#i still need to make the other guys rest in pieces fly high

[aquared]

i hate him hope he dies

[acidsoju]

CLASS PREZ

genre: smut, high school seniors! nonidol au, enemies to ??? (fuck buddies maybe?) pairing: class president!soobin x troublemaker!reader warnings: nsfw, dom!soobin, a lot of swearing, oral (m. receiving; f. kinda receiving), unprotected sex (dont!), unedited so probably bad writing word count: 4.4k summary: when student council president, choi soobin, becomes the terror of the whole school and you must do something to stop him.

Soobin used to enjoy his time at school. Always having been a lil’ of a control freak, when he was elected as president of the student council he felt as if he held the world in his hands, even thought it was the mere administration of students’ affairs. Still, things changed since he climbed to the top of the student’s pyramid, changed for good if you were to ask him; where you could see students running down hallways before, now there was peace and quiet and those who’d dare to break the not running rule, would have to spend hours scratching gum from down the desks.

Where you could see girls with extremely short skirts, the thin clothe flying mindlessly at their movements putting on disposal to everyone who’d walk by their thighs and, sometimes, even a sight of their panties, now if you were to break the not more than five inches above the knee rule, you’d had to endure the oldest professor in school’s lecturing.

Earrings were gone; make up, gone; comics and non-educational books inside the building, gone. Wearing earphones was a no; nail polish was a crime; no wrinkles in your school uniform were allowed to be seen. Some kids even started fearing talking on the halls, just a normal conversation between friends.

Things had to stop.

“This guy is a tyrant.”

A fist bumped against the cold, single table inside the small janitor’s room. The dim light of the mere light bulb hanging on the center of the room barely made everyone’s faces visible. Vibes were the same from that old mafia movie you had seen last night, except for the fact none of you were rich old men in their forties.

“We have to do something about him.” Beomgyu continued saying, his fist pressing down on the table, eyes looking straight into everyone else’s. “This is too much!”

“Quiet, please, we don’t want to get caught, remember.” You mumbled, your hand going up and resting over his clenched fist. You looked at the two other people in the room.

“But what can we do? I mean, we voted for him.” Said Hueningkai, arms crossed over his chest and a nervous look washing his features, the threat of being caught practically hiding and conspiring against the number one at school making him feel sick on the stomach.

“I didn’t vote for him.” Taehyun added, shrugging.

“Listen, now…” You spoke, getting up from your seat and placing your palms against the table as you leaned closer. “There must be something we can do, we need to break him, make him fall from his position.”

“I may have an idea…”

Oh, Beomgyu and his ideas; somehow you always were the only one getting the worst part.

That was what you thought as you waited at the end of the hall. The boys had cut short your skirt a little too much, more that they had promised, barely covering your ass; your lips shone thanks to the gloss you applied and that would occasionally stain the gum in your mouth whenever you’d make a balloon with it; you were sure the music from your earphones was loud enough to hear it if you passed by. Your tie hung loose around your neck and the first two buttons of your shirt were unbuttoned, showing a little the line of your breasts popping up, more skin that you were supposed to show on the sacred grounds of school.

“And you’re sure this is gonna break him?” You had asked Beomgyu once you had change into your perfect attire. He nodded, looking up and down at you, eyebrows furrowing, looking to whatever was missing according to him before offering you a piece of gum.

“Yeah, just be yourself—And I mean, a pain in the ass.”

Your head snapped to look over your shoulder when you heard footsteps coming down from the stairs. That’s him, you thought after checking at the time on your phone; the student council meeting must have ended around this time. And you confirmed it when his tall, tidy-self appeared in your vision, the widening in his eyes worthy of the cartoon’s praises. He froze in his place, three stairs before reaching your floor, and tilted his head to a side, eyes taking the sight of you completely.

Shit, you even could hear the alarms running off in his head. His eyebrows twitched, looking up from the sight of your bare thighs to your unbuttoned and loose shirt before going back at your eyes, not going unnoticed by him the way you grossly and purposely chew the gum in your mouth, making disgusting sounds. His mouth opened, probably ready to tell you were going to be expelled even though he didn’t have that kind of power in his hands, but the words were caught in his throat when you smiled, grinned, at him, your eyes beaming in mischief before looking away and making a run from him.

“He-hey! No running in the halls!”

Feeling the rush of adrenaline in your veins, you couldn’t stop the giggling that scaped from your lips as you heard his hurried steps behind yours. As some people peeked through the classrooms’ windows and doors at the noise outside in the hall, you spotted Beomgyu reaching out with a file of papers in your direction, that you quickly grabbed and shot them up, papers spreading all over the hall as they fell. You stopped before the stairs at the other end of the hall and looked over your shoulder, caughting Soobin’s angry stare glued to you; his eyes, again, widening at the realization of your next move.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, don’t-

Pressing down your thighs over the cold railing, you lifted your feet from the floor and suppressed the urge to squeal as you slid down, hair flaying back. It had been some time since last time you slid down a railing, probably since you were fourteen, but it was just as riding a bike.

You still could hear Soobin’s footsteps following close behind you, trying to get a hold on you, so when you reached the last floor, you didn’t stop running and instead, hurried your pace. Soobin stopped trailing you when he saw you exiting the main building and turning on a corner around it, loosing the sight of you. He panted, anger flushing his veins, his ears fury red; lucky for him, as he fixed the slid down frame of his glasses he spotted at his feet a pair of earphones that, oh so responsible of you, had a small tag with your name on it.

The plan didn’t go as you hoped: Soobin’s tyrant habits didn’t stop nor lessened, but you had had so much fun and, one thing you noticed was that things around school sure were so much lively since the rumors of your little performance from a few days ago had spread all over the school.

“Damn, what I would give to see the look on his face!” Exclaimed Beomgyu with daydreaming eyes again and again, fascinated when you had told the boy all about the president’s reaction.

“Maybe next time you should dress up-

Words hung in the air when your classroom’s door opened a few minutes before class was supposed to star. Of course, it wasn’t your professor; the coquettish giggling from some other students gave it away. The student council vice-president, Yeonjun, wasn’t even half-terrible or intimidating as the president was, but still if you were ever to caught him moody, god, it was the end for you.

You hoped this wasn’t the case.

His cold eyes scanned your classroom and when his gaze stopped in yourself, practically hiding behind Beomgyu’s frame, a small smile draw in his pink, puffy lips.

“Y/n?”

“Fuck.”

“Y/n? When today’s classes are over, the student council president would like to see you.”

Oh, oh, oh, you were so fucked.

So, after that day’s final class, while your friends hugged you goodbye as if it was going to be the last time you saw each other, you promised not to follow ever again a plan of Beomgyu, if it, of course, you were to make it alive today.

The student council’s office was on the last floor of the school building and it was as big as two of your classrooms combined. You heard some talking inside when you stopped in front of the tag that read ‘student council member’s only’, before knocking slowly against the door three times. The noise inside stopped.

For the second time of the day, Yeonjun stared at you, nodding as he opened the door and took a step aside to let you in. Some of people inside gave you one of the nastiest looks you had ever received in your life, but instead of looking away you only snarled back at them, some of them gasping at your so rabid reaction.

Soobin was there, of course, sitting down on his personal desk; hands clasped covering the bottom half of his face as his dark eyes followed you closely, like you were some kind of prey.

You stopped in the middle of the room, eyes never looking away from his.

“Leave us.” Soobin spoke calmly to the rest of the people in the room; they, of course, obliged hurriedly, giving you some more ugly stared before walking out. The last one was Yeonjun who, with a lazy and small smile on his lips, just nodded in your direction and walked away with his bag hanging from his shoulder, closing the door behind him. Your eyes went back to Soobin, whose eyes were piercing at yourself, even from behind the glasses on his face. “Sit.”

“No, thanks,” You could tell the way his stare only hardened at the mocking tone on your words. A sigh scaped his lips, before resting down his hands over his desk and leaning back on his seat, head slightly tilting back as his eyes stared holes into you, looking up and down at your clothes. “Needed something from me? I’m kinda in a hurry…”

“What a shame, then.” He licked his lips, eyebrows narrowing in fake concern. His fingers traced down a file over his desk and he flipped it open, eyes flicking to the papers inside and then started reading out loud. “Y/n, senior, nineteen years old, transferred from Daegu with your cousin Choi Beomgyu two years ago, grades average, behavior bad; sleeping at class, eating at class, non-compliance of the school’s policies, making a ruckus in the middle of the hall, taking back at teachers, sneaking from classes and I could go on and on.”

Your eyes fell open into an ‘o’ shape, mockingly. “Don’t tell me you run a background check on me, you perv.”

“Incredibly disrespectful.” He added, his eyes went up to look into yours again, putting down your file. “Now what should I do with you?”

“I have an idea,” You smiled trying to give him the best innocent look you could give him. “Why don’t I just go back home, reflect on my actions and we both pretend nothing of this ever happened, uh, prez?” Soobin cracked a big laugh at your words, throwing his head back and smiling in obvious irony at your words.

“Cute, but don’t even think about it.” He got up from his seat and walked around his desk, stopping in front of it and sitting down, arms crossing over his chest as he faced in your direction. “Since I’m a good prez who listens to everyone’s opinion before making a decision, I’ll hear yours, so you chose; we can give you a three weeks ban from school plus doubling your obligatory homework or you can do some voluntary work with the school janitors for two months.”

You snorted at the terribly, awful options you had; Soobin took in your reaction and licked his lips, smoothing the growing smirk in his lips as your mouth fell open in annoyance and your eyes rolled to the back of your head.

“Well, aren’t you pretty fucking nice, prez?” You snarled, eyes scrunching down at his relaxed frame awaiting an answer from your doomed-self. “This is completely your fault!”

“Excuse me?” Soobin questioned, his back stiffening. “How is it my fault that you’re such a brat?”

“You’re the fucking tight shit that wants us to roam around school like it's some kind of prison,” Soobin’s eyebrows went up and his hands closed in fists against the desk. “I mean, school supposed to be fun- “

“School is for learning.” He cut you off, his frame lifting up from his desk and talking a step closer to you. “Which, if I look at your grades, doesn’t seem like you’re doing.”

“You’re so full of yourself, shitty-head.” You took a step closer to him as well, pointing your index finger to his face, eyes throwing knives. “For some of us it’s actually hard the study part.”

Soobin snorted, his cold breath hitting against your face as you had grown closer to each other. “Agh, please! You don’t even try! All I have ever saw you do is walking around in that slutty skirt of yours and batting your eyes to whoever crosses your path.”

“Oh? What is this? Is the prez an actual perv?” You tilted your head, an amused smile growing in your face as you pushed your finger against his firm chest. Soobin’s stare becoming darker and darker each second as he held your gaze. Still, you traced up and down your finger. “Have you gotten so mad at me because you’re the only loser I haven’t let take a peek under my skirt, uh?” You pouted, mockingly feeling himself shudder under your touch.

His breath hitched when your finger went up from his chest and brushed against his neck, his Adam’s apple moving as he gulped down.

“Such a shame that your pretty face is going to waste when you have this fucked up attitude all the time,” You shook your head, disapprovingly. “why don’t you be nice for once and just let me go, uh?”

“You’re actually such a bratty slut, aren’t you?” He growled, his voice coming off lower and deeper than it actually was, making your knees weaker. His hand closed tightly around the one you held up against him. “Trying to sweet talk your way out of this? Out the mess you made?” He licked his lips, his eyes dangerously glancing down at yours, so closed to his, so pretty opened in amusement at his sudden snap. “Shouldn’t I be a good prez and teach you a lesson myself?”

You weren’t able to react on time before Soobin redirected your hand and pressed your open palm against the dump in his pants, hard, tight. Your eyes widened at his action and quickly tried to pull away, but his hold in you only hardened as he pressed your palm against him, his hips barely rubbing against the touch.

“What the fuck? Are you an actual pervert?”

Soobin snarled. “Such a pretty mouth but you only talk shit every time you open it.” His other hand went up to grab your face in between his long fingers, squishing your cheeks forcing you to pout; his hips rubbed a little harder against your palm. “Let me give your mouth a better use, okay?”

He let go of the hold on your hand against his crotch and used the same hand to unbuckle the belt of his pants that quickly fell to his ankles. Your breath got caught at the prominent bult on his boxers, making you salivate a little. Soobin noticed the look on your eyes because he chuckled darkly, letting you eat him alive with your eyes.

“You’re so quiet now, uh angel?” He mocked, his long fingers tracing down against his own clothed dick, the sight only making you weaker and weaker on the knees. His hold in your face loosened and his hand went up your head, pushing you down to get on your knees in front of him, your pretty, big eyes looking up from underneath him made him want to shove his full length right into your mouth.

And that’s exactly what he did.

You didn’t have time to catch on when he shoved down his boxer and placed the tip of his hard cock against your lips; darting open by surprise, Soobin took the opportunity to thrust his hips against your mouth. A heavy sight scaped his lips as he reached the back of your hot throat that clenched around him; he watched the beautiful scene you made as your eyes filled with tears and some spit trailed down from the corner of your lips.

“So fucking prettier with my cock in your mouth.”

You groaned as he thrusted faster and harder against your mouth, traying to breath from your nose and not to react to those gag reflexes. His big hand grabbed your hair making a sloppy ponytail on his fist and started pushing you up and down his cock. His bottom lip was caught by his teeth as he panted heavily, his dick twitching inside your mouth anytime you’d whine against him.

“Such a little brat taking me so well, oh, fuck, do that again.” Soobin lips darted at the way your tongue danced around his swollen and leaking tip, tasting the pre-cum on your mouth. “Gonna cum and you better swallow every single drop, okay angel?” You hummed at him, the vibrations from your mouth on his dick sending him to heaven as his pace only fastened, his hips uncontrollably thrusting into your mouth and the grip on your hair tightening. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, take it, doll, mmmh- good.”

You mouth filled with the ropes of cum that flew hard against the back of your throat, almost making you choke but you managed to swallow everything, licking clean his dick that sloppily moved inside and outside of your hot and wet mouth.

“Show me.” Soobin said and you obliged, opening your mouth and sticking out your tongue. He hummed pleased and let go of your hair. He caught the needy look in your eyes, his lips stretching into a cocky smirk as he watched you get up and pressed your tights together. Your tights that were so exposed with that little skirt of yours. “Come here.” Soobin’s arm rounded your waist and pressed you against his body, while his free hand traced down from your hips to your ass, grabbing it hard before it went down even further.

His fingers pressed against the wet, dampened clothe of your panties. He chuckled, his breath hitting your neck as he towered over you and look at the glistening on his fingers.

“My dick got you so wet, uh?” He whispered against your ear, before his plump lips nibbled down at your earlobe, making you flinch. “You were being such an annoying brat just earlier, should I just leave you like this as your punishment?”

“N-No…”

“No what, angel? What do you want me to do, then?” Soobin’s nose trailed up and down your neck, taking in your aroused odor, licking occasionally against your skin. “Use your words.”

You inhaled sharply, feeling the pressure of Soobin’s fingers against your wet folds rubbing up and down at such a slow pace. Your hips moved on their own against his hand trying to get as much friction as you could, making Soobin clicked his tongue at your actions.

“Prez, I- mh-“ the words caught in your mouth as Soobin went further with his big hand, cupping your warm pussy, his middle finger barely caressing your clit over your panties. Soobin hummed in your ear.

“Yeah? I’m listening.”

“Want you to fuck me so bad, prez.”

Soobin smirked and turned you around, walking you to his desk until your legs were pressed against it and you fell over, your legs opening as he positioned himself in between them. His large hands grabbed your tights and pushed up your skirt all the way up, his eyes devouring the sight of the dampness in your panties. His fingers slid down the waistband of your panties and pulled down, throwing them somewhere in the classroom over his shoulder.

You, on the other hand, found yourself staring mesmerized at the boy in front of you. This sight was one you never thought, never in your life it had crossed your mind, that you would be able to witness. Soobin’s plump, bottom lip caught in between his teeth, his frames slid down to the tip of his nose, his wet -always so perfectly styled- hair falling over his eyes; and his eyes, that were glued to your core in unbreakable concentration.

Oh, how bad you wanted to touch him even more.

Your hands moved on their own, grabbing Soobin’s tie and pulling him down towards you, forcing his attention back to you. One of his big hands pressed against the wood of the desk on your back, his face just millimeters from yours. You leaned in trying to push your lips against his, but he quickly moved his head down, to your lap. Your mouth fell open when his lips brushed against your wet folds.

“So, so bad, angel. You really think you’re in control here, uh?” His breath hit against your core, making you shiver underneath him. Oh, how he liked that look on your face. “I was going to fuck you because you asked me so nicely, but now I guess I should do something else…”

His hot tongue pressed flat, immobile, against your pussy; eyes flickering up to you before he started moving his muscle up and down, licking you. You moaned, head falling back, and Soobin like that sound so much that he started moving his head, painfully slowly, reaching every inch of you with his tongue; so much more skilled than you ever thought?

His tongue found your hole and he didn’t hesitate before pushing it in and out, earning more beautiful sounds from you as he only went faster; his hands grabbed hard your hips, keeping you in place against his desk. One of his hands went down, two fingers moving faster against your clit, again and again and again, while his tongue thrusted into you unstoppably.

“Ah, fuck, prez- gonna cum, mmh-“ Soobin pulled away, stopping all of his movements suddenly, making you whine in pain and shut your eyes open at his smirking self.

“You don’t get to cum in my mouth, angel.” he got up, his big hand sliding up and down his throbbing dick before placing his tip against your clit and rubbing against it making you buck up your hips. “So needy for me, I’m gonna fuck your pretty hole numb.”

Air left your system when he pushed his tip into you. Your mouth fell open at the feeling of being so filled up and your head fell back, your eyes reaching the end of your head as a loud moan scaped your lips.

“So fucking tight, angel, oh-fuck.” Soobin hissed as you clenched around him. He didn’t wait until you had got used to his side, instead he started ramping merciless against you gaining more louder noises from you. He licked his lips, focused on the spot where his balls smacked against your skin. “Oh, you’re taking me so good, isn’t this pussy made just for me, uh?”

You whined, barely caughting on any words he said and he noticed that. Groaning, he grabbed the back of your neck and pulled you up, closer to him before his lips smashed against your, his tongue bullying into your mouth the same way his cock was going in you. A string of spit connected both of your lips when he pulled apart, dark eyes staring into your glossy ones.

“Out already? But I just started.” He laughed at you, only making you clench more around him. Soobin hissed but still managed to smirk at you. “Such a pretty look on your face the fucked out one, angel.”

Soobin grabbed one of your tights and stretch it up, forcing you to turn to a side as he still snapped his hips against yours. The switching position only making him go deeper in you, reaching the sweetest spot.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, prez s’good.” You mumbled, mouth hanging open. Soobin groaned and turned you around, your chest falling against the desk and your hands stretching to grab onto anything. Soobin’s hands gripped your ass hardly, leaving red marks all over your cheeks. He salivated at the sight of your ass bouncing against his hips. “Agh- fuck, Soobin, more-“

Soobin’s eyes rolled to the back of his head hearing his name left your pretty lips. His hands moved you up and down even more rabidly against his hips, the sound of wet skin against wet skin filling the room as well as your uncontrollable moans.

“Say my name, angel, fuck, say it again.”

“S-Soobin, I’m cumming, cumming, cumming, oh- god.”

You snapped, finally reaching your climax. Soobin’s teeth chew harder on his lip as you covered his dick in your hot juices, making everything even sloppier and the sounds nastiest. It didn’t take much more for him to cum inside you as well, his cum mixing with your own, his hips never stopping even thought you had both finished.

Soobin finally pulled off and you were catching your breath, when his big palm pressed against your back and his hot breath hit against your ass. His hands grabbed your ass-cheeks and pulled them apart, exposing the wet disaster on your entrance, juices mixed and dripping onto his desk. He stuck out his tongue and slurped all of it until you were clean, enjoying the tiny whines leaving your lips and the way you tried to squirm away from him.

“So good, angel.” His thump caressed your ass before he finally, very reluctantly, stepped back from you, admiring your exhausted, ruined self over his desk.

Soobin fixed his frames over his nose.

“See you next week.”

Things started to change around school; the mood was livelier, laughter could be heard around, boys made ruckuses on the halls, girls giggled between them, Beomgyu got back the comics the student council had took away from him, gum wasn’t a crime anymore and, if you were lucky, a slightly mistake on the uniform policy was overlooked.

Yeah, things were great.

“Y/n, do you have a moment after class? The student council president wants to have a word with you.” Informed Yeonjun the same day only one week apart.

[wutheringwisteria]

Mouthwashing x Fem!Reader - Chapter ONE

"...Are you listening?"

Curly snaps out of his trance, turning to meet Anya's gaze. He chuckled for a brief moment, but it was humorless. "Yeah, yeah, damn. I'm so sorry." His blue eyes flickered down to the table between them. "Couldn't sleep again," he admitted. He shakes his head and looks up at her again. "But I passed the psych eval?"

Anya pursed her lips together. "Well, you gave the same answers as last time," she stated, remembering the details of the captain's result. "I do wish you'd open up a little more, Captain. These evaluations aren't just about you."

"As long as I'm fit to fly in your eyes, Anya," Curly says smoothly, a smile coming to cross his face. His tone was teasing, and he felt a little lighter when Anya smiled back at him. Curly had noticed the medic being more... sluggish these past few days, so it was nice to see that she's still staying strong.

"Oh, stop it." Anya huffs. "Guess that means I only have one more eval left to do. Y/N is probably answering hers right now."

"Oh, speaking of Y/N..." Curly started, his expression turning a little more bashful. "How... how is she? Is she doing alright? It's been awhile since we've talked to each other."

Anya raises a brow but doesn't comment on Curly's evident worry. They always seemed so close, after all. "She's okay. She didn't lash out today, so I think that's a start on her anger management."

Curly nodded, feeling the tension within his body leave. "Ah, I'll take your word for it. And for the last guy... let me guess, Jimmy?"

Anya's smile falters at the mere mention of the man's name. She was silent for a moment before finally speaking. "He acts as if I do these things for fun. Then I have to make a report with things like... 'I have found myself sexually excited at the sight of cartoon horses'."

It's an unusual answer, and it made the medic very uncomfortable. But Curly laughs, finding the situation more lightly than it's supposed to be. "Hah! Well, I could take it off your hands," he offered.

Anya lit up. "Really?"

"I've known him a long time. He won't try any bullshit with me," the captain stated matter-of-factly.

"I suppose you are the captain," replied Anya, her voice still a little hesitant.

"I am the captain."

The smile returns to Anya's face once she realizes that she won't have to face Jimmy. "Thank you! What a relief. Oh, before I forget, Swansea asked me to give you this." She takes out a yellow piece of paper and hands it to Curly.

He accepts it and reads what was written. In Swansea's handwriting, it read, THEY CAN'T EXPECT ME TO PERFORM MIRACLES!!!

"Not sure what it means, but... sounds like fun!" Anya chirped, her demeanor returning to normal. "Good luck, Captain!"

Curly gives her one last smile before leaving the medical room.

🫧

Curly stops in his tracks for a moment; he swore he captured the smallest glimpse of H/C locks turning a corner. He stares a little longer at said corner, debating whether to catch up with you or talk to Swansea and Jimmy. As much as he would very much rather prefer the former, he was the captain and had responsibilities he needed to take.

Not that you weren't a part of his responsibility or anything; you were just as important as the rest. But why does his chest ache slightly whenever you look at him with nothing but disinterested eyes? You didn't gaze at him that way back then; what changed?

Quickly shaking that thought off, Curly continued advancing towards the utility room. He was a grown man; sure, he had a huge crush on you since high school and still do until today, but that doesn't mean he needs to act like a schoolboy over it.

Get it together, Curly. You're the captain, act like it!

He reaches the hallway and sees Jimmy standing right outside. The door to the utility room was open, and the sounds of Swansea's yelling ended up outside. "And Pony Express says they don't provide on-board entertainment." Jimmy chuckled, a hint of a smirk on his face.

"Feels like there's always something broken in that room," remarked Curly, briefly glancing inside before looking back. "Tulpar's starting to show her age."

"Passed inspection, right? Shouldn't be an issue," claimed Jimmy.

"Mhm. Plus, they added Daisuke last minute. Didn't account that there'd be six of us now." Curly brings up a hand to run it through his blond locks. "I really should've made a bigger stink about that."

Curly enters the utility room and walks towards Swansea and Daisuke, the latter currently being trapped by the ship's oddly hard foam. "Well, I can see the issue," he says, trying not to crack a smile.

"The kid was brought on just to make me suffer!" Swansea chastised, his face contorted into a scowl and had his arms crossed. "Intern my ass..."

Daisuke frowned. "I was just trying to fix the vent! How did that trigger the emergency foam?!"

Swansea turned to glare at him. "Because yer talented in all the wrong ways!" The older man looks back at Curly. "I woulda dealt with this, but only you can unlock the axe case. Every goddamn thing has to go through you."

Curly nodded. "I'll handle it. Hang in there, Daisuke," he reassured before turning around and walking towards the axe case. He finds his code scanner latched onto his belt and revealed the secret code. Curly proceeds to enter the exact numbers, successfully opening the case and taking out the axe.

He went back to the struggling Daisuke with the axe in his hands. Curly was careful not to accidentally strike the young man as he cleared off the hard foam. After a few seconds, Daisuke could finally move his legs and was freed from the emergency foam.

"Yeowch! Oof. Strong stuff, huh?" Daisuke joked, exuding a small grin and trying to lighten the mood of his mistake.

But Swansea was not amused. "Get it through your goddamn skull! That vent is strictly off limits! Fully fuckin' collapsed inside! You looking to get impaled, electrocuted, and cooked?!" He berated with a hint of exasperation.

Even though the senior member was displaying anger, he was worried. Curly can see it, but he knows Swansea would rather take a bullet to the head than to admit anything like that.

"You can't fit in there to fix it, right?" Daisuke suddenly said.

Cue awkward silence.

"So I can totally handle it-"

"Captain." Swansea looks directly into Curly's eyes. "Give me the axe."

"Swansea, this could've damaged the pods. You can't let something like this happen again." Curly sighed, still holding onto the axe in his hands.

"Yeah, yeah. I got it. Loud and clear."

The blond captain smiled, nodding. "Keep the axe until all of this is clean, yeah?"

Curly turned and left the mechanic and intern to clean up the mess. As he walks, he gets stopped by Jimmy. He looked like he was watching the whole thing go down from the doorway.

"I take it Anya diagnosed you with being sane then?" asked Jimmy, looking gruff as always. Something's weighing him down, considering his rather unclean appearance.

"Just off center, but it's what keeps me on my toes." A playful grin appears on Curly's face. "I said I'd do yours. I want to hear all about those cartoon horses. Is that something you were born with or a recent develop-"

"Alright, alright. Shut up." Jimmy scoffs, his eyebrows furrowing. "Let's go to the cockpit." The man didn't wait for his friend to reply, as he's already storming down the hallway.

Curly rolls his eyes. "I gotta do something first; wait for me!" He yelled out. He turns his heel and jogs down the other way.

It didn't take long for him to find the small laundry room of the ship. Just as expected, you were in front of one of the washing machines, hands on your hips as you continuously kicked the poor machine. "Damn it. Piece of junk, work!" you grumbled out.

Curly clears his throat, leaning against the doorway. "Uh, hey," he was already cringing at himself at the tone he used.

You turn your head. The already tired expression you had seemingly hardened at the sight of Curly. "It's you," you said plainly. "What is it?"

Curly presses his lips together, forming a thin line. He notices the coldness in your voice right away. "I... I just wanted to talk. Y'know, since it's been some time."

You roll your eyes, crossing your arms, and look back down at the broken washing machine. "There's nothing to talk about."

Curly frowned, pulling himself away from the doorway. He takes one cautious step inside before taking a few more and ending up just a few meters away from you. "Look, he's a good guy��"

"Like hell he is. This isn't high school anymore, Curly. There's no detention or juvenile center to lock him up in," you finally face Curly, your expression serious. "Jimmy is a dangerous man. You of all people should know that. He can hurt us, and I won't be surprised if he does."

Curly flinches slightly at the blunt words directed towards his best friend. As much as he would like those words to be nothing more than false claims, he knew deep down that all of it was true.

"He's your friend too, Y/N. Have a little faith, he's getting better." Curly pressed on, giving you a wavering smile. "Jimmy promised to change for your sake, after all. You know he never breaks his promises."

"You don't know just how many he had broken in the past." You just shake your head. "Actions speak louder than words. I'll believe he's getting better when I see the progress. But I swear, if he's the reason we end up dead before we reach our destination, I won't forgive you."

Curly knew that there wasn't anything he could say to lower your guard down, even by just a little bit. So he nods his head in understanding. "...Okay, I'll get going now."

He turns, but before he leaves, he turns his head to look back at you. "Oh, and one last thing. Please... take care of yourself. Wouldn't want you passing out by overworking yourself with the ship's mess."

You blink, a little surprised, but quickly regain your stoic facade back. "...Fine."

With that said, Curly left. You turn back to the washing machine and groan when it still isn't working. "Damn it."

🫧

Some time later.

"For the last time, I'm not wearing that stupid party hat."

"C'moonnnn, Y/N. You gotta wear one, birthday rules and stuff!" Daisuke continues, practically shoving the colorful cardboard cone in your face. "It's the Captain's special day, and we gotta make it count!"

You grumbled a string of foreign profanities under your breath, glaring at the younger male. He was so smiling that it makes you physically recoil back. You tried to refuse once more, already turning your back to continue your job when Daisuke suddenly lunged at you.

Your back hits the floor, and you let out a groan. "What the hell?!"

"Sorry, Y/N, but this is the only way I can think of to get you to wear it!" claimed Daisuke. He had a determined look on his face as he forcibly put on the birthday hat on your head.

Anya and Swansea, who were both watching from the sides, couldn't help but smile at the sight. They found it quite amusing in their own way, and it was actually really nice to see you with anything but a scowl.

The cone was now securely on top of your head, Daisuke making sure to tie the knot extra tight so you wouldn't take it off when he pulls away. "There! Now you look a lot friendlier. I'm sure Captain will be swooning and having hearts in his eyes when he takes a look at you!" he joked, but you didn't laugh.

"Shut it! He doesn't like me that way," you scoffed, pushing him off lightly and standing up. You give a sharp glance towards the other two. "Why the hell are you two looking at me like that?"

"Hm? Nothin', nothin'," Swansea says, but even he couldn't suppress a slight chuckle.

"You look very... cute in that hat." Anya smiles, her gaze filled with both amusement and something else that you can't make out of.

"No? No, I don't. Shut up."

Anya finds your reaction even more endearing. "Sure you aren't."

"Alright, ladies. Stop flirtin'. Captain'll be here any second now, and we're just standing around like idiots," stated Swansea, sounding gruff as ever.

"What're you all doing?" Another voice joined in.

You all turned around to see Jimmy, who had just entered from the other doorway.

"We're planning a surprise birthday party for the Captain!" Exclaimed Daisuke, already bringing up another party cone. "You should totally join too, Jimmy!"

"Yeah, no," Jimny rejected bluntly.

Daisuke and Swansea exchange glances, the latter nodding his head. That same mischievous smirk on Daisuke's face returned as he faced Jimmy once more.

Jimmy senses that something is up. "Hold on, what are you doing? Why are you coming near me?" But it was too late; the intern had already lunged at him.

"AGH!"

🫧

Shit.

Was all that Curly is thinking about right now. He was already imagining the faces of the rest. Shock, anger, and disbelief. Hell, even if only he gets paid at the end, it didn't feel right taking the money.

Sighing, he gets out of the captain's seat and exits the cockpit. His footsteps echo in the metal corridors, each step weighing heavier than the last. He crumpled up the letter from Pony Express, stuffing it into his pocket.

He traverses through the hallways until he finally reaches the door to the main lobby. With another, heavier sigh, he lets his presence known as the automatic doors open.

Only to be left surprised when party horns started blaring as soon as he entered.

"Surprise!"

"Suuurpriiiise! Look at your face!"

"Heheh. Gotcha!"

"...Cheers."

"Surprise."

Curly blinks owlishly, taken aback for a moment. "Uh. Wow." A fuzzy feeling forms from within his chest, and he can't help but crack a smile. "...What"s the, uh, occasion?" He asked.

"We only get one communal birthday party per trip, right?" stated Anya. "So we can have it whenever."

Jimmy sighs. "Only one person can really be surprise birthday-ed per trip. We did Swansea last haul, remember?"

Daisuke turned to Jimmy, shock written all over his face. "No way! I can't believe I missed that!"

But the man ignores him. "You were next on the list. So, congratulations," Jimmy continued. He brings up a hand to scratch his neck. "Hate to say it though, your duties have to extend to your own birthday party."

"You're the only one with the clearance to make the cake," chimed in Anya. "The recipe is there by the machine. Hop to it, Captain!"

With that, the group dispersed throughout the main lobby, all smiling and completely unaware of the devastating news that was kept in Curly's pocket. The Captain decides not to reveal it yet, wanting to enjoy the moment.

His eyes landed on you, and a smile crossed his face. "Hey," he greeted. "How'd you manage to get roped into this? I was genuinely thinking that you'd hide in your quarters until this celebration died down like last time."

You can't help but roll your eyes once more, not making any effort to hide your annoyance. "That's because we didn't have Daisuke last time. Trust me, I would've locked myself in my quarters if not for that damn ray of sunshine."

Curly chuckled at the accurate depiction of their new intern. "Yeah, kid's livelier than a puppy. Say, you wanna help me bake this cake?"

You think about the offer for a moment before shrugging and then nodding. "Sure."

With your acceptance, the both of you made your way towards the kitchen on the side. Curly uses his code scanner, and you two begin making the cake, with you standing by the food dispenser and Curly using the mixing thing.

From the sidelines, Jimmy watches you both. He could feel the smallest bit of envy from inside him. He was already in a bad mood earlier, and getting dragged into this birthday surprise was the last thing he wanted to do. But now seeing you with Curly and actually looking like you were enjoying yourself a little, it made his blood boil.

After awhile, the group settles down on the table in the middle of the room. A small and simple tune of the happy birthday song plays after the final cake is made.

Curly brings it over to the table and sets it down before you and him take your spots.

Everyone now looks at Curly, with Daisuke being the first one to speak. "You gotta make a speech!"

"Can't argue with that," said Jimmy, who conceals his displeasure well.

"Speech! Speech! Speech!" Chanted Daisuke.

"Go on!" Added Anya, joining in.

Curly hesitated, his smile faltering. "I..."

Jimmy narrows his eyes. "...Hey. What's wrong?"

You also begin to notice something with Curly. "You got that look that tells me something's up. What is it?"

The blond man took a deep breath and began revealing the news to all of you.

...

...

...

"That's all it said on the report from management," Curly concluded, pressing his lips together and forming a thin line. He can already feel the atmosphere change significantly after the revelation.

Pony Express was going under, and no one would get paid except for him. "We will receive the paycheck for this delivery. I don't know any more than that."

"Pony Express finally kicking the bucket, huh." Swansea's words were laced with unfiltered disdain. "What a joke. And we're the punchline."

Anya's mood had changed drastically, panic and worry consuming her eyes. "I don't have any savings," she says. "T-They can't just do this, right...?"

Swansea turns his head towards her. "Pony Express was one of the last manned crew freighter companies. The writing's been on the wall for a long time."

"When did they tell you?" Jimmy asked, his voice cutting through the air.

"Earlier this week," Curly says. "I was instructed to wait until we're closer to the haul destination," he felt the guilt starting to consume him, even though he couldn't control any of this. "But I can't keep something like this from you all."

You clicked your tongue, your hand going up to massage your temple. "You're too damn nice for your own good, Curly. It's hard to tell if you're really Captain or not when you do shit like this."

But before Curly could even respond, Jimmy spoke first. His voice held the same amount of disappointment as yours, tinged with a hint of anger. "So I guess you got what you wanted. Without the guilt."

"Jim..." A heavy sigh escapes from the captain's mouth. "If I had known..."

But the man doesn't let him continue. "I can go back to my, how'd you put it? Struggle of a life?"

"Anya never got into medical school because she's... well, let's be real. And how many employment years Swansea got left in him? Daisuke will be fine; mommy and daddy have him covered. So there's that at least. But you."

Jimmy scoffed. "Headed for bigger and better, right?"

"I'm just... I'm just working on my life being a place I don't have to fucking escape!" Curly snapped. "That's what I was trying to tell you, nothing mor-"

Jimmy slams his hand on the table and yells, "We're the ones you're trying to escape!"

"Leave the dirt behind now that your boots are clean," he continued.

"That's not what I meant," replied Curly.

"It is what you meant," Jimmy sneered. "You just couldn't frame it to yourself in a way that kept you as a hero. Abandon the crew but remain the model captain."

Regrettably, Curly didn't have anything to say. He was conflicted.

"Unbelievable." Huffed Swansea.

Anya buries her face in the palm of her hands. "What... what am I supposed to do?"

Daisuke held his tongue, remaining silent. He didn't know what exactly was going on, but it was clear that this wasn't turning into a happy occasion.

You glared at Curly, who in turn flinched upon immediately noticing it. "I don't even know what to say."

Jimmy leaned back against his seat, crossing his arms. "Let's have some fucking cake, hmm? Props to the twilight crew of Tulpar. Props to our Captain and his new prospects." The words were mocking and venomous.

Curly didn't say any more, his hands moving almost robotically as he reached for the knife. He could feel everyone's eyes on him, making his skin crawl. Slowly, the blade reaches the cream and moves down.

The cake cutting was odd. Instead of making pieces, he cuts it in half. Literally. The awkward silence suffocated everyone.

Happy Birthday, Captain.

[sebsbarnes]

heeyyyy thank u soo muvh for doing my last req i am obsessedd. Im not sure if u can do this one but its juts a thought. tan x reader where they are in high school and the twins kind of just become besties with reader and they are just known as a trio in school and lem and tan are like the readers bodyguards cuz they are so protective if reader is ever in trouble and reader and tan are cushing on each other and its just cute

hi, of course! ty sm for sending requests in i appreciate it! im going to do this bullet point style i hope that's okay!

tangerine high school headcanon

warnings: the slightest! description of someone being a bully

masterlist

okay so i think tan and lemon wouldn't really take school seriously, like they still do well and are very smart but they didn't really pay attention much almost like they were too smart for school

they would sit in the back corner of class and just mess around but honestly the teachers didn't really care because they had good grades

you met the twins due to a class project, it needed to be done in groups of threes and it was your lucky day when the name sorter chose you for the twins!

you didn't mind though having talked occasionally to them in some of your shared classes. they were nice, funny, and smart and so are you

lemon grumbled how he didn't feel like working on it now

"want to come to my house after and we can do it then?"

the twins happily agreed and the three of you goofed off the rest of the period

having spent many hours with the twins you all grew very close and kinda became inseparable in school, you all had the same sense of humor and that drew you to each other

teachers and other students knew that it was no longer the lemon and tangerine duo but now a trio with you

one day during class you desperately needed to use the bathroom and the teacher started to yell at you that you should've went between class period

"if you don't let them use the bathroom i will piss all over your fucking floor," tangerine hissed at the teacher

yeah...he had a mouth even then

and no he didn't pee on the floor

while stood in line for lunch tangerine and lemon overheard some guys talking about you

"there's no way the twins are actually friends with them... such a loser, dude."

"gotta be a charity case situation... the twins are way too cool to be friends with someone like that, almost makes them losers too."

tangerine took his empty tray and wacked it across one of the guys heads while lemon sucker punched the other in the nose

"really guys?" you said disappointedly after waiting for them to get out of detention

your hand went up and gently touched the bruise forming around tangerine's eye

"they were talking bad about you! we weren't going to stand there and do nothing!"

"yeah well now you're injured!"

but they didn't care, you were worth every detention and injury they got for defending you

now tangerine, yeah, he is a sap okay. he'd try so hard to play it cool but he failed miserably

absent from school? he wants to go home. paired with someone else? might as well give him a zero now. overheard someone thought you were cute? hell no. walking next to each other in the hallway? yeah his hand touched yours. no space on the couch in your living room? no worries, he's squeezing next to you. you didn't bring lunch? now his is yours. you were upset over a bad grade? he basically ripped his shoulder off for you to cry on it.

if you were instructed to be quiet during class tangerine couldn't take it. he needed to talk to you at all times so without fail you'd feel the slight gush of wind as a folded piece of paper went flying over your shoulder and onto your desk. you'd open the paper to some absolute nonsense that wasn't dire scribbled in pencil but you'd always pick your pen up and responded and drop the note over your shoulder to him.

what sent him over the edge was you getting a flower on valentines day... yeah that's right you had people wanting to be yours and that bubbled a weird feeling inside tangerine... what was it.

"you have a crush, idiot," lemon thumped him on the head.

"no...no? on (y/n), funny... really fuckin' funny. me? having a crush on them? our best friend? there's no way."

lemon would raise a brow at tangerine, picking at his sandwich, "see how you're trying to convince yourself it's not true?"

yep, lemon was right. of course he was. the day the group project started lemon knew the two of you had a small crush on the other.

tangerine felt a tap on his shoulder, "excuse me, this is for you," a girl tapped him on the shoulder.

tangerine and lemon looked at each other bewildered at the flower being placed in front of him. there was a small note folded up with familiar handwriting

"be mine?"

[makeitmingi]

Cause Baby You're My Muse [Chapter 45]

Genre: Romance, Idol!AU, Music, Slight angst

Pairing: Mingi x Reader (y/n)

Characters: Producer!Reader, IdolLyricist!Mingi, IdolProducer!Hongjoong, Idol!Seonghwa, Idol!Yunho, Idol!Wooyoung, Idol!San, Idol!Yeosang, Idol!Jongho, cameo(s) by other celebrities

Summary: You always preferred producing underground, having an unknown face and governed by your own rules. But when you start freelancing for idol groups, you say goodbye to your lone wolf lifestyle as you learn to work with idol producers and lyricists.

Word count: 3.2K

Warning(s): Emotions are high, everyone is kind of on edge, Mingi is guilty

"I need a medic!" Seonghwa ran out. That made Mingi shift his focus immediately, going from stewing anger to worry. He knew that Seonghwa was the only one left in the room with you. If the oldest was shouting for a medic, means you needed a medic.

"Did hyung say medic? I need to see her." Mingi said. But Yunho blocked the exit to the bathroom where they and the captain were now baricaded in.

"Mingi, calm down. Do you want Indigo to see you like this? Get a hold of yourself." Hongjoong asked.

"Captain's right, Mingi ah. Let them get her the help she needs. You're in no condition to help her now." Yunho frowned in agreement.

"He hurt her. We were all right outside, I was there. I was supposed to protect her. I let her get hurt." Mingi's bottom lip quivered as he frowned, sitting on the ground.

"Indigo getting hurt isn't your fault." Hongjoong squeezed his shoulder.

"Stay here with him. I'll go check on the situation and do some damage control." He said to Yunho, who nodded. Mingi opened his mouth to protest but the look Hongjoong shot him told him it was best if he kept quiet now. Yunho stepped aside to let Hongjoong out before meeting the eyes of his distraught best friend.

Meanwhile, Seonghwa laid you in his lap while the medic checked you. He was freaking out, trying to hold his panic in and to remain calm.

"She blacked out from the stress and anxiety. I could wake her up with smelling salts but after this event, it's best to let her take a break." The medic advised.

"I'd rather do that." Seonghwa said, slipping the mask back over your face carefully once the medic finished examining you.

"How's she?" Hongjoong came in with a frown.

"Let's take her back to the hotel to rest. She shouldn't stay here." Seonghwa looked up at the captain. Hongjoong nodded in agreement, leaving to get their manager and Eden.

"After discussing, we'll not continue with filming for today. Seyoon will be sent back to Korea and we'll contact the authorities." The manager informed.

"We'll finish filming tomorrow then fly back right after. Let's all go back to the hotel now. When we get back, we will have a call with the team in Korea to discuss what to do going forward." The other manager continued.

"I'll carry her. You two round up the others." One of the stronger managers said. Seonghwa and Hongjoong were reluctant but they trusted their managers to be careful.

"Hyung, we really are pressing charges right?" Seonghwa asked.

"Of course. No one will get away with hurting one of our own. Our team will make sure she's protected." Eden frowned.

"Let's go." Hongjoong got the other boys. They all walked behind their manager who was carrying you. Mingi's heart clenched as he watched you.

You were just being carried with no say or protest since you were still unconscious. He should be the one carrying you, holding you and comforting you, just the two of you alone.

"We'll ride with her." Sohee and Jihyun stepped up to ride with you in the staff van. Mingi wanted to scream, he should be riding with you.

"Thanks." San smiled to them before ushering Mingi to go into their own van. Mingi sat in his seat, not wanting to cause anymore drama or trouble for Hongjoong. Sure, he knew he shouldn't have punched the guy but that piece of trash deserved it. Not just because you're his girlfriend but his entire character.

"Everyone go to their rooms. Seonghwa and I will be with the managers, contacting the team in Korea." Hongjoong said the moment they arrived.

"But-"

"Yunho, stay with Mingi and make sure he stays in his room. San, you should stay with Indigo in her room." He continued, cutting Mingi off.

"Let us know when she wakes up." Seonghwa added. San nodded his head obediently.

"I'll call everyone to meet when we're done to update all of you." Hongjoong said. Everyone split ways. Mingi watched as the manager carried you into your room and San following behind him.

"Mingi..." Yunho urged Mingi to go into his room but the latter just stood in front of the door, not moving.

"Goddamn it. I should be able to see if my girlfriend is okay after an incident like that happens. I need to see for myself that she's okay and that bastard didn't hurt her. I should be the one she sees when she wakes up." Mingi clenched his fists angrily.

"She'll be fine with San. You'll be the first to know when she wakes up, alright? Then you can see her when she wakes up." Yunho put his hands on Mingi's shoulders.

"San, please take care of her." Mingi begged.

"You know I will." San assured with a soft smile before closing the door. With a shaky sigh, Mingi let Yunho nudge him into the room.

You woke up gasping for air, your hands shooting to your face to feel for your mask but your fingertips were met with the surface of your cheeks. But you weren't at the shoot.

"Indigo! You're awake." San was by your side in an instant. You looked at him, fear lacing your eyes.

"It's okay, you're safe. Everything's okay."

"M-My mask." You croaked out.

"Seonghwa hyung put it on you when we got everyone to leave the room. I only removed it when it was just you and me left here. I was afraid it would disturb your rest." He squeezed your hand reassuringly. He reached for the water bottle on your nightstand and uncapped it for you to take a sip.

"Mingi? Where's Mingi? Is he okay?" Your eyes widened. Was Mingi going to get in trouble for what he did to Seyoon?

"I already texted him and the others. He should be-" San was interrupted by the door slamming open. Mingi only took a few rushed strides to get to you.

"Baby." He hugged you tightly.

"Mings..." You cried into his shoulder. He rubbed your back, hushing you softly.

"It's okay. It's okay. I got you, I'm so sorry, baby." He buried his face against the side of your face, pressing comforting kisses to your temple. Your hands clutched the back of his shirt.

"We'll let the others know you're awake." San could easily text them but he and Yunho wanted to let you and Mingi have some time on your own. The moment the two of them left the room, Mingi carried you onto his lap to hold you.

"I'm so sorry, baby. I can't believe I let that happen." He repeated, closing his eyes.

"No, don't apologise. I don't know why I reacted like that..."

"What do you mean?" Mingi pulled away with a frown. He reached out to wipe the stray tears from your cheeks, tucking your hair away from your face.

"It's something so small but I over reacted. I just felt this fear wash over me." You frowned.

"Baby, that's completely normal. You thought he was going to hurt you and you were alone." He hugged you again.

"I don't want you to get in trouble because you punched him." You whispered. Mingi's chest hurt at the fact that you were more worried about him getting in trouble than you were about yourself.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me. That guy got it coming, I'll punch him again if I could. No one gets away with hurting you, not under my watch." Mingi said seriously, stroking your hair. You closed your eyes, right now all you wanted to do was savour Mingi's warmth and security. Until someone cleared their throat.

"Sorry to interrupt, we need to talk." Hongjoong stood there. Mingi nodded but didn't move from his position until you gently tapped for him to let you go.

"Joong, Hwa..." You called. The two went over to hug you, their security was different from Mingi's.

"You scared me." Seonghwa said softly.

"I'm glad you're safe, Indi. I'm sorry that this happened under our watch. Luckily we got there in time." Hongjoong sighed into the top of your head.

"It's none of your faults. You didn't know, you were there to film and do a job." You denied.

"What did management say?" Mingi asked, reminding them of why they came in. One by one, the other members filled the room. But they all came to check on you before finding spaces to sit.

"So for Indi and those that don't know, Seyoon was sent on the next flight back to Korea. The company and authorities will deal with him then. That means we are pressing charges against him, we will all be giving our statements when we go home." Hongjoong informed.

"As for Mingi, we said your actions were all in self defense. Since Seyoon did grab Indigo physically." Seonghwa continued.

"No one suspects the any relationship between the two of you because we said any one of us would have done the same. Eden corroborates our close friendship." Hongjoong explained.

"But just in case, Mingi will be on home leave for two weeks." The captain said.

"Why?" You asked.

"Some staff members could start rumours and we want to ensure things are handled and settled before Mingi can be seen again." Seonghwa replied.

"CEO Kim said that we'll have staff and everyone there sign NDAs but this is a precaution. Indi, CEO Kim said we'll give you any assistance that you need so don't worry, okay?" Hongjoong looked at you, squeezing your shoulder. You wondered if CEO Kim was doing this to make you stay at the company.

"So what's the plan? We go home tomorrow?" Yunho asked.

"No. We'll finish filming tomorrow in the day then leave bright and early the following day. It'll be a tight schedule but let's just get it done and over with." Hongjoong said.

"Yes, captain."

"We don't have anything scheduled so let's all rest, have dinner then film tomorrow." Seonghwa looked at everyone.

"Clear out." Everyone moved to leave. Wooyoung pulled you into a tight hug and kissed your cheek lovingly before leaving the room. Only Mingi, Hongjoong and Seonghwa stayed with you.

"There is a recommendation for you to go home tomorrow morning as per the original plan. You don't have to but the sooner you give your statement to the cops, the better." Hongjoong said. Mingi wanted to protest but Seonghwa stopped him.

"It's her decision to make, Mingi ah." He advised. Mingi pursed his lips but nodded his head.

"If it is recommended for me to go home first then I'll do that." You said, casting Mingi a worried look. But he nodded his head, respecting your decision.

"It is but if you want us to be there and accompany you... it's just one more day. Whatever you want to do." Hongjoong told you.

"When's Eden going back?"

"He's going back tomorrow so if you want to, at least you won't be alone." He informed. Of course you wanted Mingi and the others with you but it felt like you've caused enough trouble.

"I'll go back tomorrow." You replied softly. Mingi tucked you under his arm, squeezing you lightly.

"We'll let the team know to arrange that. For now, just get some rest. You've had a long day. If you need any of us, we're all here for you." Seonghwa said, patting your thigh. He and Hongjoong stood up to leave the room when you called out of them. They both turned around to look at you questioningly.

"I'm sorry. I ruined everything." You chewed on your bottom lip.

"Silly girl, what are you saying? You didn't ruin anything." Hongjoong frowned, shaking his head. Seonghwa nodded in agreement, coming back and grasping your chin to tilt your head up.

"Why are you suddenly speaking such nonsense, hmm?" Seonghwa looked at you.

"If only I wasn't there, all this wouldn't have happened. Mingi wouldn't be in trouble, you guys wouldn't have delayed filming..."

"Baby, this isn't your fault, not in the slightest. I'm not in trouble, okay? And like I said, my only regret is not punching the guy harder." Mingi said to you.

"As much as I'm supposed to be disagreeing with Mingi as the captain, I honestly agree with him. I would have punched him too if I could." Hongjoong sent you a soft smile. Mingi sent the captain a touched look, grateful for the captain's support.

"Wait, the film- the camera-" You stuttered, remembering that Seyoon did get footage of you without a mask.

"Don't worry. It's been deleted and we made sure that no copies were made." Seonghwa smiled softly.

"More like Wooyoung destroyed the camera before he had the chance to do anything with the footage." Hongjoong rolled his eyes. Seonghwa sighed, shaking his head.

"He what?" Your eyes widened.

"Ripped it out of the guy's hands and threw it on the ground." Your eyes grew even wider if that was possible, jaw slack in disbelief.

"It's fine, the SD card wasn't damaged, we'll be handing it to the police. Wooyoung just got scolded but he'll be fine." Seonghwa promised you.

"You should rest. We'll see you two at dinner or let us know if you want us to get you some take away from downstairs." Hongjoong patted your head before he left with Seonghwa.

The moment the door close, you threw yourself at Mingi, burying your face in his chest. You wanted to say you were surprised by Wooyoung's actions but you weren't. You were touched, knowing how protective all the boys were of you but you didn't want them to do reckless things that would land them in trouble.

"Baby." Mingi pressed repeated kisses to the top of your head, holding you tight against him.

"When I saw him holding you like that, seeing the fear in your eyes, I just lost it. I wanted to hurt him for hurting you, I wanted to hurt myself for letting him hurt you." He whispered.

"Mings... No..." You looked up at him, seeing the tears spill down his cheeks.

"Then I saw you there, I couldn't even comfort you. I felt even guiltier, knowing I should have controlled my emotions." He cried.

"No, it was for the best and for everyone's safety, just in case he retaliated. Yunho removed you from a potentially dangerous situation." You cupped his cheek.

"He didn't let me go to you. When I heard Seonghwa calling for a medic, I nearly lost it again." He sobbed.

"I'm sorry, Mings."

"Don't say sorry, baby. You did nothing wrong. I failed to protect you and even then, I only prioritised my feelings. I couldn't be there when you needed me." He covered his eyes with his hand, turning away from you slightly.

"Seeing my manager carry your unconscious body out of the room and to the van. I should be the one to do that, I should be the one to hold you and comfort you."

"It's not your fault either, Mingi." You sat up, wrapping your arms around his neck.

"Damn it! I should have been the one here when you woke up!" He yelled but it was muffled into your shoulder.

You held Mingi as he poured out all his emotions. His hands squeezed your hips, feeling all the guilt, anger and frustration from the entire day. Your heart broke hearing his broken sobs.

"I'm okay, Mings. We'll be okay, hmm?" You pulled away to look at him. He cupped your cheeks, pressing his lips against yours.

You and Mingi slept after that, all exhausted from crying and going through the events of the day. His arms circled your waist, holding you tight with his head against your chest. Your own arms draped over his shoulders, your legs tangled with each other. The two of you just needed to be with each other now.

"Mings? It's late... Shall we get the others to bring up dinner for us?" You asked, still half asleep yourself. Mingi murmured something you couldn't hear but you did feel him nod.

"I'll text Seonghwa." You momentarily detached yourself to get your phone off the night stand.

'Hi Hwa, do you mind getting me and Mingi some dinner? Just pick anything, we're not fussed. - Indigo'

'Of course. I'll ring the doorbell later. - Hwa'

Before Seonghwa came up, Mingi reluctantly let you go to shower. Then he took a shower. You were sitting at your desk, looking at work when Seonghwa rang the doorbell.

"I refuse to believe they just let you take a cart up here." You chuckled as Seonghwa pushed the dinner cart into the room.

"I just borrowed it. No way was I carrying everything on my own and I wasn't going to risk the others dropping the plates when they're so clumsy." Seonghwa sighed. You giggled, still grateful that Seonghwa did this for you and Mingi.

"Hey, Indigo." Seonghwa held your hand. You looked up at him in confusion. He gently tugged you to him to hug you, making you blink in surprise.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He whispered.

"I am, Hwa. Don't worry. I was just suddenly freaked out. I'm sorry that I scared you." You said.

"Mmm, don't apologise. And I understand, it's normal to freak out in such a situation. I'm just glad you were unharmed." He patted your back. You nodded, arms wrapping around his small waist.

"Enjoy your meal." He pulled away.

"Thanks." You smiled softly. Seonghwa stepped closer, placing a kiss to your forehead before leaving the room. Just as the door closed, Mingi came out.

"Someone came?" He blinked.

"Seonghwa dropped off our dinner." You explained. Mingi nodded, shuffling over to you and hugging you. His tall frame leaned over you. He smelled good, fresh from the shower. Mingi chuckled and kissed your cheek before sitting on the edge of the bed with you in his lap and pulling the cart over

"They let him take a whole serving cart up?" He asked in confusion, his chin resting on your shoulder, arms draped over your lap.

"I'm pretty sure he stole it when they weren't looking." You rolled your eyes. Mingi laughed, shaking his head. You moved to sit beside him instead as you both dug in.

"Tomorrow, we'll be at the film site before you leave for the airport." Mingi said, one hand on your thigh while the other held the fork he was using.

"I'll text you when I leave and update you." You promised.

"Please do. If you need me, you can call me any time, alright? Don't worry about interrupting me or bothering me." He turned to you.

"Okay. I'm not sure what's going to happen. I hope no one else hears about what happened..." You sighed.

"They all signed NDAs. But take a few days off, hmm? You deserve a short break." His thumb rubbed the skin of your thigh. You hummed, not really agreeing to take a break. Coming here with Ateez was meant to be your break.

"Maybe I'll work from home." You shrugged.

"Alright but at least take 1 day to rest?" He raised an eyebrow. You sighed but nodded, pinky promising him.

~

Series Masterlist

[star-girl69]

Ultraviolence

Natalie Scatorccio x Fem!Reader

—-

a/n: thanks to google translate and my very limited knowledge of high school french for their help this chapter 😍 i hope you all enjoy!!

warnings: blood, injury, swearing, kissing, tell me if i missed anything!!

Chapter Twelve - Amoureuse

Chapter Twelve - Amoureuse

—-

1996-

The séance was held in the attic. If you closed your eyes and breathed in deep, you could still smell the slight rot of a dead body.

“O’ keeper of this wild and hidden place…” Jackie dipped her finger into a bowl of something red, swirling it around. “We anoint ourselves with blood and earth.”

She draws an X on Shauna’s forehead, who has a piece of cloth wrapped around her face, and is holding the hunting knife by a string tied to it.

Jackie turns back around with a chipper smile, an X already drawn on her forehead.

“Here,” she says, handing it to Travis. He looks at the metal bowl, shooting her a look. “It’s just dirt and deer blood. Class witch recipe. Relax.”

He takes the bowl and marks a X to his forehead, before handing it to Natalie, who doesn’t even notice he’s handing it to her because she’s too busy staring at you.

You could feel her eyes on your back the entire walk back, and you can feel them on you now.

Jackie breathes out, sitting down, wiping her bloody finger onto the cabin floor. She raises her hands up, and Misty, who you’ve ended up next to, does as well.

The rest of the girls shuffle around with passing the bowl of blood, still besides.

“O spirit, we offer our sister as your instrument. Come to us and speak your peace.”

“It is I, Jacques,” Shauna says. A few of the girls laugh at her light monotone voice. She clears her throat. “Jacques,” she says, her voice deeper, earning more laughs. “Ask your questions. The pendulum will answer them.”

“Okay,” Van says, passing off the bowl of blood and clearing her throat, raising her hands out, palms to the sky. “Dear dead hunter guy… did O.J. do it?”

You and the other girls laugh, and you smile, grabbing the bowl of blood from Misty. You dip your finger in, looking at the bright red rippling.

“Come on, you guys, serious questions.”

“The veil is thin between our two worlds,” Shauna- or Jacques- confirms.

You tap your finger against the side of the bowl, watching the excess blood fly off, before lifting it back up to your forehead. Your eye’s meet Natalie’s.

You inhale and draw the X, handing the bowl off to the girl next to you.

“Ask what is in your heart,” Shauna says.

“Okay,” Mark says, holding her hands out and closing her eyes. “Is Principal Berzonsky screwing Ms. DeWine?”

The girls laugh before turning to Shauna and the pendulum. It spins in a circle, and a few of the girls gasp.

“It is certain,” Shauna smiles.

“Hunter guy, if we hadn’t crashed, would we have won Nationals?” Akilah asks.

The knife swings back in forth, and the girls start booing and laughing.

A few more questions go by, all making you laugh and forget about everything that happened earlier that day.

“They’re obviously fake,” Nat says. The conversation had steered towards Christie Caper’s boobs. “You really need a ghost to tell you that?”

“You think?” Mari asks, as Javi comes upstairs and sits between Nat and Travis. “But who would have paid for them? Her parents?”

“I think they got divorced recently. It could have been guilt money.”

“Well that’s just creepy,” Mari replies to Van.

A small smile crosses Van’s face. “‘Well, honey, your mom and I are splitting up but don’t worry, ‘cause your tits are gonna look amazing!’”

“Okay, guys, guys, focus,” Jackie says through the laughter. “Next question.”

Misty raises her hand, and Jackie motions for her to go. She looks around the circle excitedly, before closing her eyes.

“Dear spirit, I need to know the truth. Does the person I like like me back?” A few of the girls coo, and you can’t help but smile at her, trying not to look at Natalie.

The pendulum spins in a circle, and a few of the girls whoop and whistle, applauding Misty.

“Okay, next question?”

Javi raises his hand and Jackie nods.

“Are we all gonna die out here?”

The circle becomes silent.

The knife starts spinning.

“Okay, an eight?” Van asks, shuffling slightly. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It’s not an eight, it’s an infinity,” Mari says.

“Yeah, okay, Aristotle.”

Lottie screeches at the top of her lungs. Everyone jumps back and the window swings open, the candles all going out, the attic turning dark. More screaming fills the cabin, and you realize one of the screams is yours.

“Who has the matches?” Jackie shouts.

Someone closes the window. Your back is nearly pressed against the wall, huddled into the corner.

A few of the girls crowd around Lottie while she pants and sobs.

“Guys, somethings really wrong with her,” Van says, holding onto Lottie’s shoulder, who lets out another scream.

“What’s happening?” someone shrieks.

“It wants… it wants…” Lottie cries.

“Misty, what do we do?” Van shouts.

“It wants!”

“Lottie, I swear to God, if you’re fucking with us-”

“I thinks she’s, like, possessed!” Akilah shouts back.

“Lottie. Lottie, Lottie, sweetie,” Shauna says. “What’s going on? What is ‘it’?”

“More like what does ‘it’ want?”

“Hungry,” she cries. “Hungry.”

She starts laughing cackling, a shiver rips across your spine, and you almost scream when someone places their hand on your shoulder.

“Y/N?” Natalie. “Are- are you okay-?”

“Shh,” Lottie says, grabbing onto Shauna. “It’s in you already.” Shauna bats her away and stands up.

“Lottie. This isn’t a game,” Tai says like she’s scolding her. But the more you look at her, the more you watch her, the more you think she’s not faking.

Lottie sits up straight.

She starts speaking in something that’s not English.

You grab Natalie’s hand, the one that’s still on your shoulder, and she squeezes, still looking with wide eyes at Lottie.

“Is that French?” someone asks, and you listen closer. “Since when does Lottie speak French?”

“Jackie, w-wasn’t she in your class?”

“Yeah, but she sucks at French!”

Lottie is speaking French. You let go of Natalie’s hand and take a step forward, trying to listen, even when Nat tugs on you and says your name.

“Well, what’s she saying?”

“I don’t know! I suck at French, too!”

“Damn it, Jackie, try not to!”

“Ça veut du sang,” Lottie keeps repeating, over and over.

“It wants blood,” you mutter to yourself, as Jackie tries in vain to translate Lottie’s hurried sentences, one after another, blending together.

“Uh, uh, it wants!” Jackie yells after a moment. “What? What does it want?”

“God, Jackie!” you shout, walking over to Lottie and crouching in front of her. “It wants blood! It wants blood! Have you never paid any attention to Madame?!”

“Blood?!” Jackie yells.

“Not the word I want to be hearing right now,” someone shouts.

“Lottie, what? What else? Uh- pourqoui, Lottie? Pourquoi veut-il du sang? Why does it want blood?!”

She stands up and turns around, facing that one lonely attic window, staring out into it.

“Ici,” she pants. “Ici, ici,”

“Here!” you shout, trying to work up the courage to go up to Lottie again. “She’s saying ‘here’!”

“There’s blood where, Lottie?” Van shouts, before tugging on your arm. “Translate that!”

“Fuck, uh, où y a-t-il du sang?”

“Why are you encouraging her, Van?” Tai shouts.

Lottie doesn’t answer.

“Blood here? Or out there?” Van shouts.

“Ici? Là-bas?” you shout. “Where, Lottie? Where?!”

“You must spill blood,” she whispers finally, and it’s not in French anymore. “Or else…”

“Or else what, Lottie?!”

Then, she throws her head back, rearing up, and plunges her head right through the glass of the window.

You scream. It’s all you can think to do this moment, but you’re not even thinking- it’s all you can do.

When Lottie turns back around, blood falls down her forehead, dripping past her nose. She raises her hand to the space in between her eyebrows, and looks at her fingers, which come away slick with blood.

She starts wailing.

The girls help her to the floor, and she just keeps wailing and wailing, screaming like banshee, and all you can do is stand there and try not to scream as well.

“The power of Christ compels you!” Laura Lee shouts, running past you with a Bible in her hands. “Begone, Satan! Lottie! Lottie, stop!”

Then, just when it seems like Lottie will just scream and wail forever, Laura Lee throws the Bible at her.

The wailing stops.

“Ow!” she shouts. “What the hell, Laura Lee?”

“Seriously?” Mari asks. “What the motherfuck just happened?”

All you can do is stand there, looking at the blood falling down Lottie’s face, the memory of her screams ringing around in your head.

—-

“Do we think it’s still up there?”

The subject of the seance and the attic had become taboo in the last hour. After cleaning Lottie’s wound and letting her go off to bed- everyone had tried to get to bed themselves. But all of you were thinking it. Akilah had just said it first.

“You all need to stop,” Taissa hissed, sitting up. “There’s nothing up there. Lottie’s been acting weird for weeks.”

A small snore came from the cot Lottie was sleeping on.

You can’t help but sit up as well. “I don’t mean to, like, freak anyone out but- I once overheard Lottie say she was close to failing French. I don’t- l don’t think she knows how to say what she said.”

Taissa cuts you a death glare. But the rest of the girls remain silent.

“Fine,” she spits, grabbing her blanket and pillow and standing up. “I’ll prove it.”

“You’re gonna sleep up there?” someone asks.

“That’s right. Who’s with me?”

You lay back down on your bed, listening to Laura Lee’s prayers.

“Fine. More room for me then,” Taissa says, and you listne to her footsteps going towards the attic, then up the ladder.

Laura Lee keeps praying.

Eventually, Shauna and Jackie start whispering, and Shauna ends up going to the attic as well.

You sigh, and try to go to bed, the fire dying down, the room becoming shrouded in darkness.

Someone taps your shoulder.

Your makeshift bed was still next to Natalie’s, a remnant of when you were just friends, and maybe if you weren’t so drained from the seance, you would have moved to another spot.

“Y/N.” You pretend you’re asleep, you can’t face her, not yet, not right now. She shakes you. “Turn around, please.”

You stay silent, trying to control your breathing, scared of everything that could happen.

She exhales. “I know you’re not asleep. C’mon.” She tugs on your arm, and unwillingly, you roll over, shifting so there’s still space between you, staring at her.

“What?” your voice doesn’t come out quite as firm as you want it to. You sound like a child trying to hide the fact they’re crying.

“Are you okay? After tonight? I mean, you were like right in front of her, being really smart and shit, but- still.”

Your shoulders relax, and you wish that they didn’t.

“‘M fine, yeah.”

She smiles lightly, awkwardly, and you feel bad that you’ve caused all this weirdness between the two of you.

“Hey, I- I know its fucked up, but, can we talk?”

“Natalie, I’m tired-”

She leans forward and brushes her lips against yours.

She closes her eyes, but you’re left shocked, your eyes wide open, your lips parted, hers pressed hard against yours, not even a kiss, like she just wants to say that she did it, check a box. She’s just pressing her lips to yours, and your stomach flips and turns because you love it.

She pulls back, and takes a breath, so you can feel it on your skin.

“Sorry. For that. I-I just didn’t know how to tell you-”

All you can do is stare at her.

You can hear sirens go off in your mind, screaming danger, danger at every turn. This could all crash and burn like everything else that’s happened in these past few weeks- but maybe Natalie is just a single speck of violence in a world full of it, and maybe having someone on your side, someone with you, is just want you need.

Just what you want.

Not just someone to protect you, to be with, but you want her.

You’ve spent so long in these woods denying it because you were scared of losing her, of losing your friendship- but after tonight? The worst has already happened to you. You didn’t choose it. You’ve already been plagued with violence and this time- you want to choose it. You want to choose her.

You choose her, and press your lips against hers, violence in a world of violence, and don’t pull away until you’ve completely sunk into her, into her ultraviolence.

Loving her is violence, but you’re choosing it, and this violence feels like love.

—-

taglist:

@sweetdayme4427 @dreaming-for-an-escape @peachydoki

[lyranova]

Omnes Sumus Peccatores: Love is Rich with Both Honey and Venom

Chapter 3: Secretive Friends and Tactless Foes

Hiya guys! I’m sorry this chapter has taken a while, I’ve had a lot going on IRL that’s kind of pulled me away from this and my other works, but hopefully I���ll be able to post more regularly! Not much happens in this chapter, it’s more of a set up for the next one. But I hope you all still enjoy~!

Word Count: 3,682

Warnings: Language, Mention of Weapons, Canon Typical violence, typical Mafia AU Tropes!

————

The Next Day

William looked up from his desk as he heard a quick knock on his office door, he muttered a quick “come in” and glanced up to see Langris walking through the door.

“ Good morning Langris,” William began as he looked back down at his papers. “ To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“ Good morning sir,” Langris greeted back as he walked up to the desk. “ I just got an important message from one of our clubs.”

William stopped what he was doing, set his pen down, and leaned back in his chair.

“ An important message? From whom?” He asked with a slightly raised brow, and he watched as Langris pulled out a piece of paper from the inside of his suit jacket and handed it to him.

“ Apparently…it’s from a member of the Equinox Exchange Network named Theia.”

William paused, this note was from the Equinox Exchange Network? The multi-billion yul company? That Equinox Exchange Network?

He took the note from Langris and opened it, but what was on it made his eyes narrow; it was an address to a luxury hotel and the number of a conference room.

“ From what the club manager said, the person from the Equinox Exchange Network said that they would like to make a deal with us and that they’ll be waiting at this hotel’s conference room until 1 p.m. this afternoon.” Langris explained.

William stared at the note intently, his eyes looking over it multiple times with a degree of suspicion and hesitancy.

It was very well known that the Equinox Exchange Network was very…selective about who they worked with; after all, that’s how they’ve been able to fly under the radar for so long, they worked with very few people, and it was extremely difficult to contact them to make a deal.

So if they come to you asking for a deal, you don't say no.

William’s hands traced the paper; if this was truly a letter from the Equinox Exchange Network, then there would be a raised yet invisible seal somewhere…

And just like that, on the bottom right corner of the paper, was the distinctive Equinox seal.

This note was legitimate.

“ Sir, what do you want to do?” Langris asked after a moment, his body still as he waited for ‘the King’ to tell him what to do.

A soft sigh escaped him as he placed a thoughtful hand under his chin; while he was still hesitant and suspicious of the person behind this letter, he couldn’t help but also be intrigued and curious at the same time…

“ Well, we’re going to meet them of course,” William said as he leaned forward and rested his arms on top of his desk.

“ But sir, you have a meeting with the Blue Roses and the Black Bulls this afternoon,” Langris pointed out. “ So how are you going to meet them and the Equinox Exchange member?”

An irritated sigh escaped William as he suddenly remembered his previous plans; there was no way he was going to be able to attend both meetings, which meant that he was going to have to send someone in his place.

“ I’m going to have to send someone else to the hotel,” William eventually said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“ I can go to the hotel while you and Alecdora meet with the Blue Roses and the Black Bulls?” Langris offered, but William shook his head.

“ No, I’ll need the two of you with me,” He quickly said as he began to lightly drum his fingers against his desk in thought.

Langris hummed as he began to think.

“ What about Neva? Wouldn’t it be best to have a high ranking member of the family go to the meeting?” He suggested even though he and Neva didn’t get along.

William frowned a bit.

“ Neva and Yuno are on patrol for the next couple of weeks, so they won’t be going. However,” He began as he placed his hand under his chin again. “ You have a point, it would be best to send a high ranking member of the family to meet them.”

Now it was Langris’s turn to frown.

“ But, if you’re not sending Neva, then-?” He began to ask, but as if right on cue, a knock on the office door echoed through the room and it slowly opened to reveal Zera, William’s fiancé, on the other side.

“ Good morning,” She began as she walked into the room. “ Is something wrong?” She added with a worried frown as the two stared at her.

“ We’ll send her,” William said as he slowly stood up with a warm smile on his face.

Langris’s head snapped in William’s direction, his eyes wide in shock, as Zera stared at her fiancé with a confused expression.

“ What?!”

“ Huh? Send me where?” Zera asked in confusion as she looked from William, to Langris, and back again.

“ Sir,” Langris began, completely ignoring Zera’s question. “ We can’t send her! This meeting is too important to be sending a novice to!”

“ Uh-.”

“ Zera isn’t a novice, Langris, she was born and raised in this world. She knows how it works even if she hasn’t done any of it herself.” William pointed out as he crossed his arms.

“ Um-.”

“ But, sir, she knows how it works in theory, not how it works in practice! That would be like saying I was born knowing how to drive because I’ve been around people who know how to drive my entire life!” Langris said with a slightly narrowed gaze.

“ Hey-!”

“ Are you saying that she isn’t capable of doing it?” William asked, his own gaze narrowing sharply.

“ No, sir, I’m sure she is capable of it…but I also think we should send someone with more experience-.” Langris began, but was quickly cut off by ‘the King’.

“ Zera does have experience talking people into things, don’t you dear?” William asked as his purple eyes looked away from Langris and towards his fiancé.

But instead of answering, she just stared at the pair…and she stared…and stared…before she slowly opened her mouth.

“ I’m not sure whether I should confirm or deny those facts considering I have no idea what we’re even talking about!” Zera pointed out, her voice raising more and more as the sentence went on.

Both Langris and William winced, glanced at each other, before William took a breath.

“ We just got word that a member of the Equinox Exchange Network wants to meet with us, but unfortunately I won’t be able to make it, so we’ve decided to send you to meet with them in my place.” William told her, his warm smile returning to his face.

“ What?” She exclaimed in surprise, but before she could say anything else Langris chimed in.

“ But sir-!” He tried to argue, but he instantly closed his mouth as he saw the serious look in William’s eyes.

“ I’ve made my decision, Langris.” He stated firmly, his voice leaving no more room for discussion or arguments.

Langris’s eyes widened, but he slowly nodded in agreement.

“ Yes, sir, then…I’ll leave you to it.” He said before he gave him a small bow and walked out of the office, quietly closing the door behind him.

William walked around his desk and up to her.

“ Sorry about that,” He apologized softly as he stood beside her. “ Langris is just being extra…cautious since it’s a very important meeting.”

Zera nodded hesitantly.

“ I get it. But to be honest, I can’t blame him,” She admitted with a small laugh. “ If this meeting is so important then why don’t you send him or someone else? Why are you sending me?”

“ Because I think this would be a good opportunity for you to get your foot in the door on the ‘business’ side of The Family, instead of just the medical side.” He told her as he reached out and took her hand in his.

“ And, I’m also sending you because I trust you, and my gut is telling me that you’ll be able to make this deal out of everyone else.”

Zera blinked in surprise.

“ Don’t you think you’re putting a little too much trust and faith in my charm and abilities?” She asked with a small laugh, but William shook his head.

“ I don’t think so. I mean, you were able to charm me and convince Dante and the other Families that you and I were a couple when we weren’t, so I’m confident that you’ll be able to pull this off as well.” He told her confidently as he leaned forward to kiss her cheek.

A slightly forced smile appeared on her face as she nodded again.

“ At least one of us is.” She muttered under her breath, which made him tilt his head.

“ What did you say?” He asked, but she quickly shook her head and waved her hands in front of her.

“ Oh, nothing, nothing! I just said I’ll be going now, since I have to get ready to meet this person,” She told him with a sheepish laugh and began to back out of the office. “ I’ll see you later!”

As soon as Zera was out of the office she quickly closed the door behind her, walked up to the opposite wall, and gently hit her head against it.

How the hell was she going to pull this off?!

Meanwhile, back in William’s office, as soon as he sat down he pulled out his cell phone and called Langris.

“ I’ve already begun printing up all the information we have on Theia, sir,” Langris said as soon as he answered the phone. “ And so far…it’s not looking too good sir.”

A worried hum escaped William.

“ Okay, bring it to me as soon as you can.”

————

Meanwhile, driving around Clover City

Yuno looked out the window as he and his new partner, Neva, drove slowly through what was commonly referred to as the “Party District” of Clover City.

There were various clubs, bars, restaurants, and other establishments in the area; some businesses were honest, some were just fronts for the various Mafia families that controlled them.

The ones in this particular neighborhood were controlled, or protected, by the Golden Dawn Family.

“ I’m assuming you’ve already done this before?” Neva suddenly asked as she drove slowly through the slightly empty street, dodging people that were either on their way to work or on their way home from a long night of partying.

Yuno glanced over at her before looking back out the passenger window.

“ Patrolled? Yeah, I’ve done it before.” He replied simply as he rested his chin against the top of his hand.

“ I see..so that means you’ve also collected due’s as well?” Neva asked curiously as she turned the car down a side street and towards an empty parking lot.

A small frown worked its way onto his face as he glanced back over towards her.

“ ‘Dues’?” He repeated in slight confusion as the platinum blonde haired girl nodded.

“ Yeah, today’s collection day; it’s where we go to the various clubs and pick up the money they’ve made for the last month, as well as a portion of what the other businesses made too.” She explained as she pulled into the empty parking lot.

Yuno’s frown deepened.

“ So, we’re not only collecting from the businesses we own, but from the ones we don’t own as well?” He asked as he turned to fully look at her.

Neva simply nodded as she began to park the car.

“ Yep. We even collect dues from the ones we don��t own as well.” She confirmed without looking at him as she put the car in park.

A quiet scoff escaped Yuno as he rolled his eyes slightly; of course they took ‘dues’ from honest, hard working people…they were a Mafia Family, and their protection didn’t come for free…

Taking from the rich who had more than enough money to spare was fine by him, but taking from people who were just trying to make a living and were only just managing to scrape by? That didn’t sit well with him at all…

“ I can’t wait until I find my father’s killer so I can leave this place,” Yuno thought with annoyance as he heard Neva turn the car engine off.

He just had to hang on a little longer…

“ Ready?” Neva suddenly asked, pulling him out of his thoughts.

Yuno quickly nodded and followed her out of the car.

The pair began to make their way down the street and to the various businesses owned by the Golden Dawn.

First on their list were the various luxury clubs they owned, their most famous one was called “Doré Lounge” or “The Golden Lounge”. It was one many celebrities, rich businessmen, and politicians partied at.

It was the Golden Dawn’s most profitable business. Well, second most profitable business; their most profitable one was the business they ran in the shadows behind all the glitz and glamor of the luxurious nightclubs:

Their high end weapons business.

Yuno didn’t know much about the weapons business that the Golden Dawn ran since he was still pretty new, but from what the other members of The Family told him the weapons they bought and sold weren’t your average weapons that just anyone could buy…

The weapons they bought and sold were military grade weapons that only the richest of groups, Families, and individuals could afford.

“ Here’s this month's earnings, Diamond,” The manager suddenly said as he came from the back room of the “Doré Lounge”.

Yuno blinked as he was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts, and his amber eyes focused on a large, black duffle bag in the other man’s hand.

“ That’s it? It looks pretty light.” Neva said skeptically as she took the bag from the manager.

The man shrugged.

“ Eh, business has been a little slow lately,” He replied as he rubbed the back of his neck. “ But don’t worry, you can tell King that there’ll be more in it next month since I’ve got reservations for lots of big parties!”

Neva nodded slowly as she weighed the bag in her hand, and after a moment of deliberation she slung the bag over her shoulder.

“ Alright, but don’t let it be this light again, otherwise…we just might have to hire a new manager.” She told him seriously as she turned around and began to walk out of the club with Yuno following silently behind her.

The man behind them suddenly began to laugh.

“ It’s good to have you back Diamond,” He said as he continued to laugh. “ We love having you around here, so why don’t you try to not beat up your new partner like you did the last one, yeah?”

Neva waved her hand to signal to the man that she had heard him, but Yuno paused and a frown appeared on his face.

Her last partner, she beat him up? Why? And was that really the reason that William sent her overseas?

“ Hey, newbie, are you coming?” Neva called over her shoulder, pulling Yuno out of his thoughts.

He quickly caught up to her, and the pair walked out of the club and down the street.

They walked quietly side by side for a while, neither one really saying a word as they dodged and maneuvered around the various signs and people that were on the street.

Neva sighed under her breath as she could feel Yuno’s eyes steadily glancing over at her, why on earth did that manager have to open his big freaking mouth?!

“ Is there something you want to ask, newbie?” She asked as she came to a stop and turned to the side slightly.

Yuno stopped and turned to look at her.

“ No.”

Neva’s eyes narrowed in disbelief.

“ Really? So you’re not at all curious as to why he said I beat up my last partner?” She asked as she placed a hand on her hip.

Yuno shook his head.

“ No; because I assume if it was something I needed to know, you would tell me, right?” He asked before he began to walk back down the street.

Neva stared at him in surprise as he walked away; he wasn’t curious at all? Not even a little bit? That was a little…strange, in her opinion.

She began to walk a little faster to catch up with him.

“ So, you’re not even a little bit worried that the same thing could happen to you?”

Yuno suddenly stopped walking and turned to face her; it was an honest and fair question to ask, but it still took him by surprise.

He stood there and looked at her for a moment, his mind going back and forth as he tried to settle on an answer, and once he finally did he opened his mouth to reply.

But as he did, the sound of items crashing to the ground along with a loud shout echoed down the street.

Yuno and Neva turned towards the commotion and saw an elderly man lying on the ground, and a group of younger men wearing dark suits standing around him.

Neva’s eyes narrowed sharply and she quickly handed the duffle bag to Yuno before rushing over to the group.

“ Hey assholes, over here!” She suddenly shouted, drawing the group's attention away from the older man and instead to her.

As she grew closer she jumped up, landed a flying kick to one of the men's faces, and landed firmly in front of the old man.

“ Well look who it is, it’s the Golden Dawn’s troubled child, the Diamond Princess!” One of the men laughed, causing the others around him to chuckle.

Neva rolled her eyes before placing a hand on her hip.

“ And look what we have here; a group of bottom feeders thinking it’s okay to encroach on the Golden Dawn’s territory and harass the local businesses that are under their protection.” She spat back at them before she turned around and crouched down to help the elderly man stand up.

“ Are you okay?” She asked softly, ignoring the man’s angry shouting behind her.

The old man nodded.

“ I’m fine,” He began before he softly gasped. “ Diamond, look out!”

Neva quickly looked over her shoulder and saw the angry man from earlier standing over her with a metal rod in his hand that he was swinging with the intent to hit her on the head.

“ Dammit, there isn’t time for me to dodge…and even if there was, the old man would end up getting hit instead!” Her mind shouted as the world seemed to go in slow motion.

She quickly closed her eyes and threw herself in front of the old man so that he wouldn’t get hit, but as she waited for the impact of the metal rod, she frowned when she heard it hit something else instead.

Neva slowly opened her eyes and they widened when she saw the black duffle bag situated between her and the metal rod. Her gaze shifted to her left, and she saw Yuno standing there using the duffle bag as a makeshift shield.

Using his weight, Yuno swung the bag forward, which caused the other man with the metal rod to fly backwards and into the others.

“ What the hell?!”

“ Attacking an old man and a young woman just because she called you a bottom feeder is only proving her right, y’know.” Yuno said as he stood in front of Neva and the old man as though he were protecting them.

“ You should go back to whatever hole you crawled out of, unless you really want a fight that you’ll certainly lose.” He told them as he dropped the duffle bag onto the ground beside him.

The group of men looked at each other for a moment before they began to laugh hysterically.

“ You think you can beat us in a fight? You must be crazy!” One of the men shouted before he began to laugh again.

“ Hey kid, you’re either dumber than you look or you’ve got balls of steel to be going against us by yourself!” The man with the metal rod laughed. “ Why don’t you join us instead? We could use someone crazy and fearless in our group!”

Yuno stared at him blankly.

“ Not a chance.” He replied immediately, causing the group's laughter to die as quickly as it started.

The men looked at each other for a moment before looking back at Yuno.

“ Then, it looks like we don’t have a choice but to show you why no one refuses to join our group and live to tell about it!”

But before the men could even take a step forward, Yuno rushed towards them and swiftly began to take them out one by one.

Neva and the old man watched in surprise as he landed quick yet precise punches to the men's bodies that knocked them all out cold.

“ No wonder William gave him the name ‘Ace’, because he truly is one.” She thought as she watched him knock one last man out with a direct punch to the jaw.

Yuno quickly fixed his suit jacket as the men on the ground groaned in pain; he hadn’t meant to hit them that hard, but he really hated it when people picked on others that were weaker than them, and when they tried to fight dirty.

“ Not bad, Ace,” Neva said as she walked up to him with one hand on her hip and the other behind her back. “ There’s just one thing you forgot…”

Yuno watched as she pulled what appeared to be a gun from behind her back, and when she pulled the trigger he watched as a pair of wires shot out from the end, flew past him, and hit something behind him.

He slowly turned around to see one of the men he thought he had knocked out earlier standing above him with a wooden plank in his hand. The man stiffened up before quickly falling to the ground as Neva hit the trigger on her taser.

“ Never turn your back on the enemy.”

————

Thank you all so much for reading and I hope you all have a good day~!

[selineram3421]

Meow meow meow.

Isekai'd

Part 5: The Hanged Man

Part 4

~

Vash (Tristamp) X Reader

Warning! ⚠

⚠ cusssing, weapons and guns(the pew pew), threats, yes its Ruby's weapon(I love it), all caps for screeching dialog, mentions of blood, mention of some drunks being gross ⚠

You woke up to find Vash gone.

"He left?", you asked, still half asleep.

It didn't bother you much, knowing he was the type to leave without saying goodbye. Especially with Nai still looking for him.

I get why but its kinda rude. You think as you start packing up.

The suns were barely starting to rise when you started walking again, wanting to give Kevin a little more time to rest before having to carry you again.

At some point you saw a car pass by.

Is that the reporters? You squint at the car with something hooked up behind it. If I catch up to it I'll be able to tell what episode I'm in.

Hours passed and the suns were high in the sky.

Now riding on the Tomas, you were looking at the map and holding the reigns.

"So if I remember, the moons..", you mumble, looking back and forth between the map and the sky. "Shit."

You were lost.

"Mother fucking-!", you scream in your throat and tighten the hold on the reigns, wanting to throw something. "Great."

Then there's a sound of a car coming from the right.

"Hm?", you look over and see the car stop just a little ways away.

A small group of guys come out of the vehicle, running towards you but staying just a few feet away and point their guns at you.

"Give us everything you got!", one says, you're guessing the 'leader' of this small group.

Are they for real?

"I'm not going to ask again!", the guy says and racks the big gun.

It takes you a while but then you grin like a crazy person.

I finally get to release some pent up anger.

Getting off of Kevin, you walk forward and pull out the weapon you had custom made. The red scythe shines in the sunlight as you unfold the weapon by swinging it open.

"What'll it be boys? I can be your doctor or your torturer."

"Do you know who we are!? We're part of the Bad Lads gang!", one of the ones in the back of the group says.

All you do is let out a creepy laugh.

"Hehe~"

.

Vash looked out at the sand dunes before him.

He had left the angelic looking person in hopes that they wouldn't get tangled up in his terrible luck and have a safe rest of the journey.

I hope they're doing ok. He thought and looked to the sky.

There was a few vulture bugs flying around.

Before he could try to swat some away from pecking him, he heard footsteps in the sand and voices.

"Ok, so I know he's The Humanoid Typhoon but is he like..a real guy?", a feminine voice asks.

A sigh comes from the other person.

"How have you made it this far?", the voice of an older man.

As the two keep talking the blonde stays still and waits for them to take notice of him hanging upside down.

"Dead ahead.", the older man says, being the one to take notice of the hanged man in red.

"Looks like the work of the Bad Lads gang.", the man continues. "Yeesh, they did a real number on that poor slob."

When one of them walks up, the vulture bugs fly off of him and go onto the piece of metal to rest on instead.

Vash decides to have a bit of fun.

Moving his prosthetic arm, he does a peace sign before letting it drop down, surprising the person. They reach over and hold his hand, the movement making it detach from him.

"Need a hand?", he asks.

"AAAH!", the woman screams out in surprise and tosses the metal arm before running back to their companion.

The vulture bugs fly off and the blonde begins laughing like a mad man as he slowly turns to face the two strangers.

"What a creep.", the small woman in white says.

"You got that right.", the man in the brown suit jacket says and starts walking away. "Let's go."

"DON'T LEAVE ME HANGING FRIENDS!", Vash says in a panic, having been hung up for hours.

"We can't just leave him here.", the little lady says and goes to untie him.

"Appreciated.", Vash says in relief and lets the woman turn him as needed to get the ropes off.

.

You made it to Jeneora Rock.

After beating the shit out of the group of men, you asked for directions and they were smart enough to listen. Leaving them in a slightly bloody pile on the sand.

Before leaving Lowland, you had taken time to practice shooting and using the scythe. Also having learned how to fight when a few drunks didn't leave you alone or tried to touch you without your concent.

I didn't kill them but I made sure that they regretted it. You smirk and take a sip from your cup of water. I should write to Dr. Thomas.

You were in the "diner", more like a saloon, taking a much needed break from walking around and restocking some needed items.

Kevin was resting at a nearby Tomas stable.

I wonder when the first episode is gonna start. You think as you're going to drink from the cup again.

There's a sound of someone entering but you ignore it, taking a gulp of water.

"Yep! I knew we'd find her here."

And then you hear a familiar voice.

"Pffft-!", you have a spit take and quickly wipe your mouth before looking over at the three characters that just entered.

"Vash! You're here!", the brown haired woman named Rosa says and makes her way over to the man in red.

"Working on baby two Rosa?", the humanoid typhoon asks.

You stare in shock.

I'M IN FUCKING EPISODE ONE!?

And now I rest. At least until I have the energy to write more.

~Seline, the person.

Next: Part 6

Taglist@

@summerdazed @+?

ML Vash | ChL Isekai'd

[cartoonbrat16]

My DNA

Jen pov

I walked around the convenience store looking for something to eat. I smiled when I spotted a stack of cookie boxes, "Yummy," I said. I grabbed a box, the entire stack became unstable and tumbled, and Gwen became buried in cookie boxes. Gwen emerged from the pile of boxes, "Nice one Tennyson," she said. I furrowed my brow, "Don't call me that." I hissed and went to pay for my cookies.

When I exited the convenience store I saw Max washing the windows. I passed him and entered the RV, Albedo was sitting at the table working on something. We hadn't talked much since New York, I was still kinda mad at him, but I know he was just doing what is best. "Can I have one of those?" I looked at Albedo and held out the box. Albedo put a cookie in his mouth and went back to work.

We sat in silence for another moment, but there was a loud explosion outside. I and Albedo shared a look, we rushed outside and saw a group of bikers. "We gotta get out of here!" Gwen exclaimed, "And leave innocent people to get hurt? I don't think so." I said. I turned back and materialized my steps, I ran around and above the bikers. Once I was high enough I jumped down and grabbed ahold of one's gun.

"What the hell!?" I quickly jumped back and pulled up my screen. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," I smirked as they all aimed at me. They ignored my warning and pulled the trigger. All three were insulted in an explosion, I was able to shield myself. "AHHHHH!!!!" Two of the three ran out of the fire and straight into the police. The last one stumbled out of the fire, their helmet fell off revealing spikey red hair. "You little punk," she growled, I glared pulled up my screen, and quickly transformed into my alien Fourarms.

"Ha, that won't save you!" she yelled. "Jen you need to get out of there!" I heard Max call, "Stay out of this Gramps." the bad guy yelled and fired at Max. She missed, she instead hit the convenience store causing a giant piece of concrete to fall on Max. "Grandpa!" Gwen cried out, "Jen behind you!" Albedo yelled. I turned and saw two drives flying at me, "Better make this one snappy." I muttered.

I jumped and dodged the drones, then crashed into the bad guy. She hit the ground, and I returned to my human form and used my overboard to fly after the drones. Once I was close enough I quickly infected both drones with the virus I used on Animo's helmet. They shut down and crashed, I quickly digitized them and took the bad guy's gun. "I'm calling an Ambulance," Gwen said and pulled out her phone. "No time, the hospital is down the street." I transform back into Fourarms, I grabbed Gwen, Max, and Albedo and headed for the hospital.

~~~~~~~~~

Gwen pov

I looked at Grandpa, he was knocked out in a hospital bed with bandages around his head. I frowned and looked at the chairs beside me. Albedo sat in one chair reading a book, and Jen sat in the other with her head in Albedo's lap. She was sound asleep, and I felt anger bubble up inside me, 'Isn't she upset about what happened to Grandpa?' I thought.

"Wake up!" Jen startled awake and Albedo stiffened. Jen sat up, "What?" she asked sounding rather annoyed. "Aren't you upset, or worried at all? Grandpa is hurt and you are sleeping like nothing is wrong." I was fuming. Jen frowned, "Yes I'm worried, but allow me to remind you of what he has been lying to me all summer, and possibly my entire life." Jen said crossing her arms.

"It was so he could protect you!" I quickly covered my mouth, I wasn't supposed to let anything slip. "Let's return to the bucket of bolts that man calls home," Albedo said. He and Jen stood up and left, I sat down in a chair and looked at my feet. I royally screwed up on this one, Grandpa is gonna be so mad when he finds out.

Albedo pov

I opened the door to the RV, Jen followed behind me and locked the door. I sat at the table and Jen went to the back, "Is everything alright?" I looked to Bleep. Bleep hovered beside me, "I don't know." I said and rested my head on the table. I heard Bleep land on the table and felt his robotic eye on me. "Scan shows your heart rate is accelerated. The reasoning could be Stress, Overactive thyroid, Anemia-" "Stop!" I quickly said.

"What? I am simply listing-" "Dah, but bup bup, stop it." I said and stood to my feet. "I don't need this," I said and headed for the bathroom. I closed the door and sighed, "Why?" I muttered and held my hand over my heart. My face started getting hot, I move to the sink and splashed some cold water on my face. The water was refreshing and eased my nerves.

I turned off the water and looked at my reflection. My shoulder-length white hair was dirty and matted, my face was dirty and red, my eyes had formed dark circles, and I smelled like sweat and death. I also hadn't changed my clothes in three days, and Jen bought me new ones to wear. I frowned, and my reflection then changed. Kevin laughed, his body covered in electricity and his eyes glowing bright orange.

"Ahhh!!" I pushed myself back from the sink and hit the floor. I clutched my shirt over my heart and took a shakey breath. I didn't move until I heard a knock on the door, "Albedo, are you ok?" Jen asked through the door. "Y-Yeah.....I slipped." I said, I heard Jen hum and walk away from the door. I let out another shaky breath, I stood up with shakey legs and looked at my reflection.

I used a towel to cover the mirror then turned on the shower. The water was frigid, it felt wonderful against my skin. While I cleaned up I started to dwell on certain things. I started thinking about the communicator I was in the process of building, the drones that attacked Jen, and Azmuth's current thoughts on Jen. I shut my eyes right and shook my head, "Focus on your mission Albedo." I told myself.

I finished my shower and wrapped a towel around my waist. I blow-dried and brushed my hair, I then searched and found Jen's hair ties. I pulled my hair into a ponytail and left the bathroom.

When I was a young girl living in the city

All I did was run, run, run, run, run

Staring at the lights, they look so pretty

Momma said, "Jen, Jen, Jen, Jen, Jen"

"You're gonna grow up, you're gonna get old

All that glitter don't turn to gold

But until then, just have your fun

Girl, run, run, run, run, run"

Yeah, run, run, run

Run, run, run

I stopped dead in my tracks as Jen's voice filled my ears. It had become a habit to listen to Jen sing, it was something I couldn't resist. I tried to ignore Jen when she sang, but it was pointless.

When I was a young kid living in the city

All I did was pay, pay, pay, pay, pay

And every single dime that good Lord gave me

I could make it last three, four, five days

Living it up but living down low

Chasing that luck before I get old

And looking back, oh, we had some fun

Girl, run, run, run, run, run

They tell you that the sky might fall

They'll say that you might lose it all

So, I run until I hit that wall

Yeah, I learned my lesson, count my blessings

Look to the rising sun and run, run, run

Yeah, one day well, the sky might fall

Yeah, one day I could lose it all

So, I run until I hit that wall

If I learned one lesson, count your blessings

Look to the rising sun and run, run, run

Run, run, run

I felt my heart rate begin to increase again, and my face get hot. I felt so intoxicated by Jen's singing I almost didn't notice. I began to breath a little heavily and retreated to the bathroom. I splashed cold water on my face and looked in the mirror. "What is this?" I had never felt something like this before. Was it because of Kevin's DNA?

"Ugh, get a grip you are here on a mission!" I yelled at my reflection. I heard noise from outside and Jen knock on the door, "Albedo, why are you yelling, is everything ok?" I felt a fluttery feeling in my chest. "I am fine Jen, but I forgot to grab some clothes." "Oh, well I was gonna go get some food, I'll be back in a bit." I heard Jen walk away and I exited the bathroom a minute later.

I walked to the cabinet to grab some clothes. Jen bought me many clothes, I had refused to go so she wasn't sure what to get me. I looked, and I settled on a pair of red plaid pants, a solid black t-shirt, and black shoes. The clothes were rather comfortable and I actually enjoyed the way I looked in them.

We sat back at the table and started to work on the communicator again. While I worked I began to dwell again, but this time on my life, and how I might be making a mistake. I had spent my entire life assisting Azmuth, I helped with every project, theory, and plan with no questions asked. I even assisted with project 7730, no questions asked, but now I had questions. I was no longer sure I should trust Azmuth. The things he said, the things he's done...the things he tried to do.

I leaned my head back and looked up at the ceiling, I was getting confused. Why did I start feeling this way? I want to pass it off as a side effect of my having human DNA, but it wasn't working. "Maybe I just need some air?" I asked and looked out the window.

"Wait, it's night?" I checked the time, it was 10 pm. I rushed out of the RV, Jen should have returned hours ago. I was headed for the entrance of the hospital when I heard an explosion. "That way," I said and changed direction.

Jen pov

I hit the ground hard and felt the air get knocked from my lungs. I struggled to sit up and the drones closed in on me. "No,...I need to do something." I said and materialized a weapon.

I aimed for the drones and fired a laser at one of the drones. It dodged and they got closer, I felt fear begin coursing through my veins. I began breathing heavily, "No, ....NoNoNoNo!"

"Give me that!" My gun was smashed out of my hand and Albedo stepped in front of me. Albedo took the drones down easy, I smiled and fully collapsed to the ground. Albedo approached and leaned over me, he sighed and dropped the gun on my chest then picked me up.

Albedo started walking I wrapped my arms around his neck and rested my head on his chest. My face started getting hot, I shut my eyes to avoid looking at Albedo. I hoped it would help, but it didn't. I could only hope we reached the RV soon and Albedo would set me down.

Albedo pov

I avoided looking at Jen as I carried her back to the RV. My face felt like it was on fire, and I wanted it to stop. I knew it wouldn't, not until I put Jen down and sunk my face in cold water. Lucky for me we reached the RV rather quickly.

I opened the door and took Jen to bed. I didn't question what happened or where Bleep was, I just let Jen rest. Resting actually sounded really good. Deciding that was the best choice I climbed into my bed and fell asleep rather quickly, but I had weird dreams about Jen.

[catchingpapermoons]

27

just musings on aging and mental health and being alive.

content warnings for suicidal ideation, death, self-loathing.

as the days ticked down to my 20th birthday, i became acutely aware of the fact that i was still a living, breathing person.

i hadn’t thought about it much; i’d been surviving on empty for so long i hadn’t realized it was time for me to leave my teen years behind. for me, much like it was for everyone else in the world, being a teenager knocked me around like those inflatable tube guys that blow violently in the wind outside the most drab-looking car dealership.

i grew up a lot from 13 to 19. i was very different at 19 than i was when i entered high school, but an apt comparison of those girls would be that i was so deeply, achingly insecure of my personality, because i wasn’t really sure i had one at all. much of it came from other people because i wanted them to like me, because i wanted everyone to like me. i wanted to make myself fit in spaces i probably wouldn’t have fit in at all. i didn’t know how to rise above it. i wasn’t sure i wanted to rise above it. all i knew, with absolute certainty, was that everyone would find out that i was secretly a terrible, jealous, conniving, uppity cunt who no one would ever love.

i had long believed i wouldn’t make it to 20. unfailingly, i’d hoped, maybe even believed, that something would happen and i wouldn’t have to face the rest of my life. and as much as i had believed that, suddenly i had made it through two years of undergrad and i was marching headfirst toward my 20s. i even wrote something too, braving how uncomfortable i was in facing my emotions to tell my community of facebook friends, people i’d known since birth, since middle school, since high school, since i started college, that i was grateful to them for giving me a safe place to land when it felt like i’d been freefalling for years.

“as a very lonely freshman in high school, for some reason, reaching the age of 20 seemed impossible,” i said in my post. “i’m happy to be 20 today.”

and just as suddenly as i’d approached 20, i was 21 and falling in love, and i was 22 and falling out of it. 23 and finally feeling a sense of self after being (mostly) properly treated for my depression, and then the world shut down. 24, 25, and 26 came and went. and a constant in all those years was that i’d come to this realization, this understanding of myself, that there was something—something young, feral, and bright—that was hurt. not irreparably, not from one single blow, but taken altogether, there was something fragile that needed tending to, like the broken ankle i never let heal properly.

there was an instagram story prompt the other day that asked you to show yourself in the past six years. what was startling to me was, first, that i found six pictures from six different years within the 20 thousand something photos in my library. but the prevailing thought was, looking at the pictures side-by-side, that you could tell how unhappy i was at 22, 23, 24 even. how halfway through being 25 you could see how settled i had become, that at 26, about to graduate with a professional doctorate degree, despite the massive stress and anger and anxiety and imposter-syndrome-god-complex that every law student has, i looked happy.

there’s a lump in my throat just thinking about it.

because when i was 14, i couldn’t picture life past 20. i could barely see the 15th birthday light at the end of the freshman year tunnel. when i was 19, i was shocked to see 20 flying around the corner, and even more shocked that i wanted to keep aging. it’s a source of pride for me that i’d managed, despite everything trying to tear me to pieces, to make it that far, and even farther than that.

there were reasons, of course, that i would never have left. i knew even in the throes of my insurmountable incapacitation that i couldn’t ruin my family like that. maybe that’s narcissistic to say, but maybe it’s just true, that a lack of grace in the world would hurt people in a way that would never leave them. i’m still haunted by memories of people i knew—whether i knew them well or more peripherally—because they’re gone and i won’t be able to send them a follow request on instagram or run into them on the train on our morning commute  because they died too early. and some of these people weren’t even my friends, just friends of friends or boyfriends of friends or kids i passed in the hallway. i think about them still and the mark they left, and i couldn’t do that to my family or friends or people who feel like me about the people whose posts they “love” on facebook or whose tweets they like on twitter.

and now, as i’m typing this, i am two weeks away from 27. in the past 6 and a half years i’ve been so adrift. i’d been so certain of life not existing past 20 that i never thought to picture what it would look like. i graduated from university and didn’t have a plan, and i was traumatized from my last relationship and heartbreak. i had no immediate plans beyond “make enough money to pay for gas” after i’d completely bombed the GRE, and i didn’t know who i was beyond my illness. 

now, i’m getting ready to take this exam that will determine my future and i worry about passing because everyone worries about passing the bar, but i’ve made it 7 years past where i thought i would. and i want to make it 10, 20, 30 more years, and beyond that. i want to be 100 with a family of kids and grandkids and great-grandkids and i want to be hopeful about the world that we live in even when hope feels fruitless and when climate change feels catastrophic because even when i was my most depressed, my most helpless, the little hurt part of me still felt hope.

the thing in me that’s hurting is simultaneously more prevalent and less painful than it has been. i like to picture it like a child version of me. and some part of me is telling her, whether she’s 5 or 13 or 21, that she’s going to be okay. she might feel lonely, she might feel sad and scared and panicked, she might try—well-meaning and missing the mark often—to help those around her when they just need to be left alone, but that it’s okay to make those mistakes. it’s okay to believe the best in people until they’ve shown you otherwise. it’s okay to be kind and know that, for as many loud and awful people there are in the world, there are more people who just care about helping each other. and it’s okay to believe all those things. and it’s okay to be discouraged and disappointed.

but i’m going to turn 27 and i’m going to celebrate with friends who live near me and call my friends who live far away and i’m going to provide help when i’m asked to and support when it’s needed. and i like to believe that’s made at least one person’s life a little brighter. i’ve never liked my birthday much. i think i’m just excited to turn another year older and to just keep going.

reaching 30 doesn’t seem so impossible anymore. 

[electrivolt]

@rockheadcd asked : Heavy breaths spill from the winded archosaurian, a light retreat of the entire squad to hidden corners between abandoned buildings and rubble. Such was the life of circumventing Reunion's advancements into more innocent lives. These swordsmen were no easy feat, especially not the guys souped up high on originium coursing through their veins. Even if they won this skirmish, they wouldn't survive much longer afterwards, probably. Still… if they can take the lead out, then everything should fall like dominos there, right? The confusion over comms settles when Roark presses against the ear piece hidden under tufts of burgundy.

"I've got an idea," he suggests quietly, settling his breath and staring warily out from his hiding spot in the alleyway and down towards the greater street they have at least narrowed their foes into. "I'll bait the big guy. My arts can handle that butcher block long enough, I bet." He'll damn well try, at least.

"Vol—Wildcharge. When I approach, I need you to be in position to flank 'em. When he swings, get up there and either execute him, or rip that faceguard off for one of the ranged operators to follow up. We need Wildcharge covered, but I'll try to get 'em with his back away from the rest of the group. Everyone else on foot can put distance between the big guy and do what you have to in order to suppress the rest of the troop. Sound good?"

It's about the best they can come up with on the fly, making use of disorganization to their advantage would hopefully get them out alive. This is what they're good at, after all. "Alright, let's go." Volkner is going to have some choice words for him later, he's sure of it. And yet, Roark rises to his feet, hammerpick in hand, hefting it against his shoulder as he takes in his surroundings. If he rounds this corner… he can diverge attention away when the other guards start their move. He looks up, eyeing a fellow teammate upon the rooftops, exchanging a thumbs up and taking another look at the street level. The affirmatives in his earpiece give him the courage to follow through—they will succeed.

He gives the all clear in a simple word. "Go."

The uproar from their surprise is his cue, hammer hitting the ground when he stakes his claim in the open with the sarkaz leader, so conveniently segregated from the rest of his squad. Roark appears to be left alone, and the bait is taken when the swordsman turns to face him to make quick work while his comrades are busy.

Roark's arts feel like shedding skin, rigid as he plants his feet in place. The dust that kicks up sticks to the head of his weapon, teeth gritting when the sarkaz swings his greatsword and it clashes with his weapon, the strain heavy and that oversized butcher's knife is getting all too close to his limbs. He has to hold his ground and keep him from untangling his sword for another swing, and Roark is all too willing to sacrifice his stamina to push the originium in his veins to do it. Oh, his feline will have many choice words for him later.

"—Now!!"

None of this fight went as it should have. It’s something he has come to expect by now after getting so used to the field— having a plan go off as smoothly as they all hoped would rarely be what actually happened out there, too many variables and possibilities to keep expecting the best outcome. But. Usually it was still supposed to go at least a little better than this.

( or miles better, if he really considers his current position. )

He can hear how close Reunion is to his position, and no matter how good he may be at hiding and running around, there is only so much that kind of skills would save him, right? Especially alone as he currently is, this alley he’s been cornered into without their knowledge the closest place he could hide into from his previous position without compromising his status or being spotted as he ran. And there he is now, back pressed against the wall, curled up and hidden among the rubble, small and quiet enough to at least go unnoticed now, even through unsteady breath, body rigid and tense, ready to jump at the slightest hint of something wrong.

Even if hidden for now, it wouldn’t take long for someone to start scouting the alleys and found him, and he can hear the heavy steps of those mercenaries working with Reunion alongside their own soldiers and they’re getting too close—

Roark’s voice finally coming through over the comms is what snaps him out of that hyperfocus quickening his breath and heartbeat alike, claws pulled back to silently reach for the ear piece. There is little relief in hearing his love speak up with the kind of danger he’s so close to, but at least Volkner tries to focus on that instead, if anything to keep himself from snapping at the slightest threat. No matter the kind of situation, there are others depending on him, other lives he can endanger just as easily as he can help. He needs the focus.

( roark might not even have realized just where he got stuck. he might not even know that the alley basically surrounded by reunion in its entirety is the one he landed into, too far away to run off somewhere else entirely. and maybe it’s better that way. he can become too reckless whenever his feline is the one in danger, right? everyone else needs him too much to let him be distracted like that. )

And then he hears Roark’s plan. And it takes him everything he has to keep quiet and not give himself away right there and then.

“What— are you thinking?!” As low of a whisper as he can manage in that kind of situation, hissed out into the comms, and yet still close enough to disregarding his own safety entirely just to yell at him for the incredibly dangerous and reckless idea. All while he's not right there next to him to physically stop him from risking his neck and limbs like that. Nevermind the Sarkaz or Reunion, he's going to be the one to throttle him in a few minutes. "You're gonna get yourself killed like that!" And he's almost ready to refuse entirely, if anything to stop him from this incredibly stupid plan— but that wouldn't be enough, would it? He'd find another way, even if he hqs to give himself up for it, just to ensure everyone else will get to go home.

"Ugh... fine— don't let that bastard kill you here, you heard me?" A heavy sigh, clearly as reluctant as he can be, but he'll be damned if he lets Roark get harmed in any way without even trying to get him out of that mess, be it by his own doing or any particularly nasty enemy. Finally, he takes a deep breath, inching closer to the entrance of the alley, eyes fixated on the Reunion mercenaries closest to his position. He can do this, take them down and be close enough to back Roark up against the Sarkaz leader. He has to.

"... I'm ready." Not that there's much of a choice anymore, is there? Claws are unsheathed the moment he lets go of his ear piece and standing up, back pressed against the wall as hidden as he can be while he waits. And waiting for the right moment to strike is somehow worse than the situation itself, watching from his corner as Roark steps out, teeth gritted seeing how it goes working all too well, Reunion's sights set on him and the Sarkaz already raising his greatsword— and Volkner snaps, springing into action, hardly waiting at all for the moment Roark would tell him to act. There's shouting and yelling, attempts at reaching for him, claws tearing into flesh— and finally, after what feels like too long even in his mad run, he's in position, jumping right at the Sarkaz, steel claws sinking in.

"Step back!" The stray sparks are enough of a hint to what his intentions are, and he doesn't wait or hesitate— the moment he's sure there's no contact, Volkner lets loose, pushes his own arts as much as he can without backfiring, wild arcs of electricity now surrounding the Sarkaz, the strongest charge he could create striking his target. It's seemingly all it takes for the Reunion leader to fall over, and Volkner finally lets go to step back and reunited with the rest, laboured breath, trembling hands and muscles tense after such exertion, static and the few sparks left still clinging to fur and skin alike. Had he gone overboard on what is really only one opponent out of the entire squadron they were against? Maybe a little, but it isn't hard to tell why.

Speaking of—

"What the hell were you thinking?! Are you insane?!" Ah, Roark already knew this was coming, didn't he? No matter how they still weren't in the clear quite yet, the rest of the team is there and helping already, and so he's not missing his chance, even when the apparent anger is really only sheer worry, maybe with just the slightest tinge of fear hidden in his words. He can't really help it, no matter how capable Roark is and how much he trusts him— there have been too many close calls already. ( it's the reminder of all those times coming back so close to the edge, between spilled blood and the threat of oripathy, always wondering what if... he can never really forget any of that, can he? )

"Just— don't— stop being so fucking reckless! What if I couldn't get there or—" he's just a little out of breath and frazzled, tail refusing to stay still, yet at least still aware enough of what's going on around them to cut himself off, a quiet groan as he goes to look around and prepare for the inevitable rest of the battle, disregarding entirely the pins and needles tormenting his hands in favor to prepare his arts if needed. Even when he's gone quiet, that's still a painfully clear 'we'll talk about this later', or something along those lines, isn't it?

( he just cares too much to ever stop worrying, roark knows that very well by now. )

[dreamkidddream]

miles with a sleep deprived fluffy reader?? please?

Ahhhh it’s been so long since I wrote for Miles I miss my boi 😔!! Reader is gender neutral and hope you enjoy!

“(Y/N)?”

“Hm?”

“You sure you don’t wanna reschedule?”

“Of”, your yawn interrupted. “Of course not. I’m good Miles, I pinkie cross promise my heart to fly, and all that jazz.”

“…that didn’t make any sense, but okay.”

Miles went right back to getting his art supplies ready while you sat on his couch, barely awake. It was finally winter break, and the weekend on top of that. The dreaded finals week was over, and you guys have been planning for weeks some type of celebration. To others, you’re just painting the abandoned subway again, but to you guys it was something special.

It was really special to Miles because it was the same place his Uncles Aaron showed him, and it was something that allowed him to spend more time with you.

But he’s not sure if it’s a good idea to do this tonight anymore.

With finals week came studying, and studying came with less sleep, and less sleep is the result of…the state that you’re in now. He was tired too, but he was already used to it (you know, being your friendly neighborhood Spiderman and all) and he managed to get some hours back falling asleep in study hall. He couldn’t say the same for you, unfortunately.

You’re smart, super smart, like more than Dexter’s Laboratory smart, so he doesn’t understand why you feel like you have to live, eat, and breathe a textbook every night cutting into your sleep schedule. You don’t even need your grades to tell you that, to make you feel validated, but you still had your head stuck deep into a textbook, no matter the subject. He can’t count the amount of times he’s had to drag convince you to leave your room.

Miles zipped his bag closed and turned to throw on his hoodie, “Alright (Y/N), you read-“

But was stopped in his tracks when he saw you using his hoodie as a makeshift pillow, mumbling something incoherently into it eyes closed. He wasn’t even mad at it honestly, but my goodness did you look adorable curling up against it. He felt the tip of his ears burning, unable to stop the goofy smile spreading ear to ear. He knew that you would have ended up falling asleep eventually, and it’s not like the subway was going anywhere anytime soon.

When Miles plopped down next to you, you started to stir. But when you sunk into him and let out a dreamy sigh, he thought his heart would give out on him. “Let’s get you to bed, okay?”

You were still mumbling but he could hear you clearly now. “No…I can’t leave my Miles hanging.”

“I’m not going anywhere (Y/N), I’m still here.” And he always will be. He could just carry you to his bed (it wouldn’t be the first time you fell asleep in it to be honest), he didn’t want to walk you home if you could barely keep your eyes peeled (and he didn’t want you to leave yet either even if it was just holding you for the rest of the night).

“But we still have to pray spaint the tracks-“

“Yeah, let’s get you to bed.” He lifted you and started to carry you in his room, pushing aside some of his sketches that were scattered on his floor. “Don’t step on them like that…if you don’t want them let me have it. I love all of your pieces…not as much as I love you…” You murmured as Miles placed you on the bed, bringing his covers over you. As soon as your head touched the pillow, you were on the brink of passing out, still clutching his hoodie in your hands.

If you weren’t sleep, Miles would have probably ended up on his ceiling with how high he jumped (he had to catch himself when his fist hit the ceiling). This was a total win in his book, the best thing that could ever happen right now, but he’ll just wait to celebrate when he’s not risking waking you up (ie. as soon as he closes the door). He hopes that this isn’t a one time thing, and he hopes that one day you can wake up in his arms. Hopefully soon, but he’s fine taking his time.

“I know (Y/N), and I love you too.”

Okay maybe it was a good idea that you guys didn’t go out tonight. He took one last glance at you and went to close his door, ready to crash on the couch for the night-

“Haha no you silly spider, you’re not Spiderman…Miles is.”

Never mind, it was definitely a great idea that you stayed it.

[cyborg-franky]

Hi franky! I was wondering if you had any headcanons or anything about the WBP or any of the other one piece characters doing karaoke? <3

-slams hand down on desk- this is good for my mental health and I want to hold you. Lots under the cut! If anyone wants other chars please hit me up <3

Ace

He acts all shy at first but get a drink in him and he won’t shut up.

He will drag you on stage and do a duet.

Has no concept of holding a note, just belts it out.

The drunker he gets the worse he gets.

Unironically loves Backstreet Boys.

Went as one of them for Halloween, don’t you know.

Also tries to do the screaming parts of alt music.

Video him taking off his shirt and swinging it around to highway to hell and humble him every time he gets sassy at you.

Marco

Likes the atmosphere of going to karaoke but doesn’t partake so much.

Is happy to sit with your things and watch you, makes eye contact the entire time with a smile on his face, being your biggest fan and supporter.

You can coax him up, depending on what sound you dangle under his nose.

Cheesy 80s songs or alt music tends to be his jam.

Would be 100% that bitch who’d lose it to Pretty fly for a white guy and make everyone stare at him, wondering where that energy came from. 

Thatch

Loves it, lives for it, and will make everyone join in.

Was probably the one with the idea to go.

Loves to sing all sorts and will belt out Elvis one second, Bonnie Tyler the next, and Lady Gaga the next. Just loves to sing, and will do all the parts himself, male and female roles. He’s a one-man show.

But he likes to get his friends on stage to do any song. 

He drinks gets excited and gets everyone pumped.

He’s just everyone's hype man including himself.

Just living his best life.

Watch him sing total eclipse of the heart and love it.

Izou

You dare bring him to your silly sing-song hall?

He’ll not be happy.

Will sulk.

However, is not above recording people making fools of themselves for future blackmail or amusement.

Though Izou is not immune to the charms of booze.

Get Izou drunk and he will be screeching the classics.

Will even do a headbang and whirl around his hair.

A drunk Izou is a great Izou.

Deuce

Every time he is dragged up on stage you can tell he is longing for the person who did that to him to get eaten by the floor [Ace]

Will mumble into the microphone.

Hates it, even drunk he will more than likely have an inward meltdown at the entire thing.

Ace can sometimes get a duet out of him.

Will throw a mic at the first heckler, however.

Will be the first person to tell you what you did wrong.

Sassy.

Vista

Sings the mic like it’s a lover.

If you are on stage with him he will accidentally smack you in the face with his dramatic arm movements.

Could sing opera.

And does.

Ever heard every song ever turned into an opera version? No? Then, boy, you are in for a treat.

Loves to be solo as well as a group.

The only one who is able to not mangle other language songs.

Is loud, hell, doesn’t even need a mic.

Jozu

He’s very shy and will prob just sit at the table and have a good time eating, snacking, and watching everyone else get on stage.

Kinda hides behind Marco [despite being so much bigger than him] when he’s asked to join anyone.

The only reason you can even hear him is the fact he has a deep voice.

Just kinda shyly stands there and sings and taps his foot.

There, he did it once, please just let him hide.

Haruta

Loud, over-the-top, drama kid.

He loves it, he has to be the loudest.

Picks all the really annoying songs that get in your head for the rest of the night.

Nags people who don’t really want to get on stage.

He hits the high notes well at least.

Will sing the really, really, fast songs.

“Come on guys! Just one more!” until he dragged off the stage.

Whitey Bay

Voice of an angel.

Looks like a superstar as she stands there with her flowing hair and flawless poses.

The proceeds to roar to death metal and scares everyone in the area, maybe not Ace or Marco but they are still surprised a woman that petite is capable of making the table shake.

Solo only - you will only cramp her style.

You might manage to get her to sing something that you can hear the lyrics of through loud screaming vocals.

Does have a nice voice.

[to-star-lake]

in the early days when you joined bonten as their new advisor, you spent a lot of time with koko; drawing up business plans, managing the books, overseeing construction on new clubs and buildings.

koko had the nicest office of all of the bonten leaders. it was on the top floor of a highrise in the middle of the shibuya business district. complete with high-end leather and mahogany furniture, and a gorgeous city view.

you'd spent time with each of the bonten executives when you joined and koko was probably your favorite to work with. you found takeomi too serious, kakucho boorish, mochi too macho, the haitani's were exhausting, and sanzu..well..

koko was like you; blunt and efficient with work, a little impatient, maybe a little condescending. you enjoyed your daily work with him in his office. it was always quiet, productive, and his assistants always served the best sencha.

except today.

today when you walked in through the mahogany double doors that led to his office, you were almost decked in the face by a toy rubber basketball.

"he shoots! he scores? no! he misses!" you heard a voice yell, followed by a maniacal cackling.

what...the hell is this? the floor of koko's office, which was normally clean, surgically clean, was littered with teddy bears, squeak toys, board games with their pieces strewn about haphazardly, a jump rope, a putting green, and a trash bin overflowing with crumpled candy wrappers.

the rubber basketball that almost hit your head rolled towards the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves on one end of the room and you saw a kiddie basketball hoop attached to one of the shelves. and below that, sanzu, flopped on his stomach on the floor, a different flavored ring pop on each of his fingers.

"koko..i'm really bad at basketball," he grumbled, picking himself up and walked over to koko's desk, slamming his hands down on the surface, the sudden gust of wind almost blowing the stack of papers in front of koko away.

"oh no, well, why don't you go try the putt putt?" koko sighed, not even looking up from his work, waving his hand in the air like he was shooing away a fly. "ah, y/n! finally, someone sane. please, get over here, i need you to look at something," koko waved you over when he noticed you standing in the doorway.

you made your way across the minefield of toys on the floor and greeted sanzu as he walked past you. "good morning," you smiled cordially.

he sauntered past you, looking down at you through bloodshot, half-shut eyes, his usual sinister smile plastered wide across his face. he'd opened his mouth to say, "good morning, little prin-" but then stepped on a pile of toy soldiers and tripped, tumbling to the floor, his long limbs getting all tangled up in themselves.

"uh... hey, koko?" you took a seat in the armchair beside the desk, setting your laptop down on the tabletop. "what's going on here? where's mikey?"

koko let out an exasperated sigh, rolling his eyes. "sometimes mikey goes off on his own, and when he does, the rest of us have to take turns...babysitting," he nodded at the gangly man with bubblegum colored hair with a plastic toy putter in his hands. "i pulled the short straw today," he sighed, pushing the large binder of documents he was looking at over to you.

"koko!!"

"jesus, what now?" koko looked up, so annoyed you could almost see the steam coming out his ears.

"there's no balls," sanzu pointed at the putting green on the floor.

"well, who decided to ambush people by pelting them with the balls outside the bathroom last time?"

sanzu stared back at koko blankly.

"ugh, nevermind. could you play with something else? y/n and i have work to do." koko scooted his seat closer to you, and began circling a few line items on the page in front of you. "got this today from the guys over at the club in akasaka. these totals look off to you?"

you glanced over the document, and flipped back a few pages and reviewed the itemized lists also included in the binder. "damn," you said, looking up at koko. "these assholes are skimming."

koko opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by a sudden loud popping noise. both of you turned to see sanzu on the floor, pulling the heads off of a pile of barbie and ken dolls.

koko raised his hands to his temples, the frown lines between his eyebrows deepening by the second. "jesus christ, this psychotic clown, if he wasn't the number 2 I swear to god-” he muttered under his breath.

"hey, sanzu?" you called out and sanzu's head jerked up to look at you, his eyes suddenly bright and attentive, like a child amongst the sea of toys on the floor.

"yes, princess?" he called back.

"could you go on a coffee run for us?"

sanzu tilted his head a little, confused. "a coffee...run?"

"yeah...you know, to buy coffee?"

he blinked, still confused.

"to buy...starbucks?"

"ah! you want me to buy you starbucks," he suddenly shot up.

"yes! yes, please, for me and koko, that would be great," you smiled, thinking you were finally getting somewhere with him.

he walked over to the desk. "anything for you, princess. and you can call me haru," he hummed, taking a bright pink ring pop off his finger and sliding it onto your ring finger, and a blue one onto koko's ring finger. "be back in a flash."

he turned to walk out of the office, whistling and not bothering to avoid the toys scattered on the floor, simply stepping on them as he went.

the doors closed behind him and you turned to koko, "now we can get some work done."

"let's hope he takes his time," koko rolled his eyes, sliding the ring pop off his finger, holding onto only the plastic part as gingerly as possible, a disgusted look on his face because he could tell sanzu had definitely licked the candy already.

"is it always like this when mikey's away?"

"sanzu? yeah, pretty much. but mikey tolerates him cus he's been with him longer than any of us, he's his loyal mad dog," koko sighed. "but that bastard's insane. apparently back in the day he got moved back and forth between all of mikey's captains cus nobody could handle him."

"wow. yeah, i guess i can see that," you glanced over at all the toys scattered on the floor. "seems pretty tough for you too."

"oh, i've actually done the best with him," koko scoffed. "last time, he was the haitani brothers' responsibility, they decided to take him to a hostess club. thought it'd be a good distraction for him. crazy maniac decided to pay for all the women there."

"all of them? that's..that's a lot-"

"no, that's not the crazy part. he paid for all the women, and then made them line up against the wall with liquor bottles on top of their heads and he used them for target practice." koko ran a hand through his hair, sighing. "anyway, who knows when he's gonna be back so we should try to get as much done as possible while he's away."

you nodded. the two of you worked dilligently, reviewing the rest of the books collected from bonten's other clubs and businesses in town, making one stack for ones that pass, and one that required additional scrutiny.

after a while, you stretched your arms up over your head, noticing the sun hung high in the sky and glanced at the clock on the wall. it read 12:15.

"i wonder where he is," you said, realizing it'd been almost two and a half hours since he left.

"who knows what that lunatic gets up to," koko sighed, turning the page of the binder he was leafing through.

"i actually could've used some coffee though," you yawned.

"i can have my girls make some sencha-"

just then the doors to his office burst open, and sanzu staggered in, eyes blood red, a blue gift bag in one hand, the other dragging a giant 10-foot teddy bear behind him.

"and suddenly my headache's back," koko muttered and sanzu approached the two of you at the desk.

sanzu dragged the huge teddy bear over and plopped it beside you. "i got this for you, princess."

"hah..um...where'd you get this..giant thing?" you didn't even know where to begin.

"there's a carnival downtown. i got it playing a shooting game," he grinned from ear to ear. koko groaned, knowing sanzu, by 'shooting game' he probably meant he threatened to shoot the person manning the booth if he didn't give him the bear.

"hah..i see, thank you. but why is it missing its eyes?" you asked, looking at the bear's face and noticing the eyeballs had been ripped out, only some tattered threads remained in the sockets.

"they were ugly," sanzu shrugged. "koko, i got you something too," he dropped the gift bag down in front of koko.

"thanks.." koko reached into the bag and pulled out a tiny cross-stitched sweater which could've only been made for an infant. "uh...dude, what is this?"

"it's a sweater for your chihuahua," sanzu explained, yawning and plopping down onto a chair by the desk.

"i don't have a chihuahua?"

"i could've sworn you did," sanzu tilted his head, as though in deep thought. "oh, i guess it's just you that's always yapping. it's amazing y/n puts up with this every day," he laughed, but his tone was filled with hostility.

you saw koko's body tense in your periphery and you quickly spoke up to diffuse the sudden tension. "haru, did you get coffee?"

"coffee? oh! the starbucks. yes, i did."

you stared back at him. "that's great, uh...so where is it?"

"on the corner of harajuku square, by yoyogi station," he smiled.

"what?"

"oh my god," koko groaned, raising his palms to his eyes and rubbing them in circles.

you looked back and forth between koko and sanzu.

koko took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair, turning to look at you. "he bought the starbucks."

[stranger-marauders]

repaired

twenty: scoops troop

chapter summary: Steve, Kate, Robin, Dustin, and Erica navigate Murray through the vents via Dustin's Cerebro.

chapter warnings: language, canon-typical violence

word count: 1.8k

series masterlist | masterlist

IT HADN’T TAKEN long for Murray to come back on the radio again.

“Scoops Troop, this is… hm. Bald Eagle. I’ve reached another junction.”

“This is what?” Dustin asked.

“The fourth junction,” Kate called, standing next to Steve a couple yards away.

“All right, so if memory serves, this is right after the My Little Pony thesis,” Dustin said.

“We went left, so he has to go right,” Erica added.

“Fly right,” Dustin said into the radio.

“Roger that, flying right,” Murray replied.

“What’s the My Little Pony thesis?” Robin asked.

“Don’t get him started,” Erica answered.

Kate had only stared at the mall longingly, almost as if it were drawing her into it.

In hindsight, she should’ve just stayed with her sister. It wasn’t like she didn’t trust Jonathan and Nancy to get the rest of the kids to Murray Bauman’s apparent bunker that sat on the outskirts of Chicago just a couple of hours away from Hawkins, but she wanted to make sure that El would be safe, that it wouldn’t come after her. She needed to know that her sister would be safe, and right now she couldn’t guarantee that fact.

She could’ve gone with her father, too. It wasn’t like she wouldn’t have been able to handle going down there again. She couldn’t quite understand why her father had said no, especially since she had literally done it already. She could’ve gone through the vents instead of Murray, and Steve, Robin, Dustin, and Erica could’ve gone to Murray’s bunker, too. Most everyone could’ve been guaranteed safety if she had gone with Joyce, Murray, and her father, but Hopper hadn’t let her.

That was something she would never be able to understand.

“Hey, you okay?” Steve finally asked, putting his hand on her shoulder. Ever since he’d come off of his high, he’d been worried about her. Even though she hadn’t crashed yet, he figured all of what happened had taken a psychological toll on her.

Everything was still fuzzy during the time he’d been on whatever drugs the Russians had injected him with. He remembered bits and pieces of what happened, but nothing was truly clear. There were only three things he remembered enough where he could try to recall them: he had almost lost a finger nail, Kate had killed the evil Russian doctor that had drugged him, and Kate and Dustin had forced him to watch a movie about Alex P. Keaton trying to bang his mom. He didn’t remember too much.

“I’m just worried about them,” she said, not peeling her eyes away from the mall.

“I know you are,” he replied, sighing as he put his arm around her. “Listen, they’re gonna be okay, all right? Promise. We’re gonna be okay.”

Before she could reply, she only looked at the mall in front of her with wide eyes: the lights all around it flickered quickly. No one had to tell her what that meant before it sent chills down her spine.

They hadn’t made it to Murray’s bunker.

Steve dropped his arm from around Kate’s shoulder, walking toward the edge of the cliff. “Hey guys?”

The three that sat next to the radio moved closer to Steve and Kate, picking up on what they were so worried about, and quickly ran back to the radio. “Griswold Family, this is Scoops Troop! Do you copy? Over! Griswold Family, I repeat, this is Scoops Troop. Do you—” Dustin cut himself off when he heard someone, something, shriek over the radio. “Griswold Family, do you copy!”

They only heard roaring in return.

“Griswold Family, this is Scoops Troop! Please confirm your safety!” Dustin said, and he started to repeat himself over and over again, only hoping for a response.

“I’ve gotta go,” Kate said, running back to the car.

“Shit, Kathy!” Steve shouted, running after her. “Wait up!”

“Where are you going!” Erica shouted.

“To get them the hell out of there!” Kate shouted back.

“Stay here, contact the others!” Steve said as the two ran off.

“Shit,” Robin said, running after them.

“Wait, Robin!” Dustin shouted, throwing her his walkie. “Stay in touch.”

She nodded, and as the three ran to the convertible, getting it out of the mud, they knew they had to go now.

Once they’d pulled onto the road again, Steve had gone over seventy miles an hour, driving like a maniac to get back to the mall. He was really hoping there were no Troopers out—he knew Kate was going to lose her shit if they had any delays.

“Steve, please, for the love of God—”

“Kathy, I love you, but if I drive any faster—”

“Steven!”

He only sighed, shaking his head as he pressed down harder on the gas pedal.

The ride to Cerebro had definitely been much longer than the ride back, considering Steve had nearly floored it back to the mall the entire time. Once they had arrived at the mall parking lot, they found Billy’s Camaro headed right to Nancy as she shot at him, protecting the car the kids sat in.

“Steve, floor it!” Kate shouted.

Right before Billy could have hit Nancy and crushed her into her mother’s SUV, which would have definitely killed the girl and possibly even the children inside, they ran into Billy’s car, wrecking them both into oblivion.

Billy’s car, which wasn’t too far from the one they were in, in addition to being completely wrecked, had flames coming from under the hood. The boy was slumped over in the front seat—he hadn’t moved.

Kate looked to Steve once they’d stopped skidding, who was panting. “Holy shit.”

“Are you guys okay?” Steve asked.

Robin leaned up in the front seat. “Ask me tomorrow?”

The three stood up in the car as they watched the Mind Flayer step out of the mall.

Kate only stared in horror, her eyes wide and her lips parted. “Holy shit.”

Nancy honked at them from her mom’s SUV, stopping next to the convertible. “Get in!”

The three jumped into the back, cramming into two of the seats. As they drove away from the mall, the three of them watched from the back in fear as the Mind Flayer chased them. Kate searched the car to see who was in it: Jonathan, Nancy, Lucas, Will, but no El, Mike, or Max. In a way, she was glad the beast was following the car instead of the trio back inside the mall. Maybe they could get away, hide, get somewhere safe.

“Dusty-bun, you copy?” a voice Kate didn’t recognize said over the radio.

“I copy, Suzie-poo,” Dustin said over the radio. “It sounds much better now, thanks.”

Robin, Steve, and Kate exchanged glances. “Suzie.”

“Okay, so, listen, do you know Planck’s constant?” Dustin asked.

“Do you know the Earth orbits the sun?” Suzie asked.

“Okay, so I know it starts with two sixes, and then a… Wh-What is it?”

“Okay, so let me just be clear on this,” Suzie started. “I haven’t heard from you in a week, and now you want a mathematical equation that you should know so you can… save the world?”

“Suzie-poo, I promise, I will make it up to you as soon as possible,” Dustin said. He was absolutely desperate.

“You can make it up to me now,” Suzie replied.

“What?”

“I want to hear it,” Suzie said.

“Not right now,” Dustin said urgently.

“Yes, now, Dusty-bun.”

“Suzie-poo, this is urgent.”

“Yes, yes, you’re saving the world, I heard you the first time, but Ged is also saving Earthsea and he’s about to confront the shadow, so this is Suzie, signing off.”

“Wait, wait, wait! Okay. Okay.” Before Dustin continued, he took a moment to himself. Kate had been confused as to why he was so against whatever it was she wanted him to do until he came back over the radio again. “Turn around… look at what you see…”

Kate let out a shocked laugh, quickly covering her mouth with her hand. She hated how she knew exactly what it was. She wasn’t the only one who recognized it: the three in the back only stared at each other because of the duet that was going on while they were being chased by the Mind Flayer. In fact, the entire car was silent as they listened to their friend and his very real girlfriend sing “Neverending Story.” In fact, the entire car was silent as they listened to their friend and his very real girlfriend sing. Kate knew that the kids would never let Dustin live this down. Ever.

Dustin chuckled happily once their singing came to an end, and Suzie let out a content sigh. “Planck’s constant is 6.62607004.”

“You just saved the world,” Dustin said.

Suzie sighed. “Gosh, I miss you, Dusty-bun.”

“And I miss you more, Suzie-poo.”

The three had stopped listening as the two gushed over each other.

“What the hell was that?” Steve asked, turning to Kate with a horrified look on his face.

She only laughed in response, shaking her head as she leaned into him.

Kate felt like they had been driving for hours.

She had rested her head on Steve’s shoulder, her fingers intertwined with his. Her thoughts only consisted of her father, Eleven, and their safety; she, in a way, wished that she had her sister’s powers, only for a moment or two, just so she could make sure they were okay. She had almost forgotten the creature had been chasing them until Steve said, “It’s turning around!”

Kate peered out the window, only to find that he was right: the creature wasn’t following them around anymore. It grew further and further away, seeming to grow smaller as the distance between the monster and their car grew.

“Maybe we wore it out?” Lucas asked, shrugging.

Jonathan shook his head. “I don’t think so. Hold on.”

Before anyone could object, Jonathan completely turned the car around, now chasing the Mind Flayer. Everyone screamed at the sudden movement, Steve, Robin, and Kate all colliding into each other.

The engine revved as the brunet pressed his foot harder against the gas pedal, and no one asked where they were going; they all knew the only place that the monster would even go to in Hawkins was the Starcourt Mall.

What made it worse was that they all knew why it was going back to the mall. That’s where Eleven was.

next chapter

taglist:

@thatsonezesty13 @cece5298  @thepowerstoner  @alovelytardis  @coolchick333 @stand-tall-pineapple @littlet-holmes  @guichu  @cinderellacauseshebroke @blackbirddaredevil23 @mads-weasley  @ilovemarauders @pearlstiare @liableperfections @khaylin27 @girlwiththerubyslippers @cyarikaaa

[nsheetee]

109 Steps To You

this is a part of the “almost” collaboration hosted by @hyucksie​

Pairing: Haechan x Reader Genre: romance, fluff, angst, mature content, soulmate!AU, college!AU Length: 19k Summary: Everyone is born with two marks on their body: one that is identical to your soulmate’s, and one that is identical to the person who will cause you immense pain. No one knows which mark means what until they live out their life and meet the people destined to bring them love and hurt. However, you were only born with one mark. Out of all the places you thought you would meet the person with the mark identical to yours, you never thought it would be on your first day of college. Warnings/Details: female reader, mentions of other nct members (and yuqi from g-idle), explicit sex (unprotected + the consequences that come with it), mentions of a dysfunctional family, swearing

— read epilogue here

a/n: if you’re a minor: beware! there is explicit and mature content in this fic.

“I want to thank you guys, again, for helping me out today.” You shyly announce to the table, swirling your spoon through your froyo and glancing back and forth between the other people sitting before you.

“Oh, it’s no problem, we weren’t doing anything today anyway.” Xiaojun softly knocks his elbow into yours, sending a reassuring smile your way. If it wasn’t for Xiaojun, an old childhood friend, you weren’t sure how moving into your dorm room and getting settled into campus would’ve gone; you would probably still be a mess right now.

“He’s right. Plus, I really wanted to meet the girl Jun kept raving about, he wouldn’t stop talking about how much we would like you-” Mark’s comment is quickly cut off, a thud under the table and a pained look on Mark’s face giving away that Xiaojun just kicked him.

“I just hope I lived up to the hype.” You laugh at their antics.

“Oh, definitely,” Yuqi quickly buts in before Mark can retaliate back at Xiaojun, “And I live a few floors below you, so just let me know if you need anything at all.” She adds on, her warm deposition and all around friendliness from today making you let out a small sigh of relief, some stress falling off your shoulders when you realize just how many people around you are here to help you out.

“I appreciate it so much, really.” You lean away from Xiaojun and Mark, closer to Yuqi and Lucas who are sitting on the other side of the table, “By the way, I love your guys’ marks. They look so good on both of you.”

At your comment, Lucas puts down his phone and gently grabs Yuqi’s hand, their matching chamomile flower marks touching as their fingers intertwine. You almost didn’t notice their matching marks earlier today when they were helping you set up your dorm room, but when you did, you couldn’t help but stop what you were doing and stare at their hands. Such a simple mark has never looked so pretty to you, maybe it’s because Lucas and Yuqi made such a good pair that their fated marks looked so right for them.

“I still wish I got a cool dragon mark down my back, but I’ll let Jun be the one to deal with that in this life.” Lucas smirks at Xiaojun, who just rolls his eyes at Lucas’ fake jealousy. “Yours looks good, too.” He finishes and glances down at your left hand. There, a dragonfly mark stains your skin, the long tail trailing over your thumb and the wings spreading out over the back of your hand and your wrist.

“Thank you.” Your reply is genuine, however you can’t help but remember the solemn fact that surrounds your mark, your voice inadvertently dipping down as your eyes trace over the wings of your dragonfly.

“So, what kind of classes are you taking this semester?” Xiaojun changes the subject, no doubt hearing the lament in your voice.

“Oh, just some required classes. Nothing for my major, really, except Intro to Ethics for my humanities credit.” You reply as casually as you can to bring the mood at the table back up, but your comment makes Yuqi gasp and all four pairs of eyes at the table turn to you. You slouch in your seat at their sudden attention on you.

“Why would you do that to yourself?”

“What is wrong with you?”

“Do you know your advisor's email? Let’s send them a message right now to get you out-”

“Stop.” You shake your head, laughing a bit at the overreaction from your new friends, “What’s wrong with Ethics?”

“It’s in the Hauss building.” Xiaojun says as if you should already know what that means. You roll your lips in and shake your head; you do not know what that means at all.

“It’s the building all the way on top of the big hill on the west side of campus, by the auditorium.” Xiaojun explains more.

“They only teach three classes over there: Ethics and Music Theory 3 and 4.” Mark sets down his melted froyo, not realizing he has some sticking to his upper lip.

“I’m failing to see what’s so horrible about that?”

“When Xiaojun says it’s a big hill, he means it’s a really big hill-”

“Didn’t someone count the steps once and it came out to be, like, close to 100?” Lucas asks, one hand still tangled with Yuqi’s and the other now rapidly slurping his triple chocolate froyo.

“That was me, and it’s 109 steps.” Mark shutters, “I took Music Theory 3 last year and I ended up skipping half of the time because I couldn’t find the energy to climb up and down those steps three times a week.”

“Why 109? Aren’t groups of steps usually in even numbers? That’s not very architecturally smart.” Yuqi purses her lips and her eyebrows screw together.

“Screw architecture. Are you telling me I’ll have to climb up and down 109 stairs three times a week just to go to Ethics?” You can already feel a headache growing at the back of your head when you think about the complications of dealing with this big staircase. You needed that class for your major, and you thought it was going to be a class that you could pass with flying colors, but it seems like it might just be a nuisance to you more than an easy A.

“Talk to your advisor. Try to drop out and take a different class. Trust me, 109 steps don’t seem like much until you actually have to climb them.” Mark gives you his piece of advice, sticking his spoon filled with froyo into his mouth and then immediately scrunching his eyes and mumbling about brain freeze.

You’ll have to send an e-mail to your advisor real quick, but for your first day of classes tomorrow, you’ll just have to deal with those 109 steps.

The walk to your ethics class the next morning is very calming, the university’s nice landscaping and the warm weather calming your nerves down for your first day of classes. When you round the corner of the stonewall you had been following, you’re met with the infamous set of steps.

You have to crane your neck to look up at the top of the staircase, your jaw slightly dropping at how steep of a hill the stairs were built on. There are other students around you walking up and down the staircase, their headphones shoved in their ears and their heads down as they make the climb to and from class.

The stonewall you had been following all the way here continues up the staircase on your right and on the left is a thick wall of trees, their branches hanging over the stairs and giving protection from the sunlight to the students below. You begin to count every step on your way up; four regular steps, the fifth one a bit longer than the rest, and then repeat. It’s not that you don’t trust Mark’s words when he said there’s 109 steps, you just want to count for yourself.

You hear some rowdy boys coming down the stairs, but the noise is not enough to pull your head up from the ground or to stop you from counting, until you’re forcefully pushed into the stone wall on your right. Breathing in through your teeth sharply, your left hand clutches your collarbones where the pain is the worst.

“Oh, my god. I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to push you.” The guy laughs through his words, a high-pitched and almost squeaky laugh, making him sound not as sincere as he probably meant to be. When you turn to face him, the first thing you notice are his eyes. Chocolate colored and almond shaped, some laugh lines showing from the remnants of his shenanigans with his friends.

Looking back, you realize you fell in love with his eyes first. How they don’t hold back from showing any emotion, and the mischievousness they hold no matter what.

Even when his smile falls, his face looks pretty; long hair hanging down over his forehead and ears, and plump lips spreading into an ‘o’ shape as he looks at your dragonfly. Every line and detail is just the same as his own, as if fate spent a little more time with you two to make sure you know you’re each other’s soulmate the moment you meet.

“Your mark…” The man points at your hand, and that’s when you realize who you’ve just met. His brilliant eyes fill with excitement and he starts to breath harder, taking a step back from sheer surprise that you’re here. His soulmate. His one and only for the rest of this life.

However it all fades away the moment you drop your hand from your collarbones, stepping past him to continue up the staircase.

“Next time, watch where you’re going.” The first words you ever say to him are filled with so much indifference that Haechan can only follow your back with his eyes, his jaw slack and his hand still reaching out for you.

“Hey, wait-” Haechan is about to run after you, but he’s held back by Renjun, his best friend and the one who pushed Haechan into you in the first place.

“Was that-” Renjun begins, holding onto his friend’s elbow as he also watches you walk up the rest of the 109 steps.

“Yeah… Why did she ignore me like that? She saw that I have the same mark. We’re soulmates!” Haechan almost cries out in confusion, his heart and mind in a mess. Can you blame him? He’s been waiting to meet his soulmate since he knew what the dragonfly on his hand meant. Haechan has never been a patient person, and even waiting several years for you to come to him was testing him. Now that you’re here, he isn’t going to let you go easily.

As Haechan begins to walk back up the staircase to follow you, not caring about his Literature class in 15 minutes, Renjun’s grip on him tightens and pulls him back.

“You can’t just go harass her about this.”

“I’m not going to harass her. I just want to talk.” Haechan tries to pull out of Renjun’s grip again, but the little man has the sturdiness of a boulder and pulls his friend back.

“Maybe she doesn’t want a soulmate?” Renjun and Haechan stop their tug of war at Jaemin’s words. He had been leaning against the handrail by the trees the whole time while watching the scene unfold in front of him, his arms crossed over his chest and his baseball cap covering his eyes. “It’s not that uncommon these days.”

Haechan and Renjun let go of each other at their friend’s words. Jaemin sends them a bitter smile and all three of them recall the incident that happened last year when Jaemin met his own soulmate:

A rejection.

Jaemin took it hard; if it hadn’t been for his best friends, he doesn’t know where he would be in life right now. Jaemin can’t help but let the memories surface as he continues to walk down the stairs, slower than before, his head bowed and his hands shoved into his pant pockets. Renjun sends Haechan a look that tells him to not push the situation further, following Jaemin down the stairs.

Haechan sends your retreating figure one last look, watching you reach the top of the staircase and walk into the Hauss building. He retreats and follows his friends dejectedly, the promise of you showing up on this staircase at the same time on Wednesday being the only thing that lets his legs follow his friends down the stairs.

“Hey, ___, come in.” Mark smiles brightly when he recognizes you at the door, stepping aside to let you into the dorm room. “Xiaojun is in the shower still… Will you be okay by yourself if I leave?” He looks unsure as you set your backpack down on Xiaojun’s desk chair.

“Oh, I’ll be fine. You do whatever you need to.” You state and then plop down onto your friend’s bed. You hear Mark laugh and say something about how all the first years look tired at the end of their first day and then leaves the room, shutting the door behind him. You lay sprawled out on the bed, the only sounds surrounding you is the water from the shower and the ticking of the analog clock on the wall.

Even though the whole ordeal happened several hours ago, you haven’t been able to get the moment you met your soulmate out of your mind. It was almost impossible for you to turn around and walk away. Even now, your feet still itch to go back to that staircase and find the sweet looking guy who you no doubt left confused.

However, you can’t do that— you won’t let yourself do that. And that’s partially why you’re in Xiaojun’s dorm room after your last class today: so that he can knock some sense into you.

The shower turns off and a few moments later, the bathroom door opens and Xiaojun steps out. He has a towel wrapped around his waist and a smaller one on his shoulders to catch the droplets from his hair; when he sees you laying on his bed, he jumps in fright.

“Good, God,” He sighs and clutches his bare chest with one hand, the other protectively going to the towel around his waist. “Can you say something the next time you come over? I almost had a heart attack because of you.” He walks over to his closet on the other side of the room, rummaging through some clothes as you sit up.

“Sorry, I thought you heard the door open…” You trail off, getting distracted by Xiaojun’s mark. The dragon on his back is huge, taking up most of the area and spreading to his shoulders and upper arms, too. However, that’s not the mark that caught your attention. Right on his ankle sits a three-leaf clover, so small and such a stark difference from the monster drawn on his back.

You’re pulled away from your thoughts when Xiaojun turns around and walks back into the bathroom, this time leaving the door open, “So, how was your first day?”

“Oh, well, it was okay…” You trail off, speaking a bit louder so that he could hear you from the other room. You stand up and start pacing in the space between Mark’s and Xiaojun’s beds, a nervous habit of yours.

“But? I know there’s a ‘but’ somewhere.” Xiaojun replies.

“Well, something happened…” You trail off, not sure how to make the words leave your mouth yet.

“What is it?” You swallow at the question, your throat dry and hands clammy. You must’ve been taking a long time to answer because Xiaojun walks out of the bathroom, now fully clothed, and stares at your pacing form. “What’s wrong, ___.”

“I met him.” You say simply, hoping Xiaojun gets what you mean, but he doesn’t. You sigh and sink down to the floor slowly, catching yourself on Xiaojun’s bed. The action makes his eyes widen in fear and he crosses the room in a few short strides, kneeling down next to you and searching your eyes for the answer.

“What? What is it?”

“The person with the same mark as me. I met him.”

“... Oh.”

Xiaojun slowly slides down onto his butt in front of you, folding his legs. He’s not sure what to say, or how to comfort you in anyway. He didn’t expect to be the only person around that you trust when something like this happens. He sees the lost look in your eyes and slides towards you to pull you into a hug.

Unlike Xiaojun, and most people in the world, you do not have two marks.

Xiaojun’s dragon and clover match with two different people in this world; one who will be his soulmate and the other who will bring him immense pain. Everyone has two marks— except you; it even states it on your birth certificate, your parents can testify that they’ve never seen a second mark on you, just the lonely dragonfly that spreads its wings over your left hand.

When you were younger, you were curious about what it meant to only have one mark. The people around you always had two marks, the people on the TV shows you liked to watch always had two marks, even anatomy books have depictions of humans with two marks. Why were you different? What did it mean?

After gathering up the guts to type the question into the Google search engine, you found your answers, and it changed your thoughts on your one and only mark forever. The people in the world who only had one mark testified to the same story online: the person who’s mark matched theirs were both their soulmate and the person who hurt them the most.

After learning about that, you promised yourself that if you ever met the person with the same mark as you, you would not meddle with them in any way if they were only destined to bring you pain in the end.

If you knew jumping off a bridge would definitely kill you, you wouldn’t jump, right?

Xiaojun is the only person, other than your parents, who knows about the situation. Which is why when he hugs you, you lean into him and accept his comfort.

“Tell me what you’re thinking about. You must have so many questions.” He mumbles into your hair.

“Not questions. I’m just curious about what I am to him.” You reply, whispering into Xiaojun’s shoulder.

“About what you are to him?”

“I know he’ll be the person I’m meant to love the most, and also the person who will hurt me the most. But am I the one that’s supposed to love him or the one that’s supposed to hurt him?”

“Lots of people say that they can feel it when they meet. Like Lucas, he said he instantly knew Yuqi was supposed to be his soulmate.” Xiaojun thinks back to all the people who have told him the exact same thing, even his parents.

“The guy… he kept calling me his soulmate. He sounded so sure about it, too.” You lean away from Xiaojun to look into his big and curious eyes.

“What about you? What did you feel?” He asks.

“It felt… like I left a part of myself with him.” Xiaojun’s eyes widened at that, “Is that crazy? I was only around him for a minute, maybe less, and I can’t stop thinking about how I never wanted to leave. It was so hard to walk away from him..” You trail off, feeling tears suddenly gather at the edges of your eyes.

“Xiaojun…” The edge in your voice makes him grab a hold on your hands, “I don’t want him to hurt me. I’m not ready for it.”

“Hey, hey…” Xiaojun squeezes your hands before gently guiding your face to his, meeting his eyes with your own, “He’ll hurt you eventually, yeah, but he’ll also be the person who is supposed to love you unconditionally. The person who is going to know you so well, better than yourself. Maybe you should see where he takes you in life? Destiny still wanted you to meet each other no matter what the end game is going to be… Are you really going to tell fate to fuck off?”

“Can’t I?” Your response makes Xiaojun laugh, which he apologises for laughing in a serious situation right after, but the mood is already broken and you laugh at yourself a bit as well.

“C’mon, let’s order something to eat and get your mind off of this, even if it’s just for a few hours.” Xiaojun pulls you off of the floor and reaches for his phone, trying to find the phone number to his favorite delivery place.

You sit on his bed once again, your hands limp in your lap and so much appreciation for Xiaojun in your chest. You probably would’ve gone insane if he wasn’t here for you. His suggestion on giving the guy you met today a chance plays like a record in your head, but the record scratches when you remember the promise you made to yourself a long time ago.

Don’t mess with him. He will only bring you pain in the end.

On Wednesday, Haechan is the first one out of his seat in his Music Theory 3 class, not even waiting for the slow Renjun and even slower Jaemin before sprinting out of the classroom and outside, waiting at the top of the staircase for your figure to appear at the bottom.

Students float up and down the stairs, but he doesn’t see you anywhere amongst them. Eventually, Renjun and Jaemin catch up to him, standing behind him and also staring down the long staircase.

“C’mon, Haechan, we need to go to our next class.” Renjun is the first one to step down, followed by Jaemin. Haechan takes a good look at everyone’s faces on his way down, getting some weird looks sent his way for staring, but he doesn’t care.

“Haechan.” Jaemin suddenly calls out, making his friend turn suddenly to look at him. Jaemin only nods his head to the bottom of the stairs where you just turned the corner. Despite his hurry from before, Haechan stops at the sight of you. His usual confidence is lost when he sees you climb the stairs. Now, he’s not sure if he should approach you.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Renjun nudges Haechan, but the younger only turns around to look at his friend.

“I don’t know what to say to her. What do I say to make her see I’m her soulmate?” Haechan asks, helplessness seeping into his words.

Renjun rolls his eyes; whenever his best friend needs to be the usual confident man he is, that’s when the confidence is most likely to drain out of him. Renjun shakes Haechan’s shoulders with a tight grip on his jacket, making some more people send the two of them some weird looks.

“She’s your soulmate, right? Fate already gave you everything you need to know about how to talk to her.” Renjun then pushes his friend towards your direction, “But for the love of god, don’t harass her.” Renjun ends with a pointed look and continues walking with Jaemin down the stairs.

Haechan slowly makes his way to you, crossing over to the middle of the staircase and stopping you in your tracks. You look up to inspect who it is that just stopped in front of you, and your surprise fades when you realize it’s the same guy from Monday.

“Hi.” He says simply. You only nod your head, lips pursed, and then move around him to continue walking to class.

“Wait…” Haechan calls after you, but you don���t stop this time. So Haechan keeps walking after you, only one step behind, “I’m not sure if you’re aware, but you’re my soulmate. I’ve been waiting for you for so long—” You sharply turn to face him, making Haechan cut off and tilt his head up to look at you.

“How do you know I’m your soulmate? What if I’m not?” You ask. Haechan shakes his head softly at that, his golden hair moving over his sun-kissed skin as he does.

“That’s not possible.”

“How do you know?” You ask. Haechan loves how curiosity burns in your eyes. He takes longer than normal to speak only so that he can look over your features and memorize them to the best of his ability. Last night, he tried to recall your face but the image came out so blurry since he only saw you for a moment on Monday. He wants to clearly remember what you look like.

“How about I take you somewhere, and then I’ll tell you?” The proposition stuns you, and your burning curiosity makes you want to say yes. However, going anywhere with him would be breaking your promise to yourself, so you decide to forget it.

“Nevermind…” You mumble, turning around to walk up the stairs again.

“You seem like you really want to know how I’m sure we’re soulmates… Aren’t you curious?” Haechan asks, making you stop in your tracks again. This man has only known you for a day, only talked to you for a few moments, yet he already knows how to get you to do something. “I promise I won’t hurt you, and I’m not lying either.”

You take a moment to think about the proposition. You’re really curious about how he’s so sure that you’re soulmates. Sure, you know you’re soulmates, but why is he so sure you aren’t the person who’s supposed to hurt him? You consider taking up the offer, but can you stay strong to your own promise while being close to him?

Curiosity wins, and you turn back around to face him, nodding and making him smile widely. There’s that crinkle in his eyes again, that sparkle against the sun that makes saying yes to him so much more worth it.

“My friends call me Haechan, but you can call me Donghyuck. That’s my real name.” He sticks out his hand for you to shake. You once heard that physical touch brings soulmates together quicker; you’re not sure if that’s true, but you don’t want to test it.

“I’m ___.” You nod at him and grip onto your backpack straps instead of accepting his handshake.

“Haechan, hurry up or we’ll be late!” You both hear Renjun shout out from the bottom of the stairs, “And on our second day, too.” You hear him groan.

“Okay, ___, I’ll see you here at 7pm tomorrow night.” Haechan turns around to run back to his friends, sending you one last wave goodbye and almost tripping down the stairs as he does.

You take a deep breath and turn around to walk up the rest of the steps. You’re unsure if you did the right thing by agreeing to see him tomorrow night, but the deed is now done, and you can only wait for Donghyuck to quench your curiosity.

As promised, you meet Donghyuck at 7 o’clock sharp the next day. He’s already waiting for you at the bottom of the stairs.

“So, where are you taking me?” You ask after saying your hello’s.

“It’s a surprise.” He smiles and nods his head to make you follow him. He leads you through parts of campus you haven’t seen yet, the buildings looking older and older the further down the path you walk. Soon, Donghyuck takes a sharp turn into what looks like the middle of the forest but is really just a small, hidden extension of the trail.

Under a canopy of tall trees that wave with the wind to you and Donghyuck, there is a skinny trail that leads to glimmering water. It draws you in, your curiosity struck and your feet now moving on their own accord. Bushes tickle your ankles and the smell of some sort of flower you cannot identify floods your senses, but you can only keep walking towards the sparkling water.

The scene in front of you takes your breath away, a crisp gasp that you have no control over leaves your lips. The pond before you is big, stretching further than what you can see. The water is blue and the setting sun’s light reflects off of it to create rippling sparkles. There are some lily pads floating around, their flowers gone due to the temperature dropping recently.

You didn’t even notice that you stopped walking, your eyes wide as you take in the scenery before you. You almost forget who you’re with and why you came, but Donghyuck doesn’t let that happen. You snap out of it when he continues to walk along the trail that leads around the pond. You walk alongside Donghyuck, a few feet away with your hands awkwardly tucked into your pockets.

“C’mon, let’s sit.” He motions to a weeping willow tree. It’s tall and the branches sway pleasantly in the wind, completely unaware and indifferent to the years of history in the area. Underneath the tree is a sturdy bench, you sit on the left side while Donghyuck sits on the right side. Then, you both take a few moments to stare at the mesmerizing water that led you all the way to this seemingly magical place.

“Why did you bring me here?” You ask after a bit.

“Do you not like it?” Donghyuck asks back.

“No.” You quickly reply, looking over his side profile before turning back to the water, “I’m just curious.”

“Something in me knew you would like this place, that’s all.” Donghyuck replies while trying to hide his proud smile, looking down at the grass. “You’re curious about a lot of things, huh?”

“Yeah, I can’t help it. There’s just so much I want to know.” It’s easy to talk to him, a bit too easy. You have to keep reminding yourself that you’re supposed to have your guard up in front of him, but it’s proving harder than you thought it would be.

“Like how I’m sure that you’re my soulmate and not the person who is supposed to hurt me?” Donghyuck leans his weight away from you, his eyebrow cocked in a question. You nod your head lightly, playing with your hands on your lap.

“It’s because I’ve already met the person who’s supposed to bring me pain. I’ve already been hurt.” At his words, surprise fills you up and you turn your head to look him straight in the eye.

For some reason, you always thought that when people meet the person who brings them the largest amount of pain to their life, they couldn’t be the same ever again. How does one get hurt so badly, and still live on?

There are so many ways to hurt someone. Some people become bankrupt, some people lose all of their belongings, some people are even physically hurt by the person who has the same mark as them. How does a person go through any of that and still be themselves afterwards? More importantly, how did Donghyuck go through immense pain and still be able to smile at you like he is right here, right now?

“Here.” He begins to explain, pushing his pants around until you can see his second mark through one of the holes in his jeans, a sunflower on his knee, “My dad had the same mark as me.”

“Your…. Dad?” You ask, still confused.

“Mhmm,” He nods, now tracing the petals of the sunflower mark absentmindedly, “My parents immediately knew something was wrong when I was born. Why would a son and dad have the same mark? When I was growing up, he worked a lot, so I spent lots of time with my mom and grew closer to her. I don’t remember much from that time, but I do remember we were happy. We didn’t have a lot, but we had each other; that kind of feeling.” He looks over at you to see if you’re keeping up with the story. To Donghyuck’s surprise, you already have tears lining your eyes.

“Then one day, Dad comes home and tells us he lost his job. I remember my parents fought a lot the few weeks after that happened, mostly about how to raise me if they had no income. Dad would go out and look for work, but always came back with no luck. So eventually, my mom started working. For a while, the reason we could keep living was because of her.” Donghyuck swallows and pauses for a moment before continuing.

“And then one night, dad came home and told us he gambled. Everything, he gambled everything away. Even the little that we had, it wasn’t ours anymore. That night, my dad told me I was a mistake. My parents never meant to have me, and he said…” Donghyuck purses his lips for a moment. It had been a while since he thought about this. The scar on his heart still hurts when he picks at it. “... He said that he wished I had never been born. Then, we wouldn’t have been in that mess.”

“How old were you?” You speak up after a moment.

“Seven? Or eight.” He nods and sniffs his nose, looking down at his knee. The whole day, Donghyuck was preparing himself to tell you this story. He felt that the only way to get close to you was to open up like this first, to show you that he isn’t someone scary or bad. To Donghyuck’s surprise, telling this story hurts less now than it did earlier in this life. Maybe that means time is working, and his heart is being mended bit by bit.

Donghyuck leans his elbows against his knees, looking at the water once again while waiting for you to say anything. Are you still curious? What do you think of him now?

He was in no way prepared to feel your arms wrap around his waist in a hug, your head resting against his shoulder and your chest pressed against his side. He freezes for a moment, and then melts into your embrace completely. He’s overcome with lovesick softness for you, lightly griping the part of your arm that’s across his chest as his head turns to the side to press a kiss to the top of your head. It’s so quick that you don’t even have time to move away or to react. You just let it happen, as it’s supposed to be.

“You said that something in you knew I would like this place,” You mumble against him. He hears your voice straining with emotion, “Well, something in me knows that you need this right now.”

You and Donghyuck sit there until the sparkling water is no longer fueled by the sun’s light, but by the moon’s. It seems as though now you’ve touched Donghyuck, you never wanted to stop. You’re almost one hundred percent sure that it’s because of the soulmate bond, and a part of you nags at yourself for already chipping away at the promise you made to yourself when you were younger.

However, younger you never knew what it would be like to have a person sit in front of you and share a part of his past with you in an act of confidence and security. Your younger self never knew what it would be like to feel the same pain as someone else, and the pull you felt to touch him after sensing that physical affection would help ease that pain away.

Your younger self had no idea it was this easy to fall into a person, especially when you know they’ll catch you.

“God, I’m so sick and tired of Accounting. ___, I’m quitting school.” Xiaojun gravely tells you, his eyes not wavering from his computer screen.

“Shut up and do your homework, Jun.” You mumble, your eyes not leaving your own computer screen as you type up your Ethics essay. Three weeks into school and you’re already fully emerged in your classes. The newness of college has faded and now it’s time to start the next four years of studying endlessly for the future.

“Are you guys… okay? You haven’t moved over there in a few hours.” Mark asks from the other side of the room where he’s doing his own homework. He eyes you and your best friend from where you’re sitting on his bed, “Are you even comfortable?”

You and Xiaojun are sharing a blanket, he’s leaning against his headboard and you’re leaning against the wall. Your legs are thrown over his and several textbooks are scattered over the blanket. You’re not even sure which of these books are yours or his, or which papers laying in messy stacks belong to who.

“Yeah, I think we’re okay. We’ve been studying like this since high school.” Xiaojun answers, his fingers moving along his keyboard at the same time. You nod at Mark and he shakes his head, not understanding you two but accepting the answer.

You’re over at the guys’ dorm room enough that Mark is not surprised to see you here anymore, hanging out with Xiaojun or waiting for him to come back from class. It’s not that you don’t like your own dorm room, but it’s always so quiet in there since your roommate always studies at the library. You only hear her come into the room late at night when you’re on the verge of sleep, and when she leaves early in the morning before your alarm rings. Weekends are the same. You don’t really care, but you’ve started to hate the quiet, so you’re glad that Mark and Xiaojun don’t mind you chilling here.

“Argh,” Mark yawns and stretches after a few minutes, throwing his computer to the side and standing up, “I’m getting some snacks from the vending machine. You guys want anything?”

After you and Xiaojun answer with simultaneous shakes of your heads, which creeps Mark out, he leaves the room to get food. The room is silent for a few more moments until Xiaojun angles the lid of his laptop down to look at you.

“So… How’s the guy?”

“What guy?” You ask, still preoccupied with your essay.

“Your soulmate, ___, what other guy is there?” Xiaojun answers exasperatedly, “You never told me his name, so I don’t know what to call him. Actually, I haven’t heard you talk about him since the first day of classes. I was hoping you’d tell me what happened with him, but I guess I have to go digging up your dirt myself.” He rolls his eyes.

“His name is Haechan.” You answer, moving your computer to the side, “And I haven’t said anything to you about him because… I haven’t seen him in weeks.” You admit quietly.

“Huh? Didn’t you say you were meeting up so he could tell you why he’s sure you’re his soulmate?” You nod your head at the question, “So, what happened after that?”

“Well… I kinda, maybe, sort of…. have been avoiding him.” You answer quietly, stealing a glance at your best friend to see him staring at you blankly. When he sighs and reaches for his pillow, your eyes widen and you hold up your hands in front of you, spewing pleas and ‘wait’s. Xiaojun doesn’t care, though, flinging his pillow from behind him and into your face.

“Ow?” You whine after the pillow makes contact with your head and forces you to turn to face the other way, “Was that necessary?” You rub your nose, the part of your face that hurts worse from his attack. You’re used to Xiaojun doing this to you whenever you did something that both of you know you shouldn’t have so that you can “get some sense knocked into you, hopefully.”

“You’re so dumb. So, so dumb. Why would you avoid him.” It’s not a question, more of a confused statement to the general air. “You realize people would kill to meet their soulmate, right? People would do anything to be in your position, but you just hide away?”

“People would do anything to meet their soulmate, but people would also do anything to stay away from the person who shares their other mark.” You retaliate, “You don’t understand. To me, Haechan is both of those people.”

“There you go again, worrying about the future when you’re not even sure about what is going to happen. When will you stop worrying about something you can’t control and start thinking about today?” Xiaojun sounds so tired talking about this topic, a conversation you’ve had many times in your friendship. You wonder if he’s so tired of it, why he keeps bringing it up himself.

Before you can answer, the door to the room opens and Mark walks in, several snacks in his arms, “Hey, everyone, I hope it’s okay I brought a friend. He’s in the same major as me, just a year younger—”

“___?” Mark stops talking when his friend speaks, surprised that he already knows one of the people in the room. Your eyes widen, jaw slackening as you’re unable to even let out a peep from your mouth.

“You know each other?” Mark asks, looking between his two friends.

“Yeah, you could say I know my soulmate.” Donghyuck replies, making both Xiaojun and Mark’s eyes widen. You suddenly realize the situation you’re in: under a blanket with Xiaojun, your pajamas on, and your soulmate in front of you after you ghosted him for weeks. For the first time in a while, your eyes meet.

Donghyuck is mad. You can tell by how his fists are clenched and his jaw is tightened. Slowly getting out of the bed, you try to form some words, but Donghyuck snaps and walks over to you quickly. Grabbing your hand, he pulls you out of the room and down the hallway until you get to the lounge area. When you reach the empty room, that’s when you come to your senses.

“Donghyuck,” You pull your arm out of his, making him turn to face you, “I’m not even wearing shoes.” You hiss, pointing down to your feet as if to prove some point.

“What was all that?” He disregards your comment and hisses back at you, stepping closer so that you’re barely a few inches apart. “You were under a blanket. With some guy. Don’t you feel wrong doing that?” He asks, his hands now on his hips. You feel slightly like you’re being lectured to.

“That guy is my best friend.” You spit out.

“So, do you go around and do that to all of your guy friends?” Donghyuck chuckles vehemently, you can tell he’s angry and jealous, and that those emotions are clouding his brain at the moment. That doesn’t mean his words don’t hurt, though.

“Xiaojun and I have been best friends since we were in diapers. I’ve known you for three weeks, barely. I’m more comfortable around him than I am with you. You think just because I’m your soulmate, I’ll automatically trust you and we’ll all of a sudden be a happy couple? It doesn’t work like that, Donghyuck. I don’t even know you.” You can tell you hurt him by your last words because he turns silent, his shoulders slouching and his anger subsiding.

You can tell you hurt him, hard, because you feel the hurt, too.

It makes you realize how scary the bond between soulmates is. Even though you and Donghyuck haven’t spent that much time together to strengthen your bond, it’s still strong enough to allow you to feel his emotions. It makes you wonder if Donghyuck will be able to feel your pain in the future when he hurts you, like he’s destined to.

“Have you even tried to get to know me? You’ve been avoiding me ever since I took you to the pond.” At his comment, you fold your arms over your chest and look away, not ready to answer that question.

“I’m… just scared, is all.” You manage to reply. Although not the complete truth, it’s not a total lie. Donghyuck completely softens at your words, his close proximity to you feels less threatening and turns into something more gentle. His hand softly slips into yours, but this time with a lighter touch than before.

“You don’t have to be scared, not around me. I’m new to this too, so I don’t know how it all works yet, but this is something we can figure out together. That’s what we were fated to do.” Donghyuck can feel his words pulling you closer to him, he can feel you on the edge and he’s ready to catch you with his arms wide open.

But in the last second, you take a step back and slip your hand out of his, making his drop limply to his sides. You send him a look, something he can’t read, and then turn around and walk back to the dorm he pulled you out of.

He almost had you, almost.

When midterms come around, you use your upcoming tests and projects as a way to dive deep into your work so that you don’t have to think about Donghyuck. It’s a good plan overall, however your friends quickly start worrying for you and your health. Staying up late several nights in a row and not even being able to remember when the last time you ate is where Xiaojun pulled the plug on your bad studying habits. He confiscated your backpack and dropped you off in front of your dorm building with the promise that you’ll have all of your things back tomorrow morning only if you rest for tonight.

On your way to the elevator, you run into Yuqi, both of your facial expressions brightening when you recognize each other.

“Oh, ___, Hi!” You stop in the middle of the hallway to greet her, a smile pulling at your lips due to her bright hello. “How are you?”

“Midterms are kicking my ass, but other than that I’m fine.” She laughs at your answer, throwing her head back and letting her new short hair ruffle her shoulders.

“I wish I could tell you it gets better, but that would be a lie.” You nod your head in solemn understanding, “Listen, I can’t talk for long since I have a night class, but promise to text me when things slow down, yeah?”

“Of course, I promise.” You nod, just the thought of spending some time with a good friend already pushes away your stress. You wave bye to Yuqi as she begins to turn around but after a loud “oh!” leaves her lips, she turns back to face you.

“Your roommate, her name is Mya, right?” At her random question, you tilt your head in confusion, “She has really long, black hair and big glasses, right? I think I saw her when I was helping you move in?”

“Yeah, that’s her.” You nod, “Why?”

“She found her soulmate today.” You would’ve been more interested in the news if you knew Mya beyond when she goes to class and when she gets back to the dorm, but you feign surprise and nod your head absentmindedly.

“Lucas managed to get a video. It was a whole performance in the quad today, you’d think someone was getting married. I’ll send it to you later.” And with that, she says her last goodbye and runs off. You slowly turn and continue walking in a slow pace up to your dorm room, taking the stairs just so you can have some time to think and be away from people you could potentially run into if you use the elevator.

You’re genuinely happy for Mya, even if you barely know a single thing about her. However, something about a person close to you finding their soulmate makes you sad, considering the situation with your own soulmate. You can’t help but feel a little jealous that there are people who can meet their soulmate and fall into each other’s lives easily.

In times like these, you crave for Donghyuck.

You crave his touch and his words, you crave that comfortable feeling of belonging somewhere you get when he’s around. It’s insane that you haven’t spent much time together, yet you can yearn for someone to the extent that it hurts. It’s been like this ever since Donghyuck pulled you out of Xiaojun’s dorm and you rejected him.

Turning away from him all those weeks ago still haunts you. When you’re struggling to fall asleep, your mind goes to that night. When you let your mind wander, it wanders to that night. You constantly think about stepping away from him, but you’re not sure if you keep remembering the moment out of guilt or shame. One of the questions you keep asking yourself is if you did the right thing. You still do not have an answer.

When you walk into your dorm room, you kick off your shoes and turn on your bedside lamp, falling onto your bed with a deep sigh. You close your eyes for a second, but the peace and quiet of your room is ruined when your phone dings with a notification.

Yuqi’s message pops up, and when you swipe your phone open you can see she sent a video. You click on it and turn the volume up. This was no doubt taken earlier today in the quad, the sun shining and lots of professors and students walking in the background. Under the huge clock tower stand two people, one of them holding a large bouquet of roses. When the clock strikes noon, the bells on top of the tower begin to ring a familiar melody that can be heard all over your big campus. You see the exchange of the bouquet and the two people hug, and then applause rises from the people walking by. You smile when you hear Lucas’ whooping and hollering from behind the phone.

You’ve heard about the tradition of soulmates meeting under the clock tower at your university. Yuqi told you about it when she was giving you a tour around campus at the beginning of the semester. You remember her telling you that it’s really romantic, probably due to the history of so many people getting together in the exact same spot.

Although the idea is rather plain, you do feel your heart strings tug at the beautiful display, glad you could see something like this through a video. Then, as the camera gets closer to the couple, your smile fades and you pause the video, zooming in to get a better view. Mya is no doubt the one who received the flowers, but you can’t help but furrow your eyebrows as you recognize her soulmate.

It’s one of Donghyuck’s friends.

Not the quiet one with black hair that hangs around on the outside of their group, but the shorter one who seemed to simultaneously love and hate Donghyuck, or at least that’s what you gathered from seeing him a few times.

After the realization, you drop your phone to the side and stare up at your ceiling in defeat. Is this fate? If you didn’t meet Donghyuck on those steps two months ago, would you eventually meet him through your roommate and her soulmate? Or is this all just one big coincidence?

In this world, coincidences are harder to find than the work of fate.

Your train of thought is quickly cut off by the opening on the door, you quickly sit up to watch a huge red bouquet of flowers enter the room, followed by your roommate. You’ve only seen her face a few times this semester, but never have her features looked so bright and happy. She also looks startled when she notices you’re in the room, but her happiness doesn’t fade.

“Oh? You’re here?” She asks.

“I could ask you the same thing.” You both chuckle awkwardly, “Congrats, by the way. For finding your soulmate.” You motion to the flowers in her hand.

“Thank you! To be honest, Renjun wasn’t at all what I expected in a soulmate, but I think I love him already.” The sweetness drips from her eyes and words, and you nod and smile, remembering that Donghyuck’s friend’s name is Renjun. Her phone begins to ring and she shuffles the flowers in her hand to look at the screen, “Oh, it’s him.”

She answers the call, speaking quietly as she walks over to her side of the room. You weigh out the options of sneaking out of your dorm and finding a place to chill until your roommate falls asleep. You're not sure if you can talk to her about soulmate stuff and keep up this happy look on your face.

However, all thoughts of those plans leave your mind when Mya turns to you and holds out the phone, “It’s for you?” She says it more like a question, but you’re sure you’re the one who’s more confused.

“Hello?” You ask into the phone, awkwardly looking around the room.

“___? Oh, thank god. It’s Renjun, Haechan’s friend. I need your help.” He talks quickly and shallowly, like he’s out of breath and currently moving somewhere.

“How did you know I’m Mya’s roommate?” You ask, disregarding his cry for help.

“It’s a long story, I promise I’ll explain later, but can you please come to the auditorium? The back entrance.” You hear more voices in the background of the call, but you can’t make out what they're saying. One of them is definitely Donghyuck.

“What’s going on?” At the sound of your soulmate’s unique tenor, you suddenly become more aware of what might be happening. Is Donghyuck safe? Did he get in trouble?

“Donghyuck drank too much and he won’t go home, he keeps asking for you.” At that, you hand the phone back to Mya, who takes it from you with an unsure look. By the time Mya says her worried goodbyes and hangs up, she turns back to an empty dorm room, your phone snatched from your bed and your scattered shoes gone.

You must’ve made it to the auditorium in record time, not even the climb up the 109 steps could slow you down. When you reach the auditorium, you can hear Donghyuck and his friends conversing loudly and you follow their voices, which eventually leads you to the dingy backside of the auditorium. Donghyuck is sitting on the ground with the hood of his coat pulled up and covering his eye sight, arms crossed over his chest and his lips in a pout. His two friends, Renjun and the black-haired kid, stand above him. The quiet one is shivering in his spot while Renjun practically yells at Donghyuck on the ground, who doesn’t seem to be moving any time soon.

“Hi, ___.” The quiet one notices you first and then all three guys turn to look at you.

“___…” Donghyuck whines out your name and tries to stand up but Renjun gently pushes him back down.

“What happened?” You ask, sniffing your nose when the harsh, cold air nips at it.

“He said he wanted to unwind before his midterms tomorrow but then he went out and had some drinks, a few too many as you can see.” Renjun explains, “We followed him here, he said he won’t go anywhere unless it’s with you.”

“It’s strange. Haechan is a good drinker, I didn’t think he would get drunk so quickly… Oh, I’m Jaemin, by the way.” He introduces himself with a bright smile, as if you weren’t just discussing the drunken state of his friend.

“I’m Renjun, I called you earlier. I promise I have a good explanation for how I know you’re Mya’s roommate, I just don’t think right now is the best time to talk about it.” Renjun explains, his hands pointing towards Donghyuck.

“Right, about him… I think you guys should leave.” Both sober men widen their eyes, looking at each other and then back at you.

“Are you sure you want to handle this yourself? He looks small, but Haechan is kind of heavy.” Jaemin warns.

“Hey!” Donghyuck speaks up, but even his verbalization sounds slurred. When he points an accusing finger at Jaemin, he sways and misses Jaemin’s figure by a whole foot, “Don’t say that kind of stuff to my girlfriend.”

At his use of the word, Jaemin and Renjun stand straight with awkwardness and you sigh, white puffs of air leaving your mouth, “Yeah, you guys should go.”

Renjun and Jaemin give you an unsure look, but turn around and leave the area anyway. Renjun sends one last look over his shoulder with a wave of his hand. You look at Donghyuck after they turn the corner, kicking his shoe gently.

“Hey, get up. How much did you drink?” You’re not actually curious about how much alcohol he consumed, you just want to know if he can even respond to simple questions.

“Babe!” He exclaims when he looks up, “Oh, not much. I could go for another round right now, actually.” His words slur together and he sways in his sitting position against the brick wall of the auditorium.

“You’re not going for another round, you’re going home. C’mon.” You grab onto the sleeve of his puffer jacket, pulling him up so that he’s standing. He immediately falls onto you, his arms around your waist and his legs spread wide so that his head is hidden in your neck.

“Hyuck, you have to walk. Get up.” You pull him up once again, putting one of his arms around your shoulders and giving him more support around his waist. Slowly, you begin to walk away from the auditorium with Donghyuck’s drunk mumbling filling the cool air. His legs barely work underneath him, and he turns his head and leans into your ear every once in a while to sing some random lyric that pops into his mind at that second, like a small concert that he allows only you to hear.

Once you reach the top of the staircase, you stop and take a long look down to the bottom, “Why did you have to come all the way up here? How are we getting down the stairs?” If you start to climb down, Donghyuck could fall and hurt himself. You’re not that strong to begin with and your shoulders are already feeling sore from carrying most of Donghyuck’s weight.

“We can ride this.” He giggles and breaks away from you, one of his legs swinging over the handrail so that he’s straddling it.

“No, no, no.” You pull him off, but his shoe gets caught against the rail and he comes falling down onto you, both of you landing on the top step of the staircase. You wince in pain at how your back hits the concrete, but you don’t think about it much as you push Donghyuck off of you and into the space next to you on the top stair.

“Oh, no. Are we stuck up here?” He asks as you brush your hands together to get rid of the little pieces of concrete in your skin.

“Yes, and it’s all your fault. What are you gonna do about it?” You reply, so sarcastically that even Donghyuck’s drunk brain registers the joke. Your heart almost leaps out of your throat when he grabs your hands and pulls you closer to him, gently picking out each little ball of cement in your palms.

“I’m sorry I keep hurting you.” He apologizes. This close, you can smell the alcohol in his breath, mixed with his shampoo and cologne. He smells warm in this cold weather, and you feel like falling into him and drinking up his scent, not even minding the alcohol stench.

“Keep hurting me?” You ask.

“Yeah, that must be why you don’t want to be with me. I have to be doing something wrong for you to hate me.” He sighs, sniffling and enclosing your hands in his, his glassy eyes looking up at you and his long hair hangs down over his forehead and tickles his eyelashes. “I’m a bad soulmate.”

The way he says it makes your heart break. It makes you feel regret 1000 times worse than what you’ve been feeling these past few weeks; as if all of the worry and sadness hit you all at once, you feel like crying.

Isn’t he supposed to be the one who hurts you? Why does it feel like you’re the only one doing the hurting?

“You’re not a bad soulmate,” It’s not Donghyuck’s fault that he got stuck with you, or that things will turn out the way that they’re destined to, “And I don’t hate you.”

“You don’t?” He looks up into the night sky and sways a bit as he thinks, “Then why won’t you be with me? Hm?” He tilts his head, his lips pouting as he thinks. You desperately want to find an answer that’ll soothe him, but nothing you can come up with will give you that result, the truth included.

“It’s complicated…” You trail off, and your answer makes Donghyuck snort.

“How? I’m your soulmate, you’re mine. What else matters?” He laughs incredulously.

“What if you’re not just my soulmate?” You ask him, surprising yourself with how easily you can ask the question, probably because the influence of alcohol over him has you more at ease, “What if something happens in the future? I’m just… looking out for me, and for you.” You explain, trying to sound as vague as possible.

When you glance at Donghyuck, he looks dead serious. You think that maybe he has suddenly sobered up with how deep and calculating his eyes look. One of his hands tighten around yours while the other slowly raises to your hair, pacing himself along the way, and pausing before he touches you. When you don’t stop him, he gently caresses your hair and moves it away from your face, his nimble fingers sliding to your jaw. He moves your face so that your eyes meet his.

“I know I’m drunk, but I can make this promise again when I’m sober. I’ll make this promise every single day for the rest of my life, only if it means you can be there with me to fulfill it.” The severeness in his tone is like a wake up call about how serious this is for him.

“What promise?” You whisper back.

“It’s not just a ‘you’ or just a ‘me’ now. It’s an ‘us.’ And I will do everything I can to not hurt us.”

He says it with so much conviction that you somehow believe him. You finally fall into him and rest your tired head on his shoulder as he welcomes you into his warm arms. Maybe it’s foolish of you to think you two can go against fate’s words, but with him by your side, you feel like you can conquer the whole universe.

“Stop smiling like that, you’re making it very obvious that you got laid for the first time.” Donghyuck peers over his laptop screen to Renjun, where he has had a permanent smile on his face ever since he, Donghyuck, and Jaemin met up today to study in the lounge center of their dorm building.

“You know, Haechan, I’m not even mad at that. It’s more than what I can say to you.” Renjun tries to hide his widening smile while looking down at his own laptop, but that paired with Jaemin’s quiet laughter leaves Donghyuck bitter. “Didn’t you and ___ make up?” Renjun asks.

“They were fighting? I thought they just weren’t talking to each other?” Jaemin asks.

“Isn’t that fighting?”

“Kids.” Haechan cuts them off, “Not that it’s any of your business, but we were not fighting and we did make up.”

“That makes no sense.” Jaemin mutters and squints his eyes at Donghyuck.

“I’m older than you.” Renjun retaliates, but Donghyuck pretends like he doesn’t hear.

“We’re just… taking it slow.” Donghyuck ends his explanation with a firm nod of his head, and Renjun shuts his laptop and turns to his friend.

“Can you take it slow during the Fair this weekend? I’m planning to go with Mya and accidentally bought two pairs of tickets. I’ll give you the other pair.” Renjun leans into his friend’s side and wiggles his eyebrows.

“At what cost?” Haechan leans in as well and raises an eyebrow.

“Help me with my English project.”

“No way,” Haechan leans back and focuses on his own laptop screen again, “I haven’t even started mine, I don’t have time to help you with yours.”

“Please,” Renjun draws out the word, grabbing Donghyuck’s sleeve and tugging at it so hard that he can’t properly type, “I suck at English, and unfortunately it’s the only thing that you’re better at than me.”

“The only thing?” Donghyuck glares at Renjun. “Now I’m definitely not helping you.” When Renjun whines at that Donghyuck gets a devilish idea, and it shows by the smirk on his face, “... Unless, you’d like to show us how you really need help.”

At Donghyuck’s proposition, he leans back in his chair with his arms folded across his  chest while Jaemin mirrors his actions, his own goofy smile on his face as he waits for Renjun to either accept or deny the proposition, but he hopes he’ll accept it.

Renjun looks between his two friends and sighs, dropping his head down as he mentally prepares himself. When he lifts his head, he looks at Donghyuck with his lips pursed, his pointer finger over them and makes a “kyu” sound that is way higher than his original speaking voice. Jaemin and Haechan immediately burst into as quiet of laughter as they can, Jaemin reaching over the table to poke Renjun’s cheek at his cuteness.

“I never said to act cute, I just wanted you to say please again.” Donghyuck jokes through his snickering, and Renjun immediately stands up from his chair to take a fistful of Haechan’s jacket and pull back his other fist, all cuteness gone from his facial features in a split second.

“Okay, okay, sorry, sorry.” Haechan tries to pull away, his voice rising as Renjun holds onto his jacket tighter and threateningly leans in.

“Hey, quiet down.” Someone whisper-shouts from a few tables away, and it makes Renjun let go of Donghyuck and slowly sit back down. “This isn’t even a library, why are they shushing me.” He grumbles.

“You guys have fun on your date,” Jaemin sighs as he begins to put away his things, satisfied with the study session and with his friends' mischief, “I would go too, but I don’t feel like being a fifth wheel.”

Once your classes end on the day of the Fair, you and your roommate meet up with Donghyuck and Renjun outside of the Fair grounds. You and Donghyuck walk side by side, a bit behind the other couple as they lead the way, practically in their own little bubble. Your hands are shoved in your pockets to keep them from turning numb from the cold and you try to shove your head as far into your jacket as you can to keep your face and neck protected from the wind. Other than the chilly weather, it’s a perfect day for a Fair.

You don’t seem to notice Donghyuck’s predicament right beside you; he’s trying to find a way to hold your hand, but you don’t move them out of your pockets. Actually, Donghyuck is sure you’re doing this on purpose, since he has been trying to touch you the moment you met up with him tonight.

“So, what do you wanna ride first?” He asks you. After looking around the area, your eyes land on a tea cup ride, where the large cups move in circles and also spin in their spots.

“That.” You point to it. Before you can move, Donghyuck latches into your hand that was pointing into the air and pulls you to the ride, a smug smile on his face at how he succeeded in finally sharing some skin to skin contact.

The ride was, to say the least, nauseating. Not that it was disgusting, but Donghyuck wouldn’t stop spinning your individual cup around in fast circles, and you were so sure that you would fling off any second due to the strong velocity those tiny cups have when they go at full speed. However, walking off of the ride with wobbly legs and not being able to see straight was funnier than you thought it would be.

Donghyuck was actually still pretty dizzy when he tried to win a stuffed octopus for you with a dart game. However, he ended up losing $15 while trying to win the game, and you’re sure he would’ve spent more if you didn’t pull him away. After eating some good food and refilling your energy, the sun begins to set on the horizon in a colorful display of red, orange and pink, and people start to make their way to the ferris wheel.

“C’mon,” You hear Mya say from behind you, “We need to get in line first or else we’ll be waiting for half of the night.” She pulls Renjun by his sleeve and passes you and Donghyuck, practically running to the end of the growing line for the Ferris Wheel. When you see where she’s running to, you stop in your tracks which in turn makes Donghyuck stop. Your intertwined fingers pull you back to each other as he looks at you with a puzzled look.

“I’m… not good with heights.” You confess and look towards the top of the ferris wheel, shivering just at the thought of going that far up into the sky in a metal contraption, “Or small spaces…” You add on.

“That’s okay,” Donghyuck gently reassures, smiling lightly at your sudden timidness about your fears. Honestly, he’s just happy you now trust him a bit more to even tell him what you’re afraid of. “We don’t have to go. We can do something else.”

“Like what?” You ask. Donghyuck purses his lips and looks around, until a set of stairs on the edge of the fairgrounds catches his eye.

“I know a place where we can still get a good view of the sunset without going too far up.” He replies and tugs you along with him towards the set of stairs. They lead down to the park that’s nestled in the middle of your University, which eventually leads to a pedestrian bridge that crosses over a river that runs through your town.

The river isn’t that big, nor is the bridge, but it’s big enough to have your head tilting up in wonder as you gaze at the lights adorning the sides of it, lighting up not only the bridge itself by the sky as well. You’ve seen this bridge from your dorm room, but you’ve never once stood on it, and it looks remarkable from this close up.

Donghyuck continues to lead you over the pedestrian bridge onto the other side, where an outdoor museum that was constructed by art students a few years ago holds several different abstract paintings. His hand in yours, which has been it’s resting place all night, keeps yours warm. You try not to think about how your hands fit into each other like the gears of a hand-crafted watch. The lines on your palms connect with the lines on his; it’s painfully obvious he was made for you and you were made for him.

When you reach the end of the outdoor museum, you turn west and face the sunset just as it’s setting over the skyline. Even though some tall buildings obstruct the view, the colors of the sky stretch overhead and make both you and Donghyuck stand still and appreciate the artwork in the sky.

“You like these kinds of things, huh? Sunsets, and ponds, and that kind of stuff?” He suddenly asks, not talking his eyes off of the sky. You, however, turn to look at him. He has his eyes screwed as he tries to look at the sunset, obviously not liking the bright sunlight.

“You don’t?” You ask back.

“I think... there are more enjoyable things.” Donghyuck takes a while to make up his mind about what he wants, obviously trying not to make the things you enjoy sound bad to him.

“Then we should go.” You turn around, but he pulls you back to your original spot.

“We walked all this way, we’re watching this sunset even if my feet freeze to the ground.” He tightens his grip on your hand and speaks through his teeth, making you sputter out a laugh and hit his shoulder with your own lightly.

“Sometimes, I wonder why fate put us together.” You ask, watching as the sun moves bit by bit, leaving behind trails of light and the beginnings of stars and the vast universe on the other side of the sky. “We’re different. I don’t know about you, but you are not who I imagined my soulmate would be.” You speak truthfully.

Even though there are some strings attached to Donghyuck’s relationship with you, it didn’t stop you from thinking about what kind of person he’d be— what kind of person fate would pick to be your perfect fit. Maybe they would have some sort of major flaw, like an anger problem or a lack of common sense. Maybe they would be an alcoholic or someone who commits crimes.

When it came to your soulmate, you always thought of something bad considering that they were also going to hurt you in some way. You never thought that your soulmate would be someone as unique and fun as Donghyuck. Fate made it way too easy to be with him, and you’re not sure whether to feel bitter or thankful.

“Well,” He blows some air through his nose, “You’re exactly what I thought my soulmate would be like” Your heart jumps into your throat and beats irregularly when Donghyuck says that, struck with the feeling of surprise once again.

“Mark tells me you’re smart and get good grades, and I know it was you who ordered that soup for me the morning after you took me home when I got drunk. Not to mention, you went out when it was dark to take me home in the first place.” Donghyuck explains, his hand that’s still interlocked with yours waving around as he does so, “You’re willing to help others, you have a good head on your shoulders, and not to mention you guard your heart to the very end.”

“Guarding my heart… That’s an admirable quality? If I remember correctly, it caused you some pain in the past few months.” By now, the last rays of the sun are disappearing over the horizon and night begins to blanket the sky. You turn to your soulmate when he takes more than a moment to answer, watching the way his face reacts to the thoughts turning in his head.

“Yeah, it is a great quality. I think if you completely trusted me the moment you saw me on those stairs, we wouldn’t end up here now. You wouldn’t be the perfect fit for me if you loved me so easily.” He turns to you, a teasing smile playing on his lips. Your interlocked fingers are basically frozen together at this point and maybe your feet really have stuck to the ground, but his words warm you up from the inside out.

“I think I would’ve fallen in love with you even if we weren’t destined to be together.”

Somehow, he manages to remind you of one very important fact that you’ve set aside since the moment you met him. You’ve always put the fact that he’s supposed to hurt you first, and the fact that he’s your soulmate second. However, he is a human and so are you, and you’re both given the opportunity to love one another wholly and truly. People die to have this type of moment. People live their whole lives without experiencing this type of emotion.

It’s time to remember that Donghyuck is your soulmate, first and foremost. He is deserving of love, and you’re now willing to give it to him.

When you pull Donghyuck into you, he feels like it may be a hallucination. Surely your lips can’t be that close to his own. But when he smells the cinnamon on your lips from that churro you had and your fingers sliding up his arm to grip his jacket, he becomes scared that this might actually be a hallucination.

You slowly lean in, almost painfully slow, but Donghyuck doesn’t dare rush you. When your lips do meet, both of you feel complete. The feeling of finishing a lifetime’s worth of work with one gentle kiss is the most delicious feeling ever, different from anything that either of you have ever experienced.

It’s slow and careful, but passionate and full of true love. No matter what happens in the future, it will always be your memory to savor and remember for the rest of your lives.

“___!” You hear Mark’s voice from your right, turning your head quickly to see him stick his hand up in the air and begin to make his way through the throngs of people between you two. You move towards him, attempting to meet in the middle, but somehow he ends up behind you, and you laugh as you attempt to meet again.

“Hey, Mark,” You look over him, noting how well he manages to pull off the choir robe that everyone else seems to look like a sack of potatoes in, “I didn’t know your concerts could get this packed. You guys could start your own group and make it big.” You look around while adjusting the flowers in your hand so they don’t get squished against your chest.

“Nah, it’s mostly just families that come to these concerts. Since there are a lot of vocal majors, there are a lot of families that show up.” He explains.

“So, what does that make me?” You joke, but Mark doesn’t seem to get it and tilts his head to the side.

“You’re Donghyuck’s girlfriend. That makes you family, right?” At the mention of your relationship, you glance down at the flowers in your hand, the flowers that are meant for the aforementioned boy. You nod, mumbling something like a ‘I guess’ before Mark looks down at his watch and sucks a breath through his teeth.

“Okay, I have to go warm up. Make sure you get a seat in the middle, that’s where it sounds best.” He gives you a quick wave as he walks away, and you manage to send one back. Before you know it, the doors to the auditorium open and people flood in to grab the best seat they can.

You barely manage to snag a seat in the middle, an older lady to your right and a grandpa to your left who seem to be unrelated and didn’t mind you sitting between them. You shrug off your coat as you look around, feeling anxiety build up in your chest. You know you don’t have anything to be anxious for, so you deduct that it’s probably Donghyuck.

He invited you to the concert today. For him, it’s part of his final grade for his vocal class and for you, it’s a chance to see him sing on stage. Strangely, he has talked about how much he loves to perform but never wants to sing in front of you. When he told you he auditioned for a solo in one of the songs, and ended up getting the part, you knew you absolutely had to come today.

Pulling out your phone, you send Donghyuck a text saying that you’re seated and that you wish him to break a leg. You see the read receipt pop up next to your text, and although he doesn’t text anything back, the anxious feeling in your chest subsides and you smile to yourself.

“Those are pretty flowers.” Turning your head to the lady on your right, you glance down at the bouquet of black-eyed susans on your lap.

“Oh, thank you.” You put your phone on silent and slip it into your pocket.

“They’re my mom’s favorite.” Your attention turns to a kid who sits on the other side of the woman. He can’t be any older than ten, and his feet don’t touch the ground as he swings them back and forth and looks up at his mother.

“Oh?” You ask, turning back to the older woman, “Would you like some?”

The woman seems to be stunned by your question, obviously not expecting you to hand over flowers at such a comment from her son. She looks almost flustered as she shakes her head at you.

“No, it’s okay. I bet those are for someone special?” She asks while nodding towards the stage.

“They’re for my… boyfriend.” You mumble, still not used to the words leaving your tongue, even though it has been more than a few weeks now.

“Then you should save them for him.” She nods and you smile back.

“But I want one.” The woman’s son pouts, and the mother nudges her foot against his leg. You laugh a bit, using your right hand to hold down the bouquet and your left to pull out a flower. Carefully, you hand it over to the little boy and he grasps it, his pout turning into a smile while he sings a ‘thank you’ and counts the petals on the flower.

The woman gives you a nod, and you all turn to face forward where the students are beginning to walk onto the stage.

The concert went well; you weren’t familiar with any of the pieces of music the choir performed, and many of them were in different languages, but you still enjoyed the performance by the many music students from your university. You managed to catch sight of Donghyuck fairly quickly, and Mark was just a few rows behind him.

Donghyuck’s solo fit his voice perfectly. Maybe you’re biased, but you think no one would be able to match his tone and technique to fit the song as perfectly as he did. Since it was the first time you heard him sing, you were a bit taken back by how amazing his voice sounds and how much control he has of it. It didn’t look like he struggled to hit the notes, and he looked like he was in his element on stage.

After the concert, you wait on the staircase outside of the auditorium building where you agreed to meet up with Donghyuck. You roll on your feet, jumping up and down slightly to keep warm. You clutch the flowers to you, scared that the cold weather might cause them to bend and begin to wilt quicker.

“Oh, it’s the flower lady!” You hear a familiar voice call out, and you turn your head to see the little boy and his mom from earlier… walking with Donghyuck? He has his choir robe hanging from one arm and his other hand intertwined with the little kid.

“Do you guys know each other?” Donghyuck asks, looking between the three of you with confusion.

“We happened to sit next to each other during the concert.” The woman explains, a grin growing on her face as she looks between you two. “This is your soulmate.” She doesn’t say it like a question, she says it plainly and nods her head in content.

“I’m sorry, did you already know who I was when we met?” You ask her.

“No, until I saw the mark on your left hand. I would recognize my own son’s mark anywhere.” Son? This is Donghyuck’s mother?! Your eyebrows must be up to your hairline and you think your mouth might be open, but you can only focus on remembering every little thing you said to her before the concert started to recall if you said anything dumb.

“Let me introduce you properly. This is ___, my soulmate and my girlfriend. ___, this is my mom, Sara, and my half-brother, Hyunjin.” Donghyuck gently takes your elbow and pulls you closer to him.

“It’s nice to meet you.” You politely greet them as if it’s the first time ever.

“Well, I like her. She gave me a flower.” Hyunjin exclaims.

“Back off, she’s mine.” Donghyuck jokes with the kid. “Thank you guys for coming today, by the way.” He continues, “I appreciate my favorite people being here for my first college performance.”

Donghyuck goes to hug his mom as she sets a kiss to his cheek that makes him cringe away slightly. However, you’re still struck to your spot from being included into Donghyuck’s group of favorite people. There’s a warm feeling in your chest at being included into something so special so early on in your relationship. There’s also some anxiety that comes with it, since promises that are made too early hurt the most, but you push the feeling away and soak in Donghyuck’s unconditional love.

After you all bid farewell to each other, and Sara and Hyunjin leave, you turn to Donghyuck with a deadpan expression, “You didn’t tell me I’d be meeting your family today.”

“Would you believe me when I say that I forgot they were coming?” He asks and you roll your eyes, not believing his words at all.

“These are for you.” You push the flowers into his chest and dig your hands into your pockets so that they can finally get warm, “Your solo was… interesting to listen to.” You say with annoyance dripping from every word.

“Thank you,” He replies cutely, not affected by your irritation. You roll your eyes again, but a smile tugs at your lips as well. “What kind of flowers are these? I don’t think I’ve ever seen them?” He asks while digging his nose into the bouquet.

“Black-eyed susans.” You reply, and Donghyuck gives you a weird look.

“That’s such a random flower.”

“They attract dragonflies.” You explain, nudging his side with your elbow. When you glance over to him, he has a smile playing on his lips.

“Should I be giving these to you, then?” He hands them over, but you push them back at him.

“No way. I’m already attracted to you.” You state, turning around to walk back down the staircase. When you don’t hear any footsteps following you, you turn around to find Donghyuck kneeling over with the flowers clutched close to him.

“Are you okay?” Alarm rises in your chest, especially when he shakes his head at your question.

“No, you just made my heart beat really fast and I’m afraid I’m gonna have a heart attack.” You would roll your eyes again, but you’re afraid they might roll out of your head at this point. You climb back up the stairs and yank on his sleeve jacket to make him walk alongside you.

“___, feel my heart. I swear it’s going to beat out of my chest.”

“Shut up, Donghyuck.”

“No, seriously, I think we should go to the hospital.”

“Shut up.”

In the morning, Donghyuck loves to wake up next to you. He has always been a spread-out type of sleeper; arms to the side, legs open, laying diagonally across the bed. Once you two moved out of your dorms and moved into an apartment together during your second year of college, Donghyuck’s way of sleeping changed dramatically.

Now, he can’t help but snuggle in, wrap his arms around you, tangle his legs in with yours, and do everything he can to sleep as close as he can to you. Maybe that’s why he suddenly woke up. The absence of you next to him made him shuffle awake, missing the frame of your body next to his like how it usually fits.

He groggily opens his eyes and immediately shivers, catching the open windows in the bedroom letting in fresh, cool, morning air. Donghyuck shivers once again, blindly reaching for the blanket and wrapping it around his head and shoulders, then making his way out of the bedroom in search of you.

He checks the kitchen, but you’re not there. Then he goes to the living room, and he sees your figure outside on the balcony, the curtains that are supposed to be hanging up in your bedroom moving with the wind as they hang next to you. He tightens the blanket around him and opens the glass door. Even though you definitely heard him come outside, you don’t turn around. You have a cup of something warm next to you and you’re leaning against the balcony while staring out into the city skyline, watching the sun rise into the sky to welcome the new day.

“Good morning.” Donghyuck mumbles as softly as he can. When you mumble back a reply, he opens the front of the blanket so he can swallow you into his embrace. His chin rests on your shoulder and tries to guess exactly what you’re looking at, but when he lifts his head to look at your face, your eyes are closed.

“So, do you want to tell me why our curtains are out here and not on our windows like they should be?” He rests his head against yours, also closing his eyes.

“I woke up and suddenly felt the urge to clean them, I don’t know.” You laugh a bit, making both of you move with the movement of your chest. Donghyuck smiles at your reason; one of the things he learned about you when you moved in together is that your work ethic comes in random bursts of energy, rather than carefully planned out schedules to follow. You always have a small goal for every day, and sometimes you don’t even know what it is until it randomly pops into your head. Although he doesn’t really understand how you’re able to work like that, he loves this little quirk anyway.

“Did I wake you up?” You whisper and nudge your head into Donghyuck’s, nuzzling back into him when a particularly strong gust of wind blows over the balcony.

“Not technically, no. You not being next to me woke me up.” He replies.

“Well, I’m here now. How about we sleep some more?” You ask, leaning back against him and looking at his face.

“Best thing I’ve heard today.” He sighs. Without letting you out of his blanket trap, he walks you both back into the apartment and into your bedroom, both of you beginning to giggle at one point when you almost trip over the blanket and crash into the ground.

Thankfully, you both made it back safely to the bed, falling into the soft mattress. Immediately, Donghyuck gathers you in his arms and cuddles you to him, almost like he’s latching onto you. You wrap your arms around him slowly and lean into his shoulder, placing a kiss against his collarbone. You were going to stop there, but when he lets out a whimper at the small press of your lips to his skin, you continue moving up his neck.

When you reach the space underneath his ear, he twitches at how you suck on the sensitive skin, not expecting you to pay closer attention there. His hand slides over your back, between your shoulder blades, and back down, pressing you to him as he caresses you and silently hopes you don’t stop what you’ve started.

You don’t seem to have any intention to do that when you lean back, looking up at Donghyuck’s big, round eyes as they stare down hazily at you and quickly connecting your lips. He kisses back slowly, as if taking his sweet, sweet time in loving you.

“I thought we were supposed to sleep?” You ask between kisses.

“We can sleep later…” He trails off, grabbing your hand and pulling you on top of him so that you’re straddling his hips. “... If you’re really tired we don’t have to.” He suddenly pulls away, his hand comfortably resting over your waist.

“No way. It’s too late for that.” You answer, pulling your shirt over your head and tossing it to the other side of the bed. A chill runs through you at the cold temperature in the room, goosebumps forming over your arms and your nipples hardening. Donghyuck wraps his arms around your middle and presses a kiss in the valley of your chest, moving over until he reaches your left nipple and taking it into his mouth.

Biting your lip, your hands find his hair and tug on the long strands. Donghyuck’s hands squeeze your sides and his fingers draw random, little lines over your bare skin as he sucks and plays with your nipples, switching between each one.

“Hyuck…” You whine, giving a particularly sharp tug to his hair when he bites down onto your right nipple. “Please…” You trail off.

“Hmm? Please what? What do you want.” He leans back and looks up at you. You comb your fingers through his hair, pushing it back away from his face and behind his ears. His eyes are clouded and hooded over by the thoughts of you that are speeding through his mind.

“Please, make love to me.” You say it shyly, your eyes looking over his face but not meeting his own. He can’t help but smile at your timidness. You act like it’s the first time those words came out of your mouth. He can’t help but find it endearing how you ask him to make love to you every single time you find yourselves in this position.

“Of course, anything for you.” He connects your lips again, keeping the slow and steady pace from before. He shifts around as he moves his boxers away. Breaking the kiss, you move his hands away and pump his shaft, glancing up at him as he leans back with his weight on his hands and his head leaning back.

He lets out whines every time you twist your wrist, and you almost want to take a moment and stay this way, loving the sounds coming from Donghyuck’s mouth and how he looks as he pants beneath you. However, the tension growing between your legs makes you stop and sit up, pulling off your own pajama bottoms and underwear, throwing them somewhere along with your shirt.

Donghyuck grips your hips with one hand, the other pressing his middle finger to your slick folds, watching you squirm from above as he slides his finger through slowly.

“Just— Can you just do something already?” You almost whine out, grabbing onto his arm hard enough that you leave crescent moons in his skin.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, yes, I’m sure.” With your permission, Donghyuck positions himself at your entrance and slowly brings your hips down, watching your reaction throughout it all. The way your jaw slacks and drops open to the way you swallow when your hips meet with his, closing your eyes in pleasure at how he manages to fit inside you so perfectly. When everyone says your soulmate is made specifically for you, they really do mean in every way possible.

You sit like that for a moment, before opening your eyes and looking at your lover. He helps you move your hips up and back down, you let out a gsap at the sparks that fly up your spine. Your hips start to move in unison, yours grinding down and his moving up to meet yours in a steady rhythm, like a dance to music only you two can hear.

Your nails hurt when they move over his shoulders and chest, leaving temporary marks, but Donghyuck doesn’t mind. Actually, he loves it when you tug on his hair and scratch up his back, his whines turning into full out groans when you lean in and attach your lips to the side of his neck, pressing hot kisses down to his collarbone and biting down gently in the same place this whole situation started.

“H-Hyuck, I—” Before you know it, you’re so close to your orgasm, it’s basically right in front of you to reach out and accept.

“I know, baby, I know. You can come, I got you.” He answers back messily, using the last of his energy to keep your hips in place and drive himself into you. You let out a shriek at the sudden pleasure, only a few more deep thrusts into your hole and you’re falling over him as your orgasm spreads to every crevice of your body.

Donghyuck loves the way your muscles seize and flutter around him, making him pant and his thrusts become sloppy as he comes as well, his warm seed filling you up as he rides through his high. You both fall into the mattress below, you on top of Donghyuck, too tired to roll over and opting to just rest on his sweaty chest.

“I think that was way better than sleeping.” He says, his chest rumbling underneath you as he speaks.

“What a good way to tire ourselves out.” You yawn.

In the last few moments before your tired bodies fall asleep, you find Donghyuck’s hand and intertwine your fingers together, happily and contently falling asleep with the fresh air coming through the window and the sunlight now fully streaming into the room.

In the late summer before your and Donghyuck’s last year of university, you attend a wedding. Not just any wedding: Yuqi and Lucas’ wedding.

Although the ceremony is held outside, there’s a nice breeze that keeps the guests from getting too hot and sweaty in the summer sun. The whole wedding is held in a botanical garden and the place is decorated in white and purple, lilacs and daisies filling vases everywhere you go and freshening the air with their scent.

You and Donghyuck walk into the room inside the administrative building that’s designated for the bride. Yuqi is there, her face shining brightly with happiness and a glow that can’t be stolen from her today.

When you walk in, you let out a sound of delight at how pretty your college friend looks in her wedding dress, taking note of the chamomile flowers that adorn her hairpiece.

“Ah, I can’t believe you’re here.” She all but shrieks, embracing you tightly with her small bouquet still in her hands. After she gives Donghyuck a small, welcoming hug, she backs away to look at both of you.

“You look amazing today, I can’t believe you’re actually getting married. Congratulations.” You say sincerely.

“I can’t believe it either, actually. I feel like we’ve been planning this for forever, and now the day is finally here.” She recalls, a blissful look in her eyes even though you’re aware of how much stress she has had during the past few months over this one day.

“Are you nervous?” Donghyuck asks and you nudge his side and send him a look for asking a question like that.

“No, I’m not,” Yuqi laughs, “I feel one hundred percent happy. Like I’m starting the next part of my life with the one I love.”

“I’m glad you can spend the rest of your life with your soulmate, you’re definitely luckier than most.” You muse, and she suddenly softens her expression and takes your hand in hers, gently holding onto you.

“I’m not marrying my soulmate. I’m marrying the one I love. It just happens to be the same person.”

After bidding your farewells and good lucks, you and Donghyuck walk out of the room and head to where the ceremony will be held. He pulls out of sunglasses, propping them on the edge of his nose, and then grabbing your hand and strolling through the exhibits on the way to the ceremony grounds.

Yuqi’s words ring in your head throughout the peaceful walk, specifically how happy she looked to be marrying the one she loves. Somehow, you never thought about separating soulmate from lover; those two people have always been one in your head. You always thought that there can’t be a soulmate without a lover, and there can’t be a lover without a soulmate.

But the moment with Yuqi reminded you of the first time Donghyuck properly confessed to you, the words you can still hear floating through your head whenever your mind wanders off and thinks about him.

“I think I would’ve fallen in love with you even if we weren’t destined to be together.”

Maybe Donghyuck has been wiser than you this whole time. Not that you’d ever admit that to his face, unless you’d like to hear about it at least three times a week for the rest of your life.

Every memory— every year that has passed by with Donghyuck has only grown the idea of soulmate and lover further apart in your mind, and it took the matrimony of your close friends to realize it. You don’t think it’s a bad thing; in fact, you’re lucky that you can call your lover and your soulmate the same person.

You feel something tugging at your hand, and when you look over at your lover, he looks at you expectedly.

“Huh?” You say, dumbfounded since you’ve been in your own little world for who knows how long. Donghyuck laughs, bending over a bit at the funny, bewildered look on your face before straightening up and looking over to you again.

“I said, what colors should we do for our wedding? I personally think I look good in red, but I’m sure we can figure out something less contrasting.” He explains nonchalantly, you realize he’s kicking a random pebble around as you walk. Looking around, confused out of your mind, you turn back to him.

“Are we getting married?”

“Well, yeah,” He does something between a laugh and a scoff before leaning next to you, a serious look that permeates through the shade of his sunglasses, “You do want to marry me, right?”

Your brain is in a complete fritz. If you had a whole day to think about this you could maybe make up a sentence that resembles a sophisticated answer, but you can only shrug.

“Uh, yeah, I guess.”

“You guess?” Donghyuck stops walking, “I just asked you if you want to get married, and you reply with ‘uh, yeah, I guess.’” He mocks your tone and it makes you roll your eyes at him.

“This is the first time we’ve ever talked about this and I got nervous.” You explain, making him relax and stand in front of you with his hands leisurely resting in his pockets. “Of course, someday I would like to marry you. I guess you’re… tolerable.” Donghyuck pushes you away from him and quickly walks down the path, twice as fast as he was walking before. You laugh and follow him, running slightly to catch up.

“Excuse me, Miss, would you like to leave a wish for the happy couple?” A sudden voice stops you, making you turn back around. A man stands with a camera, looking at you expectedly.

“Uh, how?” You look from the camera and back up to him.

“I’ll take your picture. You can write a wish on it and hang it up over there.” He points to the dozens of polaroids already hung up a few feet away, random people posing in the photographs with different color writing on every picture.

“Let’s do it.” Donghyuck comes up behind you, no doubt catching the last part of what the photographer said and pushing you lightly over to where there’s better lighting while taking off his sunglasses and tucking them into his shirt. The photographer asks you to pose, and you and Donghyuck smile for the camera, your eyes slightly shut due to the sun beating down on top of you.

“Great, how about one more for yourselves?” The photographer asks as he waits for the photograph to develop and you agree. This time, Donghyuck wraps an arm around you and pulls you closer so that your back is against his chest. You feel him rest his cheek on your head and drape his other arm around your front. You grab onto his forearm, not knowing what to do with your hands, and then suddenly the picture is taken and the photographer hands over both of the developed photos.

You take the second picture out of Donghyuck’s hands, not being able to look away. The sun seems to hit both of you just right, and the slight candidness of the photo adds another layer of reality to the picture. Donghyuck has a small smile while his cheek is slightly squished against your head, but he still looks as handsome as ever.

“What wish should we leave them?” He asks, picking up a golden sharpie from the table nearby, somehow already having his sunglasses back on.

“Maybe just… Congratulations on getting married?” You suggest.

“And a million other people will have the same thing. We need to be memorable.” He stresses and taps the end of the sharpie against his head. “What do you wish for Lucas and Yuqi?”

“I wish…” You think about it for a moment, “For them to have a lifetime of memories that they can share until the very end.” You nod.

“Oh?” Donghyuck looks at you, “When did you become a poet?” He asks as he writes that down at the bottom of the first picture.

“I’ve always been like this. I’m glad you just now figured it out.” You reply sarcastically, to which Donghyuck replies back with his own sarcastic laugh. He hangs up your picture close to where Mark and Xiaojun hung up their’s, and then turns back around.

“Alright, let’s get this show on the road.” He pushes up his sunglasses with his ring finger and thumb, walking with swagger towards the ceremony and grabbing your hand while he’s passing by.

“If you’re going to be like this at our wedding, maybe I’ll have to change my mind…”

For one today being one of the most awaited days of your life, it started out pretty regularly.

You wake up from the ringing of your alarm, get ready, and go to your classes for the day. You had breakfast before you left, and lunch right before your last class of the day. Even work was boring as usual, but nothing beat going to the store afterwards.

When you got to the aisle filled with shoes, you were first puzzled by how many options there are. So many colors and styles, you didn’t expect to be so overwhelmed and accidentally spent almost an hour just looking at every individual pair. This had to be perfect. This was going to be a memory that you thought about for the rest of your life.

You call Donghyuck when you approach your front door, he answers almost immediately.

“Hey, love, what’s up?” He yawns through the words, and you can’t help but smile as you look down at the bag in your hands.

“Oh, I was just wondering when you’ll be home.” You open the front door and shut it behind you, taking off your shoes.

“I’m right outside of our building. Did you just get home?” He asks, no doubt hearing the front door from your side of the line.

“I’ll talk to you when you get up here then, see you.” You send a kiss through the phone and abruptly end the call. If Donghyuck is right outside of the building he’ll be up to your apartment in just a few minutes.

You drop the rest of your things down at the front door and hurry into the kitchen, setting down the small white bag with a lace bow on top in the middle of the kitchen table, clearing the table of anything else. You slide into a seat at the table, fixing your clothes nervously as you hear the front door open. Not even a few seconds later, Donghyuck walks into the kitchen, his eyes moving from you to the white bag and back to you.

“What’s wrong?” He asks, dead serious. Your nerves and anxiety, and maybe even some fear, must be strong enough for him to feel. You shake your head and pat the chair next to you. Donghyuck takes a seat, he came through the door so quickly that he didn’t even take his shoes or his jacket off yet.

“Open the bag.” You can’t help the excited smile and small clap of your hands as he reaches out and holds the bag. He gives you a quizzical look, but you only nod to encourage him.

Donghyuck unties the lace ribbon, looking down into the bag for a few moments. You can’t read his face and you can’t feel any emotions from him, and your anxiety grows tenfold. He reaches in and pulls out the little shoes, a light blue color with white stitching. They’re so small, they can sit in Donghuck’s hand perfectly.

“What are these?” He asks, still looking at the shoes in his hand.

“Well, they’re shoes… For babies. For our baby.”

At your reply, he does nothing. He doesn’t react at all, which only worsens your nerves and makes your leg twitch up and down as you wait for him to say something. He swallows and sets the shoes on the table, still looking at then with a blank expression.

“You’re pregnant?”

“Yeah…” You reply, reaching out to put a hand over Donghyuck’s, “Say something.”

“I’m not sure what to say, this is very… sudden.” He tilts his head. Your stomach drops at the lack of emotion in his voice. You aren’t sure what you were expecting, but it was not this stoic expression in his face. Whatever traces of a smile that you had on your lips vanishes and you grip his hand tighter.

“I know this is not what we had planned. I know this is kind of… not good timing, since we’re still in school and not married, yet. But this is what fate had planned for us, I guess?” You’re not sure if you’re trying to console him or convince him, but the icky feeling in your stomach tells you Donghyuck’s reaction to the situation is not good.

“Yeah, fate did us real good.” Donghyuck replies sarcastically and you drop your hands from his, resting them in your lap. You can see the tears forming in his eyes even when he tries to look away from you, and you can feel the fear that’s boiling and overflowing inside him.

“I know you’re scared, I’m scared too. But we can get through this to—” You’re suddenly cut off by Donghyuck standing up abruptly.

“I’m not scared. I’m worried.” He rubs his face with his hands. “I’m worried that I won’t be able to support this kid. I’m worried I won’t be able to be here for you through it all. I’m so worried I’m going to end up like my father that I feel like it’s going to eat me alive.” He runs his hands through his hair, pulling his head back as he looks at the ceiling and paces around the kitchen.

“I never knew your father, but from what you told me, you’re nothing like him.” You stand up too, your legs feeling like jello.

“No, you don’t understand. What if I say something wrong and ruin this kid’s life like my father did to me? What if I can’t find a job after we graduate? Are you going to support all three of us? I can’t let you live like my mom did, it was too hard to watch back then and it’ll be even harder to watch now.” He suddenly stops, not giving you a chance to speak as he looks from you, to the little shoes, and back to you. “I can’t.”

“You… can’t what?” There’s panic rising in your voice as he shakes his head and backs away.

“I can’t be here, not around you or this baby. I won’t be a good father.” He turns and walks out of the kitchen, leaving you standing dumbfounded with tears brimming in your eyes. You move to the front door, watching at Donghyuck’s shaking hands pick up his keys and wallet.

“Are you leaving me? Right now?” He doesn’t look at you and he doesn’t answer, opening the door, “Wait!” You cry out. He stops, his shoulders tense and his hand clenching the doorknob.

“What about that promise you made me? Huh? You said that it’s not just a ‘you’ or a ‘me’ now. It’s an ‘us.’ You said you’ll do everything you can to not hurt us.” You ask, recalling the promise Donghyuck made back when you two were young college students, and a promise he has repeated and vowed to you over and over again every time your relationship got into a rough patch.

“I think… that what I’m doing is what’s best for us. It’ll be better if I wasn’t here. ___...” He looks back at your teary eyed figure with one last look of regret, “I love you. I’m so sorry.” And with that, he closes the door, leaving you all alone in your cold and dark apartment.

You jumped off of the bridge. You jumped off a while ago, actually, but the fall took longer than you expected. You thought Donghyuck would be there to catch you at the bottom, but he’s nowhere to be seen now. The fall was peaceful and enjoyable, a soft limbo between making the hardest decision in your life and the ultimate consequence of that decision. The fall was long and made you feel faux comfort, so when you reached the very end, it ended up hurting a lot worse. You knew jumping off of a bridge would kill you, so why did you jump?

You’re not sure how long you stand by the front door, but it’s long enough that the sun sets outside and the room turns dark. You stare at the door, waiting for Donghyuck to come back. You wait for the door to open and for him to run through, hugging you and whispering that he’ll be here for you. You can only walk up to the door and slide down onto your knees, your forehead pressed against the cool wood as you wait.

Tears run down your cheeks silently, your eyes red and your head hurts. You keep your forehead pressed against the door for the whole night, waiting for him to come back. You wait, and wait, and wait. Donghyuck never comes back.

Your heart rips open from pain, it feels like it’s bleeding onto the floor in front of you. Your mind is numb from any other emotion, your body is cold from sitting on the floor, but you can’t get yourself to stand up. That’s when you realize, this is it. This is how Donghyuck hurts you.

What a sick and twisted way for fate to finally serve up her plan. You almost forgot who Donghyuck is supposed to be; the one who loves you, and the one who hurts you the most.

— read epilogue here