#if you don’t clap and cheer for her i will blow this entire building up (/j)

[treeba-rk]

his favouritism is so obvious 😭 it’s like a persistent glowing sign the size of the blue river raceways sign that’s screaming “false is super cool and awesome :DDDDDDD”

everyone is a rengirlie but ren is a falsegirlie and he’s based for that

[cream-and-tea]

🎮 or 🌼? :D

🌼 Character with flower symbolism

[ID. A digital sketch of Agnes-Maria White done in various warm shades of orange with black lineart. Agnes is a young girl with pale brown skin covered in freckles, a round face, and thick, curly hair that falls past her shoulders. She wears a sweater over a white blouse tucked in trousers with heavy boots and has a red bandanna tied in her hair. She sits in profile against a desaturated red background, looking up with her left leg cocked up and a small smile on her face. Floating behind her head there are a cluster of flowers that spread out around her. END ID]

hi hi hi!! you get an agnes bc i love her with all my heart and need to post about her more. the flowers i chose for her are: poppies (death and remembrance, but also very heavily associated with war/bloodshed), white oleanders (the complicated nature of love and relationships, also very poisonous), and daisies (innocence and loyalty)!

[cloud-9ine]

Cable Shocks

⤷ pairing - denki kaminari x reader

⤷ fandom - bnha

⤷ warnings - slight angst, hurt/comfort, illness, exploitation

⤷ summary - you notice the other class 1-a students using denki’s quirk for their favours, and you catch him later paying the price

⤷ word count - 3.2k+

Denki Kaminari was a giver.

He gave his help, he gave his laughter, he gave his love, and recently, he was beginning to give himself, too.

It started off innocently: he showed the Class 1-A students his party trick- look at that, he can charge phones! After that, the others had regularly come to him in need of their devices being charged, or electricity constantly pumped into something that only he could provide. And Denki, being a giver, well, he never said no.

It didn’t matter to him that it would make him short circuit, it didn’t matter to him that they would laugh, it didn’t even matter to him that all he could taste every evening was acid.

Denki Kaminari was a giver, and he was prepared to give his life.

Your class common room was never empty. At any given time, there was always at least two of your classmates in there- no exceptions. If you wanted to make tea in the early morning, Iida and Yaoyorozu would greet you with beaming grins unbecoming of such an unnatural time. Alternatively, if you wanted to cry at 3 AM, you would lay your eyes on Tokoyami and Jirou plunged into the darkness, leaving you to wonder whether they were just acting off or if they were summoning a demon to curse those who have wronged them.

At this moment, Denki was sat on the centre sofa, three cables stuck between his teeth. Beside him sat Mina, eagerly chatting to Kirishima who sat opposite to her on a plush chair with Sero lounged over the arm of it. The three looked content, but you couldn’t help but notice the stiffness at which Denki was disposed, concentration knotting his brows as he worked on keeping the sparks flowing through the wires.

You slipped into the room, deciding on the space on the other side of Denki. The other occupants of the room gave you a quick hello before returning to their previous conversations. With the exception of Denki, obviously, who seemingly forgot his task the moment he heard your name mentioned. His eyes sparkled once he saw you, his head turning to the side as he opened his mouth to speak.

“Hey, Kaminari, you’re dropping the wires!” Sero snickered, eyeing up the way Denki looked down in alarm.

“Only 27%? Come on, I need more than that!” Mina whined, shoving the cables back into the spooked boy’s mouth. He looked at you apologetically, attempting to convey something with wild gestures that you couldn’t begin to comprehend. You laughed, patting the top of his head to quell his struggles.

“Don’t worry about it. Let’s just chill, yeah?” He paused, dropping his hands to his lap and nodding. You grinned, bumping your shoulder against his before pulling your phone out. Denki squinted at the object, as if it had personally offended him. Grinning, you shook your head.

“Fully charged. Don’t worry your pretty little head about it.” His expression softened, cheeks glowing a slight pink at your words. You shifted slightly to get more comfortable, ending up slumped against Denki’s side, who in return leaned into you.

“And so basically, I told him he was nuts, right?” The careless ramblings of Mina was enough to get you to relax, scrolling aimlessly through your friend’s Instagram posts. Ochako had posted a weirdly aesthetic picture of mochi, Midoriya had posted a picture of Ochako, Iida was posting about cyber-bullying, the works.

Being in physical contact with Denki while he was in charging mode, you noticed, made your hair float up like static electricity. You didn’t mind this, taking to flattening down your hair every once in a while during your relaxation. It was easy to let go with your classmates- the gentle lull of the voices of the others mixed with the pleasant buzz of Denki’s skin against yours made for a comforting experience that almost made you fall asleep.

“Hey dunce face!” Denki jumped at the sound of Bakugo’s voice, his elbow jutting into your side and forcing you to tense up. He didn’t seem to notice your subtle glare, however, as his attention was focused on the other boy that had slammed open the door (not that Bakugo seemed entirely angry today, but it was just his natural disposition that made every action of his aggressive).

“H-Hey bro! What’s up?” Bakugo didn’t respond to Kirishima’s words, further ignoring the similar muffled greeting that Denki managed to let out.

“I need this charged,” he grumbled, moving to Denki and shoving a fourth wire in his mouth. You frowned, eyeing up the two boys wearily. The screens of the current phones flashed, an indication that he wasn’t putting in enough charge. He gulped as Bakugo stomped back out the room, his eyes squeezing shut as he amped up the electricity.

As if a switch had been flipped, Denki’s blonde locks frizzed up before succinctly falling back down to his head. You stared at him, eyes widened as the wires dropped to the ground.

“Wheeeee!” His body fell into you, thumbs sticking out with a goofy smile painted onto his face. A small smile pushed passed your lips as you grabbed a pillow and placed it under his head just as he fell off your shoulder and into your lap.

“Oh my god! He’s buzzed out!” Mina cackled, grabbing her phone to snap a couple of photos as the others laughed.

“I love the guy, but my god is he dumb.” You bit your lip at Sero’s grin, angling Denki’s head away from the camera and raking your hands through his hair. His arms wrapped around your waist, pulling his face into your stomach as he rambled about something to do with being okay. It was hard to understand him in this state.

“Come on guys, not cool.” You mumbled, using your sleeve to wipe away a bit of drool on Denki’s chin.

“Ah, cheer up (Y/N)! He does this all the time- it doesn’t matter!” Kirishima’s words made a pit coil in your stomach, nausea prickling your throat.

“It doesn’t matter. Leave him alone.” Mina rolled her eyes.

“God, it’s not a big deal. It’s his own fault, anyway.” You couldn’t help the annoyance that fuelled the glare in your eyes, but you pushed it down with a harder bite to the inside of your cheek. There was the burst of something metallic that tinged your tongue, but you ignored it.

“Come on, Denki. Let’s go,” said boy didn’t seem to recognise your words until you propped him up so you could stand up before pulling him off the sofa. Seemingly slightly resigned by your actions, Mina dropped her phone into her lap, looking away. This didn’t stop the other two from laughing, however, the volume of their cackles only increasing as Denki fell into your back.

With a groan, you shoved your shoulder into the door to open it and letting Denki clamber through. You painstakingly led him into his dorm room, redirecting him away from every wall he tried to run into and each piece of furniture he rammed into his abdomen. Your phone was blowing up with notifications, but you elected to ignore that as you made sure he didn’t hit his head as he fell onto his bed.

You wrote him a quick note and stuck it on his door, turning around to make one last check that he wasn’t going to kill himself the moment you stepped out the door.

Come find me when you’re back to normal.

“(Y/N)…” he whined, hands reaching out for you as he rolled onto his side, eyes sparkling once he saw you. You sighed, moving to brush a strand of his hair behind his ear.

“I’ll see you later, yeah?” It didn’t seem like he quite understood what you said, but the compliant nod and shining smile was enough to convince you he would be okay.

AlienQueen: [ATTACHMENT SENT]

[TheRaven, StarMan, MyChemicalHeadphones and 10 others liked this photo]

PinkQueen: guys!! look at kami asjadoawdhd

ALiteralRock: haha! you shoulda been there

Froggi: He’s been doing that more lately

Invisibitch: Good! It’s so funny!

PinkCake: hes so cute <33

GreenCake: It’s interesting how Denki has been ‘buzzing out’ more, but I suppose if he’s been using his quirk more often outside of training he could be slowly building a resistance.

BoomBoomBoy: Shut up.

IidaTenya: I sure hope he is safe!

TapeMan: nah, (Y/N) got im

You didn’t see Denki for the rest of the day.

When you stirred from your sleep, it was still dark. You felt a warmth building below your skin that spurred you to strip of your blanket, allowing it to fall into a crumpled heap onto the floor before creeping out the room. In the dead silence of the night, each one of your footfalls sounded like a bang to a drum.

The common room was empty that night. You squinted through the darkness, feeling your way to the sink to pour yourself a glass of water. You stilled in the quiet for a moment, letting the movement settle as you took a sip. There was always a sort of ringing once it got quiet enough, a small reminder that despite the fact you were alone in the dark, there was still something going on.

Click.

At the end of the hall, a light turned on, the orange glow a stark contrast from the deep shadows that plagued the area. You heard a quiet shuffling, before a muffled gagging sound rang out.

Eyes widening, you rushed as quietly as you could down the hall, nearly crashing into the door as you shoved your way into the bathroom.

Hunched over the sink, chest racking with coughs and gags was Denki, his eyes teary as they struggled to focus on you. A dark substance, almost completely black if it were not for the slightest translucency, dripped from his parted lips and into the basin, clashing against the pure white marble.

You clapped a hand to your mouth, willing down the tears that welled in your eyes.

“Denki… what?” You choked out, voice hoarse from the dryness that stung your throat. Denki attempted to push himself up, hands trembling and knuckles white as he gripped the side of the countertop.

“(Y/N)…” his voice shook as he reached up to wipe his mouth, taking a step back from you in a vain bid to pass you and leave. You quickly snapped the door shut, no longer caring whether you woke anyone up.

Click.

Denki weakly chuckled at the look on your face. The lock. He closed himself into the corner of the room, pressing his back against the wall.

“Look, I’m fine-“ He was cut off by himself, lurching back over the sink and coughing up more of the liquid.

“What is that?” You questioned, silent horror pinching your features. He turned on the tap, filling his hands with water and washing out his mouth. Darting to the toilet- and struggling to move in such closed quarters- you balled up a handful of toilet paper and wiped his mouth. He leaned into your touch, skin emanating heat and covered by a thin sheen of sweat.

“Battery acid.” You felt your knees go weak.

“What?”

“It’s battery acid. The more I overuse my quirk, the more likely this stuff is to accumulate in my throat,” he looked away from your piercing gaze, “it’s okay, really.”

“What part of this is okay?” You spat, voice wavering. Denki winced at your tone, turning to washing his mouth out with more water, “Does it hurt?” He paused, and that was all the confirmation he needed.

The two of you stood in silence for a moment, only the sound of running water interspersed the atmosphere. You reached over and turned it off, not acknowledging the shrill screech of the metal as you levelled Denki with an even stare.

“It’s from the charging.” He muttered, and your knuckles clenched.

“Of-fucking-course.” He cringed, a clammy palm feebly gripping your forearm. His eyes were desperate, frown twisting his expression into something you couldn’t bear to look at.

“Please, (Y/N), it’s okay,” he begged, a tear slipping out of his eye just at the same time you felt one trail down your cheek.

“It’s not okay, Denki. How long has this been happening?” He fell silent, and you could feel the anxiety coiling in the pit of your stomach.

“Four months.” In a split-second decision, you lunged forward, wrapping your arms around his neck and pushing your body into his. He nestled his face into your neck, hands coming to rest on your hips. Seemingly unable to keep it together any long, he crumbled, chest stuttering with every breath and his tears soaking the skin that was exposed by your nightshirt.

The silence of midnight began to creep in once again, only broken by the soft whimpers and sobs of the boy practically clutching onto you. You waited as long as you needed to until Denki had caught his breath, not counting the minutes yet painfully aware of each one as it passed.

“From now on, if someone asks you to charge anything, you say no, okay?” Denki frowned, rubbing away the tears in his eyes.

“I-“

“From now on, if someone asks you to charge anything, you say no, got it?” You spat, voice much firmer and tone a lot more sharp. He gulped, resigning to nodding with a sullen expression on his face.

“Are you good to go back to sleep? Or is there anything I need to do first?”

“It’s fine. You can go back now, don’t stay up for any longer.”

“I will do what I want, thanks.” you seethed, eyes glinting. Denki looked taken aback, glancing over your expression wearily.

“Uh…” “I am not going back to sleep unless you’re coming with me. You’re such an idiot-” you paused, “-but you’re my idiot, and there’s no way I’m letting the others treat you like this,“ you cupped his face, fingers pressing into pink cheeks as you angled his face to look at you, “if they want anything else from you, they have to go through me first.” Agape, he only nodded again, allowing you to grab his hand and pull him out the room.

Once he flicked the light off, the two of you were awash in darkness once again, but this seemed not to deter you. Rather, you traipsed across the corridor with a ridiculous amount of determination, only narrowly avoiding the various obstructions in the shadows.

“Here, let me light-“ Despite the little he could see, Denki could practically feel your burning glare. Bringing his hand down, he murmured an apology, musing in your little nod of satisfaction he could feel the motions of.

It only took you a few minutes to get to your room, pushing him inside and closing the door behind you. In spite of everything, Denki could feel heat rushing to his cheeks for an entirely different reason than his fever.

“(Y/N)?” He squeaked, hearing you fumble around the room yet not finding courage to stay anything but completely frozen.

“Yeah?” You questioned, voice low but feeling remarkably pleasant to his ears.

“This isn’t my room.”

“I know.”

“So why am I here?”

“Because I’m not leaving you alone. Come on, I’ve got the spare pillow.”

Denki currently didn’t have the energy to feel shame about the sparks excitement that welled up inside of him as he rushed to the sound of you getting on your bed. You held the blanket up for him, and he all but fell down next to you. The pounding of his heart was almost enough to distract him from the acrid burning of his throat.

You were warm, almost too warm as he shifted to be closer to you. Now that his eyes were getting adjusted, he could make out the expression on your face, eyebrows knotted in concern and eyes scanning all over him, as if searching for some sort of answer that he could only long to give you.

“I’m sorry.” He said it as if it meant anything. If it counted, he truly was. Denki didn’t want to make you worry- he wasn’t worth it. But that’s what you did. He would give too much, and you would worry tenfold.

It didn’t help that his eyes were still stinging and red-rimmed, or every once in a while a dry cough would tickle his throat. It didn’t help that he would wince every time he had to swallow, or that his palms were still clammy and he had to try to subtly wipe them on his shorts. It didn’t help that the pain almost became too much to handle, and he loved you too much to even lie about it.

He loved you- of course he did. How could he not? It was you. You, who stared at him with such adoration, even though he knew you were pissed off. You, who stood up for him even to his friends. You, who worried for him the first time he was buzzed out, and a thousand times later, still stayed with him and ran your fingers through his hair when he was barely conscious.

He watched your eyes strain to stay open, to keep watching him as he was watching you. Finally, they fluttered shut, your breathing evening out as you shuffled closer to him.

You, who got up in the middle of the night to protect him from himself.

He tucked your head under his chin, wrapping his arms around you waist with a gentle sigh. Under the cover of darkness, he confessed this. His words fell on deaf ears, but he couldn’t find it in him to care.

You, who, unlike anyone else, was determined to make him stop giving.

He couldn’t help but fall asleep, the sound of your soft breathing and the gentle rise and fall of your chest like a lullaby willing his eyes to close, comforted by the presence of your figure cuddled to his chest.

Denki Kaminari was a giver. And if there was anyone worth giving anything, it was you.

Extra:

Bakugo was not expecting to start his day in a chokehold.

It had started off innocently, Denki was playing a game on his phone, smug grin on his face, you were napping next to him, and the other losers he called his friends were on the sofas, eyes wide and backs straight. Sure, you could say he questioned the strange way his friends were acting, but he didn’t particularly care.

“Pikabitch, I need my phone-“

Bakugo prided himself on his quick instincts, but you were quicker.

In a second, your arm was wrapped around his throat, face dark and pressure increasing through his gasps.

“Say one more fucking word and you’re dead.” You growled, Bakugo’s fingers gripping your arm in a vain attempt to release himself from your hold, “Got it?” The blonde just managed to nod, coughing out once your arm withdrew from his neck. You settled back in your place beside Denki, sending him another sharp glare before returning to your nap.

Bakugo could only stare wide eyed, not quite sure what happened. All he could gather was that Denki was now off limits, and the others seemed to realise that too, if them cringing was anything to go by. With a gulp, he stormed out the common room.

Now he had to go get his charger.

[spine-buster]

The President Wears Prada (William Nylander) | Chapter 23

A/N:  *sings* Taaaake me to church...

February 25th, 2020

Aberdeen Bloom was officially 22 years old.  

Despite all the events of yesterday, she was happy.  She had a few texts from friends and some Instagram notifications already waiting for her when she woke up, and they put her in a good mood.  Her parents called her as she was putting on her makeup, and talked to her until she left to get breakfast downstairs.  She already knew she would FaceTime Siena after practice when they got back to the hotel.

When she got downstairs to the continental breakfast, some of the guys were already there, and she knew everyone else was on their way.  Jake was already there, wishing her a happy birthday at the scrambled eggs.  Mitch was there too, who poured her some orange juice as he wished her a happy birthday as well.  Jason said she should be sitting down at the table while everyone else got her the food she wanted.  She giggled.

Willy and Kappy arrived together.  Kappy wished her a quick happy birthday before he started to get his food.  Willy lingered by her.  “You talk to your parents yet?”

“They called me this morning, yeah.”

“Siena?”

“We’re FaceTiming after practice.”

William nodded his head understandingly.  “Happy birthday,” he smiled softly.

She smiled equally as softly.  “Thanks.”

“You gonna be blasting that Taylor Swift song or what?” Travis Dermott asked he appeared beside them, plate piled high with scrambled eggs and bacon.  “I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling twenty-twoooOooOOOooo!” he sang aloud in a horrible high-pitched voice, definitely trying to mimic Taylor Swift but of course failing miserably.

William set down his plate and put his hands over his hears dramatically.  Travis began dancing while trying not to have the bacon spill over his plate.  Aberdeen couldn’t help but laugh.  “Were you doing that when you turned 22?” she asked.

“You bet!  That song was on a 24 hour loop,” he smiled.

“Poor Kat.”

“She lived.  So what’s your birthday wish?”

“For you guys to win tonight,” she winked.

“We can make that happen,” he winked back.  “Can’t we, Willy?”

“My ear drums burst after your awful singing.  What did you say?”

“I said WE CAN WIN TONIGHT, CAN’T WE?” he yelled so loud other patrons in the eating area looked towards them.  

Aberdeen shielded her face and William turned completely around so they couldn’t see his face.  “You’re the worst, pal,” William said to Travis.  “And by the way,” he shifted focus to Aberdeen, “we’re definitely winning the game tonight.  For you and only you.  Bust also so that we don’t have to hear any more of that.”

***

“Did the boys promise you they’d win for your birthday?” Brendan asked Aberdeen as they walked together through the halls to their box for the game.  

“They did,” she nodded.  “This morning at breakfast.”

“Think they’ll be able to do it?” he asked.  They both flashed their credentials to the security guard who let them through easily.  Aberdeen could even see Kyle down at the other end of the hallway waiting.  

She shrugged her shoulders.  “I hope so.  It would be kind of nice.”

“No hoping,” Brendan shook his head.  “Do you have faith they can win the game tonight for your birthday?” he asked again, his voice sterner.

“Yes,” she answered automatically, nodding her head.  She did have faith in them.  She had faith that William would probably show off tonight like he showed off when Siena was in the building in Ottawa, but she wasn’t exactly going to vocalize that out loud.  “Do you?”

He took a moment to think about it as he looked at her.  It wasn’t an automatic reaction like hers was.  “Yes,” he finally said.  “Because I know how much they adore you.”

***

“Look at him fuckin’ go,” Kyle said with a giant smirk on his face as he watched the replay of William’s goal.  It was beautiful.  The Leafs were on a powerplay and he was sitting pretty right in front of the net.  After a feed from Mitch not going exactly where he wanted it go, William ended up sneaking it in between his legs and putting it in the net, top shelf.  Bardown.  Beautiful.

“He just surpassed his dad in goals not even two weeks ago and now this.  Now he’s just showing off,” Brendan giggled, looking at the replay himself.  

Aberdeen watched replay after replay.  “This is absolutely unbelievable by Nylander” she heard the announcer say as he broke down the play and the goal.  She was so enamoured by the coverage and the breakdown and the smile on his face at the end of it that she almost didn’t notice what Brendan whispered to Kyle.

“Think he’s showing off for someone?”

***

Brendan made sure he and Aberdeen took their time walking down to the locker room after the 4-3 win.  He made sure to have his cell phone constantly in his hand, waiting for the right text to come through.  He made sure that when he did, he hurried down there with her tagging along.  

Aberdeen followed Brendan into the locker room.  Brendan nodded at Sheldon.  Sheldon nodded at him.  

“Alright boys!  Everyone get in here!” Sheldon yelled out to the team.  Everyone settled down and came back in the locker room, either standing or sitting in their stalls, their gear half on or half off and their hair still sweaty from the game.  Brendan and Aberdeen were in the back, standing just in front of one of the entrances, making sure not to block Jack Campbell’s view.  “We came back hard tonight.  We showed them what we were made of.  We held them off in the third period.  We stuck with our game.  Willy with that game winning goal that I’m sure is gonna be on every highlight reel this season,” Sheldon smiled, and some of the boys clapped and whooped for him.  “It was a good fight.  It was a good…hey…hey wait.  Where’s Spezza?” he asked, furrowing his brows.  “Where’s Spezz?”

Everybody began looking around the room.  Even Aberdeen started looking.  “Spezz?” Tyson asked really loudly.  

Silence.  

And then…

“Haaaaaaaaaappy biiiiiiirthday to yoooooouuuuu…”

Out of the corner of her eye, Aberdeen saw Jason walk into the locker room carrying a giant slab cake, with 22 candles lit up throughout.  It started with just his voice, but as the words dragged on, more voices joined.  She saw giant smiles on the entire locker room’s faces as they sang along, and she immediately covered her face in embarrassment, getting way too emotional.  Even the cameraman that they sometimes brought on road trips to film content for Blueprints was filming her.  

“Haaaaaaaaaappy biiiiiiirthday to yoooooouuuuu…Haaapppy Biiirthdaaayyy dear Aaaaaaaberdeeeeeeeeeen, haaaaaaaaaappy biiiiiiirthday to yoooooouuuuu!”

The entire locker room began cheering and clapping loudly.  Aberdeen couldn’t believe it.  She shook her head at everything that was happening – the cake, the singing, the filming, the shit-eating grins on everyone’s faces, particularly Jason’s and Brendan’s – and blew out her candles in one big blow, causing everyone to cheer even louder than before.  She knew she had an embarrassed look on her face – because she truly wasn’t expecting anything like this – but she was so grateful for the gesture.  Her eyes were even tearing up, though she didn’t know why.  

“Aberdeen, I think I speak for everyone when I say we wish you a very, very happy birthday in your twenty-second year of life,” Brendan began.  “You came into our lives in September, and since then, we’ve grown more and more in love with you, your outfits, the books you bring on the plane…” he motioned with his hands for the guys to pitch in.

“Your no-nonsense attitude!” Jason contributed.

“Your rockstar Halloween costumes!” Travis yelled.

“Your Willy fashion roasting!” Kappy yelled.

Everybody laughed.  Brendan laughed too before focusing back on her.  “From the streets of good ol’ Etobicoke to 50 Bay Street…you’ll always be part of the Maple Leafs family, Aberdeen.  Always.”

Aberdeen’s breath hitched in her throat.  She nodded her head.  Those were some very kind words from a very powerful man, and she knew just how much they meant.  And the fact that he was saying it in front of the team meant so much more.  She thought it would be over and done with, but Kappy and Travis had other plans.  “Speeeeeeeech!  Speeeeeeeech!” they chanted.  “Speeeeeeeeeech!” everyone else followed, expecting it like she’d just won an Oscar.

(Maybe she deserved one, since she’d been sneaking around with William and nobody seemed to be the wiser.)

“There’s not a lot I’m gonna be able to say without crying,” she said, still shaking her head.  She was still very well aware that the cameraman was still recording.  “But seriously, thank you guys so much.  This means a lot to me, considering how much of a family we are here.  You guys, I…I can’t say enough about you guys.  Honestly.  But for how much you might love me, I hope you guys know how much I love you all too…”

The guys began clapping when they realized she really couldn’t say anything else because she would have gotten emotional.  But it was Brendan who spoke and eliminated the feeling by screaming “ONE MORE TIME!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABERDEEN!”

“HAPPY BIRTHDAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!!” they all rushed towards her screaming, engulfing her in a giant mob as she screamed at the fact that twenty-plus men were about the crowd her like she was a fellow hockey player.  The only one who didn’t was Jason so he could save the cake.  Thank God.

“The gift!”

“Where’s the gift?!”

“Somebody get the gift!!!”

Aberdeen furrowed her brows.  Mitch ran from where Jason had come from, hockey pants and socks still on, and brought out a giant box from the back.  He placed in right in front of Aberdeen.  “What did you guys do?”

“We started thinking about it at the beginning of the month—” Kasperi began, but Jason quickly cut him off.

“—Jen and Bee said we should get you something.  But I mean we all thought of the idea of what to get you,” he said, throwing a look towards Kappy.  “John went out and bought it, but like we all pitched in.”

Aberdeen kept unwrapped until she tore a part of the wrapping paper and saw the Louis Vuitton logo on the box.  She gasped out loud.  She didn’t care that everybody in the room was watching her at this point.  “Whaaaaaaat did you guys do?!” she shrieked, ripping off the paper even quicker now.  When the wrapping paper was off and she opened the box, she gasped dramatically.  Everybody had pitched in to buy her a Louis Vuitton Keepall Bandoulière carry-on bag in the damier azur canvas colour.  “Are you for real?!” she asked, delicately moving the tissue paper to the side and taking the luggage bag out of the box.

“You like it?” Jason was smiling at her reaction.

“Now we all match with our Louis Vuitton!” Auston winked.

“Yeah, and now you can’t make fun of my fashion anymore!” William yelled.

“Oh yes I can,” Aberdeen replied automatically, not even looking at him – still admiring her new bag too much.  “Seriously—I—what made you all decide you were going to get me Louis freaking Vuitton?”

“You roasting Willy’s fashion choices, actually,” Jason laughed out.  Brendan laughed too.  “Just thought you deserved something nice too, for putting up with us all the time.”

“I’m still making fun of Willy’s fashion choices,” she deadpanned.

“We figured.”

Aberdeen didn’t know who cut the cake.  All she knew was that she was handed a piece once she was done groveling over her new bag.  She didn’t know when the music started playing.  All she knew was someone took her phone and started blasting her Spotify, and a weird variety of songs came on: “Vossi Bop” by Stormzy, which most of the guys vibed to; “Dancing Queen” by ABBA, because of course; and “(Dancin’) On A Saturday Night” by Barry Blue, which caused Tyson to grab her and start dancing with her comically.  The guys were eating cake and taking off their gear.  The media was still peeking in though their time and interviews had long gone.  She wondered if they got pieces of cake.

When everything was said and done, everybody loaded onto the bus to get back to the hotel.  She still had a stupid smile on her face as everyone filed in, carrying the box in her hands like a party-size pizza.  She put it onto the seat beside her before taking out her phone to respond to some of the last messages she got from her friends, and saw some notifications that piqued her interest.  

@kristenshilton: Leafs are celebrating a birthday in the locker room after their Tampa game.  Cake and everything.  I’m told that it’s chocolate.

@kristenshilton: ‘Vossi Bop’ by UK rapper Stormzy is playing.  Nylander tells me, “It came up on Aberdeen’s phone.  It’s her birthday.  We promised we’d win the game for her.”

Aberdeen Bloom, in question: Brendan Shanahan’s personal assistant.

Aberdeen wondered if this was the first time her name had been put out there by the media.  She honestly had never searched her name on Twitter before so she had no clue.  Now that it was out in the open, what would happen?  What would Brendan say?  Would he want it out there?  She didn’t have the answers.  The only thing she knew was that it didn’t matter right now, because it was her 22nd birthday.  She could deal with it later – if she even needed to deal with it.

She went through her unanswered texts and Instagram messages thanking everybody for their birthday wishes.  Just as she was about the locker her phone again, she opened her email inbox, noticing a few spam emails from sites she’d signed up for.  

But one in particular caught her eye.  She opened it immediately.  

Dear Ms. Bloom,

Thank you for your submission to the “Memoirs” section of Toronto Life.  We have read your essay “Maple Leaf For…Now” but regret to inform you that our team of editors has decided not to publish the essay.  We thank you for your time and submission.

Best regards,

Sandy Miller, Senior Editor at Toronto Life Magazine

She immediately closed the email.  She didn’t need to read it twice.  She didn’t need to dwell on the feeling of being rejected.  Again.  

It was a quick drive back to the hotel.  She followed everybody up to their respective floors and rooms, getting some final happy birthdays before she opened her own door and escaped into her own room.  She put the giant box next to her luggage – she’d wonder how she was going to handle the packing tomorrow.  She took her phone out of her pocket, seeing a text from William already.  

i’ll let u know when i’m coming maybe 20-30 mins?  the guys are pretty hyped and i want to make sure they’re in bed

Ok.  No problem.

brendan was right tonight u know we all fell in love with u from the beginning i hope u know that

😇

She waited patiently yet impatiently.  During the time she was waiting for him, she’d washed off all her makeup, took a quick shower, and even changed into her pajamas.  She debated whether or not she should greet him with a sheetmask on, but then she figured that it was her birthday and he’d probably want to kiss her all night, so she decided against it, even as a joke.  There was no way she’d waste a sheet mask.  

She was sitting on her bed scrolling through her phone when she got the text from Willy.  She prepared herself, and when she heard the slight knock on her door, she practically jumped out of bed and ran to the door.  She opened it quickly.  “Hey,” she smiled, closing the door behind him, even locking it for good measure.

“Hey.”

“What a goal tonight, Will!” she giggled as he got closer, wrapping his arms around her.  

“For you,” was all he said.  He apparently didn’t want to talk hockey – regardless of how pretty his goal was – or waste any more time.  He just began kissing her.  Big, open-mouthed, passionate kisses as he walked them towards her bed, falling on top of it when it reached the back of Aberdeen’s knees.  Like many times before, they were making out like teenagers; they couldn’t help it.  William found her insatiable, and Aberdeen found him just as much, if not more insatiable.  She snaked her hands underneath his hoodie and took it off, leaving him shirtless.  He did the same to her, leaving her topless in her bed.  

“Aberdeen?” he mumbled against the skin between her breasts after what felt like hours of kissing, touching, and grinding against each other’s bodies.  

“Yeah?” she managed to get out, though she could feel how hot her body was.

“Can I taste you?”

“Huh?” she blurted out in the most vulgar way that was humanly possible, completely embarrassing herself.  She was sure William was going walk out the door right now and never turn back.

William snorted.  “Can I taste you?” he asked again, slower, with a dumb smile on his face as he looked up at her.  

“I…I…” her chest began to heave slightly.  “I mean…okay.  But um…I’ve never…” she kept trying to find the right words, but when she thought about what she actually needed to say, it just made her more embarrassed and more prone to stutter out her response.  “I mean, I’ve never had…you know, anyone go down on me before.”

William stopped, furrowing his brows.  “Wait…you’ve…you’ve never—”

“No.”

“You haven’t been eaten out before?”

“No.”

William seemed shocked.  “But you…you’ve had boyfriends…?”

“Yes, Will.  God.”

“So…” he was trying to piece everything together.  “That guy I met, Zane or whatever his name was…he never ate you out in the entire year you dated?” he asked.  Aberdeen shook her head.  “What kind assholes did you date?” he shrieked.

“Arrrrrggghhhhh,” Aberdeen grumbled, covering her face with her hands in complete embarrassment.  “This is so embarrassing!”

“Noooo no no no, come on, it’s okay,” William kept repeating and cooing as he pushed himself back up, one hand placing itself on her stomach to caress the skin there and on her sides while he leaned on his other arm.  “Aberdeen, come on.  It’s okay.”

“Is it though?  Is it really?” she was peeking through her fingers like a kid.

“Of course it is,” he assured her.  “It means I get to be the first one.”  Aberdeen removed her hand from in front of her eyes so she could give him a look.  “Was there a reason why it never happened?”

Aberdeen shrugged.  “I mean…I’ve always been a bit self-conscious about it.  Like about how I’d react or how I’d, like…taste,” she used his own words.  “But Zane said he didn’t like to go down on girls, so I sort of never, like, asked for it.  He was like that from the beginning.  And I felt embarrassed to ask if I was just gonna get shot down.  I mean…I wanted to try it.  He just never would.”

“Did you give him blowjobs?”

Aberdeen knew she shouldn’t be getting uncomfortable, because she was with William and she was comfortable with him and trusted him completely, but it was a direct line of questioning she wasn’t used to.  Though she talked about her hookups or past boyfriends with Siena or people like Kasha, she didn’t go into extreme depth like that.  “Yeah…a whole bunch of them, actually…” she admitted.

She watched as William shook his head, getting angry.  “That guy was a fucking asshole, and I’ll look through every stupid fucking cubicle in the city if I have to so I can punch him in the face for you.”

Aberdeen let out a sigh, running her fingers through his hair to push it back.  “Does that make me lame?  Be honest.”

“No, minskatt.  It does not make you lame,” William asserted.  He brought his hand up to caress her face, and trailed his fingers up to her new scar just above her eyebrow.  He touched it delicately and she didn’t wince.  “Listen…I want to taste you.  I want to make you feel good,” he continued softly.  “I know you’re nervous.  It’s okay.  I promise that I’ll go slow, okay?  And I’ll stop whenever you tell me to stop.”

Aberdeen was nervous – perhaps more nervous than she’d ever been – but she nodded her head.  “Okay,” she said.  

“You’re sure?” William confirmed with her one more time.

“Yeah,” she nodded again.  “I’m sure.  Just…go slow.”

He’d heard her request those words before.  “I will, minskatt.  I love you.”

“I love you too, Willy.”

He began kissing her again, trying to get her as comfortable and relaxed as possible – how she was before he proposed the idea.  They kissed again for a long time, William making sure he could sense her comfortability before he began to move down, running his lips and tongue down to her chest.  His lips left her skin only to take off her pajama pants and underwear, slipping them off slowly at the same time before discarding them to the side.  He could feel her shiver.  “You alright?” he asked.  She nodded her head.  “I’m going to make you feel great, I promise.”

“You better.”

They both giggled slightly.  “Just tell me when to stop if you want me to stop.”

“Okay.”

He continued to kiss his way down her body, eventually spreading her legs open and settling in between them.  He could feel her take a deep breath, so he kissed some more – along her belly button, her hips, on the insides of her thighs.  When he did that, there was another shiver.  “Minskatt?”

“What?” she asked, like she was having trouble even getting the word out.

“Hold my hand.”

Aberdeen looked down.  Seeing his face in between her thighs was quite the sight to behold.  She grabbed onto one of his hands and intertwined their fingers.  She could feel his thumb rubbing her hand assuredly.  She didn’t think the first flick of the tongue to taste her was coming so soon.  But as she felt his tongue along her folds, she flinched slightly out of surprise more than anything, squeezing his hand.  “Oh fuck,” she sighed out, her hips bucking.  

With his free arm, he pushed gently back on to the bed.  “Was that okay?” he asked, his mouth still dangerously close to her lips so that when she spoke, she still felt them move against her.  She nodded quickly.  “Do you want me to stop?”

“No,” she said firmly, her response automatic.  “K—Keep going.  It felt good.”

Aberdeen looked down, only to make eye contact with him before he dived in again.  Her eyes rolled to the back as William continued lapping at her, making her feel better and better with each stroke of his tongue.  Soon, there were no nerves anymore – no worries about how she tasted or how she’d never done this before – and her body was doing the talking, squirming and writhing and sighing, her little oh fuck and oh my god comments the fuel William wanted, needed, to keep doing what he was doing.  He did everything – quick flicks of the tongue, long laps from bottom-to-top, top-to-bottom, and sucking and licking like he was drinking a thick milkshake, making sure Aberdeen got the full experience.  

Her moans were his music.  At one point she had let go of his hand so she could bunch the bedsheets in her fists.  He could hear her huffs and sighs.  “S’at feel good?” he asked quickly.

“God, yes,” Aberdeen whispered, her voice so soft and so full of innocence at the new feeling of it all that William almost came himself right then and there.

“You taste so sweet for me, Aberdeen.  You’re so sweet and it’s all for me,” he said, his voice low and full of lust and Aberdeen almost came right then and there.

“Fuuuuuuuuuuck, Willy,” she couldn’t say much more.  When he lapped at her with his flat tongue immediately after, she instinctively went to grab and tug on his hair.  He’d made it a personal goal that he would make her come with just his tongue, and his groan in response and the vibration from it made her whimper.  “Willy—I—Willy—”

He did it again, and she cried out.  With his face so firmly planted on her pussy and with her tugging at his hair and making sure he stayed down there, the feeling was almost too much, but she knew she wanted him to keep going.  She knew she wanted the build-up.  She knew she wanted it to last as long as it could – as long as was physically possible for Willy – because this was, perhaps, the best feeling she’d ever felt.

The fact she was getting louder made Willy know she was enjoying it.  She’d moved on from squirms to moans, and now from moans to audible cries, words frantic and scarcely used but enough so that he knew he was doing a good job and she wanted him to keep going.  He kept up his movements so he could keep hearing her, the tugging of his hair bringing him the same kind of pleasure as he was currently giving her.  

Then Aberdeen went a bit quiet.  William didn’t like that.  He looked up at her as he was still licking and noticed she was staring up at the ceiling.  He squeezed her hand to get her attention.  “You okay?”

She looked down and saw how wet his lips were – how her juices were all over his mouth, really, and she could have fucking cried.  It was one of the hottest things she’d ever seen.  “I feel really close,” she whispered, her voice strained.  She’d been moaning and crying out for so long that he was surprised she even had one left.  “I—fuck Willy—I feel so close.”

William wanted to make sure any part of her that was still holding back – if there was any left – didn’t hold back at all.  He made sure he was making eye contact with her.  “Come all over my face Aberdeen.  Come for me.  Now.”

Aberdeen had never been so turned on.   He lapped and sucked once more and within seconds she was a screaming, writhing mess.  She couldn’t be quiet.  It was impossible.  As her orgasm overcame her, flooding her entire body with pleasure, she tried to stop her legs from clamping together and squeezing William’s head in between her thighs.  He didn’t care.  William moved with each squirm, each scream, each buck of the hips, never once taking his mouth off her pussy as she came long and hard and completely, not once.  She screamed and huffed and moaned until she couldn’t anymore, until her throat was dry.  When she felt herself finally coming down from her orgasm – earth-shattering orgasm, really, if we’re being specific – she looked down at saw William already looking at her, smiling, her juices all over his lips and face, and she knew it was a sight that would be permanently etched in her mind.  

When Aberdeen regained basic consciousness, she could feel William kissing the insides of her thighs again as he was chuckling slightly.  He kissed his way back up to her, and when his lips landed on hers, she let out her last moan she had in her as she tasted herself on his lips.  “You taste incredible,” he said once they finished kissing, looking right into her eyes as he licked his lips.

“I can’t believe that was what I was missing this entire time,” she said.  “Zane’s a fucking asshole.”

William chuckled louder this time, nuzzling himself into her neck as he placed light butterfly kisses there.  “I told you,” he said.  “It felt good for you?”

She nodded.  “It felt incredible.  I’m serious.  You’re going to turn me into one of those nymphomaniacs.”

“What did you like the most?”

“All of it,” she said immediately, because it was true.  There was absolutely nothing that she didn’t like.  As she felt his body rest beside hers, his lips still lingering on the skin of her neck, she could feel his erection.  She turned a bit so she could look him in the eye, kissing him quickly.  “D’you want me to take care of that?”

“No no,” he shook his head.  She didn’t understand, especially since he was rock hard.  She couldn’t believe him going down on her made him so aroused.  “This is all about you.  I’ll take care of it.”

“Willy—”

“It’s okay, minskatt.  I’ll take care of it,” he said, giving her a kiss before rolling over and getting off the bed.  She watched as he disappeared into the washroom and closed the door behind him.  She couldn’t think of anything else to do, laying in the bed completely naked thinking about what had just happened, until she thought to grab her underwear and put them back on.  She kept herself topless though, as maybe a little treat to William, as she went back to thinking about the feeling of his tongue on her folds, shivering as she remembered.

William was in there for a while before he came back out, seemingly having taken care of it, and climbed back into bed with her.  He placed kisses on her breasts and nipples before moving to her neck and finally her lips, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closed against his body.  He was topless, too, but kept his boxers on.  “I love you, minskatt,” he whispered.

“I love you too Willy,” she said, his body heat and warmth she felt lulling her to sleep so quickly.  “Thank you for being my first for that.”

He smiled.  “The pleasure was all mine.  Go to sleep, minskatt.  Go to sleep.”

***

The next morning, William was still in bed with Aberdeen.  They’d hardly moved, limbs still intertwined and still holding on to each other like the other would float away.  Aberdeen woke up first, her eyes gently opening, noticing and appreciating how close she was to Will.  Instinctively – really, she couldn’t help herself – she brought a hand up to his face, barely touching it with her fingertips.  The stubble along his jawline and cheeks.  The curve of his perfect nose.  His soft, sweet lips.  He was truly so beautiful.  She couldn’t believe he was hers.  She couldn’t believe she was his.  It was a magical thing to wake up in William Nylander’s arms, knowing that he loved her, and knowing that she loved him.  

He shifted slightly, letting her know he was awake – or at least waking up.  “Minskatt?” he mumbled, barely audible, before he even opened his eyes.

“I’m right here,” she said in an equally soft voice.  

He opened his eyes.  He smiled sleepily once he saw how close they were and sighed contently.  “I dreamt we were in Sweden,” he whispered.

Aberdeen felt a shiver run up her spine.  “Yeah?”

He nodded.  “My family was there.  My sisters loved you.  Alex too.  You were sitting by the lake at our house in the country,” he said.  “Your hair was down and you were looking over your shoulder back at me.  It was perfect.”

Aberdeen couldn’t help but smile.  His voice was so soft and his emotion so innocent.  “Tell me more.”

“You had on a pretty dress.  The sky was blue.  So was the water.  We could do what we wanted and nobody cared.  We could be open with our love and it was so beautiful.”

She felt a small pang of guilt at that.  At this point, she knew how bad they both wanted to be out in the open, but life dictated that they couldn’t.  She couldn’t just up and quit her job and lose her income.  They needed to ride out the wave.  It would happen eventually; it just couldn’t happen now.  “I’m sorry that we can’t,” she whispered, caressing his face again.  

“Don’t apologize, minskatt.  We will one day.  You’re still the best thing in my life and always will be.  I’ll wait forever if I have to.”

It was that statement that got Aberdeen emotional.  Here he was dreaming about her in Sweden with him and his family, freely showing their love, but the reality was that couldn’t happen.  Yet he said he would wait forever.  She wasn’t sure about that.  No guy had waited for her before.  “But you’ve been waiting already for so long,” she whispered, her eyes welling with tears.  “Why are you waiting for so long?  Any other guy would have given up and moved on already.  Why haven’t you?”

“Shhh, Aberdeen, stop,” he said, squeezing her tighter.  “Don’t you get—Aberdeen, you’re it for me.  I don’t care that I’m waiting to be out in the open with you.  I will wait however long you want me to, alright?  You’ll always have me.  No matter what happens.  You’ll always have me.”

Aberdeen nodded.  There was nothing she could say to that.  Her heart felt so full at his words.  He’d wait.  He’d wait as long as he needed to.  He loved her.  He adored her.  She was it for him.  “I love you, Willy.”

“I love you too Aberdeen.  So much,” he kissed the tip of her nose.

Aberdeen kissed him on his lips, needing to feel them against hers.  Like always, they couldn’t stop.  “Make love to me Willy…before you have to go.”

He did.  It was slow and it was sensual and it was tender and it was everything she could have wanted, needed that morning in bed with him.  And afterwards, when he had to put his clothes on and sneak out back to his room, he sat on the edge of the bed and kissed her.  “Jag tänker på dig när jag inte ens tanker,” he whispered against her lips.

Aberdeen smiled.  She didn’t know Swedish but she knew those words.  They were theirs.  Theirs and only theirs.  Which is why she repeated them back to him.  “I think about you when I’m not even thinking.”

[btsqualityy]

BTS Second Pregnancy Series Extras: First Birthday

Author’s Note: Well guys, this is it! Almost two years, four separate series, and over 80 reactions later, I’m finally finished with the Toddler Series universe! Never did I expect that when I started the Wedding Series in August 2018, that it would blossom into an entire universe! I’m so thankful for all of the love, notes, comments, and asks that I’ve ever received in regards to this universe! I’ve grown a lot in my writing since the Wedding Series and I have you guys to thank for that! I will be doing a second round of Baby Q &A’s, just so that you guys can learn more about the second round of babies and I’ll be taking questions for that soon! After that though, I’ll be done! I hope you guys enjoy this last part!!

Kim Seokjin

“Ohh, look Carson,” you gasped as you kneeled down and handed the gift box in your hands to him.

“Do you wanna tell uncle Tae Tae thank you?” Jin said and Carson looked over at Jin, babbling loudly as he smacked the present and Jin looked at Taehyung apologetically. 

“You know what he meant,” Jin chuckled.

“It’s fine,” Taehyung assured him, smiling at Carson fondly. “Anything for my little birthday twin.”

“Kade, you wanna help Carson open this one?” You asked Kaiden, who nodded rapidly and sat down on the floor next to his younger brother. You then stood up straight, moving over and standing next to Jin. 

“Isn’t it crazy that he’s one today?” Jin muttered and you smiled.

“It is,” you agreed. “It’s even crazier that we have two boys.” 

“Who both look like me,” Jin boasted, making you roll your eyes playfully. 

“Which isn’t fair at all, by the way,” you laughed. “I feel like I’m surrounded by doppelgangers all the time.”

“What, you don’t want our sons to look like your worldwide handsome husband?” He pouted.

“No, they can look like you. As long as they don’t act like you,” you teased.

“I resent that jagi,” Jin huffed, and you reached over to smack his arm. Suddenly, you heard loud babbling and you looked down, seeing that Kaiden had gotten the wrapping paper off of the present for his brother and Carson was smacking the box of large building blocks that Taehyung had gifted him. 

“He likes them!” Kaiden announced happily and you felt Jin wrap his arm around your waist.

“I love you Y/N-ah,” he whispered and you turned your head to look at him.

“I love you too,” you replied, kissing his lips firmly.

Min Yoongi

“Mommy?” You heard a soft voice whisper and when you opened your eyes, you saw Kinsley standing next to your side of the bed.

“What’s wrong sweetheart?” You wondered as you sat up in bed. 

“I had a scary dream,” she confessed, making your heart sink. “Can I sleep with you and Daddy and sissy?”

“Of course,” you nodded. “Come on.” You watched as Kinsley climbed up onto the bed, crawling over your body and settling down next to Kamryn, who was sleeping wildly with her arms spread out.

“What’s going on?” Yoongi muttered as he opened his eyes and lifted his head.

“Kins had a bad dream,” you explained and he nodded, silently leaning down and pressing a soft kiss to Kinsley’s forehead as she shut her eyes and drifted back off to sleep. You reached over to the nightstand and grabbed your phone, pressing the home button and gasping softly when you saw what time it was.

“What?” Yoongi asked.

“It’s 6:45am, exactly,” you smiled as you turned your phone to show him, and you could see his sleepy grin from the glow of your phone. 

“We officially have a 1 year old,” he chuckled, leaning down and pressing a kiss to Kamryn’s cheek, which made her stir lightly. “Happy birthday sassy girl.”

“And an almost 5 year old,” you added as you leaned down to press a kiss to Kamryn’s forehead, and Yoongi groaned.

“God, don’t remind me,” he grumbled. “They’re both growing up too fast.” 

“‘Soon they’re gonna be graduating high school, going off to college, getting married,” you joked.

“I’ll choke you,” Yoongi replied but you could see the small smile on his face. You then looked down at both of your daughters, who were sleeping peacefully. 

“You ever thought we’d end up like this?” You questioned out of pure curiosity

“Nope,” he replied instantly. “But I’m so glad we did. I love you Min.”

“I love you too Yoongs,” you smiled, leaning over the girls and kissing him softly. 

Kim Namjoon

“Come on Maia,” Mason called out, holding out his hand and waiting for Maia to grab onto it before he led her further into the backyard where the rest of the members’ kids were. 

“God, they’re so cute together,” Namjoon gushed from his place next to you, and you looked up at him with a giggle as you cut into Maia’s birthday cake. 

“Yeah, he’s almost as obsessed with her as you are,” you teased him and he groaned dramatically.

“I can’t help it!” He exclaimed, taking a plate that you had placed a piece of cake on and handing it off to one of the guests who had come to Maia’s party. “She’s just so cute and she reminds me so much of Mase at that age.”

“Except less destructive,” you added with a laugh.

“Except less destructive,” he agreed with a nod. 

“I do have to say though, he’s done an amazing job with being a big brother,” you smiled, looking over to where Mason and Maia were sitting in the grass together, Mason feeding Maia pieces of cake. “He loves being an oppa.”

“He does, even though he’s still lowkey disappointed about not being a hyung,” Namjoon chuckled. 

“He’ll have to be a hyung to the other member’s kids then, because no more babies are popping out of me,” you said.

“Oh, agreed,” Namjoon nodded. “I think that now that we have our boy and our girl, our family is definitely complete.”

“Absolutely, and there’s no one else I’d rather have my family with,” you told him, wrapping one of your arms around his waist. “Love you.”

“Love you too Y/N-ah,” he grinned, leaning down and pressing a quick kiss to your lips. “Alright, now let me go make sure that Mason hasn’t let Maia get cake all over her dress.”

“Ok,” you giggled, dropping your arm and watching as he walked away from you and over to your kids. As you looked at the three of them, you couldn’t help but to think about how lucky you were to have an amazing husband and two healthy, beautiful kids.

Jung Hoseok

“Hey, don’t drag your brother like that!” You shouted towards Lennox, who frowned as he let go of Hendrix’s legs and let them hit the grass beneath them. 

“He likes it though!” Lennox yelled back.

“You could hurt him,” Hobi interjected, walking over to stand in front of them. 

“Sorry,” Lennox muttered as Hobi bent down and picked Hendrix up, setting him on his hip. Hobi smiled softly, reaching down with one hand and ruffling Lennox’s hair.

“It’s ok kiddo, just gotta be careful,” Hobi told him and Lennox nodded. Just then, Berkeley came running over to you.

“Mommy, can we all take pictures in the photo booth?” Berkeley asked excitedly, and you looked over towards the photo booth that was set up in one corner of your backyard. For Hendrix’s birthday, you and Hobi decided on a small party in your backyard and decided to get a small photo booth for memory purposes. 

“Me, you, Daddy, Lenny and Hendrix?” You wondered and Berkeley nodded in confirmation. 

“Please?” She added and you laughed. 

“Sure,” you agreed before walking over to Hobi, with Berkeley following behind you. “Berk wants to take pictures.”

“Ok, come on,” Hobi said, nodding his head at Lennox as the five of you went over to the photo booth and crowded inside. You and Hobi sat next to each other on the small bench, while you sat Lennox on your lap and Hobi had Berkeley on one knee and Hendrix on the other. 

“Big smiles babies,” you told them, leaning forward to press the button and watching as the countdown started. You sat back and leaned against Hobi, the five of you smiling as the camera took four photos in rapid succession. Once they were done, you all climbed out again, Lennox and Berkeley running off while you and Hobi waited for the photos to come out of the chamber.

“Wait, here they come,” you said, grabbing the photo strip as soon as it had come out of the machine. You looked over them, a wide grin coming over your face as examined it. You then turned it towards Hobi, letting him look at it too.

“Ok, that’s too cute,” he cooed, bouncing Hendrix lightly in his arms as he looked down at him. “We make a pretty good looking family, huh Drix?” Hendrix babbled loudly, making you smile at your youngest son. 

“I think so too,” you nodded in agreement, reaching over and tweaking Hendrix’s nose. “We made some beautiful babies.”

“Definitely, but that’s to be expected when you’re their mother,” Hobi smiled and you blushed, leaning over and kissing him lightly. “I love you.”

“I love you too Hobi,” you replied before bending down and kissing Hendrix’s cheek. “And I love you too baby boy. Happy birthday.”

Park Jimin

“Happy birthday to you,” you started to sing as you carried Sydney’s birthday cake out of the kitchen and into the dining room, where Jimin, Noah, Sydney, and the guests who had come to her party were waiting.

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Sydney,” everyone sung together. “Happy birthday to you!” You set the small cake onto the tray of Sydney’s high chair and she looked up at you and Jimin curiously.

“Blow out your candles baby,” Jimin encouraged her, pursing his lips and blowing lightly in order to get her to follow his example. She then looked back down at the cake and pursed her little lips, blowing hard and managing to blow her candle out. 

“Yay Sydney!” Noah cheered, making everyone laugh and clap. Sydney then immediately dug her hands into the cake, squealing at the squishiness of it between her fingers. 

“There are pre-sliced pieces of cake on the kitchen counter everyone, so you all can go grab one if you’d like one,” you announced and people began to migrate in that direction.

“Me too?” Noah questioned and you nodded.

“You too, but be careful and use both hands,” you told him and he nodded rapidly before running off. You then turned to Jimin, who was busy taking pictures of Sydney stuffing her mouth with cake.

“She’s adorable,” Jimin chuckled as he turned his phone to show you the pictures. “I can’t believe that she’s one.”

“Me either. Seems like the time has passed so much faster this time around,” you pouted.

“Tell me about it,” he huffed, sliding his phone into his pocket and looking over at you with a smirk. “Think that means that you’re ready for another one?”

“Another one?” You chuckled. “You’re serious?”

“Yeah, you know I want more babies with you,” he smirked, moving closer to you. “Give me another one that looks just like you.”

“Ok, down boy,” you joked, putting your hand against his chest. “You know I want more kids but we’ll have to talk more about it first, ok?”

“I can agree to that,” he nodded. Just before you could respond, you heard Noah’s voice shouting from the kitchen.

“I dropped my cake!” He exclaimed and you groaned softly. 

“I’ll go help him,” Jimin laughed, pressing a quick kiss to your cheek before walking off into the kitchen. You looked down at Sydney, who was looking up at you with cake spread all over her face and smiling at you and you couldn’t help but to think that having another baby with Jimin right now didn’t seem so bad. 

Kim Taehyung

“Is it good Eli?” Taehyung chuckled, looking fondly at his son. 

“God, I’m gonna hate having to clean him up after this,” you groaned, watching as Elijah messily gobbled down his small birthday cake. For Elijah’s first birthday, you managed to convince Taehyung to keep things simple so that’s why you guys had invited the both of your families, as well as the members and their families, to a small party at your house. 

“He eats like his father so can you blame him?” Jin snickered, making Taehyung gasp dramatically.

“Hey!” He shouted, offended. 

“He’s not lying,” Yoongi muttered in agreement. 

“Ok, its my son’s first birthday and I don’t think he’d appreciate his uncles dragging his father,” Taehyung interjected. 

“I think he would,” you laughed, making Taehyung gasp at you. 

“You too Y/N-ah?”

“Hey, I’m mad at you right now,’ you shrugged. “It was your idea for him to wear traditional handbok but now he has cake all over it.”

“The handbok can be cleaned,” he chuckled, wrapping one arm around your waist. “But you have to admit, he looks so cute.”

“He does, and so does Spence,” you smiled, looking over at the small table where Spencer was sitting, eating cake with the other members’ kids. She had on a purple and red handbok, while Elijah wore a blue and white one. 

“God, looking at them makes me want more babies with you,” Taehyung muttered and you looked over at him with a raised brow. “I know, we agreed to wait at least two years but I can’t help it.”

“We’ll get there baby,” you giggled, leaning over and kissing him. “If it makes you feel better, I want more babies with you too.”

“Good,” he grinned, his boxy smile that both of your children inherited from him on full display. “I love you jagi.”

“I love you too,” you smiled. 

Jeon Jungkook

“Ok I have to admit, we look pretty freaking cool,” you confessed with a laugh as you looked over your family’s outfits. Since Aria’s birthday is a little more than a week before Halloween, you and Jungkook decided to throw a costume party for her first birthday and since you were doing most of the party planning, Jungkook had offered to figure out your costumes and you were more than a little nervous about what he would pick out. 

“I told you to trust me,” he chuckled. “Dressing up as the characters from the Wizard of Oz is a great idea,” You were dressed as Dorothy, Jungkook was the Tin Man (silver face paint and all), Ava was the scarecrow and Aria had on the cutest little lion costume. 

“Do you like your costume Ari?” You asked her, getting a loud squeal in return from where she stood, holding on to your bed. You reached down and picked her up, settling her on your hip as you followed behind Jungkook and walked down the stairs. Your house was filled with family and friends, all of them dressed in different costumes. 

“Are we gonna sing happy birthday now Mommy?” Ava questioned as she came rushing up to you. 

“Yeah, Daddy went to go get the cake from the kitchen,” you told her. 

“Happy birthday to you,” Jungkook started to sing as he slowly walked out of the kitchen, holding a large sheet cake in his hands. 

“Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday dear Aria,” everyone sung. “Happy birthday to you.” Jungkook finally made it over to you, holding the cake up in front of Aria. 

“Blow out your candle Ari boo,” he told her, nodding towards the cake. As you held her up some more, Aria reached out and swatted at the flame on the candle, effectively putting it out. You hurriedly reached out and pulled her hand back, checking her hand for any signs of a burn. 

“Well, that’s one way to do it I guess,” Jungkook joked, making everyone laugh loudly.

“God, this child has been a menace every since she started crawling,” you huffed with a laugh as Jungkook set the cake down on the dining room table to let people cut their own pieces. “I really hope that she hasn’t inherited your fearlessness.”

“You say that as if it’s a bad trait,” he pouted. 

“It’s not really, but I don’t know if I can handle a Mason,” you replied.

“We heard that!” Namjoon and his wife shouted.

“Sorry!” You yelled back. 

“I have to say though, the first year with Ari was way easier than it was with Angel,” Jungkook pointed out as he nodded towards Ava and you hummed in agreement. 

“True, but I’d do it all over again if I had to with you by my side,” you smiled, making Jungkook smile as well.

“I love you Y/N-ah,” he said, leaning forward and kissing you firmly.

“I love you more Kook,” you grinned, your heart feeling full with love for your husband and the both of your daughters. 

[bungou-stray-dingus]

Happy Birthday Kazue Dazai

Today is Kazue’s fictional birthday! Kazue is Dazai’s son from this fiction that I wrote in the beginning of the year. So, here’s a little quick scenario of Dazai and his S/O celebrating Kazue’s birthday! 

Also, yes, I am very upset that I didn’t write for Chuuya’s daughters birthday in August. :( I’ll do a little something for her soon though! 

 To think that an entire year had passed since you had given birth to your son, it both filled you with joy and sorrow. It was bittersweet, to say goodbye to counting his age by months, he was now a year old. Sure, by standards he was still just a baby, and of course, to you and Dazai he would always be your baby, but you were going through what most other mothers went through when their child hit that first year mark. You didn’t want your baby boy to grow up. 

“Y/N! My belladonna, do you know what today is!?” His excited voice startled you out of your sleep, a sleep that you had been enjoying thoroughly after the last few nights. Kazue had just gotten over a minor cold, but his stuffed nose had kept him up most of the night, and it had inevitably kept you awake too. “Shh, Dazai, please. Let me just get... five more minutes.” You mumbled, dropping your head back down onto the pillow before wrapping the ends around your ears. He chuckled lightly, but left the room, allowing the little bit of extra sleep you asked for. 

He walked into Kazue’s room, finding his son already standing up in his crib, holding onto the rails and jumping the best he could when he saw Dazai walk in the room. “Ahh, there’s my big boy! Come here.” He reached out to scoop his son out of the crib, holding him close against his chest as he peppered quick kisses upon his sons head. “Happy Birthday, my blessing.” He murmured, situating his son on his hip as he walked out of the room and into the kitchen, placing him in the highchair. 

Kazue sat in the chair, slapping his chubby hands against the plastic tray, calling out for you. “Mama is sleeping, but...” He pulled a chair out next to the high chair, placing the bowl of oatmeal on the table and giving it a few quick stirs before scooping some on the spoon and bringing it to his sons mouth. “Dada and everyone from my work has planned something amazing for your birthday!” Although Kazue couldn’t understand all that he was saying, Dazai’s tone was enough to have Kazue clapping his hands together. 

You finally emerged from your room an hour later, finding Dazai curled up on the couch with Kazue on his chest. “Where’s Kazue? Where did he go?!” Dazai playfully said, jokingly looking everywhere but down where Kazue had his face buried in Dazai’s chest. “Oh! There he is!” Dazai cheered when his son popped his head back up in Dazai’s view. The twinkling sound of your sons laughter brought the biggest smile to your face. Seeing Dazai with his son, it still shocked you that he had been so worried about being a father before. He was a pro at it, he made it seem so easy. 

“Look’s like you two are having fun.” You said, announcing your presence. Kazue’s head instantly turned to look at you, his hands outstretched in your direction. You quickly pulled him up off Dazai’s chest and hugged him to your own. “Happy Birthday, munchkin.” You murmured, hugging him tightly as he nestled his face into your neck, twirling a piece of your hair around his finger. “So what’s the plan?” 

Kunikida had picked the three of you up from your apartment. He had scheduled his entire day around Kazue’s birthday. As much as Dazai irritated him, your son had managed to bring out a softer side of Kunikida, a side that happened to both feel sorry for, and worry about the child considering the father he had. 

He pulled up outside the Agency building so the three of you could get out before he parked. Dazai carried Kazue in, his son situated on his hip while his other hand stayed wrapped around your waist. Blue and white balloons and streamers lined the walls of the cafe on the bottom floor. “Happy Birthday, Kazue-chan!” The workers all shouted, eye crinkling smiles lined all their faces as they said it. Kazue shouted back, his usual baby babbling as his tiny hands waved around the air. “Enjoy your party!” The workers said, waving to him as you and Dazai walked to the elevator. 

When the elevator made it to the top floor when the office was, Kunikida was already there waiting. He must’ve ran all the way up just to see Kazue’s reaction. “Alright, everything is on schedule. Open the door in three... two... one!” Dazai swung the door open after Kunikida’s countdown, and you were surprised to see everyone who worked at the Agency standing there. “Happy Birthday!” They all shouted in unison, blasting confetti in the air and tossing balloons up. 

Kazue’s eyes lit up at the sight of everyone and everything. The colorful streams of confetti and string falling down to the floor. It warmed your heart, knowing that he had so many people who loved him, who cared for him, who would give up their free day and spend it in the office just to celebrate your sons birthday. 

“Let’s get this party started!” Dazai cheered, grabbing Kazue from your arms and walking with him towards his employees. Party games were a must, and although Kazue wasn’t able to fully participate in most of them, everyone was still having a blast. Hot Potato was probably everyone’s favorite, every time Kazue would get handed the “potato” he would grip it against his chest, lowering his head to chew on the squishy ball. 

When the music came on, Dazai placed Kazue on his feet, playfully dancing around the room with his son. Naomi ended up wanting a chance to dance with Kazue, and when it was her turn she danced him around the entire room. His squeals of excitement as she skipped along with him around everyone was enough to make even Fukuzawa smile. 

“Cake time! Let’s not fall behind schedule!” Kunikida declared, and now it was Ranpos turn to get excited. You brought your son over to the table where pastries and other delicacies were lined, surrounding a beautiful blue cake. Ranpo was right next to you, and although he seemed the least fond of your son, he cracked a small smile and looked up to him. “I see we both have good taste in treats. Don’t mind me, I’ll just take all the ones your little teeth can’t handle.” 

A small camera was set up on a table to record everyone singing happy birthday to your son, but just as you and Dazai were leaning in to help him blow out his candles, he stuck his tiny hand into the cake, grabbing a handful before bringing it up to his mouth. “Awh, man. Keep him away from the cookies, okay.” Ranpo groaned, moving away from the table to sit back at his desk. Kenji thought it was hilarious, as did Tanizaki. “Oh I can’t wait to watch the video! He’s so cute!” Naomi exclaimed, grabbing the camera off the table and ending the recording. 

After Kazue was filled with cake, his lips dyed blue from the icing, his shirt stained, and somehow having icing in his hair, it was time for presents. He sat in Dazai’s lap on the floor as you recorded the two opening the gifts. Everyone had gotten him a great assortment of gifts. My First Doctors Kit from Yosano, A Tiny Pull String Ice Cream Truck from Ranpo, a set of Farm Animals from Kenji, a Ride Along Tiger Toy from Atsushi, A Musical Teddy Bear that played lullabies from Naomi and Tanizaki, a Baby’s First Cellphone from Kyouka, a notebook for him to use when he’s older from Kunikida, and a small plush kitten from Fukuzawa. 

Kazue ended up loving Fukuzawa’s gift the most, clinging to it dearly and snuggling it under his chin. “Fu... Fuwa...” Kazue babbled, and at first everyone thought he was trying to name it Fluffy, but what warmed your heart the most, and seemed to surprise everyone in the room was when Fukuzawa sat on the floor next to Dazai and pointed to the small plush cat. “Fuwa?” He asked your son, and he quickly shook his head no, pointing his chubby little finger at Fukuzawa and then holding out the kitten. “Fuwa!” He was trying to say Fukuzawa’s name, he had named his kitten after Fukuzawa. 

The day soon came to an end as the sun set over the city. Kazue rested his head against Dazai’s shoulder, still clinging to his Fuwa as everyone helped carry the gifts out to Kunikida’s car. The ride home was quiet, nobody wanted to wake him up as he dozed quietly in his car seat. When the three of you got home, you quickly carried him up to his room and laid him in his crib while Kunikida and Dazai brought the gifts up. 

“I think he had a great time. Don’t you?” Dazai asked, his arm wrapped around your shoulder as the two of you relaxed on the couch. It was an amazing day, and you knew Kazue had an amazing time, you could see it in the video’s you had taken from the day. “Mmhm... he’s all tuckered out...” You murmured, resting your head against Dazai’s arm, your eyes slowly drooping shut. He chuckled and slowly moved to stand up, pulling you up off the couch and into his arms. “He’s not the only one. Come on, let’s get some sleep before he wakes up.”

[thoughtfullyyoungduck]

And he said, I hope you know how to swim

A/N: this is for the gift exchange from @itfandomprompts! My giftee is @iheartthoreau who asked for shy skinny dipping lovers and jealous Eddie. I’m sorry it’s out so late, I hope you enjoy it anyway! 

Summary:  The Derry midnight breeze is freezing, Eddie notes, still dressed in a shirt and pants and dreading having to get rid of them. He’s bare foot now, standing on top of the quarry and peering down into the glinting lake. Next to him, also bare foot, Richie looks over his shoulder, and laughs, bright and innocent. 

warnings: skinny dipping, mentioned of nudity (but nothing graphic)

read on a3o

The atmosphere of six best friends who’ve just moved past the worst stages in their life cackles in Eddie’s brain.

He’s buzzed up, energized beyond all logic by the laughter and loving gestures so carelessly tossed around in their group. Pennywise is dead, and with it the looming threat following each of them around and the teasing unhappiness hinting at what they were missing but not giving any clues as to what.

It’s all over now, and a road full of new opportunities lays ahead of them. Everyone is acting loose, ecstatic with the weight that fell off their shoulders. Eddie’s feeling a tad guilty too, for calling Myra and informing her that way about their upcoming divorce that he’s going to set in motion as soon as he’s had a good night sleep, but he felt so brave after surviving a literal killer clown, that he wanted to get it over with as soon as possible.

A part of him was also frightful that he’d lose his courage, between now and getting home, that he’d look around his house and accept that this was all he was destined for, a mediocre life with a wife he didn’t love and a job that sucked the joy out of all employees. Myra deserved better though, and that’s why Eddie’s guilty eyeing his phone, debating on calling her back. He won’t take back what he said, because he’s relieved to have put it out in the open, but he’s unsure if he should have been more empathetic towards her feelings in all of this. If he should have ended the call after telling her to take care.

Bev notices his wandering eyes from where she seated beside him on the couch, the woman still laughing a stitch, shifting forward and hiding his phone in between seat cushions. Out of sight out of mind so to speak.

‘We’ve got time to worry about it tomorrow Eddie.’ She says, and she’s right. Tomorrow both him and Bev will have to deal with the intricacies of divorce and separating a company and a home. Tonight is reserved for the losers only.

‘Yeah Eds, and here I was assuming that after twenty years we’d have some stuff to catch up on.’

Richie regards him from the floor, legs tossed up upon the couch with his body upside down. His glasses are sliding off, but he’s lazy to fix them, so he looks like even more of a goofball than normal. If Eddie could, if he didn’t feel like his intentions would be even more noticeable if he did, he’d scoot over to Richie, adjusting his glasses and letting his fingers trail his cheek and bask in the skin to skin contact.

‘You never did anything interesting before we went to college, what makes you think you’ve done something interesting after?’ Eddie’s tongue is sharp, a façade he builds to stop speculation about his feelings towards Richie, though the truth is that he is intrigued and he craves to know every small detail about his life outside of Derry.

‘No you guys are not starting this again. I’m sick of your bickering,’ Bill interjects, rolling his eyes at the pair.

‘I reject that big Bill, we’re hilarious, you can’t be sick of us bickering when you haven’t had the pleasure of hearing it for the last twenty years. Michael, back me up here buddy.’

‘Sorry Rich, I’m not getting involved in the slightest.’

‘Yeah guys come on, can’t we have one quiet night in?’

‘What so Eddie can just call me boring and I’m supposed to let it slide? Me? I’m the fireworks on the Fourth of July, the highest roller coaster in the park and the whipped cream on strawberries, but I am not boring.’ Richie changes positions, almost accidentally knocking over his beer bottle. He theatrically waves his arms back and forth, trying to animate his words and add conviction.

‘Okay, okay you’re not boring, but don’t overrate yourself either. The most adventurous thing you ever did in high school was skip a class to read a comic book in the school’s bathroom. Not exactly daredevil behavior.’

Bev sips from her whiskey, winking at Richie whose face turns beet red for a reason Eddie can’t decipher. It’s not until Bev conspicuously blows out a gust of air with her lips puckered that Eddie connects the dots.

‘Didn’t you say you ditched because you were smoking with Beverly? Dude did you fucking lie about that? I was worried you’d die and get cancer ever since that day you piece of shit.’

‘No I definitely did smoke. I swear.’

‘You’re not kidding anyone Rich, I vouched for you all those years ago, but I’m not doing it again. Little Richie was a comic book nerd who just pretended to be really cool. We never ever smoked together.’

The losers all holler, clapping their hands together and cheering on the exposure of their foulmouthed friend, debunking all the story Richie apparently made up where he and Be had to sneak out at night to smoke inconspicuously, with the exception of Eddie and Richie. Eddie, because he’s busy glaring at Richie and Richie because he’s busy tapping Bill’s hand away, teasingly disheveling his hair.

Eddie wishes he was brave enough to give these little affections to his friend, especially after witnessing how soothed Richie got when Eddie hugged him after Neibolt, when he had dropped his face into the nape of Eddie’s neck and stayed there, swaying on his feet of exhaustion. It would only make him a good friend, a best friend, but Eddie is still so damn afraid.

He might have had the power to separate from his wife and kill an abstract form of his deepest fears, but Bowers angry yelled words, such as fairy and faggot, swung to his head any time he and Richie graveted closer while walking, haunt him even now.

Touching is off limits the words tell him, so he shows affection the only way he’s ever known towards Richie, by bickering and pulling pigtails.

‘I should have expected that.’ Eddie nods vehemently, laughing as Richie’s mouth drops open in a shocked manner.

‘Are you kidding me? Eddie Spaghetti is the one telling me I’m a loser?’

Eddie flips him off, ignoring Mike’s whispered; ‘he’s got a point’, in favor of levitating his full attention on Richie. The giggling in the room elevates an octave higher.

‘You all laugh’, Richie addresses the entire group, ‘but was I not the one who came up with the idea for the list?’

Abruptly, all sounds snap off, as everyone is snapped back to the past. Even Richie is, at face value, confused about the word he spoke, until the concept and creation of the list is brought to the forefront of everyone’s mind.

‘Holy shit.’

‘Oh my god Mike please tell me you still have it.’

Mike shakes his head with a far-off look. ‘Sorry guys, I don’t know who had it last but I never found it again.’ He’s saddened by it, like he did them all an injustice by not holding on to a flimsy piece of paper.

The List, capital L, was nothing more but a checklist, composed with all the fun and dangerous things the losers all had hopes of doing after graduating high school. Eddie remembers now, the hushed laughter and uncompromisable joy that came with the simple idea of these things, how everyone pitched in and added dare after dare while him and Stan exchanged glances and hoped to god that some things would never be executed.

‘That’s okay Mike, I’m just happy we can all remember making it.’ Ben smiles reassuringly Mike’s way, who smiles back and takes a deep breath.

‘Wait, I think I can recall some of the things we wrote on there. Hold on’, Bev squeezes her eyes shut and snaps her finger in the hope it will get to her faster. ‘Oh’, she exclaims, startling Bill who chokes on his own saliva, ‘we were going to visit Europe, do a high rope parkour, rock climb and some other things I can’t remember right now.’

‘Didn’t we also agree to volunteer in a hospital and go camping in the national forest?’ Ben asks, awaiting confirmation.

‘Yeah we did, Stan was throwing a fit over going camping because of the environment and the dirt, but we were well on our way to convince him.’

‘Wow,’ Richie breathes, chest puffing up and head dropping back into the couch so his face isn’t visible to the rest. ‘I forgot all about that, but come to think of it, I’m pretty sure I did most of those things with Bryan.’

And who the fuck is Bryan? Certainly not Eddie, sweating in fear from the things that were being listed, searching for the most extreme dares he’d seen happen on tv to suggest, doing anything he could to impress Richie. Eddie was terrified of most of the activities on the list, like Bev’s idea to waterski in the ocean, or Mike’s zip lining idea, but he would have done them if it meant he could bask in Richie’s attention, impress Richie to rid himself of scared baby Eddie was so sure he must have been in Richie’s eyes. So who the hell was this Bryan stealing his thunder like that?

‘Who’s Bryan?’ Bev inquires with a smirk, winking at Richie blush ridden face. Eddie’s jealousy rears its ugly head, flaring up and making his head woozy. He simultaneously both considers choking Bev and thanking her for the question.

With Richie’s secret fresh on his mind, the way he’d so shamefully admitted that he was gay and they were the first people he’d ever found the courage to tell, Eddie wondered if Bryan was perhaps someone Richie had been romantically involved with.

Richie would have deserved it, Eddie argues in his mind, to at least for a short period of time have someone love him back as fiercely as he dons it out, but Eddie’s also furious that he stole Richie out from under his nose.

Which is illogical, because even if he and Richie had managed to stay in touch, and Eddie confessed – not much chance there, as Eddie didn’t even tell anyone he was gay when Richie did - there was no guaranty that Richie would’ve reciprocated.

‘No one snoopy’, Richie argues with a jittery leg, ’just some guy I hung out with for a while.’

Bev appears unconvinced, but she’s also respectful towards Richie's decision to not say anything. ‘So which ones did you complete?’

‘I went to Europa senior year of college, smoked a bunch of weed, went zip lining. The normal kind of stuff.’

Zip-lining, or smoking weed for that matter, causes Eddie skin to crawl, not that he’d ever admit it. He hates that that’s not the case for Bryan.

‘Well thanks Rich, none of us ever did anything on the list without the other losers. I guess you didn’t miss us too much.’ It’s not fair, of course it’s not. He can tell by the eagerness to spend time together that Richie was very lonely, and experienced the same aching emptiness where his friends were supposed to be as the rest of them.

The bitter tone of Eddie's speech, and the way Richie’s eyes turn a little dimmer extinguishes the fire of Eddie’s envy. Richie deserves better than him in every way. An apology lies at the tip of his tongue, ready to jump into the open and hopefully aid the wounds before they’re fully developed.

Sensing the impending hurricane of trouble on the horizon Mike is eager to intervene, playing mediator for two forces that are about to collide. ‘Well I mean, we probably wouldn’t have gone through with most of them anyway.’

‘Speak for yourself’, Eddie waves him off, spiteful that Mike has a good point. He would have found a way to undermine their plans and make it so that he could back out without appearing like a meek lamb, for at least half of the activities. If he had known about Bryan’s existence though, he would have done anything. He feels ready now to do anything, to one up him and establish his spot as Richie’s number one.

‘Prove it,’ Bill dares with a lopsided smirk, certain he’s got Eddie beat. He sustains eye contact, reaching for the bag of chips on the table and gnawing on it with the most smug aura Eddie has ever witnessed him having.

‘I would’, Eddie defends fiercely, ‘but we can’t do any of the things in Derry.’

‘Sounds like a cop out to me.’

‘Yeah, sure Big Bill, because you can easily find a zip line here in Derry. The town that refused to spend money on renewing the library back in the eighties is no doubt going to have that installed by now.’

‘What about skinny dipping?’ Ben proposes innocently, having no idea the kind of strain he’s putting Eddie under.

‘That’s a great idea Ben, I forgot we put that one on the list.’ Beverly acknowledges despite Eddie’s frantic head shaking. The room temperature drops down and rises back up steadily, at least according to Eddie. He’s starting to sweat, something he never does and takes pride in – in the office he’s the level headed one, and that’s saying something – and he pulls at his collar to allow some air to ventilate.  

Everything except that. A swim in a dirty lake that was most likely infected was a whole plate of different bacteria, and being naked in front of the man he’s in love with is not something Eddie is particularly fond of. He almost asks for a different thing to do, but that would truly be a cop out, and he both refuses to back down in front of Richie and give Bill the satisfaction of being right.

‘Good luck with that Eds, question before this all goes down, am I allowed to use this in my next bit?’

‘Actually,’ Bev interrupts, ‘I think you should join him too.’

‘Hey I wasn’t the one that said I’d be willing to do anything.’

‘No, but you were the one who added it on the list in the first place. C’mon Richie, It’ll be fun. For us, not for you guys, but we’ll get a good laugh out of it.’

Richie is hesitant, same as Eddie, readjusting his glasses again. Eddie is sure that if he says the word Richie will tell everyone to back down for him. He wouldn’t even make fun of Eddie for it, should Eddie give any indication that he wouldn’t want him too. He thinks back to Bryan, and how he wouldn’t have backed down for such a thing, and how in awe Richie must have been seeing the man abandon all safety precaution and go for it, Eddie’s mind is made up instantly.

‘Let’s do it.’ He says without leaving room for argument, nodding at Richie as he looks to him. He hopes Richie will go with it, but is also confident that of course he will. As kids they followed each other everywhere, and surely that hasn’t changed.

‘Really? I mean yeah – sure I guess. Bring it on.’

-----

The Derry midnight breeze is freezing, Eddie notes, still dressed in a shirt and pants and dreading having to get rid of them. He’s barefoot now, standing on top of the quarry and peering down into the glinting lake. Eddie’s jumping from one foot to the other, annoyed that dirt is clinging to his skin and branches are piercing his soles, even more aggravated at the idea of cleaning them in infection filled lake water. Bev better keep her end of the promise, and be waiting near the end of the lake with a pair of fresh pressed towels.

Next to him, also bare foot, Richie looks over his shoulder, and laughs, bright and innocent.

‘I forgot how high this was.’

It is high up, but they’ve done this jump at least a hundred times before, so Eddie’s not worried about the plunge. He’d assume Richie isn’t either, but the man keeps glances towards the path they took to get up here, uncharacteristically silent.

‘It’s okay if you're too scared to go through with it Eduardo, I won’t tell the others.’ Richie smirks when he notices Eddie’s glance, crossing his arms over his chest.

The movement makes his shoulders bulk, highlighting just how much bigger Richie is compared to Eddie. Eddie’s mouth waters, and he starts to worry about how he’s going to have to get through seeing Richie’s naked shoulders in the flesh.

‘Just get undressed will you? Hurry up.’

‘Why? Eager to see my bare ass?’

‘Yeah, because who doesn’t think jumping naked into a lake they frequented as kids is the epitome of sexiness? No you self-centered idiot, I want to get it over with so I can go back to the Inn and grab a warm shower.’

With one last peek, Eddie moves backwards, standing away from the ledge and begins to unbutton his shirt, before thinking better off it. Richie picks up on his hesitation, shifting backwards too and motioning his head towards the ridge.

‘Do you want me to show you how it’s done?’

‘No,’ Eddie objects, ‘I’ll go first.’

‘Why? I’m not going to stare at your junk while you're jumping in if that’s what you're worried about Eddie. I’m not that kind of gay.’ Rarely does Richie toss aside an opportunity to grant Eddie another humorous nickname, so the use of his real name spooks Eddie just enough that he opens his mouth to apologize without even realizing what he’s apologizing for.

Richie’s facial expression, set in a grimace and squinting his eyes defensively, are a dead give away that Eddie’s words are being taken the wrong way. If only Richie knew that Eddie wanted him to go in first so he could avoid the same temptation Richie thought he was forcing on him.

‘Richie no, that’s not what I meant I-.’ Heartfelt compliments are not something Eddie has had a lot of practice for these last few years, and he’s not doing a good job catching up on them either. Therefore he sighs and hopes that he can find another way to prove to Richie he’d never accuse him of something like that. ‘Whatever, just go first already.’

‘Fine but turn around okay?’

Eddie listens to him, back towards Richie and the jump off, though he doesn’t really understand the request. With Richie comes a lot of flair, and he was more or less been prepared for a joke about how Eddie got to confirm how big his dick is in reality.

He waits and listens carefully for the sounds of clothes being dropped on the ground, and he can’t stop his mind from secretly imagining how Richie looks like without them once he distinguishes it.  Eddie shakes his head, scolding his own mind.

The next few moments are filled with raspy breaths originating from Richie, footstep sounding further away and then closer again in an erratic pattern. He must be scared of the jump. Under normal circumstances, Eddie would ask to jump in at the same time, but since Richie asked Eddie not to turn around, he won’t.

‘If you don’t jump in the next five minutes,’ Eddie teases, the way Richie used to tease him, ‘I’ll push you in.’ A second later Eddie hears Richie’s loud whooping as he plunges down into the dark water.

Eddie spins, the only thing greeting him the dark with very little light clearing up his path, from the moon. He’s having a hard time to even see where the cliff ends, and he can’t disguise Richie in the water at all.

‘I’m coming in’, he yells to the void, in case Richie can’t discern his body in time and needs to move out of the way. He takes off his clothes, goosebumps erupting on his skin, and folds his pants and t-shirt up neatly, touching the ground with his hands to find a dry spot to lay them on. The air is cold, and so Eddie refuses to linger on top any longer than he has to.

He jogs up to the ledge and darts off before his mind can conjure up the thousands of things that can go wrong from swimming in the dark this late at night. His body flies through the air and connects with the water in one swoop, a pit of glee bursting in Eddie’s stomach. Jumping from the quarry equals freedom, a hot summer day and love for all of his friends, but in particular Richie.

Eddie keeps his head underwater until his lungs burn, eyes closed and allowing himself to just feel all the sensations. Then, something tickles the back of his leg, and the peaceful moment is over. He kicks back the surface, away from the spot where he could swear something touched him, and searches around for Richie.

Richie, with his wet black hair clinging to his forehead, strands of it sticking out in every direction, and his droplet covered glasses, roving more of Eddie’s heart each minute they’re near each other. He’s never looked more beautiful, and Eddie has never had to fight the urge to kiss him as much as he does now.

‘See, I told you I wouldn’t stare Eds, I can’t even see anything with all these splatters on my glasses.’

The moon reflects on the water, so that it’s impenetrable, and neither Rich nor Eddie can look down and see their lower body parts.

What Eddie can see is enough anyway, Richie’s shoulders and part of his chest hold Eddie’s attention, and he forgets to respond to Richie’s comment.

His eyes land on a dark bruise, just on the bottom of Richie’s neck, a remnant of their fight with Pennywise earlier that day. Without thinking, without standing still on the consequences of such an action, Eddie swims closer, stretches his arm out, and lingers his fingertips over the bruise. He carefully positions his body to not touch any other body part of Richie’s except for his fingers on his neck.

He makes an inquisitive noise, thumb stroking over the injury in what he hopes to be a calming matter. He physically can’t pull away, entranced with the way he moves and responds to him, trying but failing to get his fill of Richie clenched.

‘Eddie’, Richie whispers, scared to break the silence and the intimate moment. ‘It’ll be fine. And hey, at least he didn’t do anything to my dick.’

‘Yeah, would have been a shame if it were to become even smaller.’

Richie snorts, retaliating the jest with a wave of dirty water aimed at Eddie.

Eddie gasps, spitting out a bit of water that managed to sneak into his mouth. ‘Oh you’re on.’

The two of them chase each other, and if it weren’t for the fact that they were both naked, Eddie would have thrown his entire body weight in the game to push Richie underwater. As it stands, they just splash back and forth until they’re exhausted and the remnants of their laughter dies out, barely enough energy left to stay afloat side by side.

‘Did you have this much fun with Bryan?’ Eddie asks, a bit envious. He hates how he’s still stuck on the Bryan thing, hates that his mind keeps popping images of them doing the exact same thing only to end it with a kiss.

‘What?’

‘With Bryan, the guy you did all that other stuff with?’

‘Oh no, me and Bryan – we were never together like that.’ Back at the hotel room, Eddie figured that that was a ploy to distract Bev, something Richie just said because he couldn’t comfortably admit the real intent of their relationship. But he’s never lied to Eddie, and his eyes, magnified by his glasses, seem so sincere, Eddie has no other option but to believe him. ‘I-I’m- some other guy already has that place all taken up.’

Eddie stupid, oblivious and dense and everything in between. He knows Richie isn’t talking about him, he knows he could never be the guy Richie would hold all hope out for – he also secretly hopes it’s none of the losers -, but he wants to be so bad. Just one time, just one kiss and he’d be sated enough to let go of his feral behavior towards any potential love interest Richie might have. Just one time.

‘Richie’, Eddie starts, biting his bottom lip hard enough to draw blood. He’s taking a huge risk, by foreseeing a rejection but hoping that Richie won’t drop him as a friend because of this. If Eddie doesn’t do this, he’ll never stop wondering what it feels for their lips to meet. He’ll never get over Richie because he never got to experience any with him.

‘Can I kiss you?’ He risks releasing his lip.

Richie is visibly shocked. ‘What? What the fuck? Eddie is this a joke?’

The joke is, as usual, all on Eddie who regrets ever opening his mouth in the first place. He could try to laugh it off, say that it was a joke, but that would mean that he pretends to make a jest out of something Richie has struggled with for his entire life. He’s stuck between a rock and a hard place. Left with no other options but to further dig his own grave, Eddie decides to be honest. At least that means he gets to keep part of his integrity.

‘No Richie of course not, I wouldn’t do that to you. I’m sorry. Look I like you but it’s obviously one sided and I just wanted to know what it felt like to kiss you but it was a stupid request and I shouldn’t have asked you that. Oh god, I never even asked if you were dating someone –‘

‘Eds?’

‘- Fuck can we please forget I said anything so we can still hang out?’

‘Eddie?’

‘What?’

‘Yes. Please kiss me.’

Eddie gapes with his mouth open, struggling for breath and for words. He’s half convinced he misinterpreted  the words, but his tilted head proves otherwise. Eddie doesn’t question it further, counting his lucky start for once, and leaning in to his emotions and Richie, breaching the water to get to him.

Their kiss is surprisingly gentle for the ungovernable lead up prior to it. Richie’s lips taste like lake water, but deeper underneath lies a tang of something distinctively Richie. Eddie can’t wait to devour him whole once he’s cleaned up. Their lips move together in tandem, a perfect harmony that for once neither are willing to break.

They pull back, Richie’s arms circling Eddie’s waist, and he smiles. His smile mixed with the love stricken gleam in his eyes, mysteriously tells Eddie that Richie feels the exact same way he does. His chest caves with happiness.  

‘I like you too, if it wasn’t obvious. A lot more than Bryan.’

‘For the love of God can we never mention that again? It’s embarrassing. No, Hush’, Eddie says urgently, covering Richie’s mouth with his palm when he opens his mouth to conjure up another joke.

‘Fine,’ Richie says while pulling away from Eddie’s hand. ‘How about we talk about something else then? How the fuck are we supposed to get to our clothes?’

[uncreativetitletrack]

Good and Bad

Pairing: Jeongin X Reader

Word Count: 14.1k

Genre: Fluff, Angst

Summary: Jeongin has been acting strange lately. No matter how much you try asking, he won’t tell you anything. But whatever has been bothering him, it’s worse than you thought.

“I don’t care if you just finished working out, you still need to eat.” You stir a small pot on the stove.

In the kitchen, you’re making egg drop soup for Chan and Minho. You three happened to be leaving at the same time from the JYP building, so you decided to tag along with them. You were planning to leave after making it to their dorm, but once you heard that they’ve been skipping dinner, you weren’t going to let this pass. You barged into their kitchen and started cooking with whatever they had in the fridge.

Chan is sitting on a chair that he took from the living room while Minho is looking for water in the fridge. Felix heard you coming through the door, so he instantly got up and started following you around like a puppy. He’s leaning over the counter, putting his elbow on it and resting his head on his hands.

“You don’t need to cook so much though…” Chan points out.

“It’s to make up for how very little you guys eat in general. Don’t worry, egg drop soup is filled with protein and isn’t high in calories, same goes for kimchi and brown rice. I won’t leave until you two eat.”

“It’s fine if you stay.” Felix flutters his eyelashes.

“Same goes for the rest of the members. As the manager, I expect that everyone eats healthily. If not, then I’ll keep coming here to make sure that you guys aren’t starving yourselves on purpose. Once I can trust you guys, then I’ll leave everyone alone.”

Felix groans.

“Why did you make that sound, Felix?” You turn to them while turning off the stove.

“I want starve myself so you can come here every night like this…but I don’t want to disappoint you either.” He lays his cheek on the cold counter.

“Felix…don’t be shocked, but you know that we see each other practically every day, right?” You say sarcastically with an eyebrow raised.

“But it’s more special having you in our dorms.” His smile beams.

“Alright...no more,” Minho grabs Felix and drags him away from you. “Don’t cross a line when I haven’t gotten there yet.”

“What? Who said that you’re the first, Hyung??”

“Me. If I can’t make a move, then no one else can.”

Felix starts kicking. “That’s not fair, Hyung!! Why does Chan-hyung get to stay with her?!”

You watch as Minho drags poor Felix to his room. Even after hours of exercise, his muscles aren’t sore enough to carry him, so that’s nice to know.

Chan sighs, massaging his face. “Sorry, (Y/N). I think work is getting to Felix, so he’s a little loopy.”

“Aw…if I could, I would accompany him on his schedule.”

“It’s okay, being independent is a learning experience for him.”

Speaking of the members, you know that Jisung and Changbin are still at the company in their studio, and Hyunjin is at the dance studio while Seungmin is MC-ing for some variety shoes. There’s still one more person left.

“Oh yea, where’s Jeongin?”

You pour the soup into a bowl, placing it at the dining table. Chan gets up and helps set the plate of kimchi and the rice cooker on the table. Just in case, you place more than three plates in case the other boys would like some as well.

After asking the question, Chan averts his eyes. “Jeongin…is on the balcony, talking on the phone.”

“Oh? With who? His friends?”

“No.”

“Family?”

“Well…”

“Wait, don’t tell me…” you drop the chopsticks on the table. “Is he talking to a possible girlfriend?”

“What? No—”

“What do we do?? Jeongin is the first to get a girlfriend even though he’s the youngest. Is there something going on that I didn’t catch on to?? He’s barely an adult and he’s already done more than what the older members have done…”

Chan clears his throat. “Before you continue jumping to conclusions, it’s not that either. And I can guarantee I’ve done way more than Jeongin. Anyway, I don’t know who he’s talking to either, but he doesn’t seem…happy, and it’s been like that for a few days now.”

The excitement fades away from your eyes and has been replaced with worry. He knew that that was going to be your reaction, especially with how overprotective you are with the members, so he immediately thinks of ways to soothe your concerns.

“B-but this is just from what I’ve seen. For all I know, he’s probably fine.”

How have you not noticed anything for a few days? Have you been focusing too much on others that you neglected Jeongin? Despite Chan’s efforts to calm you down, you can’t help but worry.

“I’m gonna ask if he wants to have dinner.”

“Don’t…!” He begins, but pulls back. “You…you can.”

He knows you too well that you’ll probably talk to Jeongin, pretending like you don’t know what’s going on when you make it very plain and clear. You’re a terrible liar, so it’s inevitable that he’ll assume that you’re worried for him. But even if Chan were to go against your idea, it’ll just make you want to do it even more.

----------

Jeongin’s back is to the glass sliding door as he’s sitting on a plastic stool and talking on the phone. You can’t hear a single thing he’s saying, but judging by his body language alone, it doesn’t seem like it’s going all too well. His back is slouched over, and his arms are hugging himself. Overall, he’s just stiff. Not a single trace of his usual bubbly self is present.

You knock on the glass, getting his attention. He mutes his phone and looks up, and as he does that, you got a brief glance at the name of the caller ID, ‘Unknown’.

“Manager, I didn’t know you were here.”

“Yea, I was here for a while,” you point to the kitchen. “You wanna eat? I made some dinner.”

“No, it’s okay. Thank you though.”

And just like that, it’s like he didn’t want to talk any further, which makes sense since he’s still on the phone with his mother. You choose to leave him alone, closing the door behind you but not letting your eyes off of him.

Chan puts his hand on your shoulder to distract you from him. “It’s okay to leave him be. He’s not a kid anymore, so you don’t have to hover over him all the time.”

“I know but…”

It’s difficult for you to do so. You’ve been with him ever since he was in middle school, and although your age gap isn’t entirely different, you feel like his guardian. Perhaps it’s your motherly instincts, you aren’t entirely sure, but what you do know is that whatever is going on with Jeongin is enough to make him not even smile when you greeted him.

==========

It’s one in the morning, and the boys have been practicing since the morning. They decide to call it a day and finish training for the day. You’re standing by the door as you watch them wrap up practice.

“Good job everyone. We did great,” Chan claps his hands. “We can do even better tomorrow.”

The boys cheer that practice is over. They head to their bags and take out water bottles as well as their phones.

“I’m gonna order chicken from that place we went to the other day. Who wants some?” Minho looks up from his phone.

They raise their hands.

“I can order. Just tell me what you guys want.” You offer.

“Shh, you always do it. It’s my turn.”

“But—”

“It’s okay. I changed my name so they won’t know who I am this time.”

The last time Minho ordered, he actually used his stage name so the deliverer went on social media and leaked pictures of the JYP building. Since then, it’s usually you or another staff member who orders, but you decide to let it pass since Minho did change his name to some English name to avoid any subtle hints that it’s him.

The rest of the boys are doing their own thing, usually playing around with each other or continuing their training from earlier. Just like the previous night, Jeongin is sitting by himself in the corner, on his phone. His thumbs are rapidly typing away like he’s texting somebody.

Unable to leave him alone, you sit next to him. He quickly hides his phone screen from you, and it disheartens you a bit, but you play it off as if you didn’t notice that. “What are you doing sitting alone? What do you want to eat? Minho’s ordering.”

“It’s okay, I don’t want anything. We’re going on a show in the afternoon and I don’t want my face to look puffy,” he gets up and puts his backpack on. “I have homework, so I’m gonna go back to the dorms to finish it.”

“Oh…are you sure? You can do it here while we wait for the food.”

He shakes his head. “I’m good. I don’t want any distractions, especially since it’s almost testing period.”

You don’t want to push him further, but you don’t want to leave him alone either. You call out to him a second time, and you can clearly hear a sigh.

You extend your hand out to stop him. “It’s late, let me go with you—”

“No!” He slaps your hand away.

The room falls silent, and everyone’s eyes are on you two. You and Jeongin stare at each other for a few seconds, both caught off-guard by his sudden aggression. He didn’t even realize what he’s done until after it happened, and now immense guilt overwhelms him.

He’s hesitating, pinching his index finger. “M-Manager…I’m sorry. I…really have to go.”

He runs out the room, leaving everyone speechless with his actions. The boys finally break out of their trance, and Felix is the first to check on you.

“Manager, are you okay?!” He takes your hand. “Does it hurt??”

“That was really uncalled for. I’m gonna have a talk with him.” Chan is about to chase after him when you stop him.

“Wait, don’t.”

“What? Why?? Did you not see what he did??”

“I know, but…blowing up on him isn’t going to solve it.”

“So pretending like it never is better?”

You shake your head. “No…yes…no! I don’t know. I don’t think he meant it.”

You don’t know what’s going on with Jeongin, and it seems like the other members don’t know either. It isn’t like you’re the only person who’s worried either since the other boys seemed just as worried. You think to yourself, wondering what it is you can do.

“It isn’t like him to just do that. He’s so innocent that he would apologize a thousand times if he laid a hand on you.” Hyunjin puts his hands on his waist.

“Yea…maybe he didn’t want me to touch him. Maybe…I smell?” You sniff your sleeve.

“No! Never!” Felix exclaims. “You always smell fine! Even when you don’t put on perfume, your natural scent is the best!”

You weren’t expecting Felix to give you a full-on compliment, but you’re appreciative of it regardless. If it isn’t because you smell, then is it because Jeongin is annoyed of you? You were being a bit too nosy about who’s he talking to, so he probably had enough of you and did what he did. Or…he doesn’t want you to know that he might have a girlfriend.

==========

As Jeongin runs out of the building, he finds a place to hide a few blocks away. Once he finds a street with nobody there, he crouches into a fetal position, pulling his hair out as he fights the urge to scream. He’s absolutely upset at himself for slapping your hand away. It was really hard as well, enough to create an echo. He regrets hitting you, but it was the shock face you made when he did it—that hurts the most. It was like he betrayed you, and now he doesn’t know if you’ll ever forgive him.

As much as he wants to tell you and the older members, he can’t. What he got himself into is bigger than he could ever imagine, even to the extent that he can’t tell them. If he does, then it’ll land not only you and the boys, but the company and his family. He has to figure out how to solve this problem on his own.

“Hey, what took you so long?” A mysterious voice comes from behind the shadows.

Jeongin stands up, holding his other arm with his hand timidly. “Sorry…it was hard to get out of practice.”

The figure walks out from the darkness, revealing himself to be a middle-aged man. He’s wearing a black sweater with the hoodie over his head to keep his identity hidden. “I don’t care the reason. As long as you’re not wasting my time. Did you bring what I asked?”

“Yes, I did,” He takes out a folder and gives it to him.

He opens it, flipping through a few pages to see what’s inside. He nods with content. “Okay, these seem legit.”

“I gave you what you wanted, so you’re not going to hurt anybody anymore, right?”

“Yes, yes. Geez, how many times do I have to tell you? As long as you give me what I want, then I’ll do my part of the deal.”

But Jeongin plays with his fingernails, still seemingly anxious. The man can see how uneasy he is, so he wraps his arm around him.

“Why do you look so sad? Come on, you did great, boy.”

Despite the assurance, Jeongin knows that what he’s doing is completely wrong, but he’s so deep into this situation that he’s afraid that his career as a musician will end. He won’t be able to look at you or the members in the eyes. So he rather struggle on his own then have any of you involved.

==========

You didn’t get the chance to talk to him the next morning. He woke up earlier than the rest of the boys, going on his morning jog before going to school. The other boys have gone to do their individual schedules, some of them are recording for shows while others are either doing photoshoots for magazines or producing songs.

You’re in the office sitting at your desk, sighing for the fiftieth time. Your coworker who sits across from you tosses a piece of paper at you, startling you.

“What was that for?!”

“For sighing. What’s up? You’ve been like this lately.”

With a lack of response, she has a feeling she knows why you’re like this. “It’s about Jeongin again, isn’t it?”

You jolt. “H-how did you know??”

“You mentioned it before so I had a hunch that whatever that has been going on is still ongoing. He’s still behaving differently?”

You nod. “It’s just so unusual of him to do that. I mean, it’s like…it’s normal for someone his age to be on his phone all the time, but to be on his phone this often? I don’t know…he doesn’t even let me see who he’s talking to either!”

“Why are you so obsessed with that? He’s at the age where it’s healthy to have a girlfriend and maybe he’s just a little embarrassed to tell you.”

You press your hands against your cheeks dramatically. “Chan told me that I’m overreacting, but what guy goes on his phone that often and even pushes others away?? What if he’s dating a girl who doesn’t give him time to breathe?! I should check on him!”

You stand up from your seat, but your coworker hurriedly pulls you down. “Stop it! This is probably why he never told you! And what if he doesn’t have a girlfriend? It doesn’t matter; it’s his life and you shouldn’t be intruding into it so much.”

“Yea but…he has to worry about what the media is going to think, and his fans…”

“Who cares about what the media says? It’ll just be the top news for a week or so, then everybody is going to forget about it. And yea, obviously the fans who truly care about him will support him and his girlfriend.”

“Yea…I know…but…”

“Why do you make it sound like him having a girlfriend is bad?”

But after asking that question, that’s when it hits her. In all honesty, your coworker is surprised that it took her this long to figure out that you like him. A wide smile forms on her face, showing her teeth. Once you knew that she figured it out, you reach over your desk and slap her on the shoulder.

“Ow! What was that for?!”

“S-sorry…! But don’t tell anyone! I want absolutely no one to know about this!!”

“Geez…” she rubs his shoulder. “You’re acting like a school girl. There’s nothing wrong with liking someone. Why don’t you want anybody to know?”

“Because I’m gonna hear it endlessly from the boys! They’re either going to make fun of me for having a crush. And then Chan is going to pull me to the side and talk about how he thinks that I should keep my feelings on the down-low until promotions are over!”

“What? No he won’t. I don’t spend as much time with them as you do, but if anything, he’s probably gonna be jealous. Same with Lee Know, Felix, Changbin…and the list goes on.”

“Jealous? Why would they be jealous?”

“Because…” she sighs. “Never mind. I’ll let you figure out that on your own. Anyway, is that why you’ve been thinking about him? Because you might’ve lost your chance to ask him out?”

“You don’t have to put it that way! Besides, I don’t ever plan on confessing to him. This is a professional setting and we have to keep it that way. He has thousands of fans and I don’t want to be that one girl who ruins it.”

“You’re not ruining anything. But even if he has a girlfriend, whatever is going on with Jeongin definitely isn’t normal. Well, based on what you said.”

“Something has to be bothering him, but I don’t know what,” You think about it for a few seconds before an idea springs up in your head. “Do you think it’s okay that I pick him up from school instead?”

“I don’t think his school minds, but didn’t you say that the other managers usually picks him up? You don’t even have a driver’s license.”

“We can walk home together. That way, we’ll be alone and give time for us to talk.”

“Okay…just be careful not to get in trouble.”

“Don’t worry about it. I got this under control.”

==========

You’re at Jeongin’s school, standing by the gate. School has just ended and the barrage of students in the iconic yellow school uniforms rush out of their classrooms. Many well-known idols currently attend or have attended this school, so because of that this school has gained some notoriety among the public eye. Some students that you see are familiar, but without their flashy outfits and makeup, they practically look like every other student here.

By the gates, there are managers just like you who are waiting for a specific student, whether they’re an idol, model, or actor. Moments like these you enjoy the most because this is one of the rare occasions where the idol can be just like every other high school student without the public eye’s judgement to dictate them. Without a doubt, it’s not normal for a student to have their manager pick them up from school, but there’s something special about not having people glorify teenagers.

You texted Jeongin to let him know that you’ll be waiting for him after school. He never responded, but he did read your message. It’s rare for you to pick him up since you’re usually with the older members with their schedules—not even when Seungmin and Hyunjin were in school. This is a new experience for you to be waiting for him, so it’s a little exciting.

As you’re waiting, you finally get a text message from him, asking where you’re at. You let him know that you’re waiting at the west wing gate. After no more than fifteen minutes, you see the top of Jeongin’s head, rushing to you, blending into the crowd of yellow blazers. You wave to him, but he doesn’t wave back. He looks rather serious, maybe even a little upset that you’re here.

He passes through the crowd, rushing right toward you. “What are you doing here?”

“I came here to see you.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to talk to you.”

Jeongin looks around as if he’s searching for someone, then he lowers his head like he’s hiding. “Where is the other manager?”

“I told him that I’ll pick you up today. Is it okay if we walk to the company together?”

He seems conflicted, like he doesn’t know if he should be angry. You’ve never seen him look this serious before, and it is hurting your feelings a little bit. Seeing the way your expressions are changing and remembering what happened last night, he tries to lighten the mood.

“Okay.”

A smile lights up on your face, and he blushes a little bit seeing how happy you’ve become.

==========

In the city, you two are walking together to the main building. Even though it was your plan to talk to him, you can’t bring yourself to say anything. Jeongin knows why you want to walk with him, but you’re quiet, so he’s anticipating the question.

“So…has anything been going on lately?”

“No, not really.”

“Really?”

He nods. “Everything’s been the same.”

“Obviously, I can tell that things haven’t been the same. You wanna tell me what’s been going on with you lately?” You get right to the point.

He hesitates, knowing that you were going to ask this eventually. “Are you talking about last night?”

“Of course.”

He remains quiet, so when you look at his face, he looks sad. He’s making it clear that he feels guilty for hitting your hand last night.

“I just want to make things clear that I’m not upset that you. If there’s something that’s bothering you, then it’s okay to tell me. I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

He knows he can trust you, but the deal he made with that strange man requires that he doesn’t let anyone aware of it. If he does, then it’s putting you and everybody else in a vulnerable state. But with that desperate expression on your face, he can’t bring himself to keep it a secret from you. He wants to alleviate some weight on his shoulders, but at the same time, he’s terrified that the man is listening in on their conversation.

“Manager, I…”

The ding coming from his phone interrupts the mood. He takes his phone out to see that he’s received a text message on his Kakao. It’s not from any of his friends nor is it from the members. It’s from an unfamiliar ID.

Curious, you peer over to see that it’s somebody that you don’t know either. That’s when your fear that it might be the mysterious ‘girlfriend’ that he’s been talking to has texted him.

“Who is that? A classmate?”

He scrunches his eyebrows. “I don’t know this person.”

The message says: I.nnie, I love you with all my heart and soul <3 Plz reply so I know it’s you!!

You and Jeongin knew instantly that this is a message from a fan. He deletes the message and blocks the person. It’s going to make the fan feel like she’s been betrayed by her ‘one and only’, but the reality of it is that she is crossing over private territory and should know not to step over that boundary.

But that isn’t the only fan who messages. After that, he receives a large number of messages from unknown users. They’re all presumably his fans, spamming him with confessions or questions asking if it’s really him. Because there are so many of them, it’s too many for him to delete manually.

“What’s going on??” Jeongin silences his phone after getting annoyed of hearing his ringtone go off hundreds of times.

“How did they get access to your Kakao ID?”

They made sure that their info wouldn’t get leaked out to the public, so it isn’t possible that they just so happened to have stumbled upon his ID. He’s never revealed his Kakao account on any shows either, so it’s nearly impossible for them to have figured it out. Then again, nothing is ever secure, so you presume that it might be the works of a hacker.

“Didn’t we upgrade your phone’s security? How is this happening?”

As you were are talking, you receive a message from the other members, notifying that their information has been leaked as well. They’re asking you what they should do, but you don’t know either. You tell them to calm down and that you’ll figure out what’s going on.

“What’s going on? This came out of nowhere.”

You glance at Jeongin’s face, and there’s a look of horror like he just committed a horrible crime. His skin has turned pale and his eyes are wide, unable to grasp what is happening. You shake his arms to get him out of this trance, and it works.

“Jeongin? Are you okay?”

He gazes into your worried eyes, slightly nodding his head. “Y-yea…”

“We’re gonna have a meeting with the boys and figure out what’s going on.”

==========

You and the boys are sitting together in the practice room in a circle, no words spoken as crickets play in the background. You glance around to see their solemn expressions, and you wonder what you can do to make the mood feel less heavy.

“I was able to get in contact with the person in charge of the company’s tech department and he said that we can’t do anything other than delete the current account and create a new one. Based on their investigation, there were no signs of hacking, so it’s most likely that somebody shared our information online.”

“Are you serious? Someone actually gave our information away?” Changbin groans. “Do they not have any shame?”

Jeongin, sitting in a fetal position, pulls his knees closer to him.

“Even if somebody from our company did do it, it was bound to happen.” Seungmin adds.

“Yea, but who has the audacity to do shit like that?”

“Changbin, please watch your language…” You request.

“Who cares if I curse or not? What that person did to us is shameful, and to expose us like we’re not human is wrong. I have every right to get angry.”

“I know…but getting angry isn’t going to solve anything.” You say, but in a more serious tone.

“Changbin, Manager, let’s not have disagreements,” Chan raises his hand. “What happened has already been done, so we should be thankful that none of us were harmed. We can’t fixed the past, but we can use it to make sure that in the future this won’t happen again.”

You and Changbin look at each other. “Yes.”

“But I want to know how our information was given away in the first place. Did anyone approach you guys and asked for your contact info?”

They all say no, including you. Or…at least except for one person..

“Jeongin?” Chan calls out.

He raises his head to see all eyes on him.

“Are you alright? Did anyone approach you asking for your contacts?”

He looks around, feeling a little hesitant. “No…”

You already knew from the way he answered there’s more to it than what he’s giving out. You don’t want to say it out loud because you know that it’s going to make things more complicated if you were to point him out.

 Later on, most of the members have left the practice room. You’ve kept an eye on Jeongin while they’re getting ready to leave to see if his behavior is different. Like the past few days, he isn’t smiling and has been rather stiff during the entire meeting. Since you don’t want to put pressure on him, you decide to keep quiet and plan to talk to him alone. With the last member leaving the room, it’s only you and Chan left.

“How have you been handling this entire situation? I hope you’re doing alright.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’m more concerned about the younger members, especially Jeongin.”

“Did you notice it too? How uncomfortable he was.”

He nods. “Maybe it has to do with how secretive he’s been the past few days.”

“A few nights ago when I went to your dorms and spoke to Jeongin, he was talking to someone on the phone, but the caller ID was called ‘Unknown’. I didn’t think too much about it then, but with the situation now, I think it has some correlations.”

You should’ve known back then how suspicious it was that he was talking to somebody who doesn’t even have a caller ID nor did their phone number show up. You must’ve been so exhausted from working all day that you probably didn’t think about it that much.

“Should we…” Chan trails off. “Ah, never mind.”

“What?”

“It’s just…do you think we should tell somebody? What Jeongin did is wrong, and I know he wouldn’t do something like this without a reason, but—”

“No!”

You’re aware that it’s not a good idea to keep Jeongin’s suspected involvement a secret, but seeing how he’s been behaving, you don’t want to add on to his problems.

“I-it’s just suspicion, right? We don’t know if Jeongin has any connections to it, so it’s better not to go straight to the higher-ups. Let’s wait it out a bit, and if he continues being suspicious then we can let them know.”

However, judging by his expression, Chan doesn’t seem to agree with this decision. “Okay, but don’t go easy on him, okay? I don’t want to believe that he’s involved, but if he really is, then we can’t baby him out of this situation. He’s a grown man and should learn from his mistakes, especially from the ones that have huge negative consequences.”

You nod. “You can trust me! Even if Jeongin is a part of it, I’m certain that he was blackmailed to do it. We both know how kind-heartened he is to the core, so there’s definitely no reason that he would do it without a good reason.”

“Yea, you’re right,” he sighs, then smiles. “I shouldn’t be so negative. Probably with everything that’s been going on, it’s been kind of taking a toll on me that I’m doubting my own teammates.”

You elbow him. “Yea, it’s very unlike you, but we’ll get out of this mess for sure! If other idols are able to solve this problem, then we definitely can.”

Catching onto your optimistic contagion, he can’t help but smile as well. “You’re right. He would never do anything behind our backs without a reason.”

While you do hope that’s the case, you pray that Jeongin isn’t in any danger. It would be foolish of you to have been worried that he has a girlfriend when there are more serious subjects to be worried about, so you want to make things better by not being distracted with meaningless worries and tackle the problem head-on. And it starts with Jeongin.

==========

You know that you vowed to solve the problem, but you have been unsuccessful with talking to Jeongin these past few days. Your workload has increased by an exponential amount, having to go to meetings, make phone calls, and sign papers. When you do have the time to check on them, he leaves the room around the same time.

Thankfully, the boys’ leaked contact information has died down, and no one has been messaging them since they made new accounts. The tech department have yet to figure out how it was released in the first place, though they still believe in their theory that someone had to have given it to some outside source.

You sigh heavily, having returned from a long and arduous meeting. You finally came back to the main building, and seeing that you have some spare time, you decide to stop by and see the boys while they’re practicing. At the main entrance, you scan your ID card and enter once the automatic doors open.

But you freeze when you meet eyes with an unfamiliar stranger. He’s dressed with a white, tucked-in shirt and cargo pants and also wearing glasses that completes it all. He seems shocked to see you.

He doesn’t look like anybody you know, so it must be somebody from outside the company. The reception lady who’s usually there isn’t, so you assume that he must be waiting for her. Since you’re here, you thought it wouldn’t hurt to ask if he needs help.

“Hello, did somebody already come to help you?”

“I need help. I’m a journalist here to interview Twice and was wondering if you can guide me to their practice room.”

You raise an eyebrow, already finding this suspicious. “I don’t remember ever hearing about an agreement to hold an interview inside the building. Which publication do you work for?”

“I work for Seoul’s Newsletter, and I’ve been told to do this for my current article,” he takes out an ID card, and it covers his claim of being a journalist. “I’m here to do an interview with Twice.”

“My apologies, I don’t supervise them so I don’t know their schedule.”

“Then which musicians do you mainly work with?”

“Stray Kids.”

“Oh, then if it’s fine, can I interview them in the meantime? I have the permission to do by my supervisor to do so.”

This is too strange. You may not be a journalist, but his task seems too flexible. There’s no way his boss would let him pass with interviewing Stray Kids if there’s a chance that he doesn’t run into the actual band he has to interview. Besides, if he’s scheduled to interview Twice, then they would have a set time to meet, and if they were late, they would notify him. Not only that, but if he were to use Stray kids as a secondary interviewees, then you would’ve been made aware of it as well.

“I don’t remember ever accepting a meeting with Seoul’s Newsletter.”

“What?”

“I’m their manager.”

His facial expressions become stiff, and his hands fall to his sides when he realize that he made a mistake. He thought that you were just another staff member who just so happen to hover around them, not someone who’s always around them.

“I thought their managers were men.”

“I handle most of the behind-the-scene jobs like scheduling and attending meetings as well as taking care of their wellbeing. My co-managers help with the public activities.”

Because you’re a young female, it’s most likely going to cause scandals for one of the boys, so that’s why you’re not with them in public majority of the time. But as you think to yourself, you begin to wonder about something.

“I’m just wondering…but how did you get access to enter?”

Just like you, you need to have an employee card to scan then the doors will unlock. If he’s here to supposedly interview them, then he would’ve had somebody here to help him. Since there’s nobody here with him, it could only mean one thing. You look down at his hand and got a glimpse of the ID card. For a second, you could’ve sworn that you saw Jeongin’s face on it.

He looks around at the ceiling, though you’re not sure what he’s looking for. But then it hits you that he’s looking for security cameras. That’s when he moves closer to you only for you to move back. Your guard is heightened with your hand scouring through your purse for pepper spray.

He puts his hands in his pockets, not hesitating to move forward. “I have a knife in my pocket, and I’ll take it out if you don’t do as I say.”

He slyly shows the blade as it illuminates against the sunlight, blinding your eyes. It’s not a fake knife, so fear crawls up your spine. Situations like these only happen on shows, never in a million years did you ever think it’ll happen to you. So when something as dramatic as this unfolds in front of you, you feel the concern that if you don’t do as he says, then you could lose your life.

“Take me to their studio, then I’ll spare your life.”

You don’t know want to reveal their private sphere in fear that there will be another repeat of the Kakao incident, but glaring at the blade is making you think otherwise. You hate to admit it, but you’re more afraid of getting hurt than anything else.

“O-okay.”

Just agreeing with it makes you repulsed at yourself. You look down in shame, clenching your fists as you guide him to the place of his choice.

==========

You and the man are walking in the halls, and he’s standing closely behind you. You can’t see if he’s holding the knife to your back, but you don’t want to do anything to confirm that he does. Unfortunately, there’s not that many people in the halls, so you can’t call out for help. But even if you do cry for help, you don’t want to get them involved.

“I’m surprised no one has passed by. Even with security cameras everywhere, there’s nobody doing a single thing,” He snickers. “I heard that CCTV cameras are there just to scare people from doing anything, but in reality, some actually only record five minutes at random times.”

You’re just as surprised that, so far, there’s been no one. It must be one of those days where everybody is in their office or doing outside activities.

“I really do hope that Twice is here…All I wanted to do was talk to them…” he bites his nails. “Is that too much to ask? People get to talk to them all the time, but I’m considered the creep? It’s not fair.”

You try looking behind from the corner of your eye, but you can’t. Judging by his shaky voice, he’s also just as nervous as you are, probably afraid that he’ll be caught.

“You employees should be lucky to see then every day, but all you guys ever do is take it for granted. You said you work as Stray Kids’ manager, correct?”

“Y-yes.”

“You have to work for a bunch of ungrateful children. I’ve seen how the leader interacts with Twice, and it irritates me. He acts like he’s special just because he’s the center of attention. I fucking hate it.”

With each passing second with him, he slowly reveals more and more that he isn’t a journalist. The Seoul Newsletter Card must’ve been a fake. His obsession with Twice is beginning to unnerve you, but his hatred toward Stray Kids irritates you more. It’s blatantly obvious that since they’re from a famous company, they’re bound to get backlash for being ‘too rich and popular’ despite being a rookie group. However, the public doesn’t know the amount of effort and passion they put into their work, so to hear him belittle them is more infuriating than you possibly losing your life.

“You don’t know that. Maybe if you took the time to get to know them then—”

“SHUT UP! You don’t understand shit! I go through so much and yet these boys get to go around hogging them. I work my ass off just to go to their fan meet only to be banned from them, and when I finally got someone to help me, my plan still fails!”

“Wait…somebody?”

“Yea. How the fuck else am I supposed to get access to the building?”

That’s when the connection is linked—what the tech department said about the boys’ contact information being manually leaked is true. It was an inside job done, and he’s the mastermind. But who would be helping an insane man like him?

Just as you two are about to turn the corner of the hall, you two run into somebody. It’s Jeongin, and in a millisecond, you three freeze. At first, he had no idea what was going on, but when he made eye contact with the made, his skin color becomes pale.

“You little bastard!”

Suddenly, the man lunges at Jeongin, grabbing him by the shirt and pushing down. He gets on top of him, now holding him by the collar of his shirt, repeatedly slamming him against the floor.

You rush toward him, attempting to pull him off of Jeongin. However, no matter how much strength you’re using, it’s no use in getting the man off.

“Help! Somebody help!” You cry out.

You look around desperately, but there’s nobody.

“Manager, run!” Jeongin shouts.

You can’t move your legs. You know it’s better to run and search for help, but you can’t bring yourself to leave him there. You’re aware that you should help him, but you don’t know what to do. With that knife in his hand, you’re afraid that if you jump into the mess, then you’ll end up getting Jeongin injured.

The man notices that you took one step back, so now his attention is on you. That brief eye contact is enough to scare you, so you break out of your frozen trance and make an attempt to run. However, he is able to grab you by your hair, pulling you back until you fall to the ground. Undoubtedly, he’s pulled out some hair strands right from the scalp.

“Don’t think you can get away!”

Because of the pain, you don’t pull your head. You struggle to get his hands off of your hair by scratching his fingers to no avail. You make eye contact with Jeongin, praying that he runs to safety. He’s in the same spot as you—unable to pick his feet up and only stare in horror.

“This kid thought that he can outsmart me, but he’s nothing more than a coward,” the man laughs. “Look, he can’t even save you. Because he thought he’s better than me, I’m going to show what I’ll do if you try to mess around with me.”

“Hey! What’s going on?!”

Suddenly, another man’s voice comes from down the hall and it turns out to be one of the employees. He spots what’s happening, sprinting toward the scene. However, he isn’t able to catch up as the man is able to escape through the elevator, closing just in time before he reaches him in time.

The employee turns his direction to you—sitting on the ground on your knees. “Hey, are you okay? Who was he?”

You’re so shaken that you can’t speak. Jeongin stands still, holding his hands together as he stares speechlessly. The employee takes out his phone and dials a number.

“It’s okay, I’m gonna call for help.”

==========

While you’re sitting in the main lobby with a policewoman, the police are questioning Jeongin in a separate room. The news about the break-in spread like wildfire and it eventually reaches the members. They’re quick to their feet when they heard that you and Jeongin were in danger and made it their priority to check and see that you two are fine.

Chan is the first to enter the lobby with a panicked look in his eyes. He approaches you, putting his hands on your shoulders. You two stare at each other for a few seconds before he pulls you in for a tight hug.

“I’m glad you’re okay. He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

You shake your head. “It was nothing serious.”

“I heard that he’s not from this company? What the hell happened?”

“That’s something that we’re still figuring out,” the policewoman steps in between you and Chan. “Mind if I ask who you are and what relations you have with (Y/N)?”

“It’s okay. He’s my friend. Uhm…mind if I have some privacy with him? There’s something I’d like to talk to him about.”

She nods then walks to the halls.

Once she’s out of sight, Chan pulls you in closer. “Do you have any clue what’s going on?? And please don’t lie to me that he didn’t do anything to you. I swear, if he actually laid his hand on you, I’m gonna beat the shit out of him—”

“Chan, please don’t.” That’s exactly what you don’t want to happen. “I really am alright. But…it’s not what I wanted to talk about. Jeongin told me everything.”

“Told you what? What did he tell you?”

“But before I explain, promise me that you won’t get angry at him.”

“Why would I get angry at him? (Y/N), you’re scaring me.”

You avert your eyes, afraid to tell him but knowing that it’s better to tell him rather than keeping it a secret. “That man who broke into the building is the one who released the group’s contact information.”

“What?! How did he have access??”

You bite your bottom lip, anxiety increasing as you fear for his next reaction. “…It was Jeongin.”

Chan’s jaw drops.

He takes a few seconds to take in what you said, turning around and putting his hand on his waist. He massages his jaw, feeling a mixture of emotions. Just as you thought, he isn’t sure about how to take this in. He wants to get angry, but he also wants to drop to the floor and cry for the betrayal from his own member.

“He didn’t do it because he wanted to. He was blackmailed.”

You’ve never seen so much relief comfort him, so much that he was about to cry.

“He contacted Jeongin online and claimed that he’s a hacker. He threatened that if he doesn’t give him personal information about Twice, then he was going to leak your information to the public.”

“Personal info? Personal what?”

“Like…‘private’ pictures and videos of them.”

“Oh my god. This disgusting perv…Please tell me Jeongin didn’t do it.”

You shake your head. “He couldn’t bring himself to do it. He ended up giving him photos that he found online and photoshopped it a little bit to make it appear like it’s the girls, but he must’ve figured it out since your info was released.”

Chan looks around, processing everything you told him. You can’t imagine what Jeongin was going through—being stuck in a dilemma where he either cross the line with his noonas’ boundaries or run the risk of letting the public know of his hyungs’ info.

“You’re…not mad at Jeongin, are you?”

With your puppy eyes, there’s no way he can. “Thinking about it, he did the right thing. If he took those nasty videos and pictures, then it’s not only their privacy that was taken away, but also their dignity. At least for us, we were able to solve it within a few days. Don’t worry, I can never get angry at him.”

He wraps his arm around your neck, pulling you in. He gives you a knuckle sandwich to lighten the mood. However, it doesn’t ease the worry in your chest. Even though you’re more than okay, you’re more concerned about Jeongin and how he’s handling the responsibility. He’s pure-hearted, so he must be beating himself up right now.

“I really hope he doesn’t get in trouble for this. He’ll be okay, right?”

“I…” Chan looks down, unsure of what to say.

Of course, it’s better to reassure you that he’ll be fine, but the crime he committed is still inexcusable. While he knows that the members will forgive him after learning of the dilemma that he was in, he isn’t sure if the police will.

Jeongin and the policeman exit the private room. You want to reach out to him, but you pull your hand back. He doesn’t look at you nor Chan like he’s pretending he doesn’t know you two, and it hurts a little.

“Excuse me, where are you two going?” You ask.

“To the police station. I feel it’s more private to talk there than here.”

You keep staring at him, but he’s still not looking. “You’re not gonna do anything to him, are you?”

“As far as we know, nothing. We need more time to investigate before jumping to conclusions.”

They walk off, but before they do, you thought about calling out to him. You want to let him know that he didn’t do anything bad, but it’s too late since the policeman has already taken him out. You drop your weight down on the couch again, sighing.

“I really, really hope they don’t make him feel bad about what he did. Why can’t they just tell us already that Jeongin won’t get in trouble?”

Chan takes a seat next to you, patting your back. “Let them do their job. As long as they do the investigation properly, then I’m certain they’ll know that he’s innocent.”

Naturally, it’s normal for you to worry about the person you like. Despite the comfort, you can’t help but think about the worse as you bury your face in your hands. “When that intruder was holding him down, I was so scared that I couldn’t think. He told me to run, but I froze. I didn’t know if I wanted to run or help him. If only I thought quicker then it wouldn’t have come to this.”

“Hey, now’s not the time to be putting the blame on yourself. You two did the best you could in this situation, and it could’ve been a lot worse. Don’t be so pessimistic and keep your chin up.” He smiles.

You exhale, forcing a grin. “Yea…you’re right.”

You look out the window, praying that everything will turn out smoothly. Hopefully, the police won’t put the blame on Jeongin and that they would catch the intruder.

==========

Thankfully, the police let Jeongin go. They understood the situation that he was in and released him shortly after the interrogation. Although what he did was technically illegal, it was for the sake of protecting the girl group from falling into the hands of unwanted circumstance.

You had to tell the members in secret about what happened and begged for them not to look down on Jeongin for his mistakes. Many of them were dumbfounded, unsure of how they should take in the information just like when you and Chan first heard about it. However, they all came to an agreement to abide by your request and treat him the same as usual.

Unfortunately, despite the efforts to forget about the past, Jeongin’s high-spirts is no longer present. That charm he had during every group rehearsals doesn’t appear anymore, and when the members try to play around with him, he would brush them off and ask for space. He doesn’t talk to anyone, specifically you.

As if you thought before his avoidance was bad, this is worse. The moment you enter the room, he would stay the furthest away. When you try talking to him, he would turn the other direction and walk away. It’s been like this for days now, and it’s beginning to wither your hopes of ever talking to him like you two used to.

 You’re in the office area of the building, staying overtime to write a proposal to give Stray Kids’ a spot on an American show. It was very difficult having with the language barrier and having to wait for messages to be translated and sent. But you manage to finish it, so as a sign of victory, you lean back in your chair, stretching your arms as you groan.

“Just finished?” Your co-worker asks as she stands up from the opposite end of your cubicle.

“Yea, it took forever! But it’s finished and that’s all that matters.”

“That’s great! I just finished my work too and I’m exhausted. Also, I heard that there’s a delay with the train that you usually take. It’s going to be dangerous since the station is gonna be empty and you’re a woman. There’s a lot of creeps hanging around at night, so be careful.”

You gulp. “Actually…I plan on staying another night here.”

“Again?!”

“I can always sleep in one of the lounges and use the spare blankets and pillows. The couches are actually pretty comfortable once you get used to it.��

“Yea…but it’s not good for your back. Well…it’s still safer than going back home alone. Just make sure that no one’s peeping at you while you’re asleep.”

It’s not that you think that nighttime is dangerous, but ever since that time when you got attacked by that man, you’ve been a little afraid to be alone. Just the thought of walking by yourself in the city scares you, like he’s watching your every step. Even staying the building is still enough to keep your guard up, so you haven’t been able to sleep properly either.

“Don’t worry. You should hurry. Your boyfriend is probably waiting for you at the parking lot. You shouldn’t make him wait.”

“Thanks! I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Your coworker walks out of the office, taking her phone out to let her boyfriend know that she just left. As she turns the corner, she is startled when she nearly bumps into someone. When she recognizes the person to be Jeongin, she sighs in relief.

“Oh my god, you startled me!”

“I’m sorry!” He bows.

“You’re Jeongin from that group, Stray Kids, right? Are you waiting for (Y/N)?”

He looks through the window, twiddling with his fingers. Even though he doesn’t answer, she has a feeling that she’s right.

“She just finished work, but that crazy woman is planning on sleeping here again.”

“Sleeping here?? Why?”

She shrugs her shoulders. “She won’t give a reason, but it’s probably because it’s late. I mean, if I didn’t have my boyfriend pick me up every time I have to overwork then I would probably do the same.”

He looks over at the window again, watching you yawn. “I didn’t know she’s been doing that…”

“You didn’t? But aren’t you with her every day?”

“Well…” he adverts his eyes.

Judging by his tone, something tells her that he and you haven’t been speaking much since the incident.

“Uhm…I was just wondering if she’s alright. She’s been doing fine, right?”

“Why don’t you ask her? She’s right there.”

“I-it’s okay. I have to head back to the dorms later. I just wanted to see if she was still there.”

“No, really! You should talk to her. I’m sure you’ll brighten her mood if you drop by and say hello.” Your coworker grabs him by the arm.

“N-no, it’s fine. I’m sure she doesn’t need any more distractions.”

She lowers her eyebrows, unamused by his answer. That’s when an idea sparks in her mind. She pulls him in to whisper something in his ears.

“You should really take some time to talk to her, even if you don’t want to. She’s been dying to talk to you.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Well…I’m not in the position to say this…but I have a feeling that she’ll never tell you, so I’m just gonna say it. She really likes you.”

He jerks his head back. “What?!”

She nods. “She’s probably gonna be mad if she finds out that I told you, but keep it a secret. But anyway, whatever’s going on with you and her, you two should move on from it. You two seem to have a really healthy relationship. It’s sad to see you guys are distant, especially hearing her talk about you every single day.”

His cheeks turn red. Not once has he ever noticed that this is how you feel about him. He just assumed that you weren’t interested since the other members are more attractive than him.

“Did she tell you?” He asks.

“Let me tell you more, but I don’t want her to be listening in to our conversation so…” she signals Jeongin to come closer with her hand.

He leans over and she continues whispering in his ear.

 As they’re chatting, it catches your attention. You raise your head up with a smile perking up when you see Jeongin. However, it quickly goes away when you notice that your coworker is holding his arm and whispering in his ear. There’s an aching pain in your heart which you can only describe as envy. Jeongin has been ignoring you for weeks on end, so it’s unfair to find that he allows your coworker to touch and talk to him like that, even when she has a boyfriend already.

“(Y/N)!” Your coworker calls from the door. “Jeongin is here. I’m gonna head out now. See you tomorrow!”

She walks off, pressing the elevator button and entering, leaving you and Jeongin alone. You stand up from your desk, grabbing your purse and folders.

“H-hey. How are you doing?” It’s been so long since you last spoke to him that you forgot how you normally talk to him.

“I’m doing fine. Your coworker said that you’re spending the night here?”

“Huh? Oh yea.”

You wish she didn’t tell him. It makes you feel slightly ashamed that you’re sleeping in such a public place even though you already have a place to stay. It isn’t that you have a lot of work that you have to stay here either, but it’s just that you’re afraid to go by yourself.

“You’ve been staying here?”

“Oh…yea…it’s a little late, s-so I thought it would be safer to just stay here.”

“I can walk home with you.”

“Wh-what?!”

“Are…are you okay with that?”

You’ve never thought that he would be the one to make the first move. He rarely is the one to approach you and suggest to tag along with you. There must’ve been something that your coworker said to make him ask you.

“You shouldn’t! It’s too dangerous for you to go alone! Just because you’re not a girl doesn’t mean that you can’t fall victim to sudden attacks too.”

“It’s not about that. Sleeping on those couches is not comfortable and you’ll get back pains from sleeping on those rocks. I can walk you to the train station.”

“But…”

He begins to sulk, puckering his bottom lips up and his eyes gleaming. You can never say no to him, so you have no other choice but to let him. Besides, this is also a great chance to talk to him. Hopefully, the awkward mood between you two will finally dissipate.

“Okay…”

==========

You two are at the train station, sitting on a bench together next to a soda machine. Just as you thought, it’s completely empty here—just you and Jeongin. Since you two haven’t spoken in a while, you don’t know what to talk about, so the silence makes the awkwardness louder.

“I-is there anything you want to drink?” He asks.

“It’s fine. Are you thirsty?” You stand up from your seat. “You don’t have to use your money or anything, so I can—”

“No, let me do it. What drink do you want?”

“I said it’s fine. I’ll buy for you.”

You get up from the bench, but Jeongin raises his hand in front of you to stop you from moving further. “What drink do you want?”

Adamant that he’s the one paying, you knew you lost the argument. You sit back down, thinking about what to drink. “Canned coffee is fine.”

He takes out his wallet from his jean pocket, picking out the right amount of coins. After inserting them inside the slot, he slouches his back slightly, picking two drinks—one Cola and one coffee.

“Here.”

“Thank you!” you set the can down and rummage through your purse.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m repaying you. How much was it?”

“You don’t have to pay me back.”

“What!? But vending machine prices have been increasing lately and you could’ve used that money for something else. This is the least I can do.”

He shakes his head as if he’s ashamed. “You can stop playing like a good person, Manager.”

The bluntness was like a direct shot in the heart. Judging by his tone, he sounded like he’s tired of you having to do everything for him, even the littlest of things. Although your intentions comes from a good place, you’re still able to annoy him, and it makes you feel guilty.

“O-oh…I’m sorry.”

Your apology made him realize what he said. “No…I should be the one sorry.”

He takes a seat once you have nothing else to say. Once again, the awkward atmosphere returns, and it’s so apparent that you two can’t bring yourselves to look at each other. The only sounds that are filling the space in between are the sips that you two take from your drinks.

“So…how have you been?” You ask.

“Good.”

“The hyungs aren’t messing with you?”

“No. They’ve been treating me well.”

“That’s good.”

A few more seconds of no talking.

“How’s work?”

“It’s going fine! It’s really time consuming, so I don’t get to visit you guys as much as I used to. I’m almost done, so I’ll be able to visit you guys soon,” but after making that suggestion, you retract from it. “B-but if I’m bothering you guys, then I won’t stay for too long.”

“I never said that you should leave. You’re our manager, so you can stay for as long as you like.”

“But…what if it’s disrupting your practice?”

Jeongin doesn’t reply immediately. Rather, he creases his eyebrows as if he doesn’t understanding where this is coming from. “You’ve never cared if it bothered you before. Why is it so different now?”

“B-because…”

“Is it because of what happened?”

You nearly stop breathing. He was being vague, but you know exactly what he means.

You shake your head profusely. “No! Never!”

“Then how come you’ve been sleeping at the company?”

“Well…like I said, I have a lot of work and—”

“Don’t lie to me…it’s my fault, isn’t it?”

“Wh-what?”

“You hate me, don’t you? It’s my fault that you’re scared of going home by yourself and why you don’t want to see us anymore.”

“No, don’t think like that!”

“Don’t sugar coat it for me! You know how much I don’t like being babied. Why can’t you just yell at me for once for the burden I put on you and the hyungs?! I really, really hate being let go of things that I deserve punishment for.”

You don’t know where this is coming from. From what you can guess, he can’t keep the guilt contained any longer and needs to let it off.

“When you and the hyungs supported me despite doxing personal information, you all still sided with me, but it felt forced. It wasn’t because you guys believed that what I still was justifiable, but because I’m the youngest and built this unconditional care for me. I-I’m thankful for it…but…it feels like I’m not growing because of that!”

His words are jumping from one place to another. It’s as if he’s spouting the first things that come to mind. You’re aware of the weight that he has to carry because of the mistake he made, but you didn’t expect it to be this heavy.

This is how he’s been feeling this entire time and you didn’t know. You were too afraid to ask, scared that he was going to ignore you. Due to that cowardice, it drifted you and him apart to the point that you don’t what’s going through his mind. You failed at being a manager—tending to the members’ needs and wants by putting yourself before them. Even though you’re afraid about what happened that day, you can’t forget that Jeongin went through more.

You place your hand over his, catching him off-guard. “We didn’t side with you because we love you unconditionally. We did because we knew that deep down, you weren’t the intruder’s accomplice.”

“B-but…I was the one who put us in danger.”

“Yea, but I know that you didn’t do it without consent. You were blackmailed and had to be put into a situation that you never planned to be involved in ever in your life. And…about me not visiting you guys as much as I did prior, I’m sorry about that. I thought you didn’t want me to be in the same room, so I left in hopes that it made you feel better.”

“…It didn’t.”

Your eyes widen when he puts his other hand over yours. But what was more surprising was how he was no longer fighting back his tears.

“I miss those days when you came to see us, those times when we played around. Seeing you always brightened my day, even if that day was terrible. Just a glimpse of you was enough to make me forget about all the bad things.”

Your heart races, never expecting for this situation to turn intimate.

“But when you started seeing us less, I thought it was because you hated me. I kept avoiding you for weeks, and then I put you in a vulnerable spot where I pathetically watched as you were being tormented by that stupid guy! I hate myself because everything’s my fault.”

He continues to cry, lowering his head for being too ashamed to make eye contact. Tears fall from his cheeks, each drip representing the pressure that he desired to escape from.

Unable to bear seeing him tear himself apart, you wrap your arms around him and pull him in for a hug. He stops sobbing, processing what’s going on.

“I’m sorry, Jeongin. I didn’t know what you were going through, but don’t let it get to you.”

You hug him tighter, then he puts his head on your shoulder.

“You’re not getting it off easily because we all know that what you did was for the better. If you did what he said, then you would’ve risked Twice’s privacy, but you were willing to risk your integrity and your relationship with your hyungs so that they’re safe.”

He buries his face in your shoulder, his tears soaking into your shirt. “I thought he was a nice person, but when I found out that he wasn’t, I was so scared. I wanted to tell you guys everything, but I was afraid that it was going to get you guys in trouble. I didn’t know what to do.”

“It’s okay. It’s over with. There’s no need to keep moping,” you pull back, showing your smile. “It’s in the past. All you can do left is acknowledged it happen, not let it happen again, and keep moving forward.”

He sniffles, wiping the tears from his eyes with his palms. His sparkling eyes look back at you with such innocence that you can’t believe someone is heartless enough to take advantage of him. You reach into your purse and take out some tissue. Without thinking, you wipe his tears yourself, which caught him by surprise. He jerks back a little, but he continues to give you permission to touch his face.

It’s been a long time since you had such a personal conversation with him that it’s making you a little nervous. You can’t even look at him any longer than a few seconds before having to turn around. But amidst your timid behavior, you feel something warm around your hand. It’s Jeongin’s hand, wrapping his long fingers around your knuckles.

This move alone is enough to cause a rush of explosive emotions. You always did well hiding how you felt about him, but it may be because of your lack of interaction with him that it’s been more difficult than usual. You’re too ashamed to look at him in the eyes, afraid that he’ll catch your red face.

“Sometimes I wish you would go harder on me like how you are with the older members. Why won’t you?”

“Be-because…”

“Don’t tell me that it’s because I’m the youngest.” His innocent, puppy eyes then turn serious.

Your heart skips a beat like fireworks are going off.

“You see me as a child, so is that why you aren’t going hard on me?”

“N-n…”

“I’m a man too, you know? I don’t like being called the baby, especially by you,” He inches closer to your face. “That’s why I work out a lot, so that you don’t see me as a baby anymore. I don’t sing those ridiculous children songs anymore because I want you to see me in a different light. That’s why you should let me grow up.”

“I-I am…”

“And your age isn’t all that far from me either, and yet, you treat me like a child.”

He’s moving in so close that you have to push him away. “H-hey…we’re in public, Jeongin.”

“We’re alone. It’s fine,” he holds onto your hand. “Tell me honestly, what do you think of me?”

Your heart is pounding so loud that Jeongin must be able to hear it. You look away, too embarrassed to look at him. You keep thinking about what others might think if they found out about your feelings for him.

“No! I don’t wanna say!” You press on his chest and push him off.

Because of your resilience, it irritates him slightly. “I know it’s my fault for pushing you to the side a lot, but you don’t have to be so dismissive with me when I’m asking you a question.”

“No! You don’t understand!!”

“Understand what?!”

“That…that…”

Your face turns redder. You’re so ashamed to look that you can’t even bring yourself to look at him. Exhausted from your refusal to speak, he presses both his hands against your cheeks and forces you to look at his face.

“If you won’t tell me, then can I assume what I think it is?”

Your heart skips a beat, hoping that he doesn’t hit the target accurately. “Wh-what are you thinking?”

He smiles slyly, and that’s when you realization that your assumption is correct. He closes his eyes as he leans closer to you. Even though you’re afraid, you can’t move your body. You know that what he’s doing isn’t right, especially since his reputation is on the line.

You thought about what your coworker said about worrying too much about his own sake. Although his public image is important, his personal life matters just as much, if not, more. He’s been going through so much, so the least you could do is answer him. You hold onto his sleeve, closing your eyes as well. You don’t want to turn down the person you like for a long time.

However, the mood switches when you and Jeongin hear the sound of a camera shutter go off. A white flash blinds you and him, and the color in your eyes fade when you discover the same intruder is standing a few feet away from you two, holding a camera in his hands.

“Hey!”

The man runs off, and Jeongin chases after him.

“Jeongin, wait!”

You chase after him, leaving your can of coffee on the bench.

==========

No matter how fast you run, you can never catch up to Jeongin and the man. At some point, you lost sight of them, so you slow down to catch your breath. You knew that he wasn’t caught by the police, but you would’ve never expected him to find them again.

You never noticed that man there because you were too focused on Jeongin, and because of that, his reputation is at risk. You pull your hair, repeatedly calling yourself an idiot for letting your emotions override your logic. You knew it was better to watch for his reputation than to let your selfish desires take over.

You know you should let somebody know about this, but you don’t know who. You thought about contacting the other managers, but they’re in a different city with some of the other members. You try thinking about the members who are close by, and the only person you can think of is Chan. You dial his number, praying that he picks up the call.

��Hello?”

“Chan? Chan!”

“It’s really late. Did you need something?”

“The…the intruder…Jeongin is chasing after the intruder!”

“Wait, what? What are you talking about?”

“The guy…who broke into the building…He saw me and Jeongin, and he’s chasing after the guy right now.”

“Whoa, hold on…What?! Where are you guys?!”

“We’re at the north train station. Well…we were, but they ran off somewhere and I can’t find them. What should we do?? Should I call the police?”

“If you can’t find them, then that means you’re alone! Go back to the building and I’ll call the police. It’s too dangerous for you to be walking around late at night.”

“But…” you look at the direction that Jeongin and the man ran toward.

“Hurry back!” Chan hangs up, most likely so that he can call the police.

You stare at your call history after he hung up. He did warn you to go back to the building, but a part of you wants to search for Jeongin. You know it’s safer for you to return, but you can’t leave Jeongin in the hands of danger, especially with that man. You apologize to Chan in your head, continuing to follow the trail that Jeongin and man went.

==========

Despite following the road they took, you can’t seem to find them. You try calling Jeongin’s phone, but he won’t pick up. Each time the phone goes to voicemail, it worries you even more that he might’ve gotten hurt.

“Where could you have gone?” You mumble to yourself.

You run up a staircase that leads to a bridge above a freeway. You pray that going to the peak of the bridge will give you a good view of your surroundings. As you press your stomach on the rails with your hand resting on the fence above the rails, the dark night makes it nearly impossible to inspect the area. You turn around, exhaling with exhaustion. You’re unable to think of anywhere else that Jeongin and that man could’ve gone to.

You check your phone to find a spam of text messages from Chan. He must be upset that you didn’t do as you were told. You debate on whether or not you should return and hear his wrath or if you should continue your search for Jeongin. One half of you thinks that this search is pointless and should be handed to the police. However, the other half believes that you should continue in hopes that the longer you search, the chances you’ll find him.

But realistically speaking, it’s better if you go back. You worried Chan and the other boys enough. “Sorry, Jeongin.”

Before putting your phone back in your pocket, you check the time to see that it’s past midnight. You pick up your feet and drag them across the ground.

However, you’re at a halt when a familiar man stands a few feet away from you. You recognized him immediately—you can never get that deadpan look on his face out of your head. You’re frozen, figuring out how to comprehend that the man is standing in front of you, and without Jeongin.

“It looks like you’re alone.” He speaks.

You voice is caught in your throat, unable to say anything snarky. You can’t tell if he’s armed, but with or without it, you’re still scared. You know what he’s capable of, yet you don’t know what he’s thinking about right now.

“Wh-where’s Jeongin?”

He rotates his head to crack them as he groans. “Why do you care about that kid?! You should be worried about yourself. Fuck if I know where he went.”

You take a step back and he takes a step forward. He finds amusement in your fear, so he smirks. “Because of you and that damn kid, I almost went to jail. Do you guys not know how pissed off I am??”

“What are you talking about?! You’re the one who doxed their information and blackmailed Jeongin to give you photos of Twice!”

“What?!” He grinds his teeth. “Are you saying that it’s my fault?? That spoiled brat can’t do shit! He gets to see them every day, and I’m the one who deserves being punished?!”

At this rate, there’s no point in reasoning with him. No matter what you say, he’ll find an excuse to avoid responsibility.

“I’m so fucking mad right now. I took that photo of you and him so I can use that against him too. He tried chasing me down the streets and thankfully I was able to avoid him. But because of him, I dropped my damn camera! Since I found you, I might as well let some steam off.”

Oh no. Without thinking, you turn around and run down the stairs. He chases after you, sprinting at full speed. Even though there are dozens of cars in the freeway, but none of them are coming out to help. You can hear his footsteps, but you’re too afraid to look behind and see how close he is.

As you jog down the stairs, your hair is grabbed by the man. He pulls you back, causing you to fall backward and hit your back against the cement stairs. With the railings covering what he’s doing to you, the cars can’t see anything.

“Let’s finish off where it last left.” He snickers.

Your eyes become teary, believing that his face might be the last thing you’ll see before you die. It may sound a bit overly dramatic, but not knowing what’s going to happen, the worst outcome is the only thing you can think of. All you want to do now is apologize to the members for not being a competent manager.

“Get your hands off of her!” A familiar voice come from the distance.

You glance at the top of the bridge to find a dark figure. The moonlight behind the person’s head blackens his features, making it difficult to see the face. However, you can tell who this person is.

Jeongin runs down the steps and lunges at the man. The two roll down the staircase until they meet at the bottom. With Jeongin on top, he puts his knees on the man’s arms so he can’t hurt him. Now that you can see him under a better light, it’s clear that Jeongin is filled with rage. If you thought the man was upset, it’s nothing compared to his.

In one full swing, he punches the man across the face, so far that his head turned in the same direction as his fist. Jeongin punches again, but with his other hand. He repeats this back and forth—one hand then the other. You watch in horror as you’ve never seen him this angry before. He’s gotten irritated and shouted, but never gone to the extent of physically hurting somebody else. He always blamed himself whenever there was trouble.

You don’t want to see him like this. You snap out of it and run toward him. You pull him back, getting a quick glimpse of his torn, bloody knuckles from all the excessive beating. It scares you a bit, but you shake that thought out of your head and focus on pulling him away.

You’re able to pull him away. Around the same time, one driver gets out of his car and detains the man before he can escape. He struggles to escape the driver’s grasp as he shouts very curse word in the dictionary.

“Why did you pull me away?!”

His question catches you off-guard. “Wh-what?”

“Why didn’t you let me continue?! He deserves to get beaten!”

“B-because! I didn’t want you to get hurt.”

“Don’t you remember everything’s he done to us?! He goes out of his way to make sure that our lives are miserable. And you’re letting him get away with it?”

“No! That’s not it!”

As the debate continues, a crowd begins to form. Rather than this being a serious situation, the people around you and him becomes a spectacle as they whip out their phones to record it. But it doesn’t matter how many people are around you. You’re only paying attention to Jeongin.

“I get it…you’re frustrated. You’re upset about everything he’s done to you, but I don’t want you to sink to his level,” You hold onto his arm. “You’re better than this scum. You worked hard for years to be where you’re at. Don’t waste it away because of a jerk who doesn’t know what you’ve been through.”

His anger subsides and relaxes his shoulders. It turns out that the anger is just a disguise for the tears that he’s been hiding. He covers his eyes with the palm of his hands as he sobs.

“I’m so angry with myself. I couldn’t save you when you were being attacked by him back at the company, so when I saw how he was hurting you again, I couldn’t control myself. I didn’t want to stand in fear anymore.”

As he continues crying, you wrap your arms around him now knowing that you two won’t go through any trouble anymore. You have a feeling that this will be the last time the man will harass both you and Jeongin. It’s almost like the clouds have finally allowed the sun to shine on the two of you.

----------

“So…” You begin.

You and Jeongin are walking across the hall of the company building. There are Band-Aids all over his knuckles, and you have one over your left cheek. It’s been a few days since the incident, and you and Jeongin have finally returned to normal.

You’re hiding your hands behind your back, a little embarrassed to ask him a certain question. But your curiosity was getting the better of you that you need to know. “That one night…what were you talking about with my co-worker?”

His cheeks turn red, turning away from you as he sucks in his lips. His reaction makes you even more nervous.

“You were very comfortable with her…n-not that there’s anything wrong with that. I’m just wondering.”

“Why are you wondering?”

His questioning makes you even more worried. “W-when did you guys started talking?”

“That was our first time. She knows who I am, but I didn’t know her.”

“Did she tell you something?” You press on, but you try not to pry too much.

He bites his bottom lip. “It’s a secret.”

“What?! But I thought we agreed on no more secrets.”

“Yea, but…if I tell you then you’ll get angry.”

“No I won’t!”

“Then why do you want to know?” He chuckles.

Your face turns red. “B-because…”

“I’ll tell you but you have to tell me why you want to know.”

“No!”

You and Jeongin continue the conversation while walking down the hall. In the midst of you talking, he zones out, thinking about the past few weeks. Every single day felt unbearable because he couldn’t bear to look at you knowing the deeds he’s done. He never thought the day you would talk to him casually again would happen. It makes him smile knowing that you two finally made it to the other side.

“Why are you smiling? Did my coworker say something about me?”

He averts his eyes, hesitating to speak. “No.”

“I knew it! What did she say about me?!

“Nothing.”

“You’re lying. I wanna know what you guys talked about.”

“Are you jealous?”

“Jealous?!” Your entire face turns red. “Never.”

He wraps his arm around you, pulling you closer to him. You fall onto his chest, and this makes your face turn redder. You can’t believe that this is the same person you first met long ago when he was just seventeen. He was so shy that he barely said a word during the first introduction.

“What we talked about isn’t important.” He rests his head on top of yours.

If he could, then he would kiss you. But since you guys are in public, he doesn’t want to risk anybody catching him kissing you again. Perhaps one day, he’ll be more confident and tell you his real feelings as well. He’s not there yet, since he wants to wait until he’s sure that you no longer see him as a child. For now, holding you close to him is the best he can do. Never will he ever let what happened before happen again between you and him.

[End]

A/N: Thank you everyone for reading this until the end! I hope everyone is safe and sound :) Even though lots of us are going through hard times, I’m sure we can get through this. This fanfic took me a long time because I was stuck on a long brain fart :( Anyway, I want you all to have a wonderful day!

[k7l4d4]

Midnight Striga: Fairy Tail/Owl House Cross Fic Episode 3 Final

Hello all, here comes the conclusion to Episode 3 of Midnight Striga! Everybody Clap Your Hands!!

Light flashed before her eyes. 

‘Ugh, what’s happening?’ She groaned.

“... think she’s waking up..”

‘Where am I?’

“...ting some water…”

“Oh Titan, my head is pounding!” Boscha moaned, clutching her throbbing head. “Just what happened?”

“Maybe you could tell us that?” A voice said to her side, an angry note to it. Turning to look, Boscha was mildly surprised to see Skara’s one friend that wasn’t part of their usual group, what was it again, Bo? Bo, standing next to her, holding a clipboard and an incredibly pissed off expression. “From what the girl who brought you in had to say,” She began, furiously scribbling at the paper before her, “You somehow got your hands on a crystal that boosted your magic, and was also negatively impacting your thought process.”

Blinking, Boscha laid her head back, trying to process. “I think, maybe? I can’t really remember.”

Bo scoffed. “Oh, how convenient.” She muttered something else under her breath.

Feeling her temper spark, Boscha bit out. “What was that?”

Bo gave a harsh glare, something that surprised Boscha. “Just that’s it typical you somehow gained amnesia after what you did.”

“What did I even do!?” Boscha demanded, throwing her hands up. At the bolt of pain rushing through her arms, she quickly realized that was a mistake.

Bo shoved her head forward, looming over Boscha as best she could. “Are you telling me you don’t remember what you did to her?” She slammed a hand against the wall. “Are you!?”

“I don’t know what, or who, you’re talking about.” Boscha growled. “Mind enlightening me?”

“Skara.” Bo said, her voice deadly still. “I’m talking about what you did to Skara.”

Boscha blinked again, bewildered. “What? That’s crazy.” She scoffed. “I would never do something to-.” She paused, her brow scrunching up. “I didn’t… what?” Boscha let out a groan, clutching the sides of her head, images and sounds slowly pouring in.

“Maybe we could find something else to do, you know?”

“STAY OUT OF THIS!!”

“You maimed your friend!”

“I burned Skara.” Boscha uttered, feeling numb.

Bo let out a humorless chuckle. “Yeah. You did. And as one of her friends, I’m obligated to be mad at you, not that I wouldn’t be anyway with what you’ve been up to the last few days.”

“I don’t-” Boscha started, only to cut off as memories started flowing in. Sickening memories. Memories of Demons, many of them kids, quite a lot from right here at Hexside, brutalized and bloody, cowering at her feet. Boscha felt sick. Now, by no means was she a particularly empathetic person, and she was very cognizant of that, but even Boscha had limits on what she would do to someone, and she would never attack someone who hadn’t crossed her (whether they crossed her intentionally or not was irrelevant, a voice whispered). She certainly wouldn’t have brutalized random strangers and kids on the street so bad they needed serious healing! ...Right?

“You don’t what?” Bo asked caustically. “You don’t know? You don’t understand? You don’t CARE!?” She was almost screaming at the end. “YOU BURNED HER!! YOU BURNED HER THROAT!!! What in the Titan’s name is wrong with you?” Her voice dropped, tears starting to pool in her eyes. “Why would you do that to her? Out of everyone, she cared about you the most. Why?”

“I don’t know.” Boscha said blankly, her mind lost in a haze. She had burned Skara, and attacked random people in the streets. She was broken, that was the only thing that made sense. Ever since that day, when she saw just how small she really was, something inside her had broken. What good was there in giving excuses? Better to be honest.

“I should’ve expected that.” Bo bitterly remarked. She paused, a complicated look crossing her face. “You’re lucky you know.”

“I am aware, but I don’t know what you mean in this case.” Boscha stated. She was incredibly lucky, it was the only explanation for how something like her had managed to last this long.

Bo gave her a scowl, clearly debating sharing what she knew, before her conscience won her over. “Ugh. That jewel you had?” She started, getting a nod from Boscha, before continuing, “It was unstable, or at least the connection it had to you was.” Boscha gave an uncertain nod, mostly following along, prompting a grim smile from Bo. “Basically, the connection you had to it was unsustainable; you were liable to blow up and take the entire school with you at any time. The fact that you’re alive is a Titan’s true miracle.”

“Huh.” Boscha muttered, looking at the pale scar centered in the palm of her hand. “So what happened to it?”

“Oh, it fused with your Heart and Bile-sack.” Bo blithely stated, relishing the look of shock that came over Boscha. “Yeah, there was no way to remove the crystal without it destabilizing and sending the school up in flames, so it had to be implanted in you to complete the process you accidentally started with it.” As she drank in the sight of Boscha’s shock, muted as it was, Bo’s face scrunched up in grudging concern. “However.”

Boscha’s eyes snapped to the girl.

“We noticed something… concerning while looking you over.” Bo said, a genuinely worried frown on her face. “From what we can tell, that jewel is basically permanently boosting your power, but it’s also interfering with your magic at the same time.”

Time seemed to stand still for a moment before Boscha found her voice. “What?” She croaked out.

Bo gave a solemn nod. “I’m afraid so. Whatever process it uses to enhance you is interfering with your bile, and your bile has partially corroded the jewel.” She gave the ceiling a contemplative look. “You’ll basically have to partially relearn how to use magic altogether.”

Boscha nodded, feeling hollow. Even her magic was changed, warped. How fitting.

Bo’s face cleared, her eyes sharpening. “I really don’t want to do this.” She bit out. “But since you’re well enough for it, and she keeps insisting, you have a visitor. Though I don’t get why she wants to see you.” With that said, she turned on her heel and made for the door.

Boscha wondered who was here to see her. Maybe it was the girl who had brought her in, who she knew in her gut was that same human girl who had shown her the truth? Maybe it was Amity, though Boscha felt it was unlike her to do such a thing. As she tried and failed to figure out who it could be, deliberately ignoring the most likely answer, she heard the sharp footfalls of someone approaching.

“Boscha!”

Turning her head towards the voice, eyes widening in shock, Boscha offered no resistance to the flying hug that crashed against her chest. She froze up, uncomprehending. ‘Why?’ She thought. ‘Why are you here?’

“Oh my Titan, I’m so glad you're okay!” Skara cried, pulling back from Boscha. Physically, she looked none the worse for wear from her ordeal, even sporting a nice looking scarf. A scarf that only barely concealed the hand-shaped burn seared into her neck. Noticing the sight of Boscha’s gaze, Skara piped up, sounding far too cheerful. “Oh, you noticed, huh? Yeah, for some reason the healers couldn’t get rid of the scar all the way. I mean, they fixed most of the damage to my throat and all.” She continued, voice holding an almost rambling edge to it. “My voice is fine and all, but I get this cough when I raise it too high. Nothing serious. They think the scar might stick around for a while. It’s a bummer and all, but at least I got this cute scarf!” She finished, beaming, deliberately ignoring the sad, slow shake of Bo’s head.

“STAY OUT OF THIS!!”

“Please leave.” Boscha whispered.

Skara blinked. “I’m sorry? I couldn’t catch that.”

The smell of seared flesh. The choked cough that should’ve been a scream.

“Get out.” Boscha said, desperately trying not to let herself shake.

“W-what?” Skara stuttered, confused. “But Boscha, it’s okay! I don’t blame you-”

The shocked look of hurt in warm, brown eyes.

“You maimed your friend!”

“LEAVE!!” Boscha screamed, lashing her hand out at Skara, flames sparking. With a frightened yelp, Skara leapt back. “GET AWAY FROM ME!”

“B-Boscha, it’s okay!” Skara said, holding her hands placatingly. “It’s just me, Skara!”

“I KNOW!” Boscha yelled.

“Then why are you pushing me away!” Skara pleaded.

“Because you shouldn’t be here!”

Skara stilled. “What? But Boscha-”

“But nothing!” Boscha cried. “Just stay away from me!”

“I’m just trying to help!”

“I don’t need your help!”

Skara winced, edging away from the still burning flames in Boscha’s hands. “Boscha, please, we’re friends, right?” She tried.

Boscha froze, almost paralyzed. “No. We aren’t.”

Skara paused, unable, or unwilling, to process what she said. “W-what?”

Boscha turned away from Skara, eyes fixed firmly out her window. “Just beat it, Skara.” She said, making an effort to sound like she used to. “I don’t want you around me, or you to have anything to do with me. I’m perfectly fine without you, and I definitely didn’t need you barging into my room while I’m healing.”

You could’ve heard a pin drop in the room. Bo stared at the two girls before her in horror; the sheer coldness in Boscha’s words was every bit as brutal as the injuries she had seen the girl inflict on Demon students over the past three days. Skara stood there, rooted in place, tears softly streaming down her face, a plastic grin stuck in place. Without a word, she turned to the door, slowly walking towards it, her pace gradually building, until she broke out into a run, sobs rocking her body.

Bo whirled on Boscha, spitting venom. “You are so lucky healers aren’t allowed to attack their patients.” She spat. She turned, preparing to chase after her distraught friend, before pausing, remembering something. Turning back to Boscha, she pulled out a card. “Here.” She said, flipping the card over onto the windowsill. “The girl who brought you in asked us to give that to you.” She scoffed. “I don’t see why she bothered.” With that said, she took off, heedless of any repercussions abandoning her patient may have in the future.

Without a word, Boscha slowly brought the card to her face, reading it.

For whenever you decide you want help with making the world make sense again, just look me up. Sincerely, Luz Noceda.

And, without making a sound, Boscha cried.

Bump sighed, unsure of how to deal with the situation before him.

“This entire ordeal is ridiculous! Our daughter has always held herself to the most stringent standards of decorum! Isn’t that right, Alador?”

“Hmm? Oh, right right? Now, you said the Abomination was coiled?”

“Alador!!”

Bump sighed again. Odalia and Alador Blight. While they now had some measure of influence over him as the heads of the Parent Creature Association, they were still the same impetuous children they were when they left; Odalia was still an opportunist who would look for any avenue to thrive, whereas Alador was a cold, disconnected fellow whose head was constantly in the clouds, searching for new inspiration, the only uniting factor in the two being their ambition and their pride in their honor. He would need to handle this carefully.

“Mr. and Mrs. Blight, I am afraid the subject of your daughter’s guilt in this scenario is without question, seeing as it occurred in my own presence.” Bump firmly stated, not willing to budge on this. Alador was always the easier of the two to deal with; while always liable to reach for an advantage, he preferred to wait and see, biding his time while indulging his curiosity. In this case, he was eagerly detailing notes on the Abomination Miss Park had presented as her last project before her switch. Bump would admit to being curious himself, but even he found Alador’s… zealous pursuit of his curiosity occasionally off-putting.

“Tsk. And why would my daughter do such a thing?” Odalia demanded imperiously, as if the very idea was such an impossibility that even mentioning it was reprehensible. Bump sighed internally. She always was a difficult one. Proud, dramatic, a natural saleswoman, and fierce rival to Eda Clawthorne, Odalia Blight was as unyielding as she was prone to recklessness. Oh, now that sparked an idea.

“I believe she may have lost sight of her surroundings in her fervor for the truth.” Bump said. He grinned. “Much like a certain other Witch that attended this school, who stormed the Potions Classroom to demand her rival return her prized bookbag, only for it to be revealed her boyfriend borrowed it in order to make improvements to it as a gift?” He grinned at the vibrant flush that overcame Odalia, who loudly cleared her throat at the embarrassing history he had revealed in front of her daughter.

Speaking of which, Bump glanced down, catching sight of Miss Amity Blight, doing her best to seem unphased but clearly miserable. Once again, Bump felt a sigh build up. He regretted how harsh he was with the girl earlier, but, on a smaller level, something to its effect needed to be said. The girl was brilliant, dedicated, and, if the reports from the Library were accurate, unerringly compassionate. Hearing her say such cruelty to a fellow student was shocking. 

Bump was well aware of the girl’s intense loathing for cheaters and shortcuts, but he hadn’t thought she would behave so impulsively. Perhaps she had had a different plan and felt compelled to change it? As Bump glanced at the one-sided bickering of Odalia attempting to gain Alador’s attention, he believed it was very likely.

“If I may speak again?” He asked, gaining the two “adults” attention. “Amity is in no trouble beyond what you deem necessary. The confrontation was fairly private, and none of those present will speak of it, myself included.”

“You are sure of this?” Odalia asked, eyes gleaming in calculation, a similar look tucked into the recesses of Alador’s.

“Completely.” Bump affirmed.

“Excellent!” Odalia cheerfully stated, clapping her hands. “We will have a more in depth discussion with Amity in our own time. Rest assured, such an incident will not occur again.” With that said, the three Blights rose to leave.

“If I may have a word with Amity before you leave?” Bump requested.

Odalia pursed her lips, before nodding. “You may, but please be quick. Alador and myself will be waiting outside the door.” With her piece said, Odalia dragged husband along as he fiddled with the sample of Willow’s Abomination he had somehow managed to obtain.

“Do you have anything to say, Miss Blight?” Bump inquired, now alone with his scholastic charge.

“Indeed, Principal Bump.” Amity stated, as prim and poised as always, much to Bump’s mild chagrin. Her parents had certainly done their best to mold her into a proper socialite. “What I said to Willow was… unacceptable. I allowed my own disbelief and feelings of resentment to goad me into a foolish action. When I next encounter the human, I will apologize for my conduct.” She bowed. “However, I do not believe I can bring myself to apologize to Willow without receiving one in turn.”

“And that is perfectly alright.” Bump reassured, much to Amity’s apparent shock if the way she started tipping over was any indication. “I had a discussion with Miss Park after Boscha and   Miss Skara were taken to the healers.” He idly noted how Amity tensed up at the mention of her friends. “She will be required to repair all the damage that resulted from her… outburst, as it were, without the use of magic. She genuinely regrets losing control of herself to such an extent, and is willing to offer you an apology in an official capacity.”

“That is… good to hear, sir.” Amity shakily stood, a look of shock, confusion, and… something else crossing her face. “When next we meet, I will attempt to exchange apologies with her.”

“Good, good.” Bump said, a look of content.

Amity gave another bow. “Will that be all, sir?”

“Indeed, Miss Blight. That will be all.”

As Luz awkwardly stumbled through the door of the Owl House, she was greeted to the sight of Eda attempting to strangle what looked like some kind of land-adapted sea monster, with Hooty and King tag teaming another, her Workers long gone.

“Hey kid! Glad you made it back!” Eda cheered, turning to get a better look after her foe finally gave up the ghost. “So, did everything go okaaaaaayyyyyyyyyOOOOHHHH MY TITAN!!!! What happened to you?!?” She demanded, taking in the sight of the plethora of bandages, healing coven glyph stickers, and scorch marks that coated Luz’s body.

Luz grinned sheepishly. “I got a job.” She shrugged. “Surprise?” And with that, she pitched over.

[persephones-bde]

So Y’all I saw Hadestown Tonight

Here are some little things during Hadestown in ACT 1!! (most are Hades and Persephone because I was orchestra left, so saw a lot of them). WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS

-during the road to hell intro, someone towards the back of center orchestra yelled “Take your time!” And boy Andre DID

-During Road to Hell, the music is all peppy, everyone is dancing, except for Hades. He is completely stone faced the entire time. No dancing, no singing.

-When Hades and Persephone are playing dominoes, he only looks at her when it’s her turn so that she isn’t looking at him

-Persephone gets her little description then Hades does. Persephone’s expression grows more and more disgusted each line Hermes gives about Hades

-Every time Persephone and one of the fates lock eyes she gets really sassy and the fates just smirk

-When Eurydices candle gets blown out by one of the fates (yvette) she relights the candle and sort of turns her body so that her and the candle are angled away from the fates so they won’t blow it out

-this candle then stayed lit for almost the whole act. It was blown out by Hermes just as after she gives him the coin

-when Persephone moves to get up from her seat on the balcony she stumbled and genuinely looked like she was about to fall over, gripping the railing at the last minute. Hades just looks over and just looks so...deflated.

-Persephone is very very much a happy drunk during living it up. She was stumbling all over the place and just was EVERYONES hype man. Like hugging people, cheering, clapping when the trombone guy got up, etc

-during the dance break of living it up on top, Amber clicks her tongue to the beat of the song. and bobs her head around

-Eva highkey threw it back during her little dance thing

-When Persephone hands Hermes her cup, he puts it at the very far end of the table and out of her reach, though she gets it back not long after for her cheers

-After they drink post-cheers Hermes coughs/chokes REALLY loud and kind of gives Persephone this disdainful look.

-After Tim lifted Amber to the middle she kind of just giggled and started rubbing circles in his chest, giving him this really giddy but flirtatious grin. This went on for like an Unnecessary amount of time. This definitely wasn’t scripted fully or at least for that long because Tim started laughing and from where I was sitting I could see him look at her and mouth ‘what?’ And she laughed along and said something as she crossed in front of him.

-All ive ever known? They intertwine their fingers and it is CUTE.

-The first time I saw the show, at the train whistle, Persephone hunches over, but this time she just DROPPED. like fell to the floor on her knees

-the amount of nervous/surprised giggled at “I missed ya” from Hades was a bit funny

-at “kind of makes you wonder how it feels” Persephone doesn’t seem bothered. Not until Hades lowers his sunglasses then she drags her stare to him.

-Also at this moment Reeve did this thing where he like looked between them then did this really long, awkward, elongated step to place himself between like startfished between Eurydice and Hades. It was so slow and hesitant it was brilliant.

-I don’t know why I never noticed this but the workers legs all tremble during the Chant choreo, like their bodies are going to give out

-Not plot based but guys. Timothy Hughes is JACKED.

- The first chorus and intro to chant- Persephone’s disgust is so heavy handed that Persephone can’t even look down at the workers for more than a glance. She just stares straight ahead. Certainly not her husband and not at the workers.

-Hades seems almost smug the first time around, but then the second ‘it aint right and it aint natural’ he kind of half throws his arms out to his sides in frustration, like hes genuinely bewildered as to how destroying the earth was not the way to her heart.

-the first line where he suggests cheating, Persephone just scoffs

-but the second time? She looks him dead in the eye and shakes her head. He takes the smallest inch closer and nods. It’s all within less than a second of each other

-Eva’s vocals SEND ME.

-During hey little songbird there was more shocked laughter. A lot of it

-During the line “they’ll pick you clean” I thought the fates did little poses. Nope. The wave and give these very animated, almost cartoony smiles. I’ve never seen three people more giddy about destroying lives in my LIFE.

-Kay is then on her tippy toes in their final pose. Her expressions are amazing

-In why we build the wall? The Persephone and Hades tension is SO REAL

-The first time around he kind of paces a line right next to her, and when they say ‘why do we build the wall, to keep us free,’ etc he looks and gives a small nod.

-Not once when the workers are singing does he look over to the other side Persephone isn’t on to see if they’re singing. He’s always looking at her: making sure shes singing

-Hermes doesn’t sing this song. If I recall correctly, him and the fates are the only ones that don’t.

-when Eurydice appears, Persephone’s jaw literally drops. She looks at Hades with this look of pure horror.

-Persephone’s singing once Eurydice arrives gets angrier looking, but it also is much louder.

-Still, Persephone covers her mouth and sobs when Eurydice succumbs to the pressure.

-Hades undoes the buttons to his jacket as he tells Eurydice to come to his office.

I’ll post act 2 later. I just have a lot of feels and don’t wanna bombard you all

[fanficfreekmcu]

Loki Meets Finna (3)

ᚳᚻᚫᛈᛏᛖᚱ ᛚᛁᛋᛏ, ᛋᚢᛗᛗᚫᚱᚣ, & ᚹᚫᚱᚾᛁᚾᚷᛋ

Loki was bored. He sighed as he looked over Asgard from the balcony and picked at his nails. Thor was off being a hero along with Lady Sif, and the Warriors Three, and there he was… nothing to do.

“You have friends, why are you not with them?” Frigga asked from behind him before placing her arms around his left.

“I’m afraid I’d just pull them down with my foul mood,” he smiled. 

“That’s what mead is for, Loki. Go and drink lots of it,” she laughed before kissing his cheek and walking off.

Sometimes his mother had some really good ideas.

He nodded his head before walking off to make his way from Glaðsheimr, into the town and down the street. As he passed through the doors of a pub, he used his trickery to camouflage his regal clothing into something a bit more common – and comfortable. 

“There he is!” a rowdy group called for him from the back table. 

“It seems I’m late, you’ve already got a start on the drink!” he shook the hand of his dear friend Erik.

“I can always drink more with you, my friend!” he turned to the table of twelve and made introductions. “Adalard and his woman Dagna, Taban, Lars and Klaus, sisters Anke and Astrid, my cousin Olaf and his women Gita and Nina,” the men paused to nod in appreciation to Olaf, “and you’ve met Fieke, Udo and Axel. This is my mate Luke.”

“Pleasure,” they raised their cups to him as a bar maiden handed him a full one.

“Cheers!” he grinned before tipping his head back and sliding in.

“That’s Finna’s seat, you’ll need to scoot in…” Fieke began as they were interrupted by a stunning redhead.

“I found them!” she reached over Loki and threw a bag at Erik.

“The Moonflower seeds!” Erik threw his head back in laughter. “I thought for sure you were pulling my leg, woman!”

“I never lie about important things,” she spoke with a bit of a Vanirian accent. “Sorry,” she patted Loki’s knee before grabbing his glass and taking a huge drink from it.

“Finna!”Astrid threw a piece of bread at her. “That was Luke’s drink! Stop molesting the man, he just got here!”

She smiled brightly before turning to the man beside her. “Luke… is it?” she looked confused as she looked into his eyes. 

“Um… yeah,” he was taken aback and for the first time ever was afraid that she had seen through his camouflage. “And you are?”

“Dýrfinna,” she purred. “It means…”

“It means ‘sorcerer’ in the ancient language,” he watched her carefully. “I sense a bit of Vanirian on your tongue.”

She licked her bottom lip. “I was born on Vanaheim.”

“Fascinating,” he purred.

Their eyes met for a moment before she reached for his nearly empty cup. “Allow me to refill your cup, My Lord.”

He frowned before leaning into her. “Please don’t do that!” he hissed.

“Maybe you should partake in the Moonflower seeds and relax,” she smirked before walking off to refill his cup. 

He watched her walk off as Erik threw his arm around his neck. “Beautiful creature, isn’t she?”

“Amazing,” he grinned before leaning in to him. 

“Better watch out, Finna’s one of Lady Sif’s Shieldmaidens,” Finke warned. 

“Thanks for the warning,” he laughed.

“Seeds?” Udo passed him the bag.

“Don’t mind if I do!” he pulled a few of the Moonflower seeds from the bag. It was common knowledge that the seeds of the Moonflower worked as an anesthetic and muscle relaxant when ingested in small doses. When combined with mead, it worked perfectly to numb the senses and create that awesomely fuzzy feeling in the head. 

“There you go,” Finna placed two mugs of mead on the table.

“And here you go,” Loki handed her a few seeds.

“Thank you,” she giggled before popping them into her mouth.

“Fantastic!” he handed her a cup before following with his own. They smashed them together before tipping their heads back.

“How have you been, Luke? We haven’t seen you in ages,” Axel asked from across the table.

“Busy,” he smiled. “The work of an apothecary is never boring.”

Finna bit her lip and looked away before smiling.

“And you Finna?” Finke followed. 

“Same thing, different day,” she rattled off in her brogue. “Oh, and I was able to harvest the fennel you’ve been waiting for. I’ll bring it to you tomorrow once this hangover subsides.”

Everyone chuckled as Finke agreed.

“Okay, who’s got the runes?” Dagna looked around the table.

“I’ve got this,” Gita reached for a half-empty mug, poured the remaining mead onto the floor, threw a hand full of runes into it and shook.

“What is this?” Loki asked.

“Drinking game. I’ll help you,” Finna smirked. “But when I yell ‘thumb,’ be sure to get yours onto the table first or you’ll be drinking.”

“Got it,” he laughed.

“I go first!” Nina reached into the mug and pulled out a rune. She threw it onto the table.

“Othile! I get to pick…” she looked around the table. “Finna, drink up!”

“Yes ma’am,” she grinned before doing just that. Then she pulled out another rune and threw it down.

“Ingus! Women drink!”

All of the women tipped their heads back.

Loki leaned into Erik. “I think I like this game.”

“Me too, mate,” he laughed heartily.

“Luke! You take a turn!”

He did just that and threw the rune onto the table. He saw Finna move her hand and change the rune’s character.

“Teiwaz! Men drink!”

Loki raised his eyebrows before taking a drink.

Eric pulled a rune. “Mannaz! Yes!” he tipped his head back. 

.

An hour later, Anke rose and waved her hands. “I don’t know about you all, but I’m about to burst! Pause the damned game!”

“Agreed!” all thirteen of them ran out the door to relieve themselves. 

As they slowly moved back toward their seats, Loki stopped and grabbed Finna’s arm, spinning her around and pushing her up against the side of the building. She snapped her fingers, which had the unexpected effect of freezing everyone around them.

“So you are a witch?”

“I am… Prince Loki.”

“How did you know?” he swayed over her drunkenly.

“I can see through the veil… and your trickery. It amazes me sometimes that others cannot.”

“Well… I like my friends, Finna. And I like even more that they treat me like Luke instead of Loki…”

“Your secret’s safe with me, My Prince,” she stared into his eyes. 

“Why should I believe you?”

“Because I make an oath to Freyja with every promise I make. It’s not a pact I make lightly.”

 “I want you, Finna.”

“It’s surely just the mead talking…”

“No, it’s not. I will have you up against the wall, your legs wrapped around my waist with one hand holding you and the other pinning your wrists above you. Forehead to forehead, I will stare into your soul as I make you scream for me again and again. This I promise you.”

She nearly lost her breath at his words. “The legend of your silver tongue does you no justice.”

“My tongue does more than produce words, My Lady,” he growled.

“I’m betrothed…” she grasped at any straw she could to stay afloat in his sea of lustful words that were determined to pull her under. Of course telling him that she had lain with his brother probably would have done the trick as well, but Thor seemed to be the furthest thing from her mind at that moment.

“I don’t care.”

“Of course not,” she laughed while looking down at the hold he still had on her arm.

“I always get what I want, Dýrfinna,” he growled, causing the hair on the back of her neck to stand on end.

“I believe you,” she leaned into him. “But just this once… I’d like to see Loki Odinson beg.” 

He stood, speechless, granting her the opportunity to break away and return to the table. And with that, she snapped her fingers again and their friends came back to life.

.

When he finally composed himself and slid in next to Finna, he noticed that a few others seemed preoccupied. Apparently, the Moonflower seeds had begun to take effect in the form of aphrodisiac.

“So… what next?” Erik placed his hand on Finna’s knee.

“Another game?” Loki suggested quickly.

“Such as?” Finna turned to him.

“We can roll the bones,” he suggested.

“Yes!” Udo threw three dice into the middle of the table.

“You are… amazingly well-prepared!” Loki laughed.

“He is,” most of the others replied as they broke into laughter.

“Shall I go first then?” Loki picked up the dice and waited.

“After you,” Finke waved her hand.

He shook the dice around in his hand before presenting it to Finna. “For good luck?” he grinned as his eyes sparkled.

She licked her lips before blowing onto his hand, all while looking straight into his eyes.

“Thank you, m’lady,” he turned and threw them into the middle of the table.

She cocked her eyebrow as she caught the eyes of her friend Astrid. They shared a silent conversation before Finna shook her head and took a drink of her mead.

Loki rolled a total of seven. 

“The person across from you drinks, and you keep going!” Udo explained. 

“Will do,” he nodded as he did just that. He rolled a total of eleven.

“The person across from you drinks their entire cup!” Erik howled.

“Poor Olaf,” Finna deadpanned as everyone laughed.

“You want three-twos, love!” Nina giggled. “You get a kiss from the person to your left!”

He smirked as she glanced at Finna. “Three-twos… right.”

“Don’t you dare,” she mumbled in her head.

“Afraid you’ll like it?” he asked back, catching her off guard. No man had ever been in her head before.

She stared at him as he rolled the dice, her heart skipping a beat as a two landed, and then another. As the third continued to roll, she looked away and moved her hand conspicuously, causing the dice to stop at one.

Loki’s mouth dropped wide open as he turned to her.

“Five! You take a drink!”

“You cheated,” he accused.

“Yes I did,” she answered unabashedly.

“Finna’s turn!” Nina clapped her hands together.

“Finna!” 

They all turned to see a huge, blond brute walk through the door. Loki felt her sigh beside him and became quickly defensive.

“Edel, sit and drink with us!” Erik offered.

“Another time, mate. I have to finish packing to leave on our raid party tomorrow, and my future wife needs to start attending to her duties,” he looked down at Finna.

“Just one drink?” Finna batted her chocolate eyes at him.

“I believe you’ve had enough for us both, love,” he held out his hand and waited.

She nodded before looking around the table. “I’ll see you again soon!”

“Please don’t go.”

She turned and looked into Loki’s eyes. “It was a pleasure meeting you… Luke.”

He reluctantly gave in and moved so that she could take her betrothed’s hand. With one last wave, they were out the door.

➵➵➵➵➵➵➵❂➵➵➵➵➵➵➵ 4

[superman86to99]

Action Comics #692 (October 1993)

In this issue: Superman goes to the doctor and finds out why he's not dead anymore! But, before that, he's clearing some of the debris left by his fight with Doomsday when he finds... Clark Kent? Lois Lane is very happy to see Clark again, but Superman himself doesn't look very thrilled in these panels.

Turns out Clark wasn't dead as everyone believed, he was simply trapped in the basement of a collapsed building! The basement happened to equipped with plenty of food and gym equipment (explaining why he's still jacked, like Superman), but unfortunately not a single pair of scissors (explaining why his hair is now long, like Superman's).

Later, Superman bumps into Lex Luthor Jr., who demands to know where Supergirl is, but Superman gives him the runaround. Hmm, where could Superman's good friend who can change shape and pretend to be other people be? Anyway, Superman then meets Lois and Clark and... holy crap! Mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent is secretly Supergirl!

So yeah, Supergirl pretended to be Clark for a while just so he and Superman would be seen together and no one would question why both are suddenly alive again. Then Supergirl leaves and we move on to the second dilemma solved in this issue: How the hell is Superman alive again? To address that question, supernatural DC character (and fellow Jerry Siegel/Joe Shuster creation) Doctor Occult appears out of nowhere and rudely teleports Lois and Clark to a black void, where he replays moments from Superman's life... and death.

Occult explains that Doomsday DID punch Superman's spirit out of his body, but there was still solar energy keeping the body just barely alive. Superman's ghost ended up stuck between the living and the dead, attracting some nasty soul-eating demons. Fortunately, Pa Kent happened to be dying of a heart attack at the same time, so he and Superman teamed up to fight off the demons (as seen in Adventures #500). Superman’s soul returned to his near-corpse, which was taken to the Fortress of Solitude by the Eradicator and lovingly nursed back into health. (Okay, more like “coldly,” but you can’t argue with the results.)

Anyway, the point is that Superman's resurrection happened due to a convoluted series of events that could never be repeated, unless someone's willing to sneak behind Pa Kent and blow an airhorn in his ear or something. As the mystical exposition dump ends, Occult teleports Lois and Clark to Smallville, and the issue ends with the Kents finally reuniting. A tender moment...

...until two seconds later, when Ma smacks Clark in the back of the head for taking two whole issues to come see them (or that’s what I’d do).

Plotline-Watch:

Doctor Occult reveals that the moment when Bibbo shocked Superman’s body with a hyper-charged defibrillator in Adventures #498 actually helped keep him alive. Once again, Bibbo is the real hero of this saga.

Supergirl has a lot of experience posing as Clark, since she was stuck in that form between 1989 and 1992. That was also her in the only other photo of Superman and Clark together, taken in Superman #34.

While Superman is being interviewed by a news crew after rescuing "Clark", that lawyer from Action #689 barges in and demands that they stop calling Superman Superman, since that name is now trademarked by Superboy's manager. Damn, maybe he's gonna have to start calling himself "Supreme" or something?

Aww, Lex is happy to see Superman again. Sure, it's only because he wants to be the one to kill him, but still.

S.T.A.R. Labs is examining the Eradicator's corpse when they realize he's alive! Sort of. Later, Doctor Occult remarks that the Eradicator sacrificed himself "in mind, if not in body". Hmm. The doctors overseeing his condition are Kitty Faulkner, who can turn into an orange She-Hulk called Rampage after a workplace mishap, and a new character called David Connors, the only S.T.A.R. employee without superpowers. So far.

The JLA returns from the little space vacation the Cyborg sent them on, and we get the first instance in all of comics of Guy Gardner admitting he was wrong. Character growth! Don Sparrow says: “Nice to see some follow-up to the characters around the DCU and how they react to Superman’s return. No mention of the fact that they got suckered into a mission into space that went nowhere.”

When Doctor Occult shows up, Superman is like "aw, not this guy again!", referencing that classic tale of Superman's first encounter with the supernatural... which hasn't come out yet. Don: “It’s a neat forward call-back (is that a thing?) when Superman references his first encounter with Doctor Occult, given that we won’t see it happen until 1995, when DC does a line-wide ‘Year One’ series of stories. And wouldn’t you know it, that story is written by none other than Roger Stern (and even involves tentacles, as in the thumbnail image)!” #rogersternplaysthelonggame

Don Sparrow's section, on the other hand, can be read NOW, after the jump!

Art-Watch (by @donsparrow​):

We open with the cover, and it’s one of the top ten best of this era, for sure.  Drawn by Kerry Gammill and Butch Guice, DC used this drawing on the “Return of Superman” cards.  I tend to favour simpler, iconic covers, even when they don’t necessarily represent the story within, but in this case, it’s showing exactly what the heart of the story is about: Clark Kent is back. 

Inside, we open with a full page splash of Superman’s shield, through tons of rubble, and it’s a great image, but without the face, it allows us to focus on the title of the story, a callback to the speech introduction of the old Fleischer Cartoons.

I don’t know if it’s from the writing, or the artist, but Action Comics has always seemed the most romantic of the Super-titles, and this one is no exception, as Clark and Lois have their hands all over each other for basically the whole comic. While it is a bit weird to remember that it isn’t Clark that Lois is caressing (more on that in a bit) in the early part of the story, it always feels intimate and romantic more than it feels graphic or titillating.  A tricky balance that this team pulls off well, particularly in their “reunion” on page 3. [Max: Every time I read this issue I think it’s Martian Manhunter posing as Clark and when they start flirting I’m like “ew”. Then I remember who it is and I’m like “nice”.]

I always enjoy seeing Superman flying upside-down, which I consider to be a Byrne innovation—I don’t remember him doing it pre-Crisis. It always seems so joyful and carefree, and it’s nice to see Superman savouring his powers. 

Jackson Guice uses tone very well in the scenes with Lex Luthor II in his aviators, and I quite like the sense of motion to Superman’s pose as he approaches the helicopter—almost like he’s swimming in the sky rather than floating.

It’s a good drawing of the Eradicator getting the post-Hoth Luke Skywalker treatment, with David Connor and Kitty Faulkner getting an eyeful.  My copy has a slight colouring error that makes it look like the Eradicator is awake in the tank, even though he’s supposed to be catatonic. [Max: Still looks like that in the collections. Maybe he’s one of those people who sleep with their eyes open?]

Superman embracing Lois after the ruse of “Clark Kent” is very cutely drawn, as is the Ghost-like backward embrace on the following page.  

The entire sequence replaying Superman’s death and rebirth is drawn well throughout, especially the dreamlike staging, and the darkness as Lois knocks the flashlight away.  It’s also moving that Superman can see the heroic lengths that Bibbo went to try to save him once Superman succumbed to his injuries.  

Lastly, it was wonderful to see Clark reunited physically with Ma and Pa, especially with the nice touch of the poem by DH Lawrence as the only narration.  Stern was always the best at referencing secondary texts in his stories, and it’s well used here.

STRAY OBSERVATIONS:

Is it me, or is Matrix/Supergirl a little too into this Clark Kent act?  I get that making their performances light and funny keep it from seemingly overtly dishonest, but “Clark” is pretty tender in these scenes. Lois does a good job of playing along, but it’s hard for me to fully forget that all this canoodling is actually with Supergirl.  So as a helpful tool, I created these graphics: [Max: Nice.]

It was cool that Lois specifically mentioned that Jimmy got a shot of the returned Clark Kent next to Superman, I always like it when that can happen.

In previous posts, I’ve talked about how creepy it is that Luthor has a sexual relationship with Supergirl/Matrix, when she is in so many ways (mainly mentally) a child, and I can’t help but read the scene where Lois chooses Superman over “Clark” this way.  The laughing and clapping has a whole different feel if you think of her as mentally diminished somewhat.  

So it’s not exactly a continuity error that Clark says on page 13 that he has to call Ma and Pa to let them know that “Clark” is alright (even though he already called them in a previous issue).  It could be that they want to tell the Kents the cover story of Clark’s return has now taken place, and they can act like their son is alive again when they go to the corner store, etc. [Max: Yeah, that’s how I took it. It would be awkward if their neighbors saw them all cheerful while their son is still “dead”.]

 I like to imagine that Dr. Occult looks and sounds like Robert Stack. [Max: It’s impossible for me to hear him as anyone other than Humphrey Bogart after Lois calls him “Sam Spade”.]

We’ve mentioned previously Jackson Guice’s tendency to use photo reference for his characters.  In this issue, Superman looks a lot like Jason Patric to me, who would have made a pretty great Superman had there been movies being made in this time.

I also appreciated this issue explaining both the physical and metaphysical reasons Superman was able to return—and that there’s no back door to the story—if Superman ever died again, he would be unable to return.  

[fics-not-tragedies]

In a Week: Chapter 3 🌲

New chapter folks! We’re getting deeper into the story now, slowly but surely and I hope you’re hooked on reading just as I am on writing it.

Words:  3327; Warnings: none, unless you want a warning for smoking, then you have it; Summary: Flo and Andrew start talking and he helps her with coming out of her comfort zone.

Hozier tag list:

@letoursilencebreaktonight​​​​​​​​; @angelpeachamber​​​​​​​​; @sgt-morgan​​​​​​​​; @julessbrown​​​​​​​​;

Sunday, 11:40pm

Slightly buzzed from her drink, Flo couldn’t help but shiver as they made their way through the bar and outside, a small patio area lit with string lights. The night was dark, almost starless thanks to the storminess that had raged a few hours prior, but the moon was bright, high in the sky as it peaked through the clouds, making the sky glow with white light. It was mostly empty out here, though a few men were stood around smoking, dressed immaculately and laughing in deep tones. Music vibrated through the speakers, tunes that seemed somewhat out of place for the aesthetic of the hotel, but she appreciated it now that she was tipsy, humming softly to the familiar tunes. She couldn’t deny that she felt good.

There was something about that moment that seemed somehow both electric and serene and Flo had to take a mental picture and capture it, remember it. There was something about knowing he was there, almost pressed into her side and that he was new, exciting, unlike anyone she ever met. Something about the breeze which whipped around her lower arms and legs, blowing strands of her hair across her face. Something about the warm buzz of alcohol filling her insides, the rush of blood in her cheeks. Something about being a million miles from the life she knew and wanted to change.

Andrew had lit his cigarette before he even stepped out of the building and he lifted it to his lips, taking a long drag and exhaled, a practiced move.

“Do you smoke, honey?” He breathed, his voice thick against the bitterness of the night. He lean back against the wall and held out his almost empty packet to her.

“No…” Flo replied with a firm shake of her head, to which he shrugged and shoved it away. For a moment she watched him breathe out the smoke, the smell filling her senses, but he was close enough that she could bask in his own scent now, the deep spice of his cologne and something else, homely and earthy.

The moonlight bounced off his face in all the right places, illuminating his features perfectly. Flo found herself completely transfixed on his eyes, unable to tear herself away, the warm green hues making her knees feel weak. It wasn’t even that his appearance had shaken her from the very first moment, he had an addictive energy too. Every moment she spent with him, she found herself flourishing, pushing herself to reach his level of brilliance.

“Are you cold, Flo?” He mumbled, snapping her from her daze.

“A little. I can handle it” she nodded, convincing herself more than him as she swept stray hairs from her face.

“You can have my shirt, em… it’s not that warm, but it can help you somehow…”

“I’ll be fine Andy” she insisted, her body betraying her as the goosebumps crawled up her arms. She instinctively went to rub them, then rolled her eyes at her own stupidity, Andrew saw straight through her.

“You’re shivering Flo” he stated, rolling his eyes as he flicked his cigarette ash away from her, before popping it back between his lips and beginning to carefully shift out of his flannel shirt, “I’m the one who dragged you here, out to the cold.”

“I could have said no.”

“But you didn’t…” he mumbled, trying to keep his cigarette balanced as he slipped out of the sleeves.

She was stubborn and he loved that, but he didn’t like that she was cold now. In fact, Andrew had to restrain himself from moving closer to her and surrounding her with his heat, reminding himself they only met less than an hour ago and they were complete strangers with a mere slight drunkenness in common. But fuck, he wanted to touch her.

He’d been a fool to think that he’d manage to touch her again, just like he had and he wet his lips at the sight of her neck as she craned it to look at him - the cool, silky skin adorned by the night. His need was frankly insatiable now and he fought to bury the idea at the back of his mind along with everything else he was thinking of and could not do.

“Just take my shirt, please” he said firmly, holding it out, more of a demand than a suggestion. Flo sighed heavily but gave in, her fingers carefully placed around the fabric, so she wouldn’t meet his, she knew she couldn’t be able to handle it.

“Not sure if I can pull it off like you do” she laughed nervously, pulling it over her dress like an oversized blazer, relaxing into to the comfort and improvement to her warmth.

“Emm… you really look a million times better…” Andrew replied between desperate drags, his words scratchy and distracted as he subtly eyed the way it fit her in all the right places. He cursed himself for being so dumb yet again. She was delectable and it was slowly killing him.

“Thanks” she replied with a stifled laugh.

Andrew looked up at the sky, enjoying his cigarette in a comfortable silence, glancing every now and then to the charming girl beside him. He wouldn’t have admitted it, but he was cold, the crispness of Irish night outside gripped him more harshly than he expected.

But each time she grinned, her eyes lighting up in that dizzying way, Andrew seemed to forget about the cold. Flo on the other hand was thinking, too much, her mind beginning to spiral from the lack of conversation. She tried to bring herself back to the place she’d been content in, reminding herself that this wasn’t a good moment to fall apart but she was still raw, still very much aware of the pain. She blinked it away and busied herself in noticing the tone of his biceps through his slightly sheer gray T-shirt, when he broke the quiet at last, a smirk on his face.

“Flo?”

“Andy?” She replied with an equally wide grin at their casual nicknames.

“What are you, emm… thinking about?” He asked, breathing smoke away from her.

“Uh…” she bit her lip, unintentionally, trying to work out what she should offer as an answer, when her mind was truly blurry. But with his kind smile, his wide eyes and the way he smoothed his hair from his face, focused on her, she couldn’t help but spill all of the secrets she’d been trying to keep.

“I’m worried about what happens on Monday morning…” she admitted, the truth of the statement bringing back the resounding emotion she’d tried to shrug off too many times, “when I wake up trying to make a final decision.”

Andrew nodded, his face still as he crushed his cigarette, clearly debating over his words.

“I um- I umm - do you want to know what I’m thinking about it?”

Flo shuffled ever so slightly closer to him, the breeze pushing her towards him like a sign and she nodded back, words failing her more times than she managed to count this evening.

“Well, I think that you’re too worried about the future…” he ran his hand over his chin before continuing, “I think em… you’re always thinking about the next day, desperately trying to em… plan every little detail and you just should focus about those things that happen now, right in this em… moment” Flo shook her head, her lips pouty and confused even though it was entirely true and she knew it, “But then again, em… I’m just a drunk stranger in an hotel you met by pure coincidence and I don’t em… know a thing about you” she laughed then, a real laugh with her entire heart in it and he smiled, so pleased with his wit, “What I mean it’s that em… we have the whole weekend. Let’s enjoy it.”

She sighed, relieved by how kind his soul was, the lengths he was going to just to cheer her up, distract her, give her some temporary joy even though she was nothing but a sad girl at a bar to him.

“What do you suggest?”

“We can do anything you want now, just em… just say the word and we’ll do it” he bent down to her height, taking a moment to stop towering over her, because the truth was he was like a tall pine tree over her and he gripped her shoulders full of excitement. She noticed the touch first, glancing down then bringing her eyes up to meet his, convinced she’d do whatever he told her to, “Is there a thing em… you’ve never did because it was too stupid for you?” he waited, blinking, anticipating her reply.

“Karaoke” she giggled, instantly panicking about the mortifying events to come.

Andrew clapped his hands together, making her jump a little and announced: “Karaoke it is then.”

Monday, 12:05am

Flo felt like the entire room was watching them, Andrew’s hand gripping hers tightly, dragging her away back through the hotel before she could change her mind. She has lost herself in the feeling once again, his touch making her head reel.

“Wait, where are we going?”

“Karaoke!” He replied, the childish excitement building. Maybe it was the drink, maybe it was the lack of sleep, maybe it was Flo, but Andrew had a new found energy and he wasn’t going to waste it.

Passing waiters with their trays stacked high, trying to avoid a collision, he pulled her to the side of the stage, in the ballroom where the piano was located. The stage was empty now, a singular microphone not far from the piano and it made her panic with the sudden realization that she was going to have to go through with this stupid idea. She cursed him under her breath.

Andrew stepped up and tapped the mic, almost nervously, like he didn’t know what he was doing. He figured that he’d definitely had too much to drink, that his confident on-stage persona was too far out of reach now and that he’d have to wing it. He cleared his throat, the deepness enough to make the vacant faces turn in his direction.

“Lads and gents, may I have your attention please” Andrew announced to the empty room and she couldn’t help but giggle, “I’m Andrew, few of you might know me and it is my absolute pleasure to introduce Flo, who is going to give a one in a lifetime performance” he glanced momentarily behind him, searching for her eyes, relieved that she hadn’t run away. Even if she’d wanted to, she couldn’t. Her breath hitched in her throat, her limbs numb, her legs too fragile to move. Andrew noticed, always attentive and turned back to the mic, his hand curling around the stand with a sense of familiarity, “She’s a lil’ nervous so let’s give her a warm welcome” he quickly made his way back down the steps to join her at the side of the stage as he was the only one that clapped his hands.

“I told you I can’t sing, Andy” she muttered, her body pressed inches from his due to the lack of space, a last beg before it was too late.

“I heard you, honey.”

“It’s gonna be awful” she laughed, a deep blush creeping into her cheeks. He shook his head reassuringly, his flat palm warm on her shoulder blade as he tried to push her up the steps towards the stage.

“I won’t judge you” but when she didn’t move he simply mumbled: “I’m waiting.”

“Fine” she sighed at last, shaking her fingers through her hair and re-adjusting her dress as she handed his flannel back, “Florence. Shake It Out.”

Walking only with purpose, her heeled footsteps sharp and disconcerting, her shoulders sagged, she kept her head down, too afraid to look up at him from the stage. She shuffled forward in front of the mic and closed her eyes, waiting. Rather impressively, Andrew managed to navigate the song playing through the speaker system, pressed play, turned up her microphone a little and made his way quickly to a better position, one where he could see her but she wasn’t overly aware of him. He crossed his arms in front of him as the first notes filled the room.

Tucking the straw strands of hair behind her ears, the fiddling helping to keep her nerves at bay, she was thankful that she’d had enough to drink and that maybe she wouldn’t remember this moment come the morning, that the stare from him wouldn’t make much sense when she’d be sober. Flo swallowed and opened her mouth as the words began, praying that something would come out and that it would sound somewhat decent.

“Regrets collect like old friends

Here to relive your darkest moments

I can see no way, I can see no way

And all of the ghouls come out to play

And every demon wants his pound of flesh

But I like to keep some things to myself

I like to keep my issues drawn

It's always darkest before the dawn.”

To her surprise, her own voice mixed with Florence’s in a way that masked the worst of it, in a way that gave the impression she was at least an average singer. A little relieved, she lifted her head and zoned out, not focusing on anything or him in particular, letting the swell of the music give her the energy she so desperately needed to persevere.

“And I've been a fool and I've been blind

I can never leave the past behind

I can see no way, I can see no way

I'm always dragging that horse around

All of his questions, such a mournful sound

Tonight I'm gonna bury that horse in the ground

Cause I like to keep my issues drawn

But it's always darkest before the dawn.”

Flo was not used to being this out of control, it was simply alien to her. Her hands trembled slightly and she steadied them on the stand, mimicking the way Andrew had moments before.

“Shake it out, shake it out

Shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa.”

With every beat she relaxed into it and she moved her hips a little to fill the gap between the words. Andrew was smiling, grinning, he couldn’t help it.

“And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back

So shake him off, oh whoa.”

Now aware of his gaze, feeling it rippled through her entire body, Flo angled herself slightly towards Andrew, craving his reaction and he wiggled his eyebrows in response, his lips curling at the corners. Her own smile at last infectious and real, Andrew chuckled.

“And I am done with my graceless heart

So tonight I'm gonna cut it out and then restart

Cause I like to keep my issues drawn

It's always darkest before the dawn.”

Her pristine red lips pressed against the mic as she sang and even though she missed a lot of cues and the notes were often dodgy, her formerly repressed confidence shone through in a way that made up for it.

“Shake it out, shake it out

Shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa.”

Though her heart was continually pounding, Flo finished the song much more powerfully than she started it. Meanwhile Andrew was losing his mind, practically undressing her with his gaze, mesmerized by the curve of her waist, her thighs poking from underneath the skirt of her dress, the way her hips hugged each line of the song.

“And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back

So shake him off, oh whoa.”

He prayed he was keeping it at least a little subtle, that it wasn’t showing too obviously in his expression that he was obsessed with her every move.

“And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back

(shake him off)

And given half the chance, would I take any of it back

(shake him off)

It's a fine romance but it's left me so undone

(shake him off)

It's always darkest before the dawn.”

His eyes were glued to her, as he was absolutely unable to look away, his lip stuck between his teeth as he just kept breathing her in.

“And I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't

So here's to drinks in the dark at the end of my rope

And I'm ready to suffer and I'm ready to hope

It's a shot in the dark aimed right at my throat”

There was something captivating in her, something magic in a way he always desperately tried to find in every new person he met. Perhaps she was the one he always yearned for.

“‘Cause looking for heaven, found the devil in me (whoa)

Looking for heaven, found the devil in me (whoa)

Well, what the hell, I'm gonna let it happen to me.”

As she finished the performance he found himself applauding, probably quite a bit louder than he should have been. Flo exhaled with relief, the excitement bouncing around inside of her.

Monday, 12:15am

After a moment of stillness and a clumsy bow, she hurried to the back of the stage and headed straight towards Andrew, her hands running through her hair anxiously. Flo didn’t want to admit it for fear of what he might suggest next, but the adrenaline was a wonderful and rare feeling, still pumping through her as she stopped in front of him.

Glowing like she knew him all her life, Andrew’s eyes bore into hers once more and she couldn’t help herself, throwing her arms around him to bring him close to her in a hug. She was thanking him really, for something she couldn’t quite put into words. Their bodies pressed together with little resistance, his lips parting as he breathed her in, her sweet scent wrapping around him as her cheek pressed to his chest, her eyes tightly shut.

“That was fucking terrifying” she mumbled, her hands clasping behind his back to draw him closer.

“But you did it, Lo” his long arms wrapped around her in a hug that felt like the best one she ever had in her whole life.

“It was the worst karaoke held in here.”

“Nobody booed you. Also em… I think you hit like em… thirty percent of the notes.”

She rolled her eyes, then, aware of the closeness of his voice, his hands trailing loosely around her waist, she pulled away and he obliged, knowing he was losing control.

They watched each other for a while, the silence ringing in their ears. Andrew tilted his head, his jaw taught, his smile lines deep, wrinkling his long nose at her. Flo shuffled on the spot, looking at him through her long eyelashes and found herself glancing at his lips, agonizing over the fact that he was so close to her, but much too far away at the same time.

For a moment she thought about it, sure she was going to move in, kiss him, pulling him down to her, her fingers tightly knotting in the hair gathered at the nape of his neck, finally give in to that craving.

But she didn’t.

Instead, she licked her lips and took a wobbly step back, gathering herself, avoiding his round unblinking stare for as long as she could. Equally as frustrated, he cleared his throat and ran his hands back through his hair, trying to tame the frizz.

“Right, it’s your turn” Flo announced, her breaths short and shallow, stabbing him in the chest with one rather shaky finger to diffuse the tension.

“My turn for what?” He laughed childishly, clutching his chest, pretending that she hurt him. Flo stood on her tiptoes, dangerously close to him again, unable to resist him for too long.

“What’s something you’ve never done, Andrew?”

[bungou-stray-dingus]

Could I request headcanons of Chuuya with a girlfriend who is shorter than him, plays a lot of instruments(Piano, flute, violin, percussion, I guess singing counts too?) professionally, and is sun allergic? I’m sorry if it’s too much!

FOR BB!! Also hell yeah for marching band!! I miss my marching band days.

I HOPE YOU ENJOY READING THIS AS MUCH AS I ENJOYED WRITING IT!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

High School AU

You sat in the back of the music room, waiting for the teacher to give the signal that it was time to head out onto the field. It was the first game of the season, the Homecoming Game, also known as the most important football game of the year. The sun was still setting, but just there enough to cause your eyes to water and you to start sniffling.

“You alright?” Chuuya came up to you, the drum sticks tried under his arm. He was so cute in his marching band uniform, and you had secretly been crushing on him since the first day you saw him. The two of you had managed to become super close, and you hoped deep down that he would ask you to the homecoming dance.

He waved his hand in front of your face, pulling you out of the daydream daze you were in and you shook your head, giving him an awkward chuckle. “Y-yeah, I’m fine. The sun is just setting off my allergy. Hopefully it’ll be fully set before we go out on the field.” You gave him a sheepish smile and he looked out the window then back to you.

“Oh yeah, do you need a tissue? We can’t afford to lose our best percussionist.” He smiled back to you and you felt your cheeks heat up.

“Uhm, first thing, your flirting sucks, and second, marimba isn’t percussion. Duh.” Dazai’s voice broke through, and you watched as he brought the trumpet up to his lips, trying to play it as he walked closer.

“Dude, shut up! Also, the marimba is definitely a percussion instrument. How did you even make it into this class. Who’s trumpet is that?” Just seeing Dazai had Chuuya on the verge of a fit of rage. His last question was answered when Kunikida ran over to where Dazai was standing, blowing into the mouth piece, producing a bunch of spit but no sound.

“Dammit Dazai, now I’m gonna have to disinfect it.” Kunikida said, snatching the instrument from Dazai’s hands with a look of disgust. “Also, the marimba is definitely a percussion instrument.” He added before walking away, mumbling under his breath about how disgusting it is to use someone else’s mouthpiece.

“I don’t know what his problem is.” Dazai shrugged, then looked down at you. “You look very good in the uniform by the way, Y/N.” His voice was suggestive and if it were possible, Chuuya would have smoke coming out of his ears, he looked so pissed at Dazai’s comment.

“SHE ALREADY KNOWS THAT!” He shouted, smacking Dazai with one of the drumsticks. “Y/N, you look great.” He said, and you dropped your head to try to hide your blushing face.

“Dude, why not ask her out already.” Dazai said, dodging Chuuya’s second hit. “I’m just saying!” He held his hands up as he backed away. “You guys would be soooo cute together.”

“I... He.... heh... let’s get your instrument down to the field?” Chuuya stumbled over his words, obviously put in an awkward situation and he didn’t know how to react at all. “Kenji, give us a hand?” Chuuya called to him from across the room. The saxophone player was rather strong considering his small build. He easily lifted the other end of the instrument with no sign of a struggle, he didn’t even break a sweat.

You sat on the bleachers with Chuuya, waiting for the other members of the band to come out. Chuuya situated himself between you and the light of the setting sun to help keep your eyes from watering. “Are you nervous?” He asked, noticing your fingers tapping nervously against your lap. He placed his hand over yours to keep you from tapping, and you felt the blush rise into your cheeks again. “There’s no need to be nervous, most of these people talk over our playing anyway.”

“I-I’m not nervous, I just...” You noticed he was staring at you, his eyebrows raised, obviously not fooled by your lie. “Alright... maybe I am. But...”

“I’ll be right next to you the entire time.” He whispered, his thumb rubbing circles into the back of your hand. It made your heart rate spike and you tried to keep your heavy breathing to a minimum. “Oh, looks like everyone’s coming down now. Are you ready?” He asked and you nodded quickly.

Everyone lined up on the field, getting into the formation that had been practiced multiple times over the last two months. The sun had finally set, but that was the least of your worries at this point. All the lights, all the eyes on you, it had you sweating profusely. Chuuya looked down at you and noticed how pale you had turned, the tiny beads of sweat that were forming on your forehead considering how chilly it was. “Psst.... hey.” He whispered just loud enough for you to hear. You looked up to him, his smile seemed brighter than any of the lights on the field. “Keep your eyes on me, whenever you feel nervous, just look at me. Okay?” His voice was soothing and you felt yourself relax a little.

You and your instrument were in the center of the field, the rest of the band had circled around you, but you kept your eyes on Chuuya, his red hair peaking out of the hat let you know that it was definitely him. You felt a pair of eyes on the back of your head and you turned around to see that it was Dazai. He licked his lips and winked at you before wrapping his mouth around the mouthpiece of the saxophone. You faced back to your teacher quickly, his hands were in the air as he waited for everyone to get ready. Then they dropped, and the sound of everyone’s instruments filled the field. The band started to move, walking in sync to the rhythm of the music and your eyes focused in on Chuuya, you could pick out the sound of his instrument through the sound of everyone else’s. When his solo came up you couldn’t fight the grin that spread across your face, hearing him play, it was pure talent. His drum solo was absolutely flawless, and you almost missed your time to start playing again, you were so entranced by his playing.

The football game started and the band took their seats at the far end of the bleachers, all the instruments and their cases littered the ground in front of the seats. You were sat between Akutagawa and Chuuya who talked across you about how football was meaningless. The crowd roared when the team scored a touchdown and Akutagawa groaned. “They didn’t cheer like that when we were done playing. They don’t appreciate the art that is playing an instrument.” Chuuya nodded at Aku’s words.

“Well I think we played really well tonight!” Tanizaki chimed in, leaning forward so he was peaking between yours and Chuuya’s shoulders.

“Heck yeah! We were awesome tonight!” Atsushi added, patting Chuuya’s back. “Oh, where’s Ranpo?” Atsushi asked, looking around the bleachers.

“He went to the snack stand. You want to go?” Tanizaki asked and Atsushi nodded. Akutagawa, Kenji, and Kunikida followed behind them.

You shivered as a breeze blew through the stands, and Chuuya wrapped his arm around your shoulder. You leaned against him, he was so warm and you enjoyed the feeling of his arm around you. “Awwww. You guys are so cute. Can you just ask her already!?” Dazai’s voice broke through, ruining the serene moment. You sighed and moved away as Chuuya did a 180 and turned to face Dazai who was sitting two stands up.

“Will you just shut up for once? God, you’re so annoying!” Chuuya argued, and you could see how agitated he was when Dazai just laughed. Chuuya’s cheeks burned red when he turned back around, he was breathing heavy as he tried to control his anger.

“You should just ignore him. He’s trying to make you mad.” Dazai’s laughter ringed in your ears as you tried to help calm Chuuya. He sighed loudly before standing up and stepping over your legs.

“You wanna take a walk?” He asked, waiting for you to follow him. Dazai’s clapping and cheering irked the both of you, and you saw Chuuya clench his fists as he walked a little faster, most likely to get away from Dazai as fast as possible so he wouldn’t punch him.

He held the doors open for you as you walked into the school. The empty building brought peace now instead of the anxiety that usually came along with the over congested hallways. It was quiet, and your footsteps with Chuuya’s seemed to echo down the long halls. Even your breathing seemed to be amplified by the emptiness.

“Chuuya...”

“Y/N...” You both spoke at the same time and you let out an awkward giggle that matched his own. “Oh sorry, you can go first.”

“No, no, what were you going to say?” You asked, stopping at the stairwell and taking a seat on the bottom step. Now that the two of you were alone you could hear your heart beating in your ears, your entire body felt warm as his eyes lingered on your face.

“Are you... uh... going to homecoming?” He asked, refusing to sit down. He was standing in front of you, biting his lip as he waited for your answer. You shook your head no and he smiled a little. “Oh... well... would you maybe want to... I don’t know... go with me?” Your stomach did a somersault as his words registered in your brain.

“Like, as friends?” You asked, hoping that he’d say no. He shrugged and finally took a seat next to you.

“I mean... if you want to go as friends.... but....” He wasn’t able to finish his sentence. The sound of footsteps racing down the hallway startled the both of you.

Tachihara turned the corner and spotted the two of you and he sighed. “Man, teach is freaking out because of you two. We’re about to go on for half time.” He was out of breath from running and you found it hard to hold back your laughter seeing him so flustered.

“Sorry dude, we’re coming.” Chuuya said, stifling his own laughter.

The three of you sprinted through the empty hallways, bursting through the double doors. You took your place on the field where the rest of the band was already in formation. Your teacher scowled at you and Chuuya, but that wasn’t even the worst. Dazai’s smug smirk put you on edge and you couldn’t shake the awkward, uneasy feeling his look gave you.

Chuuya’s words replayed in your mind over and over as you watched him move across the field. What was he going to say after the but? You wished that Tachihara hadn’t barged in at such a bad time, now you were left with the overwhelming feeling of nervousness at Chuuya’s unfinished sentence.

The music faded, and the band ran off the field as the crowd erupted with applause as the football teams sprinted out on the field. Everyone began packing away their instruments, ready to finish up the night and go home. You held Chuuya’s tenor drums as he and Kenji worked to carry in your marimbas. The two walked ahead as you stayed behind talking with Tanizaki and Atsushi who were taking apart their clarinets. “So where were you and Chuuya anyway?” Tanizaki asked, genuinely curious as he was highly worried when they couldn’t find you at first.

“Well... we were-“ You began but Dazai jumped in again.

“You two were probably making out in an empty stairwell. Ha! So cool, didn’t know you had it in you Y/N.” He said, leaning closer to you. “You know if Chuuya won’t ask you out-“

“Shut up Osamu.” You mumbled, pulling away from his whispering lips that were far too close to your ear.

“I like when you say my name like that.” He winked at you before walking away. Akutagawa shook his head as he looked after Dazai.

“Don’t worry about him. He’s just a typical upperclassman. He probably hasn’t even had a girlfriend.” Tanizaki said, patting your shoulder to try to make you feel less upset about what he had said.

“Yeah, he acts like he’s....” You stopped listening to them, you just wanted to get back up to the classroom and put your stuff away so you could go home.

Chuuya was waiting for you next to the door to the classroom, he had already changed out of his uniform, his backpack slung over one arm as he scanned the hallways, his eyes lit up when he spotted you. He took his drums from your hands and took them to the back of the class and you followed him. “You took a while, I was starting to get worried that Dazai got to you until he came up.” He chuckled, but you could hear that the thought alone made him uncomfortable. “I’ll let you get changed.” He reminded you that you were still wearing your uniform and you nodded, grabbing your backpack and heading to the restroom to change.

You stared at yourself in the mirror, suddenly self conscious about the way you looked. You so badly wanted Chuuya to like you, as more than a friend. Whenever you were around him you felt like you couldn’t breathe, he was so perfect and there was nothing more that you wanted than to call him your boyfriend. You didn’t know how he felt though, and you were way too nervous to ask him. You walked out of the bathroom, heading back to the music room to wait for your ride. Chuuya had probably already left, you would never find out what would come after the but. Even if you were to go to homecoming as friends, there was nothing bad about that, you would still be with him... right?

Taking a seat on the piano bench, you dropped your bag to the floor next to you and began playing a song that you had made up on the spot. It started out cheery, lilting and fun, then it slowly turned more solemn, kind of how you felt whenever you were with Chuuya. He was always able to cheer you up, he made you happy, he made you smile, whenever he would hug you it felt like your heart would explode out of your chest. Even with all of that though, you knew that there would never be anything more to your relationship. You would never be able to walk down the halls with your hand intertwined with his, giving him a quick kiss after he drops you off at your class. There would be no cute couple photos taken in photo booths filling the front of your binder.

Your fingers slid from the piano keys and rested by your side. “That was beautiful, I’ve never heard the song before. What song is it?” His voice was soft, he was hoping not to surprise you by coming in, and he was glad that he got to listen to you play. He never knew that you could play the piano, but that was just another thing he could add to the list of things you did that amazed him.

“I uh... I made it up.” You said, turning around in the bench to face him. “I thought you had already left.”

“No... I never got the chance to finish what I was saying earlier.” He rubbed the back of his head nervously, biting his cheek as he thought of how to word what he was going to say next. “I uhm... I didn’t want to just go as friends. I wanted to know if.... maybe you would like to be my girlfriend?” He asked, his voice rising an octave with each word.

You were shocked that he had asked, you had never thought that he felt that way about you. You couldn’t even manage to say yes, so you nodded, you nodded so fast that it made your head hurt. He laughed at your reaction, stepping forward to stand in front of you. He grabbed your hand and pulled you up off the bench, wrapping his arms tightly around your waist. It was different from the friendly hug he’d usually give you whenever he saw you in the hallways at school.

“Do you know how long I’ve been wanting to ask you that?” He asked quietly, his lips brushing the top of your head. The feeling sent shivers down your spine and you sighed as you rested your head against his chest.

“Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for you to ask?”

[rkjxy]

──── k.arma september 2020 schedule   ╳   birthday fan meeting   ❞

she’s a bundle of nerves, excitement, and happiness on her way to the fan meeting venue. her heart thundering beneath her ribcage as she hears the bustle of movement from the other side of the stage; a permanent smile seemingly fixed on her lips as the noises of the fifty people who she would be meeting that day heightens her energy. it’s so exhilarating. the event hasn’t even started yet, but she feeds off of their energy already.

this must truly what if feels like to know you’re doing exactly what you’re meant to.

truthfully, she doesn’t know what to expect. while she had prepared a few things to make the event more interactive, she still couldn’t possibly gauge how they will respond to it. joy can only hope that they would enjoy the things she had arranged and that it wouldn’t be subpar to their expectations. she wants more than anything for them to have fun and to really celebrate such a special occasion with her. after all, this might be the only time within the year where she can intimately gather with them like this.

when the event starts, she walks up to the stage with the happiest smile, a hand above her chest in an attempt to calm her racing heart. the cheers from their fans were loud, it didn’t even feel like there were only fifty of them there. just seeing them in front of her, their faces as clear as day makes her heart full already. this was the best birthday gift she could have ever hoped for.

“hello everyone! i’m k.arma’s kil, thank you so much for being here today.” was her introduction, the microphone clutched tightly in her hands. “how are you? did you miss me?” she asks with a teasing smile, a laugh escaping from her lips as a booming chorus of “yes!” was heard from the audience. “ah, i missed you all too. i can’t wait to meet everyone on stage again but this is really fun too, right? i’m so happy that i’m given the chance to spend my birthday with everyone. i’m very grateful that you’re here with me today.” she says with utmost sincerity, a sparkle of fondness shining within her brown eyes.

the first few minutes of the hour begins with more chatter from her end. she shares little anecdotes about how she spent the morning of her birthday; the presents she’s received from the members, the breakfast she shared with doyeon, and the subsequent excitement as she prepares for the event. it felt like talking to an old friend but even better because their animated reactions kept on making her laugh throughout. 

suddenly, the staff brought out a two-tiered fondant cake with lit candles carefully adorned on top of it. “wow, it’s time to blow the candles now?” she says in surprise, walking closer towards the cake. as soon as she finished speaking, the crowd erupted into a birthday song. as they sing for her, she sways and claps along, eyes on them the entire time. as soon as they were done, she thanks them with a polite bow and moves to blow the cake but not before closing her eyes to make a wish. 

i hope we always get to build happy memories.

finally, she blows the candles as the fans cheered once again. “thank you, thank you.” she says with a smile. “i will tell you guys what i wished for but i don’t want to jinx it so i’ll just keep it to myself for now.” she laughs despite their whines. afterward, she took pictures with the cake and chattered some more. at one point, she gave in to a request to dance a portion of their latest release as she danced the killing part.

for the next portion, the staff pulled out a large resume card which she hoped they can utilise for the fans to get to know her better. joy feels that there’s still so much of her that they don’t know, even though it’s already been more than a year since she debuted. the segment took a few minutes to finish. in it, she talked about her favourite nickname “joy is my english name and pretty much everyone i know call me as that!”; a special talent, “i can memorise a choreography just by watching it.”; and other smaller information such as where she was born, what languages she knows how to speak, and what are her hobbies.  

the childhood section may seem like it would be more revealing but it’s honestly facets of her life which she doesn’t mind sharing. in there, she talks about her strengths and weaknesses. what she loved to do as a child where she talked about how much performing means to her even at a young age. she also mentioned her first memory of seoul, which was a childhood vacation where all she did was eat hotteok and mandu as how she felt an instant connection for the city even though it was her first time ever being there.

the last few moments of the fan meeting would be where she gets to interact with all of the attendees one-by-one for a short period of time. as they all file a line to approach her, she’s surprised at the many different faces she’s greeted by. they were all so courteous and wonderful. one of the more memorable people, a young man who introduced himself as pj, told her quite nicely how she’s even more breathtaking in real life to which she can only laugh. he looked very excited to meet her and this energy was rubbing off on her, as evidenced by her grin and the adoring look she’s giving him. before he’s asked to move, what made their interaction even more significant to her memory was the note he slid towards her. “my friend told me to give this to you, and he'd kill me if you didn't read it. 99% sure you know him!” he says, and with a look of surprise she quickly masks, she thanks him generously before waving goodbye.

another significant interaction was when she was offered a large ring. as soon as she sees it, she laughs boisterously. “oh my gosh!” was her reaction, eyes wide as she accepts the large ring. “thank you! this is so pretty. i’ll put it through my arm to keep it safe.” she gushes, smiling at the man whose name she gathered was dowhan. the big ring rests comfortably on her wrist, acting as a bracelet. she kept it on there until the entire event was over.

soon enough, it was time to say goodbye. “thank you so much again for coming to my birthday party. i hope that we’ll always get to spend such wonderful time together like this. i had the best birthday ever!” she speaks with utmost happiness. “thank you for all your support. please look forward to seeing k.arma in the future, we love you all dearly!” with that final message, she goes around the entirety of the stage waving at every corner she can reach.

she leaves the venue and arrives home with the fullest heart. it had truly been the best birthday ever and she can’t wait to always spend her special days like this—surrounded by love and appreciation.

[theherothechampiontheinquisitor]

Love, Rhodey

A “Love, Simon” AU

Rated G 

Tony Stark/James Rhodes

Summary: After being outed at school, Rhodey takes his life and potential relationship with his anonymous pen pal, Blue, into his own hands. He tells Blue and the world that he loves him and to meet him on the Ferris Wheel at the winter carnival if he feels the same.

OR

A Love, Simon AU - Where Rhodey is Simon and Tony is Blue.

Read it on AO3

—

The smell of corn dogs, popcorn and funnel cake continued permeating the cool February night air. 

Rhodey sat waiting on the ferris wheel, going around the giant loop for what felt like the hundredth time. Up and down the ferris wheel went, Rhodey’s friends cheering and clapping with every rotation. Their little crowd grew larger as more people probably saw his impulsive tumblr post, declaring his love for someone he had probably never even met before. Most probably came out to gawk and see if he was going to get his heartbroken in public or at the very least get the scoop on who the other gay kid was. 

God. The other gay kid. 

He was still getting used to being out. He had been hiding this part of himself for so long, constantly fearing that he would say something or do something that would give himself away. He didn’t know what that could be, he was still Rhodey afterall and his sexuality didn’t change that. 

He still wanted to go to MIT and eventually join the Air Force. He still put “Africa” by Toto on repeat in the mornings when he picked up his friends to annoy them, drank more coffee than any teenager should and secretly loved trashy daytime talk shows. 

It was like his mother had told him. He could breath now. He was finally able to be more of himself than he had been able to be in the last four years, and he would continue being this way whether Blue showed up tonight or not. But he really, really hoped that he did. 

What could he say? He was in love. 

“He’ll show up,” his little sister Thea told him that morning as she forced him to try her special Blueberry pancakes that he knew were not a coincidence. 

“Yeah, how do you know that?”

She smiled at him and added a couple extra blueberries on top. “Cause you’re the nicest, coolest person around. He’d be an idiot not to show and you wouldn’t love him if he were an idiot.”

Rhodey wished he held her same optimism but he couldn’t deny the warmth that flowed through his body at his sister’s absolute certainty.

So, here he sat, going around for the nth time, the anxiety in his stomach building with every loop that Blue didn’t show. 

Carol, Sam and Natasha still cheered whenever they saw him but even Rhodey could tell that their enthusiasm was waning, their faces growing more concerned as they spoke in harsh whispers as the ride made its way back up. 

The crowd around them had grown more quiet too. The hooting and teasing tapering off until they all looked at him with outright pity.

Maybe Blue didn’t see his post. He had deleted his gmail account, maybe he deleted all of his social media in an effort to continue hiding away, removing all possible traces that could link them back to each other somehow. But EVERYONE had read that blog post. 

When he walked into school this morning, backpack slung across his shoulder he knew there were people looking at him and whispering. He caught snatches of conversation. 

“Do you think he will show up?”

“That was so brave…”

“I wish someone talked about me the way Jim does about Blue.”

So, even if he had willingly ignored all social media, there was no way that he had been able to ignore the entire school talking about it. But what if that had frightened him off further?

Blue was very nervous. He had finally come out to his father over the holidays and he said it went well but Rhodey knew that coming out privately and coming out in a major social setting is an entirely different can of worms. Maybe the attention still was freaking him out and making him hide?

Or worse yet. What if Blue, having found out who he was, was no longer interested in him like that? What if he was disappointed in the guy he had been trading emails with the last six months? 

It was real easy to come up with all kinds of preconceived notions and dispositions over email. Rhodey was even guilty of imagining Blue as some larger than life personalities at the school, anytime someone so much as shared a similar interest or taste as Blue had. He had done it with Tony when he mentioned how much he loved Halloween Oreos, he had done it with Steve when he found out he was going out of town for christmas to “the middle of nowhere,” and he even had done it to poor, quiet Bruce for being interested in showtunes. 

So, what if Blue himself had hyped Rhodey up in his mind and couldn’t stand to reconcile that image with the truth? 

That would hurt more than anything.

Not being good enough.

With everything that they had shared with each other, Rhodey didn’t want to go through that kind of rejection, especially from Blue. He wouldn’t be able to take it. 

Rhodey flinched as the ferris wheel came to a halting stop, his basket rocking back and forth in front of the platform.

“Sorry, kid, that’s the end of the ride. You’re out of tickets.”  The ride operator actually looked at him with pity as he made his way forward to unlock the basket.

The crowd made various disappointing sounds and murmurs, cell phones being put down, no longer recording the spectacle because it was just too pathetic to watch someone get rejected so publicly. 

“WAIT!” A voice shouted and the crowd began to part.

Rhodey felt his heartbeat pick up, pounding in his chest, hoping that this was finally it. That Blue had finally shown up. He was taken aback when he saw Clint push his way through and leaping onto the platform, bent over and panting from the exertion.

“It’s me, Jim. I am Blue and I love you so very much.”

The crowd gasped looking back and forth between each other in shock. Had Clint’s disastrous Homecoming proposal to Natasha all been some kind of weird and twisted front to hide his sexuality?

Rhodey rolled his eyes and sighed. 

“No, you’re not Clint.”

Clint’s face squinted up in pain and he sighed as well. “You’re right, I’m not, but this is just so brutal it makes what I did look like a roaring success.”

“‘Is there a point to this?”

“Oh yeah! Yes! Look, let me pay for one last go. I owe you this at least.”

“The very least,” Rhodey mumbled as Clint turned toward the carnie and handed him a wad of bills.

“That’s enough right? For one last go?” The man nodded his head and Clint turned back to Rhodey and tapped him lightly on the shoulder with his fist. “Go get ‘em tiger!” 

He actually had the audacity to wink at him.

“Don’t touch me, Clint.”

“Oh right,” he laughed sheepishly and faded back into the waiting crowd.

The ride operator rolled his eyes and turned to the group of young people. “Last call for the ferris wheel….”

The crowd had gone deadly silent. In the distance Rhodey could hear the sound of the screams of people on the rollercoaster as it went around a loop. Music was playing somewhere and game masters called out to passerby’s that this might be their lucky night.  

“I can’t watch this. This is too awful,” Sam murmured and hid his face behind his hand.

Natasha shoved his shoulder in annoyance but even she glanced over at Carol with a grimace, wondering what they were going to do if this really was it and Blue didn’t show.

Rhodey huffed and laid his head down on the safety bar. He couldn’t watch this anymore. He should just get up and go home, hide under his blankets and not come out until graduation. Even then he might not. Maybe not until it was time to pack up and move it to Boston in the fall. This will have blown over by then right?

Images flooded his mind of all the memes and sad gifs that would be generated from this night, going viral, following him to Boston, following him to the Air Force. He would never make officer, never be able to pilot a plane without someone taping a picture of his sad face, sitting alone on this stupid carnival ride in the freezing cold. 

“I’d like a ride, if it’s not too late.”

Rhodey’s head shot up and the crowd gasped again, but it was different from when Clint had come bursting his way through in desperation. No, Rhodey knew this voice, and it held the same nervous trepidation to it that always came through whenever he would hide and read his emails. 

Blue.

“Oh my god, it’s Tony!” Rhodey heard Carol gasp to Natasha with a sense of wonderment.

And there he stood at the edge of the platform, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet in nervous anticipation. His hair was mussed where it looked like he had been running his hands through it constantly, his hands shoved into the front pocket of his dark blue hoodie. 

It took a minute for Rhodey’s mouth to catch up with his mind, sitting up fully and scooting over a little bit.

“Um. You know I’m waiting for someone right?”

Tony offered him a small smiled and cocked his head to the side, “Yeah, I know.”

Stunned Rhodey scooted over completely and Tony came and sat in the basket beside him. They were both not very tall or big people but still their thighs brushed against each other in the confined space and Rhodey felt a rush of warmth from where they touched. 

He hazarded a glance back at his friends and they were all wide eyed and smiling.  Carol shooting him a thumbs up and blowing a kiss. Rhodey could feel his cheeks start to burn and turned back to Tony beside him. 

Tony was watching him with a shy intensity from underneath those long lashes. Rhodey met his gaze and they both smiled again as the carnival operator finished locking the basket and moved to start the ride one last time. 

“It’s you,” Rhodey said wondrously. 

“It’s me,” Tony replied softly, a nervous huff of laughter coming out with his confirmation.

Rhodey couldn’t believe that one of his hunches had actually been right. This whole time it had been Tony that he had been baring his soul to.The same Tony that stole french fries off his plate at lunch, and helped everyone with their homework because he was taking all of the advanced placement classes and probably should have been skipped ahead to college long ago, and liked to build robots and gadgets. The same Tony that loved Halloween Oreos and threw big Halloween parties  at his house when his parents were out of town.

The same Tony that had teamed up with him to crush everyone at beer pong that night and sing karaoke with. That he had worked up the courage in the mirror to ask if he was Blue, to come out to him so that he could finally kiss him senseless like he had wanted to the entire party, until he had walked in on him half naked with Pepper that is. 

“But that night at the party?”

Tony ducked his head and Rhodey could see the blush spreading across his face as he smiled and scrunched up his face. God he was adorable.

“Yeah, I was drunk, and confused. I still thought that this was something that I could change but I can’t force myself to be something that I’m not. Pepper is my best friend and honestly it ended like a few minutes after you saw us.” He shook his head to clear his mind, remembering that evening with some embarrassment. “I couldn’t do it.  It’s not who I am.”

Rhodey understood what Tony was saying. There had been a time when he too thought that he could just will himself to behave and think a certain way so that he could be “normal.” 

“And you’re Jewish too?” Rhodey asked with a grin, remembering his unorthodox Hanukkah excursion with his father when he had come out.

Tony laughed. “Half-Jewish. And barely even that. I think my dad is afraid that Grandma will come back from the grave for him if we don’t at least try to honor tradition during the holidays.”

“And you’re white,” Rhodey joked this time dispelling any of the remaining awkward tension.

“I am,” Tony grinned again and it was contagious. Rhodey found himself wanting nothing more than to press those soft lips to his own.

“Guess you can’t have everything.”

And god there it was that same laugh from that night at the party when they cackled their whole way through “I Got You Babe” by Sonny and Cher. Rhodey’s heart was pounding with anticipation as they reached the top of the ferris wheel and came to a stop.

“I didn’t think you were coming,” Rhodey said softly and brushed the tips of his fingers against where Tony’s rested on his thigh. Tony reciprocated the touch.

“‘I didn’t either. I didn’t know what I was going to do until I started walking towards you. This whole time I finally realized that I have been worrying and focusing so much on how everyone else would react and what everyone else expected of me. I was denying myself the opportunity be who I really am and to have what I really want.”

Tony senses that he has been rambling and tucks his chin in a bit again. Rhodey doesn’t say anything, just takes in everything he can about this amazing guy beside him.

Tony’s voice comes out in a quiet whisper, his dark eyes darting to look anywhere but directly at Rhodey. 

“Are you disappointed that it’s me?”

Rhodey would have laughed in his face if he thought that Tony wouldn’t have immediately taken it the wrong way. How could this perfect man sit here beside him after Rhodey had spilled his guts online and to everyone he knew about how much he was in love with him? And that had been before he knew it was Tony. Knowing who he was now…his heart was close to bursting.

He couldn’t believe that just a few minutes before, Rhodey had been the one worrying that he himself was not good enough.

Rhodey reached his hand out to catch Tony’s cheek. His thumb gently brushed against his jawline where patchy attempt at a beard was trying to come through, Tony’s eyelids fluttering involuntarily beneath the touch.

“How could you ever disappoint me?”

The sincerity in Rhodey’s voice had Tony’s lower lip trembling as he turned his head to the side and started to clear the distance between them. Rhodey’s lips met his halfway and they both smiled into the kiss as the crowd down below let out a whooping cheer. 

Tony pulled back first, his eyes still halfway shut, unable to keep the absolute bliss off of his face.

“I steal clothing. You laugh but I’m serious. Hoodies, shirts, hats. They will all become mine. I drink a ridiculous amount of coffee, I can stay awake for days when I have an idea I want to work on. I only watch cheesy 90’s action movies and B science fiction. There is no in between. AC/DC is my idea of relaxing music. I am entirely over affectionate once you get to know me and I am prone to hyperverbality.” 

Rhodey chuckled lightly to himself at the last one, as if he couldn’t see that here and now for himself but he thought Tony’s ramblings were precious. 

Tony continued to rattle off all of these things, watching Rhodey’s face for any sign of disapproval but all that he seemed to find was careful amusement that grew with each potential flaw he listed.

“Is that supposed to scare me away? If anything it’s honestly making me love you even more.” Rhodey said, cutting off his flow of words.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Rhodey said and cupped Tony’s face in his hands again and brought him back to his lips again. 

The kiss this time was longer, their lips pressed together and Rhodey knew that he would never get over how soft Tony’s lips felt against his. Rhodey moved a hand from Tony’s cheek to curl around the hair at the nape of his neck, soft curls sliding through his fingertips as Tony gripped the front of his t-shirt. He moaned softly against him, pulling back for a breath and then diving in for more, tongue brushing against Rhodey, begging for entrance.

They broke apart when the ferris wheel lurched back to life, grabbing each other’s shoulders in support as the basket rocked with motion. 

The ride operator looked a little red in the face as they made their descent and they both busted out with laughter having almost entirely forgotten where they were and who all could see them.

Rhodey stole one more kiss before the ride reached the bottom and wrapped an arm around Tony’s small shoulders to bring in close to his side. 

Coming out had been incredibly difficult and oftentimes painful, especially having been outed against his will. He didn’t think that he would ever forgive Clint for stealing his voice like that, but after mourning what was and trying to navigate this new world where now everyone knew that he was gay, Rhodey took the control back.

He laid waste to everyone’s gossip and preconceived notions as to who he ought to be and instead, fully embraced who he really was. 

All of that led him to this moment. 

To this night, on this ferris wheel with this man.

Tonight was the first night that Rhodey could say that he was finally  able to sit back and let himself breathe like his mother told him he could.

He ran a hand through Tony’s hair and pressed a soft kiss to the top of his head and felt him sigh against his chest.

This was where he was meant to be and who he was meant to be with, and he couldn’t wait to finally start living the next part of his life without the old fear that had always held him back.

They would navigate this new world together.