned into pizza nights. Lily cried a dad dad for him and Sildie smiled.

“Looks like she wants you tonight. Not that I blame her, I kinda want you too.” She murmured and kissed him as he took Lily. “Hey you good with these guys for a hot minute I need to go down and report the asshole who parked in my space.” She sighed, not really wanting to deal with something else tonight.

He grinned and kissed her. “That asshole is me love.” He chuckled.

“Oh, sorry.” She huffed. “Wait...”

“I figured one car was going to get old real fast and we couldn’t go away this weekend and not have a car here for Alice to use.” That was his reasoning and he was sticking to it.

“Oh, yeah, I didn’t think of that.” She scrubbed a hand over her face. There was way too much shit going on for her to think straight.

“Anyway, that car is roomier so I’ll put Lily’s seat in there after dinner. You can take that one tomorrow.” He wasn’t going to make a big deal over it because as soon as she realized he’d bought the damn thing she’d flip her shit.

“The one it’s in is fine.” She looked at him suspiciously, did he buy another car, she wondered?

“I know, this will be better, there’s more room, and I like driving my car for longer trips.” She’d told him he wasn’t allowed to repair or buy her a car, she didn’t say anything about him buying another car for himself. She’d rage at him when she figured it out. But he had a plan, gifts and food were off limits and Christmas was three weeks away.

They sat and ate, the kids dragging homework to the table so they could multitask. As they finished up Gustaf headed to the garage to take care of the car seat and Sildie got Lily in a bath. She was a grumpy little lady and screaming by the time Gustaf got back.

“Oh Lily bear, it’s not that bad honey.” He cooed with a chuckle as he stepped into the bathroom.

“Anyone would think I was murdering her with the amount of noise she’s making.” Sildie chuckled as she pulled the plug and bundled the child into a towel. Gustaf took Lily when she launched herself at him and dressed her for bed.

“You said earlier you were worried about reporters, media.” He prompted gently, he wanted to get to the bottom of that potential shit storm immediately.

“It was something that came to mind after you left. Everyone watching us. I don’t like it but it’s part of your world that I’m going to have to deal with, I just don’t want the kids involved. They deserve to be left alone regardless of who you are.” She said honestly as she kicked off her heels and shucked the suit jacket.

“I agree and I can assure you, I’ll do everything to see them shielded from it.” He said softly as he snuggled Lily in. “You as well.”

“Is there anything we can do to sort of say the kids are off limits? I mean I can go all lawyer on them but I don’t really want to do that. Yet.” She said toying with his shirt.

“I’ll talk to Daisy and Jack. I have a few strings to pull on that end.” His knuckles brushed her cheek and he kissed her tenderly. “I’m sorry I didn’t do anything sooner. I didn’t think of it until you said something and I should have.”

“It’s ok. It’s just bad enough with my work colleagues, I don’t want the kids going through that.”

“Completely understandable.” He kissed her again letting seduction take the wheel until she moaned. “Your work colleagues will calm down once the novelty’s worn off.”

“Or I send them a cease and desist memo.” She muttered. “Oh and one thing for Friday.”

“Mmmmm?”

“I need to be able to call the kids when we arrive.” She fiddled with the buttons on his shirt and couldn’t look at him. She felt so silly for even asking, of course she could call them, it wasn’t like he’d take her phone away.

“Look at me.” He whispered. “You ok?” He asked when her eyes met his.

“Never mind it’s fine.” She shook her head and his hand caught her arm before she could fully get out of reach.

“No, not never mind.” He said gently and kissed her reassuringly. “What’s going on?”

“Brendan asked if I could call them when we land, park, dock, to wherever it is you’re kidnapping me to.” She huffed.

“Of course.” He pulled her in so he could wrap and arm around her and secure her to him. “My two best girls.” He kissed her temple and let the closeness relax her, hoping she’d spill what was really on her mind.

“Talk to me love.” He said softly when she clammed up.

“This is the first time I’ve been away from them for more than a night, further away than next door.” She mumbled. “Brendan talked to me in the car on the way home. I should have seen it earlier, dealt with it earlier but to be honest it didn’t even cross my mind until he asked. I’m so fucking hopeless at this shit.”

“He’s scared.” Gustaf stated more than asked.

“I think terrified would come closer.” She murmured.

“I’ll chat with him.”

“No, leave it, please. I said I’d call him and I don’t want this turning into a big deal.” She said, eyes pleading.

“You sure?”

“Yes, and I can text Alice some pictures. I want to make this a good thing, not something they dread or get anxious about.” She sighed out and rested her forehead against his. “Even though I’m anxious enough for everyone. Things have to level out to some sort of normal soon, right?”

“It will love, give it time, and you’re far from hopeless at this.”

“I’m nervous.” She said honestly.

“I know.” He whispered and kissed her brow. “Together love. One step at a time.”

“She’s almost asleep.” Her fingers caressed Lily’s hair as the child’s eyes started to droop.

“Then dance with me until she is.” He held onto her and swayed as she relaxed into him, head on his shoulder, kisses to Lily’s forehead, and soon the tiny child was drifting under.

Gustaf put Lily to bed and lingered as she settled, his large finger gripped tightly in her little fist. He could hear Sildie reading to the boys and headed to the kitchen to make tea. She would want to read now, get it out the way before coming to bed and he’d try and coax her into an early night considering the lack of sleep and overwhelming stress she endured yesterday. He was sitting on the couch with his tea when she came in and closed the hall door. She didn’t sit to read, instead she came over to straddle him and rested her head against his chest. He felt the stress leave her, melt clean off her bones as she slumped.

“You ok?” He asked with a chuckle.

“Yamnow.” She mumbled.

“Not reading?”

“I should but I’m beat to hell.” She said wrapping her arms around him. “Fuck I missed you.” She sighed and grinned as his laugh rumbled through his chest. “And I was an ungrateful bitch to you last night.”

“I missed you too love.” He kissed the top of her head and lingered breathing her in. “And that was last night, let it be done.” He kissed her temple and felt her relax further into him. She’d said the same thing to him after he’d had his meltdown, he’d show her the same courtesy.

“You know I’m grateful you came into our lives right? I don’t say that enough to you.” She brought her head up to look at him. “There not a day that goes by that I don’t wonder how we got so lucky.”

“I’m the one who got lucky.” He murmured, that deep rich timbre she loved. “You and four great kids. Whoever let you go is an idiot. Absolutely certifiable.” His kiss was that slow burn, seductive and potent. “I won’t be making that mistake.” He growled before kissing her so her pussy throbbed.

“You should go read.” He said as she deepened his kiss and lingered, her fingers toying with his buttons.

“Yeah, you’re right, I should.” She purred, as her hands undid the top few buttons of his shirt.

His hands stroked up her thighs and under her skirt, that single digit grazing her heat through the black lace. Her moan into his mouth made his cock twitch. “Fuck Sildie I want you.” He growled and swiped his finger over her clit and through that wetness he was growing hard for. Her moan against his lips had his fingers yanking her g string to the side and circling her entrance.

As he deliberately toyed with her, arousing her until her brain was ready to explode, her fingers hastily freed his erection. He savaged her mouth as she stroked him, those nimble fingers delightfully destroying his manhood. Palming a breast he pulled the fabric of her blouse aside so he could nip that one spot on her neck.

“I want you to fuck me.” She purred as two fingers circled her entrance teasing her. “I want to feel every inch of you.” She breathed.

“Anything for you love.” He kissed her hard as she shifted to rest his cock where his fingers had been. He gripped her hips and pulled her onto him as he snapped his hips forward. The mutual groan of ecstasy echoed softly around the room.

They found a brutal rhythm, the hard plunge deep into her, his cock hitting her in all those secret places. He ravaged her mouth as she held onto him while he filled her, his girth stretching her wide. She rode him hard, the bounce driving him deeper until he bottomed out.

“Fuck, you’re so tight.” He growled, biting down on her throat.

“No love.” She sighed. “You’re just so fucking big.” She purred, nipping his ear to emphasize her words. “So big.” She moaned as his hips snapped faster pulling her onto him, forcing himself into her with long deft strokes.

“Gustaf.” She peaked quickly and cried into his mouth as his cock pounded into her, her hands clutching at him as she tensed.

It was a fast, rough mating, an urgent need to fuck and claim each other, to scratch that itch. He plunged a hand between their bodies and assaulted her clit, the added sensation sending her over the edge. Her climax shattered her as he continued to fuck her hard, his own release thundering through him as he filled her with his seed.

“You drive me fucking wild.” He murmured, nuzzling her throat. “Stroking my ego like that.” He grinned as he nipped her ear, her throaty laugh making his cock twitch.

“Just stating the truth love.” She purred, that sly smirk tugging at her lips as she rested against him.

“Reading or bed?” He asked as they caught their breath, wanting nothing more than to strip her naked and take her again. Knowing she had reading, was tired, and had a crazy day tomorrow, he would have to settle for curling up in bed so she’d get an earlier night.

“I’m still gonna have to read for an hour.” She said, determined to be somewhat productive tonight.

“Want me to sit with you?”

“Up to you, but I like it when you do.” She placed her hands on his chest and stretched up to kiss him. “As much as I want you to fuck me all over again, I have to be the responsible adult and do my homework.” She said wistfully.

“Do your homework, playtime later.” He said playfully and she giggled.

“Now that’s incentive.”

“Whatever works.” He grinned.

They disentangled themselves and dressed enough to be descent if the kids came out. Seated at the table she got to work, the cup of tea magically appearing by her legal pad.

He kissed the back of her neck an hour later, not a second more and she shivered. He watched as her pen hand went lax, unable to put thought into action, as his lips kissed a trail on the exposed strip of skin between her hairline and blouse. That soft sigh as skilled hands massaged the rocks in her shoulders.

“Time for bed my lovely lady.” He murmured as his kiss found the spot below her ear.

“Ok.” She mumbled dreamily as he continued to relax her.

“Pack your work up.” He prompted.

“I can’t while you’re doing that, my brain won’t work.” Her mumble was barely there, he’d relaxed her into a puddle of goo.

His hands stopped and she moaned her displeasure when he pulled away. “Pack up and then I’ll take care of you.” He murmured and took the teapot and cups to the kitchen.

He watched her and smirked. She was still sitting there blinking as if trying to coerce her body to cooperate. He’d rendered her incoherent. Those lips she thought, those hands, he’d turned her to mush. She tidied up, packed her bag for tomorrow, and dragged her ass out of the chair. With everything set for the morning she headed to bed, Gustaf followed a little later.

“Those lips are deadly Mr.” She huffed as his arms wrapped around her, the kiss landing on her temple as he snuggled her in. “And so are these.” She mumbled tapping his hands as they flexed out across her torso, cupping a breast gently. His quiet chuckle made her smile.

“Sleep love you have a brutal day tomorrow. We’ll save playtime for Friday.” He murmured. He calmed her, the warmth, the strength, those protective arms keeping her close, home.

“But I have you to come home to.” She mumbled, already falling into sleep.

“Yes you do.” He kissed her head and breathed her in.

She shifted until her mouth found his, the kiss loving and soft. “Thank you.” She slurred.

“Sleep love.”

“You’re my home Gustaf.” She mumbled as sleep claimed her and he felt his heart lurch and his eyes prickle at her words.

“You’re my home too love.”

It had been a rough few days for her and with her birthday next week he knew her stress and grief would only worsen. Their four days away would hopefully settle her, or at least take the edge off. He knew she’d work herself hard tomorrow and was looking forward to taking care of the kids. It gave them all time to bond and he found he craved to spend time with them. He held her close, his Sildie, his home, as sleep pulled him under.

**************

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