#i was wiki walking a completely different topic and ended up here ... somehow...

[kitsunabi]

Only recently found out about this gameshow but honestly, I do enjoy it a lot. It's called City of Musicals (Youth Season) or [爱乐之都青春季]

[sweetnestor]

12 Days | Chapter 3.2

Two guys that lowkey hate each other are forced to walk in each other’s shoes in order to learn a lesson.

***in collaboration with @themarkiplierexperience

lmao soz its not actually x reader we’re just desperate for attention haaaa

previous

“I don’t know how to explain it,” Tom said, “I just… I need to take a mental health break.”

He was in the living room in Ethan’s apartment, sat with Ethan’s boss, Mark. He was tall, muscular, and just as intimidating as the very first guy (who’s called Tyler, as it turns out) Tom saw when he entered this weird reality. They had been talking for some time now, and Tom managed to improvise a story regarding his, or Ethan’s, current state of mind. For some reason, he expected Mark to be angry when he said he couldn’t work for the time being. Tom still wasn't even sure what it was that Ethan did for Mark.

“Okay,” he replied. “Have you had any other panic attacks, or things like that, since the other day?”

“Uh. Yeah, some type of anxiety,” Tom replied, sounding stressed out. “Bella thinks I overworked myself, and I kind of agree with her. I think I need to slow things down for a little bit. I don’t… I don’t really feel like myself.” That's one way to put it.

Mark nodded. “Alright, that’s no problem. I have Kathryn and Amy helping out, anyway. Just worry about yourself. Is there anything else you wanna talk about? You know, as a friend, rather than an employee?”

Tom didn’t know how close Ethan was to this guy, so he just shook his head. He still had a lot of research to do. There was so much to find out about all of this, it was almost like auditioning for a movie role. Except the movie was Ethan's life, and the audition came in the form of being thrust into said life without any warning.

“So…” Mark trailed off. “Are you still doing videos for your channel? Or are you taking a break from that too?”

He hesitated. “I haven’t decided yet.”

“Well, whatever you decide, I’ll gladly support you. We’re all here for you, man.” Mark stood up from the couch. “I gotta get going, but you’ll be okay til Bella comes back?”

Tom stood up as well, waving it off. “Yeah man, don’t worry. Thank you for hearing me out. I'll try my best to get myself together. I'll be back in the office before you know it.”

“Hey, don't worry about it. Don't rush into anything if you're not ready.”

Mark then went in for a friendly, reassuring hug. For someone who looked very manly and intimidating, he was very nice. You couldn't dislike him right off the bat. Then again, Mark was speaking to who he thought was his friend/employee. Nothing about this was normal.

After Tom was left alone again, he got back to research. He wasn't sure how long he would have to act as Ethan, but he had to play it off in the meantime. He went over and sat at the computer, which was hidden behind these massive acoustic panels in the bedroom. At that little area, Tom took note of the giant lights, the video camera, the two monitors, and all these other extra wires and cords. His mind was already an endless circle of questions, and this setup just added to it.

Shaking it off, he sat at the desk and began searching online. From there, he discovered that Ethan was in fact one of Mark's editors alongside Kathryn. Then, Tom had to search exactly what it was that Mark did (YouTube gaming personality, a recurring topic in this life.) Through that Wiki page, he found Bella, who used to date Mark. Tom then remembered catching a glimpse of Mark's current girlfriend, Amy, at the office. Blonde girl with a pleasantly soothing voice. Apparently, Mark left Bella for her last summer. Somehow they're all friends. He kept reading before going to find any videos.

“Okay,” Tom spoke to himself after a while. “Ethan works as Mark's video editor. Mark is dating Amy, who is friends with the other editor, Kathryn. Tyler is Mark's oldest friend out of the group, and he’s… his secretary? Bella was recently hired by Mark, who is her ex, and now she's dating Ethan. They all went on tour together last month, except for Bella. Why didn't she go?”

His phone started buzzing on the desk. Speak of the devil. He opened up the text message.

“I'm coming over and I'm bringing sushi for you!! Hope you're not too busy…” it read, with a wink face added at the end.

That made Tom’s stomach flip over. He couldn't say no! What would Bella think if her boyfriend was suddenly disinterested in her? After answering her text, Tom sent another message to Ethan, asking to call when he got the chance. He could only hope it would be soon. They both had things to go over if they were going to stay like this.

In the meantime, he tried not to feel like a creepy stalker as he searched through Bella’s social media. Tom debated going through Ethan's texts with her, but then decided that that would be a little too much. Whatever he needed to do in order to find out about Bella would have to be through her public persona.

By the time she had showed up to his apartment, all he knew was that she was a Latina makeup artist with a vulgar mouth. He closed the video he was watching on his phone when he heard the knock on the door and got up from the couch to answer.

He was pleasantly surprised to see her wearing a low cut shirt and a short black skirt. How was someone as attractive as her dating someone like Ethan? He was almost dumbstruck by her appearance, he didn't know what to say at first. At this point, Tom couldn't deny that Bella was really hot. But she wasn't his to claim. Sure, the view was nice, but where was this going to go?

“Hey you,” Bella greeted as she stepped inside. She placed her hand on his shoulder and quickly kissed him on the cheek. “How ya doing?”

“Good,” Tom replied, remembering his words. He followed her trail to the breakfast bar. “You look… you look nice.”

“Aw, thanks,” she replied as she sat on one of the stools.

Her skirt rose up a little bit as she shifted, and Tom barely caught a glimpse of the skimpy garter on her thigh. Okay, Ethan was a lucky guy. But Tom was not him; He had to get out of this somehow. Or did he?

“So… sushi?” he asked, gesturing to the plastic bag as he went to sit in the other stool. “Where'd you get it from?”

“Same place as always,” she replied, pulling two containers from the bag. “I think your sushi obsession is rubbing off on me, it's all I wanna eat now.”

He chuckled. “Good. It's all we'll ever need.”

Bella then started talking about the videos she planned to make during the week. She spoke of the packages that were sent to her in the mail, and how excited she was to try the new products. Tom just listened and pretended to know what she was on about as he ate. He was actually curious as to how Bella’s job worked, but she was speaking as if he already knew all of it.

“Oh my god! I also have to edit my interview with Tom Holland!” she exclaimed like she just remembered that piece of information.

Now things were getting interesting. Tom knew that Ethan wasn't his biggest fan, but this sparked his curiosity. He sat up, wanting to hear more. “Yeah?”

Bella twiddled her fork in her hand, a worried look on her face. “Ugh, I have to look at myself trying not to have anxiety attack. And then I have to put it out for everyone to see. Do you think he noticed I was freaking out?”

“Not at all,” Tom answered without hesitation. “You were very professional and well put together. If there was anything he'll remember about you, it's probably your hair.” All of that was true.

“Yeah, and the stupid questions I asked,” she glumly added.

“Hey, they weren't stupid!” he reassured. “They were so different to what I - he, probably gets. How many times has he told the story of how he found out he was Spider-Man? I can tell, he's probably tired of telling that tale!”

“I suppose.” Bella shrugged. Then she sighed. “Okay, whatever. I'll worry about that later. But I have to get that video up in the next couple of days. My mentions have not calmed down since I posted that selfie with him on Instagram. Anyway, sorry, I'll stop talking about him now.”

He raised an eyebrow. Were there times where Ethan told Bella to stop talking about certain things because he didn't like hearing about them? Given the way he acted over the phone, Tom wouldn't put it past him. But was this a normal occurrence between them? What did she even see in Ethan?

“Let's go to the couch,” she said after a while, getting to her feet and grabbing his hand.

“Oh, okay!” He let himself be practically yanked from his seat. His heart began pounding hard as Bella sat him down on the soft cushion.

Shit, this was happening. Before Tom could protest, Bella was straddling his lap and pressing her lips against his. For a second, he debated gently pushing her away but… she was a good kisser. She's hot as hell. Tom placed his hands on her waist, almost ready to let this happen, forgetting completely about the main situation at hand.

Then he heard a strange clicking noise. One glance down made reality hit Tom like ice water.

“What the fuck?!” he snapped in shock once he discovered that Bella was a holding a knife in her hand. “What are you doing?!”

He threw his arms up and tried to shift out of the position he was in. He almost wanted to push the girl away, but she was the one with a deadly weapon. What the hell kind of shit is she into? What kind of relationship was this? This couldn't be normal!

Bella quickly got back to her feet, a frantic look in her eyes. “I-I’m sorry, I thought you'd like it, I'm sorry…”

“Why the hell would I like that?” Tom harshly returned, still distraught. “What the fuck, what is wrong with you? Are you trying to kill me?”

She looked down, almost like she was curling into herself. She silently closed the switchblade and lifted her skirt to clip back to the garter. Then, she turned on her heel, making her way out of the apartment. He didn't try to stop her, until he remembered yet again that he wasn't himself. In Bella’s teary brown eyes, Ethan just yelled at her, and now she was upset.

“Bella-”

“Don't.”

And then the door slammed shut.

Tom sat there in silence, still trying to process what just happened. He didn't even want to think about what Bella would have done with that knife. Was that something people were into? Just when he thought this situation couldn't get any weirder.

~

Somehow, he managed to sleep through the night, despite the fact that the silence from Ethan was like an itch that couldn’t be satisfied. The longer the silence went on, the bigger opportunity there was for both of them to mess something up. Tom probably already crossed that line with Ethan’s girlfriend. He could only imagine what Ethan has been up to since he last spoke to him.

He checked his phone, only to discover a message from someone called Sean. There was a slight hesitation before Tom decided to open it. He noticed a head of bright green hair in the contact photo, and it definitely rang a bell. Had he interacted with this guy prior to the switch?

“You busy? You better not be because me and Signe are going to Bella’s and you better be there!!”

Shit. Who are these people? How many friends did this guy have?

Tom checked for any messages for the guy currently living in his shoes. Nothing. How long more would he be kept waiting?

“Dude, where are you? What have you been doing? Call me!”

After sending that, he sat up and looked around the room. It felt weird sleeping in the bed of a person he didn't know, but what choice did he have?

He got up and looked around for something to wear. Even when he wasn't in his own body, in his own home, Tom looked to the floor first. He picked up a black t-shirt and did a quick smell check before putting it on. Then he picked up a pair of jeans, which caused something small but dense to fall out of the pocket.

If it hadn't hit him on the top of his foot, Tom would have ignored it. But he looked down, finding a black, round stone. He bent down and picked it up, staring at it and trying to figure out why it looks so familiar. Surely this belonged to Ethan, but Tom had a stone just like this one. How many things would these guys have in common? Was this why they switched?

Suddenly, Tom gasped. He looked at the smooth, shiny stone in realization. He knew where he and Ethan got these from. Pantsless and panicked, he hopped back onto the bed, grabbed his phone, and dialed Ethan.

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tag list: @marie-is-in-the-dark @beardedsteveslut

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