#incase it wasn’t clear or obvious

[o-vera-nalyzing]

i wanna try this, PLEASE INTERACT IF you have two toned hair, you can jump really high, you wear shirts with slightly cringey (but cute) catchphrases on them, you’re a himbo, you have bleach blonde hair, you have lots of moles, you left the country for two years to get better at a sport, you’re hypermobile, you yell at your fans, you got in a huge fight with your twin when he decided to quit volleyball, you have a cousin everyone accidentally shipped you with, your hair deflates when you get emo, you’re in love with your setter <3

[sentientgolfball]

Ok hear me out

Cowbell and Pebble are siblings. They were summoned together after Biggs decided to step down, touring wasn’t the same without Primo. So the Clergy summoned two new earth ghouls. They wanted options so they could find the best ghoul to replace Biggs.

They were together in the Pits, relaxing in their family’s den when the summoning magick surrounded them. When the confusion cleared they were so grateful they had been summoned together. They were close, as close as two ghoulish siblings can be.

They were both taught percussion by Biggs, but it was clear to anyone watching that Pebble had a knack for it. He learned faster than Cowbell, tore through the exercises Biggs gave them. The Clergy had found their new drummer.

Cowbell was kept around as pretty much an understudy. A just incase. He was allowed to attend rehearsals at his own free will, but he wasn’t required. He did anyway, he liked the music. He wanted to be apart of it. That’s when he discovered he wasn’t an earth ghoul. He was a multi ghoul.

Being surrounded by ghouls of other elements sort of activated the dormant ones following through his veins. Earth was still his strongest element, but now he feels the buzz of the rest. He stops going to rehearsals and is made to study with Special, the only other multi ghoul at the time. Just like with music he just isn’t able to get the hang of it no matter how much he tries.

When it’s obvious he doesn’t have the same power as Special the Clergy kind of give up on him. They assign him basic tasks and let him exist as a Ministry ghoul. When tour comes around though, they let him join the crew. It is very easy to build and tear down sets with ghoulish strength on your side.

The longer tour goes on the more he wants to get out there and play, prove he can do literally anything. Poor guy is an act first think later type of ghoul and one night he just runs out there during Ritual cowbell and drumstick in hand. He’s this close to getting chewed out by Terzo and Sister Imperator when they get wind of how the much the fans liked his little stunt.

They begrudgingly let him do this at a few more shows as long as there’s no more outbursts. He gives them his word and makes the most out of the minute he’s allowed on stage. He’s just happy he gets to play with Pebble.

[kissami]

☄︎. *. ⋆ STARLIGHT GAZES •°. *࿐

➵ summary : Marlene asks how you and cloud met, but she didn’t expect the response she got.

➵fem!reader with she/her pronouns!

➵ warnings: none besides Cloud being adorable as usual! Possible spoilers and miss spelling…(-0-)

➵ authors note: I’m going to try to continue posting more often, but recently got a full time job at a bank, who would’ve thought hm? Anyways, requests are always open!!

‎ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊

⠀⠀⠀‎ ⠀⠀⠀‎ ⠀⠀⠀ ‎ Less of you~ Keshi

⠀⠀⠀‎ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀‎ 0:20 〇────── 3:27

⠀⠀⠀‎ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀‎ ⇄   ◃◃   ⅠⅠ   ▹▹   ↻

⠀⠀⠀‎ ⠀⠀ ⠀VOLUME: ▁▂▃▄▅▆▇ 100%

‎ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊

“How’d you and [N/N] meet, Cloud?” Stopping abruptly at the question, Cloud placed the plate he was scrubbing down on the sink and chuckled.

“I’m not sure you would want to know that, Mars. Probably less romantic as you may think.” Shoving a spoonful of the soup Tifa had made for her and Denzel that afternoon, she sat quietly.

Cloud was another father figure to her, always telling her such amazing stories about when he was a child now that he regain his correct memories, his experience with fighting sephiroth and saving humanity, but never once did he speak about the story of his lover.

He did talk about her all the time yes, but whenever Marlene asked about how they met, in her eyes she could tell that he was nervous.

‘Not until you’re older will I tell you.’

He told her one day when the group of them went out to see the stars together for a camping trip. Everyone went off to find firewood while Cloud stayed with the children just incase.

That was when she brought up the topic last time and was extremely frustrated whenever he brushed off her question but it was clear the blond was not budging.

That night was almost two years ago now and Marlene felt she had waited long enough to hear the story.

“Please tell me, I’ve been waiting ages Cloud!” She whined, playing with the small pieces of bread on the wooden table as she looked at his teal blue eyes.

“Fine fine, you’ll have to wash my bike for a week though.” He softly teased as he sat down next to her, ignoring her whines again.

He felt his hands start to sweat a bit his lip from nervousness but stay cool as he began.

FIVE YEARS AGO

You stood sternly as you ignored the eyes that stayed on your form, watching your every move as you waited.

It’s been 15 minutes already of waiting, although it wasn’t obvious on your face, you were becoming irritated.

After being thrown down here by Corneo’s goons, you just wanted to get this over with, find out what you needed and get the hell out of here.

Tifa, a girl you met in town was still sleeping on the floor as the sleep dust was still in her system.

The two of you met long before, occasionally going to the bar to discuss things about Avalanche.

Although you wouldn’t say you were necessarily part of the movement, you still offered the help when she needed it.

She was always understanding and sweet with you, definitely a weakness for you when you saw how distressed she looked when she was suddenly in a room upstairs with you and three other men.

You agreed to come with her, agreeing you’d try to help get information on why those men were asking about avalanche earlier and you both came to terms that if either of you were picked, save the other once information was learned.

You stood near her, not saying a word as you glared at the men grabbing the both of you as your eyes were becoming weaker.

The next thing you knew, you were down here for god knows how long, anxiously waiting.

It didn’t help you had such a skimpy dress that left little to no imagination on what hid underneath.

You stood straighter when the goon that was in the room watching suddenly left, closing the door as you heard noise from up above.

“Tifa? Wake up, I hear someone coming.” You whispered softly as you started to shake her softly, waiting for her to open her pretty red eyes.

A groan came from her as she slowly woke up, but sat up quickly seeing the worried expression on your face as you were shielding her from the people coming in.

Two more girls were thrown into the room, making you wince when the brunette unconsciously fell on her cheek rather harshly.

“Oh no.” Tifa whispered, going over to the blonde one while you made your way over to the other.

She was rather pretty, a red mark on her cheek started to rise when you quickly grabbed a wipe from your hidden thigh stash.

The stash was small, but it had all you needed incase of emergency’s. Definitely came in handy the more you hung out with Tifa and her friends. Always getting into trouble it seemed.

“Excuse me, can you hear me?” You asked as you patted her face ever so gently. Not firm enough to hurt but still enough to try to wake her up.

“Ughh dang it.” She groaned, and you watched as she rubbed her eyes tiredly.

You chuckled a bit, finally feeling relief that everyone in here was okay and you stood up quickly to help her up. She gave you a sweet smile, her eyes brightening up at the sight of you. She turned away from you quickly though as she looked over at Tifa excitedly.

“Hey Tifa! How’s it going?” She jogged over and greeted your friend who was very confused on who this girl was and why she was with cloud of all people.

“Oh right. I’m Aerith, a friend of clouds.” She greeted. You kind of zoned off as you walked over to the door, crossing your arms across your chest as you waited once again.

“…and that’s [Y/N]. She’s helping me out and she works with avalanche occasionally when I need her.” You gave a small smile and wave, looking to the blond who have you a firm nod of acknowledgment.

Besides the dress and makeup, he was rather pretty and very muscular it seemed as you watched the way his biceps would flex under the tight sleeves of the black dress he was rocking.

Tifa and Aerith continued to talk about what was going to happen and the plan, but Cloud seemed to have his attention (silently) on you.

You were (short/tall), with (long/short) hair that fit your face amazingly. You had soft makeup on with a pink soft lip that pulled your look all together. A nice black dress that hid the thigh strap just right and hugged you perfectly.

But he wasn’t going to talk to you yet. Not once he knew you could be trusted and the girls would be safe. That was the reason he was here, so why did he care so much for a stranger that seemed more than capable of herself.

Tifa seemed to trust you and Aerith already liked you, so why was he so hesitant towards you?

It wasn’t until later on when the four of you were thrown down to the sewers when he was noticing how you prioritized everyone else’s safety over yours the whole time.

When the big monster first attacked you, you grabbed the girls and jumped out of the way quickly. When the whisperers were surrounding and trying to hurt Tifa you were there guarding her.

Even when you were thrown and beat down numerous times, you were still fighting and backing the group up, trying to get back to the slums as quickly as possible.

Then after the three of you found Aerith again, did he seem to finally get you. You cherished the people around you, even if they did you wrong or had no idea who they were, you were still right there.

He admired you deeply for that.

When the group of you were at Aerith’s home after she was taken away, did he finally have a full conversation with you.

He was supposed to be sleeping, to get rested for the day ahead, but he just couldn’t seem to shut his eyes just yet.

So many thoughts ran through his mind. Tifa and her well being. Aerith and if she was okay or hurt. And, you.

You didn’t say much, didn’t show much emotion to him, but the moment you found out she was taken, did he see the way you tried to blink away the tears that were threatening to release.

He heard soft footsteps from outside of his room, making him slowly get up and walk out while trying to not wake the house up.

He saw the door to the room that you were sharing with Tifa open, meaning either of you could’ve left.

Taking a quick glance, he saw Tifa sleeping with tears streaming her cheeks and a distressed look on her sleeping face.

He sighed, wanting nothing more than to comfort her, but he had to make sure you were okay and why you were up so early.

He made his way outside, seeing you sitting on the small hill that was in the garden surrounded by all the flowers.

You were sitting there with your legs up to your chest, your arms resting on your knees with your face resting on them as well as you kept your gaze forward. He couldn’t see your face, but he didn’t need to when he could see the way your body shuddered.

“I should’ve been there to protect her and went with her to find Marlene. I should’ve done more to save everything, It’s all my fault, I’m so sorry.” He heard you cry silently.

He didn’t speak a word to you. What could he say? He was in the exact same boat as you, but with the little time you two would be alone while Aerith and Tifa did their own things together, he noticed how quickly you opened up to him about a lot of things.

Your parents both left you behind with your younger siblings. You had to take care of them at a young age, but your uncle was the one to teach you a lot of things. Your uncle was your best friend, and the day you lost him, you swore to work and protect harder.

Now your siblings were doing their own things, leaving you behind once again with no one and no support system. You had experience now though, and being able to help Avalanche really helped fill the void in your heart to be able to be around people like that again.

Jessie was your closest friend besides Tifa, and when he saw how much of a wreck you became when she died, it was evident everything was hitting you all at once. It didn’t help one bit when the plate fell, everything you knew of was gone in just a click of a stupid button.

Your loud sobs and the way you pushed your hands in your hair aggressively brought him back to reality as another breakdown began to take a toll on you again.

He made his way over, sitting down tensely as he had no idea what to do.

“Hey, calm down okay? Breathe, [Y/N]. Nothing is your fault, none of all of this is either of our faults. I feel…the same way you do. Aerith, she…she means a lot to me. I protect her, she protects me, and the cycle continues…but this time, I failed her. I don’t know what I’m doing anymore to be honest.”

Hearing a small chuckle and sniff, he took a glance over to you as you wiped your eyes with your hands.

“You must really like her hm? Can’t really blame you, she’s absolutely incredible and I…don’t know what I would be doing right now if she didn’t drag me along after we were done escaping the sewers.”

A small smile made its way onto his pink lips. He continued to watch the sky with you, the soft wind blowing the flowers softly and a comfortable aura surrounded the both of you, almost like she was there with you guys.

“So that’s it? You guys didn’t kiss or anything??” Marlene spoke with annoyance laced in her voice, completely oblivious that everyone was there listening.

Yuffie, Vincent, Tifa, Barrett, and you.

You giggled as you leaned from behind her and squished her cheeks.

“That story is for another day, starlight. Tifa wants you to go to bed now while your dad rests hm? I’m sure Denzel wants you to read to him to bed again.” Teasing slightly at the little girl who now seemed to zoom off to her room, you gave your lover a knowing smile.

“You speak beautifully, my love.”

Cloud scoffed, getting back up to continue washing his dishes but he held a smile as he placed a kiss on your jaw.

“Gross!” Yuffie stuck her tongue out in disgust while Vincent held a stoic look on his pale face but a tiny smile crept up on his lips.

“Let’s leave the love birds to it then. I need a nap.” Barrett scoffs and walked off, slinging an arm over Tifa and Yuffie as the four of them walked away.

You kept your gaze on them happily, but your eyes looked at Cloud in shock as he placed his lips on yours fully now while you weren’t looking just yet.

“What was that for?”

“What? I can’t kiss you?”

“Stop being such a smart ass and give me another one.”

[klausysworld]

can you write hcs for arguments with toxic!klaus and how he makes up for them

(I think this is pretty obvious but a trigger warning before you read this as it is essentially emotional abuse and sometimes physical/the fear of physical——I hope if anyone is struggling with something like that they find a way out of it and remember how strong they truly are)

A relationship with a Toxic!Klaus Mikaelson:

Your relationship with Klaus started off like a fairytale. He was like you saviour, he rescued you from crazy vampires, viscous wolves and temper-mental witches.

He kept you safe and protected, you were his favourite human, his favourite person. He always lifted you up when you were down and provided you with more than you could ever want or need.

He was perfect with all his dazzling presents and charming personality. His compliments were a constant and the look in his eye that he held for you was clear as day to all around that he was in love.

But having the devil love you…well you should have been prepared to be burned.

His jealousy was one thing. And at first it was somewhat cute. It reminded you that he loved you and he only wanted you but after a while it was just disheartening that he had such little trust in you.

And with the possessiveness mixed into it, well he wasn’t easy to calm down. He never let you out of his sight.

His grip on your wist would be tight to keep you at his side and the look he gives you is threatening when he leaves you for even a second. A warning to not go against his rules.

Klaus has a lot of unspoken rules.

And to begin with the punishments were fun, and desirable but they became feared. It went from him showing you how much he loved you and how you should only want to be with him, to “how dare you turn your back on me! It’s like you don’t even love me anymore!” And “you never wanted to be here in the first place, you’re a sneaky little thing I’ll give you that but I will not be taken for a fool and be exploited but some pathetic lesser being!”

‘Pathetic’ was a word he used all too much. He spat the word at you with such aggression you began to believe it. You felt it, you were it.

And now when he ‘took his anger out on you’, even if it was rough sex, you began to worry. He was rough, too rough, so rough it hurt but you couldn’t ask him to stop because you knew it would piss him off.

The fear of him ever purposely physically harming you was so high, you grew sensitive to loud noises and harsh touches, your body flinching and your instincts pushing you to fight or flight but you fought against them.

Glasses were his favourite thing to throw if he hadn’t already flipped a table. Pure rage on his face and he threw ridiculous accusations at you and each time you denied it his expression only darkened.

Once you took a different approach and decided to ‘confess’ to his lies but that resulted in 5 stitches when a shard of glass caught your skin after he launched a bottle of bourbon at the wall beside your head.

That was a day that haunted the both of you.

His face had never dropped faster when he saw the blood spill from your cheek and your hand covering your mouth as you let out a mic of a sob and a scream before you sprinted out of the house. He nearly lost his mind when nobody knew where you were only to over hear a conversation of you with a nurse when he had checked the hospital

———————————————————————

“No no it was stupid, I walked straight into the thorns dangling over my doorway, I really need to get them cut it just slipped my mind” you lied through your teeth and smiled at the nurse who studied you closely

“Well just incase,” she handed you a card “they’ll pick up at any hour, don’t be afraid” she whispered squeezing your hand as you looked down to the helpline.

“It won’t be necessary but thank you” you forced a smile and stood up slowly. You felt like you were going to be sick as you dropped the card into the bin and walked toward the exit.

Klaus had seen the card and his heart clenched in pain at the thought of the nurse thinking you were in an abusive relationship.

He was right outside the hospital door when you walked out making you jump.

He made a cautious approach before gently tracing the stitches on your cheek with a frown before pulling you into a hug

“Please forgive me sweetheart” he whispered, his voice cracking “I would never do this to you on purpose” he told you “I would never harm you” he added “I was paranoid, this is my fault, I take full blame. I am so sorry my love, forgive me” he pleaded, he was down on his knees on the cold floor at 11 o’clock at night with his arms around my waist and his face against your stomach as he begged for your forgiveness. And for whatever reason, you gave him it.

———————————————————————

A mistake. Forgiveness was a mistake.

And yet it was something you handed to him like a neighbour would give out candies to children on Halloween.

He made you weak. And yet somehow he had it in his head that you made him weak. That you ruined his life. You weaselled your way in and made him feel sorry for you.

He had to look after you, it would have been cruel to leave someone so fucking pathetic to try survive on their own.

But that was cruelty you would have preferred.

And yet you were unable to leave, get away from him.

No matter what happened he always seemed to trick you into forgiving him.

He always had an “I’m sorry” present at the ready, perfectly wrapped and given to you like it were the most precious thing in the world.

His touch was so soft after making you cry, his arms lifting you off of the floor which you had been lead on for hours while he stormed out to “cool down” and told you not to move.

He would lower you into a warm bath and wash you gently, his lips kissing your shoulder as his fingers massage your head. No words would leave your mouth as he whispered words of kindness to you, no blush would form on your face when he told you how beautiful you were.

And when he dressed you in his henley and only your underwear, you felt uncomfortable because you did not want his hands on you like that anymore. You didn’t want to feel disgusting with someone you loved.

But he would hold you so close, his hands rubbing your back and playing with your fingers as he murmurs promises of a better future.

Empty promises.

But at the time they were little pieces of hope.

Things to believe in and wish for.

He loved you, there was no question about it but he was not capable of showing it in a way that kept you both happy.

He was scary, he humiliated you and made you feel worthless with and without him.

But he had put a roof over your head, he got food in your belly and clothes on your body. You were nothing without him.

[mm-275]

PARTY / MIGUEL O'HARA

Request: not really? (friend asked for if)

Prompt: you’re dating Miguel, but when all the problem teens gets told no to a party in Hobie’s world by said man, they come to you to help them change Miguel’s mind.

Tw: none really other than reader is lowk a pushover and shit.

Hearing Miles, Gwen, Pavitr, Margo, and Hobie all walk towards you is never a good sign, especially when it’s right after coming back from Miguel’s room. Which is why when you hear it, you start to turn to walk away, failing when the dreaded “Aye, y/n” is shouted by Hobie.

You turn around, eyeing them suspiciously.

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“Will you please help us convince Miguel to go to a party in Hobie’s world?” Miles asks, and you can see him trying to give you his best puppy dog eyes.

Hobie interrupts you before you can think or voice any concerns, “It’s a small party held by a some of my friends at home, and you’ll be able to reach us easily.”

You hesitate a bit, wondering if it is a good choice. I mean, there’s a reason Miguel said no, right?

“Miguel is a buzzkill, he doesn’t let us do anything, ever.” Margo states, and you kind of agree.

You debate it in your head for a second, but decide why not? They’re good kids and they’re pretty responsible from what you’ve seen.

You end up in Miguel’s room quicker than you wish, and standing infront of him suddenly seems nerve wracking. He’s your boyfriend, why do you suddenly feel like a teenager being scolded? (it’s his glare dw)

He looks down at you, and you clear your throat.

“Why can’t they go the party in Hobie’s world?” He looks at you, eyebrow raised slightly in amusement? frustration? confusion?

Miguel was catching on to the fact that they were using y/n to get him to say yes, I mean he wasn’t born yesterday, and they made it kind of obvious the way Miles and Gwen were pretending to stare at the ceiling and Pav looked like he was on the edge of his seat.

Hobie and Margo seeming to be the only normal looking ones, as Hobie was leaned against a wall and looking at them with his arms crossed, and Margo was scrolling through some sort of social on her phone.

“We may need them, incase of any sort of disturbance anywhere.” He counters, looking at y/n again.

“But we can reach them easily, and Lyla could keep watch on them!”

He looks at her as what was surly amusement, but the look quickly faded when Hobie butts in,

“It’s 8pm in my world, no villains are gunna be bad at this time.”

“Villains don’t care what time it is, and if any more hop through to different dimensions, we’ll need you” Miguel stares at Hobie with a deadpanned expression, which is returned with a scoff.

“And I’m sure that they can be responsible enough to respond when they’re needed. Miguel they’re teenagers, they deserve a break and some fun sometimes too, don’t you remember being a teen?”

Miguel seems to consider this. Miles, Gwen, and Margo has looked over at this point, and Pav looked as if he was going to fall over the way he kept inching his body forward, with his legs staying glued to the ground.

“You better answer within the minute I need you.”

Miguel finally looks over at them all the way, and Hobie’s eyes widen, Miles, Margo, and Gwen all turn towards eachother excitedly, and Pav literally does fall over this time, jumping back up quickly and joining the group of three in their excited talks.

They start to walk away, Margo yelling a quick “thanks” and their fading voices saying something along the lines of “we should’ve been doing that all along”

Miguel puts his hand on your shoulder, you tending up slightly and then relaxing and moving closer to him.

“You realize that they’re gunna keep doing that, right?” Your boyfriend asks, moving closer behind you and grabbing your waist as you watch them all walk out.

“Yeah, but they deal with so much and they’re just kids, they deserve a break.” You turn around and peck his lips. “And so do you,” you grab his hand and start to pull him towards the exit as well. “c’mon, let’s go check out that new cafe I saw from the window.”

——————————-

AHH i love and hate it. please leave feedback and i hope this is good 🫶

[doa-rose]

Old ass shinsai fanfic because i am a deprived little freak

Maybe it was the stress from work, maybe it was because she had heard walking helped with anxiety, maybe it was the sudden lack of Kaito’s nightly workout regimen. Whatever the case, she was restless, and she was walking.

She had never realized how gorgeous the neighborhood was. She had only moved in a week ago, and had been swamped with her newest case, but everywhere she turned stood perfectly primed gardens, wonderfully painted homes, and gorgeous walkways of flawless cement. Everything around her felt carefully placed just for her, a calming, pretty little town to stay in. Maybe that was why Shuichi felt that her being assigned here for such gruesome murders felt so odd.

Her memory of “Oh right! The murders!” suddenly jolted her awake. It finally caught up to her that she was walking alone, at 11:21 P.M., with no knowledge of the area around her, in a serial killers territory. She had basically shoved herself into a lions den. Maybe it was the exhaustion, but this didn’t cause great urgency in her. More than anything, she was embarrassed of herself for this clear and obvious oversight. And so, with that, she decided to go home.

Until she realized she was lost.

You see, the flaw about neighborhoods with perfect everything was that, at some point, all of the houses begin to blend together. She reached for her phone in her pocket, hoping to open the map on it to get back, only to discover that she had, in her delirium, picked up her wallet instead. Normally, when she moved to a new town, she would buy a map for said wallet at some point incase of situations like this, where her phone was either missing or dead, but she had been so busy that she had yet to visit a gas station to buy one. Shit. Not only was she in the lions den, but she couldn’t find the exit.

The next best solutions Shuichi had were to visit a friend nearby, *new town, nobody she knew*, to ask a passerby for directions, *too late for someone to be out, too stupid to go out when theres a murderer*, or to slowly explore until she found her home, something familiar, or a gas station to buy a map *too urgent to be slow, couldn’t recognize anything yet, no gas stations nearby*

Even though the murders were much more threatening, being so lost had triggered more worry than the more obvious danger. In her panicked haste, she decided to simply look for the next building that was open or had lights on, in the hopes that whomever was in it would both have a map, a phone, or directions and, hopefully, not be a serial killer. If they even let her in. She wouldn’t want to bother her new neighbors so late, but this was urgent.

She had began to jog, hoping to get home quicker, but as she passed almost all she could see were lights off. Unfortunately, the very few, two, houses that did have their lights on didn’t open the door. Her jog quickly turned to a run as she searched the streets for help. Lights off, lights off, lights off, off, off, off, off, off, off, off, on.

The building she had stopped at felt oddly out of place. She hadn’t noticed it before, maybe it was because she wasn’t specifically focusing on the buildings until now, but it did not seem to match with the rest of the town. It was a bookstore, that seemed to fit the town just fine, but the architecture and colour just seemed… wrong. Most of the houses and bookstores and shops and restaurants and what have you were light blue and white, a few pale greens, a few soft oaks, yes, but mostly white and blue. Friendly, clean, welcoming colours. This bookstore, however, was built of dark wood and deep red velvet.

Dark wood and deep red were not friendly, clean, or welcoming, and the stark difference between it and the buildings surrounding it was uncomfortable and confusing. The contrast only added to the already suspicious aura to the two story shop.

And yet, it was Shuichi’s only option. And so she approached.

She was surprised to see it was still open at what she had confirmed, after looking at her watch, was now 11:36, but she was lucky it was. She slowly opened the creaky door, the bell on it sending a jolt through her tense body, and stepped into the shop.

It was just as dark on the inside, the soft yellow lights doing nothing to help Shuichis anxiety, and it was crowded and uncomfortably warm. In almost any other situation, she would find it cozy. Warm and close, with dim lighting and a dusty smell, it almost calmed the detectives nerves. Almost, before the claustrophobia kicked in and doubled her panic. It wasn’t intense claustrophobia, but the tight space made her feel chocked and smothered. The bookstore wasn’t huge, but the way the bookshelves twisted and turned felt like a maze. To make it all worse, she couldn’t find anyone. Not a single soul trapped in this maze of a shop like she was. She was lost, and trapped, and completely alone. Not only that, but the feeling of being watched shook her to her very soul.

Finally, after what felt like hours being trapped between books, she found a desk. A desk with a clerk. She had never felt more reassured. The clerk was a young man, maybe about her age, with green hair in an apron with his round glasses set off to the side. He was sitting upright, his soft features illuminated by the lightly flickering lamp beside him, with his eyes closed, his head leaning on his hand, and his mouth open. Seeing a person, especially someone who looked so peaceful, calmed Shuichi.

“Excuse me, sir?”

The clerk didn’t open his eyes, his soft breathing getting deeper and deeper by the second. Was he asleep?

“Sir?”

Shuichi tapped him as she said this, and jerked her hand back when she watched the clerk immediately wake up. His eyes flew open and his posture completely straightened, almost robotically. They stood there, both tense, for a good second before the man relaxed and spoke.

“My apologies, welcome to our bookstore. How may I help you?”

His soft eyes met hers, and she tried to fold up all of her anxiety into a sigh.

“Hi, sorry, I’m Saihara I just moved in nearby and decided to walk around but I think I might be lost? I don’t have my phone on me and I’ve been walking around for maybe 20 minutes now and I don’t know where I am like at all and I don’t know anyone around here and I don’t have a map and I don’t know where to go and I was wondering if you had one, a map I mean, or like directions or something or where I can find some maybe please? Sorry.”

Shuichi tried to put on her brightest smile, which definitely looked much more nervous than bright, and stared at the startled clerk in front of her

“Thats very urgent, Saihara. But Im afraid I don’t have a map, and I don’t know this town very well yet either. I could check my phone for one, though.”

“That would be great oh my god thank you.”

Slowly, the man opened a drawer and pulled out his phone, rummaging through another drawer as he held down the power button. He placed a packet of post-its on the table and opened his pen to begin writing, presumably directions, before looking at his phone and freezing.

“Ah… yes, well, it seems my phone has died.”

Shuichi bit her lip and slumped. She just wanted to go back to bed and rest. The stranger looked up at her disappointed face and began to stutter out a solution.

“I… well, I have… well possibly have, Ill see, a charger? I could charge my phone and we can see in a bit.”

She smiled and the clerk lit up, seemingly remembering something, and began to click his pen as he rattled on.

“Or, you know what, Kiyo likely has a map. She has a map for everything, comes with being well traveled I suppose, Im really quite envious. Shes very cultured as well, sometimes makes me wish I chose a different path. Her life seems so exiting…”

Shuichi stood, slowly nodding along to his monologue, wondering if everyone that passed by this shop also learned of the mysterious Kiyo and her lively adventures. The clerk quickly summed up her rant

“Right, maps, Kiyo should be upstairs by the balcony. I don’t believe shes left yet today. Ill plug in my phone just incase. The stairs are right over there. Oh, yes, and do feel free to look at the books.”

With a calming smile, the clerk pointed to a staircase not too far away from them, and began rustling through his desk again. She quickly thanked him and jogged to the stairs.

They were creaky, and stuck between two bookshelves, making them seem just as claustrophobic as the room below. Shuichi was nervous, she felt like she could fall at any second, like the stairs would collapse and that would be her end, but they didnt. And it wasn’t. And she was fine.

She practically jumped out of the stairs when she got to the top, eager to get back home and rest. To leave this creaky maze of a shop and get rid of the uncomfortable watching feeling following her. To lay on her bed and finally sleep. She was so tired after her walk and all of the stress. Unfortunately, she didn’t see Kiyo. She didn’t see anyone. She tried to walk towards the center to see if she could find anyone, before she nocked into the railing and nearly fell over.

She hadn’t fully understood why the man at the desk had said “by the balcony” at first, she thought it was just a second floor, but she understood now. The center of the second “floor” was completely gone. A perfect square surrounded by railing overlooking the other room. The other room that she now realized, given her birds eye view, was far from a maze at all. it was a simple, neat path from the front of the shop to the desk— there was even an empty space right by the door that curled around and met the desk right away. She felt stupid for getting lost in such a simple path. Eventually, Shuichi decided to return to the edge of the shop to search again. As she backed up, though, she knocked into something. That something startled her so, and the sudden panic forced her to turn around and jump back without thinking.

It wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t without thinking. Normally, you see, Shuichi would have the sense not to jump back when she was in front of a balcony. Normally Shuichi would have the sense to stay put, or to grab the railing so she wouldn’t fall back. But this situation wasn’t normal for Shuichi, and the jump made her knock into the railing and fall back. Shuichi was going to fall off. The building was small, but it was tall. and Shuichi was on the top floor. And she was going to fall off.

Course, she *was*, going to, but she didn’t. She had knocked into it, yes, and her legs had left the floor for a moment, and her shoulders and head dangled dangerously off of the railing, but she didn’t fall. Hands had grabbed her biceps and pulled, just barely stopping her from falling. She tumbled to the floor in front of her and gasped for breath, the near fall having knocked all the air out of her. She heard other loud breathing in front of her too, which confused her. And so she looked up and met the eyes of the “something” that she had knocked into. A woman with long, black hair and a hand over her mouth sat before her, presumably having fallen back after grabbing Shuichis arms, and stared. They both looked at each other for a long minute, before the detective fully caught her breath and spoke up.

“Thank you. Oh my god thank you.”

She felt like curling up into a ball and crying. That was was so frightening. Shuichi could hardly hold herself together. She looked up at her elegant savior and watched as the other placed a hand over her heart and slowly caught her breath, still not uncovering her face. Through a muffled voice, the other mumbled.

“Yes, of course”

They stood there for another awkward moment. Staring at each other. Shuichi felt… uncomfortable. The woman in front of her was staring purposefully, and she felt as though she were being analyzed. She decided to go for the lesser of the two evils— awkward conversation or awkward staring— and started to talk.

“Hi, sorry, hi. I’m Shuichi Saihara. The man at the desk—”

“Kirumi?”

“Yes, I think, yes. Kirumi said to look for a Kiyo with maps? Is that you?”

The woman— who Shuichi was now very sure was the illusive Kiyo— slowly chuckled and stood up, offering one of her her hands, the one not over her mouth, to the other. The detective accepted, and as she stood up realized just how tall the other was, frighteningly so. It sent a shiver up her spine and left heat rushing in her face. She was so distracted with the others height that she hardly realized her hand being drawn to the woman’s face. She then, rather quickly, removed the hand from her mouth to gently kiss Shuichi’s —that sent even *more* warmth to the detectives face— and swapped them once again.

“I am, in fact, Kiyo, Korekiyo Shinguji, and I do, in fact, have maps. Do you need one?”

Shuichi felt her hand drop from Kiyo’s and, rather than a sense of relief from essentially finding her ride home, she almost felt sad that she had lost her excuse to stay. The coziness she felt whilst first entering was back in full force, and she felt warm and soft all over. She didn’t want to go back to the outside cold.

“Yes, I do. I’m lost. I think I live nearby, but I don’t know and I need help getting back.”

Her mouth twitched and her awkward attempt at a positive smile came back. Kiyo’s eyes crinkled and she could swear she heard a muffled laugh from under the others covered face. It made her feel ridiculous.

“Ill be back in just a moment. Please wait here, Saihara.”

Shuichi nodded, moving her hand to grab the railing so she wouldn’t fall. She missed the first time and slipped a little, but she grabbed it and leaned back comfortably soon enough. Korekiyo stared for a moment, seemingly waiting for her to be stable, and then twirled around and disappeared back among the shelves again. And so Shuichi was once more alone with her thoughts for the first time in a while.

She couldn’t help but stare and ponder. Kiyo moved so elegantly, so *carefully*, it was almost entrancing to watch. The gentle swing of her hair and the bend of her long body as she walked. And she was so sure about where she went. Was she here often? But the clerk— Kirumi, she now knew— said she left every day. Course, that means she was there every day. But he also said she traveled often, didn’t he? And who exactly owned this bookstore? Kirumi said “Welcome to *our* bookstore”, but did he mean his and Korekiyo’s, or his and someone else’s? Or was he maybe simply saying “our” as an employee working with the owners? Or maybe as an owner referring to the employees? But there didn’t seem to be anyone else working here. And why did she still feel she was being watched? Why did this place stick out so much? Was it maybe a marketing tactic, to stick out to attract more customers? But the shop was completely barren, and books were practically falling off the shelves, so did they not have many customers or did they just keep good stock? And if they didn’t have many customers, how come? Everyone working here, from what she had seen, was so charming and charismatic, so why—

Shuichi was suddenly—and quite literally— snapped out of her thoughts by Kiyo, who was now leaning towards her. The woman’s hand was now removed from her mouth, but it was replaced by a skintight mask. She felt a little disappointed, longing to see the others face, but settled for staring at the vague outline instead.

“Saihara, I’ve brought you a map. I had very limited ones for this town specifically, though, and this one is only in Spanish.”

She slowly lifted the map to Shuichis face, and waved it in front of her. She watched the map swish side to side as the other moved it, until she was able to concentrate again.

“Oh, right yes, right. Thank you.”

She took the map and opened it, deciding it would be best to maybe *not* tell Korekiyo the small, tiny insignificant detail that she maybe didn’t completely speak Spanish at all. She traced over the letters in the map and nodded slowly. She didn’t want to tell Kiyo she didn’t speak the language, that would cause so much more work for her and Kirumi, so she simply pretended she did. She looked up from the map at her, and then back to the map, and then up at her again, smiling. She couldn’t know for sure, but she could swear from the sharpness of her gaze and the hand on her cheek that she was being analyzed by Kiyo once more. She tried to give a more confident smile, but it still turned out wobbly. She watched as the others shoulders shook, and heard a slight chuckle in her voice as she spoke

“You don’t speak Spanish, do you?”

Her smile fell and she shook her head. Kiyo audibly laughed this time. She turned bright red from embarrassment. Kiyo held the top of the map for Shuichi and made direct eye contact with her.

“You’re purely adorable. I can guide you if you’d like.”

She, somehow, turned even more red, and slowly nodded. She wasn’t sure exactly what embarrassed her so much, whether is was the shame of needing extra help from Kiyo or being called adorable by a pretty, mysterious stranger she met not even 10 minutes ago. Kiyo had lured her in with her elegance and grace, and now Shuichi was completely willing and at ease. Was it concerning that she trusted her so fast? Maybe, but it wasn’t like she was befriending a serial killer or anything. Shuichi forced herself to nod more obviously.

“Yes. Yeah, yes. I’d like that. A lot.”

“Very well, I am ready whenever you would like to leave.”

Korekiyo let go of the paper and drew back. She was very confused at her response. Couldn’t she just write down the directions now? Whatever the case, she was exhausted and, as much as she liked being around Kiyo, she needed to rest. But she didn’t want to loose this place. She didn’t know the way, and she doubted she would remember it on her walk back home.

“Hey, Korekiyo?”

“You may call me Kiyo.”

“Right, Kiyo,Could you mark this place on the map for me?”

she focused on Kiyos eyes once more, noticing just how much gentler they were now, noting the soft flow of her fluttering eyelashes as she bore into Shuichi. She felt herself getting warm again.

“Ah, so content with this place you wish to visit again. How wonderful. I’d be more than happy to mark it for you, dear. Though I should probably mark down where you live, too.”

Korekiyo pulled down the top of the map again

“Now, where would that be?”

Shuichi unconsciously rattled off her new address, too distracted by the pretty eyes staring at her, and the fact those eyes had called her *dear*, to even pay attention to what she was saying. And then, Kiyos hand brushed her arm, which completely stopped her ability to concentrate on whatever she was saying, thinking or doing. She was much too flustered.

By the time she could focus again, she was walking down the sidewalk with the marked map in front of her, gloved hands tracing the directions and a humming voice in her ears. She shivered. It was cold. Luckily, though, she recognized the area. Barely recognized, but she *had* noticed specific houses that she had passed between her new house and her new office. Which meant she was nearly home. She felt a hand trace her bicep and pull her tight, pressing against someone. The voice mumbled in her ear once again

“Do not drift too close to the street, Saihara, stay near me.”

The moment she recognized the voice she turned straight red again. Not only was Kiyo walking her home, but she was holding her close, too. Extremely close. Pressed against her skin close. She nearly felt suspicious of Kiyo’s charm, her soft voice, charisma, and pretty face seemed too good to be true— let alone the fact she seemed to be *flirting* with Shuichi, especially so intensely and so soon after their first meeting—, but that suspicion disappeared instantly when she felt Kiyos hand drift from her arm to across her back, to her other arm, and down to her palm, gently lacing their fingers together. She bit her lip and blushed, looking up to watch Kiyo, who was staring from the side of her eye and fluttering her eyelashes once again. Her heart practically melted as she felt the woman squeeze her hand, suddenly thrusting it behind her, pulling Shuichi flush against her body once more.

She was practically skipping at this point, excitedly walking back home with their fingers tied up together, until Kiyo suddenly slowed and came to a halt.

“Is this your home, Saihara?”

She paused before answering. It was her home, yeah, but she had been enjoying their walk. She felt remorseful. She sadly muttered yes, and then decided to speak up.

“Hey, Kiyo, you wanna come in?”

“Desperately.”

Kiyo sighed

“Unfortunately, I must get back to the bookstore. I feel I should close up tonight, Kirumi’s restful nights are far and few in between, and I wish not to wake him for something so trivial as closing up shop.”

Shuichi was still partially out of it and, forgetting that they had no actual form of contact, responded with the first thing that came to mind.

“Oh, yeah, no, I get that. I get that completely just… tell me if you ever wanna visit or anything. Just let me know, I’ll set something up.”

Shuichi looked back at the others eyes and batted her eyelashes, hoping it had at least *partially* the same effect on Kiyo as it did on her. It seemingly worked, as she felt a squeeze on her hand and watched as Korekiyo softened her eyes and placed a hand over her chest. She could even swear she heard a little groan. Slowly, Kiyo lifted her head and looked over her shoulders. Shuichi was about to ask her what was wrong, but she was very suddenly caught off guard by a hand grabbing her chin. She felt as the other allowed their fingers to un-intertwine, and before she knew it there was warm breath on her skin and a slight damp spot on her cheek. She was, in all honesty, a little startled by the kiss. Not that she exactly disliked the idea of a pretty, mysterious woman fawning over her. It was simply a little surprising.

The moment Kiyo’s lips were off her she immediately felt remorseful. She almost felt the urge to pull her back in, but the pace they were at was already much *much* too fast, and she sure as hell wouldn’t squander actually getting to know Kiyo over an *urge* of all things. She was brought back out of her thoughts by a vibration against her neck, and thats when she realized Kiyo had moved just a *little* lower than her jaw.

“You’ll visit me at the bookstore, won’t you, my darling Shuichi?”

She fully flamed up again. She hadn’t realized how nice Korekiyo’s voice was without her mouth covered. It sent a shiver down her spine.

She sounded practically musical, rough and high with a low hum. Her voice was absolutely gorgeous.

“Yeah, yeah. Yeah, of course! I’ll go the next moment I have available. I swear that to you. It’s a beautiful store, you know. Absolutely beautiful.”

Her yammering was muffled by Kiyo’s shoulder. She’d been so distracted by the kiss and her voice that she had hardly noticed just how close they were. She tensed, very suddenly unsure about this. A complete stranger, one practically climbing on her, now had a map to her house, and she clearly had an easy way to melt her heart and get inside.

“Yes…wonderful.”

Slowly, she felt fingers prying open her hands. Soft paper slipped past her palm, and her fingers were gently closed around it once more. There was a slight shift by her and, in a few moments, Korekiyo was off of her completely with her mask back on and empty hands. She waved goodbye and twirled back around to, presumably, walk back to the store. Shuichi was left alone, right by her house, holding a map with two marks, a few translations, and a series of numbers left along the margin.

A series of numbers she was sure she would be calling.

[invcntions]

closed starter for @younqdrunk based loosely on this !

   there was only so long he could stew about it,  teeth chewing at the inside of his cheek as the mental image played on repeat.   normally he might have been able to fake better happiness for them   -   although the image of his best friend with someone else’s tongue in their mouth didn’t exactly make for an all too pleasant drive home as his fingers tapped uncertainly against the steering wheel,  brown eyes glancing across to the passenger seat as a soft clear of his throat eventually broke the silence.   “  you looked like you were having fun tonight?  ”   incase it wasn’t obvious he’d watched the whole thing. 

[multifandomslxt]

Just to be clear incase it wasn’t obvious

well 🧍‍♀️ as a reminder this blog is NOT a safe space for trump supporters but it IS a safe place for women, queers, trans ppl, people of color, undocumented people, and any marginalized group.

[caligulatism]

can’t remember if I’ve ever mentioned on this here but I am under the age of 18, a minor if you will, incase that wasn’t clear. I genuinely think my age is obvious because the language I be using but I’m saying just in case, you get me??

Goodbye brat summer and HELLOOOO hawk tuah summer!!!

[maerenee930]

had one of the weirdest but also one of the best dreams ever last night 🖤❤️💙

everything felt so real and intense.

it wasn’t bad lol.

just- some of the intense parts were very good 😏🙈🥰

but it also makes me kinda sad because it was just a dream, you know?

like even though it felt so real, it was kinda heartbreaking waking up and realizing that it was only a dream. 🥺😞

and like the chances of anything in the dream that made me so happy/felt so real and that i really wish could/would happen, is super unlikely to ever happen and would only be something that happens in my dreams. 😣😔

but damn, it all felt so real and so amazing! just- ugh!! my heart 😭🖤

when i have dreams like this, when i have dreams that feel this/so real, i’ve noticed that those are the dreams that in some way actually come true or actually happen.

and i really, reeeally hope that those parts that felt so real will actually happen and i truly hope that they happen soon 🥺🖤

i think about what things would be like if the things i’ve dreamt do or will actually happen, and i don’t ever think it’s going to be just absolutely perfect or that everything is going to be like all amazing all the time.

i think about it being real, tough, imperfect and that’s what i want.

i want the real thing.

i want things to be tough and imperfect. i want to have the tough times and to work through them with that person and learn and grow with them.

i want things to be imperfect and genuine and real. the tough times and the stupid little issues, make the good times and small little things/moments even better and more wonderful and more meaningful. 🥰

i don’t want things to always be “perfect” because if things were always “perfect” they wouldn’t be real or true or honest or genuine. and it doesn’t mean things would be good. it would just be boring, in my opinion.

also, i know no one likes tough times. i mean, i know i don’t.

but the tough times really do happen.

and the ups and downs of life are just apart of living and make things interesting.

doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good interesting lol.

it just means that things won’t get stagnant or always stay the same.

and things shouldn’t always be the same.

i want change and good and tough times and i want the ups and down with that person.

that’s all 😅🖤💙🥰

[scarletwinterxx]

Turning Page - Jaemin AU

Hi! this one took soooo long to write, apologies but it’s here! Thank you all so much for the continuous love and support you’ve shown my blog throughout 2021💛

For my other works you can check them out here, and for my other story series’ you can check them out here.

All works are copyrighted ©scarletwinterxx 2021 . Do not repost, re-write without the permission of author.

“...She’s your daughter. Even if it hurts atleast she would know, it’s worse than keeping it from her”

And when that day comes you will. You will tell her just how good a man her father is. How gentle and kind he is to everyone. How his smile is the same as hers and can brighten anyone’s day. How she got his eyes and why you can never say no to her just like you were with him.

“It isn’t the only truth I’ve been keeping, one day maybe I’ll get to tell that story”

He was like a myth, like a creature your imagination conjured and made into reality. To put it simply, he was too good to be true. Every time his presence is seen, expect a few or more than a few heads to turn his way. He was captivating like that. What made people more enamored with him is the fact that he doesn’t care about all the attention they give him.

You were no exception. Like everyone else you wanted to unravel the mystery that is Na Jaemin. Not in the way other girls might want to, you wanted to know why he was the way he was. You wanted to know his story. He was like a mystery you wanted to solve so badly. Like a book on the shelf waiting to be read.

And like any book out there, the story differs depending on who reads it.

He wasn’t a bad guy. He liked to keep his distance. Mostly kept his circle small. You’ve mostly kept clear from him, too shy to even approach. Already knowing he might just ignore you anyways if you even dare to try and talk to him. It’s part of his charm, most would say.

In a way you’re just like him, minus the popularity part. You blended with the crowd easily, and you liked it. There’s nothing more you hate than having everyone’s attention on you. So, in a way you get why Jaemin is the way he is.

But your friend thinks otherwise, he thinks it’s his sole duty to find you a boyfriend which you adamantly told him you need nor want at the moment.

“Yangyang, I swear to god stop setting me up with your friends” it’s the fifth time he tried giving your number to a someone he thinks would be a good match with you. He’s being annoying about it but you know it’s coming from a good place. He only meant well but it doesn’t mean it don’t annoy you.

“But this one’s different”

“You said that the last time, and the time before that and before that too”

He held his palms up in surrender, admitting he was in the wrong a couple of times. “Just this last one, I swear he’s a nice guy. Likes photography, a total homebody”

“You’re just describing me”

“No no I swear he’s the one, I swear on my first kid”

You shoot him a look while rubbing your fingers along your temple, feeling the headache coming in.

“Why are we talking about having a kid? We’re literally kids”

“Uh We’re 21 incase you’re forgetting. So is that a yes or a no?” Yangyang asks with his smile that makes him look like a little kid begging for a bag of candy “You already have it all planned, why are you asking me?”

“Consent is important, I know I’m being pretty pushy about this but it’s still up to you”

“I’ll say yes, under one condition” you told him, gathering your stuff on the table while your bestfriend anxiously awaits your next words “This will be the last one, after this no more blind dates”

“But-“ “Uh uh no, that’s my condition”

“Fine”

He meant well, he really did but Yangyang’s track record of finding the right guy for you is on the losing side. It’s obvious since you’re still single. Not that you’re looking for a serious relationship anyways.

Come the day of the date, Yangyang said you’ll meet with the guy in a café in town. You arrived there first but it didn’t look like someone was waiting for you. Every table was either occupied by two people or vacant. No one was sitting alone.

Except you.

It’s been two hours, you should’ve left the first hour but at that point your iced coffee was only halfway done and your date was nowhere to be seen. Besides, it’s not that weird to see a girl sitting in a café alone. So instead of leaving, you just sat there and enjoyed the afternoon by yourself.

“Uh excuse me, are you waiting for someone?” a girl asked you, making you look over from the window view

“Oh uhm-“ “There’s no other vacant seat for two people and my boyfriend and I kinda need the extra seat. I can’t help but notice you’re alone, mind switching seats over at the booth?” she said while pointing at the empty seat on the other side of the room.

Not knowing what to say, you just gapped at her for a few moments before someone spoke from behind her.

“Sorry babe, I’m late. I got caught up with my last class” at first you thought he was talking to the girl but then he took the seat beside you, then looked over at you with a smile.

You should’ve known.

That smile indeed had trouble written all over it. It made you want to write poems solely based on just how the sunshine was no match for how bright his smile was. How warm you felt while looking straight into his eyes as he stares back at you.

“Oh my god, sorry I thought she was alone”

“No, she isn’t” Jaemin answers, his attention still on you. You felt bad for the girl as you watch her scurry away.

“That was harsh” you mumble, not sure what else to say

“She was being rude” he countered, this time he looked over at the menu by the counter. Even though he’d probably order the same thing, Jaemin still read over the menu like he always does.

“She was on a date, I was just about to say yes before you swooped in and shooed her away”

“Well tell her you’re on a date too”

Good thing you weren’t sipping on your coffee or else you probably would’ve coughed it all back up.

Feeling your gaze on his, Jaemin turns to look at your dumbstruck expression. “You okay?”

“Do you even know who I am?” you ask him

“You’re Y/N, you took photography classes last semester didn’t you?”

“I did, how did you know that?”

“Your portfolio is still in our professors room, he shows it every now and then as reference. You’re really good” you didn’t expect him to say that, THE Na Jaemin just gave you a compliment.

“How did you know who I was?” he asked back

“You? Everyone knows who you are” you mumble, suddenly feeling a bit shy under his gaze. He’s a man of few words but his gaze said much more than his mouth did.

“Do they now?” Jaemin chuckles, it made you wonder if he’s just acting about not knowing how much everyone talks about him or if he’s unaware of it.

Whatever the real answer was, it’s evident he doesn’t like it.

“What are you doing here alone anyways?” he asks, changing the subject. You weren’t about to admit you just got stood up but the words were already out, “I got stood up”

“Well, lucky for me”

“Huh?”

“Lucky for me he didn’t show up. I’m sorry, he’s an asshole for ditching you but if he didn’t then I wouldn’t have the reason to talk to you” he tells you, again his intense gaze was on you and only you.

You’ve never had someone give you this much attention, you weren’t sure where to look or how to act.

“Me? You wanted to talk to me?” he chuckles at your innocent question, finding it adorable how you seem to not believe his words.

“If anyone asks tomorrow, just tell them you went on a date with me” Jaemin says, blinking back at him in confusion.

Everything happened so fast. One moment you were enjoying your coffee alone then the next you were going on dates with Jaemin. When Yangyang first heard about it, just like Jaemin said you did say you went on a date with him, he was surprised, confused and impressed at the same time.

“Dude, are you telling me you went out with Jaemin? Like Na Jaemin? On a date? With Jaemin?” Yangyang ask in disbelief, at first he thought people were making that issue up but then you rolled up at school the next day with Jaemin. He even held his car door open for you, saying a quick goodbye to you before walking the opposite way.

“It just happened”

“You don’t just go on dates with him, how the heck did that happen. Wait before you tell me, so the other guy didn’t show up?”

“No, and like I said that would be the last time I’ll let you set me up with anyone” you told him, “Looks like I don’t need to”

Then it became a routine, Jaemin will wait for you after class to drive you home or hangout. He’d pick you up in the morning, even on days he didn’t have the same schedule as yours.

“I thought you said you didn’t have any class today?” you ask him as you slide in the passenger seat of his car, your favorite coffee already waiting for you in the cupholder beside his own drink.

“I don’t, but I have this meeting I have to go to”

“Meeting?”

“Yea, outside campus. Don’t worry, I’ll come pick you up later” he sent you a sideways smile, enough to make your heart thump a beat harder.

“You know I can just take the bus or walk or take a taxi back home”

“I know, but then how will see you later?” you chuckle at his question, he hasn’t said straightout what his intentions are with you but Jaemin is a man of action rather than words.

“You can just see me tomorrow”

“Nope, can’t wait that long. I’ll see you later” too focused on him, you didn’t notice you already arrived on campus. You bid a goodbye to him, going about your day. And just like Jaemin said, he was indeed waiting for you in the parking lot after your last class for the day.

“How was the meeting?”

“Good, it was actually with an agency” that took you by surprise, Jaemin is a very private guy you didn’t expect from him to join that industry. “Oh like singing? Acting?” he chuckles at your question, you did look quite confused by his statement so he explained further.

It seemed that during his time after school have been occupied by these meetings, only recently did he finally decide to give it a try. An acting agency wanted to take him in after seeing him during one of your campus showcase. You were aware he’s been a part of few plays and he’s a really good actor. What you didn’t know was scouts were out and about ready to sign him.

“So, you’re like going be famous and all that” you mumble, still processing what he just told you.

“Not really, I’m just starting so who knows what will happen. Maybe it won’t even work out”

“Impossible, have you seen you? They’ll go feral for you” you joked, but instead of laughing at your comment he just looks over at you with a serious look on his face that makes you want to look away

“What?” you ask “Will that bother you? If by some chance I do get famous and all of this works out?”

“Why are you asking me? Isn’t that a good thing?” throwing back the question at him.

The truth is Jaemin wanted to know if you’ll be there with him when things change. From the very first time he talked to you, to the first time saw you on campus, and all the time you’ve spent together recently are moments near and dear to him. He really really likes you, it just sucks that now things might get more complicated.

“Only if you’ll still be here, there will be days I won’t get to drive you to and from home or be there to grab lunch for you. Or buy coffee for you in the morning”

You smile at his worries, it was silly but he looked so adorable. “I don’t mind, I like you because you’re you not because you do all those things for me”

“You like me?”

Oops. You totally didn’t mean to let that slip out. But Jaemin is already smiling at you, making you feel more flustered. “I mean I like you as a friend, I like hanging out with you” words were tumbling out of your mouth, making almost no sense even to you. Meanwhile Jaemin just smiles at you.

“No take backs, you already said it” he said then started the car to drive you home, “That wasn’t what I meant-“

“I like you”

That was the start of your relationship. And two of you were right, he did make it big immediately after his acting debut. He wasn’t even the lead and yet he stole the spotlight. Projects were already lining up for him left and right to the point that he had to halt during the second semester of university. He was right when he said he might not be there always to drive you home or come and pick you up but he was making effort to see you whenever he could.

Jaemin thinks he’s the luckiest guy to have you as his girlfriend. You understood the demands of his new life, you supported him every step of the way, you are his biggest and number one fan.

There are two downsides to his new life. One is it seems like all privacy are thrown out the window the moment he was introduced to the public. It felt like everyone wanted to know anything and everything about him. It almost felt suffocating and overwhelming, especially for him who was so used to keeping things private. Number two is that he can’t exactly say he has a girlfriend. His agency wasn’t against your relationship but they did advise him to keep it on the down low for awhile.

It’s not the easiest thing being under the limelight, with millions of eyes watching him every second of everyday there are precautions, steps and rules that must always be followed. But then again it was expected to happen since that very first audition he did. Jaemin knew from that moment he signed that contract that he will never have the same freedom again.

Your interactions with him in public became less frequent so as not to raise questions from the constant prying eyes on the rising new actor. It was hard on the two of at first. Jaemin wanted to be with you with no precautions but then remembers he can’t do that anymore. You remind him all the time, to be patient and that you can always be together in private when it’s just the two of you.

If I stared too long it would be bad, you were told.

If I looked at him too long there would be consequences, you were told.

We should only talk when other people are around or we would be in big trouble, you were told.

Taking a deep breath as you list all the things you were not supposed to do since you started going out with him.

It was dangerous, they told you.

People would never approve, they warned you.

Yet here you are, sleeping in his arms after a very long day. Encaged in his embrace, his skin radiating warmth you’ve been craving for so long. You don’t go out on dates anymore, too anxious someone might recognize him. He also doesn’t want to share you with the whole world just yet.

He’s fully aware of his growing fan base and he also knows not all of them will be understanding and kind enough to you. Which is why these past few months dates are mainly spent indoors, watching movies, cuddling, cooking for each other, baking sweets and just getting lost in each other while staying in your own little secure bubble.

“Can’t we stay in today?”

“I can’t you know I have that job interview” you answer while getting dressed, it took all of your will to leave the warm bed and Jaemin but you had something to do for the day much to your boyfriend’s dismay. “Plus, aren’t you having lunch with your parents?”

After being with him for a year, you’ve learned a lot about Jaemin. Once you started dating and getting more intimate with each other, he opened up to you more and more. He doesn’t have a good relationship with his dad, he rarely meets with him. His mom is busy with work which is why at such a young age Jaemin learned to be independent.

“Can I skip that?”

“No, you promised you’ll come. Tell me everything that happens when I get home, okay?” walking back to where he was still laying on the bed, leaning down to give him one last kiss

“I need to go, love you” you tell him, breaking the kiss first.

“I love you”

The job interview went surprisingly well, even though you were still a year away from graduating they still offered you the position. Elated with the good news you just received, you rushed back home to prepare dinner for you and Jaemin. He already sent a text to you that he’d be over some time this evening so you took some time for yourself.

When Jaemin got to your place, he looked like he had a long day. Something must’ve happened, you assumed. Opting to ask later and give him some space for now.

“I got the job” you said over dinner, “Really? That’s good. I’m proud of you, babe” he said, shooting you a smile

“Yea, they said there’s a big chance I can get a promotion as soon as I graduate and yea, for now I’m on a more flexible schedule” you tell him more about your day, sensing he’s still not ready to talk about his. After dinner Jaemin offered to clean up since you’re the one cooked for tonight. It’s a routine the two of you were used to, if one cooked the other one would clean after. Domestic but the two of you loved it. Yangyang jokes around saying the only thing left now is a ring and a baby then the two of you would look like the happily married couple.

“You’re smiling” Jaemin says from beside you, passing the plate over to you so you could put it away

“Just thinking about something Yangyang said” you chuckle just thinking about it again, Jaemin knows you and Yangyang are just bestfriend’s. He’s the one Jaemin looked for to ask more about you, your bestfriend was just excited to spill anything and everything, even going as far as offering Jaemin a date with you.

“What is it? The ring and a baby story?” this made you turn to look at him wide eyed

“How did you know about that?” you asked back, Jaemin chuckles at your expression. Noticing the blush slowly forming on your cheeks.

“Yangyang told me”

“That boy needs to learn to shut up, I swear every day I question where his loyalty lies”

“With you, he’s just happy seeing happy” Jaemin turns off the tap before wiping his hands in the apron he was wearing, the one you got him on your first anniversary. “And I’m the happiest when I’m with you. I don’t want you to feel pressured about marriage and babies. I know we’re still too young to be thinking about that” you tell him, also finishing the last of the clean dishes to put away.

Immediately Jaemin gathers you in his arms, placing you on the counter then standing between your legs getting eye level with you. Throwing your arms around his shoulder to pull him closer to you

“Would you want that with me?” he asks, staring intently at you

“Yes, I want that future with you. If you want it with me, too” then he was kissing you, he’s kissing you with so much passion. Like he was giving you all the answers through this kiss, he does want his future to be with you.

“You want to be with me, even when it gets hard?” he asks when the two of you broke apart. He knows it’s not easy being with him, the secrets, the sneaking around in private, the short time together.

“Even then” you answer surely, giving him another peck on the lips

“Even if I can’t be with you everyday? Or when everyone else says we can’t be together?” this is the Jaemin you don’t see a lot, the vulnerable one. The one who always asks if he’s worthy staying with, the Jaemin who was left alone as a kid and is now wondering if he’s even worth to love. He’s keeping his walls up, but you understand it’s because he’s trying to protect himself from getting hurt again. So hearing him ask you that, seeing him look at you like that breaks your heart a little.

He deserved all the love. The kind of love he doesn’t have to question. The love he can always be sure of.

“I’m not going anywhere, Jaemin. I don’t care what they say, if you say you want me here then I’ll be here. The rest of the world can try to take me away from you but I’ll never let them. Not as long as you want me”

Then he was kissing you again. Gathering you in his arms and taking you to your bedroom. It’s like each kiss was a breath of air and he was suffocating. He kissed you like he needed you. He needed you. Right then and there he vowed to never ever let anyone take you away from him.

For once in his life there’s someone who’s willing to stay. He’ll be damned if he let this chance pass and let you slip from his fingers.  

The next couple of weeks went by fast, you’ve fallen into a new routine after starting your job. Of course at first it was exhausting but once you got a hang of it you started to enjoy more and more. The downside was that your schedule is more packed, before you were ready with just about any time Jaemin says he’s free. But now you also have to consider your schedule, and there are very rare days that both of your free days meet.

“It’s stressing me the more I think about it” you rant to Yangyang about the recent small argument you had with Jaemin, you two are fine now but it still lingered in the back of your mind.

“If it’s bothering you this much then talk to him, why are you ranting to me?”

“Because obviously you’re here and he’s not, plus I don’t want to sound too needy” you glared at him, the guy opposite you throwing his hands up in surrender.

Yangyang is used to your little moodswings every month, he never takes it to heart. But he can’t help but notice you’ve been more aggravated and easily get mad recently. He also knows it won’t be smart to tell you about it, he won’t risk being punched in the gut again for calling you moody.

“You’re not being needy, you miss him” he tells you, making you feel some comfort. Jaemin’s starting a new drama soon that’s why he’s been very busy.

“Maybe I’ll call him later”

“That’s the spirit, now let’s get lunch”

At the mention of food, you can already feel yourself feeling a bit queasy. Guessing it’s probably because it’s almost that time of the month. “Not really hungry”

“What? You didn’t get anything for breakfast” Yangyang says, getting a bit worried since you skipped breakfast this morning. Usually, the two of you would get coffee and bagels at the café near campus but today you just got yourself your usual drink.

“Yea I don’t really feel like it today”

“Okay, well text me if you change your mind. I’ll be back”

The rest of the day, you were still feeling a bit under the weather so you decided to call it a day early. Good thing you didn’t have to work after school today. Also earlier you sent a text to Jaemin but he hasn’t responded yet, probably still busy on set.

To avoid getting scolded by Yangyang again and probably Jaemin when he hears you haven’t eaten yet, you prepared something simple for yourself for dinner. After cooking and cleaning up, you were ready to call it a night. Taking your phone to check if Jaemin has replied but he hasn’t so you opened your social media accounts just to pass some time.

At first it was just some random post and pictures but after a few more scroll, you came across a new headline. Your boyfriends name quickly climbing the trending list along with his new co-stars name.

It wasn’t new to you seeing him be rumored to be dating his co-star, he’s young, he’s attractive, he’s the hottest rising star. But this time it’s different. It looks like a paparazzi took the pictures of Jaemin and the girl. They were out at night, outside a convenient store.

They could’ve just been getting some snacks, totally normal but this is showbiz. People will blow this up out of context.

You didn’t even notice you’ve been staring at the screen too long because the next second Yangyang’s name was flashing on the screen, you answered quickly

“Did you see it?”

“I-“ still trying to process what you just saw “It’s probably not real, it’s not the first time they made it seem like it. His agency will probably soon release a statement. Have you talked to him yet?”

“No, it’s probably why he’s not answering”

He probably doesn’t know what to tell you. You thought.

“Hey, it’s okay. This is Jaemin. He loves you” you smile at your bestfriend’s attempt to comfort you “I know, I’ll talk to him”

“Don’t worry about it too much okay? Go get some rest” when you hung up the call, you hear someone typing the code on your door. Getting up from your bed you already expected to see who it was.

“Hi” you say, catching Jaemin off guard. He was just about to take his shoes off

“You’re still up, it’s a bit late”

“I was waiting for you”

“Sorry, I didn’t reply. It got a bit hectic after taping then my manager took me back to the agency for a short meeting”

“I know, I saw the news”

“Oh”

Was that all he could say? Did he hope you haven’t seen it?

It’s so different from all the times before whenever news like this pops up. Usually, he would immediately tell you it’s not true, which you already know, and he would assure you that he’s team is on it and will release a statement about it being a lie.

This time it seemed like he’s at lost for words.

“Are you okay?” you ask him, still standing by the hallway of your bedroom

“You’re asking me if I’m okay? Shouldn’t I be the one asking that? I heard you weren’t feeling okay today”

“Just feeling a bit under the weather. The girl, she’s your new co-star right?”

“Yes, did you eat dinner? Should I make some soup for you?”

“Thanks but I already ate. So, are they going to release a statement about it?”

This time Jaemin didn’t return a question or answered yours. He just stood there, looking everywhere but you

“Jaemin?”

“They said it will be good for the show to let the fans think something’s going on between us”

You don’t know what you’re supposed to say, you’ve never been in this position before. Jaemin has always been on your side, but this time it seems like he might not be.

“What did you tell them?” you asked, you hated how your voice sounded so small. Like you’re so scared. You didn’t want to show him that, not right now.

“No, I said I didn’t like it but they still went with it. They said I should just go with it”

“Are you mad?” Jaemin asks, not taking a step towards you. He still kept a good distance and you hated it. It’s like he’s already distancing himself from you.

“No”

“You can tell me if you are, I understand. Please don’t shut me out, I’m still your boyfriend. I’m still yours. Don’t let them make you think otherwise” he tells you, finally taking a few steps closer to you until he was standing right infront of you.

“I was just surprised, I’m not really sure what to do”

“Hey, look at me. We can do this, as long as we’re together right?” he smiles at you, holding your face gently between his hands.

One smile from him is enough to wash all the worries away. He’s right. As long the two of you are together, it will be okay. You trust him.

You crash into him, hugging him tight against you. Jaemin smiles as he feels you bury yourself deeper on his chest. Kissing the top of your head, gently swaying the two of you.

“Did you get a new shampoo?” you ask him, voice muffled against his neck. Chuckling at your random question, “No, I got it washed at the shop today”

“I hate it, I knew it smelled different”

“Noted, I’ll use my own shampoo next time”

Just like that, things were okay again. The calm before the next storm.

It was like the two of you were threading different chapters of your life, some days it feels like you’re not even reading the same book much less on the same page. It was scary how distant the two of you were getting but neither of you were willing address the elephant in the room. Neither one of you were willing to let it go just yet.

And you love him for that, you love him for trying even when it’s gets tough. He loves you for staying with him through everything.

“You know I hate to say this and you probably will hit me if I say it, but you’re being more snappy than usual” Yangyang tells you as he watches you type on your keyboard loudly, like you were trying to projection your frustrations on the computer in front of you

“Maybe you’re being more annoying than usual”

“Okay first, see that’s what I’m saying and number two I’ve barely said a word. Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?” he asks, times like this you realize just how thankful you are to have a friend like him. Even on your worst days, even when he’s on the receiving end of it Yangyang always make sure to check up on you.

“No, I’m fine. It’s just I have a list of things I need to do but I’ve had this headache coming and going, plus work is kicking my ass. Also, not to mention I haven’t seen my boyfriend for the past 3 weeks. Everything’s great, everything’s going the way I don’t want them to. Every second feels like a ticking time bomb, and I'm just here waiting for it to go off and I'm so frustrated that I can’t do anything right it and like I don't even have a grip on my own life… so yeah I… I'm not OK”

“I think the time bomb just went off” he mumbles, gently pulling the laptop over to his side. Quickly saving your work before shutting it off. “You need a break”

“I need to finish that paper” you protested but you know he’s right

“It can wait, you’re one sentence away from a total meltdown. What you’re going to do is take the night off, eat dinner, rest, just don’t worry about anything just for the night because if I’m being totally honest you look like life kicked you a few times” Yangyang tells you, finally convincing you to call it a day.

The two of you were walking outside campus when suddenly you asked your bestfriend,

“Should I just breakup with him?”

Yangyang looks over at you, surprise written across his face.  He knew that you and Jaemin were going through a rough patch but he didn’t expect you to ask him that.

“Are you asking me for relationship advice?”

“Yeah I know right, I’ve officially hit an all time low” you joked, bumping shoulders with him

“Follow your heart I guess. Does that sound lame?”

“No, kind of. I mean even if I do, I’m not really sure what my heart wants right now”

“Word of advice, words you’ve told me yourself: choose what will make you happy because at the end of the day…” “I’ve got no one but myself” you both finish the sentence.

Tonight, you texted Jaemin. Reading back the messages you’ve sent to him, this time you couldn’t stop the tears from flowing.

So this is what it feels like. To have your heart break. To know you’re about to lose that very important person in your life. But you had to do it, because you know he never will. You hate to be the one to break his heart but you’re doing it for the both of you.

Unlike the messages before, Jaemin knew this time it was different. It felt like a goodbye almost. He knew even without words that you were about to do what he’s been fearing doing. But he understood completely. So after work, even if he’s very tired and want nothing but crash on his bed and drift off, he drove over to your place to talk.

When you opened the door for him, he knew.

Your smile didn’t reach your eyes. You looked at him with sadness he’s never seen before.

“Hi” you greet him, motioning for him to step inside

“We should talk” you say, not even waiting for him to take his coat off.

“I know” Jaemin mumbles, looking down at his feet.

Why is this so hard? This isn’t the first time he had his heart broken but this one, this one hurtS the most. You haven’t even said the words yet.

“Jaem?” you call out to him, “Yeah?”

“Are you okay?” he smiles sadly at your question, he doesn’t deserve you.

“You’re the one who doesn’t feel okay and you ask me that?”

“You look like you’re about to pass out” you answer, noticing the dark circle under his eyes

“Just tired, is that what we’re here to talk about?”

Ouch. He sounded like he wanted to rush right into it.

“We should break up”

There it was. The breaking point. The final chapter of the book he wasn’t ready to finish yet.

“I’m not breaking up with you because I’m mad or I feel neglected. I’m doing this because I don’t want you to be torn between me and your job” you say, “and before you say we can do this, we can fight for us. Right now we can’t do that, we gotta choose the battles we fight. We can’t win them all. I can’t lose you while trying to keep you”

Jaemin just stares back at you while you speak, “Will you be okay?” he asks when he finally found his voice again

“I will be. I’m in no place to ask you of this, but can you promise me you’ll take care of yourself? No skipping meals, drinking your death coffee or staying up for 4 days straight. Don’t do it for me, do it for you” you tell him, smiling gently at the boy who’s holding your heart at the palm of his hands.

“Can I ask one favor, too?” nodding along at his question “Can I hug you?”

Then you were walking towards him, crashing straight into his arms.

One day you’ll probably fall in love again but never this way. You almost break into tears just thinking about this being the last time you get to hold him like this.

It felt like a bittersweet ending. A book you’ve loved reading and now you’ve reached the ending. You wish his and yours’ story ended differently but life needs to go on, the world will still turn, you’d need to turn the page of the next book.

 Picking up the scattered markers on the table along with the pieces of paper with messy drawings, it’s hard to keep the place clean when you live with a 4 year old.

“Eunbi! You said you’ll help clean or else no dessert for you”

You hear the pitter patter of her feet behind you, quickly running around the room to pick up the toys

“Are they coming tonight?” her cute voice asks, “Yes, so you need to clean”

“Can I stay up late?”

“You have school tomorrow”

“But-“ she was cut off when the door bell rang, “Can you put this away, I’ll get the door” you tell her, pointing at the mess of books on the table.

“I’m not getting any younger here!” you hear Yangyang’s voice from the other side of the door, “I heard you, we were just cleaning” opening the door to come face to face with your bestfriend

“I come bearing gifts, oh and Renjun’s here too” the other guy waving at you from behind him. Renjun is Yangyang’s roommate and the only other person he hangs out with if he isn’t over at your place annoying you. And because of that, you became the unexpected trio.

“Where’s the little bunny? There you are! Oh wow are you cleaning?” Yangyang jokes, making the little girl laugh and run over the two guys. Giving them both warm hugs.

“Did she say no dessert for you again?” Renjun asks, “Hey, it’s a good bargain” you answer while Eunbi nods at her uncles

“That’s child labor, told you it’s better to sleep over at ours. Right, Eunbi?” the little girl just nods along, totally agreeing with the other two.

“Before we chat some more, how about we get some dinner first then one movie” looking over the little girl who was already jumping up and down in excitement,

“Can I pick the movie? Please please please” she says, flashing you her adorable eyes you could never say no to. Hearing your friends chuckle on the side, already knowing you were going to say yes even though it’s a school night.

After dinner and the movie, which Eunbi didn’t finish because she fell asleep in the middle of it, the two helped cleaning up before going home.

“Any plans for her birthday?” Renjun asks, even though you’ve met him much later than your bestfriend he’s still someone you trust as much as Yangyang. If Yangyang is the one to lighten the modd during serious situation, Renjun would be the one saying words of wisdom to encourage you.  

“Maybe take her out to the amusement park, she’s been asking to go. Or the aquarium. She’s still torn between the two” you say

“She still doesn’t want a big party?” Yangyang asks, the little girl was never a fan of big crowds so she never asked for a birthday party. A very shy kid. You’ve always kept it simple for her.

“Nope, you know her. She hates it when the attention is on her”

“Wonder where she got it from” he jokes, probably you. You always kept things private. Especially after having Eunbi, only your closest friends aka Yangyang and Renjun have stayed connected with you.

You didn’t mind though, it was peaceful. Less complicated. The last thing you wanted in your life were judging eyes and unwanted opinions about being a single mother at such a young age. You already get weird looks whenever they hear that you’re Eunbi’s mom and not her babysitter, it only gets worse when they learn you’re single mom. A stigma you hated the most.

You’d like to believe you’re doing good. You’ve done a good job at raising your child alone. She’s kind, respectful, smart. You’re proud of yourself for raising her to be the amazing little lady she’s turning out to be.

Those who dare to ask about her father only gets a smile and shake of your head for an answer. That conversation you’re only willing to have between you and your daughter, one day when she’s old enough to ask about him. You weren’t going to keep him a secret.

He isn’t the bad guy in this story, the big bad wolf who ruined the day. He’s the opposite. He’s like this enchanting character in your story. Once a part of your story but not anymore.

You’ve been preparing for the day she asks you those questions: who’s her father? Where is he? Why was he never around?

Come the day of her birthday. The big 5. You already feel emotional just thinking about your little girl turning 5 already. Where did the time go? It feels like yesterday she was a little bundle in your arms, now she’s slowly turning into her own person.

Eunbi did end up choosing the aquarium to go to on her birthday. You planned to go there on a weekend then dinner with Yangyang and Renjun, arguably her favorite humans in the entire world.

“Uncle Yangyang said he got me a gift, Uncle Renjun too” she excitedly says while you walk around the aquarium. Looking at the fishes swimming around, the look of astonishment in her eyes.

You love watching her discover the world, her little brain processing just how wide the world is, how enchanting it could be. As you watch your daughter who was excitedly pointing at the different kinds of fishes, you can’t help but think of him. She got his eyes, his smile, his nose. Even though you haven’t seen him in years, you have a reminder of just how he looks like.

A little part of him you get to keep for the rest of your life.

Jaemin hasn’t had a day off in a while. Today, instead of staying in his apartment he chose to go out for change. It’s a challenge, going out in public without getting recognized. That’s why he’s here in the middle of the dolphin room clad in a mask and cap that cover his face. Only his eyes could be seen. He thought it’ll be too weird to wear glasses indoors.

While watching the creatures infront of him, something or someone bumped on his leg making him look down.

A pair of eyes already looking up at him.

It was weird. He has never met this little girl ever in his life but he felt this familiarity while looking into her eyes. He’s seen those eyes before, he’s not just sure where.

“Oops sorry” she bows her head in apology, making Jaemin smile at her action. She looked young but she already knows her manners.

“It’s okay, just be careful. You might fall over if you don’t look at where you’re going” he tells her gently, pulling his mask down so as not to intimidate the little girl.

“I was just watching that dolphin over there” she says then points infront of them, Jaemin’s eyes following the direction to see a baby dolphin following her mother.

“The baby dolphin?”

“Yea! She’s like me and mommy” at the mention of her mom, something changed in her expression. Realizing she lost her mom in the crowd, Eunbi looks around hoping to find you.

Jaemin realizing the situation immediately crouched down to comfort the little girl “Hey don’t worry, we’ll find your mom. Where did you last saw her?”

“By the jellyfish”

“Okay, I’ll come with you” she was unsure at first, her mom did tell her not to talk to strangers and if ever she gets lost she should just stay in one place until she finds her again. “Mommy told me not to come with strangers”

Jaemin smiles, respectful and smart. Her mother did good raising her daughter.

“And she’s right. You shouldn’t go with strangers. I’m Jaemin, Na Jaemin. If you don’t want to walk with me, I can wait here with you. I’m sure your mom is close by” he offers, pointing at the vacant benches.

“I’m Eunbi” she says, bowing her head again. “Okay Eunbi, we’re friends now”

You weren’t that alarmed yet, you know Eunbi’s a smart kid. She’ll know what to do when she get’s lost in a crowd. What you didn’t expect was to find her sitting with a stranger. Chatting like they’ve known each other for years.

She’s a shy kid, it was new to you seeing her be so animated and excited to someone she’s never met before.

“And my uncles got me gifts too, we’ll open them later” you catch her saying, walking up towards her and calling her name out. The little girl turns her head before dashing towards you, “Mommy! You found me!” she says when she crashes straight into your open arms

You hug her close to you, picking her up to carry her. Not going to lie, it did scare you a bit.

But she’s safe.

Turning to look at the man she was just talking to, about to thank him for keeping her company. You almost lost your hold on your daughter.

There Jaemin stood, too stunned to speak when he saw who Eunbi ran to. Calling out to her mother, you.

You’re Eunbi’s mother. You have a kid. You looked just as beautiful as he remembers.

Are you married? Is Eunbi really your daughter? How have you been? Who’s her father? These are the questions running in Jaemin’s mind but he couldn’t find the words to say.

Just like him you were left speechless. Eunbi asked to be put down and introduce you to her new found friend, “Mommy, this is Jaemin oppa. He helped me find you again!” she excitedly says, not aware of the tension between you and Jaemin.

“Y/N” hearing your name come out from his lips it’s like a bucket of ice water was poured on you. Looking around to see if anyone recognizes him.

“Thank you for helping my daughter, Eunbi say thank you. We need to go” you hurriedly say, then walking the opposite way with your daughter. Not even giving Jaemin a chance to speak again.

Then he was running after you. He can’t let you slip away again, not this time. Maybe this is fate telling him this is the second chance he’d been wishing for. Another chance with you.

He spot you across the parking lot, calling out your name catching your attention. Eunbi is already inside the car, you should’ve booked it but Jaemin got to you faster.

“Y/N, can we- can we talk?”

“Talk about?” you ask, turning around to face him.

You’re not going to lie, he looked good. He was always enchanting to look at but after years of not seeing him in person, you’re suddenly reminded of just how handsome he is in real life.

“Just to catch up”

“We have a dinner to get to, sorry”

“Can I get her anything then? I can run over a café to get her a cake or something” he offers, anything to get you to stay a little bit longer.

“Why?” you asks, “Eunbi mentioned it’s her birthday, I just want to be a good friend”

Friend, you chuckle at the thought.

“Jaemin, we’re not… We’re not friends. I shouldn’t even be here talking to you” he was surprised to hear those words from you.

Did you hate him this much?

“People might recognize you and I don’t really want the attention on us. On her. I hope you understand” oh, of course. He does understand. In that moment he understood you’re not doing it for you, you’re doing it for her.

For your daughter.

There are a lot of times he regrets ever choosing this field of work. He already lost you, the love of his life, now he can’t even be your friend.

“Yea, of course. I’m sorry” he says, taking a step back.

“Thank you for keeping her company, she usually doesn’t wander around but she’s excited to be here so yea” you say, “We need to go, again thank you” you tell him then you got in your car.

For the rest of the day you tried not to look distracted. It’s your daughter’s birthday, this should be about her. You made her favorite dishes for dinner, got her the chocolate cake and opened gifts from your family and friends.

It seemed like fate isn’t done playing with you yet because you bumped into Jaemin again, this time you couldn’t say no to him when he asked you out for a cup of coffee.

The two of you found an almost empty park, a bit of privacy. He can sense you weren’t comfortable bein seen with him in public.

You two started with a light talk then he was asking how you’ve been. The only reason you’ve stayed updated about him is because he’s a public figure, he’s literally everywhere. Even if you don’t want to ask about him, he’ll still show up somewhere. On screen. But still. It’s like Jaemin never really left.

But you, he hasn’t heard from you since you broke up. He just wanted to catch up and get to know you again,

“If you don’t mind me asking, you can totally choose to ignore this question if you want. Are you with Eunbi’s father?” Jaemin asks, he hope he didn’t sound too desperate or like he’s trying to invade your privacy. He did notice you weren’t wearing any rings, safe to assume you’re not married or engaged but he could be wrong.

It seemed comical hearing those words from him. For years you’ve kept the identity of Eun-bi’s father to yourself and a few others who knew what happened. Nobody questioned it. You never entertained questions about it. It was a discussion you were only willing to open with your daughter one day when she asks about him.

But here Jaemin was, asking the ultimate question. The one question you’ve been dreading to answer if he were ever to ask you because you were too afraid if he hears the answer he’d runaway again.

“No”

He technically didn’t ask who the father was, he just asked if you were with him. One step at a time.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry in your business”

“It’s okay, I just don’t really ever talk about”

“Was he ever present in Eun-bi’s life?”

You wished he was, it would have been great if your daughter had a father figure in her life. Or if she got the chance to meet her real dad. But you messed up that chance for her.

“Not really, he never knew about her”

Jaemin felt sorry for the guy, after meeting Eun-bi he already can’t help but be enamored with the little girl. She was like a little ray of sunshine in everyone’s life, especially yours. That much Jaemin could see. He sympathizes with the man for wasting such a chance to be a part of your lives; Eun-bi and yours.

“Well he just wasted his chance, Eun-bi’s a great girl. You’re doing an amazing job being her mom” he tells you, words of encouragement you’ve heard many times but still can’t seem to believe. Of course you’re trying your best for your daughter but even then you still feel like it isn’t enough.

“Thank you, I’m trying to be the best for her. I’m just scared when the day comes and she asks about him, I wouldn’t know what to say”

“The truth. She’s your daughter. Even if it hurts atleast she would know, it’s worse than keeping it from her”

And when that day comes you will. You will tell her just how good a man her father is. How gentle and kind he is to everyone. How his smile is the same as hers and can brighten anyone’s day. How she got his eyes and why you can never say no to her just like you were with him.

“It isn’t the only truth I’ve been keeping, one day maybe I’ll get to tell that story”

It’s been days since then, Jaemin can’t seem to shake your words out of his mind. Like you wanted to say something to him but couldn’t. He can’t focus on reading his lines, he’s tried a few times but always seem to lose his focus and his thoughts drift back to you.

Getting himself another cup of coffee to help him feel more awake, he made his way to the kitchen. Waiting for the coffee maker to finish brewing, it’s like he had an epiphany in that exact moment.

It isn’t the only truth I’ve been keeping.

Good thing he wasn’t holding anything or else he might have dropped it.

His thoughts getting even more cluttered, if what he’s thinking is right then that would only mean one thing.

Eun-bi is his.

He’s Eun-bi’s father.

He is a father to a child, your child.

Not wasting one more second, he tracked down the one person who would know the answer.

“Is she mine? Am I Eun-bi’s father?”

Yangyang was in his studio, just like Jaemin expected. If anyone would know the answer, it would be your bestfriend. But it’s clear where Yangyang’s loyalty lies so he might not get the answer he needed from him.

“Why are you asking me that? Shouldn’t you ask Y/N?”

“Yangyang, please”

“It’s not my place to say, go talk to her if you want to know” Yangyang was taken by surprise why Jaemin would suddenly burst in his studio and ask about you and Eunbi.

You did mention that the two met but you didn’t say anything about this.

“All these years, was she hiding Eunbi from me?”

“Again, not my place to answer. But just so you know, everything she did, she did it for Eunbi. Y/N’s not the bad guy here, she’s just being the best mother for Eunbi”

And you are. You are the best mother. Jaemin didn’t need to hear it but he already knew why you did what you did. If his assumption turns out to be true, it means he has a daughter. The media would have a field day with that. People would not only be after you but also her.

You did it for her. You didn’t want her to grow up in the world that took him away from you.

Yangyang didn’t tell him anything else but he did give your address to him, after a few friendly threats of course. Yangyang would always pick your side. Jaemin is glad to know someone was there to keep an eye out for you.

The last person you expected to see at your front door was Na Jaemin, your eyes almost popping out if its sockets. Even when he’s sporting the same mask, cap and glasses combo you can already tell it’s him.

Quickly pulling him inside before looking across the hall to see if anyone saw him.

“What are you doing here? Are you crazy? Someone could’ve followed you!” you tell him, lightly hitting him on the arm. Your eyes widening upon realizing what you did, an action you used to do back when you were dating

“Sorry” you mumble

“No, I deserved that. I think” Jaemin says, looking at you wide eyed after you all but literally pulled him into your apartment. He thought it would be much harder than this.

“Why are you here, Jaemin?” you asked, straight to the point.

“Am I Eunbi’s father?”

You had to hold yourself against the wall or you would crash down on the floor. That was not what you were expecting.

“Where the hell did you even get that idea?” you whisper shouted, looking across the hall towards your daughter’s room. She was currently doing some school works in there, hoping that she can’t hear the two of you.

“Well a few things, she’s five right? The last time we saw each other was almost 6 years ago so I did the math. Also, let’s be honest we weren’t always that careful” you almost hit him then and there but you hear Eunbi calling out for you

“You couldn’t have picked a worse time to have this talk, it’s a school night” you sarcastically asked, hearing Eunbi call for you again “Yes bunny, I’m coming”

“Bunny?” Jaemin asks, already finding the nickname adorable. “She likes bunnies”

“You hate them though” he mumbles, rolling your eyes at him. Not really sure where this conversation is going.

“Guess she doesn’t take after me”

“Then who does she take after?” he asks, turning around again to face him to say your answer. He got you cornerned.

He was looking at you like he already knew what the answer was but he needed to hear it from you. Jaemin needed to hear you say Eunbi’s his.

“You, Jaemin. She takes after you. You’re her father. There now you know. I don’t have the time to explain right now when our five-year-old daughter is in the other room and can walk in on us having this talk when she doesn’t even know you’re her dad” staring straight back at him, this was not how you imagined telling Jaemin about your child. It also occurred to him that he’s not the only one who was left out of this secret.

“Mommy” Eunbi says, hearing her footsteps getting closer, “Shit, gosh okay you keep it sealed okay. I will tell you everything you want to know after bedtime. Please Jaem” he hasn’t heard you call him that in years, and boy did he miss it.

“Okay” Jaemin agrees, just in time for Eunbi to spot him “Jaemin oppa!” she says excitedly, he felt a little pang in his chest. Happy that she remembers him but sad that they only got to meet until recently.

He missed so much of her life. Her first words, her first steps, so many birthdays and milestones Jaemin wished he was a part of.

“Hi, Eunbi. I bought you late birthday present. I heard you like bunnies” Jaemin says, crouching down to meet the girl’s eyes and giving her the bunny plush toy he brought.

Now he knows why her eyes looked so familiar. He has seen those eyes every time he looked in the mirror. They looked just like his.

“Thank you! I love it, mommy’s a bit scared of them but I think they’re cute” he could listen to her little voice all day, how he wish he was there to hear her little baby cries, baby mumbles and first words.

“I like them too, maybe we can go see them some other day. Only if your mommy is okay with it” he says while looking over at you, “Mommy can I go? Please please please” it’s like two same pair of eyes were looking at you. It never occurred to you just how much they looked alike until now that they’re sitting next to each other.

She really is Jaemin’s daughter.

“Okay, but not on a school day okay”

“Okay” Eunbi says, already excited about this trip. You envy her innocence, she doesn’t even know about the tension in this room. Between you and her father. There were still a lot to talk about but for now your attention is on your daughter, Jaemin being the same.

It’s like he can’t keep his attention off of her. You can’t blame him though. This must be a lot for him to process.

After you finally put her down to sleep. You walk back to the kitchen to see Jaemin tidying up the dishes, “You don’t have to do that, you’re a guest here”

“It’s okay” he smiles at you, silence falling between the two of you.

“I don’t really know where to begin. I wasn’t expecting this now” you gestured over to him, “and I’m sorry for barging in like that” Jaemin replies

“You deserved to know. I just wanted to do the best for her” you tell him, “I know, I would too. I only discovered she’s really my daughter a few hours ago but I would anything for her”

Smiling back at him, you knew he would. You didn’t doubt that he would be a good dad. Jaemin is a good man, he’s kind, gentle and so full of love. It’s just the world he’s living in is too chaotic for you and your daughter. It isn’t the kind of environment you wanted to raise her in.

“Did you know about it when we broke up?” Jaemin asks you

“No, I was feeling shitty after the break up and felt sick for a while. I assumed it was because I was literally crying all the time and ran on 3 hours of sleep but turns that was actually pregnancy symptoms”

“I’m so sorry” he sincerely apologized, feeling guilty for not reaching out to you sooner. If only he had the courage to ask about you, then maybe he would have known what happened.

“For? You don’t have to apologize to me, Jaemin. You didn’t do anything wrong” you tell him, “No, I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. I wish I could’ve been” he says

“By the time I confirmed it, your drama already launched. Everyone’s eyes were on you. I didn’t want to jeopardize your career”

“That’s bullshit, you know I would choose you and the baby. You know I will” you did. That’s why you chose to keep it a secret from him. You can’t let him give up his life just like that.

“I know, but I loved you too much to hold you back. So I decided to do it on my own, and one day when she asks about you I will tell her the truth” while the two of you have the talk, you also passed the photo albums of Eunbi from since she was born. You tried to capture as much as you can so you could look back to it one day, maybe even share with Jaemin. Now he’s here, sitting across from you looking fondly at each photograph of his daughter.

“Has she ever asked about her dad?”

“Sometimes, when there are school events all the kid’s parents are there she would ask” he could hear the hint of sadness in your voice.

“What would you say to her?” he is genuinely curious what you tell Eunbi about her father, about him. Does she hate him? Does she think her dad doesn’t want her?”

“That you’re busy with work. It sounds crazy but every Christmas and birthday I would get her a gift and say it’s from her dad. I wasn’t sure until when she was going to buy it but yeah, her favorite toy always ends up being whatever she thinks you sent her”

Jaemin wanted to be mad, not sure who he’s mad at, he wanted to cry, to weep for the years he missed in his own daughter’s life.

“I wish I was there for her” he whispers.

“You could be, I’m not gonna stop you from being a part of her life. All I’m going to ask is she’ll always be safe. I know not everyone will be accepting the fact that you have daughter, people will be very critical towards her and probably me. I just need to know you’ll choose her, I don’t want her to know you only for you to disappear in her life.”

This isn’t about what you want, this isn’t about you or him at all. This is about your daughter, her safety, the safety of her future. She comes first above everything else. She always has ever since you discovered her existence and now Jaemin feels that too.

He would do anything and everything to keep his daughter safe. His own little human. A human he made with you. He can’t help but feel in awe of you for creating her, bringing her into this world by yourself and raising her to be a good kid.

“How do I tell her I’m her dad? Would she even like me?” you can’t help but chuckle at how genuinely worried Jaemin looked

“One step at a time, and no she doesn’t hate you. She has the biggest heart, always ready to give all the love. Just like her dad” you smile at him, serving some comfort over the worried father.

“Can I… can I see her again tomorrow?” Jaemin asks, Eunbi is his as much as she is yours. But the little girl doesn’t know about him yet and he didn’t want to overstep boundaries.

But you just shoot him another smile, one he missed seeing.

“Of course. You can be a part of her life, Jaemin. She’s yours too. But please, if you do decide to tell her I hope you stay forever. I don’t want this to be temporary thing”

He wanted to tell you that he’s not going anywhere. Not this time around. He wanted to tell you he’s staying not only by Eunbi’s side but also yours. It was too soon to say and there’s still a lot of things the two of you need to talk about, for now he keep the words ‘I missed you’ to himself.

It felt like Jaemin was living a secret life, but if that is what it takes to be with his daughter and you then it will be worth it. Even after a very long tiring day, if he can’t come over at yours he would facetime with Eunbi to ask about her day. The little girl excitedly tells him about what she did at school, the pictures she drew, what she had for dinner.

You can see just how happy Eunbi is having a father figure in her life. Jaemin haven’t said anything about it nor brought that up again, you let him tell her in his own time.

Of course you can’t shake the fear in your mind. Fear that one day you might lose Jaemin again, not only you but Eunbi most importantly. She’s still too young to understand the world Jaemin is in, how complicated it would be if people knew. But you wanted your daughter to have a father. And Jaemin wanted to nothing more but be a dad to his daughter.

“So you’re telling me, he just casually hangs out with the two of you?” Yangyang asks

“You’re making it sound weird”

“Are you like back together again?” you almost spit your drink back out with his question. Up until now you haven’t given that a thought. You were too busy focusing on Eunbi to even think about it.

Curse Yangyang for putting in front and center in your mind now. “No, don’t make it weird”

“I’m not making it weird! So you’re saying your totally single baby daddy hasn’t made a move on you?”

“See now you just made it weird” you sneered at him, as far as you know Jaemin is indeed single but that doesn’t mean he’s interested.

“And don’t call him baby daddy, please.”

“You just did” he teased you, you almost threw your mug at him. Eunbi was still at preschool and you mostly work at home. On your free time, you sometimes go out with your two friends or just find something to do by yourself.

“Eunbi doesn’t even know yet. Jaemin’s not sure how to break the news to her”

“I think she’ll understand, she already loves him” you smile at that, you can see what he meant. Every time the father daughter duo hangs out its like they’ve known each other for so long, they are one and the same.

“And you, do you understand how you feel about all of this?” he asks you, “Honestly? No. I’m not sure what I’m even doing. I’m freaking out on the inside, like what would happen if people find out or what if Jaemin suddenly realizes he doesn't want to be in Eunbi life’s? I don’t want her to get her hopes up for nothing”

“This isn’t the past. You’re not in the same place as you were, if he wants to be in yours and Eunbi’s life I believe he’ll make a way”

After that conversation with Yangyang, the memories you had with Jaemin just resurfaced more and more in your mind. You can’t help but wonder how different it would have been if he was around, if he was there during your pregnancy, when Eunbi was born, when she took her first steps or on her first day of daycare.

“Mommy, mommy look I drew this picture. It’s me, you and Jaemin” you’re not sure why but suddenly you feel the tears coming, but you fight them back.

“Did you draw this?” you ask her, looking at the drawing “Yes, it’s when we went to see the dolphins. Can we go there again?”

“Sure, baby”

“Can Jaemin come with us?” you just smile in reply to her, feeling very emotional just hearing how much she adores him. If she only knew who he really is.

“Hey baby, what do you think about Jaemin?” you ask her, Eunbi is very eloquent for her age. It’s always fun to have a very serious conversation with your 5 year old and hearing her point of the view of the world.

“I like him, he’s nice. And he likes bunnies, like me. He doesn’t like ice cream though but it’s okay because he said he’d still buy me one. Is he your friend like uncle Yangyang and Uncle Renjun?” the ever-inquisitive kid, always wanting to know more

“He’s a friend”

“I wish my dad is like him” her words took you by surprise, looking over at your daughter in surprise

“Why’d you say that? You must really like him” “Yea because he’s nice, he read books to me and he makes you smile too mommy”

“Does he?”

“Mhm, I saw you” she smiles at you, she’s still too young to understand the situation between you and Jaemin but still she saw right through you. Reaching over to trap her in your arms, attacking her with tickles

“Do you want to invite him for dinner tomorrow?” you ask her once her giggles have calmed down

“Yes yes” she nods excitedly at you. Later that night, after you put Eunbi to bed you checked to see the time. You thought about texting Jaemin but something possessed you to press the call button.

After two rings, he picked up “Eunbi?”

“Uh it’s me, Y/N” Jaemin didn’t expect a late night call, much less hearing your voice on the other side of the line. He just finished a schedule and is on his way to his apartment ready to call it a day

“Hey, is everything okay?” he asks, a bit worried why you would call this late

“Yea, sorry. Is this a bad time?”

“No, I just thought something might have happened since it’s pretty late”

“I should’ve just texted, sorry I was just- “Y/N” Jaemin interrupts your rant, a smile making its way on his lips just imagining you

“Yea?”

“It’s okay, you can call me anytime”

That got you speechless you almost forgot why you called, clearing your throat before speaking again

“Eunbi and I wanted to know if you could come tomorrow night for dinner?”

Jaemin’s smile just got bigger, a dinner with you and Eunbi? He would never let that opportunity pass. He’s already excited about it. Good thing tomorrow is his day off.

“Sure, that sounds lovely. Should I bring anything?” he asks,

“Just yourself, I guess. She’s really excited when I asked her if we should invite you tomorrow”

Oh so you were the one you wanted him to come over? Well you and Eunbi. It took everything in him not to ask you about it.

“I’m excited too. So see you tomorrow?”

“Yea uh that’s all. Goodnight”

“Goodnight Y/N” he whispers. Even though he was miles away from you, he still manages to make you blush. Mentally cursing yourself, you put your phone on your nightstand before throwing yourself on the bed.

The next day Jaemin shows up infront of your door holding two bouquets of flowers in his hands, you immediately recognize one of them having your favorite flowers. You motioned for him to come in before saying hi.

“Hi” you greet him as he takes his mask and cap off, safety precaution.

“Hey, am I too early?” he asks, looking behind you to see the kitchen counter is still full of ingredients

“A bit, I’m just about to start cooking. You can play with Eunbi, she’s in her room. I should call her-“

“Wait, uhm this one’s for you” he said, passing one of the bouquets to you “I felt bad not bringing anything, so I got you flowers and donuts Eunbi might like”

“Thank you” you smile up at him, you didn’t know what else to say thankfully Eunbi made her way out to the common room quickly spotting Jaemin and running up to him

“Jaemin! You’re here” she says happily, hugging him by the leg before Jaemin picks her up to give her a proper hug

“I heard you wanted to invite me, I can’t say no. I also got you flowers” he says, giving her tummy a few playful tickles.

“They’re so pretty, thank you!” Watching the interaction between the two, you can’t help but feel angry with yourself. This could’ve been the life you live in, Eunbi could have had her dad but that wasn’t the case.

“Dinner mommy?” Eunbi asks, making you break away from your thoughts. Jaemin noticed your change in mood, choosing to ask you about it later.

“What was that, baby?”

“What’s for dinner?” she asks again, then asked for Jaemin to put her down “Your favorite pasta, plus Jaemin brought donuts”

The night went by smoothly, Eunbi was chattier than usual but Jaemin was more than happy to her all of her stories. When it was bedtime, Eunbi asked if Jaemin could read her bedtime story. Ofcourse Jaemin couldn’t say no to her, she all but has him in the palm of her hands. You watch by door, listening to his soft voice as he read the words from the book outloud.

When the story finished, Jaemin closes the book then looked over at the little girl resting her head on his arm. “Aren’t you sleepy? You should go to sleep, bunny”

“I have a question” she tells him, Jaemin looks at you briefly before he answered her

“What is it?”

“Mommy says my dad is away because he’s busy with work, but he never comes home. Can you be my dad instead?” the two of you were shocked to hear her words, entering the room to take a seat at the edge of her bed while Jaemin stayed frozen beside her

“Baby, are you sad he’s away all the time?” you ask her “No, I have you and my uncles and now I have Jaemin too. But the kids in my school all have dads, they said their dad works too but mine doesn’t want to come and pick me up after school like their dads. Does he hate me?”

Your heart broke when you heard her words, you can only imagine how Jaemin feels right now. And you’re all too blame for this mess.

“No, of course not. It’s just… I…

“Eunbi, you know how you should always tell the truth” Jaemin says, taking Eunbi’s attention from you to him “Yes, it’s bad to lie”

“That’s right. So I should tell you the truth and that is… I’m actually… I’m your dad”

You hold your breath, waiting for your daughters next word. You weren’t prepared to see the tears from her, it crushed your heart seeing her cry

“You’re my dad?”

“Yes, baby. I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry I wasn’t there” Jaemin tells her, his eyes staying on her but he made no move to come closer to her just in case. Letting Eunbi have her space

“Do you hate me?” she asks with her tiny voice, tears now flowing down her face. You’re pretty sure you’re crying too.

“God no, of course not. I love you so so much. You’re my life. And I’m so sorry I wasn’t there from the beginning but I promise you I’m not going anywhere. I might always be there to come and pick you up from school, but know whenever wherever you need me I’ll be there” he tells her sincerely. The little girl finally breaking the space between them, crashing straight into Jaemin’s embrace

“Please don’t go again, daddy. Don’t leave us” she cries into him, Jaemin’s tears were flowing down too but he had to be strong for her, for you.

“I’m not going anywhere, princess. Dad’s going to stay right here. I love you so much” he says, kissing her head repeatedly as if to make up for the lost time. The whole time you were silent, trying to calm your own emotions down.

Eventually Eunbi fell asleep in Jaemin’s arms. He smiles down at the little girl, his little girl. If it were up to him he’d stay here for the whole night but he wanted to check up on you too. Gently, he lays Eunbi down before tucking her in.

He made his way to the kitchen to see you standing there, dozed off. You didn’t even hear him walk towards you, it wasn’t until he was standing infront of you when you noticed his presence

“Hey, you okay?” he asks you, “I’m such a bad mom” you mumbled

“No, hey stop now. You’re not a bad mom” he tells you, already standing closer to you wiping the tears on your cheeks

“All this time she felt like she wasn’t loved, like she wasn’t wanted. God how did I not know that, how did I ever let her feel that way”

“That’s not your fault”

“It is! It was. It was my fault. She could’ve had you, she could’ve had her dad but I messed that up for her” you sobbed, repeating the words over and over again.

Jaemin took you in his arms, hoping to calm you down. Whispering words of comfort gently.

“You’re not the bad guy, you did what you had to for her sake. No one’s mad at you but yourself, I think you’re forgetting all the sacrifices you did were for her. She’s safe isn’t she?”

You didn’t answer but you were getting a bit calmer, “You raised her in a loving and safe environment, she got to enjoy a normal life. She’s kind, smart and funny. You did that all by yourself, you’re the best thing for her and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise”

“You’re a good mom, Y/N” he tells you, hugging you tighter against him. It’s been years since he last held you, but this felt so familiar. Like you never really left.

“I’m sorry” you mumble against his chest, “Don’t be, I understand why you did it. Don’t loom over the past. What’s important is now, what’s important is Eunbi” he tells you, “We can fix us, one day we will. I meant it when I said I’m not going anywhere, I’m staying to be with Eunbi and you. If you’ll have me”

You look up at him, wondering if you even deserve him

“You gave me up all those years ago so I could grow and chase my then dream. Now I have new one, I want to build a life with you and our daughter. You’re always the one sacrificing your own happiness for others, you deserve to be happy too and if you let me, I want to be the man to help you find that happiness again”

“Are you sure that’s what you want? This is what you want?” you ask him

Looking at him right now, being back in his arms you realized your story with Jaemin wasn’t done yet. You’re not ready to close this book, and for once in a long time it felt like you and him were on the same page again after your arcs have drifted apart only to end up together again. You were ready for the next chapter with him

“You’re what I want”

“Even when it gets hard?” Jaemin smiles at the question, remembering he asked you the same one years ago. This time it’s his turn to tell you he’s not going anywhere. He’s here to stay for good.

“Remember when I said I wanted to build a future with you? It might have started out differently but here we are. You and Eunbi are the most important to me and it’s the only future I want”

It was scary, threading this new chapter of your lives. You got so used to doing it by yourself but now you have him and it felt a little less scary. Eunbi finally met her dad, you’re still being very safe when it comes to her. Her safety and privacy comes first above anything else, you and Jaemin both agree to that. Jaemin cleared it with his management, yours and Eunbi’s identities are to remain private

Slowly, slowly but surely you continue building your family together. It was long coming, a lot of trails before you found each other again but you made it. This is the next chapter, turning the next page on yours and Jaemin’s story.

[captains-simp]

Hey!! I was wondering if there’s a chance you could write Angst 4 with situation 4, with Wandaxfem!reader? Thank you so much anywho, I hope you have a great day

I absolutely can and you have yourself a great day too

"Wake up, dammit!"

Warnings: injury detail, near death, thoughts of death and me once again not really understanding how the human body works

2k words

[ masterlist ]

Buy me a coffee ☕

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Being an Avenger required a lot of skills. Practical, physical and mental. You excelled at most of it, your life and that of your teams depended on it. But you had a tendency to let personal matters get in the way.

You weren't the only one guilty of that. You were pretty sure you could name a time it had happened to everyone on the team at some point.

But you and Wanda were much more liable to let that get in the way than the others. You had both made a couple of bad decisions in the past to protect one another's safety. It was hard to control. Your first instinct would always be to protect your girlfriend, as was hers for you.

That was when things were good between you. Things being bad was a new concept, especially the way it affected a mission.

"Clear on the fourth floor C corridor." Wanda said through the comms. You jaw clenched tightly as you withheld the urge to role your eyes.

"I just confirmed that, Maximoff." You said back. Wanda didn't respond to that, not that you expected her to.

You were both working your way up a building that Hydra agents were supposed to be hiding out in. Wanda took the left side and you took the right, there were times where you met in the middle with no exchange of words.

"Thanks anyway, Wanda." Natasha said in an attempt to ease the obvious tension.

You continued to up the stairs to the next floor and tried not to think about the fight you had had the night before. It was a blur the next day, the reason it all started was unknown to you both. You had both been in a bad mood and things had soon escalated...badly. You had both said hurtful things, things you wished you could take back more than anything. The pair of you had formed a habit of giving each other space before apologising, but you had been forced together on the spontaneous mission that has thrown you both off, even more so by the fight being the worst one you two had ever had in your four years of dating. You had no idea where you stood with Wanda.

When you arrived in the center of the fifth floor you and Wanda rounded opposite corners into the main hallway at the same time. You paused when you saw her, she did too.

You were about to say something to her. Something that wasn't bitter or tense. You had the sudden urge to spill out an apology but she spoke first.

"Clear on the fifth floor corridor A." She didn't spare you a second glance, continuing through the building. You nodded to no one and hastily blinked back the tear that threatened to spill.

Focus on the mission. Focus on the mission. Well you didn't have much luck doing that.

"Going on to the next floor." You said steadily. You hadn't done a proper sweep of the floor, but nothing in the building showed any signs of people being there and you needed to put more distance between yourself and Wanda.

You should have waited for her. You knew that. She knew that. No one protested.

As soon as you were on the second floor you let your guard down and leant against a wall to take a moment to gather your thoughts. That was a mistake. A significant one.

You weren't in the right head space for that mission. That become so much more apparent when you when two bullets hit you.

Whether it was shock, panic, being distracted or a most likely combination of all three, you barely registered the first bullet. You saw who shot it though. One single Hydra agent who made a break for the exit behind you.

Just as you raised your gun to fire the second bullet hit you and sent you falling to the ground. You registered him jumping over your immobile body towards the stairs but before he could put one foot on them red swirls surrounded his body and threw him against the wall, knocking him out cold.

Wanda emerged from the hallway and skidded slightly in panic as she stopped to turn your way. Her eyes widened at the sight of the blood covering your clothes and hands. You were shaking violently while trying to put pressure on the wounds, but you didn't know where exactly they were. You couldn't feel any pain. Just numbness. And that was terrifying.

"You...no, fuck. M-medical assistance- now. Y/n's...been shot." Wanda stammered in panic as she knelt down beside you.

Natasha was giving Wanda instructions but you weren't paying attention to anything except your girlfriend.

"It's...okay." You struggled to say. Your breathing was laboured and speaking was even harder. The distinct taste of blood was in your mouth but you had to ignore that.

"I shouldn't have let you come up here alone." Wanda scolded, tears trailing down her cheeks as she found the two wounds. She ripped some fabric from her shirt into two pieces and held them against your stomach.

"I probably...would have...bitten your head...of if...you tried to." You laughed, instantly regretting it as pain shot through you. The shock was wearing off and the pain was taking its place in the most unmerciful way.

Tears fell from your eyes and your head fell back against the hard ground as you gasped, struggling for air. Wanda moved behind you and placed your head in her lap while she continued to apply pressure.

"I'm sorry." Your voice broke as you spoke. "I'm... so sorry for...last night." Wanda instantly shushed you and shook her head. Her left hand stayed on your stomach and her right combed through your hair to calm you.

"We both said bad things."

"I didn't...mean it...any of it." You tried to lock eyes with Wanda through your tears.

"Neither did I, we'll talk about this when you're better." Wanda promised, nodding her head to assure herself that you would be fine.

But just as she said that it became increasingly difficult to stay conscious. It was as though there was something in the dark calling to you, urging you to let go. It would be so easy. There would be no pain. But Wanda wouldn't be there.

You put your hand weakly over hers, wanting her to be the only thing on your mind incase it was the last. The feel of her skin against your own, her soothing voice and the accent she tried to conceal but you loved, the way she cared for you like no one else ever had. The thought that you may never experience that again made your heart drop.

The shaking was getting worse and you felt so cold.

Go to the dark. Don't go to the dark. So easy. No Wanda...Wanda.

You couldn't help it. You couldn't stop it. It washed our you like a wave. The sounds around you became distant, as though everything was far away. You couldn't make out what Wanda was saying. She sounded desperate. You couldn't see her either. Everything was blurred. Then it was all gone.

*

The recurring beeping from the monitor was the only sound in the room. Wanda had always thought she would find them annoying, but the Sokovian never wanted to hear it stop. Not until you didn't need it anymore. Until she didn't need it.

It had been a week since you were shot. A week since she had seen your bright y/e/c eyes. The doctors were skeptical. Wanda vaguely remembered them talking to her about your injuries, the severity of them and how they would effect you if you woke up. Once you woke up. They said it was a slim chance.

Wanda sat curled up in the chair next to your bed watching you, wondering if it felt peaceful to be in that state. She wore your favourite hoodie and had a blanket from your shared bed over her, it was the only thing that brought her comfort.

"Wake up, y/n." She whispered, as though trying to secretly communicate with you. "Please." She raised her voice slightly, thinking it could make a difference. It didn't.

"Y/n." She leant forward in her chair and took both of your hands in her own. All she had been able to think about was your fight. It had been stupid, so so stupid. You hadn't fixed it, not properly. Wanda needed more than than the brief moments on the mission. She didn't get to apologise. She couldn't let you go before she got to apologise. She had done it over and over to your sleeping form. But it didn't count. She needed you to wake up. To look at her again. To smile. To speak. To go on another date. To share another kiss. To sleep in the same bed...to get married. There was so much left to do. Wanda wasn't prepared for it to be cut short. It wasn't fair.

"Y/n please wake up. I'm so sorry." She pleaded as she gripped your hands like a lifeline. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she pleaded over and over.

"Wake up, dammit!"

*

When your eyes finally flickered open you shut them again instantly. It was bright, far too bright. You gave a soft groan at that and tried to shield your face with your hand but found no energy to do so.

Your throat was dry and scratchy and your eyes were stinging from the exposure to the light.

You became aware of the beeping and glanced at the monitor as you tried to adjust to your surroundings, taking a for moments to remember how and why you were even in a hospital bed.

In the corner of your eye you saw movement on your left. You slowly turned your head in that direction and had your breath caught in your throat at the sight of your sleeping girlfriend. Was she still your girlfriend? Your heart dropped at the possibility that she might not be, but you hastily pushed it to the side and appreciated her company.

You had missed her. You had no idea how long you had been out. You had no memory of what it was like. All you knew was the familiar feeling of coming home deep in your chest.

Wanda's slim hand was resting on the bed next to yours and out of pure instinct you laced your fingers through her own, still unable to get over how perfectly they felt entwined together. Would she pull her hand away when she woke up? Would she shout at you more?

Fortunately you didn't have to wait long to find out. Wanda stirred from her uncomfortable looking position on the chair and blinked a few times before her eyes fell to your hands.

She furrowed her brows in confusion at the sight, not remembering putting them together but one look up told her all she needed to know.

"Y/n." She said as a sigh of relief, sitting up straight and gleaming at you.

"Wanda." You croaked with a weak but genuine smile. She picked up on that and with one flick of her tinted red wrist a small cup of water came floating towards you.

"Thank you." You said gratefully and took the cup with your free hand, wanting to hold Wanda's for as long as you could. You gulped the water down quickly and placed it on the bed side table before looking back at Wanda.

"You scared me." She admitted, concern prominent in her shimmering eyes.

"I'm sorry." She shook her head and was quick to speak.

"No, no more apologies from you. I'm sorry. For everything. I-" You cut her off by placing a finger to her lips with a smile.

"Stop."

"I really am though." You knew that, you could see it.

"I know you are." You said genuinely. "And I am too. I don't even know how it..." You trailed off as you opened and closed your mouth, not knowing what you were even trying to say. Wanda laughed and nodded, you had missed that sound so much.

"Are we...are we okay?" You asked timidly, fearing the response so much you couldn't look her in the eyes, only staring at your entwined hands.

Wanda lifted your chin with one of her fingers, wanting you to look at her as you spoke. Her warm smile greeted you like a treasured friend.

"We are. And I'm going to spend the rest of my life making it up to you."

"Well then that's going to get confusing really quickly because I'll be doing the exact same." You declared. Wanda laughed again and brought your hands up to her lips to place a soft kiss on them. A smile spread easily across your face at the gesture.

"Come here." You muttered as you moved over to the edge of the bed and pulled the duvet back for your girlfriend.

She eagerly accepted the offer and slipped in beside you, instantly wrapping her free arm around you to bring you close while her other still held your hand.

"I love you." She whispered as she kissed your forehead.

"I love you too." You smiled and held onto her loose clothing and...how the hell did you miss that? "Is that my hoodie?"

[atzsslut]

requested by @let-this-be-a-lesson from this, and this list.

chosen prompt(s) : 

#1 - “Is that my sweater?”

#11 - “If you were my boyfriend/girlfriend/partner, I’d probably never stop staring at you.”

pairing : bang chan x fem ! reader

genre : fluff 

warnings : long time best friends, very obvious crushing, kind of more than friends (unidentified relationship) to lovers, implied slow burn 

word count : 2.4k words

You promised to meet Chan almost an hour ago. 

The adrenaline coursed through your body as you ran out of the bathroom after a shower, which was relatively dangerous but you didn’t care, sprinting back to your room to get into some decent clothing. 

As you looked at yourself in the mirror, you almost punched it from the frustration. But you didn’t, of course, as if you didn’t have enough bad luck already.  

Are you that stupid to have fallen asleep on the couch? You thought to yourself. You were much too thankful that you already washed your hair in the morning, so it looked good enough now. 

As you dropped your towel, you swore that you’ve never grabbed such a mismatched set of underwear and bra before, but it didn’t matter. You’d opt yourself to become quicksilver if it was for Chan. 

Your hands let themselves skim through until your phone lit up on top of your cupboard and showed three notifications from the man himself. You froze in your spot reading the following messages. 

chan: okay :( if u insist [5:02 PM]

chan: but since u seem tired [5:03 PM]

chan: i’ll pick u up since i’m only 10 mins away [5:03 PM]

Your mind went back to when you had woken up to three missed calls from Chan, various texts asking if you were alright since you never missed a ‘hangout’. At least, that’s what you two always called your frequent meets. 

Your first instinct was to call him back, your voice rather nasally from the blocked nose you always got after sleeping. His kind voice kept replaying in your head;

“Chan, I’m so so sorry-”

“Oh, did you just wake up?”

“I.. yes. Yes I did. I’m so sorry, I fell asleep because I ran a million errands up until 3pm.”

“Hey, no. It’s okay. It’s not your fault. Do you want to move our hangout to some other day? I think I’m quite free this week.”

“No, no. I need to see you, honestly. My stress has piled up and it’ll be great to see you. You always cheer me up.”

“I try my best, Y/N. I’ll wait for you as long as you’d like. Go get ready!”

“Will do, Mr. Bang. Thank you so so much!”

The last thing you heard after the call ended was his farewell that was mixed in with his infectious laugh, and that was when you ran towards the shower to get the thin layer of sweat that always came after a nap in the living room.

Your fingers quickly typed away a ‘did god send u down to me as my angel or smthn THANK U BANG CHAN’ before going back to rushing to pick out a nicer outfit. 

Because of him willing to pick you up, you had an extra ten minutes to get ready but your mind was still blank from the adrenaline rush. You had picked yourself out a cream-coloured pleated skirt, but you had no idea what to pair it with until you saw a familiar black sweater pushed to the back of the drawer. 

You weren’t too sure why it was familiar to you, but it was nice enough for you to use with the skirt. For a reason you couldn’t pinpoint, it hugged your body well enough, but the area where you could see the stitch of the shoulders were clearly too broad for you, falling around the middle of your upper arms. 

Strange, you thought, I don’t remember buying this but it’s so comfortable. 

And just like he said, Chan was there in ten minutes, voice heard through your apartment intercom, asking you to come downstairs. Although you tried to ignore it, you were excited just from hearing his voice through that old system speaker. 

Taking the elevator down to the lobby, you smiled seeing the boy standing around, clearly waiting for you to come down, as he kept shifting his feet. 

It was music to his ears as well when he heard you call out his name. Although he would never admit it, or so he thinks, he swore that he heard a hymn whenever ‘Chan’ spilled from your lips. But he shook that away when he reached in for a side hug. 

“Hey you.” he said, “You look awfully fresh for someone who just woke up.”

“I work my magic.” you boasted, not wanting to admit the fuss you made for him. Since Chan was a bit taller than you, not by too much (which you teased him about, but he only let it be because it was you), you held onto him as well by slinging your arm around his waist. 

And as you both walked to the parking lot at the front, stuck together like two pieces of paper with a hefty amount of glue in the middle, that was when Chan stopped right in front of his car. 

You looked at him with concern, thinking that he’d probably left something inside, “Did you forget something?”  

He paused, looking at you with the face he’d make whenever Felix did something strange. That wasn’t new, but you felt flustered when he let you go and stood in front of you, arms crossed, eyes checking out your whole body. 

You looked at him strange, not understanding what he was doing. Your hand only clutched your bag strap harder, not understanding the situation. But before you could say anything, he cut you off. 

“Is that my sweater?”

And the realization hit you. 

A few months ago, Chan had gone to your place to spend some time with you after not getting to meet you for three weeks. But of course, the two of you did not look at the weather forecast when a rainstorm dawned over the whole of Seoul. 

You insisted that Chan should not be driving in this weather in fear of a accident, but he did have to get his car to the indoor parking lot incase it began to hail. However, once he had gotten back, the umbrella you had given him was soaked and so was he, the two of you getting into a hysterical laughing fit at the state he was in. 

In all seriousness, you did quickly get him out of the clothes he was wearing and washed them, shyly looking away when he directly began to take his shirt off in the living room until you yelled “Chan! I have a bathroom!”

However, as the night passed, after he slept in the same bed as you, finding his arm around your waist in the morning to which he quickly pulled away in surprise— he left with only his jeans and socks that had been dry cleaned. 

“Oh shit, this is your sweater!” you swore, the event having replayed itself in your forgetful mind, “I’ll clean it after this and give it back to you.”

“Oh, no. You look better in it than I do.” he complimented. 

In between your reminiscing, he had clicked the car key, making the vehicle make the familiar unlocking sound and flashing lights. Running over to your side, he opened the door for you. 

“M’lady.” he offered, 

“M’Chan.” you joked, only to laugh for a bit then go in with a murmured, “Sorry that was cheesy.” 

“It was!” he admitted, yelling so you could hear him through the car glass since you closed the door already. He did his little jog over to the drivers seat and went it rather smoothly, not that you were impressed by that. 

“So, arcade?” he asked, smiling when you nodded and tapped excitedly on his dashboard. 

Once again, in ten minutes, the two of you had reached the destination, quickly running out as if the both of you were six, and not in your early 20s. 

As you ran into building, fluorescent hitting your eyes with a familiar nostalgia coming alongside them, much too familiar from the high school days of you and Chan going to another arcade that was already closed down now. 

“So, what do you want to do first?” you asked, as if you didn’t guess the answer already. 

Chan looked forward, scanning the place more and finally seeing a row of big,  bulky, metal boxes that couldn’t be missed. He pointed at them, rather cutely to add, smiling down at you. 

You gave him an excited grin back, happy that you guessed right in your head. You walked ahead, pleased to hear him tread behind you at a faster pace to catch up with you.

Drawing back the curtain, the two of you went inside and swiped the arcade card that you had because of several trips that were forced by your auntie with your little cousins. Luckily, there was still money inside. 

The recognizable ‘twinkling’ sound of the photo booth rang in both your ears, opting you to choose the frame decor, etc. 

And as the screen showed both your faces, a robotic voice was heard through the same speakers at the sides of the booth, stating ‘please move more towards the centre, thank you’ 

But if anyone were to look inside, you and Chan were already considerably close, especially since the bench space wasn’t wide at all. But you side-eyed the boy, scooting closer to him as he did the same to you. 

You felt his arm squish against yours, feeling flustered at the sudden contact. 

“Can..uh..” he trailed, “Can I put my arm around you? I.. I think it’ll make the pictures look less awkward, don’t you think?”

“Y-yeah!” you responded a bit too enthusiastically. Clearing your throat, you gave him the gentle smile that he could never hate, “Yeah. Go ahead, Chan.”

He did as he asked. Unlike the playful hug that you two had shared in your apartment lobby, this one felt more intimate, especially when you saw the screen reflecting the two of you. 

You could feel his rings dig against his cotton sweater on your body, assuming now that it was yours, comfortable enough for you to feel secure— at home. Nevertheless, you always felt that Chan was your home. 

Your eyes fixated on the screen as you moved forward to press the red button that would soon make you both take simultaneous pictures together. 

We look good together, you thought to yourself, Wait what? Shut up. 

But why did this feel different? You two had taken hundreds of photos together, varied with ridiculous, attractive, and unnecessary ones. But you swallowed that wondering lump in your throat, quickly dismissing it as you posed with Chan for each one, your vision rather blurry for a reason you couldn’t pinpoint. 

And as the twelve clicks ended, Chan stood up first. You were quite upset about the absence of his embrace, but didn’t mind it when he smiled at you like he always did,

“Let’s see the pictures.” he held his hand out for you to take, which you graciously did, feeling the pit of your stomach drop as you, as per usual, questioned what your relationship with him was at this point. 

The two pairs of feet, albeit the both of you were wearing matching shoes on accident, met their way towards the printing area. Looking at the screen which read 99% complete, Chan heard the sound of the photo paper hit the stopper that avoided the prints from falling on the ground. 

He bent down and took it, showing it to you. Naturally, your arms went around his left bicep, hugging it to look closer. Chan sucked in his breath, knowing that if he was in a cartoon right now, his brown head of hair would be sticking up in all places as a silhouette of his heart pumped dramatically out of his chest. 

It was ironic, as most of your friends would say; it was ironic how you two hugged often but got shy whenever your hands would simpy graze, it was ironic how you two were so affectionate yet were so resistant, and it was very ironic that your ‘hangouts’ weren’t dates at this point. 

He watched as you pointed at his face from top to bottom, questioning, 

“You’re not even facing the camera in most of these! Stop looking at me and look at the lens next time. Do you want to retake these?”

Your question wasn’t too hard, but you didn’t understand why Chan looked at you with such solemn eyes, his eyebrows knitted together as if he was frustrated. But the look was soon replaced with one that held adoration, but that only increased your confusion. 

“I mean.. we don’t have to retake these, Chan. What do you want to do?” 

“If you were my girlfriend, I’d probably never stop staring at you.”

He didn’t know why he said that. Not a bone in his body was willing to let that out but his mind decided to play a little game of “thinking out loud”. The impulsivity of the statement made the two of your freeze in front of the photo booth.

But there was something that the both of you knew, something that neither of you wanted to admit. You had been friends for too long, had been too close for too long, but what was different now?

Why, after more than ten years of being best friends, was now the best time for you two to be together? 

But something resided within you, and in Chan as well. This was to atone for all the pain you two had experienced without one another. You and Chan always wondered why you’ve always loved, but never been in love truly. All this time, the person that was it from the start was right in front of your faces, but pent up denial never allowed it to happen. 

Until now. 

Somewhere, somehow, this was the universe’s way of telling you that today was that day. You woke up late, wore his sweater, and Chan had slipped up with his thoughts aloud. It made sense. 

So, you took a small step forward. 

It felt as if the gravity between your feet and floor was much heavier than before, especially watching Chan’s jaw clench out of nervousness, but you knew it was just you mustering up a ton of courage to finally ask, 

“Who’s stopping you from asking?” 

[pilot-boi]

I write down everything they've said, then I pull copies of the blueprints provided by clover (annotated with the paths clover told us about).

"Weiss, although it's terrible we can use your families connections to the facility for good. You can get yourself, Ren, Ruby, and Yang inside under the pretense of visiting your sister. From there, Ren and Ruby can let the others in while you and Nora go deeper into the facility. Depending on whether or not Ruby can fit into this vent," I point to it on the map "Nora may have to go in alone to hit the failsafe switch, but either way Ruby gets in and can get to work freeing the avians. It is imperative that you don't free 005. I doubt you would, given he attacked you, but just incase. While that's happening, some alarms are going to go off. We have two contacts in security, Winter and Clover, so hopefully they can take care of them before thing escalate too much. Someone (probably Blake of Yang) should stick with Weiss in case she's found out (smuggle in her rapier if possible), while the other should go with Ren."

I look at Ren, and point out the place we think Oscar is being held "You should go after Oscar. You'll need to be as quiet as possible, She expects someone to come to try and break him out. Take the next stealthiest person with you and keep your ears open."

"The avians you free will keep Nora and Ruby safe, Neo should try to rendezvous with Ren and Oscar using her shifting abilities. Depending on how things go, you'll want to send the other avians where they're needed so you need a rundown of what each of them can do. Jaune can provide more detail than We can, but 006 aka Mercury is the most combat orientated while 001, 002, and 004 are more support. that doesn't mean they can't fight, Jaune is supposed to be a healer, but just something to consider. Jaune shouldn't go inside until thing really go to shit, which they will. The rest of this We must leave up to you. We will help in any way We can, but there are limits."

I stand to leave

"I trust that you all know what the consequences of failure are, and I have a feeling you've already made up your minds, but really think about if this is something you can do. There is no shame in admitting fear"

I disappear, leaving behind the blueprints and the clipboard. There is one page clipped in, which contains the outline of the plan. At the end it says "good luck"

((Holy moly bro))

There’s so many ways this plan can go badly.

All of them are trying not to think about it.

As soon as you leave, Blake, Ruby, and Yang begin pouring over the plan. Nora is still calling her dad, Weiss is frantically texting her mother.

Ren joins the people reading the plan, he winces when you say that Jaune shouldn’t come. Not because he doesn’t agree, but because he knows that Jaune won’t.

Jaune, for his share, is sitting cross legged on the floor, slowly Healing his wounds. He can feel the skin re growing over his leg, leaving yet another scar behind. At least he knows how he got this one.

He knows that he shouldn’t go but… he feels like he has to. He left the others behind. It wasn’t his fault, but isn’t it? He left them behind. Oscar got kidnapped because he left.

It’s all his fault.

So he has to fix it

“They’ll need a distraction,” Jaune murmurs to himself, quietly enough that the other don’t hear. His mind is whirling with ideas, with plans. Ways to help, where his own safety is never a factor. “What would be a good distraction?”

And then it hits him.

The one thing that has been clear since the beginning, that he should have realized sooner. The one thing that is obvious, and the one thing that scares him more than anything.

Salem wants him back.

And like a bolt of lighting freezing him to his core and sending him reeling, Jaune knows what he has to do. They’ll never agree to it, but it’s the only way. It’s the only thing that will keep Salem’s attention diverted so that his friends can pull off the plan.

He has to give himself up.

[shotofire]

Attractive Girl, Uncomfortable Stares

Tobio Kageyama x F!Reader

Overview: in which the team finds out a girl does in fact fancy Kageyama

Warnings: cursing, small mentions of anxiety and some self doubt (nothing major)

Season: not specified, but i imagine it in the season 1-2 range

-

Practice had run over time for Kageyama, which happens pretty often. Hinata would beg him for a few more sets and he’d comply. Each boy was hungry for improvement so it wouldn’t take much convincing. He’d always be sure to text you and let you know, but today he let it slip his mind.

It could only be assumed that he was caught up with his team but you still needed to make sure of his whereabouts, incase he was still planning on walking you home.

You texted and called a few times but to no avail. Kageyama had told you to never come to the gym, saying his team would eyeball you like the last women on Earth. Plus he wasn’t into the idea of them even knowing he has a girlfriend, it’d arise too many questions.

He’d already seen the way guys would check you out in the hallways, the last thing he needed was the boys he sees everyday to mention how hot his girlfriend is. But he’d never prepared you for if he didn’t answer, or didn’t let you know what was going on. So today you had to ignore his requests and make your way to the gym.

Of course you knew where it was but you’d never been inside. Swim club had been your go to since middle school, so the gym was foreign to you. The sound of yelling and balls slamming to the floor could be heard from outside the door. It seemed a bit dramatic to classify yourself as nervous but that’s exactly how you felt.

You’d never spoke to any of the members besides Kageyama, obviously, and Tsukishima. The only reason you’d conversated with him was because he was in one of your classes and asked for a pencil, but you still think it was just an excuse to talk to you.

Talking wasn’t your strong suit. You always struggled to come up with things to say to others you weren’t so comfortable with. Kageyama knew the guys would babble until you’d stare at them with a blank mind. Tanaka was a nice guy but would probably chatter too much for your liking, and would stare at you as well.

The debate to go in was still racing through your mind. Kageyama wouldn’t be upset with you if you explained your reasoning, that’s not what worried you. It was more of the fact that there were tall boys with all sorts of personalities waiting for you on the other side. Also Kiyoko’s beauty was extremely intimidating, but you had no idea that many found you as equal as her. If you knew you’d most likely finally notice all the people who stare at you as you walk by.

The grey doors infront of you flew open, and there the goddess herself stood. She nearly slammed into you not expecting anyone on the other side. “Oh i’m sorry,” she says with a soft smile, “I’ll get out of your way.” Her back is against the door now, holding it open for you. “I-um, thank you.” You stumble over your words, there was no choice now.

Smells of sweat immediately hit you in the face once you step in. The door closes behind you rather loudly, echoing through out the gym. Boys were spread out in groups of two.

You quickly spotted Kageyama by the net with his back turned to you, with a red head that you could only assume was Hinata. You’d memorized some names from your boyfriends stories.

Across the gym Nishinoya is starring at you, not that you have noticed, with his mouth ajar. Asahi hits the ball with his forearms, like they’d been doing for an hour, and the ball finds its way onto Nishinoya’s face. Panic sets over the sweet giant as his friend cries out in pain. “I’m sorry!”

Tanaka has already spotted you and made your presence know to Daichi, “Why is there a really pretty girl in our gym?” His eyes are practically lit up and he observes your figure. He takes note that the school uniform is very flattering on you. “Woah she is pretty,” Daichi says with a blush and his hand anxiously scratching the back of his head.

It had gone a bit silent, only adding to your anxiety. Your face felt hot and you just knew that the redness on your cheeks are increasing by the second.

“Uh, Kageyama?” You manage to squeak out. His head is spinning and his body follows.

Oh shit, he thinks. They’re all looking at you like they haven’t ate in a million years. He can feel his chest tighten when Tanaka is practically drooling over you. This moment shouldn’t be happening, he didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable under their gazes. They were all sweet guys, just didn’t know how to behave their hormones sometimes.

For a second he gets a little frustrated with you. He’d made it clear coming wasn’t a good idea, he was never going to hear the end of it from his team. But then he knows you’d never go against his wishes unless something were to happen, and that’s when he realizes... the dummy had forgotten to text you.

You feel yourself loosen once his expression isn’t so intimidating, the last thing you wanted to do was upset him.

“Kageyama?” Nishinoya has a sour look on his face, and his voice is laced with annoyed confusion. Why was a girl like you in here for him? There was no way in the shorties mind that grumpy Kageyama could win over someone like you. The rest of the boys are confused as well, you’d never been brought up by him. Then again, why would he? Girlfriends had never really come up in conversation, it was all about volleyball.

He rolls his eyes at Nishinoya’s words and ignores him. “I’ll be right back,” he mumbles to Hinata. Soon your boyfriend is infront of you with an apologetic smile, obviously realizing he’d done this to himself. “Sorry (y/n), I got too caught up.”

This was the first time he’d slacked in the communication department your entire relationship, so you could let it slide. “It’s okay, I just didn’t want to accidentally leave without you.” He nods in understanding.

“I’ll talk to you later, text me when you make it home, I love you.” You’re about to just say a simple I love you and go on about your day, but Kageyama surprises you. His lips press to your forehead and your eyes widen, not expecting him to do that at all. His team was being rather nosey watching the whole thing go down.

A dramatic gasp from Tanaka could be heard, of course the guy was making a big deal out of this. A blush is fast to creep onto your face, “I love you,” you say while trying to hold back the huge smile trying to pry its way through. Part of you thought he’d brush you off as a friend to all of them just to avoid the confrontation. You knew he didn’t want any of them to ask weird questions about you, which happenes more often in the girl department than you’d think.

Instead he leaned down to give you a sweet peck on your, hot from nervousness, forehead. Once he jogs back to his position from before you take that as your cue to leave. The gym already felt like it was closing in on you so withdrawing from the situation was definitely what you needed. Their eyes are just too much to bare, you hate not knowing what they’re thinking.

“Did you just kiss her?!” Hinata yells while jumping up and down. The rest of his team was already crowding around him, eyes sparkling with interest. This is exactly what he didn’t want to happen, of course they just wanted to know everything. He gets it, you’re pretty but he’s not an asshole boyfriend who spills all of your guys’ personal business.

“Yeah I kissed her, she’s my girlfriend.”

He swears his head starts ringing when gasps and shouts echo around the gymnasium. A few were even running in circles as if it’s the craziest thing they’ve ever heard in their lives. Was it really that hard to believe the guy could get a girl? It kinda hurt his feelings, but he definitely didn’t let it show.

“How the hell do you have a girlfriend and I don’t?” Tanaka, out of all people, really just asked that question. Kageyama’s face falls in annoyance as if the answer to that is obvious, which it kinda is. “Maybe cause girls see the way you drool over Kiyoko and get scared. Or maybe it’s the buzz cut.” Baldy is fuming now, but holds him self back.

“If any of you ask me a weird question i’ll serve a ball to your face.”

They leave the boy alone after that, but your face is unquestionably still racing through their minds.

[marvel-and-mischief]

Purple Carnations

Part of my Floriography Series

Pairing: Pero Tovar x F!Reader   Words: 1700 Warnings: eating meat, preparing dead rabbits for eating, nudity but not sexual, a swear word Synopsis: You come across an angry stranger bathing in the river

Purple Carnations: capriciousness

💐

The setting sun could be seen through the thin gaps between the trees, casting shadows throughout the woods you were standing in. Birds were settling into their nests with their chicks and dogs were howling in the distance as you trod silently over roots and tried to stay clear of crisp leaves and twigs that would alert anyone, or anything, to your presence.

You fingered the bow in your hand, clenching and unclenching your hand around the wood and feeling the weight in preparation of its use. The few arrows in the quiver on your back slid against each other when you moved too quickly, it reminded you that you needed to make more after tonight.

The only other sound you could hear was that of the river running along the edge of the woods. The water was calm and you ventured closer in the hope that an animal was taking a drink. It would be an easy catch, you’d be able to get back home before the sky turned dark and the wolves began to roam the area. Luck was rarely on your side but what you saw was more than unlucky, it was downright cruel.

A man was bathing in the shallow end of the river, back facing you and his bottom half, fortunately, concealed underneath the water. You were unable to take your eyes off the silver scars that lined his skin and tense muscles that flexed under his movements. And his hands, they were scarily large as they carded through black, wet hair, and it brought you out of your embarrassing state when you thought of this man noticing you spying on him and using those hands in punishment.

You felt yourself flush and in your haste to quickly disappear unnoticed your foot caught on a wayward tree branch, causing you to squeak in surprise and reach out to steady yourself against a large rock.

“Hey you!” came an angry shout from the river and you knew you had been caught. You spun back around to see the man facing you, his teeth clenched and face twisted into a furious scowl. “You think you can spy on me you -“

“Spy on you?” you scoffed in retaliation, suddenly feeling brave in the face of a man that could definitely beat you in a physical fight. You pulled an arrow out of your quiver and notched it into your bow but kept the weapon lowered, a precaution incase he came towards you. You had the high ground and a weapon that could reach him from afar and that gave you the confidence to answer back. “You must think very highly of yourself, Sir, if you think I was spying on you.”

“Then what were you doing?” He eyed his clothes that sat in a bundle a few feet from where you stood. You caught a shine of silver in amongst the fabrics and you knew immediately that he wasn’t worried about his dignity, he was keeping an eye on the weapons concealed at the bottom of the pile.

“I am looking for my supper,” you wiggled the bow in your hand and gave him a look that said ‘isn’t it obvious?’, “you shouldn’t be here.”

“Says who? You?” he sneered, crossing his arms over his chest as if he only just realised he was naked in front of you.

“Yes, says me,” you huffed in frustration.

The man grumbled something under his breath but didn’t move.

“I saw some deer on my route here, a mile that way,” the man pointed in the opposite direction to which you came, “I will be gone by the time you get back.”

Part of you felt bad for making such a fuss about this stranger being here, you didn’t own these woods after all, but the other part of you knew that you couldn’t trust strangers travelling through the path you frequently used and was so close to your home.

You paused a little too long and the mans patience was wearing thin.

“Or you can stay here and continue to watch me bathe,” he growled, and you heard the underlying threat in his words: when I am finished here, I will fight you.

“If I see you again I will not hesitate to let my arrow fly towards you.”

“My knife will be in your back before you get the chance.”

You rolled your eyes at his quip, not willing to argue that an arrow can fly quicker than a knife or that you knew you were closer to his weapons than he was, and left to find your supper.

-

You hear his frustrated grunts before you see him. You crept closer to see the man you had stumbled upon in the river just the day before, struggling to light a fire. The sparks he was trying to create weren’t enough to light the kindling he’d bundled together in front of him, and the more he became annoyed the more he was hitting his thumb rather than the flint in his hand.

You noticed the dead rabbits at his feet and subconsciously licked your lips. Maybe you could both help each other out this night.

“Do you need a fire?” Your question had him pulling his sword from his belt and pointing it in your direction which was, fortunately, far enough away that he couldn’t hurt you with it.

“I am beginning to think you are not just a pain in my ass but also a bad omen,” the man lowered his sword slowly once he recognised who you were.

“I think this is rather good luck actually,” you countered with a small smirk. You crossed your arms and leaned against a tree just as a rumble of thunder sounded overhead.

“What do you want?”

“You have food, I have fire, we should work together to not go hungry another night.”

“No luck with the deer?”

You shook your head sadly. This man hadn’t been lying, when you reached the area he had told you about there was plenty of evidence of the animals having been there, but there had also been proof of people, other hunters that had gotten there first.

The man seemed to be thinking seriously on your offer, looking forlornly at the piece of flint and metal in his hand. Another crash of thunder had him making up his mind.

“We have a deal,” the man picked up his belongings, along with the rabbits, and motioned for you to lead the way.

“It is only fair you share what you caught in my part of the woods,” you failed to hide the humor in your tone but it had the desired effect. The man huffed next to you.

“I do not see anywhere that states these are your woods,” he mumbled loud enough for you to hear. The rabbits in his hand swung into your leg annoyingly, and you were sure he was doing it on purpose.

“What is your name?” you asked just as your cottage was coming into sight over the hill.

“Pero.”

You told him your name and walked the rest of the way in silence.

-

Your cottage was small, only one room with a bed in the corner and a fire that took up most of one wall. Baskets scattered the floor holding everything you had foraged from the woods, mushrooms and berries, plants for medicines, vegetables from your garden.

You headed straight to the fireplace to get it started but kept one eye on your new acquaintance as you got to work.

Pero was studying your little cottage from where he awkwardly stood by your door. With your foot you pushed a stool in front of the fire.

“Sit, get comfortable, ready the rabbits for the fire.”

You thought by giving his something useful to do he would feel more comfortable, and it worked for a while. He skinned the animals and placed them on the metal spit you passed to him and then hooked them over the fire.

“Why does your husband not hunt for you?”

The question took you by surprise. It was obvious you were the only person who lived in this cottage, the bed only big enough for one, hunting for your own food, and bringing him back to your cottage was more than enough confirmation that you were not married.

“Because he does not exist,” you replied bluntly.

Pero reached out to turn the rabbits around but said no more.

“Why does your wife not keep you in check?”

Pero’s dark eyes glared at you.

“She does not exist.”

You pretended to nod thoughtfully, only to receive a huff of laughter from your usually moody friend.

“You are not from this land.”

A thoughtful look crossed Pero’s features as he turned his attention back to the fire.

“I have not belonged to any land for a long time.”

There was a sadness to his tone that you couldn’t help but pity. You hid it well, you didn’t think he would appreciate pity from a stranger.

“Why are you here?”

“Looking for work. You ask a lot of questions.”

“You are the first person I have spoken to in months.”

You found yourself opening up to Pero over supper. He listened in genuine interest as you showed him the many plants you had found in the woods, telling him what each of them did for different ailments. He told you about someone he once knew who could wield a bow better than anyone. You argued with him then, promising to demonstrate what a great shot you were the next time you went hunting. However it went unspoken whether Pero would be sticking around to see that.

You were nervous to go to sleep that evening. Pero was your only friend in a long while and you had a feeling he would be gone by morning. Pero mistook your nerves for his presence in your home, so he crossed the room in a couple of strides and handed you his dagger.

“So you feel safe with me here,” he explained and moved to make himself comfortable in front of the door, covered in a blanket you had given to him.

Pero watched you lit up in the dying flames of the fire, a content smile on his lips as your breathing evened out and you fell asleep. He was undecided whether or not to leave before sunrise, but for now he would fall into the best nights sleep of his life.

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