#if i were more powerful that would be the title of a playlist for them and thats the cover | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

btsmosphere · 8 months ago

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Supercharged | JJK

Chapter 1: the Light Dies

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🗲summary: It starts with a blow to the chest that changes your life. When your city’s most celebrated hero pays a visit, it turns out the noble Bolt has no trouble tossing lives aside. Lives that won't be missed. Lives like yours. Seven mysterious and powerful men give you another chance – one that starts to feel more like a curse the moment you meet golden boy Jungkook. The boy who wants you as far from his brothers as he can get you. Is it you he hates, or the blue lightning that now runs through your veins? And could it be his golden light that illuminates your heart when darkness threatens? 🗲this chapter: He’s the hero. Unfortunately for you, you’re not the villain.

🗲pairing: jungkook x female reader 🗲word count: 6.6k 🗲genre: angst, action, eventual fluff, enemies to lovers, slow burn, superheroes/villains au, it’s sorta like a mafia au but they have superpowers lmao 🗲rating: pg15 🗲warnings: violence with superpowers, minor character death, attempted murder, injury, loss of consciousness

a/n: I have to say thank you to @casuallyimagining and @bluewhale52 for betaing this chapter, although this might come as a surprise to them since that was maybe 3 years ago now?😅I'm really not sure how much my writing had changed since then, but you guys can be the judge of that as the future chapters unfold! In the meantime, enjoy! If you want more supercharged in your life, you can also search my supercharged tag to find some musings, rambling, gifsets and visuals etc that inspired me and kept me going while I lost my mind over this story!

Lastly, I present the supercharged playlist✨ I had a lot of fun making this – several songs align with plot events, while some of them are there for the title, the vibe, or even a single line! Feel free to guess which are which or come and chat with me about it👀

An ear-splitting roar was barely contained behind shuddering steel doors. Just down the corridor, your fingers still clicked away, unperturbed, at your keyboard.

Tapping your foot, you looked impatiently up at the clock as another thunderous bellow assaulted the air. If the full-length windows weren’t reinforced by your boss, Kuyang’s own design, they would be rattling in their frames.

Blowing to rid your face of a strand of hair, you returned to your work, not even sparing a glance towards the source of the racket. It was only around half an hour until you could leave work for the weekend.

Finishing your task, you turned to filing the correspondence on your desk as a few yells carried through the air, mingled with the monster’s uproar. Bills and business deals the lot of them, you tucked them away in their respective places to be dealt with next week – only to stop on the very last one. How many times had the postman ignored the very clear sign for no newspapers?

You supposed the city felt the need to remind everyone that there was some semblance of central control – not really of much concern in a workplace such as yours, mind. Glancing across the front page, you realised why. You didn’t have a tv at home, but you would have to live under a rock not to recognise your city’s most celebrated superhero. Bolt, the media’s beloved, had claimed another victory against some crazy start-up trying to build their own bombs downtown.

The hero’s blue-masked face grinned confidently up at you from the desk, while police led what looked to be two scruffy teenagers into the back of their van. But Bolt’s vivid presence eclipsed them in his suit that matched his bright eyes.

Not bothering to read further, you pushed the paper into the waste bin at the end of the table.

Just as you were tucking away the final bits of paper, your boss emerged, wiping his brow on a cloth that looked as dirty as his face. Smiling pleasantly despite his ruffled state, you rotated on your chair to face him.

“Frank’s all good and sleepy now,” he said, “if you could get him sent up to the chamber.”

“Sure,” you nodded, already getting up and straightening your jacket.

With nothing more than a weary nod of appreciation, he left for his private laboratory. This was through a series more armoured doors, to which only you and a small number of lab workers knew the codes.

He was a scientist. And you were sure he was unhinged, but the job paid well, so that was all you concerned yourself with.

In fact, you had got very lucky. You had been surprised when such a good position had become available and quickly given to someone as ill-qualified as you, with no references to give. But your lack of connections seemed of no concern, and here you were, finally making ends meet and no longer in fear of being turned out of your run-down apartment at the edge of town.

So you did your job as well as you could, worrying yourself over nothing except pleasing the odd man that was Kuyang.

Even so, it was still a little daunting each time you had to come face-to-face with one of his experiments.

Reaching the steel doors that had not long ago been seriously threatening their hinges, you took a breath. Holding your thumb over a scanner by the door, you plastered a confident smile on your face as you walked inside.

Affectionately dubbed ‘Frank’, a great lump of teeth and dark furry flesh several times bigger than you was sleeping in a pod at the centre of the room. Surrounding this were multitudes of screens showing graphs and readings you couldn’t hope to understand.

At the edges of the room, a smattering of other workers were slumped against the stainless steel lab walls, almost as rumpled as their boss had been.

A hulking guard, Taeyeon, stood near the entrance, and you quietly confirmed with her that Frank was under and secure. Nodding, you gestured to Taeyeon’s team, another man and woman with the same uniform and intimidating stature.

Together, you assembled in front of the tank that held Frank, Taeyeon typing authorisation into one of the computers. The others locked down the external doors, just in case.

Though it was a familiar sight by now, the opening of the pod always prompted you to run through your training. If you hadn’t read it in the documents you dealt with, you would not have known Frank was also known as Necrus X, a new prototype Kuyang was working on, although you could not imagine what for.

Kuyang had been sure to tell you how to knock out the creature if it ever came to it, though. There was a spot behind his ear, which was more of a ridge at the side of his enormous head.

With the pod open, a panel rose from the floor, taking Frank rotating upwards. You caught sight of the patch behind its ear, zeroing in on it. Just in case.

The smooth expanse of ceiling split then, a hole revealing itself as the roof shrunk away into the walls, leaving a clear path for Frank to rise to the next floor, where he was stored.

As effortlessly as the ceiling retreating, a smooth steel staircase emerged from the walls. You and Taeyeon climbed it, spiralling around the edges of the circular space until you drew level with Frank, now snoring on the upper floor. Here, the space was wide open like an empty art gallery, half the walls comprised of expansive windows, no lab equipment to be seen.

The floor closed up beneath you both and you walked around Frank, opening a secret panel in the wall. As before, you raised your thumb to a blank scanner – but got no further.

A deafening smash sent you crouching to the ground in panic. Livid blue painted all the walls in the space as shattered glass skidded across the floor.

You had thought that glass to be unbreakable. At least that was the intention. But when you turned, you were forced to believe your ears: the central panel of glass was completely blown in, all the others down the row cracked from the force.

At the same moment the glass had shattered, you could suddenly hear what before had been hidden behind soundproofing. Outside, there were shouts, screams, car horns and alarms blaring from every angle – and above all, sirens. Sirens wailing through the air like disembodied banshees, descending, apparently, on your building.

Shuffling along the floor, you peered past the sleeping mass that was Frank in front of you. Walking across the room was a man in a tight blue suit, the same hue crackling in the air around his hands.

Bolt.

Mind short-circuiting, you were frozen. What should you do?

What was Bolt doing here? Was there some kind of threat? The image of him should have brought you relief, even though you knew nothing of what the danger was, but you hesitated.

Only having the presence of mind to shrink back silently behind Frank, you looked between the beast and the control panel you had abandoned. But you had no more chance to move before a fearsome crack ripped through the air, another flash of blue, sending the hairs on your arms bolting upright.

Spinning back to face Frank, you were met with a thump. A body, falling onto the floor.

Though she was mostly obscured by Frank’s sleeping form, you stared in unbelieving horror at Taeyeon where she lay, unmoving. Breath accelerating in your throat, you moved at last, scooting yourself back and away. Closer to the wall.

First you lunged to sound the alarm, mounted inside the wall panel, which instantly lit the room up in throbbing red, blaring loud enough to drown out the sirens outside. Then your hand was fumbling across the scanner. You had to get Frank locked away.

The walls of the pod which safely contained Frank overnight began to descend, much too slowly for your liking. Whirling to face the room, your heart seized in your chest when the imposing figure of Bolt, now shaded purple by the red light, met your eyes.

A glance up at the descending walls. They were halfway to the ground by now, but you still had to enter the code to lock them down.

Bolt yelled for you to stop, barely audible over the dizzying noise of the warning siren.

As he strode towards you, you could only watch, pressing yourself desperately against the wall as if it could swallow you up.

Bright light cut through the imposing red as the heavy door at the opposite end of the room was thrown open. Bolt stopped, both of you turning to see Kuyang enter. His hair was still sticking up from earlier, a strange expression on his face that you hadn’t seen before.

Paying no mind to the maniacal smile that had no place on Kuyang’s face, you took the moment of distraction to scramble for the code lock.

Without a sound, the gap between the floor and Frank’s pod closed, and your fingers were already leaping to action, typing the numbers behind your back at lightning speed.

Kuyang was running now, a direct path towards Bolt. But Bolt turned back towards you.

You were nearly done, but his hand was raising towards you…

In a split second, your fingertip met the final key of the code. Almost instantly, it was ripped away as shocking blue light cut through the air. You felt the impact before you could even notice that it was aimed at you.

Hitting you square in the chest, white hot pain scorched through your every nerve as your body was flung backwards, powerless as a ragdoll sailing through the air. The collision with the cracked window behind was almost lost on you. More intense pain was writhing its way down each limb, making you cry out, uncaring about the rain-spattered wind that whipped about your face now.

But you could see shards of glass as they fell along with you, like daggers aimed at the ground.

Biting wind rushed in your ears, the sound crashing over you like waves. And just as a pan sizzles down off the heat, the ferocious attack of pain seemed to reduce just as fast as it had invaded you.

Your heartbeat was the loudest thing, booming over the insistent web of sirens and whistling air.

Breathing choppily, you screwed your eyes nearly closed, suddenly aware of the tempest around you as you fell. Above, the already darkening winter night was illuminated with flashes of that awful blue.

You were falling.

It hit you then, as if you hadn’t been falling all this time. But it was only now that your senses caught up with themselves. You worked on a very high floor of the skyscraper, but as you were tossed around in the air, you saw the ground rapidly approaching.

A horror gripped your chest like nothing you had ever felt before.

Below you, and rushing towards you at terrifying speed, a skip sat surrounded by heaps of trash on the street. Unable to think, you could only shield your face with your hands, stretched out in front of you as if to stop the inevitable collision.

Though your eyes fell closed, you felt the jerk that flung your whole body backwards.

That wasn’t what you had expected.

Eyes snapping open in confusion, you found your vision lit with blue. In front of your face, blue light was shooting from your palms, pushing you up and away from the ground.

Your mouth fell open. Gaping in shock, you did nothing as the light died and you slowed again in the air.

Though you began falling much slower this time, you barely had time to notice your surroundings – much nearer the ground – before you were plummeting again, and this time nothing could stop you.

Your eyes weren’t even open when you felt your body slide off something. Not a second later, you were crumpling onto hard concrete which grazed your cheek.

You groaned.

It was dark. High above, any flashes of light didn’t reach you here, having landed in a thin alley beside the building. And though this shielded you from the commotion on the main streets out front, sirens still pierced the air, each one feeling like a stab to your head.

You clutched it as you maneuvered to sit. It took you a few tries, groping for a wall or something to lean against as you regained your balance.

Eyes cracking open, you waited patiently for the dark splotches to dispel before looking around.

Right next to you was a car which blocked you from view of the road beyond this alley. Evident from the dent that caved in its bonnet, that was what you had landed on.

Turning your head, you had to squint even more as light assaulted your sensitive eyes.

Among a blazing light, you could make out the vague shapes of rubbish bags and an overflowing skip that you recognised. Out of these, a vibrant fire was now burning. The correlation was too strong for you to ignore.

Breath shallow, you turned your horrified gaze to your hands.

They had done this… but how? They looked totally normal now.

Frowning, you brought them up closer to your face, so that your nose was practically buried in your palms.

No difference.

You were sure you hadn’t imagined that blue light which saved you earlier. Was there a way to make it come back?

While you were puzzling, you lowered your hands again, still staring intently as you rotated them in your lap.

Then, quick as a blink, a blue flash darted from them again. So fast, in fact, that you had no time to react before one of the bolts was fired directly into your opposite arm.

Snatching it away reflexively, you hissed in pain as a burning sensation crawled, tingling, over your skin there.

Despite the pain, the blue light didn't cease shooting from your hands. They tingled, a strangely uncomfortable sensation. It was as if something warm was wriggling its way up your veins and spilling from your fingertips.

“Stop! Stop!” you whispered in panic.

You turned them outwards, aiming away from you, but if they kept at it for much longer you were sure to draw attention.

Moving your hands around jerkily, the beams of light shook along with you, but did not go out. With each unsuccessful movement, panic made you more frantic until the glowing rays jerked erratically around the small space.

Straying too far, the light came into contact with a post at the alley’s entrance. You could only watch, helpless, as light like blue snakes skittered up it and latched around the wires it supported.

To your relief, the strange current seemed to have found an outlet, and only remained a second longer before cutting out. You were left blinking in the relative darkness. Panting heavily, you stared down at your hands, although you did not bring them too close anymore.

Once again, they appeared utterly innocent. There was nothing to suggest they had just channelled lightning through them.

Suddenly, the world plunged into darkness. The fire still burned at the other end of the alley, or you would have been left totally blind. In the building behind you, in the street, all the lights had gone out.

Almost instantly following the blackout, screaming rose again in the air.

Gulping, your eyes travelled to the blackened post at the corner, which you had accidentally electrocuted.

This was bad. Your head was spinning, both from your short, hard fall and from the whirlwind of events that had happened in what could only have been minutes. Surrounded by darkness, with the wail of the city and a fire for company, you could only see one course of action.

Run.

You had to get away from here. It wasn’t safe. You had little idea where was safe, but you couldn’t be here anymore.

It wasn’t like you had anyone to call who would care enough to come and pick you up. Nor did you have the money to try a hospital, though you felt as if you may need it.

But especially with electricity shooting from your hands at the drop of a hat, it probably wasn’t best to be anywhere around people.

The dizziness from your unfortunate landing on the car had worn off while you were sitting, but the world swayed anew the moment you made to stand. Pushing determinedly against the wall, you struggled on anyway, brand new dark spots in your vision offset by the brightness of the fire you walked towards.

This end of the alleyway led out through smaller streets, away from the city centre and furore of sirens.

On reaching the opening, you cautiously assessed the road stretching away either side. Empty. And if there was anyone there, they wouldn’t see you in this darkness.

Shoving your hands beneath your armpits on some misguided hope of keeping them from causing problems, you lowered your head and ran. It was more of a jog, considering everything, but you still moved as quickly as you could beneath the dead streetlamps.

Head throbbing more with movement, you stumbled a few times as you went. The pavement tilted around you.

You had made it a few roads before you felt that awful tingling in your arms again. It itched, like something fighting its way out of your skin.

Nausea rolled in the pit of your stomach. This couldn’t be real.

Slowing down and stopping beneath a signpost, you drew your shaking hands out in front of you. The world careened on its axis, revolving around the sight of your palms as a faint blue glow grew in them.

You were going to throw up, you were sure of it.

You wanted it to stop.

A few flickers of blue darted down the veins in your wrist. Towards your fingertips. Sparks leapt from them, small tendrils of lightning crackling between your fingers like webbing.

At last, you gave in to the rising horror mixed with a sick feeling. The floor’s spinning became too much, your hands turning to a bright blur in the centre of your vision.

You passed out on the spot.

Lights were turning on again around the city. Television sets flickering back to life to announce Bolt’s victory against the beast that had attacked earlier that evening.

But not on the street where you still lay.

The return of light only reached neighbouring roads, dim glow snuffed out before it could penetrate the middle of this street. A white-haired young man stepped forwards, but his face was totally obscured in darkness.

“Here,” he spoke to the silence.

The next moment, a deep red glowed in the middle of the road, though it brought little light. The red bounced off a signpost before it was gone, replaced by another man, seemingly from nowhere.

The newest arrival stood there, looking down at your figure, unconscious by the sign. Then he disappeared again, leaving total darkness behind as if he had never been there at all.

A few more moments passed, you and the hidden man the only beings on the dark road.

Not very long after, a car’s engine rumbled and sputtered into earshot. The bright beam of headlights rounded the corner, growing larger and shedding light on your form as it drew closer.

Pulling up next to you, the engine died along with the lights. Two doors opened and slammed shut.

As two pairs of feet stepped nearer to join the one remaining beside you, the streetlamp directly overhead began to glow. The faint glimmer grew until it illuminated the scene. Still no other lights joined it, leaving the small group of you lit up as if by spotlight.

“It’s her?”

The man crouching beside you asked the question without looking up, and the shadowed man answered.

“Pretty sure.”

“She’s breathing?”

“Yes.”

The crouching man hummed. Moving to kneel instead, his eyes roved over your somewhat battered face, dark hair obscuring his own.

“Namjoon?” he asked then, turning to the other man from the car. It was the same man who had momentarily appeared in the street earlier.

Taking his cue, the tall man, Namjoon, walked forwards and bent to lift your hands by the wrists. In just moments he was placing them carefully back, nodding.

“No doubt.”

“Okay then.”

“Can she travel, Jin?”

“Give me a moment.”

Producing a small object, he pressed a button and a small light sprung from the end. Carefully lifting one of your eyelids, he shone the light into it, observing like a doctor.

The first you became aware of was the far away sound of voices being quietly exchanged. But with the cloudiness in your head, identifying them didn’t seem very urgent. You were preoccupied with the swirling feeling that made the world swim around you, even though it was dark.

But as dim awareness was returning to you, the process of regaining your senses was violently accelerated as a blinding light was thrust into your vision.

You flinched, and as Jin pulled away he saw you blink, eyelids screwing shut in protest. His eyebrows raised in slight concern as he watched your first groggy movements.

Blinking around at the dimly lit figures over you, your eyes widened. The nearest man held the illuminated light stick. Was he a doctor?

Next, your eyes darted to the tall man standing behind him. You recognised neither.

Some strange feeling told you someone else was standing there too, but when you looked to your other side you were faced with nothing but empty shadow.

“Can you sit?”

The first man’s question was gentle, his hands ready to support you.

Nodding timidly, you heaved yourself up with his help. It embarrassed you to be panting after just that much movement.

“What happened?” came the next question.

As you replayed the events, you avoided their eyes. You could not let them know what happened, what you had become. They were helping you, and yet you might hurt them-

Fists clenching subconsciously, you stuttered in panic.

“I-I can’t pay,” you told them, but before you could say more a new voice was speaking. The standing man stepped forwards, his voice calm and surprisingly friendly.

“There’s no need to pay. We can help you. Can you tell us what happened?”

“I don’t, uh, I-I-“

His eyes travelled towards your hands, which you were trying to tuck behind you.

“You gained powers, didn’t you?”

You froze.

“I have them too,” he smiled, “I know what it’s like to be scared. But you can work with this and learn to control them. I’m Namjoon, and this is Jin. We’ve been through this before, we can help you.”

At your sides, your hands relaxed. Tension lifted from your tightly hunched shoulders. Wordless, you looked between the men who were watching you, ready to move, but only on your word.

Swallowing, a light frown creased your brow.

“What do you want-”

Namjoon’s smile dimmed into something kinder.

“At least let us check you over.”

Your hands fretted together. It was strange, you couldn’t feel anything there. Surely they should feel different? How would you know if these… powers, Namjoon had said, were to come back?

“You won’t hurt us, don’t worry,” he seemed to anticipate your thoughts as he watched you, “we can protect ourselves.”

“You were unconscious,” Jin spoke, drawing your perplexed gaze back to him, “did you hit your head?”

You blinked, but found yourself answering.

“I think so.”

Nodding, Jin shuffled at your side. He leaned a bit closer.

“I need to shine this light in your eyes again. You may have a concussion.”

Complying, you sat through the eye-watering brightness. He asked you things, like a doctor would, except he was working in the middle of an empty street in the middle of the night.

“Do you feel dizzy?”

“I did. I think still, a little.”

“Any nausea?”

“Yeah… but maybe because of the…” you gestured to your hands.

Jin sat back, taking the light with him. Namjoon shot you a sympathetic smile at that. You supposed he had been through the same thing, from the sounds of it.

Jin looked up at Namjoon.

“It looks pretty rough. Definitely a concussion, and she needs patching up, but in the long run she’ll be fine.”

“I-I’m serious,” you interjected, “I don’t have the money for hospital…”

Your voice faltered. You half thought of asking to just go home, but you were hardly sure of even making it there by yourself. And if you got there, then what? The prospect of burning down the place with these errant powers didn’t fill you with comfort.

“Good thing we’re not going to bring you there, then,” Namjoon said, “but I meant it when I said we could help. We can take you home, if you want… but you can stay with us, too.”

You stared at him wordlessly. Was it crazy that you were considering this?

“Just for a bit, if you need,” Jin added softly, “it’s just… now might not be the smartest time to be alone.”

You chewed your cheek. But your head was pounding too much to think very hard, and this seemed like the most straightforward option. The people in this city kept surprising you, after your first stroke of luck with Kuyang's generosity.

“Sure…” you spoke quietly, not quite able to look them in the eyes, “yes please.”

“Okay,” Namjoon took it in stride, “but let’s get moving.”

“Just one moment – we should wrap that.”

Gesturing towards your arm, Jin stood and went back to the car. On his return, he knelt again and began to secure cling film around the angry red blotch blistering your skin, where you had caught yourself with your own beam.

“We’ll sort it out properly when we get back,” he told you, “but Namjoon’s right, we should be going.”

You followed his gaze which seemed to dart up and down the street. However, nothing was there.

Jin helped you stand, still looking around. Sure enough, the dizziness from before hadn’t quite left you yet. Biting down on your lip, you focussed hard on getting the short distance to the car. You were led to the passenger seat and crumpled gratefully into it.

But just as Jin closed the door, you felt an uncomfortable prickling clutch your forearms again. Namjoon slid into the back seat in time to hear your gasp, noticing the way your fingers flexed in panic. Digging in his pockets, he produced a pair of thin black gloves and held them out to you just as the first trickles of blue appeared in your veins again. He watched with a studious frown as you pushed your hands into the gloves.

“Those will help,” he said, still looking at your wrists, “they can contain the powers. But you shouldn’t keep them on for too long.”

Jin was seating himself in the driver’s side as you frowned over at Namjoon. At first you had been relieved to have a solution to your erratic lightning problem, but that was ripped away at his last addition.

“Why not? It will keep you safe,” you questioned, but kept your voice quiet.

“Don’t worry, we’re more than capable of handling anything you could throw at us,” he laughed, “but you can keep them on in here. Best not to bottle up your powers forever, though.”

Resigned, you turned back to face front. The moment Jin stepped on the gas, all the lights in the road sparked to life at once. Startled, you blinked, looking around. On the pavement you were just pulling away from, a man was walking away, unidentifiable behind a hoodie.

Slumping back in your seat, you breathed a short, dry laugh. This mysterious happening was just the latest in this crazy night. You had no choice but to accept it.

The car ride was fairly short, but you were too tired and distracted to take in exactly where you were going. Streets seemed to blur together, aware only that you were heading out of town.

The itching in your arms had persisted for a while, but as promised, the gloves seemed to work. No fiery blue burst out of your palms, and, eventually, whatever it was decided to give it up, subsiding again by the time the car pulled up.

But no one got out yet. Jin had stopped at the end of a small road, big enough for only one vehicle, directly facing an expanse of crumbling and graffitied brick.

Curiosity woke you up from your daze, and you watched as Jin reached to tap something on his dashboard. Almost instantly, a groaning reached your ears from over the whirring of the engine. The wall ahead shook before shifting, sliding sideways until it tucked itself behind a dented dustbin, unveiling a space beyond.

Leaving you little more time to wonder, Jin started the car again and you rolled downwards through a plain, dark entrance. It reminded you of those multi-storey car parks formed with ugly blocks of concrete. It was considerably smaller than those, however, Jin pullingup into a space alongside about a dozen other vehicles, beyond which the place seemed entirely deserted.

Jin came around to open your door, but you were able to stand by yourself. It was still a bit of a struggle, your limbs sluggish and the world dull around you – although that may have just been the low underground light.

Namjoon led you, Jin staying close by your side. Blinking at the space as you moved through it, your eyes traced over the various car roofs, some cleaner than others. A larger four-by-four was particularly beaten up, with a large crease in one of the metal wheel arches.

Your eyes rested longest on what was probably the most pristine: a motorbike, at first hidden by the cars either side of it.

Soon enough, you were past them. Stopping as Namjoon did, you watched him expectantly. However, he did not turn around, instead standing face-to-face with a plain concrete wall. Except… now a low rumble announced the movement of a panel which slid away, revealing a wide doorway which had previously blended seamlessly with the flat wall.

Your eyebrows raised at the touch that was reminiscent of Kuyang’s lab. Without time for you to dwell on this, your small group moved up a dingy staircase that lay beyond the doorway.

At the top, you emerged into a new space, notably lighter than before. You assumed you were back on ground level, perhaps above. It was hard to be sure, disoriented as you still were in the whirlwind that had overtaken your day.

Bizarrely, the space appeared to be someone’s home. There was a large and coffee-stained table surrounded by mismatching chairs, a kitchen behind it littered with mugs and pot plants. Still, beyond the lived-in array of things lying around, it was big. You imagined it must be miles more expensive than the shoddy apartment you stayed in.

It was open plan, and you followed Namjoon past the dining table towards an area filled with two enormous sofas.

The back of a blond head was visible over the sofa, and now the person turned towards you.

“Guys!” a loud exclamation rang out as he leapt up. A dazzling smile spread across his mouth.

When his eyes fell on you, wincing at his sudden volume, the smile dimmed a little.

“Not so loud, Hope-ah,” Jin spoke gently from behind you.

“Sorry,” he dipped his head, smile remaining on his lips.

Jin’s hands came lightly to your back, steering you over to a sofa. As you sunk into it with relief, the blond man sat across from you, tilting his head to catch your eye.

“I’m Hope,” he smiled, “I’m glad we found you. You’ll be right in no time!”

Frowning, you couldn’t help but notice his eyes flicking over the damage on your face. Averting your gaze, you chewed your lip absently.

What did he mean? I’m glad we found you…

Had they been looking for you? You still weren’t sure if it was a lucky coincidence they found you, but perhaps it was something more.

The lingering ache in your head forced you to push the issue away. You missed Namjoon’s stern look at Hoseok as he hovered behind your seat.

Jin pulled a pack from a cupboard and set it beside you. You let him lift your arm and unwrap the burn, your unfocussed eyes dragging across the room while he applied something cold over it. Next came stinging, scattered over your face as he wiped at the small cuts and grazes with an apologetic grimace you barely saw.

You only forced the world back into focus when someone else entered your sight. Emerging from behind you, a gentle, friendly smile was directed your way from a man with pale pink hair. Swallowing, you never managed to smile back before he was turning away.

The pink-haired man reached a hand out to someone you couldn’t see. Another man appeared, walking towards him, but he never looked at you. Or if he did, it was obscured behind the black hair that fell to his eyes.

The two new people left towards the kitchen, though not without another smile from the pink one.

Who were all these people?

Frowning after them, you were interrupted by a clap on the shoulder from Jin.

“We’ll talk more in the morning. You need to rest.”

Looking around, you had half a mind to protest, but were overruled by the shakiness taking over your frame. Body too fatigued to allow you much say, you meekly followed Jin.

Beyond the living space, a thinner corridor led away, several closed doors along its walls.

Further you went, until a door just ahead opened. Another person walked out.

When he stopped to face you, his posture remained stiff. Tall and muscular, he was clad all in black except for a towel slung over his shoulder. Damp hair fell messily around his head. But you had little time to take this in, as his eyes fixed themselves fiercely on yours, rendering you unable to look away.

Mouth remaining in a hard line, his expression only twitched further into a frown.

Then his gaze flicked abruptly away, travelling to Jin just beyond you.

“Kook-“

Jin never got further than that before the man strode forwards, marching sharply past you and away with a scowl. Turning after him in surprise, you watched his tense shoulders disappear behind Namjoon, who you hadn’t noticed hovering.

Namjoon stared sternly after him, but the man seemed to avoid his gaze.

Jin sighed, sending an apologetic glance at you.

“That’s just Jungkook,” Namjoon spoke, ushering you all further along the hallway, “don’t pay him any attention.”

“Why was…”

You trailed off, unsure of what exactly to ask. Neither of them made an attempt to answer.

You had no idea a wordless encounter could leech so much hostility into the atmosphere. Picturing Jungkook’s glowering face, you blindly followed the others through a different door.

“You can sleep in here.”

“Hm?”

Shaking yourself, you looked around the new room. There wasn’t much to see. Beside a low bed, there was a mirror, a wooden closet and nothing more. Looking up, you didn’t even find a light in the ceiling. The only light leaked through from the hallway.

Clearly reading your gaping mouth and furrowing brow, Namjoon moved in front of you.

“Don’t worry, this is just a place to sleep, nothing more. But since you’re going to have to take those gloves off, we can’t have you in a space with any electricals.”

Stepping back defensively, your fingers pressed tightly together. Having the gloves on had let you almost imagine that nothing life-changing had happened. Like gaining unpredictable powers, for instance.

Namjoon watched patiently, holding out a hand.

“You don’t need them…”

He realised he had never asked your name, and let his sentence trail expectantly. Telling him your name, he relaxed into a smile.

“You don’t need them, Y/N,” he repeated, not that you believed him for a second, “you’ll be perfectly safe. And so will we.”

Only the yearning to collapse onto the bed persuaded you to hand over the gloves. The instant they were in his hand, you swore you could feel a shock go up your arm. Immediately tense again, your breathing became shallower, with no idea how to try and stop power shooting from your hands any moment.

But Namjoon and Jin seemed content. Before you could gather your thoughts, they had left, closing the door and drenching your room in near total darkness.

Stumbling to the bed and virtually falling into it, you wiped sweating palms against the fabric. Your mouth was dry with fear.

This couldn’t have happened.

Alone for the first time since your initial panic, it didn’t take long for your mind to wrap itself in circles again. Only hours ago, you had been sitting happily in your bright office, going through the motions…

One split-second decision from a powerful man had changed that.

You knew full well he had intended for you to die. But he was Bolt...

He had probably forgotten about it already. The guard he sent lifeless to the floor, the secretary he threw from the building.

Itching feeling returning, you swallowed desperately and raised your hands. Sure enough, against the darkness, blue pierced your vision, darting its way up-

Turning your face away, you flinched as the outburst came. Your eyes screwed shut, you pressed your cheek into fabric, not wanting to see the deathly lightning that shot through the room. Shuddering breaths broke into your lungs when at last it subsided.

Letting them fall, limp, to your sides, your hands fisted the covers tightly.

You were almost afraid to open your eyes, knowing it would only show you the empty room, confirmation that this was real. You were dangerous, shut in a safe room where you could hurt no one. Would you ever get out? Succeed in controlling this, like Namjoon had said?

With no idea where you were, barely any idea who the people here were, you wanted to block it out. But even with your eyes closed, you couldn’t escape.

The memory of Jungkook’s suspicious face made your heart sink. Perhaps people should be afraid of you, now. As much as you may want to, there was no getting away from this.

Pushing yourself to sit, you surveyed the room. Eyes accustomed to the blackness a little more, you could make out vague shapes. Your breath fell alone in the silence. This really was the safest place you could be right now, even if it was a nightmare.

As your head turned, you suddenly came level with your eyes in the mirror, and a shock of light.

For an extended moment, you could only stare.

Then all at once you were rushing forwards, tripping from the end of the bed. Bracing your arms against the wall either side of the mirror, you gaped at your reflection.

As you watched, an angular bolt of blue shot across your irises, which were already dimly glowing.

You gulped against the thick feeling crawling up your throat. Faced with this, you could no longer have any hope of denying it.

This was really happening.

Thank you for reading!! Please please let me know your thoughts on this chapter, comments make it all worthwhile!💜💜

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spiderhanzzz · 5 months ago

Text

"WORST REGARDS, YOUR KARMIC RETRIBUTION" — yang jeongin.

they say success is the best revenge, but sabotage feels better.

word count: 5.8k

pairings: jock!jeongin x nerd!reader

genre: fluff, humour, high school au, one sided enemies to lovers, slow burn, loosely inspired by i hope this doesn't find you by ann liang

warnings: swearing, partying, kissing, biblically accurate (religious) jeongin, everyone is the same age except chan, no use of y/n + gn reader, reader is literally evil incarnate plz dont do this irl ;;

playlist: ivy frank ocean, sexy to someone clairo, everybody talks neon trees, i can't radiohead

a/n: dedicated to @allforhee & all the other i.n stans out there :3 enjoy!!!

You know a lot of things. You know that the idea of zero was invented by an Indian mathematician and astronomer named Brahmagupta. You know how to recite your future Valedictorian speech in Latin. However besides these things, you also know that most things in life are pretty much uncertain.

Except your hatred for Yang Jeongin. That is your probability of 1.

Although your best friend Kim Seungmin says that your probability of 1 should probably be the fact that you’re a damn sore loser.

So when classes started to end and your school’s sports day rolled around, everyone knew not to cross your path. Either they would be on your team, or they wouldn’t even get near you. You’re not even that athletic; in fact, you can barely work out to save your life. But you’re the brains, the mastermind, of your team’s strategies. It’s like that saying, if you can’t beat ‘em, outsmart ‘em, or something like that.

You knew you were winning, or at least you thought you knew. Because just when you were about to cross your final lap of the track and field match, the corner of your eye caught a glimpse of Yang Jeongin’s infamously cordial grin. Disturbed by the audacity, you stop in your tracks to look at his friends sitting on the bleachers and feel a rush of satisfaction rush back in when you see them petrified for their friend’s questionable actions.

He won, of course. And though you took home five more gold medals than him that day, something about the utter disrespect of stealing the spotlight from somebody so clearly feared for a reason unsettles you.

Which is why you’re currently writing a letter to him threatening to take away his position in the basketball team if he doesn’t earn back your respect that he lost from a sports day event three years ago.

It’s less of a letter and more of a drafted email, since you’re not writing it by hand; he doesn’t get to have that sort of power over you. You’re not sending it either. God, no. You’re not that insane.

It’s simply a form of coping, nothing more. You’d reckon if you were to ask a therapist about this method, they would think it’s stellar. It’s like journaling… except instead of self-reflection, the end goal is to live in the delusional cloud where your nemesis knows and fears how much you hate them.

Do whatever your wretched soul can manage to revert back to the regular human state— that is, being absolutely petrified of my existence. Otherwise, say goodbye to that pretty “varsity basketball” title you adore so much.

A smirk twists upon the edges of your lips as your gaze fixes on the words you’ve just typed out. What’s the word for when you gain pleasure from the idea of torturing somebody else? You’re sure ‘sadist’ doesn’t apply when you only crave the suffering of one specific person.

You consider rewriting the entire letter on paper, for the sole purpose of leaving a crimson lipstick stain on the envelope for him to unseal. You don’t even use red lipstick, but perhaps the Irene Adler-ness of it all might subconsciously trigger a flight or fight response from him, as most stupid teenage boys do when faced with distinct power.

When other people fall asleep to daydreams about their crushes, you often drift away to slumber through the relaxation brought upon you from fantasizing about Yang Jeongin on his knees, begging for your forgiveness.

You would have fallen asleep to that dream for yet another night, but your best friend Kim Seungmin rang your phone. Now, if it was any other night, you would have sent him death threats and went back to your fantasies. However you had just asked Seungmin for a very special favor, so you decide to pick up.

“This better be about what I think it is,” you start. “I won’t put up with your post-exam depression bullshit tonight.”

“Don’t worry about that, I managed to get extra credits for everything.” Thuds and crackles fill the audio from the other side of the phone, and you can practically smell Seungmin’s bag of chips and old dusty laptop opening on his desk. “I got what you asked for.”

“Good, just forward it to my email.”

“I don’t understand why you would need it, though,” Seungmin’s voice is muffled by the chips in his mouth. “I mean, the team’s orders at Lucy’s Diner? Seriously? If you had a crush on one of them, you know I could just set you up, right?”

“Ew, I would never!” You fake gag, earning a chuckle from the boy on the other line. “C’mon, you know I have too much self respect for that.” “I think you mispronounced blatant narcissism and self obsession.”

The two of you go back and forth teasing one another for another moment until you urge Seungmin to send the list to your email. He inquires once again but you only brush him off, coming up with something about helping out at Lucy’s for the summer. Which wouldn’t be a complete lie, technically, if all went well.

You know you can’t tell Seungmin about your plan. Not right now. He’s reached that stage of being a teenage boy where he started developing attachment and empathy towards others, and now he’s practically attached at the hip with the rest of the basketball team. All he knows is that you hate Jeongin, and that’s enough for now.

And sure, this whole situation has made you question if you were actually a sociopath, but it needs to be done. You consider it a fair service to the community for taking down another straight male with no brains and a huge ego. They don’t know it yet, but he’s the common enemy.

Soon enough after the sports day incident you had come to the conclusion that if nobody could hate Yang Jeongin, you would make him hate you so much until a primal, animalistic desire to destroy you would take over his spirit. You assume he’d do something so utterly terrible, as men do, then afterwards everyone would finally see with their own two eyes that he is just like every other man in this cruel world. If anything, you’re volunteering as a sacrifice!

So as you zone out on Seungmin’s newfound amusement in the way Mr Marks’ glasses make him look like Chicken Little, you switch your tabs to open the sacred document.

In big, bold letters it reads OPERATION 143: 1 ENEMY, 4 PHASES, 3 YEARS.

The document itself already has over 25 pages, written in detail about your genius ideas to slowly infiltrate your enemy base from the inside out— most worked, but some of them just ended in your loss of dignity. You had even taken ideas from books and films like Parasite to further enhance its artistic integrity. These last three years were a performance, and Jeongin’s life is your stage. You have now entered phase four, and this is your closing act; nobody can steal your spotlight.

Contrary to the precise executions of your past eras, phase four is abstract. Its main goals are to disrupt Yang Jeongin’s peace as directly as possible, whilst leaving as little trail as possible. This, paired with the built up tension from the previous phases, is going to set in motion a domino effect, leading to the collapse of your greatest enemy’s social stature.

Accidentally letting a particularly mischievous giggle slip under your breath, you look back at the email you were drafting to him. You know exactly how to end it.

Careful where you run, Yang Jeongin.

Worst regards,

your karmic retribution.

This is your least favorite time of the year: the period just before summer break. Exams are over, so most teachers let students roam free during their lessons. But not going to school at all can take away from your total attendance, which then goes on your report card, so most students spend their school days sitting around in boredom and watching the sports teams play.

seungmo: Do u wanna come to practice

seungmo: Jisung bought cheesecake for everyone and I don’t want mine

seungmo: I don’t want him to take mine tho lol

That was fifteen minutes ago, and now you’re sitting on the bleachers on a date with a delicious slice of blueberry cheesecake and iced coffee, absentmindedly watching your best friend practice. Despite your close ties with Seungmin, you’ve never really been interested in the other team members— except for the occasional trading of homework answers with Jisung. Ever since middle school, you’ve sort of established that you want nothing to do with people like them: rowdy, sporty, and popular. Seungmin once noted that you say “popular” like it’s a slur. You couldn’t disagree.

“So… Karmic retribution, huh?”

You freeze.

“Pardon?” You turn around, only to be faced with the one and only Yang Jeongin.

“Karmic retribution?” He inquires further, expecting you to get the hint. “Y’know, what you called yourself in your… email? Death threat? Not sure what to call it, actually.”

Oh shit. Oh fuck.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about, dude,” you laugh off the question. “I don’t even know your name, let alone your email.”

“Well, that’s clearly a lie, since your name is on your email address. And my name was in your… Seriously, what should I call this thing?”

Fuck fuck fuck. You must have accidentally hit ‘send’ when you fell asleep on the phone with Seungmin. That prick; he always manages to embarrass you somehow.

“Listen, I didn’t even know you go here. I had to ask Chris if he knows which one you are, and you just happened to be here right now.” Jeongin rakes his fingers through his stupid gross sweaty damp hair, then dragging his palm across his face in exasperation. “Whatever I did to you, I’m really sorry.”

“What do you mean you didn’t know I go here?” You’re baffled, truly baffled, and you basically lost control of your body when you heard those words. Suddenly your voice can be heard by anyone within a ten foot radius, and if it weren’t for that they would have thought you were about to smother him with kisses by the lack of distance between your bodies. “I’ve been here since fucking middle school! I sit behind you in Spanish— I ask you for a pen every two and a half weeks only to lose it every single time. You’re saying you don't remember me?”

“Oh, that’s you? My bad. You sit behind me, so I didn’t really get to see your face up close.” Jeongin doesn’t even flinch at the proximity of your faces. He simply gives you a brief look up and down and goes, “Now that I am seeing you up close, you’re the one that always hangs out with Seungmin, right?”

Then it hits you: this is the universe sending you a signal to initiate phase four. Sure, him not remembering who you are might have set you back by a few milestones, but who’s counting? (You are. You always are.)

If anything, you’re grateful for the redirection, because now you know that before you can ruin him, you must first build him up.

“Alright, look,” you begin, taking a step back to put some inches between the two of you. He reeks of rubber and soda, the stench makes you ill. “Let’s start over, shall we?”

“‘Kay, cool,” he says with a nonchalant shrug. “See you around, I guess…?”

“Wait, that’s it? You’re not even gonna ask why I hated you in the first place?”

“Doesn’t matter now, does it? We’re already starting over.” The genuine lack of irritation in his face makes you curl your fists and fight the urge to give him a black eye. “Plus, you’re one of those nice smart kids. I don’t have beef with your kind.”

And for the first time in your life you wanted desperately to become popular, because maybe then Jeongin would take you seriously.

But it’s fine. You’re going to destroy him regardless.

“Yo, not to interrupt this whole bonding thing we have going on, but I kinda need to head back to practice.” His voice snaps you back to reality. “Is that chill with you?”

“Yeah, yeah. That’s chill.” You muster up your most convincing smile for him. One time in fifth grade your drama teacher told you you’re a natural actor, and you pray to God those innate talents are still there. Now that you think about it, she may have just been calling you a liar.

For good measure, you give him an awkward thumbs up before walking away. When you make eye contact with Seungmin, he raises his eyebrow as if to ask what the fuck was that? You can only shrug in response. You have no idea either.

You sit back down on the bleachers, occasionally eyeing your target, feasting your eyes on the way his muscles flex under his baggy Radiohead t-shirt when he dribbles the ball around the court and the sweat that drips from his hair. You’re used to your own deranged behavior, but this feels almost perverse. Maybe it’s because you’re basically acquaintances with him now (the word makes you want to spit your cheesecake back up), or maybe it’s because you can’t help but let your stare linger on the cross dangling from his chain.

Gross, you think to yourself, as you keep your eyes on him for the rest of the day.

On the last day of school before summer break, the unexpected happens: the basketball team invites you to their party. Well, technically, they invited everyone. It’s supposed to be Bang Chan’s last party before he graduates, and he just so happens to be friends with every single student. Thus, you and Seungmin are now situated in front of his front door, waiting for him to welcome you in.

You don’t usually go to parties, and to be very honest nobody really expects you to. The reasoning is a bit pretentious, you suppose, but you truly just don’t believe in the necessity of rebellion in leading to better adulthood. However you do believe in yourself and your incredibly sexy intellectual prowess, and you have an operation to carry out, so tonight you let yourself let loose just a bit.

“Ah, there you guys are!” Chan greets you and Seungmin, ushering you inside his… house is an understatement, honestly, it’s a mansion. “Mingle around!”

You’re still out of place, you notice. Since you didn’t plan on actually drinking or dancing, you decided to come in your usual get-up of your dream university’s merch sweater and a pair of baggy jeans. You mentally cursed yourself for not realizing that all of Chan’s friends would be the cool, charismatic type.

Suddenly wishing you had stayed home instead, you excuse yourself to the bathroom, which was (fortunately for you) on the second floor, away from most of the crowds. When you get there, however, you’re met with Jeongin’s sharp gaze in front of the door.

“Been a while,” he states, leaning on the wall and crossing his arms in front of his chest. “Could I get you anything? A drink, maybe?”

“I don’t drink. At least not tonight,” you respond. Then you notice that his hands are also empty. “What about you?”

“Nah, I don’t do that stuff.” He shakes his head to enunciate his disapproval. “I don’t mind that the other guys do it, but I’m pretty religious, so…”

The devil perched upon your shoulder whispers hot but the angel on the other side exclaims what the fuck?

“Cool.” You stare at your shoes, thinking about how to turn this exchange into yet another round of revenge. When you get an idea, you beam up at him. “Wanna walk and talk with me?”

The moment he verbalizes his agreement, you grab him by the arm and rush downstairs. There, you do as you had suggested: walk and talk. Turns out Chan’s first floor is big enough for about thirty minutes of conversation.

When you get to the outdoor pool, you take off your shoes and dip your toes in the water with Jeongin following suit, sitting right beside you. Your conversation drifts to so many different topics— music, childhood TV shows, dating— you almost forget the reason why you brought him here. He’s observant, you notice, and he has thoughts on a lot of different things, something you didn’t think was possible. You always thought he was just dumb.

“Y’know, I was kinda flattered by your email, I’m not gonna lie,” he admits sheepishly.

“Pardon?” You look at him, puzzled. “Did you say flattered?”

“Well, yeah, I mean, no one really notices me like that.”

You stare at him, eyes blank and mouth agape. Surely this guy has gone insane, right? He’s one of the school’s most beloved students, by other students and faculty members alike.

“Like, I know they like me, but I don’t really stand out amongst the others. Chris is the friendly one, Minho is the mysterious one, Changbin is the strong one, Hyunjin is the artistic one, Jisung is the funny one, Felix is the kind one, Seungmin is the smart one, and what am I? I have all those qualities too, but they pale in comparison. People don’t have enough reason to hate me, but I know they think I’m boring. So being hated so passionately was kind of a big thing for me… I’m sorry, is that weird?”

If you didn’t want to slap him before, you sure as hell do now. How blindly privileged is this guy that his problem in life is not being the coolest guy on the varsity basketball team? You puff out your cheeks to hold back an exasperated sigh, and pull out a gentle smile instead.

“Jeongin, I don’t think people see you that way at all.” You place a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Have you ever considered that maybe they might just be a bit intimidated by you?”

This is exactly how your mother talks to you when you start crying about how nobody ever has a crush on you on a random Thursday night. God bless that woman for gaslighting you into a positive attitude.

“You really think so?” He looks at you with these wide puppy-like eyes and you finally understand what the girls on Instagram mean when they talk about ‘getting the ick.’

“Really,” you affirm with a bright smile.

“Thank you. That means a lot to me.”

Just as he pulls you into a warm embrace, you push him just subtly enough that he wouldn’t notice it until he’s falling into the pool. With a large splash, all eyes turn to the two of you. He comes up from the water, clothes and hair drenched, and you feel a sense of satisfaction wash over you when you finally see a distressed expression etch itself onto his features.

“Fuck, I’m so sorry!” You lie, faking your concern. “Are you okay?”

“I’m… I’m fine.” He climbs out of the pool, and you curse yourself for staring a little too long at his defined muscles under his wet shirt. Then, he turns to you and says, “Needed to cool off anyways.”

And he laughs. Laughs at himself and laughs at your befuddled face and laughs when Chan asks if he’s alright, shooting him a quick thumbs up before grabbing the nearest beach towel. When his other friends crowd around him, he laughs and laughs and laughs and it drives you fucking insane. The resonating sound of his laughter surrounds the backyard in an instant, and for a moment you wish you had drowned yourself in that pool instead.

“I will shove my middle fingers in your dimples,” you mutter under your breath, and you consider it a promise.

“Be right back,” he tells you before rushing to the nearest bathroom to change his clothes, playfully flicking droplets of water onto your face and ruffling your hair, dampening it.

You watch as he walks away, feeling a strange pang of guilt in your chest when you notice his smile faltering as people start to focus amongst themselves again. Now it’s your turn to laugh, half out of disbelief and half out of pure glee.

Everything is going according to plan.

“I didn’t push him.”

Lie.

“We were just talking.” Lie.

“I still hate him.”

Lie?

Wow, three lies in a row. And to your best friend, of all people. This Operation 143 has really tested your moral compass, and it’s not looking great for you. No wonder why Seungmin is calling you at 3 AM, interrogating you about what the hell happened tonight.

“See, now, some of those statements kind of contradict each other,” he states. “I have no doubt that you still hate him, but I also don’t doubt the pure evil in your heart. You would have pushed him, and you wouldn't even be sorry about it.”

“Uh, well, you’re wrong,” you tell him. “Clearly you don’t know me that well then.”

“Whatever you say, but if one day you decide to come clean of your crimes, you owe me something. Something very very dear to me.”

At first you were nervous, because it’s obvious your best friend is on to you (note to self: be less evil on a day to day basis). But then you remember it’s your best friend, there’s only one thing he would want from you in this situation.

“Yes, yes, I’ll take you out for a fancy dinner,” you sigh. “That’s only if I confess my sins to you, Father Seungmin, and it’s not happening because I’m completely innocent.”

“Please never call me that again.”

“Noted.”

At that, your phone buzzes with a new notification. It’s from an unknown number, but you can see a display name. Jeongin.

~Jeongin: u up?

God, could this guy act more like a fuckboy? Somehow noticing the tension in the air despite your physical distance, Seungmin questions your mood.

“Jeongin just texted me.”

“Oh, so that’s what he wanted your number for.”

“Are you dumb?” You ask, but it feels more like an accusation. “Why the fuck else would he ask for my number, idiot?”

Seungmin makes a noise equivalent to a shrug, and you let it pass. You were just about to question him further about Jeongin asking for your number, but the man himself texts once again.

~Jeongin: wanna hang tmr?

“Ew,” you mutter quietly. “I think he thinks we’re friends or something.”

“Oh, right, I remember you don’t do those.” You can almost hear his eyes rolling at your annoyance at Jeongin. He’s expressed his disapproval for your one-sided rivalry many times, but you always bite back with words too vulgar to write down here.

“Yeah, you know you’re only my close acquaintance, right?” You turn your attention back to your phone, biting your thumb in deep thought. “I’ll be mean to him. Should send the right message.”

You need to change your technique anyway. Befriending him only to be annoying is only going to make him like you more, and betraying him out of the blue takes too much commitment. This is phase four, after all— you have such little time to get the job done. If you manage to succeed during senior year, people aren’t gonna care anymore because everybody is leaving anyway.

You won’t shy away from it anymore; it’s time to be direct. It’s time to be evil.

You: no.

Seungmin sputters out a laugh once you send the screenshot of your texts to him. “You couldn’t have even given him a reason why? God, you’re crueler than I thought.”

“Why can’t he just hate me back?” You whine, slumping your shoulders defeatedly. “Why is he so… So nice? What’s wrong with him?”

“Maybe he likes you,” Seungmin teases. “I kinda see the vision, actually. The nerd and the jock… Classic perfection.”

“You mean cliché,” you groan. “His type is probably other athletes or something. Popular people date popular people, Seungmo.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” Seungmin continues in a sing-song tone, so you close your ears and make weird noises, a signal that it’s time for him to shut the fuck up.

jeongin (DONT RESPOND): oh

jeongin (DONT RESPOND): ok :[

A week later you’re sitting in front of the bus station, waiting for Seungmin to arrive. He had promised to take you to the new coffee shop that just opened up to get some work done as a means to get ahead of other students. Nerdy as it may be, this is your summer ritual with your best friend, and if you didn’t fulfill it by the beginning of the summer, the guilt is going to eat you alive until you won’t be able to properly enjoy your holiday.

The summer breeze (or lack thereof) feels like it’s burning you alive, so you pull off your usual sweater to reveal a tank top underneath. Huffing out in irritation, you send a quick text to Seungmin.

You: wru

You: why take so long

You: ur so not a gentleman this is why ur single

Instead of an answer, you receive a phone call in return. You pick it up. “Yo, where are you? I’ve been waiting here for fifteen fucking minutes, dude, I’m parched.”

“I brought a friend,” said Seungmin, completely disregarding your complaints. “Look in front of you.”

And there he is, walking towards you with none other than Yang Jeongin beside him, waving at you like a stray puppy. You close your eyes, trying to pretend for as long as possible that none of it is real. This is probably what I get for trying to sabotage someone out of the basketball team, you think to yourself, deciding to surrender to your fate and greet them with as much kindness as you can muster for the time being.

After approximately thirty minutes of sitting down and discussing the next academic year’s syllabus, you decide that that was the last bit of kindness in your heart. So when Jeongin leaves to go to the restroom, you waste no time catching Seungmin up on what you’ve actually been doing. The letter, the operation— everything.

“25 pages?” Seungmin asks you in disbelief. “My god, that’s a thesis.”

“It might as well be, at this point.” You nod solemnly at his comment. There’s no use denying anything; at your core, you’re just pure cruel and sadistic. At the very least you know your best friend will love you regardless, even if nobody else will.

“Listen, I love you, truly I do. But you’ve got to stop,” Seungmin grabs your shoulders and looks you dead in the eye. He has never looked this serious before and meant it. “He’s, like, falling in love with you.”

“Pardon me?”

“I know, I know, it’s your worst nightmare, and I know you don’t like him like that, which is why I’m telling you this. Stop now or you will break his heart even more.”

Just as you were about to respond, Jeongin comes back to the table. If he hadn’t, you’re not sure what you would have had to say. Would you disagree with even the thought of it, telling Seungmin he’s a liar? Would you have argued that if your plan were to work, Jeongin would hate you in the end anyway? Or would you have asked him how to make those feelings grow?

But no, no. He doesn’t like you, not like that. He’s just kind, that’s all. He can’t.

And the next hour passes by like torture, with both boys having to snap you back to the present moment about five times each. You couldn’t care less about the syllabus or the coffee or the new inside jokes you all made that day. All you could think about was how Jeongin’s hand would brush against yours when he borrowed a pencil, or the way his eyes would lock with yours when he laughed at Seungmin’s sarcastic remarks.

The entire time, your mind was calculating the probability of Jeongin actually being in love with you. Each answer was always too close to 1 for your liking.

You couldn’t get him out of your head.

To be fair, you never could. But it used to be about hatred. You used to find joy in boring two-hour classes because you knew you could just spend those two hours daydreaming about what Jeongin would look like with real tears in his eyes, with a scowl on his lips, with anything other than that damned smile.

You told your boss you’d be taking the night shift at Lucy’s for a while, because your days would be spent hanging out with friends on the holidays. This isn’t true at all, of course, you just found it more difficult to escape those Jeongin-plagued thoughts when you were about to drift to slumber. Unfortunately, this didn’t work the way you had hoped, because it turns out the diner basically doesn’t have any customers after 8 PM.

It’s almost 10 PM now, the hour when you’ll have to close up the diner. Nobody has come inside in the last forty-five minutes, so you figure it’s best to close up early. That way, you’ll get more time to scroll on your phone or read a book.

You should have seen it coming, really. You know you could never escape him. There, standing in front of the doors of Lucy’s diner, is your haunting, your shadow, your karmic retribution.

“I keep thinking about you,” he says, almost breathless, as he steps into the diner.

“How long have you been standing there?” “Like, five seconds,” he answers. Then, as if to emphasize his previous statement, he says, “You owe me sleep.”

“You don’t think that goes both ways?” You turn away from him, placing all the cleaning supplies on the bar counter. When you look back, he’s already eagerly striding towards you.

“What are you saying? That you want me?”

“I… I don’t know,” you mutter. You can’t look at him, not right now, not like this. You would break not just his heart, but yours as well. “I don’t know how I feel. I need a… an experiment or an investigation or something that I know is going to tell me if this is actually real, because I have no fucking clue what’s real anymore.”

Without another word, he places both palms on the counter behind you, trapping your body between his, and kisses you.

It knocks the breath right out of your soul. Every vessel in your brain is screaming at you, reminding you that it’s wrong and he’s not supposed to like you and you’re not supposed to like him back and that you sure as hell shouldn’t be kissing him at all, let alone your workplace.

Nevertheless, you can’t help it. Everything you knew has been proven wrong. Everything you have questioned has proven themselves to be true. You know nothing at all. You kiss him back.

Acknowledging your reciprocation, he lifts a hand to cradle your face, gently brushing his thumb over your cheekbone down to your jaw. He takes a step closer, pressing your body flush against his. You haven’t closed the diner; somebody could walk in at any moment.

Running your fingers through his soft locks, he takes the opportunity to trail his lips to your neck. It’s at this moment that you begin to feel everything, and it’s all too real too quick. You push him away, taking one brief glance at his disheveled hair and swollen, rose-tinted lips.

You know you shouldn’t. You know you’re being a coward. You know the answer.

Be that as it may, you still run.

seungmo: Bball game @ school tonight

seungmo: Idk what happened w u and jeongin but pls come to the game

seungmo: U know how much ive been looking forward to this

seungmo: I'll keep him away, i promise

You shouldn’t have gone. You should have stayed home, rotting in your room for yet another night, catching up on all the studying you missed out on when you went to that coffee shop with Seungmin, finding yourself tracing the shape of your lips when you’re deep in thought, recalling the way Jeongin’s felt on yours.

The truth is, you do know how much Seungmin has been looking forward to this match. He had realized long ago that you couldn’t care less about sports, but still he found your face amongst the crowd every single time. Even though you had such a deep scowl it made him chuckle every time he saw you, he felt his chest warm with affection at the act of being present.

This is one of those unconditional, unspoken rules you’ve established in your friendship. You would support him, and he would support you. You couldn’t have ditched this.

But as you approach closer and closer to the basketball court, you notice something amiss. By now, you should have been able to hear the rowdy chanting of other students. You should have already been blinded by the lights surrounding the court, considering it’s already 6 PM. You should have seen Seungmin waiting for you, but he’s not there.

Nothing’s there. Nothing but Yang Jeongin, standing in the middle of the court.

“I’m starting to think Seungmin is playing matchmaker,” you say as you walk towards him.

His face cracks into a fit of laughter, and it lights up the whole area. “You think?”

You’re close enough to him to see how puffy his eyes are— is he just exhausted or has he been crying? He’s silent for a second, catching his bottom lip between his teeth, before opening his mouth to finally speak.

“Listen, I—”

“No, no,” you interrupt him. “Let me speak first.”

“I used to despise you, as you already know. For a reason that is so stupid that if I said it out loud right now I’d pee myself laughing, probably. And I guess that hatred helped me cover up my insecurities, and that I couldn’t believe someone like me and someone like you could be with anything more than enemies.” At some point, you started looking into his eyes, and now you can’t seem to pull away. “You’re not boring, Yang Jeongin, not at all. You’re certain. You’re my probability of 1.”

“So… Moral of the story, I’m different from all the other boys, yes?” He teases, wrapping his arm around your waist and pulling you closer inch by inch.

“You think that’s the moral of the story?” “Hell, no,” he chuckles. “The moral of the story is that sometimes you need to ditch that whole superiority complex and realize that you’re exactly like everybody else. You’re smart, yes, but you’re also stupid and naive and clumsy. And that’s completely alright. That doesn’t make you any less deserving of anything, it just makes you human.”

And as he tugs you into a kiss, you realize he’s right. It doesn’t matter what you know. Life is still uncertain, anyway, and the probabilities of most things are far less than 1. All you know is that whatever happens, you’ll be loved in the process.

#🕸️ SPIDERHANzZz !!!#stray kids x reader #yang jeongin x reader #skz #skz x reader #stray kids #yang jeongin #i.n #i.n skz #i.n stray kids #i.n x reader #skz fluff #stray kids fluff #skz fanfic #stray kids fanfic #skz fanfiction

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glassartpeasants · 9 months ago

Text

Run Rabbit Run .08

Yandere!Eustass Kid x F!Reader

Warnings: Mentions of death, blood, reader having a crisis, pregnancy, angst, probably slight cringe cause i've been sleep deprived and think everything good idea then, and most likely other shit i can't think of atm

A/N: apparently my body can't decide whether to write Kid or Kidd cause i wrote Kidd half way through this after spelling it 'Kid' in the last two fic's. So please bare with my stupidity

music playlist

@rebeccawinters @iggy5055 @dairygrrl @childconnoisseur @menifire1092 @nerdgeekandeverysweet-blog @tremendoushorsepatrolgoth

pt.1 pt.2 pt.3 pt.4 pt.5 pt.6 pt.7 pt.8 pt.9 pt.10 pt.11

~~~

Even though you’ve been counting down the months to finally reach Sabaody, a part of you yearned for just a few more weeks with G-5. Now, with only three more days till you dock at the archipelago, the excitement is palpable. Time seemed to have a mind of its own, neither hastening nor slowing. They say time flies when you're having fun, and indeed it did. Four months dwindled to three, then two, and before you knew it, you were down to mere days.

You couldn’t wait to see everyone, to reveal the person you’ve become during the two-year separation. The anticipation to demonstrate your newfound devil fruit powers and everything Smoker and G-5 have instilled in you. To prove that you've earned the title of a Straw Hat. That even in the face of pregnancy, you stand strong, capable of protecting yourself and your friends. You’ve toiled day and night to hone your abilities and devil fruit powers, all while nurturing the life growing within you.

Tashigi helped you in buying things that’d make your life a bit easier. Pregnancy pillows, maternity clothes, vitamins to keep yourself healthy, and everything in between. She even convinced you to write a journal for every day of your pregnancy. It did help a lot more than you thought it would. You wrote what you wouldn’t tell anyone else and how you truly felt about your situation that day. Some good and some bad.

A wave of emotions would often overwhelm you when something triggered memories of your time with Kidd. The echo of people calling your name, the rumble of thunder, all reminiscent of your time spent in the shadows. While you knew you’d never be the same person you were before Kidd, you have strived to heal from all the things that have transpired.

It wasn’t working very well, though.

Looking at any reflective surface has your heart shattering when your eyes land on the visible scars on your body. Trying to picture yourself without the scars was impossible as you struggled not to imagine Kidd in the image as well. It was almost easier to pretend you were born with your scars rather than think about the one that gave them to you. Even in everyday life, he'd pop into your head when you weren’t thinking about him. Closing your eyes, you still see his amber eyes staring right back at you.

Being alone with your thoughts always makes things difficult. If it were too quiet, you’d hear his voice whispering in your ear. Feeling his fingers touching your skin when you wore short-sleeved shirts was also common. Times when you were so close to slumber, you’d start to smell his presence. The only thing that seems to calm you down now is a tune your mother used to sing to you.

It had been sealed away in your memories for years, and now you managed to remember the words and tune after having a dream about her singing it to you. You watched her rock yourself as she sang the little song before tucking you in. Her face was a blur, but you could still hear her. At least you could still remember her voice. Yet when she stopped singing, you immediately woke up.

Since then, you’ve been subconsciously humming it when working around the ship. You remember getting embarrassed when Tashigi asked you what you were singing. When you told her that it was something your mother sang to you when you were a baby, she got stars in her eyes.

“You should sing to them! I heard it’s extremely beneficial to the baby!” You couldn’t help but laugh.

“Your more invested in this pregnancy than I am, and I'm the one carrying the baby.”

“I heard it’s great for bonding and-” She stopped herself before she could finish. You knew what she was trying to say and that there was no ill will behind it.

“It’s okay. I know you meant well. Maybe if the situation were different, I’d be more excited. But I don’t want to get too close to them since I’m putting them up for adoption.”

“I’m sorry. I forgot about that. I guess I just got excited for something other than listening to men yelling and fighting.”

“No, I promise it’s okay! Things happen. You meant well, and that’s all that matters to me.”

Leaning against the railing, you look out at the setting sun. The beautiful colors you memorize as you imagine sailing off with the Straw Hats. Happy laughter as you’d hear them tell their stories of their adventures from the two years you’ve been separated. You couldn’t wait to hear Luffy’s infectious laughter or see Robin's calming smile. Only three more days until you make it to Sabaody then-...

…What then?

You’d still be pregnant, on the run, and scared that any second Kidd’s going to show up and whisk you away. Even after you put up the baby for adoption, your body would still look pregnant for a while before going back to normal. Your body would wonder where the baby had gone and when it’d come back. How were you supposed to live life normally after this? Knowing that you have a baby out there that you’ll never get to see grow up. Always worry if they're safe and scared that Kidd might find them and use them as leverage to make you come back.

But at the same time, you couldn’t take them with you. The sea is no place to raise a child, let alone a baby. They could fall overboard, get kidnapped by Marines or rival pirate groups, hell, they could get ill at sea, and you wouldn’t have the medicine to make them better!

Anyway, you looked at it, it felt like nothing was the right choice. The negatives outweighed the positives in your head. It’s possible that everything you’ve experienced has made you an internal pessimist. That, or maybe you were just thinking logically. Either or, it still sucked.

“What are you thinking about?” Tashigi’s voice pulled you from your negative thoughts as she stood beside you.

“Everything and nothing at all. Three days, and then we’ll be enemies. Feels weird knowing that.”

“Yeah. It’s gonna be weird not having you around. I’m gonna be stuck as the only girl once again.” You laugh a bit at her admission.

“If only we’d be able to call one another. But it’s too much of a risk in case any higher-ups were to find out.” Both of you sigh before turning to each other.

“Why do you have to be a pirate?”

“Why do you have to be a Marine?” The two of you laugh as you see the stars start to appear in the night sky.

“The stars are pretty, huh? Maybe we can find constellations if we look hard enough.” You can see Tashigi thinking out of the corner of your eye before her head perks up.

“What if we take pictures? Like a group picture? We’d be able to remember each other even if we can’t talk.”

“You're right! We can do it tomorrow morning! I heard it’s supposed to be sunny and clear!”

“Perfect! We can go around telling the other Marines about it, and they’ll all agree. Vice Admiral Smoker, we might have to convince or drag.”

“I think it’ll be worth the extra chores.”

~~~

As you lay in your bed once more, you look out over the multiple sleeping marines. In a few days' time, you’ll never see them again. If you do, then you’d have to fight them. Once you get back to the Straw Hats, you’ll undoubtedly have a bounty from the government. Then you’ll genuinely be ‘enemies,’ but the thought of hurting any of them made you want to cry. How could you hurt those who took you in, no matter who you were? They risked getting in trouble and put themselves in danger just for you.

Maybe if your forced to fight them, you could just run away? Usopp does it a lot, so why couldn’t you?

You move slightly to get more comfy, only to hear a ‘thud’ come from the side of your bed. Gently moving to the best of your pregnant abilities, you manage to see a particular journal that you haven’t read since the first week you met the G-5.

Heat’s journal.

Biting your lip, you mentally fight to figure out whether you should read it or not. After taking months to try and process Heat’s internal thoughts and the truth about your home, perhaps you were ready to read the rest of it.

Scooting closer to the edge of the bed, you manage to grab the book by the tips of your fingers. You bring it up just enough for your other hand to hold it. A slight pain rummages through your body as you try to bring it up. Thankfully, you manage to pull it up just enough to grab it with your other hand. Snuggling into the bed more, you use the moon as a light source to read the book.

Something happened. I don’t know what it was exactly, but whatever it was, put (Y/N) in the hospital on the island we’re currently docked at. No one but Killer and Kidd himself were allowed to see her. Doctors must have been in and out of that room when (Y/N) first entered.

I can’t see (Y/N) trying to kill herself. Not with the small determination I can still see in her eyes. It had to be something involving Kidd. If Kidd can put a hot metal branding on her, then I don’t think he’d be above doing something to land her in the hospital.

I’ve talked to Wire about his thoughts on what could have happened. He told me that while he saw nothing, he heard multiple thuds and yelling coming from beneath the deck. Immediately upon hearing that, a sour taste filled my mouth. I have to go down and see for myself the room Kidd has been keeping (Y/N) in. There has to be something down there that could tell me something.

Of course, Kidd didn’t want his crew to know he almost killed you. Typical. What did Heat say when he saw you come back from the hospital? When what was the starting time when you forgot your memories. Gently skimming through the pages, you found the entry you were looking for.

I don’t think my eyes have ever widened as much as they did when I saw Kidd and (Y/N) holding hands. There was a bright smile on (Y/N)’s face when she finally came aboard the deck. Her legs are wobbly, and it looks like she’s learning how to walk again. She had bandages covering her head. Behind her and Kid was a doctor along with Killer.

Obviously, somethings not right. (Y/N) or Kidd must have hit her head so hard that a real doctor is needed. While I know it’s a very cliche scenario, I think that she must have hit her head so hard that her memory fogged. And if that’s so, what lies had Kidd told her already? Maybe if I'm able to get the doctor alone, I can get some information.

So Heat saw you the day you returned to the Victoria Punk after the incident? You were shocked that Kidd didn’t bring you back to the ship during the night. But thankfully, he was too stupid, and it allowed Heat to see the first part of the aftermath in real-time.

You don’t remember the first week or two when you got back to the Victoria. Not the doctors or leaving the hospital. It was probably for the best, though. You don’t need any more trauma than you already have.

“What were his thoughts during those five months?” Looking back at the marines to ensure they were sleeping, you flip through the pages again.

Caught (Y/N) staring out to sea earlier before the night entirely took over. It’s been a while since I’ve talked to her, honestly. I felt like I was going insane trying to figure out how or if I should help her now. She looks so happy now, but at the same time, her happiness is based on lies and blood.

Why did this have to happen? What sins did (Y/N) do in a past life that made this her reality? One minute, she was living her life, then the next, she’s stuck in a storage room on a pirate ship. I try not to think how alone she must have felt before this incident. Always being stuck in the dark and only seeing the same people over and over again. Me talking to her can only do so much. It won’t bring back her parents or friends. Nor will it bring back her home.

It still eats me knowing that I’m the reason this woman has no one left. No friends or family. Well, there’s those Straw Hats she’s told me about.

I remember them from Sabaody. Their captain was a strange one, but it did seem like he cared for his crew. If he’s willing to risk his life by storming Impel Down and Navy headquarters just to save his brother, then I think if there is any place or pirate crew for her to be in, it’d be the Straw Hats.

Maybe if I mention Saboady, it’ll spark something and clear the fog that’s invaded her mind.

"If only you knew Heat. It was the thing that made me realize somethings not right.” For a Kidd Pirate, he truly was a fallen angel in disguise. While you’ll never forgive him for what he did to your home, he proved that almost everyone deserves a second chance.

Holy shit. I can hear my heart beating in my ears. I haven’t run as quickly and quietly as I could in forever. Not to mention the underlying threat of getting caught giving (Y/N) a devil fruit.

Finding the damn thing was entirely on accident but a pain in the ass to bring on the ship without anyone noticing. Even stealing the fruit was a feat in itself. I don’t know how that fisherman found it or what he was planning on doing with it, but in the end, it’s going to a better cause.

I managed to have (Y/N) eat it by luring her outside the dining hall earlier. When I watched her eat it all, it made a slight ease wash over me. At least now, she’d have a bit more of a fighting chance against Kidd if he did anything.

I feel bad that I couldn’t tell her everything right then and there, but I was already pushing it by being so close to everyone, especially with Killer being somewhere on deck. I didn’t want to cause a scene and have Kidd freak out or anything. The longer he’s in the dark, the safer it is for (Y/N) and myself.

Honestly, I thought Killer would have knocked some sense into Kidd when he found out about (Y/N). I was obviously very wrong.

“If anything, he was just as insane as Kidd. Fueling his crazed thoughts and obsession. I still remember that dumb conversation I heard between him and Kidd about boarding up the storage room.” It pissed you off more that if it weren’t for Killer’s mask, you probably would have put two and two together quicker. Facial expressions are everything.

I caught (Y/N) staring at the sky again. Thankfully, Killer and Wire were on the opposite side of the ship, so I was finally able to talk to (Y/N) alone. She didn’t know what I made her eat initially, which shocked me. Maybe she hadn’t done anything to trigger it yet.

We both found out pretty quickly what her devil fruit power was, though.

I was trying to tell her that everything she knew about Kidd was a lie. That her life was a lie. I wanted to be more collected and calm about it, but how do you carefully say something like that? It was hard seeing her eyes flash all her emotions, but it soon turned to pain when a harsh shock hit my hands. It felt like a burning hot pole went straight through my hands.

It hurt like a bitch, but the pain subsided when I saw her looking at her hands. When I also looked at them, I saw electricity slither across her hands. I watched her put her hands together and was speechless when a ball of pure electricity formed. She started panicking when the ball was getting too big for her to control and starting to hurt her. I told her to throw it out to sea, and when she did, I felt like I was watching the moon shrink. It was so bright and slightly calming. The farther it went, the more at ease I felt. (Y/N) had a chance. She had a chance to defend herself and run away.

And I’ll be there to make sure she’s safe.

Tears fall profusely down your face, reading the last line. How can the world be so cruel? All he wanted to do was help, and yet he lost his life.

You go to read the next page only to see it’s blank. Feeling your throat dry, you start skimming through the rest of the pages, hoping to see more writing, yet there is nothing. It felt like your heart had been ripped directly from your chest. That was the last thing Heat has ever written, and it just had to be the most heartbreaking thing to read.

Curling up as best you can, considering your belly, you hold Heat’s journal close to your chest. You try your best not to sob as you don’t want to wake up the rest of the Marines sleeping next to you. Between sniffles and the slight shaking as you try to control your breathing, you whisper to yourself in hopes that wherever Heat is, he’ll hear you.

“Thank you.”

~~~

Another island was reduced to ashes after falling victim to Eustass Kidd’s wraith. A once lush and thriving island is now in flames and crumbling as the ruthless pirate searched tirelessly for a certain someone last seen there.

“God fucking damnit! When I get my hands on whatever Marines are holding her, I’m going to kill every single one of them! They’ll wish they never got involved when I break each of their bones!” Kidd’s voice boomed across the town as his amber eyes scanned everywhere.

Where are you?! Why aren’t you here?!

“Kid.” Killer’s voice breaks through the brute's rage, making him turn his head.

“What Killer?!”

“We’ve searched everywhere, and there's no sign of her. It’s not like we can ask anyone either since everyone has evacuated before we arrived.”

Ever since the incident on Halyard Island, as soon as your location was revealed in the paper, people would evacuate their homes to try to save their families and avoid the unstable tornado of destruction that was Eustass Kidd.

Some people stayed because it��d been their home since birth, and they’d rather die than leave it defenseless. There have been rebellions to try to stop Kidd, but they were always snuffed out the moment Kidd saw them. The same could be said for any Marines that were sent to stop him. Getting sent on a mission to any island that you had been spotted at was a death wish. Sometimes, the Marines were too late, and Kidd had already destroyed the island. But when Kidd would see them, he wouldn’t let any Marines leave until he talked to each and every single one of them. And since none of them had you, none of them would leave the island alive.

Your name had become a jinx to any Marine that spoke it. Speaking your name would always have the Marine that spoke it sent out on the next mission to stop Kid from destroying yet another island just to find you. And since none of them had you, they’d never come back alive to say what they’ve experienced.

After being the ‘cause’ of death for so many Marines, some rookies have given you the nickname ‘Devil’s Darling.’ It was a joke at first, but as the death toll rose and how Kidd’s name got more infamous, more and more people adopted it. And with a nickname like that, more people have come to hate you.

While you haven’t done anything, the fact is that if it weren’t for you escaping, no one would have gotten hurt. If only you had bit the bullet, no one would have lost their lives. Many victims of Kidd’s rage blame you for it. Anger and fear take over the hearts of many, and to the civilians of the New World, you’ve become as feared and hated as the man hunting you down.

The government had become more conflicted on where to stand with you. While you were technically innocent, the people have been nagging them to put an official bounty on your head. If they did, you’d only be wanted alive. The power they could hold if they managed to capture you. You could be the key to finally catching and imprisoning Eustass Kidd.

And Kidd knew all of this.

He knew the hatred the people had started to hold for you. How they’d give you to him if they managed to recognize and grab you before you left the island. In a way, he had the whole New World in his hand. Their hatred and fear was and will be the town’s own undoing.

The only people stopping him were fucking journalists who don’t say or do a thing when they see you. They are so desperate for a story and to lead him on that they don’t care about how they’ve helped in the destruction.

“Of course, she isn’t here. Fucking hate those journalists and Marines.” Kidd kicked a smoldering piece of wood in anger. Ashes fly to the sky as it did nothing to soothe his rage.

They don’t understand that he needs you. He dreams of you every night. Dreams of you laying next to him and kissing his face. Some where you were holding his child, soothing them to sleep. Humming a small tune before noticing him and smiling. You’d say something to him, but he could never remember what it was when he woke up.

And while there were dreams, nightmares followed suit. Nightmares of you falling into the ocean and sinking to the bottom with your hand outstretched for Kidd to grab and save you. Or the times when you’d be running from Marines to him only for you to get shot as soon as he had you in your arms. The nightmares plagued him much more than he dreamt of you. He’s always had nightmares when you weren’t lying next to him. Ever since the first night you’ve slept with him in his bed, he’s never been able to sleep alone without waking up sometimes during the night. The warmth your body gave him while you slept, go thim addicted.

Those first few months you left and joined those damn Straw Hats, the same nightmare happened every night. It replayed the scene of you sailing away from him over and over again. No matter what, those months without you behind closed doors were pure hell for Kidd. You were just gone from his life after being by his side for a year and a half. He’d never get to kiss you or hold you close again.

But just as Killer tried to get Kidd over you, he saw you.

He was fighting a pacifista next to that dweeb Trafalgar Law when he turned his head, and there you were. You were running as fast as you could, and there he saw you. What you were running from, he didn’t know, but what he did know was that you were alone. No Straw Hats or Marines to take you away now. You were his for the taking once more, and this time, he’d make sure you knew it-

“Earth to Kidd!” Blinking a few times, Kidd’s pulled from his memories by Killer snapping his fingers in his face.

“I was thinking! What is it?”

“Haven’t you noticed a pattern? How each island she’s at, she gets closer and closer to the Navy Headquarters?” A pit filled Kidd’s stomach hearing Killer’s words.

“What are you saying, Killer? Spill it!”

“What if their taking her to the safety of Navy Headquarters? Or worse, Impel Down?” Kidd grits his teeth at the thought. No way in hell was he gonna let those fuckers take you.

“Any Marine ship we see, attack. Don’t care if they're not in our course. No Marine ship will get past the Victoria. Search every part of the Marine ship, and if she isn’t there, sink the ship to the bottom of the sea.”

“And the Marines on it?”

“Kill them all.”

~~~

“You wanted to see me, Vice Admiral? If it’s about the pictures we did yesterday, I have some here if you want to choose one.-”

“Sit. We need to talk.” Your heart stopped for a second, but you managed to snap back and sit on the chair in front of his desk. The way he sat in his chair behind the desk made you bite the inside of your cheek. When Tashigi told you that he wanted to see you, you were nervous. She said that while she didn’t know why he wanted to, you had no need to be scared.

Obviously, she was wrong.

“O-Oh? What about?” You can feel your palms sweat as the room seems to heat up.

“The government has finally put up a bounty for you.” Hearing those words come from Smoker's mouth made time stop as thousands of scenarios played through your head. Would he turn you in?

“But I haven’t done anything! Why do I have a bounty?!”

“You haven’t done anything. But Kidd has.”

“What does that have to do with me?”

“He’s been destroying islands, villages, and Marine ships nonstop. Anything in his path has become a victim of his rage. According to headquarters, we’ve lost a lot of good men to him. Rookies, Vice Admirals, and Admirals even have been killed. His bounty has tripled in the last six months. Wouldn’t shock me if it raises the next time the new bounty posters come up.” You were speechless. How many people have been hurt or killed because of you? So many deaths for simply living. This has to be a nightmare.

“I don’t understand. Why do I have a bounty for things he’s done? I’m not out here hurting people!” Smoker sighed before running a hand through his hair.

“They want to use you to lure Kidd so they can capture him. That and many people of the New World are treating you as much of a threat as kid himself is.”

“I’ve never hurt anyone! I hate Kidd as much as they do, so why do they hate me?...”

“Fear. Kidd’s insanity has caused fear to cover the entire New World. Seeing your name and last known location in the paper is a death wish for the island you were last seen at. I don’t know how these damn journalists keep spotting you no matter what disguise we put you in.”

“It’s like they’re actively looking for me. Why are they so determined to find me? People have been hurt, yet they don’t care!” Guilt starts to eat at you as the thought of countless people getting hurt because of your problems eats at your heart.

“First Heat…now this? Why is this happening to me? What have I done to deserve this?” You whisper to yourself as you lay your hands on your thighs before gripping your pants tightly. Tears start to whelm in your eyes as you bite your lip. The images of people's faces you’ve never seen before start to pop up in your mind as if to make you suffer more. The survivor's guilt already consumed you after Heat’s death, but now, with having so much more ‘blood’ on your hands, the pain was unbearable.

“Heat? Where have I heard that name before?”

“He was a crewmate on Kidd’s ship. He’s…no longer with us.”

“A Marine kill him? I don’t think I’ve heard of any Kidd Pirates getting sent to Impel Down.”

“No. Kidd did.” Even though you spoke between sobs, SMoker still managed to catch your words. He was stunned to hear such a thing. Killing his own crew? If he can do that without remorse, what else is he willing to do?

“He helped me escape the first time I was stuck with Kidd. He undid the chain that was connected to a collar Kidd had me wear and told me to run. When he saw that I had gotten captured again, he tried to help me again, but…”

“But?”

You ran as fast as you could around teh deck to try and find Heat and Kidd. In the dark, the whole boat felt like a maze. Each passing second was an eternity. How can you find them in time?

“Your fucking stupid to think I wouldn’t notice how you're trying to play hero! At first, I gave you the benefit of the doubt when you let her go the first time. But now, when everything’s good, you're trying to ruin it!” Kidd’s voice rang in your left ear, making you stop in your tracks.

“What are you talking about Kidd? Are you drunk or something?”

“Don’t play dumb! You know damn well what I’m talking about! Your telling (Y/N) shit she doesn’t need to remember! Telling her things that’ll ruin what I’ve worked so hard for! She’s happy, and you want her to be sad?!”

“That’s not happiness, Kidd! Her ‘happiness’ is based on lies! I know I’m not the greatest person. I have skeletons in my closet, but what you're doing is insane!” Hearing Heat bite back makes you dash towards the two voices.

Just then, a few loud thumps accompanied by a cough echoed across the deck. A bang was soon heard right after, and it only made you run faster. When you finally made it to the source, your horrified to see Kidd with his back facing you and a bloody, jagged knife in his hand. In front of him, you see Heat on the deck with his back leaning against the railing. Red starts to seep through his clothes, as you can hear his breathing become erratic. You watched him cough harshly and see droplets of blood shooting out from his mouth.

“I don’t remember asking for your input, Heat. I won’t let you ruin this for me. If only you had minded your business, then none of this would have to happen.” Heat gives Kidd a strong glare before laughing at him. His teeth covered in blood as he smiled at Kidd.

“She’ll find out. It may not be by me, but your house of cards is crumbling, Kidd. She’s gonna find out whether you like it or not.” You can hear Kidd crack his neck at Heat’s words.

“Not to mention, she and the rest of the crew are gonna wonder what’s happened to me. How are you gonna explain that?”

“I can just say you fell overboard. Since your a devil fruit user, you’ll sink to the bottom. The crew will believe it, and so will (Y/N).”

“Doubt it. She’s not stupid, Kidd. She’s gonna remember everything that’s happened. Her home, friends, family, and everything you’ve done to her, she’s gonna remember. And when she does, I’ll be laughing in hell.” You watch Kidd charge at Heat with the knife clutched tightly in his hand.

“No!” Running from your hiding spot, you jump in front of Heat. Despite the fear that coursed through you, you spread your arms out to a T so you can protect him from your knife-wielding lover. Your arrival brought silence among the three of you.

“(Y/N)...” Glancing back to Heat, you see the shock in his eyes. Your heart bleeds as Heats breath becomes more ragged with each second that passes.

“(Y/N)! What are you doing?! You need to get away from him! He’s working for the Marines! He’s a traitor!” Biting your lip between your teeth, you try not to cry as your lover lies directly in your face so casually.

A strong, familiar tingling feeling circulated through your arms and legs as you stood in front of Heat. Buzzing rings in your ears as the feeling grows stronger as you anticipate Kidd’s next move.

“Move (Y/N). I’m trying to protect you! He’s going to hurt you, it’s not safe next to him.” Looking into Kidd’s eyes, you stand yoru ground and still stand in his path. You can feel your heart race as he reaches out to you. The feeling of his fingertips from his real arm just barely touching your wrist before a loud ZAP could be heard echoing across the Victoria Punk.

“Son of a bitch!” Kid recoils his hand back and tries brushing it against his red feathered coat. The buzzing of the zap still ringing in your ears as you quickly turn your attention to Heat. You're quick to start inspecting him for more wounds but can only see one. A stab wound dangerously close to the heart but at a perfect position for it to be in the lungs. While Kidd missed the heart, he managed to puncture a lung which could be just as fatal. It also explains the coughing up of blood.

“Heat! Hang on! Everything will be okay! Just give me a second!-”

“Where did you get devil fruit powers?...” You stutter as you try to figure out a lie to say. Yet, you watch Heat give Kidd a bloody smirk. From that, it didn’t take long for Kidd to put two and two together.

“You gave her devil fruit powers?! I’m going to fucking kill you, you bastard!” Your heart almost stops completely as you see Kidd stomping towards the two of you. The way his face looked so sinister made it feel like you were living another nightmare.

Quick to jump to your feet again, you place yourself between Heat and Kidd. The buzzing continued, and you watched as electricity slithers around your arms and legs, helping you give off a threatening aura.

“Don’t you dare hurt him, Kidd!” Despite the electricity covering you, Kidd still reaches out. Just as you watch him reach for your arm, he changes direction and grabs your hair. With a harsh tug, Kidd throws you behind him. Your body hits against the hard wooden deck with a ‘thunk.’

You can feel the air being knocked out of your lungs as tears prickle your eyes. As you struggle to get over the pounding in your head and the ache in your body, you hear Heat cough harshly again. When you open your eyes to look at the two men, your eyes widen in horror as you watch Kidd hold Heat up by the throat. Lifting him to his feet, you see Heat struggle to get Kidd’s metal hand off his throat.

“Enjoy the bottom of the sea Heat! Say hi to the sea kings that’ll feast on your corpse, will ya?” Jumping to your feet despite still being dizzy, you dash towards Kidd and Heat. But just as you took three steps in, you watched as Kidd threw Heat against the railing, making him tumble over it and fall off the boat.

Running to the railing and praying that he’s simply hanging on, your hopes were crushed as soon as you heard the heartbreaking sound of water splashing. Leaning over the edge to see if you could throw him a rope, you only had time to see bubbles rising to the water's surface before Kidd grabbed you by the hair and began to drag you away.

“Kidd found out about it. My devil fruit powers wouldn’t be a thing if it weren’t for Heat. If it wasn’t for him, who knows how long I would have been stuck with Kidd and his web of lies.”

“How long has it been since his death?” While he could see that this was obviously a sensitive topic for you, perhaps if you spoke about it, it might loosen whatever burden his death has caused.

“A week had passed after his death when you guys found me. So, as long as I’ve been here plus a week.” Letting out a hum, Smoker continued to listen.

“It’s all my fault…If only I had been more careful then maybe he’d still be here. He’d still be alive instead of at the bottom of the sea.”

“I watched Kidd kill him. I saw Kidd kill the only friend I had and there was nothing I could do about it!”

‘That explains a lot. There’s a lot more layers of trauma she hasn’t told me or Tashigi about. If there's something that traumatic she’s keeping to herself, what else could be going on inside that she’s not talking about?’

“There are times when I feel like he’s haunting me. I see him sometimes in my nightmares. Or times when I’m leaning against the railing and go to look down at the sea only to see Heat standing beside me. But when I go to check if he’s really there, it’s always an empty space. I’ve caught glimpses of him staring at me through the crowd. People walk back and forth and I see him staring at me. But then somebody walks in front of him, and then he’s gone!” Smoker watches as your body shakes and tears begin pouring down your face. You grip your uniform pants even harder as you try to stabilize yourself as you begin to hyperventilate.

“Every time I see him, I don’t see the Heat I know. I see him as a corpse. No matter what he’s always just staring at me with lifeless eyes. It always looks like he’s…”

“At the bottom of the sea?”

“Yeah. Down there.” A minute os silence passes before SMoker speaks.

“You shouldn’t feel guilty for his death. From how much you’ve told me, it sounds like he knew the risks that came with trying to set you free. That he’d be putting his own life in danger to help yours. Do you think he’d want you to feel guilty for a sacrifice he was willing to make?”

“No.”

“Then don’t blame yourself for something that someone did of their own free will.”

“Yes, Vice Admiral.” While Smoker knew a single sentence wouldn’t fix all the trauma Heat’s death had obviously caused, he supposed it was better to get it off your chest. With Heat’s death, along with the people Kidd’s hurt in your name lingering in your mind, he can’t imagine the toll it’s taken on you.

~~~

Today’s the day. According to Tashigi, you guys should be at Sabaody before 3 pm. After months of training and pregnancy, along with your time with Kidd, you’ll finally be able to return to the Straw Hats.

It feels unreal. Almost as if it’s a dream. Yet, the dangers of Sabaody didn’t slip your mind. Bounty hunters, potential civilians willing to hunt you down, and the navy waiting to use you as bait. All odds were against you.

You did know the sunny was docked at tree 41, so maybe you could have G-5 bring you close but not too close to the sunny? The closer you are to it, the safer it’ll be for you. Well, you and the baby.

Not a second goes by where it’s not on your mind. Any time you move, you have to be cautious you don’t hit your tummy on anything. Eating foods became a test as foods you used to love, you now despise. Now, you're studying foods that are healthy for the baby and what’s not. Anything an over-paranoid pregnant woman does, you did. Even though you're gonna give up the baby for adoption when the time comes, you are gonna make sure the baby is healthy.

There was a nagging feeling that ate at you whenever you were alone. Sometimes, you could feel the baby kick whenever you tapped your belly purposefully or on accident. It was as if they were responding to you. If they could feel the vibrations from a simple tap, could they also hear you talk about not wanting them? Even if six months old, what if? You knew it was impossible for them to understand you, but the nagging feeling never went away.

Maybe when you reunite with the Straw Hats, that nagging feeling will fade away.

~~~

Another art thing. not really proud of it but it is what it is

#one piece x reader #eustass kid x reader #eustass captain kid x reader

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bluelotuswrites · 6 months ago

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hey blue <3 so i’ve been thinking about this for a while and i don’t know if it’s been asked before, but how do you come up with the titles for your fics?? they all have this air of catholic guilt and poetic power that just hits every time and i would love to know your process for coming up with them?

Honestly, it really depends.

Some of them have ties to real phrases ex. See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil -> See No Evil, Speak No Evil Family Doesn't End in Blood

Some of them are vagueish connections to the story's content ex. Laying Down the Sword is kinda a connection to Jason's never-ending fight against crime until he decided to walk away (Also a very, very loose nod to Joan of Arc, who also carried a sword and fought in a battle until killed young) Like a Barbed Wire Noose -> pain from throat bad enough to feel like a barbed wire noose (if you've ever had strep throat, you'll know what I'm talking about.)

Some were courtesy of friends ex. My Soul Follows My Decay @speaching Hellblazer's Apprentice @duskyashe The Devil's Eyes and His Voice Behind was someone in a fandom server I'm in but I can't remember for the life of me who it was right now.

Some are more just because I loved how they were comedic/ironic ex. Two Rounds of Shots (But One's Alcohol and One's a Bullet) Hamlet Has Nothing on Me! Evil is Subjective and All I Wanted Was Some Fucking Sliced Bread

Others were more as pointed towards DC elements ex. Burn His Kingdom and Salt the Ashes -> Bruce is "Gotham's Prince" so Talia and Jason knock him off his pedestal Crumbling Pillars, Failing Foundations -> The security and tight-knitted dynamics of batfamily are falling apart. Bruce's rule and reputation that were placed on pillars are crumbling as the family sees the truth; and the foundation of trust is failing because of this.

There are (yet to be seen) titles that come from song lyrics, so go listen to the playlists I have if you want to try and get a hint ;)

I explained a bit of the origins of Red is the Color of Sinners series' name in this post. But also, I chose that name because both characters have a strong connection to the color red and considering Jason is a priest in one DC timeline, I kinda imagined he has some ties to religion and just went ham on it. Since Matt says he has the Devil in him and Jason does commit murder, they're both sinners (Hurrayyyy good ol' fashioned Catholic guilt) :D

On another note, in terms as to how I come up with them, I worked a very boring job at a grocery store and used to daydream the hell out of stuff for my stories to help kill time. Either that or they just kinda come to me when I'm sleeping or doing something like taking a shower or doing dishes, and then it's a mad scramble to write it down before I forget lol. Occasionally they'll go through name changes but for the most part, they stay the same.

#jason todd #batman #red is the color of sinners #dc #red hood #dc comics #my fanfic #daredevil #matt murdock #netflix daredevil #jason peter todd #robin ii #robin #hellblazer's apprentice #hellblazer comic #hellblazer #john constantine #asks

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sky-scribbles · 9 months ago

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Playlist for my Aeor longfic

I failed to figure out how to do a fancy spotify embed like the kids do but uh. Here's the playlist for Gravity!

I listened to this while planning and writing, and there are even a few shout-outs to the songs in the fic... Songs are arranged chronologically, so you should be able to hear the story happening, hopefully :'D

Further yelling about song choices under the cut!

A Matter of Time - This one is... sort of the fic's opening titles in my head? I wanted to start out with an instrumental, to capture the vibes of the months before the fic opens - Essek and Caleb apart, thinking about the T-Dock, and each other. Wondering. Waiting.

Horse to Water - Essek in Chapter 1, knowing his life as the Shadowhand is ending, waiting for Caleb to come and take him away to whatever comes next. (I'm normally very picky about not putting songs that reference modern day stuff on fantasy playlists but this one's vibes were too perfect)

Dear Fellow Traveller - Two wizards heading into Aeor together.

Conquest of Spaces - A song for Aeor. A dark, beautiful city, the remains of a people who lived by greed and power. (And two wizards in the ruins, trying to draw closer to each other.)

Neptune - This is mostly for Essek's breakdown in chapter 5, as he worries he'll never break out of his Shadowhand manipulation, wanting to be closer to Caleb and not knowing what that would even look like. And it's a little for Caleb in chapter 6, too, grappling with his feelings for Essek and his fears that they'll ultimately be bad for each other.

Please Don't Say You Love Me - ... and as they move past those fears, this song is for them tentatively acknowledging what they might be to each other. Not yet. But maybe soon.

Woodwork - This is for the chapters 6-9 span, as they learn more about Brashaar's plan. The pressure of a crisis has an odd way of making them realise just how deep their trust and care for each other runs.

Two Evils - Since we're at the point where Brashaar shows up, she gets a song now! This is pretty much her internal monologue during her confrontation with the wizards (though she really should have paid attention to 'if you're not careful, you will lose her' in reference to Quaera...)

Winter - Travelling northward, and yearning. Wishing they had more time.

Mind - A song for a young Quaera, slowly forming a personality, wondering about who she is and how her identity forms...

The Tower - ... and having their own breakdown.

What Could Have Been - I love me a good villainous breakdown, and this is a song for Brashaar's. This is how I imagine she feels during the final confrontation, raging against the gods, against Caleb and Essek, against Quaera after they turn from her. Not quite able to let go of what she thinks Aeor could have been. What, in her eyes, the world is meant to be. (As a bonus, I think the second verse sounds a bit like a retort to her from Quaera...)

Everybody Wants to Rule the World - This is such a fun cinematic cover, and I can't tell you how many times I've imagined a mental AMV of the final battle with Brashaar set to it :'D

Ori, Embracing the Light - I wanted an instrumental here too, because... Essek is dead, Caleb is in shutdown, and Essek and Quaera are communing with the Luxon, a being that doesn't really speak with words. Also, 'embracing the light' is exactly what Quaera does at this point.

Would That I - I know we all use this as Caleb's 'learning to live and love again' song... and I am no exception. This is for him after the T-Dock, finally fully acknowledging his grief, and his love for Essek.

First Day of my Life - Just two wizards realising that they have a future, and agreeing to slowly work at what's between them.

Ready to Call This Love - This one speaks for itself, honestly.

Five - Both of the wizards in the final chapter, but especially Essek realising how isolated he's been from the world, and letting it all in so he can feel it. (Also, studying the universe is a love language - )

Gravity - Gravity is a metaphor for love!!!!

#please know that restricting myself to just four sleeping at last songs #is Enormous restraint for me #anyway uh have some songs and rambling #shadowgast #gravity and all that's born within #essek thelyss #caleb widogast #critical role

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mediumcutsteak · 25 days ago

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So I hopped into a free trial of NSO cause I wanted to check out Nintendo Music. I was already under no illusion this would be worth anyone's time as anything but an extra bonus for paying for a service you likely already pay for to play smash and splatoon, but wow this is truly pathetic. Here is the selection:

This is a PITIFUL list. TWO ZELDAS??? TWO KIRBYS???? IN A **MUSIC** APP?????? That's not getting into the other omissions, but this is a pretty glaring one. The only noteworthy thing about this selection is that I guess we officially call the first NA Fire Emblem with its subtitle now. Neat I guess. Also, these are Nintendo soundtracks, so really short musical stings (think Samus or Link getting Power up) bloat these OSTs, which for me is an L. No 3DS games at all by the way, nor any of the few remaining Wii U exclusives.

So what about its two vaunted features, easy music extension and spoilers? Easy Music Extension is mediocre. You can extend some songs to 15, 30, and 60 min. No longer or shorter. No reason not to have more options but whatever. I say some songs though cause the choices seem arbitrary. Obviously the short music stings can't be extended. I thought it was based on if the music would loop in game, but so far three of the OOT dungeons loop. They're all just stupid 40 second tracks that just.... Can't loop. Neither can Sheik's theme???

Spoiler prevention allows you to nix a whole game from rotation on any playlist. Not useful for what it sets out to do, but if you HAPPEN to want to use a premade mixed game playlist (you won't but we'll get to it) and there are games you just straight up don't like ANYTHING from, itll keep them out. I like Metroid music but I really hate the NES sound font at this point so were I to use this app indefinitely I'd certainly throw those out. Can't be used selectively though, so if you do like ONE song from a game, then you gotta keep it open to them all.

Lets talk about the playlists because these are insane. First off, no community playlists. I get that there's no way they could stop profanity if they added those, but thats a massive L already. Ok so fine, no community playlists, whats poppin in premade town. Well its got some staples: top tracks on the app, franchise wide selections (most franchises on here are 2 games tops though right now), each game has a playlist of just the songs that can be extended. Then there's the weird ones. Each game has playlists that vaguely categorizes some of the music into certain modes of play? Take Nintendogs for example

Ok. These make sense for Splatoon at least cause they separate them by in-game artists and game mode. Then there's the mood playlists, all with cringy names like Powering Up or whatever. And then there's my favorite, the character centric playlists! These are hilarious. They are just songs that are related to the characters. And the selection of characters? Well....

Yeah dude, thats sick. I def want to listen to BOO music or Wiggler music. It appears that as I was writing this they also added ones for the ScarVi professors, legendaries, and the DLC legendaries. Swell. The wiggler playlist is five songs, with six minutes total of music. Really gettin into that Wiggler mindset. Wiggler Wednesday everyone.

Its just sad. If you play games online on Switch and the music you want to listen to is on here, it isnt gonna kill you. You're already paying for it. But right now the selection is TERRIBLE, some of the tracks you would expect to be extendable aren't, and some of these loops are under a minute (every oot dungeon except forest, water, and shadow I can't stress enough). And for what? The composers aren't making money off this, they don't even get CREDITS on the songs (the spot where artist would be on Spotify is the game title). Even if they WERE, the service costs less than Spotify, so they wouldn't be making much anyway.

This is basically for no one. Real nintendo music diehards who would lap this up are missing a LOT of big names, and anyone who ISN'T probably doesn't care enough to download the app in the first place. To say nothing of people like me, who would want music from non-Nintendo games mixed in. Also its weirdly hard to find??? I tried searching Nintendo Music on the Play Store and couldn't find it, I had to access a link on Google. So there's your deep dive if you cared. What a waste of time and energy. Just put it on Spotify and Apple Music and be done.

#nintendo music #nintendo #nintendo app #nso #nintendo switch online #zelda #mario #kirby #splatoon #animal crossing #what a worthless piece of shit

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romana-after-dark · 8 months ago

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Flightless Bird, Fat House Cat: The Wrong Way Anniversary

The Wrong Way Universe

Title taken from a song on the playlist, Flightless Bird American Mouth by Iron and Wine.

ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF WHEN I FIRST POSTED THE WRONG WAY!!!!

I could never comprehend the love I got from this series.

Due to everything happening and the targeted harassment, I can't celebrate the way I want to but I couldn't pass up an opprituniety to celebrate this story.

Three POV's, Tommy, Lorenzo and Jack. I know Jack got v little play in TWW as he was just on the side in case I needed him (and I did end up needing him!) But through talking to Clem, Mary, Kate about the universe in this last year, he also has a special place in my heart and in Stolen Lullaby, aka my reworking of this story into a dark novell, he will have more of a roll. IDK if I ever mentioned it, but his faceclaim to me is Garrett Hedlund in his most yeehaw looks.

Because of everything, reblogs are disabled because I don't want attention to this blog and I'm taking a risk posting this but I want to be brave for this story. After this, I'll be gone for a bit so check out romana_rose for updates until this is over. If you enjoyed this, please leave a commnt. I need it right now.

I can never thank you guys enough for all the love you'e given the wrong way and the sequel series, Ghost of You and Going Under. This series was so important to me to explore my own trauma, family, friendship, motherhood, fatherhood, brotherhood, siblings, found family, morality, manhood, victimhood, etc.

You are all so important to me, every like, comment, reblog ive gotten i've looked at and loved.

Here we go.

Very little Joel, but I promise we'll have more for the celebration of the finale in a few months when i hope I can celebrate properly. But, seeing as Joel is the bad guy, I thought more exploration of the side characters would be interesting.

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

If Tommy closed his eyes, he could imagine it was her.

Things had gotten better in the raiding house for her, even if Tommy had lost a lot of her attention. Since Zach had tried to take her away, her brother she thought was dead until that night, the girl had been… less than pleased with him. It was understandable, he knew. From her perspective, Tommy had known her only family left that hadn’t abused her was a still alive and he had kept it from her… but from Tommy’s perspective he was protecting her. She had said to him to him, the day thought fought, that the only person that can protect her from Joel, is Joel, and she was right. He couldn’t protect her if she left again. Last time she tried, strong thing she was, she was burned and humiliated.

Thing were better for her now.

Refusing to escape with Zach, which confused Lorenzo to no end, had made Joel trust her more, and now she had more freedom. She’d started cooking, which she seemed to like, and Joel had taken to finding items for her she needed. Lorenzo watched her when Tommy was busy. Jack even made her a birdfeeder, and she liked watching the birds fly in and out. Sometimes he wondered if she longed for the freedom they had.

Flightless bird, wings clipped her whole life, subject to the whims of men.

Sometimes he watched them too, Blue Jay’s and Robins and other kinds he didn’t know shit about. He thought next time he saw Maria, to ask if Jackson had any bird watching books… maybe the girl would like them, help pass her time. He wanted to fly away too, he wanted to leave, leave everything and take her with him… but he wasn’t a bird. He wasn’t a bird whose wings had been clipped, he didn’t have his freedom stolen away by cruel men wanting to possess and break down something less powerful than them.

Tommy had given up his freedom to follow Joel, his brother, the only thing he had now. Tommy knew he was a cat, once a stray and free to follow his fancy but had grown complacent and comfortable and lazy. He was a fat house cat pretending to be a lion.

Instead of saving her, he was getting his dick sucked as he listened to her moan.

It wasn’t all that loud, you really had to listen to it to hear it and God… god did he listen. Tommy was sat on his chair, legs spread, Lorenzo on his knees sucking his cock. Everyone knew Lorenzo was gay, that’s why he was allowed to watch the girl. Jack, they couldn’t figure out yet. What Tommy did know is sometimes Jack and Lorenzo fooled around with each other, and after a few weeks he got in on the action. Tommy wasn’t gay, but a mouth was a mouth. Tommy couldn’t sneak out to Maria as often as he wanted and the girl wasn’t making things easier. Joel had taken to finding dresses for her and god, did she look cute. Happier too. Smiles and laughs and fresh air did him good. From what she had told him, she’d never known peace a day in her life. Between her dads physical and sexual abuse and selling her out to man after man, just letting them beat her for money… this was comparatively peaceful now that Joel had relaxed. Still, she wore that brand on her thigh, and constant reminder that his love was conditional. Tommy wasn’t sure the reminder was working.

He tried to focus on Lorenzo, his mouth taking him deeply inside… but most importantly, her voice. In the next room, Joel was fucking her and whatever he was doing it was making her go crazy. How was Tommy supposed to know what her pussy felt like and not think about it? Not remember what it was like sliding in? Not think of her beautiful smile, still gentle and tender and patient after everything she’d been through? Everytime Joel made her moan those sweet, sweet sounds he pictured it was him, and his hips buckled up a little.

He could pretend it was her pussy if he concentrated.

Lorenzo knew something was up.

He loved sucking dick, would rub himself through him pants until he came every time if he knew he wasn’t getting action back, and with Tommy he didn’t. Lorenzo knew Tommy was picturing a girl when he closed his eyes, that death grip on his chair so he didn’t touch Lorenzo’s head. The shaved head would throw him off, ruin the bit for him. Still, Lorenzo opened his eyes. Tommy was focused, teetering on that edge, that wide, barrel chest of his panting and panting… He really was handsome, as was Joel, the prick. If Lorenzo was in that girls position, and he wouldn’t be because he’d fucking leave, he would run away with Tommy before spending another day with Joel. What was Tommy waiting on? He had a pretty girl that clearly loved him, that he clearly loved even if he was a man whore.

Lorenzo didn’t really have room to talk, honestly.

It wasn’t like he was cheating on Zach. They weren’t dating; Lorenzo didn’t date point blank. They were just fucking. And cuddling after. And hanging out whenever they could both sneak away… So they watched shooting stars together and talked about their moms and sisters, so what? It was just sex. He was fooling himself and he knew it, but letting go of the delusion was too painful. They’d never have a normal life so what was the point.

Tommy came in his mouth, saltier than Zach but not as strong as Jack; that strong, musky taste that was so masculine Lorenzo couldn’t help but swallow down. Even subduing himself, Tommy was loud.

When he died down, that’s when Lornzo heard it.

The girl in Joel’s room, the next one over. She was moaning.

Lorenzo didn’t mind Tommy picturing a girl. He didn’t even mind that maybe he was picturing her. But something about the fact that Tommy was getting off to the sound of that girl’s moans, a private moment, a moment which although she was clearly enjoying now, had been brought about by kidnapping and violence, disgusted him. She was just a kid to him, and yeah he could be a dick but he didn’t want to think about the horrible shit she’d been through.

“You’re fucking pathetic, Tommy!” Lorenzo stood, flustered and embarrassed and fucking angry, he headed to the door.

Dumbfounded, Tommy blinked up at him. “What? You offered!”

Lorenzo whipped around, stormed back to Tommy who had stood up and stuffed his dick back into his pants and Lorenzo fisted his hand up in Tommy’s white shirt.

“You’d rather listen to you brother fuck that terrified child than be a fucking man and take her away. You got all these excuses but the fact of the matter is Joel matters more to you than an innocent life. When she’s dead in the ground, remember this is how you spent your time.”

He was about to let go and walk away when Tommy had to open his big mouth. “I don’t see you do’n anything to help her.”

It wasn’t rational. Lorenzo really should care this much. He wasn’t supposed to be making friends or attachments, but here he was, he cared about Zach, he cared about Jack, he cared about the girl.

Lorenzo punched Tommy square in the jaw.

Jack found Lorenzo outside smoking a joint. He didn’t smoke weed but he pulled out his cigarette and joined him. “What’d you do to Tommy? The girls there icing his face.” Unfortunately, Jack knew their routine. Sex, bath, sleep. When Joel carried her, wrapped up in a towel and laughing at something Joel said or falling asleep in his arms, Jack always turned away. It didn’t matter much considering he’d seen her completely nude when Joel violently took her after charring her flesh. Sometimes he swore he could still smell it. Still, he wanted to offer a bit of dignity.

Jack didn’t pretend to be a hero like Tommy, but he didn’t put on that fake asshole defense machanism Lorenzo did. He felt for the girl, he just wasn’t going to risk his skin to help her leave. So, unlike Lorenzo he didn’t tell her she was dumb for staying, and he tried to make little things for her here and there. He was working on whittling some dominos. Unlike Tommy, he didn’t promise to whisk her away. Middle ground.

Lorenzo rolled his eyes. “He’s a dick. Joel’s probably gonna clock me.”

But Jack waved him off. “I doubt it. He ain’t running to Joel to fight his battles. If he wanted you hurt, he’d’ve hit you back.”

Lorenzo sighed, but nodded and took a fat hit. “Which being logical, it’s annoying.”

Jack just chuckled. When they were done, they walk back inside the girl was icing Tommy’s face. After she’d exited the bath with Joel, cuddled up in a ratty towel, she saw Tommy exiting his room with a swollen eye and tapped Joel. Clearly he’d dressed her, and let her tend to him while he stood, arms crossed and glaring. He tried to get Tommy to tell him who did it, but Tommy insisted it was just a small beef with one of the men, but they’d handled it.

When Jack and Lorenzo entered the living room, the girl gave Lorenzo a death glare.

That child had been beaten within an inch of her life again and again and again, forced to suffer the worst thing imaginable and yet she still managed to be so uniquely her. Bravery despite it all.

Brave little bird.

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

thank you, thank you, a million times thank you.

and thank you to everyone whose reached out in this trying time.

Tagging people who were active reachng TWW or who still talk to me about it. If you want to be tagged for the finale celebration, lmk!

If you liked, this series, Rooms on Fire has similar vibes.

@my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction @milla-frenchy @pimosworld @miraclesabound @not-a-unique-snowflake-blog @the-fox-den @lunar-ghoulie @foggymoonbanana @dinsbaby @pedge-page @koshkaj-blog @rubyfruitjungle @gogh-with-the-flow @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin @justagalwhowrites

#the wrong way series #lorenzo tag

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avidbeader · 2 months ago

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Fic Writer Q&A

Tagged by @eghfeithrean!

How many wips do you have currently?

At least 20, between works begun and posted on AO3 and works with their own file/outline. There's also the doc of "idea nuggets" that is 11 pages long.

Which one are you finding the hardest to finish?

There are two. The first is "The Perils of Innocence", my giant HP story. It's a problem because I lost a lot of genuine motivation when I dropped the series after the trash fire of the sixth book (spite can be powerful, but it only gets you so far). That was the point where I dropped the idea of making it a four-part series covering all seven years and decided I'd wrap up the story in first year. And then JKR started showing what a shit person she is, and that's ground what motivation I did have into specks. I do intend to finish it, but it's been VERY slow going, especially when newer and shinier fandoms took over. The second is "Skydancer", the sequel to my first Voltron longfic "Scattered". Part of the problem with it was me realizing I was repeating the same basic plot I had for "The Quintissential Bond" (another stalled WIP) and taking a lot of time to make sure that they were different enough that someone reading both would enjoy them. But the main sticking point here is that when I wrote most of "Scattered" and planned for "Skydancer", I was still lightly multishipping a few ships and sprinkling them into what was a gen story. Then I became a devoted Sheith shipper. So now, it's hard to go back into that universe, where I created a past with Shiro's family fostering Keith to explain their closeness in S1-2, and try to write them being very close and protective of each other without tripping over the line into the romance I see in them.

What does it usually look like when inspiration strikes for you?

A phrase that is either a title or a suggestion for a scene. A what-if that diverges from canon. Something I see in another fic that doesn't get explored and I want to explore it. A meet-cute I witness in real life. A discussion with other fans. It can be anything. And I concentrate on it, mentally outlining or adding detail until I'm where I can jot down notes. The best ones are the ones that have my guts twisting and quivering with excitement as I think and write.

Do you curate playlists for each fic or is your process different?

Music isn't really part of my process at all. I can write in silence, ask Pandora to play one of my stations, or whatever. I do have a little playlist of Sheith that I put together several years ago when I realized I had several songs that meant Sheith to me. https://8tracks.com/avidbeader/my-sheith-songs

Do you go balls to the wall and write as you go or are you more organized?

I am haphazardly organized. When I have the ideas developed, I outline and sometimes have scenes summarized as paragraphs, ready to be extended into the final product. But I can also find rabbits to chase down holes and write in spurts of inspiration, suddenly finding a chapter or story where I hadn't planned on one.

Tagging (if you haven’t done it yet): @lionescence @naarna @starboykeith @tragedy-machine and whoever else would like to join!

#tag I'm it #writing questions

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mortimerlatrice · 1 year ago

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KinnPorsche Music in Context: Episode One

It needs to be said: I started thinking about how a few of the songs used as KinnPorsche background music had incredibly apt or punny titles months ago. It’s been sort of poking around in my head that it might be some light, surface level meta to collect!

Ho boy was I wrong. I don’t know what I expected because absolutely nothing in KinnPorsche is just surface level. In episode one, I have already found several hysterical jokes, commentary on the shifting power dynamics, water symbolism, and many more gems.

Here is the link to my episode one Spotify playlist. I know there are quite a few playlists out there, but even scouring three of them, I still found additional songs that were not cited or mentioned.

There are 37 (yes, you read that correctly, 37!) songs in episode one and that's in addition to a handful of reprisals, so the insanely long list is under the cut.

For other episodes (as I get to them), go here!

We start, of course, with our beloved theme song, เพียงไว้ใจ (or PhiangWaichai) by Slot Machine. There’s plenty of thoughts on this, I’m not digging into it.

Introducing Kinn – Quantum Sonata by FormantX.

Kinn and Big head into the Italian’s den – Our Final Mission by Christoffer Moe Ditlevsen. This is the last time Big will join Kinn on a mission as his head bodyguard (I’m not crying, you’re crying.)

Introducing Don and the Italian gang – Waltz for Little Italy by Bireli Snow.

Introducing Porsch – Diggin' the Drama by The New Fools.

Kinn making accusations and Porsche mixing drinks hoping to get lucky – Covert Affairs by Christoffer Moe Ditlevsen.

After Kinn's iconic "I'm more like my mom," we are introduced to the song that makes the most appearances this episode: Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, L’estate (Summer) composed by Antonio Vivaldi. Now here’s where the KinnPorsche crew start to do what they do best: give us things to obsess over and over analyze.

The concerto has 3 movements and to be honest I’m not 100% sure that they pull from only one of them for the show. Remember when I said I wasn’t musically inclined? If anyone wants to chime in, please do.

Another fun thing about this Concerto? It is traditionally associated with or accompanied by a trio of sonnets (one for each movement). Oh, did I mention Vivaldi was Italian? Themes.

Anyway, the sonnets translated from Italian to English:

I. Allegro non molto– Under the heat of the burning summer sun, Languish man and flock; the pine is parched. The cuckoo finds its voice, and suddenly, The turtledove and goldfinch sing. A gentle breeze blows, But suddenly, the north wind appears. The shepherd weeps because, overhead, Lies the fierce storm, and his destiny. II. Adagio; Presto– His tired limbs are deprived of rest By his fear of lightning and fierce thunder, And by furious swarms of flies and hornets. III. Presto– Alas, how just are his fears, Thunder and lightening fill the Heavens, and the hail Slices the tops of the corn and other grain.

Source

Porsche and his fanclub at Hum Bar – Late Nights by Daxton.

When Yok calls Porsche over to the bar – Mysterious Madeline by Lucas Pittman.

As Kinn is driving over the bridge and they realize they're being followed (and when Porsche is making eyes at the woman across the bar) – Road of Fury by John Abbot.

Big and Kinn fleeing into the tunnels when Big is shot and Kinn is being chased down – They Are Coming by Hampus Naeselius.

There is a brief snippet here with a snare drum and a cymbal (I think?) when Porsche is cheekily asking Kinn for money and pissing in a bottle, but I couldn’t isolate it enough to find it. Any help would be appreciated!

Here, we’re introduced to the perfect fights song, Absolute Power by Hampus Naeselius, when Porsche beats down the street thugs and drives off with Kinn.

She Knocks by Lukas Amil plays when Porsche is being a brat and leaves Kinn at the gas station.

When Porsche comes home to Chay bandaging up Arthee – In Rain - Indigo Days. Can you say water symbolism?

The Joys And Sorrows of Life by Johannes Bornlöf gives a little hope when Porsche and Arthee are sitting and talking about finances and how much they could make off Kinn’s watch.

Porsche at the underground fighting ring has three songs in quick succession: Back to Where it Began by Rockin' For Decades,

Second Hand Slide by Lucas Pittman,

And Around the Bend by Pip Mondy as he turns the fights to his favor. [It is worth noting that they use a sort of stripped down version during most of it, but I couldn't find that version, so they may have done it themselves]

When Porsche comes home to Chay and Arthee celebrating making so much money off the watch we get Gentleman at Heart by Indigo Days. I think this one’s interesting because I’m actually not sure if it’s about Arthee or Porsche…

When Don finds his men tied up and (maybe dead?) – Let Me Introduce Myself by Rune Dale. This comes right after the scene where Korn chastises Kinn for his decision to enrage Don instead of “giving him gifts.” This is Kinn telling Don exactly how he plans to run things and how very different he is from his father. Kinn's mother must have been ruthless with a good sense of humor.

When Kinn asks Chan about finding Jom/Porsche, we're back to Vivaldi’s Concerto. Like the shepherd, Porsche's Destiny hangs over his head.

College Porsche and his stolen pastry get Moonshiner's Turn by Martin Landström.

Jom is approached to act as "a waiter who's actually the greatest boxer undercover,” our dear theater kid gets Concert Hall Hideout by Stationary Sign.

A moment later when Porsche realizes he's been caught? Cheese! by Alexandra Woodward. [This one is not on the Spotify playlist but I did find it on Epidemic Sound.]

When Porsche calls Chay, worried that Chay may be targeted or even taken by Kinn? Extraction by Christoffer Moe Ditlevsen. Which is a truly horrible double entendre because the very next song is

Clogged Up by Jerry Lacey. I'm not even dignifying this scene with a response.

Kinn sweet talking Yok (with veiled threats) – Infiltrator by Christoffer Moe Ditlevsen.

Porsche’s kidnapping – Honor the Brave by Hampus Naeselius.

Kinn reading Porsche his own biography – Beryllium - Farrell Wooten. Beryllium is, according to a brief google search, a natural metal that is expensive, brittle, and dangerous to work with (toxic).

Porsche's fight theme – Absolute Power. Except who has the power this time?

Brief reprise of She Knocks as Kinn once again watches Porsche walk away from him (or throw himself off the boat in this case).

When Korn and Kinn discuss how to force Porsche, and moving into the next scene when Porsche finds Chay cleaning up after another break-in, and through to Porsche finding Thee being beaten up – The Stakeout by Christoffer Moe Ditlevsen.

When the loan shark tells Porsche that Thee still owes despite Porsche believing they had paid things off, leading to Porsche forcefully kicking Thee out of his and Chay's life? Ghosting by Christopher Moe Ditlevsen.

When Porsche finally tells Thee to leave and after, when Porsche goes home alone to clean up his ruined house, we get one of my all time favorites – Bitter Heart - Instrumental Version by Memi. Although the soundtrack presumably uses the instrumental version, I would argue that the lyrics were taken into account when choosing it:

“Suddenly you look like a stranger A face I knew, but I must've forgotten … We know we could've done it better Fought for the little things that we wanted … Oh, I wish that you hadn't pulled the trigger Shot me down with my bitter heart My blood is getting thicker You shot me down, you shot me down With my bitter heart”

This is getting way too long, so I cut some of the lyrics but I strongly recommend checking out the original.

As Chay tells Porsche that their parents would be proud of him, there is a very brief reprisal of In Rain.

It then switches to No More Drama by Eric Feinberg as they hug and Porsche tucks Chay in. This calls back to the song that first accompanied Porsche, Diggin’ the Drama, and Porsche has made his decision. He can't keep living like this and he can't let Chay live like this either.

Porsche's letter and Kinn pouring himself a drink – a reprisal of Gentleman at Heart.

During the famous "your life is mine" scene where, at least in the translation, Porsche asks if Kinn is a god, we get a third reprisal of the Concerto. Porsche's destiny is set, the storm has blown in and ruined his life leaving him desperate.

When Porsche confronts Korn and asks to be Big and Ken's boss and through to Korn Playing Chess – So to Say by Taylor Crane

At which point we get one, final reprise of the Concerto as Korn places the Queen on the board and the game begins.

Finally – Free Fall by Slot Machine.

And, in the interest of being thorough....

Episode Two Preview – Global Impact by Philip Ayers.

#fucking hell #that was way more than i expected #i tried to go back and reduce my commentary #but whatever #i worked really hard on this 🥲#kprewatch2023 #kinnporsche meta #kinnporsche the series #music analysis #sort of #help i'm stuck in a rabbit hole #would also love feedback on whether i should maybe break these up in the future? this is so massive...#i guess i could have cut back on the songs i didn't really get but #the whole point was to be comprehensive and allow people to draw their own conclusions #so

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n0v4t33z · 1 year ago

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Dark Desires: Chapter II - Eternally Yours

Pairings: VampireCatHybrid~Seonghwa x Female Reader, VampireCatHybrid~Ateez x Female Reader

Genre: Horror, Angst, Romance, Vampire Ateez, Paranormal?

Word Count: 10.1k

Tags/Warnings: For Mature Audiences, Violence, Language, mentions blood, Magic, Fantasy, Some Fluff, Highly Suggestive at times (This is a warning for the whole story overall)

Chapter specific: Lots of kissing, intimate situations but not explicit, flirting, blood, Y/n speaks about death and magic with the boys, (I'll add more later if more come to mind)

Author's Note💌: Okay so in this chapter there was originally supposed to be smut but I omitted that part due to being short on time because of my schedule. Unfortunately I'm not very fast at typing up smut because how much I struggle to write it so that'll come out on a later date so that I can put more thought into it. Since I don't write smut I felt like maybe it would have probably been a bad Idea if I forced myself to do it right now so to save you from cringe I decided not to include it! Either way I still hope you enjoy the chapter! 🌙

Spotify Playlist🩸

☽ ──── ༺𖤐༻ ──── ☾

A few days go by and I never find out who's scream it was that I heard a few nights ago, it didn't help that the door Seonghwa told me not to go into kept teasing me. So me being me I finish my work for the day so I could have more time to explore the house. The door was near the basement of the house from what I noticed is that they usually come here or the basement after feeding at night or after going out in general. I look around to make sure no one is around and I walk into the dark room I reach into my pocket and I turn on the spare candle in my pocket from when I was replacing them earlier, I walk around the dark room and notice a beautiful golden hourglass with a sigil on it, the same one in my room. I carefully look around and I notice a drawing on the wall, from what I could read it seemed to be from 1646. The drawing was of a woman whose features were almost identical like mine, could this woman in the drawing be me? Why was that drawing here? On the floor was that same sigil drawn in blood, In the corner I notice alot of black and white photos along with some drawings and pictures of different girls, were those their previous victims? All the girls were exceptionally gorgeous. From the corner of my eye I see the spine of a book, the front of the book was empty with no title so I decide to open the book. I slowly begin to realize they were diary entries, 1863, 1925, 1958. Under my breath I whisper to myself "When I called Master Seonghwa a history book I didn't realize he was actually writing one himself…"

I decide to look up my birthday as a strange curiosity and while skimming through the entry I come across something interesting "I had a dream of that girl again. It's been a while since I've seen her. I have a strong feeling she was born today, I can feel it. I can't wait until I find her. I'll do everything in my power to protect her, she's going to be the only reason worth living this cursed life only then I'll know what true happiness is." When I read those words I can't help but to begin to tear up, for the first time in my life someone was happy I was born. Yeah, my family might've been happy that I was born but they never really showed it. My family was rarely the type to show any affection for me at all so to think someone wanted to show that affection towards me really shocked me. This man has literally been waiting to be with me for hundreds of years even before I was born. Is this true love? Is true love when someone waits for you even years before you're actually born? Will he be disappointed if I'm not what he expects me to be? What if he realizes he doesn't like who I am and he kills me, then what? I have so many questions but yet I'm scared of how they'll be answered.

Suddenly the door behind me opens and I jump and drop the book and candle in the process. When I turn around and see it's Mingi I scream when I notice him charging at me, I try to move out of the way but he grabs both of my arms and begins to violently shake and yell at me "What were you doing in here?! Didn't Seonghwa tell you to stay out of here?! You're not supposed to be in here!" I look up at him and noticed his eyes were now glowing blood red "Master Mingi I'm so sorry, I'll never do it again!" he grabs me by the throat and squeezes my throat just enough to choke me but not snap my neck. He pins me against the wall then answers in a low growl "There won't be a next time, Hongjoong was right we should have sacrificed you that night." I cough trying to catch my breath while I try to claw his hand off of my throat. Suddenly everyone else runs into the room with Seonghwa yelling at Mingi "Let her go you bastard! You're going to kill her!" He then tries to run over to Mingi but Hongjoong and Yeosang hold him back then Mingi turns and smirks in his direction "She has to die now Seonghwa, Draven is going to be really upset. That time you bought her won't do her any good anyway, I was right not trusting this dumb witch. They're such deceitful and sneaky humans." San, Wooyoung,and Jongho run over to over to hold Mingi back.

Yunho gently puts his hand on Mingi’s shoulder and gently squeezes it. "Calm down, you know you can't be the one who does the sacrifice. You're a young vampire remember that, so if you kill her you'll ruin everything not just for you but for all of us. So let go of her, come on." Mingi hesitantly puts me down throwing me onto the floor then Hongjoong lets go of Seonghwa and helps Yunho escort Mingi out of the room while Yeosang stays with the rest of us. Seonghwa runs over to me and holds me tightly in his arms, his breathing still ragged from the scare "Miss y/n, I told you not to come in here.. " I continue coughing for a bit then I say in a slightly hoarse voice "I'm so sorry Master Seonghwa, curiosity got the best of me." He sighs deeply "You scared me, you put yourself in such danger.." San gives me a worried look "You know If Wooyoung hadn't called us telepathically because he heard screaming, you would have most likely been killed by Mingi."

Wooyoung looks down slightly frowning "He's one of the youngest out of all of us with the youngest being Jongho, luckily Jongho's strong willpower helps him from giving into his vampiric instincts. Mingi on the other hand is terrible at it, he's still learning to control himself." God this is so embarrassing... "I'm so sorry for betraying your trust. I promise I didn't have bad intentions." Yeosang courteously nods "it know, but now that means we'll all have to keep an eye on Mingi now. " Seonghwa says "She's going to stay at my side at all times.." I shake my head "No! I'll be okay I promise I'll just stay away from him. I'll just do what I'm supposed to from now on and not stray from my duties." Seonghwa worriedly looks at me "Are you sure? You really don't have to risk it." I get up and nod "It's ok Master Seonghwa I'll be fine." San looks at Seonghwa "We'll just do what Yeosang said if that's the case, let's just watch him. I'm sure ostracizing him won't help at all but make him resent Miss y/n even more than he already does. "

They all get up and Seonghwa looks over at me then at the guys and flatly says "Okay that's fine, I just need to have a word with Miss y/n can you guys please give us some privacy?" They nod in obedience and head out. Once it's just him and I he looks down at the floor and sees the book I was reading left open on the last page I read, he picks it up and puts it on a table near him then shyly smiles "I guess you found my diary." Embarrassed, I fidget with my hands "Well, it's more like a history book now." he chuckles "Okay you got me there." he takes my hand and pulls me a little closer to him "I've been looking for you almost all my immortal life, and now that I've finally found you I just want to protect you." His gaze connects with mine "Which is why when you I heard Wooyoung tell me you were in trouble, I was terrified of losing you." Now I feel bad for coming in here, he told me explicitly not to and I disobeyed him. I would have died by my own ignorance. It definitely proves that curiosity killed the cat. "I'm so sorry. I promise you I won't do something like that ever again. That was just way too close."

He clears some stray hairs from my face "Next time you want to see something just ask me, you'll be much safer with me okay?" I nod and rest my head on his chest "So, it was true that you're in love with me then?" He softly hums and gently strokes my cheek with his thumb "I knew what you were going to look like way before you were born, in person you're much more beautiful than the drawing I have of you, Hongjoong drew it for me." I pull away and look at him in shock then look over at the drawing again "Wow, really? How did you know though? Like how were you able to see my face?" He shyly smiles and holds my hands in his "I actually dreamt about you, which is why I was only able to see you a handful of times but everytime I did my heart felt something it usually doesn't." I giggle "So, you mean you felt butterflies in your stomach and you felt happy?" He smiles and nods then leans in close to my face, centimeters away gently caressing my cheek. "I'm sorry if this is too sudden but will you be mine?" His beautiful emerald eyes look deep into my eyes and for some strange reason I’m compelled to just give in without thinking twice about it.

Why is my heart beating so fast I can't breathe. He's so beautiful. "I- " My stomach churns and the longer I stand there the harder it becomes to speak until I blurt out "What if I disappoint you?" Seonghwa tilts his head and asks in a slight sad tone "Why would I be disappointed my love? I've been looking for you for almost my whole vampire life.." I stammer "Well, I mean, we've never met prior to this so our personalities may clash." He brings my hand up to his ice cold lips and gently presses a kiss on the back of my hand and looks deep into my eyes "There's a reason why I kept seeing you in my dreams my dear y/n. I'm willing to work with our differences if that's the case. That's how important you are to me." I look down slightly flustered from all the attention and how gorgeous the man is in general. Well he's nice right? I should be okay, he's definitely been treating me better than any of my ex's and that's a start. Seonghwa gently lifts my chin so that our eyes meet once again "So what do you say princess?" I nod staring deep into his eyes unable to look away.

"Of course I will Master Seonghwa, as long as you don't hurt me I'm all yours " He leans a little closer, he smelled nice. Nothing like how people usually say vampires smell like, dusty, and gross. His oddly sweet smell being quite soft and warm despite how cold his skin is in reality. "I promise you my eternal life I will never hurt you darling." He steps closer to me gently pressing his chest against mine "Just call me Seonghwa ." He gently places his ice cold lips on mine and kisses me. Slowly, while the kiss intensifies he slithers his free arm around my waist. I gently rest my hand on his chest while I kiss him, he then slowly kisses down my chin and onto my neck causing me let out a soft sigh. He slowly pulls away and re collects himself “I- not here. I don't want to risk anyone um.... Hearing things." I nod and shyly look away feeling my cheeks burning he takes my hand and gently kisses it "I guess I'll get back to my duties now." He nods looking at me very lovingly "Please be careful my love." He gently presses his ice cold lips on my forehead for a kiss goodbye.

When I step into the kitchen I stand there for a few seconds looking out the window thinking what I should make for dinner. A few moments later while getting all the ingredients ready Jongho enters and gently puts his hand on my shoulder "Miss y/n, how are you doing?" I slightly jump and I turn and look at him "Oh, Master Jongho hello. I'm okay, I’m still a bit spooked." He sits on a chair next to the table "I'm honestly glad you're okay. I'm sure having an angry vampire trying to kill you is pretty traumatic in itself." I begin chopping a few vegetables and let out a soft sigh just remembering the way Mingi’s eyes were burning into mine, his eyes had so much hatred in them that remembering made me feel unsafe and uneasy. "it was, but knowing you guys were there really comforted me. Although that made me want to go home alot more than before knowing there's someone here who hates me enough to hurt me."

He stares off straight ahead and walks up next to me clearly still upset from what happened "I'm so sorry, I can only imagine how you feel right now. I know this won't change how you feel but if it helps we all like having you here. Not because you do housework but because you're really nice, you're an amazing friend and because you really remind me alot of my own mother." I smile then I look over at Jongho and hug him tightly "I'll be here as long as I'm allowed to be here." He pulls away and looks at me, his cold grey eyes staring deep into mine. He then gently touches my face with his ice cold hands "it's like my mother never left me, when you came in to the practice room to cheer up my singing it reminded me of what my mom used to do." I gently hold his hand on my face then I gently smooth out his blazer "And I'll continue to do so as she did and cheer you on for as long as my human self is alive don't worry."

He rests his forehead on my shoulder and hides his face from my view "We can't sacrifice you to Draven anymore, I don't want you to be gone. You have to stay here with us.” He pauses for a few seconds then he continues “You see, I'm not usually the one to freak out but Draven really scares me. To point where the thought of him taking everything we have from us all over again and being helpless terrifies me because that's not the position that I like to be put in. It's embarrassing being so vulnerable like that. " I gently lift his head and I look at him while gently stroking his soft Auburn hair "it's okay, we'll find a way to stop this I promise." I felt bad because I knew my reassurance was a straight up lie. How could I compete against this Draven guy? I have to somehow find out what's going on.

"I'll have to talk to Hongjoong about this, he has to know a way to stop this." He clears his throat trying get himself together "Of course, you should do that but for now just sit here and enjoy a meal with me and San, yes?" He hums in agreement and watches me cook while he waits for the food to be finished I pour him a warm cup of Earl grey tea infused with blood. San and Wooyoung eventually come in and sit next to Jongho "oh hi Master Wooyoung, don't worry I made extra food today." I turn and serve them some tea then I begin to serve their plates and place the plates in front of them "let me know how I did today guys." They all take a spoonful of food then Jongho says "Oh wow, this is actually really good now I know why San's been eating with you because your ability to merge human and vampiric pallets is seamless."

I sit down and watch them eat with a smile on my face "Thank you so much Master Jongho but all I did was just add blood." San and Wooyoung look over at me then San says "Hey, aren't you going to eat?" I rest my hand under my chin “Oh yeah, I'll eat the leftovers don't worry" San shakes his head and gets up "No, Miss y/n you're going to eat with us remember? That's what we agreed on." He serves me a plate of regular food and sets it in front of me "Ahh fine, I was just trying to be a normal maid." San sets a glass of grape juice in front of me and Wooyoung laughs "A normal maid? You stopped being a normal maid the moment you befriended us." Jongho then says "Remember how i said you're a great friend? I wasn't just talking about myself you know"

I take a sip of my grape juice then in a slightly disappointed tone Wooyoung says "Times like these is when I wish we could do fun things together like normal friends instead of being at home rotting." San's face lights up and says "We can have a little picnic party in the garden tomorrow!" Wooyoung and Jongho nod in agreement then I say "We can, I'll make the food and the desserts!" Wooyoung gives me puppy eyes and says "can I help you cook please?" I nod "of course that would be amazing! You'll be a huge help" Jongho says "Well, I'll ask the rest of the guys if they want to help decorate since the garden is kind of big but don't worry Miss y/n, I won't ask Mingi out of protection for you."

I feel bad he’s getting excluded now. “Are you sure that he’ll be fine with that?” Jongho nods giving me a reassuring smile “I promise you he’ll be fine. Maybe him not being in attendance he’ll realize his mistake.” I hum in response then I give them a serious look "Okay so I have a question, who's Draven? And why am I supposed to be sacrificed to him?" They look at each other nervously for a couple of seconds then Wooyoung blurts out "He's a vampire demon we work for, We call him Draven but his real name is Zuphroi. Oh, and you were supposed to be sacrificed to him because Draven loves to feed on the life force and blood of humans." My stomach drops and my hands fidget under the table to try and calm myself “Hm okay, so who’s the guy in the painting that I saw in the main room of the house?” everyone stays silent for a bit then San says “Oh, that’s our creator. Sir Kim Jongkook.”

I look at their expressions and I could tell they seemed very sad. “If I may ask, what happened to him?” San looks at the guys almost like asking for permission then they both nod and San continues “Well, Sir Jongkook is actually Draven’s older brother..The thing is though that body is no longer Sir Jongkook’s brother because the demon known as Zuphroi possesed it yet he still presents and goes by Draven. The demonic powers Draven got also enhanced his vampiric powers which let him be able to easily surpass his already very powerful older brother and defeat him. Years ago he drained Sir Jongkook of his life force but kept his brother’s remains in his castle, to which remain there till this day. All of this happened because we all became very close to Sir Jongkook and Draven became jealous, the reason being was that he was like a father to all of us and we were like his children but his brother got upset he couldn’t form the same bond we had with his brother which is why he seeked Zuphroi’s power to destroy his own brother out of envy. Our bond was naturally stronger with Sir Jongkook because he was our creator.” I sit there for a moment processing everything “So that man in the painting is Draven’s deceased older brother?” San nods “Correct.” I slightly raise my eyebrows in shock “Wow…That’s incredibly dark.”

Wooyoung nods looking a bit sullen “Yeah, you’d think because they were brothers Draven would have had mercy on Sir Jongkook since from what they told us they both suffered alot as children. They might not have been brothers by blood but they spent a good portion of their lives together. ” Wooyoung clears his throat clearly not wanting to get emotional and says “Anyway, any other questions?” I nod “Ah yes, why do San and Yeosang turn into cats?” San tilts his head “You know It’s not just us that can turn into cats, all eight of us do actually including Seonghwa.” Oh my gosh, Seonghwa as a cat? If San and Yeosang were so cute I'm sure Seonghwa would be adorable! I raise my eyebrow and blink then San continues “We all turn into cats because Draven put a curse on us.

The upside is we can obviously turn into cats and switch back to our “undead” selves at will but a few downsides are when we need to feed and are on the brink of starvation we become too weak and are unable to turn back into our “undead” selves until we feed on blood again. Another and I guess the worst one is Draven has complete control over our curse so if the amulet around his neck is destroyed then so is the curse, freeing us. Which is why we’re kind of scared of him and try to avoid him showing up at all costs. because we're usually totally vulnerable around him.” I sit back in my seat and look at the three guys sitting in front of me in complete shock “Wow, I’m so sorry this curse is such a burden to all of you. This Draven guy sounds scary. Honestly I would have never thought it would be possible to turn from one species into another.” Wooyoung smiles and wiggles his fingers in the air “That’s magic baby, the dark arts.” Jongho looks at me with a faint smile "Anything else? These guys are basically an open book.”

I nod "Hm yeah actually, so all those drawings and photos of those girls in in that room, who are they?" Jongho responds "That room is a room Seonghwa usually frequents as you can see most things in there are his, but those girls are girls he thought were you and instead of returning them we just sacrificed them to Draven because it was easier to keep the sacrifices going since we're kinda forced to keep them coming for him because we have a pact with him." I look down trying to re gather my thoughts then I say "So, you guys knew about Seonghwa's situation?" They all nod then I look at them worriedly "Then how come Mingi hates me and Hongjoong is always so uptight? Wouldn't they at least be a bit nicer?" They shrug then Wooyoung says "Hongjoong is just naturally like that since he's the leader, he takes his position very seriously but he's actually pretty cool and Mingi, honestly we don't know why he acted the way he did we were pretty shocked he attacked you."

I know he probably won't hurt me but knowing that because of me so many innocent girls were killed makes me feel terrible. San taps my hand to get my attention and says "Hey, Please don't tell anyone we told you any of this, I don't think Seonghwa wants you to know." I quietly nod "I understand Master San." Jongho reaches over for my other hand "I hope you don't think differently about any of us." I shake my head "Oh no, I understand you have to honor the pact." I get up and start to gather the dishes San turns to look at me "I hope you're not upset Miss y/n." I shake my head "Well, I can't be It's not in my place to be upset. From the looks of it if you don't honor your pact with him I'm sure you'll be in huge trouble." Wooyoung looks at the floor for a second then shakes his head "Yep no, I don't want to think about it. Tomorrow night we're supposed to go find someone new for Draven, Hongjoong told San earlier."

I felt a pit in my stomach knowing someone was about to get killed in my place again. San looks at Wooyoung puts his finger on his lips "Shh, Wooyoung stop. It's making Miss y/n very uncomfortable." San holds my hand and gives me his sweet eye smile "How about I help you wash the dishes Miss y/n, today was alot of people who ate with us." He glances over at Jongho and Wooyoung "Evryeone, say goodbye to Miss y/n" Wooyoung narrows his eyes at San while Jongho sits there slightly confused. Shortly after they excuse themselves and both say their goodbyes while San stays behind and helps me clean up the kitchen and do the dishes.

“I’m so sorry for scaring you like that. I know as a human it’s pretty scary feeling so helpless.” I shake my head while clearing out the stove area “You really don’t need to apologize. It was done with good intentions. If anything I really appreciate you giving me a heads up.” San looks out the window looking at the darkening sky. "even so, I feel like I still need to apologize. It just feels wrong if i don't you know?" He glances down at his hand bubbles gently squeezing the bubbles between his fingers onto a bowl below. “You really are such a sweet person, Seonghwa really does know how to pick them.” I turn to San slightly taken aback "You think so?" He gives me a dimpled smile and pokes my cheek leaving a bubble on my cheek "I know so, I can feel you've been through alot. So I think you deserve someone who will love you and protect you, the way a beautiful girl like you should be treated."

He feels that I've been through alot? If only he really knew. Does that mean he has some sort of variant of being clairvoyant or can he just read my mind? Wait... I look to see a smirking San then I poke his side "You're cheating! You can read my mind! That's not fair!" San lets out a yelp and pouts "It's not cheating if you mean well! I'm just emotionally intelligent! Seonghwa reads your mind all the time why me?! " I part my lips in shock then I cover my face in embarrassment Oh god, he knows about me thinking he's beautiful.. "He wha-" San nervously chuckles and points out the window "Look, it's a legion of cats..." Confused I glance out the window and by the time I look back I see his little cat self running away. "Wait! Master San I thought you were going to help me do the dishes?!"

Later after finishing the dishes and bringing a drink over to Yeosang, I run into Hongjoong. He looks at me slightly suspicious and approaches me hastily "Why were you in that room?" I shake my head "I was just curious, I'm so sorry Master Hongjoong." He sighs and runs his hand through his hair. "Look, Seonghwa reminded me who you are now but that doesn't excuse you going around behind our backs sneaking around into rooms you're specifically supposed to stay out of. You're human, you can't expose yourself to some of these things because they will kill you.

Look what happened last time when you wandered off by yourself." I clench onto the beverage plate tightly trying not to look directly at the man’s clearly upset face "I understand, I'm sorry Master I promise it will never happen again." He pats my head and his voice softens "Good news for you though, we've decided to use someone else as a sacrifice. The only thing is that we hope Draven accepts it." I fidget with the plate in my hands "So, does that mean I get to go home soon?" He clicks his tongue and shakes his head "I'm afraid not, you have to stay here with us."

I nod silently in disappointment. He then looks at me with worry in his eyes "Look, I know what happened with Mingi was really traumatic and it didn't help I was also being a bit rude and going around scaring you. I just didn't know if I could trust you, it wasn't until Seonghwa let me know that you for sure the person he was looking for and you were in fact the girl in the drawing. That's when I realized that I should be nicer since you'll be around here for a long time. So, my apologies for all the misunderstandings. I hope you can forgive me." He holds my hand and puts his other one on top of my free hand "Ahh, Master Hongjoong it's ok I understand." He warmly smiles "Thank you for being so understanding.."

For a few seconds it stays quiet before I decide I need to hear it from the leader himself so I look over at Hongjoong and quietly whisper "So Master, do you know why Master Mingi hates me so much?” he stays quiet for a bit and presses lips into a pained smile "I actually don't know about that one, he's very closed off and usually keeps to himself and distances himself from us alot. The only person he's truly close to is Yunho." Man, Mingi really is unpredictable if his own friends aren't as close to him as they want to. "I see, well I'll let you go now Master your laundry is almost finished I just need to fold it." He gives me an understanding nod "Thank you, you have my permission to leave it in my room when you're finished. "Once Hongjoong is gone I head over to the chapel in search of Yunho. He must be with Mingi. When I open the door and I notice he wasn't in here.

I turn and see Seonghwa standing behind me and I let out a muffled shriek "S-Seonghwa hi, I was just looking for Yunho." He smiles and gently pulls me into a kiss "It's time for your bath my love." I blink and look at him confused "Oh, but it's only 8:30?" He rests his forehead on mine and says "I want to spend extra time with you since I've barely seen you around all day." A flush crept up on my face Oh my gosh what is happening?! "Besides we were in the middle of something earlier remember?" He gently kisses me again, afterwards I swallow the nervous knot in my throat "Oh, of course I remember." He pulls back and he holds my face in his hands "Does that make you uncomfortable my love?" I shake my head "I- Uh no.." He grabs my hand and leads me to his room. It was so romantic looking, the lights being very dim with the red bedding contrasting beautifully with the black Victorian furniture. The room smelled like him too, that same sweet almond vanilla scent that makes me feel warm and safe.

I hear him lock the door behind him and take off his long cape-like jacket in one swift motion, gently hanging it into the matte black coat rack in the corner of the room. Without his cape on I notice he has a small, slim waist. Wow, he looks like a textbook vampire from his hair to his beautiful features, everything a girl could ever want all wrapped up in one being and he's all for me. I mean wha- He glances at me and smirks almost like he really is actually reading my thoughts. He reaches over for me and pulls me over to the bathroom. San was right, he is reading my thoughts.. Everything was set up, from the romantic lighting and ambience to the blood red petals in and leading to the bathtub. Amazed, I look at him not knowing how to react and he says “I hope you like it my love, you deserve to relax and unwind after a long day..” I look at how beautiful the tub is keeping my gaze away from his "I love it, the rose petals were a nice touch.."

He gently tugs on my hand and turns my face towards him "Are you shy?" I nod "I- Yeah, you're just so gorgeous It's hard for me to even look at you." He chuckles "How do you think I feel sweetheart?" He rests his forehead on mine "It's taking so much of me not to ravish you right now." He kisses me and without breaking the kiss he pulls me up onto his arms wrapping my legs around his waist and walks me over to sit me down on the sink. He swiftly undoes my dress, his cold fingertips gently brushing against my warm bare skin. "You're so warm my love." He then slowly pushes my dress off of my shoulders and pulls it off letting it fall onto the floor. He steps back to admire my figure in the lacy bra and panties he chose. "You look delicious.." My cheeks burn causing me to cover myself by pulling him closer to me while he leans into my neck and peppers kisses along my neck and collarbones. He runs his hands up my thighs and squeezes them. I'm going to get railed tonight aren't I? Seonghwa chuckles "I'm most definitely going to enjoy you tonight my love."

The next morning I slowly open my eyes and realize my head is resting on Seonghwa’s chest. Unlike a regular person, whose heart beat would wake you up his was nothing but silence which is slightly off putting. Giving me the urge to look up at him to make sure he was actually real. When I meet his eyes he looks down at me gently stroking my hair and says “Good morning my love, did you sleep well?” I nod then I bury my face in the crook of his neck, still slightly sleepy and he says “I wish we could stay like this forever.” I hum back quietly while he gently kisses the top of my head. After what happened last night it made me realize how much he longed for that moment to be with me. The fact that this beautiful man loved me enough to wait all these years for me. I still can’t believe it. I gently hold his hand to which he laces his fingers between mine “I wish we could too.” I say then he brushes a loose strand of my hair behind my ear and kisses me while he gently rests his hand on my neck and mine on his chest. He pulls me on top of him and without breaking the kiss I pull back.

“As much as I'd love to stay in bed with you for a little while I have to go and finish Master Hongjoong’s laundry from yesterday.” He nods then gently kisses the side of my jaw "That's okay, just stay here with me for a bit." He pulls me to lay on top of him while resting my head on his chest again, only this time his arm was around my waist while the other ran his fingers through my hair. "I'm happy I no longer have to wake up alone, I'm glad I finally found you." I gently boop his nose "Thank you for taking care of me. Hwa." He takes my hand in his and kisses the back of my hand "You've got nothing to thank me for my love. I only showed you how much I love you, because it comes from the deepest most sincere part of me." A small knot forms in my throat as he utters those words, for some reason evreytime he speaks his truth. I still can't believe someone actually feels that way towards me, he seems too unreal. "You know, I kind of feel bad because I feel like I have nothing to offer." Seonghwa tilts my head to face him, and looks at me with slight hurt in his eyes "Don't say such a thing, you have plenty to offer. Your love and respect is more than enough to me. I'm so sorry you might have experienced injustices in your life where you had been giving far too much than what you were receiving but I promise you I won't ever hurt you. I'll be with you forever. and coming from me, that's a long time."

My eyes begin to sting from the tears so I blink them away and bury my face in his neck. Seonghwa chuckles and pats my head "Don't cry my love, it's okay." I let out a slightly embarrassed laugh and wipe my eyes "Don't worry they're happy tears, I'm just moved by your words." He his thumb gently caresses my bottom lip "My age is showing again isn't it?" I shake my head and sit up on his lap "No, I like it. Trust me, people my age are usually stupid more than anything because of how selfish they are, at least you're empathetic and wise. That's very attractive in my eyes." Seonghwa smirks and nods "Alright princess, I'll take your word for it." I glance over at the clock next to Seonghwa's bed and it read "8:15 am" Ah damn, I have to go I need to start cooking for the picnic today or I won't finish in time.. I rest my arms on either side of his head and gently kiss his cheek "Okay, I've got to go now! No peaking in the kitchen until I tell you to.." He pulls me down on top of him again and smiles “Alright my love, if you run into any problems don’t hesitate to look for me okay?” I nod "No problem, you've got my word."

In the garden behind the house I stand outside taking down the laundry that I left to dry the night before due to Hongjoong's special request. While I fold laundry and look at the garden, I realize today is the picnic we planned so I try and fold as fast as my little hands would let me. Eventually when I finish folding the clothes I walk to Hongjoong’s room and drop off his basket of clothes. His room is amazing, but yet somehow still messy so while I was there I decide to do some cleaning up so while cleaning up Hongjoong's desk I notice a stray sheet of paper that appeared to be ripped out of a book that said "The sacred blood of the witch is the elixir of magic and power.” I stand there for a few seconds wondering what that meant then I set the papers into a neat stack. Maybe I shouldn't meddle in his things and just go, I can probably get something out of San or Wooyoung. I carefully clean up the rest of the stray papers and books on the ground and exit his room.

After dropping off Hongjoong's laundry my next stop was the kitchen so I begin to prepare the food and some desserts, shortly after Wooyoung comes into the kitchen and says “It smells delicious, can I help? Remember you promised to let me!” I nod while I prepare the dough for some cookies “If you want you can help me with the food and I’ll do the desserts fair?” he nods and grabs an apron from the kitchen closet. A few minutes later while Wooyoung chops a few vegetables he says in a low voice “We’re getting that sacrifice tonight Miss y/n. If you don’t mind is it okay if you help us?” As soon as Wooyoung uttered those words my hands ran cold. Immediately I turn and look at Wooyoung and I slightly stammer “I-I don’t know if that’s a great idea Master Wooyoung.” He slightly raises his eyebrow and says “And why is that?” I begin to fidget with my hands then I look out the kitchen window “I can’t do that knowing you guys will kill that poor person because of me.” Wooyoung sets the knife down he then turns to me and puts his hands on my shoulders “But we have to go through with the sacrifice, especially if you want to stay alive. We just need your help to keep them calm that’s all, you won’t see the moment that person is sacrificed.”

I shake my head then I turn and look at Wooyoung “I can’t. Knowing that person is going to die because of me doesn’t sit right with me at all.” He sighs “But that person’s death is what’s going to keep you alive. I’m not supposed to tell you this but if Draven gets a hold of you, his power levels will increase and we really don’t want that. That man is already dangerous as it is.” I blink then a confused expression grows onto my face “What do you mean me? Is there something wrong with me?” He puts his hand on his hips and the other one gently tugging his dark hair clearly regretting he even said anything to begin with. ”Okay, look. So, you have a relative from a few hundred years ago who was a very powerful witch her name was Ursula but she was known as Sorceress Ursula. She was very well known among the underworld community which is why you're probably not very aware of it. So obviously, you being related to a witch especially a very powerful one you have literal magic running through your veins, the thing is Draven is not aware you’re related to her right now but once he smells your blood he’ll instantly know then you’ll be in big trouble.”

I swear I feel like a normal human I don’t get it, I’m most definitely not liking where this is going either. ”It's not just you who's going to be in trouble though so are we. Seonghwa for falling in love with a witch and us for helping him keep you alive. Witches and Vampires are forbidden to fall in love due to the fact that we are undead and to witches vampires are a perversion of life itself or in other words we aren't natural. We are not meant to be alive despite being considered dead." So Seonghwa is risking not only his life but his friends as well all because he loves me. I have to at least help out, I don’t want Seonghwa or my friends to get in trouble because of me. I sigh “Alright Master Wooyoung I’ll help.” He smiles and hugs me tight “Thank you so much, also please don’t tell anyone not even Seonghwa about what I told you.” The oven dings causing both of us to jump so I pull away and hurriedly get the oven mitts and I take out the other batch of cookies ”Don’t worry, I won’t say anything I promise. It'll stay safe with me.”

A few hours later San comes in with Jongho then he cheekily smiles “Can I have a cookie?” I nod and hand him the plate of cookies “Sure but just one, we have to eat first.” he takes one and puts it in his mouth “Oh my, these are delicious.” he chews on the cookie while he takes another plate of sweets and heads outside to put them on the picnic table. Jongho smiles and walks over to me and shyly nods his head “Good afternoon Miss y/n I hope making all these treats and food wasn’t too much of a hassle for you.” I smile and shake my head “Oh, no worries Master Wooyoung helped me, it was very nice to have someone help me but something funny is that I found out he’s actually a very good cook.” he steps over to the pots of food on the stove “Well, I’m glad it wasn’t an inconvenience for you, I can’t wait to taste all of these they smell delicious.” I smile then I hand him a pot of food to take outside “I’m honestly excited for the food too. I kinda skipped breakfast and I'm starving.” I grab another pot of food and we both head outside eventually fixing everything and setting everything up. I look at the table then I realize I forgot the tea so I walk back inside the kitchen and I notice Yunho In the kitchen with Yeosang heading outside to the picnic.

Oh my gosh Yunho. Maybe I could ask him about Mingi. Both Yunho and Yeosang say hi with Yeosang following up with “Miss y/n, Wooyung let me know about the picnic today. If I may ask will there be blood?” I nod “Yes Master Yeosang I prepared a pitcher full of pure blood but we will also be having some blood tea, Masters San, Jongho and Wooyung really enjoy that one as well so don’t worry. I also have a feeling the menu will be to your liking with blood since Wooyoung helped me prepare a special blood sauce to go with the food.” A small smile appears on his beautifully angelic face then he says “Ah, alright then sounds great. Come on Yunho let’s go get some food, I haven’t eaten human food in a few decades” I glance over at Yunho then I blurt out “Actually Master Yeosang, I have a question to ask Yunho we’ll catch up to you in a little.”

He nods and heads outside towards the beautiful gazebo where the picnic is being held. Yunho then turns his attention towards me then says “So, what exactly is your question Miss y/n? I also hope you’re doing okay from yesterday’s attack.” I look down and tightly grip the side of my dress then I fidget with my hands “I’m doing a bit better, still very much freaked out though. Although my question actually has to do with the attack. Master Yunho, why did Mingi attack me?” Yunho averts his gaze from mine for a few seconds then looks back at me “Well, Mingi is just sort of a younger vampire who can’t control himself and you happened to upset him when he noticed you were in that room. Thus, creating a very dangerous mix of elements.” His guard is up, I have to try harder. “Well that makes sense but even before that I sensed Master Mingi didn’t like me.” Yunho looks out the window clearly worried about all the questions being asked “Well, Mingi has always had trouble opening up to people just give him time and he’ll warm up to you.” I shake my head “I’m sorry Master but I have a feeling It goes far beyond him acting cold towards me, he literally almost killed me.”

Yunho slightly leans onto the kitchen counter almost leveling his height to mine “It’s just like what I said earlier, him being a young vampire and him being terrible at controlling himself is the reason why he attacked.” Hongjoong and Seonghwa are talking in the distance then Yunho quickly walks off outside with the rest of the guys leaving me alone in the kitchen until a few seconds later Hongjoong and Seonghwa enter the kitchen. Immediately I play off my interaction with Yunho by grabbing the tea kettles “Oh hello Master Hongjoong, hi Seonghwa I was just getting some blood tea for you guys and regular tea for myself.” Hongjoong waves and grabs a tray of cookies on the counter "Hello there Miss y/n I'll be taking this outside" He gives me a kind smile and leaves Seonghwa and I alone.

“I can help you my love” He reaches for one of the kettles from my hands “Oh, careful it's hot.” I say while I make sure the kettle doesn't touch his skin. Seonghwa glances down at me then smiles "You're so precious, you know that?" I cover one of my ears with my available hand hiding bright red ear and he chuckles "Your shyness is telling me you agree with my words." I look down slightly embarrassed "I'm just still in shock someone as sweet and loving as you has been waiting for me all these years." He kisses the top of my head and pulls my shoulder onto his chest "Which is why now I'm going to make up for all that time I lost not being with you." I raise my eyebrow with a cheeky smile "Well, I hope you enjoy being with all wrinkly old woman Sir." Seonghwa tilts my chin up looking deep into my eyes "Just know no matter how much time changes you, just know my love for you will never change." I meant that as a joke but why do I feel like crying? This knot in my throat... Unable to speak Seonghwa gently kisses my forehead and smiles "Let's go, I'm sure you're very hungry after all that cooking." We both walk outside towards the gazebo and I begin to pour tea in their tea cups then San says “Oh, hey Miss y/n don’t worry about pouring tea just sit and eat comfortably, after all we’re all sitting here enjoying a meal as friends even though it might be a little weird since we’re not exactly human.”

I set down the tea pot and I sit down “That’s okay, friends are friends. I mean you guys were human at one point in your lives so that counts.” I serve myself a plate then I look around “The garden is beautiful and so is this gazebo but from the looks of it it’s rarely ever used.” Jongho says “Oh yeah, usually just me and San are the ones that come out here. I really like to look at the graden and sing.” after swallowing a spoonful of food San says “I like to come out here and play in my cat form it’s so fun being able to run around since Hongjoong and Seonghwa don’t let me do it inside.” I pick up the floral golden rimmed tea cup and take a sip “Oh I’m sure being a cat must be fun. It must feel nice being so free, but how come none of you guys burst into flames when we came outside? Aren't vampires deathly allergic to the sun?”

The guys look at each other and laugh as if I've said the most hilarious thing even until Hongjoong clears his throat “Well, the sun severely hurts our eyes Miss y/n. The whole catching on fire or having sparkling skin thing is a myth. The only way to kill us really is by a stab in the heart with a wooden or silver steak, beheading or burning is also an option.” Well, that's gruesome, I didn't think he'd mention that so nonchalantly. I slowly nod “Ah, that explains the sunglasses then? So how often do you guys need to feed? Is that an everyday thing or..” Everyone looks over at Seonghwa then he gently pats my head and says “Well, to be truthful we only need to feed at least once a week or every 3 days, meaning we each feed an average of 52 times in a year maybe a little more.” Wow that’s kind of a lot, 52 victims every year. With Draven involved though I'm sure the amount of victims is double the amount of death.

Seonghwa gently reaches over to hold my hand Wooyoung then smirks and says “The thing is though when a vampire falls in love with a human their thirst for their blood becomes very strong.” My hands grow cold then San turns to Wooyoung and smacks his arm “Hey, Wooyoung don’t tell her that you’ll freak her out. I’m sure she still doesn’t trust us like that yet..” Seonghwa gently squeezes my hand “Do you trust me Miss y/n?” His green and gold eyes look right at me very tenderly with no trace of malice. “Of course I trust you, I’m just still a bit scared from what happened. So knowing you might eat me in any second kinda scares me a bit. especially since um..” Oh my god, no wonder he would get extra riled up when he was anywhere near my neck last night. I glance at the rest of the vampires at the table then back over at Seonghwa who gently kisses my forehead and chuckles keeping his cool “I would never do that sweetheart, I love you too much.” Yeosang then says “You don’t have to worry about Seonghwa not controlling himself, he keeps his vampiric instincts under control very well.”

Wooyoung then cheekily smiles “Guys, I’ve never seen Seonghwa look at anyone like that, I like it, he looks less scary.” Yeosang shoots him a look then smiles “I mean when you’ve been looking for your soul mate for most of your vampire life then you finally find them I’m sure you’d act the same way.” Yunho looks over at Seonghwa and says “I know you’re happy but please keep an eye on her if something happens to her before we can get to her I really don’t want to think about it.” Seonghwa looks over at me then turns to Yunho slightly annoyed “Actually my dear Yunho, Mingi needs to be the one who's careful he should know better. Just because he’s a younger vampire doesn’t excuse him attacking people. he doesn't intend to feed on.” Yunho looks over at Hongjoong almost pleading him to step in but in return Hongjoong shrugs and says “He’s right, that can’t be an excuse. Look at Jongho, he's the youngest and he controls himself very well.” Yunho sighs in frustration then says “How can you just be on the witch’s side?! I’m sorry but you guys out of anyone here know how hard it is for Mingi to control himself. ”

Everyone turns and looks at Yunho in shock I then feel Seonghwa’s hand clench I hold his arm and gently squeeze it then he responds in a low tone “Yunho, don’t ever disrespect Miss y/n like that ever again.” Yunho grows a very sullen expression “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t stand hearing you guys say those things about Mingi. I promise Miss y/n he’s a great person. It’s just that…” He looks over at everyone for a second then he looks back at me “MIngi doesn’t like you because of your witches descent...You’re a witch.” Hongjoong gets up and grabs Yunho by the arm “Alright come on Yunho, you’ve said enough today.” I know Wooyoung told me earlier but hearing him say it that way makes me realize I'm somewhere I shouldn’t be. I have a feeling I’m going to die here.

While Hongjoong escorts Yunho back to the house I sit there in shock and embarrassment. Seonghwa pulls me close and gently pats my head and without thinking I say “I honestly wish I was gone. Ever since I arrived here I’ve brought so many problems to you guys, you especially Seonghwa. I’m so sorry.” He gently kisses the top of my head and gently strokes my cheek “No, it’s not your fault please don’t say that. From the day you were born I hoped to have you in my arms that’s how much I love you. Being born of a witch's descent isn’t your fault at all, to me you’re just human.” San, Jongho, Yeosang and Wooyoung walk over to me and Seonghwa. Jongho puts his hand on my shoulder and gently squeezes it he then sits next to me and holds my hand “I also am glad you were born because who else Is going to cheer on my singing?”

San moves some plates aside and sits on the table “Yes, and who else is going to play with me or give me really delicious snacks. Only you Miss y/n” Wooyoung then says “If you weren’t here I'd have no one to test recipes for, you’re also an amazing cooking buddy. It’s really fun cooking with you.” And finally Yeosang says “Not to mention if you weren’t here I'd have no one to help me out with experiments since none of these guys ever want to help.” I sigh “I’m so sorry for being selfish, but please understand where I'm coming from. I’m terrified just being here, don’t get me wrong being with you guys has its upsides because if I'm honest in the back of my mind there’s always that thought that maybe one day i’ll end up dead. I’m just a mere human, I’m not a witch I don’t have powers or powerful spells.”

Seonghwa slightly smiles and turns my face towards him “As long as I'm here I'll protect you with my life so you have nothing to worry about.” San looks over at the other guys then says “Us too, I know we just met not long ago but we’re all so fond of you now so don’t mind grouchy Mingi. We’ll protect you.” San then turns into his cat form and walks over to me purring and rubbing his tiny head on my arm I gently pick him up put him on my lap and pet him. My throat grows a heavy knot but not one of sadness but one of happiness and slowly my vision blurs and tears well up in my eyes. “Thank you so much…” I gently hug San in my arms while Seonghwa wipes away my tears “Oh no, don’t cry my love.” I smile and shake my head “I’m sorry I'm such a crybaby it was just happy tears.” Everyone else smiles then Jongho says “How about we help Miss y/n clean up?” I put San on the table and I get up and pick up all the plates “All the dirty dishes can go in the sink I'll wash them when I’m finished packing up all the food” they nod and take the pots of food inside San stays behind then turns back into his regular form “About what Yunho said, just ignore that. He got a bit emotional because he’s really close friends with Mingi.”

“It’s okay, I know I'm a witch by blood he wasn’t wrong about that, It just hurts because of the way he said it. I thought he was my friend and I’d never thought he’d say those things, but I totally understand I honestly would have stood up for my best friend too.” San sighs then grabs a cookie from the plate and takes a bite “True, but he didn’t have to use the fact that you’re a witch against you it’s like getting upset because fire is hot. It makes no sense because you can’t change who you are although I do think the fact that vampires and witches have a strong rivalry against each other plays a strong role as to why they’re acting that way especially Mingi, for him everything that Draven says he follows. Draven hates witches but he loves the power that comes with them so when he drinks their blood he favors that over human blood any day.”

San picks up some pots of food and we walk back towards the kitchen. He leans over close to me and says “Do you need help with the dishes again?” I shake my head and smile “Oh no, it’s okay Master San you can just bring me the remaining food from outside besides I'm sure you need to rest and prepare yourself for um… That thing happening tonight.” He looks over at Seonghwa, Wooyoung, Jongho and Yeosang talking to eachother while they bring in the rest of the food then San gives me an eye smile and says in a low whisper “Oh right, I almost forgot about that it’s today.” The rest of the boys walk into the kitchen and set the remaining food onto the kitchen table then Wooyoung says “Forgot about what San?” San then turns to Wooyoung and awkwardly smiles “Oh you know, that thing that’s happening tonight” Seonghwa then says “Oh, did you let Miss y/n in on what we’re doing?” Wooyoung nods and says “Yes, I told her this morning and she says it’s okay.”

Seonghwa looks over at me slightly worried “Are you sure you want to do this my love? I don’t want you to get scared over what happens or you know see us in a different light.” I force a smile and hold Seonghwa’s hand “It’s okay, I understand. You guys are in a pact after all and the last thing I want is for you guys to get in trouble so I decided it’ll be best I help and not be useless. I need to put my personal feelings aside.” Yeosang then says “I don’t know if Wooyoung told you this but please try not to get attached to this person, I know you’ll probably want to make friends with someone but It’s best you don’t we don’t want to risk an escapee.” I nod “Yes Master Yeosang understood.” Yeosang puts his hands on my shoulders his ruby red eyes looking into mine "Seriously, you cannot get attached Miss y/n, no matter how kind they are and how much you want to comfort them do not get attached." Huh, I wonder why...

☽ ──── ༺𖤐༻ ──── ☾

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restlessmaknae · 6 months ago

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came the light // lee byounggon [bx]

As a princess in exile with a bad reputation, you can't understand why Byounggon would want to spend time with you, but there's no stopping him, let alone the feelings that he evokes in you.

➳ Characters: magical medic!Byounggon x princess!reader/you

➳ Genre: romance, fantasy, magical realism, kingdom au, angst, fluff

➳ Words: 10.2k

➳ Warning: mentions of fire, having a fever, arranged marriages, a prince grabs reader by the wrist without permission

➳ Spotify playlist (title is taken from 'Here For You' by CIX)

➳ A/N: This story had the third most votes in my recent poll, so I hope it lives up to your expectations. 🥰 It can be read on its own or with Seunghun's or Jinyoung's stories which also take place in this universe. ❤️

➳ CIX taglist: @wccycc, @dat-town, @tsunchani, @s00buwu

You were 18 years old when your parents first tried to wed you off to a prince, but his timid self stood no chance against someone like you - someone whose words were like knives aimed perfectly at his heart, cutting into his insecurities and weaknesses. The wedding proposal was called off right after your first encounter with him.

You were 20 years old when your parents tried to wed you off to a prince from a different kingdom, hoping that the rumours about you that had spread over the years died down enough to not scare his family away. You might have spoken with knives, but Prince Sangdo didn’t obey any rules, he overruled them. Even if you asked him to keep his distance - to respect your privacy -, he didn’t listen to you. A week before the wedding was supposed to happen, he visited the palace, he visited you in your chambers uninvited, and what happened afterwards put an end to this wedding as well.

You didn’t regret it one bit - in fact, you wished Prince Sangdo could have rotted in a faraway place -, but it was you who was sent far away from your kingdom, from the cages of the palace where you had grown up. You were sent to Medicalia - the kingdom where some people possessed magical healing powers. Magical medicine was mostly used on the members of the Medicalia royal court including the royal family and the royal army, plus magical creatures that lived in the woods or in the mountains - such as fairies, unicorns and werewolves - or serving the kingdom - such as dragons guarding the palace. Magical medicine was also extremely rare since only magic practitioners could deal with it because they were the ones born with the ability to tame magic, but even they needed thorough practice and extensive training to be able to make use of their abilities to their full potential.

At least, that’s what you were told when you were ordered to pack up and leave after an exchange of letters between the two kingdoms. The magic in your kingdom - Animalia - lied in the ability to tame and speak to animals, and that’s exactly why most kingdoms were always indebted to you. You sent people to other kingdoms to tame their animals - such as the dragons guarding the royal palaces and the unicorns that had an excellent smell to detect magical plants - you shared your magic with them whereas it was extremely rare for other kingdoms to share their magic with others. For instance, Medicalia reserved their magical medics for the royal court while Naturalia boosted the magic of nature, and the trading of their magical plants was limited to their kingdom only.

That’s why it was ridiculously easy to send you into exile in another kingdom, and the only thing your father - the King - said before leaving was to not make more trouble. You were sent off in a carriage with a coachman and a servant, not even a royal guard was sent with you. Then again, what could they possibly guard? You weren’t worth their protection, for sure. You didn’t need to be told that you were only one mistake away from being disowned by your own parents since you were an asset, nothing else. A strategic move, the key to a strengthened connection between kingdoms and a woman forced into producing heirs.

The carriage suddenly came to a halt, but since the curtains were closed, you couldn’t peek outside. Based on the coachman’s muffled conversation from outside, you had a feeling that you were about to go through the gates of Medicalia’s royal court as it was around time you arrived.

A few minutes later, the carriage stopped again, but this time, there was a thud as the coachman got off the carriage and opened the door. He reached his hand out to help you down before doing the same for the servant girl they sent with you.

“They have sent word that we arrived, so they will be here soon to guide you to your… new home,” the elderly man laughed nervously after he stumbled upon the word. Indeed, what could he call it? Home? Runaway hideout? Prison?

You could feel the curious eyes on you as you stood there with the coachman and the servant girl in front of the carriage with your kingdom’s symbol painted over it, waiting for someone to show you to your place. Even though it was kept secret why you were coming here in the first place, you knew that these things didn’t stay a secret for long - at least, not in your kingdom.

“Is she the princess from Animalia?”

“She looks younger than I thought.”

“Is it true that she nearly killed a prince?”

You looked the woman in the eye who asked the last question, and she immediately sealed her lips, grabbing the arm of the woman beside her and turning around to go in the opposite direction. Your gaze didn’t waver, you looked straight into the wandering eyes of the strangers - court ladies, soldiers and servants passing by - with your chin up high. You only seemed weak when you let it show, and you didn’t let it show.

Most, if not all, people looked away when you caught their eyes, and it was almost amusing how they scampered away when they realised that you heard them. So naive of them to assume that you shut not just your ears but your eyes to the rumours around you.

There was one particular boy - a young man probably around your age - who stopped dead in his tracks when he caught sight of you, squinting his eyes at you. You looked back at him, taking in the messy midnight locks that stuck to his forehead, his sharp jawline that was in contrast to the bright, gentle edge to his almond-shaped eyes, his plump lips that failed to curl into a disapproving line like most people’s who caught your eyes. He wore a burgundy-black tunic that seemed to match the ones others were wearing around you, but it seemed more practical with its bat-wing sleeves than elegant, so you had a feeling that he wasn’t of royalty.

You tilted your head, still keeping the eye-contact, and that’s when he looked away as if he was suddenly reminded of why he was passing by, and started running again. You furrowed your eyebrows in question. What was that about?

You shook your head as a court lady came up to you to assist you with your baggage and show you to your place. You had a medium-sized room to yourself in the court with a bathroom attached to it, the rooms on your end still unoccupied and waiting for possible future guests, except for the one that they reserved for the servant girl who came with you. You were told that the Queen would welcome you the following day, and the same court lady who escorted you would bring you breakfast, lunch and dinner from the royal court kitchen, you wouldn’t need to fetch it yourself.

You thanked the young woman with a bow and a polite smile, and you saw surprise flash across her orbs as she let you settle into your new room. You didn’t ponder over the change in her expression for long, you were used to it after all. The cautious glances in your direction, the nasty gossip behind your back, and the sugarcoated words to coax you into a favour.

Too bad you weren’t one to play the dumb and ignore it all, you stood up for yourself, but that’s exactly what your parents disapproved of, that’s exactly why you were here.

Days passed by, and you seemed to fall into a routine in the meantime. In the morning, you would go for a walk in the garden of the royal court, sitting by the pond as the sun rose on the horizon, breaking the plain surface of the water into many different colours of ripe orange, rose-gold and wild apple-red. The court was tranquil at this time around, and that’s exactly what you needed. Apart from the kitchen staff who woke up early to prepare breakfast, others weren’t up around this time, so you didn’t need to bear more curious glances and more nasty accusations.

After your morning stroll, you would head back to your room, have breakfast, then read until lunchtime. Afternoon was served for whatever purpose the palace had for you: the day after you arrived, you met the Queen, after that, you met Princess Jinhee, on the third day, you were shown to the library of the court (a smaller version of what the royal family had at the palace, but nevertheless as impressive), and today, you were on your way to meet with the ladies who took care of handiwork including embroidery, sewing and tailoring.

The Queen said that these first few days will be about showing you around the court, so you knew whom to ask in need of assistance, and so that the court members could become familiar with you. You didn’t ask whether it was to dissuade their gossip or not, but you didn’t need to know that. After all, it was a wise suggestion on her part, and it wasn’t something you had complaints about. Here, you could freely roam around (with your servants following you if needed), you could spend time reading and painting in your room, and no one would ask you why. Here, you could bathe and clean yourself, you could choose and put on your clothes yourself, you didn’t need others to do it for you. Here, you could eat whatever they offered you, your meals didn’t go through your mother’s restricting wishes.

This day too, you were followed by Huisoo - the servant girl who came from Animalia with you - and Sieun showed the way - the servant girl who was appointed to you in Medicalia - as always, but as you turned a corner, the young man with the squinted eyes from last time halted beside you, his mouth forming a big ‘O’ as he caught sight of you.

“Are you the princess from Animalia?” He asked enthusiastically, and if you didn’t know any better, you would assume that he had heard only good things about you before.

When you nodded, still cautiously watching out for the change in his body language, his lips curled into a smile, the kind that made his eyes disappear. Then, he put his hands on his abdomen before bowing in a 90 degree angle towards you.

“My name is Lee Byounggon. I work as a magical medic for the royal family, so if you need any assistance magical medicine-wise, do not hesitate to ask for me,” he introduced himself when he straightened his back, the smile not fading from his lips. Despite his otherwise sharp and cold features from the day you had gotten here, he seemed gentle and warm now. The way he approached you also showed that he wasn’t one of those court members who passed by you as quickly as possible, he introduced himself head-on. He was the first one to do so which made you question:

“Aren’t you scared of me? You must have heard the rumours.”

Byounggon either didn’t seem fazed by your question or he was prepared for it because his facial expressions didn’t change. He was also really easy to read, something that you had not been so used to since so many in the royal circles put on facades to hide behind including you.

“You know… I have a special ability,” the magical medic took one tiny step towards you as if he was about to tell a secret. “I can see into people’s souls through their eyes,” he added with a smile, but you merely rolled your eyes. Even though you were not born and raised here, you knew that such magic didn’t exist here or anywhere else for that matter.

Byounggon also sensed that you didn’t believe him in the slightest because he burst into laughter in the next second, and only when he composed himself, did he continue.

“I’m just kidding, but really… you don’t look like you wanted to hurt that prince, not on purpose for sure,” he explained rather candidly, and you didn’t feel like he was lying. Lies could be covered up with smiles, laughs, sarcasm, diverting the topic or simply escaping the situation, but he… he didn’t look like he was telling a fib.

“You don’t know anything about me,” you pointed out rather coldly nevertheless, your tone intended to lash out at him.

“That’s exactly why I don’t believe the rumours. Why should I judge you when I don’t know you?”

You weren’t one to get surprised, but this did take you aback. The way he said it so unwaveringly was new, unfamiliar. You weren’t used to it, especially not after what had happened to Prince Sangdo. Byounggon didn’t seem like he had ulterior motives to be trusting you like that, but you couldn’t let your guard down over one supportive line.

So you excused yourself, explaining to the magical medic that you were on your way to the handiwork ladies, and told the servants that you could go on. The young man seemed saddened by your sudden announcement, but he did let you go, waving in your way as you were walking away from him.

You were sitting by the pond as always, watching the sunrise a few days later. It would be another day you spent away from Animalia, and you had this pang in your chest that you couldn’t explain. You didn’t miss how you used to live in that palace, you didn’t miss the bravado you had to put on to seem like an obedient, perfect little daughter, you didn’t miss the way you were mocked for not having magic in your veins when both your parents - your mother could tame fire because she was from Elementalia and your father could talk to animals because he was from Animalia - and your sister did. Until the day your magic had surfaced, at least. Afterwards, you were a curse, the mistake in the carefully crafted plans, the wrong in all the rights and the flaw in the flawless family.

You didn’t miss any of it, and yet… you couldn’t quite get used to the freedom that you had here. Despite the fact that you were in exile, you didn’t feel like a prisoner here. Sure, you weren’t invited to Prince Jinyoung and Princess Yunkyeong’s wedding because so many other royal families would be there, and it was your parents’ wish not to be seen at such events, but otherwise, you could be free. You were no one special here, and you liked it that way.

“Oh, I see someone else is also an early riser!”

A cheerful voice disrupted your silent pondering, and you snapped your head back at the sudden visitor. You let out a sigh when you locked eyes with the not so unfamiliar stranger, and turned back to the pond in front of you instead.

“You must have been deep in thought, you didn’t even see me walking towards you,” Byounggon continued despite your attempt at ignoring him, and he only halted when he reached you. You could feel his gaze on you, curious yet tentative, but you didn’t respond to it, you continued looking ahead.

“I was, and it’s because I’ve never met anyone here at this time of the day before.”

“Well, consider yourself lucky today,” the medic blabbered cheerily, and without thinking twice, he sat down on the bench beside you. When you finally looked at him - deeming his action rather brazen -, he was already looking at you, and when you locked eyes, he flashed you a dimpled smile. Why he was grinning at someone like you - a princess from a far away kingdom with a bad reputation, someone who had supposedly almost killed her husband-to-be - was beyond you. Did he have no care in the world? Did he have no fear? Was he merely naive?

“Are you that bored, or are you just set on annoying me?”

“Annoying you?” Byounggon’s smile faltered, his bright features darkening. He looked so hurt suddenly, you almost felt bad for implying something like that. “Am I really annoying you?” He inquired, blinking rapidly with his ocean-deep, jet-black orbs, swimming in genuine care. When you looked him in the eye, you felt like looking into something rare, something precious: like a gemstone containing unknown magic, hidden away from the world for its power. And you… you were probably the last person who was worthy of seeing such a treasure.

You cleared your throat and averted your eyes to the pond, unable to bear his gaze any longer.

“I’m not used to company around here, and I didn’t expect anyone today either,” you blurted out honestly, feeling exposed for what your words might indicate. Maybe the magical medic also felt the weight of it for he seemed compromising instead of butthurt or overly nosy.

“Well, I can leave if you want me to,” he suggested right away, and he got to his feet even before you could tell him to stop. However, when you did confess that he didn’t have to leave, you could feel the grin spreading on his face even without turning his way. Gosh, why did he have to smile so brightly all the time? It was so… unusual for you.

Instead, you asked him to tell you something that he felt like sharing. Like an arrow that was fired, the boy’s words came on suddenly and flew like a river. He didn’t seem to be able to stop from the moment he started talking about his best friend, Seunghun, who was a soldier here, and with whom he had a special connection. When he said that it was a secret why, you rolled your eyes, assuming that he was joking yet again.

However, after he shared with you that he had actually saved Seunghun’s life, you thought that maybe he wasn’t lying about it. Seunghun’s parents had died when their house had caught on fire, and he would have died with them too, but Byounggon - who had been a little boy back then just like Seunghun himself and who had been living close to Seunghun’s home - had noticed the fire and dragged the boy out while risking his own life. His magic had barely resurfaced before the incident, but it had come out in full-force while he had been trying to save Seunghun’s life.

Then, Seunghun ended up at the palace with Byounggon and Byounggon’s father - who was a magical medic himself -, and they had been friends ever since. The two of them with Prince Jinyoung used to play hide and seek in this very garden before, and while he was talking about his childhood days, his eyes twinkled in a different light.

“Have you had friends like that, too?” He posed the question in his good-willed innocence when you were at the topic, but you could merely scoff.

“No. I had no friends at the palace. I couldn’t even consider my sister my friend even though she is only two years older than me,” you confessed, your words loaded with bitter poison. You had always been pitted against each other with your sister, and even though you had tried to make her see you as more than just an enemy, your sister had never let you. So gone was the naive little girl who had believed that she could make everything right if she had given her share of the cake to her sister or to give her the brand new doll you had gotten for your birthday, and it was replaced with the girl who was too mature and wise for her age, nevertheless all too pessimistic.

“It must have been lonely,” Byounggon broke the silence suddenly, shattering your flashbacks into tiny little pieces. Reality struck you hard, his words even more so, and for a moment, you felt like you were about to cry. So you pressed your lips tight and dug your nails into your skin, holding it in.

The medic might have sensed your discomfort or he merely wanted to fill the silence. Nevertheless, he started talking about the upcoming Festival of Day and Light to change the subject, the usual yearly festival for the fall equinox, and why it was special for them. Supposedly, they commemorated the gift of light while also appreciating the fact that darkness was needed for light to exist, so they lit candles while thinking of their loved ones, wishing them a bright year. The best way to light candles was to put them in lanterns and to place them on the little boats that were waiting for them by the riverside, and to watch them float away.

“You should definitely come celebrate it with us. There’s always a fun celebration outside of the court, and there are all kinds of delicacies and music and…”

“Why would I go? It’s not my tradition to celebrate,” you cut off his enthusiastic chatter, but he just shrugged his shoulders, his casual way of handling your harsh words resurfacing yet again.

“I wasn’t notified that the fall equinox was created just for our kingdom,” he counter-attacked playfully, and even though you were about to open your mouth to go against him, you realised that you couldn’t. He was right.

Hence, you bit your tongue, and didn’t say anything, just let him talk about whatever came to his mind until you were called for breakfast by Huisoo who seemed quite surprised to see you talking to the medic by the pond. What could you say though? You were surprised, too.

Two weeks later, when you finally managed to fall asleep after tossing and turning in bed for hours, shivers running up and down your spine, you dreamed of a fire.

You were standing inside the fire, the flames dancing around you, and whenever you tried to move, they followed you as if they were your shadow. You looked left and right when you heard a cry on the other side of the fire, and even though you should have felt scorching hot, you could only feel icy numbness taking hold of your legs, unable to move. The cry grew louder and louder until you had to put your hands on your ears to block the frantic sound out. Then, someone called your name, and when you tried to block it out too, invisible arms started shaking you. You fought back, tears pricking your ears, but the arms just wouldn’t let go.

Your eyes bolted open at that moment, but you didn’t feel any better. In fact, you felt even hotter than in that fire, and when you looked at the figure standing above you, his arms holding onto your shoulders, you realised that the part about being shaken must have been real. So had been the part about someone calling your name.

“Princess Y/N, it’s me. Huisoo told me that you weren’t feeling well last night, and you didn’t show up at the pond today, so I came by to see if I could help,” Byounggon explained slowly, gently, as if talking to a child. Then, when he caught sight of you staring at his arms on your shoulder, he let go of you, albeit a bit embarrassed.

You just blinked at him, trying to focus on his face instead of letting the nightmares take hold of you again, but it was difficult when all you wanted to do was to close your eyes and lie in bed. Your head was throbbing, your whole body was quivering, and the last thing you wanted to do was to have a conversation with Byounggon even though he seemed genuinely concerned about you.

“Where does it hurt? How long have you been having a fever?” He asked seriously once you regained more consciousness, and even though you were reluctant to tell him because you didn’t want his help, you were too run down to care.

So you told him that your joints had been hurting since last night, just before dinner, and you had a fever since midnight or dawn, you couldn’t tell because you had been drifting out of dreams (or more like nightmares) for the most part. Byounggon insisted on helping you after hearing about your symptoms, but you declined, saying that you had been used to dealing with such things on your own in your kingdom.

“Does it mean that I have to watch you suffer just because that’s what you’ve been used to?” The medic exclaimed, rather desperate, and even though you knew all too well what he was referring to, you couldn’t help but feel exposed. Wasn’t that what you were doing now? Suffering on your own, like the strong daughter and the perfect princess you had needed to become, just because you had never been treated otherwise? Because you could never show any sign of weakness, let alone accept someone’s assistance when they were willingly giving it to you?

“Fine. Do as you wish,” you gave in after defeating the voices in your head telling you not to let him help you. You were so tired, your body felt like it was twice its weight, and your eyes were heavy with sleep and the last remains of the terrifying nightmare you had, the last thing you felt like doing was arguing.

Byounggon immediately broke into a relieved smile, and as he was getting ready, he started talking about what he was about to do. Supposedly, one’s centre of energy was around their abdomen, so he needed to put his hand on your stomach to be able to heal your energy centre. If you had been in your right mind, you would have probably backed down on your word at this part, but you were still half-conscious, so you didn’t care, even when he touched you. He touched you so gently though, you could barely feel his featherlike touch.

He closed his eyes while he was working with his magic on healing you, and his lips sometimes twitched, probably from concentration. May it be because of his magic working or because you could look at him more closely like this as he was crouching down by your mattress, but you realised that there were dark circles under his eyes. You were reminded of what Sieun had told you a few days ago, that the magical medic had asked her about your daily schedule, especially about when you usually went to the pond. Sieun had told you that she didn’t know why he was asking, but you had a feeling why.

Byounggon must have been waking up earlier to talk with you by the pond, and the fact that he got worried because you had not been there this morning as you had done so for the past two weeks made you feel delirious, as if he was a poison you had a sweet taste of, but you couldn’t let yourself have more.

“It’s done,” the medic announced, dragging you out of your thoughts, and as your head cleared, you realised that your body felt light again. You put your hand to your forehead, but it didn’t feel hot. You pushed yourself up to a sitting position, and indeed, you didn’t feel feverish anymore. It was as if you had just woken from a good night’s sleep.

“Wow, princess, take it easy! You should still rest, you don’t want this illness to come back,” he advised, eyebrows furrowed in worry, and now that you had the energy to smile, you directed a friendly one at him.

“It’s alright. I feel good thanks to you,” you pointed out, and you saw how he tried to hide the grin that was creeping onto his lips. He failed though, alongside the pink that was tinting his cheeks, and the way he needed to clear his throat before he spoke up again.

“Well, it was nothing, really,” he shrugged off your compliment, averting his eyes elsewhere but your face. You were about to ask him to tell you how his magic worked when he caught sight of your paintings, the canvases resting by the wall.

“Did you paint them?” He inquired, a pure kind of curiosity lighting up in his eyes, and you didn’t have the heart to lie to him. So you told him the truth: that it was you, and that you had been painting for some time though your mother had never approved of it since she didn’t deem it appropriate for a princess who should have been learning how to engage in polite conversations and seducing princes instead of doing art.

“Seducing princes? Do you really learn that?” Byounggon asked, rather surprised, but there was a playful smile hiding in the corner of his lips. It seemed that even the medic himself couldn’t decide how much to believe your words.

“Well, she wanted me to. We had books on them in the library, and there was a teacher giving lessons on courting, but he only succeeded in teaching my sister. I made him give up after two lessons,” you shrugged your shoulders nonchalantly.

“Wow, you are so…”

“So?” You quirked an eyebrow challengingly when he seemed to search for the right words. Usually, when you gave people this look, they backtracked, and started babbling or changed the topic, but the medic didn’t.

“Admirable,” he decided on it a few seconds later, and your features softened. It was as if someone had offered you some quiet after the cacophony of the royal events you were forced to attend: you felt comforted, and your heavy heart felt a bit less tight. “I applaud you for how you speak your mind. I find it refreshing.”

You found his approachable personality refreshing too, but you couldn’t tell him that. After all, what good could that lead to? You had already let down your walls around him enough times, you were afraid that if he kept going, he would see behind that admirable facade, and see you as you were: terrified of history repeating itself and being far from perfect when it came to reciprocating other’s kindness. You didn’t deserve his care, you didn’t deserve his kindness.

Instead of commenting on his words, you asked if he had any duties he needed to attend to, and now that you reminded him, he realised that he should go to the palace indeed. However, before he could leave, you thanked him for healing you, and if anything, he gifted you with the widest smile you had seen on him.

“Anytime.”

Coming from him, accompanied by the comet of affection travelling through the galaxy of his jet-black orbs, somehow, you didn’t want to question the sincerity of his words.

The court was in a frenzy because of the upcoming wedding, but those who had some spare time still decided to go to the yearly Festival of Day and Light. You had contemplated not going, but when you asked Sieun about the festival, her whole face lit up, and you had a feeling that she would want to go.

So you told Sieun and Huisoo that you would head out to check out the festivities, but they could go their separate ways afterwards if they wanted to. The girls both objected fervently, but it was only until Huisoo was ever so obviously swept up by a handsome young man with shoulder-length hair at a flower stall, and the other met someone she had known before because then, both of them excused themselves. Which left you alone with the sugarcoated apple in your hand that you had bought for yourself - and one for either servant girl -, strolling around the main market square where the festival took place.

There were all kinds of games for kids who ran around without a care in the world while their parents were running after them or cheering them on. Beside the games, stalls of delicacies - ranging from sugared fruit to freshly-baked bread and dried figs coated in cinnamon - were lined up like tiny little stars dotted on the canvas of cobblestones. Beside the riverside, people either lit up candles or placed them on the little boats that waited by the sides just like Byounggon had told you so. The whole festival was full of cheers, laughter and life, topped by white and yellow decorations in the shape of the Sun, the Moon and the stars.

Despite being an outsider, you could feel the kingdom pulsing with the energy of its people, bright and cheerful. When you had been living in Animalia, you had visited the festivities outside of the palace maybe once or twice as a kid, so to be able to see how ordinary people celebrated such a meaningful time here warmed your heart. Suddenly, you felt like you were being surrounded by a community instead of being left alone in the vastness of the icy, jarring unknown.

Maybe it was because of the sentiment or because of the eager ladies by the riverside handing out candles, but you found yourself lighting up one of them when you found a part of the riverside that wasn’t as crowded as others.

“You do know that you need to make a wish when you light a candle. Otherwise, it will be pretty but less meaningful,” a familiar voice spoke up from behind you, and you hid the smile that was creeping onto your lips with a frown.

“You do know that you seem to spend an awful lot of time with me these days,” you pointed out when Byounggon halted beside you, and flashed you a wide smile, the kind that turned his eyes into little crescents resembling the moon above you.

“I am just keeping an eye on you. I wouldn’t want a princess to be sick again or to be sick of boredom,” he retorted cheekily, and you bit your cheek to not smile back at him as brightly as you could. He kept his eyes on you, and the way the moonlight reflected in his orbs and cupped his features in a magnificent halo mesmerised you for a moment. He didn’t need light to shine, he was so bright, so full of life either way, but under the crafted lines of the moon, you wondered what it would be like to make a painting of him one day - and whether you could capture his features as gracefully as your eyes did now.

Byounggon did develop a habit of accompanying you on your morning stroll. Sometimes he was early, more often he was late, but he did show up every day without fail. When you questioned if he had nothing better to do, he said no, and that he was actually looking for company for his morning walks, too. If you hadn’t heard from Sieun that the medic had specifically asked her about your morning visits to the court garden, you might have believed him, but since the servant girl’s remark, you couldn’t have fought the seed of hope that was blooming in your chest.

You let him join you, and you let him talk. You got to know all kinds of stories regarding court life here, and childhood stories of his soldier friend, Seunghun, and Prince Jinyoung, more or less funny ones that cracked up the medic, too. You also got to know about current affairs of the kingdom, and how Prince Jinyoung’s heart was someone else’s, but he couldn’t love her fully because he was going to marry a princess for a favourable trade deal. When you inquired if the wedding could be called off because of the prince’s feelings, Byounggon shook his head, a bitter smile tinting his lips - something that you had ever so scarcely seen on him. You hadn’t been in Prince Jinyoung’s shoes because you had never wanted to sacrifice an arranged marriage for a genuine love, but you could understand why it was difficult for him to marry for convenience.

You liked when Byounggon was talking because you could get to know about how things worked in the kingdom, but you could also get to know about him and his (adorably) gullible personality and his (precious) big heart. Once you realised that his intentions were truly pure, you let yourself be comfortable around him, including this day.

“So you came here to make a wish?” You quirked an eyebrow when you caught sight of a candle in his hands. The medic let out a deep, joyous laughter before answering.

“Well, I came here because I saw you, but yes, I also have a wish,” he flashed you a wide grin, and as he crouched down to put his candle into a lantern, you couldn’t help but ask:

“What are you wishing for?”

“It’s a secret,” he winked at you playfully. If he had been someone else, you would have probably felt offended by the gesture. However, it was him, and you knew him well enough by now, so you merely rolled your eyes at his antics.

“Fine. I won’t tell you mine either,” you retorted with a huff as you followed suit, and lit your own candle. He helped you put yours into a lantern, and placed them beside his own on a nearby boat. You waited a few minutes until the boat was filled up with lanterns and a man pushed the boat off the railing to let it float, to let it get further away from you while you were making a wish.

You watched it go with a sentimental smile, thinking of how much had changed in the last few months, so that you could be a part of a festival like this and wish to have many more moments like this - when you forgot about who you were, and let yourself be, let yourself rest after carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders.

“You seem to be happy now,” Byounggon remarked gently, quietly, no hint of playfulness in his voice after a few moments of utter silence. You looked at him, humming a yes, and let out a long sigh. When you inhaled, it felt like breathing in a whole new flavour of air.

“Is it because of me?”

Now Byounggon was teasing, his lips quirked up, but you had a feeling that he was doing it on purpose because he was way too pleased with himself when you laughed at the sudden change of the mood.

“Do you think it’s because of you?” You asked back, equally as curious as challenging. You knew that the medic would answer no matter your tone because he always did, and you liked that about him: that he was willing to speak his mind, even if it meant that he embarrassed himself because of his silly antics or that he made your heart flutter with a genuine compliment of his.

“I would like to think that, at least partly, it’s because of me,” Byounggon played along, theatrically placing a hand above his heart. He tried to remain serious, his features unwavering, but his lips twitched slightly, and his whole demeanour changed when he heard music coming from the main market square. They started playing a song - unknown to you, of course - on the drums and there was probably a little bit of guitar as well, and some instrument that you couldn’t quite put a finger on. Byounggon’s face immediately lit up hearing the melody, and it only took a few seconds until he bolted off, exclaiming that you should join him dancing while he was running off.

You followed him swiftly, and watched as he joined the circle of people who started dancing to the music. There were older people, younger ones, even little children, men and women alike, and the different colour and design of their clothes indicated that they were from different classes. You caught sight of Huisoo and the pretty boy from the flower stall in the crowd, and something in you twisted when you looked at them - so carefree, so joyful, so present in the given moment.

Then, Byounggon suddenly showed up by your side, and reached his hand out to you when the music stopped. You looked down at the boy’s hand, then up at him, into his almond-shaped eyes, and your first instinct was to shake your head and tell him no. The medic’s smile didn’t falter despite your hesitation, and maybe that’s what prompted you to take his hand and join him.

No one threw you a nasty glance, no one judged you for being there, no one cared, and honestly, that was the most reassured you felt for a long time. With your hand in Byounggon’s and in a little girl’s on your other side, you followed their lead and mimicked their dance moves. One after another, one after another, and then you lost count of the steps as you got swept up in the stomping footsteps and the echoing melodies.

You didn’t know how much time passed by - it could have been minutes or hours, you couldn’t tell -, but when the dance was over, and Byounggon inquired if you wanted to head back to the court together, you immediately said yes. It was only after a few seconds that you realised that the medic still didn’t let go of your hand, and you watched him take it away with a coy smile and a scratch of his neck.

And that’s when you realised that he was actually right: that he was a part of why you were happy here.

Prince Jinyoung and Princess Yunkyoung’s wedding took place as planned, and since Sieun was obligated to join because she was a part of the royal court here, you told Huisoo that she could spend this day however she wanted, you would be fine on your own. You didn’t like asking them for favours either way; since your mother’s watching eyes weren’t on you, you enjoyed that you could cater for yourself, and didn’t require their services as much. Both girls objected at first, saying that you were too generous, that’s why you started asking them to accompany you when they could break free from their role a bit - like at the festival when they could join the crowd or when you started going to the court kitchen to eat together with others instead of having your meals delivered to your room -, and you had a feeling that Huisoo would take the opportunity to meet up with the pretty flower stall boy from the festival.

That left you with much free time on your hands, preferably spent alone in your room, so you couldn’t bump into your mother who would attend the wedding and be reprimanded for being in the public’s eye. You spent the morning working on a painting of the riverside on the day of the festival, illuminated by the mysterious moon, and you spent the afternoon reading a book on the many magical creatures of the kingdom. You did have quite a few of them at Animalia too, but Medicalia boosted a high number of creatures that you had only heard of before, yet never seen them - such as phoenixes, kitsunes and caladriuses which supposedly had healing powers.

You were in the middle of reading a chapter about phoenixes when you heard a knock on your door. Expecting it to be one of the servants, you told them that they could come inside, but the knocking persisted. Hence, you rose to your feet from your crouching posture, and stepped up to the door to open it. Your heart skipped a beat when you saw who was behind it.

“Mother!” You breathed out in shock, not expecting her to pay a visit to you after the wedding ceremony. She was all dolled up for the event, but the evident frown on her face ruined the innocence of the swan-white outfit she put on.

She walked into the room with much disgust in her eyes, and only after you closed the door, did she turn around to face you. You could already tell that she was frustrated, her feelings shown in the tight lines of her lips and the way she squinted her eyes at you. Not to mention her thundering voice when she spoke up.

“Didn’t I tell you not to cause trouble here? Didn’t I specifically ask you to not use your powers here?” She spat the questions like venom, her words sending a bullet through your heart one after another.

“I do not understand, Mother,” you answered, your heart wrenching at the thought that she could assume something like this when you had nothing to be ashamed of. You had not caused any trouble here, and you had never used your powers ever since you had entered Animalia. Even though it had been tempting because you had wanted to see what you could do with it if you had put effort into practising, but you had to bury the thought as soon as it was born.

“Oh, come on, you’re not a child anymore! Don’t play the innocent kid with me,” your mother striked again, and took a step closer to you, looking straight into your eyes when she continued. “There was a fire a few days ago in the palace’s kitchen. I’ve heard that they haven’t found what caused it yet, though it could have been simply out of negligence. With you being here, I don’t think it was accidental.”

For a moment, you had no idea what to say. Then, you felt your blood rise as you balled your hands into fists. Just how could she assume something like that on her own when you were totally innocent? Just how low could she stoop to make you play the bad guy when the fire in your room at the Animalia palace wouldn’t have broken out if it hadn’t been for Prince Sangdo’s lack of manners? Not to mention who was to blame for your powers? Wasn’t it your mother who came from Elementalia and had the power to tame fire?

“Do you really think I visit the palace each and every day, just to burn something there? Do you really think of me so lowly? I have not even set foot in the palace for a month, let alone create a fire in the kitchen, but if you want to blame someone, sure, blame me. That does not mean I am guilty,” you objected fervently, but before she could open her mouth to say something more, you continued. “I wish you would have made a scene like this when Prince Sangdo had come into my room and grabbed my wrist when I had asked him not to touch me that night. If I was guilty then, you would have had your reason to blame it on me now. But I was innocent and I am innocent now, it is only your perception of me that always makes me the bad one in your eyes. The child that does not sit back and watch injustice without speaking up about it, the daughter that would choose painting over marrying a prince, and the girl who did not seem to inherit your powers until she did, and then, you wished she hadn’t.”

Your words flew like the river during a storm - waves crushing violently, heavy winds catching the surface ever so indignantly -, and it felt like there was a thunderstorm in your heart. You wanted to fight, to punch the walls, to knock over the shelves around you - anything to make your mother go away, alas, you could only fight back with your words, and they even didn’t seem to reach her. If anything, they made her even angrier, no sign of remorse in her eyes.

“Don’t you dare talk to me like that! A princess knows where to draw the line, but you… you are out of your mind, and being away from Animalia didn’t seem to help either. And I thought-”

Your mother’s words were interrupted by a few rhythmic knocks on the door, and you both snapped your head towards the sound.

“Princess Y/N, it’s time for your lesson,” a familiar voice called, and despite the fact that you had no lesson, let alone with him, you didn’t want to object. Your mother didn’t seem to think it through either, instead, she let out an offended huff and murmured into your ears before leaving:

“Don’t think that you can come back anytime soon with that attitude.”

You gulped down the knot in your throat as you watched her leave, and turned around to be with your back to the door, so that Byounggon wouldn’t see the way your hands were shaking when he came inside your room. You heard him close the door behind him, and fumble with something before he dared to ask:

“Are you okay?”

“How much did you hear?” You retorted back, standing by the walls with your back to him. You tried your best to hold back your tears, but you weren’t sure that you were doing a good job because you could feel your eyes watering despite your best efforts.

“Uhmm… I think everything,” Byounggon admitted after a long pause. You closed your eyes for a moment, the first teardrop rolling down your cheeks, leaving a cold streak behind on your warm cheeks. “I saw your mother leaving the ceremony, and I had a feeling that she would come to you, but I wasn’t sure. So I followed her here. I know it sounds very bad, but I was afraid that she would… do something to upset you or hurt you because you told me that she was the one who wanted to send you away, and I don’t know what exactly happened, at least I didn’t know until now, but I knew you didn’t deserve it, and it really seems you didn’t. And I just… I wanted to protect you from her. I’m sorry I was late,” he rambled incredibly fast, and the more he talked, the more heavily your tears were following.

You couldn’t understand how someone who had never met you could trust you and believe in your innocence even before you had met for the first time. On the contrary, your mother had blamed you for everything, and she had known the full story. How could someone be so pure to you? How could Byounggon care about you so genuinely, so selflessly? He didn’t have anything to gain from caring about you, yet he did so, and it just broke your heart even more.

You heard the medic take a few steps towards you, and when he halted beside you in a safe distance, he immediately caught sight of your silent sobbing. You looked at him from behind the curtain of your tears, watching how he was trying to gesture with his hands, but was unable to decide what to do. So you decided instead of Byounggon himself, and stepped up to him to embrace him.

“Thank you,” you croaked out, your voice coming out a lot more strained and fragile than you wanted to.

You could feel him loosen up, and slowly, gently, he put his arms around your frame, patting your back while you cried against his chest. He was warm, he was warmth itself, and you wanted to get lost in his touch, in his arms, in his voice.

“It’s okay. You can cry with me,” he murmured into your hair, his voice rid of any playfulness or teasing.

Tears like pearls fell onto the silk of his shirt, leaving behind more than just wet stains - leaving behind the last walls that you had been keeping up around yourself to protect yourself, all crumbled down now, and the stories he had never heard before, neither had you shared with anyone else since leaving your kingdom.

The following days, you were cautious about meeting Byounggon, secretly terrified that he would see you as a horrible person, that he wouldn’t understand your pain, and you would end up feeling lonelier than ever before. You had never opened up to someone like on the day of the wedding, and you were afraid that you would need to rebuild your walls, and never let anyone in, ever again.

On the other hand, Byounggon acted the same way, if not more protective over you. He highlighted how much people liked you here in the court, especially since the festival when you had gone out to celebrate with ordinary people, and how your own kingdom didn’t deserve you if they turned their back on you when you had wanted to protect yourself. What’s more, he pointed out that he would have been delighted to meet someone like you when he had been a child because taming fire would have meant that you could have helped save Seunghun’s parents when he had managed to save Seunghun only. Sure, power might come with great responsibility, but it wasn’t your fault that your power had surfaced at a time like that. It merely showed that you had been desperate back then, and no one had paid attention to that part of the story, they had been too quick to send you away.

You felt yourself becoming softer and softer towards the medic afterwards because he was everything you had never had the chance to have - the shoulder to cry on, the one who understood your body language even when words failed you, the boy who always asked for your permission when he wanted to come closer to you or hold your hand, and the one who would fight for you through thick and thin. You had never met a more considerate, more gentle soul, and even his goofy self was endearing to you.

Even when he claimed that he didn’t steal a flower (that allegedly resembled you in his eyes) from the court garden (“because it wasn’t considered stealing if he was on good terms with the gardeners”); even when he managed to fall into the pond when he got scared by a bee during one of your morning strolls, and even when he ran all the way from the palace to you because he thought that you were the one who came down with something in the court, sweating bucks because running wasn’t his forte, your feelings towards him grew stronger and stronger.

Not to mention the time he shared with you the secret he had been keeping about his friend, Seunghun. When he had first talked about the soldier, you had assumed that he had been joking when he had claimed that the reason their relationship was special was a secret. However, when he let you know that by saving Seunghun, he managed to keep him alive as a phoenix, it all made more sense. You could also understand why he was keeping it a secret because phoenixes didn’t have human forms, at least not ones that the books knew of.

You knew the part of the story that Seunghun’s parents had died when their house had caught on fire, and he would have died with them too, but Byounggon had noticed the fire and dragged the boy out while risking his own life. His magic had barely resurfaced back then, but it had come out in full-force as he had been trying to save Seunghun’s life. Since he hadn’t known at first just how much he could have helped the almost burned boy, he had also applied fireflower on his wounds - the flower that was born after fires, so interestingly so, it was almost like a phoenix, born after turning to ashes.

In a way, Byounggon tied himself to Seunghun by saving him because his magic continued to live inside his friend’s body, and whenever the soldier was hurt, it was only Byounggon who could heal him completely. At least, until Seunghun was saved by a girl, and her magic saved him just like the medic’s magic had saved him when they had been young. Ever since then, their magical bond might have faded, but their friendship stayed the same.

You even met the so-called soldier friend and his girlfriend at the court, and after a while, it became a habit of yours to have dinner with them alongside Huisoo, Sieun and the medic himself. You felt light whenever you were around them, that’s why you didn’t take it to heart when they started teasing you or Byounggon who was clumsily trying to get closer to you. Bit by bit, you let him get closer, but you needed to be the one to take the final step nevertheless.

“Byounggon, we need to talk,” you told him one morning, sitting by the pond while the sun was just rising on the horizon.

“T-talk?” He stuttered, extremely nervous for someone who was usually so chatty, but maybe he sensed the serious edge to your words, and he was scared by what was to come.

All was well though, so he was scared for nothing. Your parents had previously sent a letter to the royal family of Medicalia, telling them to take care of you for at least a year more until your sister could settle down with her husband, and you had a feeling that meant that you would never be welcomed in Animalia again. Hence, you had the permission to stay here longer, and you tried to be useful by applying to become an arts teacher in the court. You had your first lessons with the cousins of Prince Jinyoung and Princess Jinhee not too long ago, and it proved to be a success, so that was taken care of.

Nevertheless, you had a feeling that the boy might have thought that you would need to go back to Animalia or worse, marry a prince from a far-away kingdom. Thankfully, neither of them were likely to happen anytime soon, but it warmed your heart how worried he got.

“Yes. I want to talk about you and me,” you broke it down to him, but if anything, that just made him appear more appalled. He visibly gulped, but his eyes were still on you, intent and curious.

“Suuure. Go ahead,” he prompted semi-confidently, and you reached out to put your hand on his, to soothe his nerves. You could tell that it had its effect on him because his lips immediately curved upwards, and he squeezed your hand to hold onto you more tightly.

“I want to thank you for waiting for me,” you started sincerely, but the talkative person he was, he couldn’t help himself, but to interrupt you.

“Of course! Why wouldn’t I? I’m not like that horrible prince who deserves the absolute worst, he deserves to-” He started getting riled up again, something that he always did when you mentioned some injustice you had encountered at the Animalia palace or he thought of Prince Sangdo. You were sure that he wouldn’t be able to hold himself back if he were to ever encounter the said prince, but thankfully, there was little to no chance of that happening.

“I love you, Byounggon,” you announced, loud and proud, and the medic’s mouth stayed open, probably because he was in the middle of his monologue, but also because he was surprised by your sudden confession. Then, he closed his mouth, his features softening, and he immediately threw his arms around you.

“I love you, too. Gosh, I love you so much!” He shrieked excitedly like a little kid, and hugged you tighter than ever before. You smiled to yourself while he was holding you, amused (and bewitched) at the way he kept saying ‘I love you’ like he would never want to stop.

He couldn’t stop even when Sieun and Huisoo walked by, and they tried to sniffle their giggles while watching you two embrace each other in the middle of the blooming garden, bathed in the rays of the sunrise.

“I’ve told you he liked her when he asked about her morning strolls,” Huisoo told Sieun as they were heading towards the kitchen while the other girl just let out an amused laugh.

“Sure, Miss Matchmaker. What about your flower boy though? What was his name again? Leewoo? Leehan?” Sieun teased her and smacked the girl in the side, playful as ever.

“Ssshh,” Huisoo shushed her, pretending to stay nonchalant about the topic, but she couldn’t help a smile creeping onto her lips as she said: “Well, love might be in the air for everyone.”

A/N: Thank you so much for reading my story! I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you think in the comments or as reblogs. I always read them and react to them. 🥰

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Hope you have a lovely day/night! *-*

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