#it's just not an mxs book without at least one man who would be an absolute nightmare irl but is the best thing ever in fiction

[spockandawe]

Also, every meng xi shi book has to have at least one terrible boy who causes problems on purpose (peerless doubles up with two), but there he is, wang zhi, apparent actual historical figure, i would die for him

[stuck-in-the-ghost-zone]

hello hello mx ghostiezone once again i am sending u 1am asks ^___^ anyway. 1) this is also a free pass 2 talk about YOUR ocs from what i have heard. their lore is so neat i am so so so curious i would love to know more. pls pls pls. 2) u r so cool actually. fond of mac ghostiezone. sending u excellent vibes & also sharing my raspberry tea with u rn >:) ok gn!!!

HIII HI ROSWELL IM FINALLY ANSWERING THISSS it's been sitting in my inbox for like a fucking month now I'm SO sorry but I am finally able to form coherent thoughts so I hope u don't mind if this is SO long. I am going 2 tell u ALL about tfobh. which is likeeee. the oc universe/story I am the most obsessed w nowadays. btw i post all of my oc thoughts @ghost--core so if u wanna know all abt my cringe little guys.... eyes emoji

so. the basics. there r 5 (technically 6?) main characters, and they're all supposed to feel like they've been dropped from totally different stories into one group.

Oliver Brody is the wholesome sitcom/slice of life anime. he really likes bugs, rides a skateboard everywhere, dresses in bright colors and is generally a rlly optimistic dude!!! he LOVES his wife and kids so much but during the plot of the story he is separated from them because. his wife works as a park ranger n got a job at a HUGE national park. so she and the kids moved out there to their permanent home while Ollie stayed behind in the city to finish his last few semesters of school (he wants 2 graduate n get a good job to support his family.... he is the world's SECOND most perfect man. you'll find out who the first is later.) he calls his wife every night to kiss his kids goodnight and talk to her about her day !! he's connected to the main group because he and henrik were roommates the first time he went to college :]

Jackie Bowers is the superhero/comic book. He's a freelance urbex photographer and spends a lot of his time exploring abandoned buildings. hes the youngest of the group n is still very much a child at heart, he LOVES movies and comics and gets excited very easily! he's very impulsive and that's kind of a detriment more often than not. he's also got magic! jackie has something called intrinsic magic, meaning he can call on his magic at will whenever he wants without any outside help. this makes it VERY unpredictable and hard to control and he's not very good at that (he's got lightning magic btw. he got struck by lightning when he was a little kid 😌 he calls it his origin story). he's very justice-minded and even though he's not Actually a superhero he's got a very black and white view of good vs evil. he's connected to the main group through henrik as well, who he met during his Frequent visits to the hospital for parkour-related accidents.

Merrow Atwood is a high fantasy/dnd style fae (half-fae, technically. his father was a human). there r two types of magic in the tfobh universe- intrinsic and ritualistic. fae can only have ritualistic magic, meaning they need some sort of outside force to call upon their magic, whether that be a wand or certain ingredients or a potion or a book or whatever. they can't just conjure things all willy nilly so it's a much more controlled, tame form of magic. they consider intrinsic magic dangerous because it's so much harder to control. so BECAUSE merrow is half-fae though. his dad had intrinsic fire magic. So merrow inherited that and hes got both types. during an accident when he was younger, he ended up setting a huge section of the forest on fire and was banished by his village, deemed cursed and too dangerous to ever return. he wandered in the woods on his own for a rlly long time, but one night he ended up sleeping in an abandoned building and that's when Jackie found him!! blah blah story stuff happens but. oh my god they were roommates. are they in love? are they just homies who kiss sometimes? who knows, least of all them! merrow is very level-headed, kind of aloof and mysterious without meaning to be and he knows NOTHING about pop culture/media/current events/ANYTHING like that. Jackie, known movie lover and big fucking nerd, has a FIELD day introducing him to everything

HENRIK SOMMERFELD. THE MAN HIMSELF. there's not really a single ""main character"" in tfobh. but god. henrik sure is something. he is like. the Frankenstein/Dr.Jekyll of tfobh. science man that tries to play god (thank u aster). he is SO morally grey and fucked up. HE DIDNT START LIKE THAT THOUGH. he and Ollie went to college together, became great friends n stayed in contact even after ollie dropped out the first time and hen went on to med school. he works at the big hospital and every day on his lunch break he walks down the road to the same bakery. this bakery just so happens to be run by his best friend in the whole world! henrik is. very tired and grumpy and closed-off and VERY hard to talk to. so he doesn't have a whole lot of friends. with the exception of Adrian, who I will get to next.

henrik and adrian are SO interconnected with each other that i CANNOT talk about one without including the other. so fuck my organization this is why I did these two last.

Adrian Daugherty is!!!!!! the world's most perfect man. he's the punk with a heart of gold trope. he's the older brother that loves horror movies. he's. so sweet. he dresses in all black with ripped jeans and a flannel shirt and piercings ALL over his face. he rides a motorcycle to work and looks like he could kick anyone's ass at any given moment. and he works at a bakery making cookies and pies all day. he risks being late to work in the morning to talk to stray cats on the sidewalk. he and henrik become friends solely because Adrian saw this miserable wet blanket of a man walk into the shop every day at 1:16 pm SHARP, order a black coffee and a croissant and sit in the corner to gloomily stare out the window until he had to go back to work. Adri dealt with this for about a week and a half before he started setting out the usual order 5 minutes before he walked in the door so it'd be ready when he got there. eventuallyyyy they started talking and adrian was the extrovert that adopted him. they became SO incredibly close.

and then. you see. you have to understand why I am choosing to call henrik the viktor frankenstein of this story. you see. Adrian dies.

Adrian dies, and henrik becomes SO consumed by his guilt and grief that he steals a book of spells from merrow. henrik doesn't believe in magic or ghosts or anything like that, but he's so desperate that maybe *something* will be able to give adrian back to him. he performs some VERY forbidden necromancy, and because he wasn't born with any sort of magic and knows absolutely NOTHING about what he's doing, he fucks it up ROYALLY. he ends up summoning a creature the book calls "the shadow" and accidentally fuses it with adrians corpse. this creates a new being that is neither shadow nor adrian. he names himself azrael.

Azrael. is. hmmmm. hes like. the sympathetic villain I guess? he's the horror movie monster. he's both somehow the protagonist and antagonist at the same time. he is. absolutely PISSED at the fact that he exists. he doesn't remember anything about adrians life, he just remembers suddenly being woken up to loud noise and a splitting headache and all the pain and agony of existence all at once. He lashes out at henrik and disappears.

Merrow finds out his book was stolen and is RIGHTFULLY pissed about it. he and Jackie are the ones that find henrik in the aftermath. they decide azrael needs to be found and destroyed because he was created with dangerous magic and realistically should have never existed in the first place, much to henriks dismay.

so the story goes, you've got two separate groups trying to hunt azrael down. henrik and Ollie don't want to kill him, theyre trying just to talk to him and maybe get him to calm down enough to be civil. The problem with their strategy is that henrik refuses to stop calling him Adrian. this just pisses Azrael off more because hes not who they think he is, hes not Adrian, he doesn't even know who Adrian is so he doesn't understand why theyre expecting him to be this. guy. on the other hand Jackie and merrow are hunting him down to try to kill him. Neither of these is a good option.

I REFUSE to create a story with an unhappy ending though, so it does get better in the end. merrow has a change of heart after some plot stuff and ends up figuring out a way to separate shadow from Azrael enough that he can still exist but won't have all the murderous tendencies of a demon. they have like. weird found family vibes at the end :]

[i-like-plan-m]

About your LWJ can hear lies AU- I can’t help but wonder how he would react to Nie Huaisang and Jin Guangyao since they are both known for being expert manipulators, especially since it’s hinted at that Nie Huaisang had a lot to do with the WW and MX thing. So I wondered if Huaisang would find a way around LWJ’s lie detecting or if he even knows about it? Also, I can just imagine the PAIN LWJ would be in if he had to talk to Jin Guangyao

Oops, I forgot to link this on tumblr! My bad! This is chapter 3 of the lies au

The trip to Qinghe was familiar by now. 

Years of flight between the sects meant Lan Zhan could make the trip with his eyes closed. He kept them open, because the sight of the Qinghe mountain range always brought a sense of relief that was as sharp as the cold air.  

The sight at the gates was becoming a familiar one, too. Nie Huiyin waited for him with all the patience she was capable of, her constant restless energy directed into a small but impeccably crafted blade that she was sharpening like it had done something to offend her. 

It was just her way, Lan Zhan had learned. Nie Mingjue’s cousin was as brusque as he was, infinitely more cheerful and possibly the loudest person Lan Zhan had ever met in his life. She was also, however, the most refreshingly honest person in all five of the great sects, save for perhaps Nie Mingjue himself. 

“Ah!” She said brightly as he landed before her, stepping gracefully from his sword and sweeping it back into the sheath on his back. “It’s our little Lan Zhan, back again!” 

He refused to acknowledge the blush heating his ears and instead nodded in greeting. His composed response did not deter her from tossing a friendly arm around his shoulders and hauling him through the open gates, past the grinning guards and into the towering grasp of the Unclean Realm walls. 

“How have you been, shidi?” She asked. The Nie Sect, Lan Zhan had quickly discovered, lived up to their imposing reputation of strength and honor. They were also the friendliest people in the world, once they’d decided you were theirs. 

Once Lan Zhan's was unofficially acknowledged as a member of the sect leader’s family-- or at least someone held in high regard by Nie-zongzhu himself, the floodgates had opened. He couldn’t decide whether their open affection was embarrassing or not, but it did fill him with a warmth he was unfamiliar with, one that felt like unconditional acceptance. As though they wanted him here. As though they liked him.

He had never had friends before. 

Well. He wasn’t entirely positive that he had any now. But regardless, the Nie Sect disciples treated him with regard. They smiled when they saw him. They welcomed him in their training exercise despite the differences in their sects’ fighting styles. 

Some, like Nie Huiyin, treated him as though he was a part of their sect. Another of Nie Mingjue’s little brothers to look out for, to keep tabs on like he was incapable of taking care of himself. 

It would be insulting if it hadn’t felt so much like acceptance. 

“I have been progressing,” Lan Zhan reported dutifully. “My control has improved further since my last visit.” He didn’t react to lies like someone had stabbed him in the ear the way he once had. With age came control, and a higher pain tolerance, apparently. 

Nie Huiyin made a sound of exasperation. “You Lans, I swear. I meant how have you been? Done anything fun lately?” She jostled him to punctuate her questions. He was slightly cheered by the fact that she had to reach higher than usual to rest an arm over his shoulders; he’d finally hit his growth spurt this summer and was nearing his brother’s height. 

“I mastered Inquiry,” he offered. 

She squinted at him suspiciously. “Is that what you do for fun?” 

“I enjoy it, yes.” 

“Hm. Acceptable. Though my rock climbing offer still stands if you want real fun. There’s nothing more exhilarating than free-falling from a thousand feet, shidi!” Lan Zhan gave a doubtful noise in response that made her laugh. “We catch ourselves before the bottom and take the rest of the fall on our sabers. And then!”

And then they raced through the most dangerous mountain pass in Qinghe on their sabers, chasing adrenaline with as many death-defying stunts they could manage until the pass ended in a dead-drop of a hundred feet. Most of them followed the waterfall straight into the large lake at the bottom. Most of the Nie disciples were reckless enough to try it at least once.

“Scorpion Alley,” he said, familiar with the sect’s unofficial rite of passage. 

“You got it,” she agreed cheerfully. “We still haven’t gotten you out there, have we?” 

“You will not,” he assured her, and bit back a smile when her laugh echoed across the training grounds. It was so different here than in his sect. There was little composure in Qinghe, no reason to stifle laughter or keep words hushed. 

Composure, he’d learned, was another word for concealment. Disguising one’s truthful feelings to reflect serenity instead. A mask that hid the turmoil beneath for the sake of propriety.

It was a lie all the same. 

“I hear your sect is hosting guest disciples next year,” Nie Huiyin said, steering him towards the main hall. 

“Yes.” He made a halfhearted attempt to sound neutral. He must have failed, because she snorted a laugh as she shoved open the doors of the main hall where Nie Mingjue sat, sorting through a stack of reports with a cranky expression. A slender, unfamiliar man with a dimpled smile stood beside the desk, holding a massive accounting book and waiting patiently for Nie Mingjue to stop muttering under his breath. 

Nie Mingjue looked up as the doors swung open. He brightened almost immediately, standing to welcome Lan Zhan with such genuine delight that Lan Zhan ducked his head, pleased. 

“Welcome back,” he said, clapping a hand on his shoulder and leading him to one of the nearby tables, gesturing for a servant to bring tea. He sat across from Lan Zhan while Nie Huiyin leaned against a column behind him. “How was the trip?”

“Fine,” Lan Zhan said, and tried not to sound petulant. He was almost sixteen, perfectly capable of making the trip from Gusu to Qinghe without trouble. 

“It’s the da-ge instinct, little Lan,” Nie Huiyin said with a laugh, nudging Nie Mingjue with her knee when he scowled up at her. “He can’t help himself.” 

The unfamiliar man hovered in the background as though unsure what to do without Nie MIngjue’s attention. Lan Zhan blinked at him, still unclear on who this newcomer was or how he’d climbed to Nie Mingjue’s side so quickly. Lan Zhan visited often enough that he would have noticed a new person in Nie Mingjue’s inner circle before today, surely. 

Nie Mingjue noticed his distraction and turned to wave the man over. “Ah. Apologies, you two have not met.” The stranger obediently crossed the room and bowed low to Lan Zhan. “This is Lan Wangji, the Second Jade of Lan. And this is Meng Yao, my new deputy.” 

“It is an honor to finally meet you, Lan-er-gongzi.” 

Lan Zhan nodded politely in response and wondered at the faint whisper of a slipped note that accompanied his words. Not quite a lie, but there was something underlying that sounded… off. 

“Da-ge,” Nie Huisang complained, sweeping into the room with a sulking expression. “I already did my saber training today as promised, and Nie Zonghui is trying to make me do more. This is cruel and unjust and-- oh, hi Lan Wangji.” 

“Nie Huaisang,” Lan Zhan murmured. 

“Lan Wangji,” Nie Huiasang said brightly, throwing himself down beside them. “Tell me, doesn’t your clan have a rule or twelve about keeping promises?” 

“A-Sang,” Nie Mingjue said tiredly, pinching the bridge of his nose. Behind him, Meng Yao hid a smile like he’d witnessed many similar discussions like this one. 

Then again, so had Lan Zhan. The Nie’s bickering was as constant as stars in the sky. It had taken some getting used to, but now Lan Zhan let it pass over him as background noise. It was all born from a place of love, and even the small lies (like Nie Huaisang’s mistruth about the duration of his promised saber practice) were easily ignored. 

Meng Yao, though. He was odd. 

Lan Zhan kept his face carefully neutral whenever Meng Yao’s smiles rang false, which was… often. He smiled like he knew it was expected of him, not because he wanted to. Like he was playing a role, either for the sect leader’s benefit or his own. 

It had been a few years since his lessons with Lan Xichen on the reasons why people lie, but most of it was… still hard to understand. So when Meng Yao responded to direction throughout the rest of Lan Zhan’s visit with a demure, “I would be honored, Sect Leader” and it rang discordant every time, Lan Zhan thought it was perhaps time to ask for help. 

Only a few years ago, Lan Zhan had accidentally exposed an advisor in Qinghe who had been bought off by merchants in the city. Every bit of his advice and own influence had been manipulated to support the merchants. 

Of course, when Lan Zhan was in the room and realized the advisor’s input sounded like a drunkard playing a dizi, he’d signaled to Nie Mingjue, who then rooted out the reason for his lies. Lan Zhan was not capable of doing so himself-- he only knew when people lied, never their reason for it. 

Shortly after Nie Mingjue had personally tossed the advisor out of the Unclean Realm’s gates, Lan Zhan had discovered a shadow wandering around on his heels. 

“How’d you know he was lying?” Nie Huaisang asked curiously. He continued when Lan Zhan stood frozen in place, unsure how to respond. “I saw your cue to da-ge. The hand signal?”

“I…” He had no idea what to do. Brush him off? Explain his mother’s gift? Deny it entirely? 

No. That was dishonest. 

He swallowed hard and admitted, “I can hear lies.” 

“Really?” Nie Huaisang’s eyes brightened. “So you knew the advisor was corrupt?” 

“No. Just that he lied.” 

“Hm. Interesting. So just the lie, not the intention?” The ever-present fan fluttered as Nie Huaisang stared thoughtfully at him. He nodded once in agreement. “You hear it?”

Lan Zhan realized he’d been absently following Nie Huaisang’s meandering pace along one of the walls. They were alone, so he reluctantly shared, “It was a gift from my mother, before she died. I hear conversations like music, and lies are…”

“Horrible, mangled sounds?” Nie Huaisang asked dryly. “My music tutors tell me that’s what I sound like when I play, anyway.” 

His face did not show the flicker of humor he felt. “Yes.”

“Is there anything other than the curse that tells you when they lie? Like, if their voice sounds nervous or their breathing is too fast?” 

Lan Zhan paused. He’d never thought of that, of looking past the sound of the curse to identify the physiological aspects of the liars. Why would he? There was irrefutable proof from the curse. 

But not looking further felt… lazy. Like willful ignorance. That he could not abide. 

“I will observe from now on,” he decided. 

“Me too!” Nie Huaisang caught his skeptical side-eye, because he sighed like he alone bore the weight of the universe and said, “I’m just saying, it seems like a useful skill. That advisor got past me, too, you know, and I spend a lot of time listening to their incredibly boring conversations.” 

“Boring conversations about running the sect.” If the disapproval wasn’t clear on his face, it was evident in his tone. 

“Exactly,” Nie Huaisang agreed. “But I learned my lesson, Lan-er-gongzi, all thanks to you! We should practice together, don’t you think? How about just before lunch every day?” 

“That is the time of your saber training,” Lan Zhan, who was not an idiot, said. 

“Is it?” Nie Huaisang asked, blinking innocently at him. “Ah, well, da-ge can’t complain if I’m busy making our favorite guest feel welcome!” 

“We will spar together before lunch,” Lan Zhan decided, ignoring Nie Huaisang’s horrified expression. “And then study during lunch.” 

“No,” Nie Huaisang wailed. “How can I learn to read people if I’ve been pummeled into the dirt by the Second Jade of Lan?”

“I would not,” Lan Zhan said, offended. “You are not capable of a legitimate spar--” 

“No shit!” 

“--so instead I will help with your training.” 

“Somehow this turned out very badly for me,” Nie Huaisang muttered, but he was at the training grounds mostly on time later that day all the same. 

That was two years ago. 

After two years of shared study, they had something that was not quite a friendship. Lan Zhan had never lost the sense of awkwardness around Nie Huaisang-- he was never quite sure how to interact, wasn’t sure what his role was in this relationship. 

Nie Huaisang mostly just complained to him about everything under the sun. But every time Lan Zhan visited, he showed up to the training grounds with an expression of utmost suffering. He only remembered his saber half the time, and he tripped over his own feet often enough Lan Zhan feared for his life, but he showed up. 

So Lan Zhan knew his concerns would be heard if he took them to Nie Huaisang. Maybe he would have more insight into Meng Yao’s oddities-- Nie Huaisang understood people the way Lan Zhan didn’t. He couldn’t hear lies, but he could see them. 

Most of the time, anyway. He’d learned to read faces where Lan Zhan heard the mistruths. It was a training method with guaranteed reliability, and Nie Huaisang’s success had surprised him. Apparently he was highly capable when he actually applied himself. Too bad he didn’t want to. 

Still. He would listen to Lan Zhan, and he would help. That much was certain.

[joonluvv]

burnt sweets

summary: you’re finally the royal chef! this has been your dream since you were a kid so you must be super prepared right? stressed and tired, you might have kept the oven open for too long..

pairing: knight! jungkook x baker! reader x prince! taehyung (platonic?)

genre: heavy angst / fluff / crack / medieval! au

word count: 5.1k

warnings: [ tw // FIRE , heavy pain/hurt , scarring ] / cursing / trapped in a collapsed building that’s on fire. please be careful reading.

a/n: i tried my best to do this gender neutral but if i missed something please tell me. the word mx is a gender neutral term for mister/miss type honorifics. i also used lowercase on purpose because i meant this to be a blurb haha,,, enjoy!

the food would never be finished. or at least that’s what you felt like.

you were the newest chef for the kim royal family and needed to finish— or rather start cooking and making dishes for the feast, only a few nights away. you were on limited time and were becoming increasingly frustrated. you were low on sleep and almost had no time from running to the market every few moments because you forgot a specific ingredient. your old mentor and the old royal head chef, kim seokjin, had been sending you letters about this event since he knew you so well. he advised that if you could cook up the older dishes it would make a good impression. he was also the one who had promoted you from sous chef to head chef, so you owed him everything. but that didn’t mean you couldn’t get mad at him for this.

“you’re kidding me right, jin?” you groaned when you saw jin dusted off the cookbook he held in his hands.

he looked at you in annoyance and tisked at your reaction. shaking his head, he walked to the counter and plopped the book down. opening it carefully, he flipped through the recipes while talking to you.

“oh i’m definitely not. this is from generations ago so it’s very important and that means you cannot get it dirty.”

from his rare authoritative tone, you knew this was serious. putting aside your emotions, you rolled up your sleeves and washed them in a nearby basin. you would have to work hard to decipher what the words would mean, something you quickly realized when you read that you needed to ‘make a foile of gode past as thynne as paper’ for one of the pastries. at the line, you and jin looked at each other in confusion before jin started laughing.

“ah, you have your work cut out for you y/n. good you’re the best chef and baker in the kingdom so you will be fine.”

“debatable. very— okay, what the fuck is a crispel?”

at your sudden burst of obscene language, jin doubled over laughing and dried his fake tears before patting you on the back. he was going on vacation for a while with the head advisor to the king: kim namjoon, also the oldest prince. you genuinely wanted to punch them both, who was going to take care of the feast without the most responsible people?

“don’t stress too much, you still have the youngest prince and that knight of yours!”

“please! i need to just pray that the prince won’t accidentally forget to invite the parks and that knight isn’t mine or anything. i just hope he won’t make my life living hell. i’m going to die just by thinking about this.”

at that point, you thought you would say goodbye to your beloved job at the palace. there was no way you could cook all the dishes, so you had to ask for help. something you absolutely hated. if you could do it perfectly, why did you need help? but going with jin’s ‘superior’ advice, you asked for help.

it was getting better! most of the dishes were finished but no one wanted to bake the pastries. probably because it was the hardest one to perfect and the cookbook made absolutely no sense. but of course, you still had prince! taehyung and knight! jungkook that would definitely make your job worse.

knight! jungkook smirked as he thought of you. he wondered how many different ways he could make you roll your eyes in annoyance. it was his favorite pastime. but he should probably focus on the sword that was dangerously close to his neck.

“you seem off, jungkook. unless, i’m just better than you now.” prince! taehyung chuckled as he walked towards the jungkook. he lifted the sword from jungkook’s neck and held it on his shoulder.

taehyung’s hair was full of elaborate curls that had been messed up by the sparring practice and his tendency to run his hand through his hair every few minutes. jungkook’s was far worse, due to the fact he didn’t have as many servants at his disposal to help him clean up. his bangs constantly got in the way of his vision, something many palace servants thought of as another charming point to the man.

seeing the sword move away,  jungkook rolled his eyes at the prince’s teasing eyes and got up quickly and got into their separate stances.

the two narrowed their eyes and circled around each other. jungkook stopped and taehyung did in response. with a baited breath, all the other knights watching the sparring match between the best friends tense up. 

jungkook moved first.

he ran with all his might towards the prince and clashed their swords. taehyung put up his sword in the nick of time and sparks flew everywhere. the two were locked in strength, as this scene was more than familiar but nonetheless exciting. jungkook took a chance, wanting to trick the prince by lightening up the force he was using. taehyung, falling for the new trick, took this as tiredness and pushed harder. this all happened in a couple of seconds so both the knights nearby and passing servants watched in awe as the two handsome men battled it out.

jungkook smiled and let go completely, sidestepping to the left. taehyung used too much force and tripped over his feet. jungkook swerved around taehyung and before the prince could look back to defend himself, jungkook had pointed his sword to the back of his neck. taehyung kept his hands up at the feeling of he sword so close, letting go of his own and the clattering sound resounded through the sparring area. but it was not the end.

jungkook taking this as a victory, became a little relaxed and did not expect the next attack. in an instant, taehyung had turned around, dodged jungkook’s swing, and was holding a small dagger to jungkook’s neck. with eyes wide, jungkook let go of his sword, falling to the floor for the entire courtyard to hear.

but before taehyung could claim victory, there was a shout heard from the insides of the palace. letting go of his hold on jungkook, taehyung looked towards the running little boy and tucked the dagger away to not scare the kid. jungkook noticed the child and decided to pick up the swords, believing the kids was about spew some royal duties to his friend. the boy’s feet pattered towards the two men while the rest of the attendants in the courtyard started to disperse and talk amongst themselves.

“i apologize for inconvenience, my prince! i do not mean,” he breathes out quickly, almost hyperventilating, “to disturb. the head chef said not to come so if i must be punished, i do not mind but i must be here!” the little boy said, not older than eight or nine, and was on his knees, looking down in shame.

taehyung and jungkook looked at each other when they both heard the boy say head chef, aka you. as their best friend, you’re hatred for asking for help was something both of them knew too well. so when they heard that you had specifically told this boy not to come to them, that meant something was up. they went closer to the shaking boy, scared he would be punished by the best knight in the kingdom and the bravest prince in the royal family.

taehyung and jungkook kneeled next to the little boy to not frighten him. deciding it was best that taehyung comfort him— as a knight might be too scary and a prince might have a better effect— taehyung put his hand on the boy’s shoulder. the boy slowly raised his eyes to meet taehyung’s and blinked a few times, too much in awe that a prince was right in front of him.

“what is the matter? don’t worry,” taehyung stroked the kid’s back, “i will not punish you.” he said in a soft voice.

instead of replying, the boy looked towards jungkook. jungkook, confused at the action, continued to stare at the child and not understand the silent question he was asking.

“um, sire? will you punish me?” the young boy whispered in fear.

taehyung laughed at the question and threw his head back. jungkook looked offended by taehyung’s reaction but quickly assured that he would not. taehyung added that jungkook was too weak to hurt anyone, but this retort was quickly followed by other insults the two threw at each other in a teasing fun.

“um your majesty?” the little boy asked, breaking up the prince and knight from glaring at each other.

“ah yes, go ahead. what’s wrong?” taehyung asked.

“um, well.. the head chef said that i shouldn’t come here but i know that you all are friends!” the kid said animatedly, making the two men smile and reminiscent of their own youth.

“so i thought you would be able to help. uh, mx y/n needs help. they cut themselves while chopping some vegetables and i think everything is stressing them out. while they were cooking, they said that they wish you two were there to calm them down so i just thought…”

the two young men looked at each other and smiled at the thoughtfulness of the little kid before frowning at your actions. if you were stressed, you should come to them! not indirectly hoping that they would just appear. jungkook patted the little boy’s head, thanked him for his message, and they both changed out of their armor and leaving them with more comfortable.

taehyung’s robes were usually much more intricate than jungkook’s due to his royal status and wealth but today he wanted to stay light. he wore a white plain blouse and black pants. the shirt had golden embellishments on the shoulder and arms. jungkook was dressed in a simple brown shirt with a plain, light green pants as the highest level of knights wore. both men then headed to you.

“please mx y/n, get out of there!” the two heard while they descended the staircase to the kitchens. when they heard this, they ran down faster. at the entrance to the kitchens stood the entire staff, who were covering their faces with their handkerchieves because of a small amount of smoke.

smoke.

both taehyung and jungkook widened their eyes and understood what was wrong. you were still in the kitchen. the kitchen that was currently on fire.

taehyung was too shocked to do move as he was not used to this type of situation. usually, he was the one being saved by palace guards for his naivety and curiosity while venturing outside the palace. while taehyung had his mouth agape from the small flames, jungkook was already running into the kitchen. as a trained knight, this was more up his alley. he knew what to do, get inside and drag you out fast. he was working against the raising flames that were not merciful. the kitchen staff tried to grab a hold of jungkook and pull him away from the doors, but he was too fast and strong— again a trained knight.

“y/n! where are you?!” jungkook yelled out, looking frantically around before coughing slightly.

his eyes started to burn at the thickening smoke and he covered his mouth to try and breathe easier. he wasn’t able to keep low to the ground like his mentors had taught him due to trying to find you. the flames were barely licking at his feet and his pants, while jungkook kept looking around for any sign of you. he was beginning to lose hope when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

quickly turning around, his eyes dulled when he only saw that taehyung was inside too and helping him search. realizing that the youngest prince of the kingdom was in a fire, jungkook tried to push taehyung back.

“are you crazy?! this is a fire, hyung!” jungkook tried to scream over the flames that were starting to grow larger. taehyung looked at his friend and after a silent battle, the two continued to search for you, the conversation was over.

“u-ugh, over h-here!” a croaked voice rang out in the billowing blackening smoke, making the two men whip their heads in the direction of the voice.

they tried their best to run towards it but wooden splinters and lines of fire kept preventing them to reach faster. they kept trying and finally found you, blocked off by a ring of fire. you were shaking and facing into a corner, trying to not let the fires touch you or what you were...holding? 

was that a book?

you had been baking— or trying to rather, by the directions of the old book but you had fallen asleep, the first precaution every chef knew to avoid. a little boy was talking about his adventures in the market that morning and while listening to his long, confusing words, you had drifted off on the kitchen counter. your left cheek was still caked with flour from the remaining that was on the counter. you had woken up to crackling and an uncomfortable, oppressing heat from all around you. at that moment you had seen the kitchen counter on fire, and so naturally, you ran out of the kitchen. while waiting for guards to come put out the fire, you had a realization.

that damned book was still inside!

a couple of hundred years of history of sweets was in that book and the royal family would surely lock you up for damaging such an important artifact. but you were more worried about the disappointed and angry face your mentor, seokjin, would have when he realize that you couldn’t even keep a simple book safe— your career and friendship would be over.

while the two men were trying to reach out to you past the rising flames, guards on the outside of the kitchen were putting out the fire with pails of water. everyone was helping out because of the three very important people inside, not to mention the entire food for the upcoming feast was getting burned to a crisp!

“come on y/n! you have to reach out, please!” taehyung’s loud voice rang out and you snapped your eyes open and steeled yourself.

you had to do this, you weren’t going to die now. coughing up a storm, you slowly got on your feet and crouched close to the creaking floor. the floor was wooden and would give out any minute, you three needed to leave fast.

while taehyung was encouraging you to step through the flames and head towards him, jungkook was trying to find something to pat down the flames near you. if you ran through fire at its current height, there was a good chance you would not survive, which he wouldn’t let happen.

he found that there was nothing he could do except try and stomp on the flames with his leather boots, it worked (thankfully) and the flame was small enough where you could jump over it without getting too hurt.

you saw both taehyung and jungkook coughing heavily from the smoke and a fire behind the two of them starting to roar. you squinted your eyes and with a determined mind, you steadied yourself with the book under your right arm. you ran fast and leaped over the stomped fire, right into jungkook and taehyung’s arms.

unfortunately, the flames decided to rise at that exact moment. your ankles that was not covered by your leather shoes and part of your right arm that protected the book were not very lucky. 

the fire ripped through your skin and it felt unnervingly cold, like dipping your limbs into a cold river. it covered little skin but where it did, it was excruciating pain. your skin felt as if it was ripped apart from your body and then singed back on. you could feel blisters bubbling on your arm and cried out.

your right arm was still glued to the book, but your mind was numb and weak from the pain. you wanted to repel away from the place, the heat was making you feel dizzy. you started seeing black spots but someone shook your shoulders and you heard gurgles of words far, far away.

you were screaming. but you couldn’t even hear yourself. someone lifted you up into their arms and the red fire started to be replaced with a darker brown. you were shuffled outside the kitchen but you could be wrong. your shut your eyes but lips still whimpering. you felt yourself being lifted and put into someone else’s cold arms. you liked the cooling sensation and curled further into them and slowly drifted into darkness.

you woke up to a dark room. it felt like your eyes were still stitched shut and so you looked around for a light. a large window was open and you saw the moon still very much up in the sky. you tried moving your arms, but felt bandages on your right arm. above your elbow, white bandages were tightly wrapped.

your fingers, especially of your right hand, were slow to respond. it took you a few minutes, but it felt like hours, to spread your entire palm on the bed you were on. taking your time, you slowly perched yourself up on your elbows.

a sharp pain ran up your arm and you stopped, shrieking in pain. it was like an electrical shock through your spine and you had to stop moving. you heard footsteps and saw that a door was flung open. you were thankful they hadn’t brought any torch because fire was still a scary aspect.

you saw the silhouettes of two people enter quickly. they were followed by many guards but they all bowed and left with a wave of a hand. the door slammed shut, making you wince on instinct and the two men came closer, the moonlight shining on their familiar faces.

taehyung and jungkook.

you tried to speak but out came a raspy noise from the back of your throat. taehyung brought over a cup of water while jungkook tried to lift you up into a sitting position without moving your foot and making you lean on your left side. you desperately drank the water, gulping it down and almost choking if taehyung hadn’t tilted the cup back. after calming your breath, you looked up.

“w-what happened..?” you croaked out.

the two men slowly backed away from you and sat at the edge of the bed you were lying in. you noticed that the bed you were in was much larger than your usual one. looking around more, you realized you were in prince taehyung’s royal chambers. your feet was wrapped with gauze and propped up on pillows. there was also a white blanket that was falling off the bed and onto the ground.

taehyung looked to jungkook’s face who was blank without emotion. jungkook looked down at lap and was fumbling with his hands, something he never did. he was usually so calm and poised due to his training but this was not something he was trained for. he let out a frustrated grunt and got up, looking away from the bed and to the window.

taehyung ignored his best friend’s response and looked up at you softly. he patted your head tenderly and tried to send a reassuring smile towards you.

“..you passed out, from the pain i gather, after jungkook lifted you into my arms. he was running to find the royal physician while i tried to warm you up.” taehyung started with a distant look on his face.

“w-warm me up? w-why would you need to do that if the f-fire-“

“because you were shivering!” jungkook burst, looking at you in a pleading fashion. his arms were stretched out in fear and he walked towards you. you could see the tears forming in his eyes when he continued.

“the royal physician said that you developed a fever from the burn and we were trying to keep you warm. taehyung thought it would be warmer in his room so we left you here— that doesn’t matter!”

jungkook sat down at the left side of your leg and looked sadly at your feet. taehyung was on your right and the two looked at you intently. you reached for their hands and intertwined your hands while glancing between your friends. it was hard to move your right arm but you suppressed the pain to hold taehyung’s hand, hoping he wouldn’t notice.

“why did you go back to save that stupid book?” taehyung asked, tears already falling down his cheeks.

“i-i thought it was important. seokjin said that it was a family heirloom and..” you trailed off, not able to meet their faces.

jungkook started again, “and what? you weren’t thinking, that’s what! y/n. your life is more valuable than that stupid book! you should know that.”

“also, we heard from a little boy that you were feeling stressed. you’re supposed to come to us when you feel that way, not just want us to magically appear. how many times do we have to tell you that?” taehyung quietly insisted.

“don’t get me started on that, i’m still angry at the fact that you risked your life for a stupid book and ran into a fire—” jungkook tried again to reason.

“oh will the two of you shut up?” you said annoyed and furious. you were not going to just listen to your best friends berate you in this way.

“yes it was stupid but guess what? i survived—”

“fucking barely.”

you glared at the outburst of both of them and continued.

“i have been trying to prove to you and this entire kingdom that i am willing to be the royal baker and i have painstakingly worked my ass off for this job! i love doing this and i know i’m good at it. yeah, my feet are hurt and my arm is weak but i’m alright, okay? i should’ve asked for help but it seems that’s all i do. i wanted to be independent..”

taehyung and jungkook looked at each other before smiling at your face. you lifted one eyebrow in question but they stayed silent. taehyung closed his other hand to encase yours.

“you are independent, y/n. you were able to make all the food, much of which we were able to save, for the feast. if that’s not an incredible feat, i don’t know what is.”

“not to mention, the sweets you’ve been baking for the past week? i may have taken a few of those— uh what do you call it? crispels? anyways those honey baked goods, ooh those are so tasty!”

“oh.. thank you. i suppose i have done— wait, you ate some crispels? those take me four hours for each batch!” you demanded jungkook, whose doe eyes were wide in fear of your reaction.

taehyung giggled at your response before the rest of you joined in. you smiled at your friends, not only had they saved you from a fire, they had also made you feel better for doing something so incredibly stupid. they really were the best, but you were worried. what about the food that was burned up? who would make it now that you were out of commission.

“don’t worry too much about the feast. i was talking with my father and who would’ve guessed? i forgot to invite the parks.. so since their journey will take them two weeks, we still have some time!” taehyung chuckled awkwardly while you rolled you eyes at his foolishness.

you released your hands from your friends and looked at your fingers. they were dry and cracked, clearly no one had thought to thoroughly clean them when the physician was applying salve to the burns. you tried clenching them but your right arm felt like it was engulfed in flames and the searing hot pain made you yell out and grab it in shock. taehyung got up to make sure the bandages were not too tight while jungkook rubbed your back helplessly. while feeling bad and still a little guilty that you couldn’t cook, you started to think.

when you looked at them, you got an idea. your smirk only made the two men confused, as they could only imagine what favor you were going to ask of them.

“no, no, no! you’re doing it all wrong taehyung. you need to marinate the strawberries in the honey, then stir the egg white into another bowl. see, look at— no jungkook! that’s flour, not sugar! wrong ingredient!” you yelled in your house, while sitting and overlooking the two men in your own kitchen.

since the royal kitchen was still being repaired, and you needed to bake the rest of the sweets (apparently all of your helpers had gotten hurt too), you had decided to move the things into your own small home. the two men had visited multiple times, but never to cook anything— that was your speciality, not theirs.

and you could clearly see it. the two made a mess while not being able to help and it irritated you so much. your royal check ups with the physician proved that you would not be walking for a while and so you had to rest. 

but, things in the kitchen were getting better. after the fifth attempt, you were happy to say that taehyung put all the ingredients in the right order and jungkook used all the right ingredients. but seriously, how was taehyung not be able to follow directions? he’s a prince! and how did jungkook mix up flour and sugar? they are completely different smells and textures!

now this, this was the hard part and since you right arm was especially weak and your left arm currently holding up your entire torso, you were unable to whip the mixture. they started to and oh boy, they were tired in seconds. you had created this recipe when experimenting but never able to test it out. with two trained soldiers, you thought they would be able to do this for longer.

after a few hours, they were able to make a soft, creamy consistency. perfect for your honey and strawberry crispels. the two men dabbed the cream on top and the three of you cheered. you all ate the sweet, and almost instantly the dozen batch was gone.

for your ingenious creation, you needed a name. you wanted to call it ‘whipped cream crispels’ but both of your friends decided it against it, wanting a cooler name to impress their friendly rival, prince jimin of the park royal family. taehyung decided to call the cream ‘snow’ because jungkook’s inability to see the difference of white ingredients. while jungkook added ‘honey-dipped strawberries’ at the beginning to remind taehyung the order of doing things.

so, your ‘honey-dipped strawberries in snow’ was served at the grand feast a few weeks later when the parks finally arrived. 

saying that prince jimin was impressed by your baking skills was an understatements. his compliments were so inflated that even taehyung and jungkook were getting jealous by the amount of your attention he was taking up. they almost dueled and probably would have if you hadn’t brought out more sweets for them to try.

“these are amazing, y/f/n! truly, your baking skills are no match for anyone. please sit down.” jimin said in his dark blue royal coat. he had a big smile on his face after eating your sweets and was gesturing to the seat next to him.

“o-oh, thank you. that’s very kind of you to say, your majesty.” you stuttered at the compliments and your cheeks felt very warm. you sat down and held your hands in your lap. your feet still got tired easily so it was a nice break.

“you can call me jimin, y/n. you know, your skills could be used wisely in my kingdom. i would even offer you a room near myself to make sure that i try out all of your sweets. what do you say?” he said smirking and ignoring the two shocked faces in front of him on the other side of the dining table.

“um, your maj- uh jimin, i don’t think that’s necessary. i’m—”

“she’s quite happy here, jimin. i don’t think i like what you’re implying, hyung.” taehyung stated right across jimin. he crossed his arms in annoyance at the older prince’s words.

“i don’t ever know what you mean!” jimin said innocently looking forward.

“oh please! even i know you’re just saying all of that because you think y/n is attractive. back off, they’re not interested.” jungkook said. he stepped forward from the door, where he was guarding, and right behind taehyung. his tone was not polite manner which you quickly glared at him for. he looked at you in confusion before groaning.

“hm, i don’t think so. what about you, y/n?”

“what about me? um, sir?”

jimin only smirked coyly at your formalities and liked how sweet you were. maybe that’s how your food was so delicious, or maybe it was the excess amount of sugar.

“well, do you want to go to my kingdom? i could show you around.. or more importantly for your interests, i could show you an old cookbook of ours and my people’s way of making sweets.”

you paused, that would be a good idea. wouldn’t it? you get to visit a whole new kingdom, learn new recipes, and spend time with a prince. but you suddenly remembered your mentor’s teachings when you first entered the palace.

“rule number one: don’t flirt with any royal.” seokjin said with a stern face.

“pfffft like i would want to!” you said mockingly

“i’m serious. they can be a little.. mischievous.”

“fine, whatever.”

you came back to the present and smiled wide at jimin. both taehyung and jungkook were losing their minds while jimin was just enjoying the silence. if you went with jimin it would weaken your loyalty to their kingdom and they would be very jealous so it wasn’t a good idea— not like that was even remotely running through your mind. you just wanted to stay with your friends.

“i am very honored to be offered such an option. thank you, prince jimin, but i’m going to have to decline. my place is here with prince taehyung and sir jungkook, it would be rude of me to leave the palace without a head chef.”

jimin was surprised by your words but smiled softly that you were thinking of your friends. he patted your good shoulder and got up from his chair. scared he would be offended, you stood up as well. jimin gestured for you to sit down and so you did. he bowed to taehyung and jungkook in respect for his younger friends and you as well. you looked down too and he quickly left to the guest chambers. of course, he still wanted the last word.

“you can always change your mind and discuss it further in my room, y/n. i’ll see you soon!”

once the door closed, taehyung and jungkook started animatedly, and you hoped they were joking, talking about how they would completely defeat jimin at dueling during next morning’s practice. you laughed at their reactions but were happy to have such good and protective friends. you ate one of your sweets and smiled.

© 2021 by cherryyjjk ;; all writings and other content on this blog are my intellectual property. you may not reuse, reprint, translate, repost, steal, or any other type of stealing of my works.

[logan-is-noggin]

Bullies

Summary: peter finds out how Caspian stark deals with her bullies

word count: 2948

warning: self harm

Caspian walked along the side of the hallway, trying to get to their third-period class without any problems. But of course, Cass couldn't catch a break cause three seniors come barreling by, one shouts " hey it's Casper the ugly ghost!" While the other two push them into the row of lockers causing them to fall and spill their books. they groan and glare as the group makes their getaway, laughing as they go. Peter Parker rushes to their side from down the hall " class, are you okay?" He hands them what part of their books and folders he picked up. they sigh and takes them from the boy. Peter's their only friend at this school, and mostly because they both work with the avengers. Peter is secretly Spider-man. But of course, Caspian would never reveal his identity to anyone here. And Caspian was the child of iron man himself. Well adopted child." you should tell a teacher or someone if people are bullying you, Cass." " you sound like you're seven, Parker" they sigh " and that would only succeed at making them worse. Besides, after putting up with them all year, I'm used to it," they say as they walk away.

(Peter pov)

' all year?' Peter wondered. ' Why haven't they said anything? Even to Tony or one of the others.' Peter kind of knew what Cass was going through, several kids got bullied at school by the older kids, but for some reason, they got it worse from that group. probably just jealousy. Peter also noticed that cass only wore long sleeves or sweaters most of the year. Normally it wouldn't phase anyone but with it being almost June, he wondered how they didn't pass out from heatstroke.

(No pov)

Cass didn't see Peter again until lunch. The two usually sat together with his friends mj and Ned. But both were out sick today so it was just them two.Peter sat down with his lunch and greeted cass. they didn't look much happier from the last time they spoke. He commented on how warm it was in classes and Cass only shrugged " I get cold easy so just want to make sure I'm prepared." As they ate, Peter kept looking at their blue shirt sleeve. He noticed a dark stain by the end of the wrist. He figured it wasn't sauce or ketchup cause they adamantly despised all things made with tomato. That made him even more worried." hey Cass, what's that on your sleeve? It looks like blood. Are you okay? Did someone hurt you again?" He asked in his usual fast manner. Cass's eyes widened in shock for a brief moment before they denied it. " it's nothing, don't worry about it." they picked up their tray, with their barely touched lunch, and told him they'd see him in history.

Caspian sat down at their desk next to Peters in class. The bell rang as the last of the students floated in. Their teacher started passing out their tests and told them to begin.Peter was just finishing his test and then grabbed a piece of paper from his pocket and quickly wrote " Cass, I think you really need to talk to someone. I don't want you to get hurt more." He folded it up and slid it onto Cass's desk. they unfolded it and read it. they turned to Peter and harshly whispered " stay out of it!" The teacher called their name and they both looked forward. " Caspian, you know the rules about note-passing in class." Instead of confiscation, Mr Conner thought public embarrassment was a better deterrent, so he made anyone caught with a note, stand and read it. Cass stood and looked back down at Peter who looked like he regretted his actions. " Cass, help. what are the answers to question 8 and 9, "Cass looked again to Peter who was now confused and looking panicked." Peter, detention after school." Cass smirked as they sat down and slipped the note in their pocket.

When the bell rang after class, cass walked by Peter who was glaring at them with his head on the desk." I told you to stay out of my business. I'll let Tony know you'll be late." Then left.Caspian was happy that they delayed Peter from going to Tony about his "concerns". At least for a while. they had been so careful about keeping their secret. them and Peter had patrol an hour after school most days. With any luck, Peter would make it to the tower just after they left. they dropped their backpack in a chair at the kitchen island as they grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. Natasha and Bruce were in his lab looking over some equations and waved to cass when they passed, they waved back. Tony and Steve came up the stairs, presumably from Tony's lab, where he spent most of his downtime. " hey cass, where's the other kid? Did he stop at home before coming for patrol?" they faked a look of pity. " Peter might be late today, he got detention." Both Tony and Steve looked shocked. " what? How?" "He got caught trying to pass me a note asking for some answers to our history test." Tony frowned. " you didn't give them to him did you mx.?" they shook their head " course not. peter and I studied for it together, I thought he was just kidding around. I mean he has a better grade in history than me anyway." tony was still in thought " well, I'll be sure to have a word with him when he gets here." Playing the innocent card, cass picked up their bag and slung it over their shoulder. " I'm gonna get some of my homework out of the way before my run." Tony gave them a quick hug and a nod. Steve's eyes followed Caspian out of the room in suspicion.

(Cpov)

Cassie dropped the bag at their feet the second the door closed. they pulled their hoodie off and went into the connected bathroom. Inside the medicine cabinet, they took out a small metal tin that they hid behind a bar of soap. they opened it and pulled out one of several blades.

(10 minutes later)

Peter swung into stark tower through an open window in his spider-man uniform and took off his mask. He was breathing heavily since he was rushing to get back once he was released from detention. Tony and Steve were standing in the kitchen, Tony still looked mad when he saw Peter, Steve simply looked disappointed and confused. Peter held his hands out in surrender. " I know this looks bad, but you have to let me explain." Tony crossed his arms. " okay, you have thirty seconds to tell me why you would try to get Caspian in trouble." Peters gaze went from Tony to Bruce, and Nat in the lab then back. " actually could we go somewhere private?"

(Cpov)

Cassie held a wad of stained toilet paper on their forearm. their eyes were closed and they leaned back on the wall. When they lift the tissue most of the heavy bleeding has stopped. they flushed the stained paper (best way not to leave behind evidence) and rolled the sleeve down. Now feeling able to breathe, they sits in bed and starts their homework.

(No pov)

Tony, Steve and Peter made their way down to the lab. Then Peter started to explain. " i didn't try to cheat. and i wasn't trying to get cass in trouble either! I was already done with the test when I gave cass the note." "Then why would they say you did?" Steve asked" cause when Mr Conner catches someone passing notes he makes us read them out loud. they probably wanted to keep what I wrote to them a secret." "And what did you write to her?" Tony asked losing patience.Quoting what he wrote, Peter said. " you need to tell someone what happened. I don't want to see you getting hurt more." He blinked quickly to keep tears from forming. Again both men were taken back. But Peter didn't wait for them to ask " I saw them get bullied this morning, they admitted it'd been happening all year. they also told me not to say anything when i told them to go to a teacher or the principal.and Then at lunch..." "Don't you dare stop talking now kid" Tony warned. " I think Cass is hurting themselves, like on purpose. I thought I saw dried blood on their sleeve, I asked about it and they took off."

Tony sank into the closest chair, he took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.Steve looked at Tony. Then at Peter."If you don't believe me, go ask them for the note. they put it in their pocket. they probably still have it."Steve knew Tony wouldn't be getting up soon, he was still in shock and would be too emotional if he tried to talk to them. " I'll go talk to cass. Peter, go ask Nat if she'd mind filling in with you for patrol. but don't say why, we don't need to worry the team till we know the truth." He nodded and ran up the steps. Steve was about to leave as well when Tony grabbed his wrist. He turned back. Tony was never an emotional guy. So to see him near tears was hard for him " it's gonna be okay." He assured as he raced up the steps.

(Cpov)

There was a knock on the door, Caspian answered and Steve opened the door, taking a step inside. " is Peter here? I'll get ready to go." they said getting up from the bed. "Actually Tony already sent him out with Nat."" why? I thought it was my shift.""I actually wanted to talk to you about something."' here we go' they thought while they slowly sank back into the bed "oh. Okay, what's up?"Steve shut the door and sat next to them on the edge of the bed. " is everything going okay at school?" they had grabbed their pillow when he sat down and hid their arms under it."its high school. not the best way to spend my day, but its fine," Peter said some kids are bullying you?"Cass shrugged " kind of, but tons of kids get bullied in high school." " He said you get punched and thrown into lockers. Does that happen to everybody?" they winced remembering that they were still sore from this morning's beating. " it's not a big deal. I can handle it" there was a pause. Cass saw the worry on Steve's face. " Caspian, how, are you handling it?"

"What do you mean?" they gripped the pillow nervously. " peter also told us he thinks you're hurting yourself."Cass frowned " and what does he know," "The kid has heightened senses Cass. And he said he saw blood on your shirt sleeve."At this point, Caspian wouldn't look at cap. their knuckles started to burn as they held fist fulls of the pillow. He tried to make them release the pillow but they flinched from his touch. " i’m not going to hurt you." he whispered. they let go of the pillow and he placed it to the side.Again he placed his hand on theirs. they didn't move but didn't stop him when he turned their arm over and moved the sleeve up. Knowing he was looking at their arm full of scars and bruises. The ones on that arm were fairly older. " can I see the other one?" they pulled their hand out from under them and they both noticed the blood left had seeped through the fabric. they glanced at Steve but Immediately regretted it. they knew he wasn't happy.

He went and grabbed more toilet paper from the bathroom and then slowly peeled the sleeve out of the way. The wound started to bleed again and he pressed the paper to it. " hold it and wait here, I'm gonna go get the first aid kit." they obeyed as he ran out of the room and was back in seconds. they were relieved but confused that he didn't ask why they cut their arms up. All he asked was when the last time they did.. " after I came home and came in here." they admitted quietly. He finished wrapping her arm in gauze, taping it in place." He should have minded his own business." they whispered." well I'm glad he didn't. Or else we could be dealing with something worse than this. You should have come told us however long ago when this started. No one would have been mad at you." "But now you are." they asked " I'm only upset that you lied to us and got Peter in trouble when he was only trying to help you." " and Tony? Where's he?"" I left him in his lab, he was really hurt when peter told him." they winced again. " I think you need to go talk to him about this." they shook their head "why not?"" you might not be yelling at me but he will.""You don't know that." Steve said " yes I do. That's what Tony does. He yells, he throws stuff around when hes mad.even if he says he's not mad at me," " he's your father, he's just looking out for you. And I promise, you'll feel better once you two talk." "I'll think about it." they say grimly. Cap nods and stands to leave.

Once he closes the door, Caspian hugs their pillow tightly. A few tears fell on the white case. they wiped them away and stood up. they Straightened their bed and papers that had gotten shuffled around during their talk with cap then walked over to the window and pushed it open. they grabbed a rung of the metal ladder that was next to their room and swung out catching it with their other hand and climbed to the roof. Caspian liked being up there alone, it was easier to breathe, no razor required, and think up here. they sat close to the edge, though their feet weren't over the edge. The sun was just beginning it's path to setting but it would still be in the sky when Peter returned.A half hour later, Caspian spotted a familiar red dot swinging from building to building getting closer to home each time.

When he was half a block away he must have noticed them on top of stark tower and almost slammed into the side of the building. Instead his fingers stuck to the glass and he crawled the rest of the way up until he hopped over the edge. His mask came down and he looked even more worried than he was this morning. "Please don't do it Cass." He begged. they rolled their eyes and turned to face him." I'm sorry I told them but they needed to know. I should go get Tony?" He spattered quickly. Cass sighed, crossing their arms." calm down spider-man, I wasn't gonna kill myself. But if you try to involve my dad I might jump." " Then why are you on the roof?" He asked confused." cause I needed to get your attention. I wanted to apologize. I'm sorry for getting you in trouble." He closed the distance to hug them. " I'm just glad your okay Cass." they hugged him tighter " but I'm not." they said when they let go. Peter kept hold of her hands and led them closer to the middle of the roof, mostly to make him feel more at ease. " I've been on my own for so long I've always had to learn how to deal with things on my own. I guess old habits are hard to break."" I get it. But you don't have to anymore. You got me, and Mr. Stark, and cap and all the avengers behind you. We're your family." they leaned her head on his shoulder in another hug, " I know."Suddenly, a blur of red and gold shot up as Tony landed on the roof, his helmet folded down. Cass's breath caught in her throat as he got closer. they could see the leftover pain in his eyes. " Friday notified me that you were on the roof, you can guess I got worried." Peter tried to reassure him that I was okay."" I wanted to talk to Peter as soon as he got back. To apologize for what happened." His shoulders of his suit fell in relief. " well you two should get back inside, it's getting dark." "And Cass, we need to talk when you get inside" they nodded and watched him fly back down.They took the stairs down and were soon in the living room, the small group of heroes going about their separate activities. Caspian caught their father watching them and followed him down into the lab. both Tony and Caspian weren't too much for expressing feelings. So when they had heart to metal heart talks, Tony tried to lessen the feelings part by them working on his projects together. It worked for the most part. They were down there for hours. they shared their side of the very long story and talked Tony down from flying over to the school threatening to "deal" with their bullies. " just do one thing for me then," he asked. " Please come to me if you ever feel that way again. No matter what I'm doing. I want to be there for you." He wrapped his arms around them and they let themselves be held.

[steponmepinkjun]

I NEVER FINISHED MY STORY OMG. ok so i left off at being too proud to tell my friend she was right and kpop fucked hard. the difference between u and me is that i’m too good of a liar. too good. i kept up the “i hate kpop it’s cringe” facade for ALMOST TWO WHOLE YEARS, I SHIT YOU NOT. why? bc my dumb ass, extra ass, dramatic ass self thought “ok if i’m gonna have to deal with the embarrassment of admitting i’m wrong, i better do it in such an extra ass way it’ll knock ur socks off so hard that YOULL be the one embarrassed not me.” the original plan was to learn the entire choreography to bts dope, bc it’s the song that she told me to listen to and inevitably the song that got me into them, but later switched to bts fire bc i saw too many of those “choreo matches w any song” videos, and then her birthday party came up. and here’s the real kicker. her birthday is April Motherfuckin Fools. so it would be So Perfect for me to reveal my kpopism as a birthday present And a april fools prank in one. so i was Set on the Reveal being on april 1st, but the day rolls around and god that choreo is so fucking hard and i am Not a dancer. never have been. so i abandon that and go ykno what… i’ll do it Next Year. BC MY BITCHASS WAS LIKE NO THE MOMENT IS TOO PERFECT TO DO IT ON A NORMAL ASS DAY ITS GONNA BE ON APRIL FOOLS ON HER GODDAMN BIRTHDAY OR NOT AT ALL. a year rolls by, i’ve told most of our friends except her and they’re all in on it, i’d made so many subtle kpop references to her without her realising they were fully intentional and had too many scares where she almost figured me out but i lied my way out of it, and i’d given up on showing off with choreography bc i couldn’t make that shit look good. i’m not a dancer. i am, however, a rapper, and a damn good one, so i inhaled the agust d mixtape and decided i’d just rap the eminem of kpop’s anthem at her face. in korean. and change the lyrics at the end (if u haven’t listened to agust d, the bridge repeats “i’m sorry” a lot) to “i’m sorry i kept this from u for so long” and “i’m sorry i actually ult got7 not bts” (this was like the april after skz debuted ok i was holding onto got7 for dear life knowing full well skz we’re going to convert me smh) and the best part? she never saw it coming. her official present was a cd with a bunch of kpop on it but she thought it was just a personalised mixtape for her so i told her to play the first song out loud and she knew the song Instantly. it has a long intro so she was like “i guess u did listen when i recommended u this song!! i knew you’d like it since u like rap so much!!” and then i started rapping and i shit u not. she started SCREAMING. like the initial reaction was her jaw dropping and then instinctively covering her mouth but when i kept going and she realised i wasn’t fucking around she just fucking screamed like a banshee. at the end during the sorry bit i threw off my jacket to reveal a got7 shirt on the inside and she fell off her chair and started rolling around on the floor. needless to say it was every bit as satisfying as i thought it’d be LMAOOOO afterwards her ass was like “I CANT BELIEVE U HID THIS FROM ME FOR OVER A YEAR” and when i tried to explain my ego couldn’t take the “i told u so” she was like “you know i wouldn’t have made fun of you for it right? i would just be glad you’re not hating on my boys anymore” so basically i’m a big dramatic fool and she was always too good for me.

don’t mind the weird spaces here my ipad is being all fucky wucky w me rn. damn sad to hear ur sideblog experience didn’t go so well, i’d have shown u the cool side of the fandom if i knew 😤😤 leading u thru the cursed halls of kpop stan tumblr like a sketchy tour guide that’s actually 3 small raccoons stacked on top of each other like a trench coat, like “over here we have the fanfic writers that honestly need to publish a book, over here we have the gif makers that are responsible for my entire camera roll, if we take a quick swerve past the death threat anons and the twt fanwar screenshots - mind ur feet bub the 14 year olds were tryna make a grab for ur ankles - ah here’s the holy grail of shitposts, you might be here for hours, to the right we have the weird aussie side of the fandom that projects our childhoods onto chanlix but also all the members as we decide what their life in australia would’ve been like, and down there is a secret trapdoor to the blogs w endless random headcanons that will make you laugh, cry or blush depending on if the author woke up and decided to choose violence today. enjoy your Stay!” but then again i’m not so active on tumblr anymore (ngl you’ve become the highlight of my tumblr experience these days, interaction wise,) so maybe all my Local Hotspots are inactive now. i know a bunch of them are, it’s sad. “i don’t fw stan twitter for the same reason i don’t hang out in meth dens” oop. guess i’m a meth addict. no but i get u i rly do, it’s a hellhole out there, but the fact that things get shared and spread a lot easier than on tumblr and how short most things have to be (therefor keeping up w my adhd attention span without having to resort to the mental torture that is tiktok, with the added bonus of not always needing headphones.) that i just. couldn’t leave if i tried. maybe i should try being active on tumblr again but it’s a dying site in comparison.

“their music doesn’t consistently hit for me as much as skz” i’m sorry we can’t be friends anymore. what. what. you don’t dramama ramama ramama hey? you don’t feel a little jealousyyyyyy, naega anin? you don’t shoot out, shoot out, shoot out, or aremdaeun love killa love killa? you can’t be your hero du du du du du du du du du dududu? u disappoint me. literally like everyone i know who likes skz music likes mx music like it’s a rite of Passage. they’re kindred spirits, monsta x music is like skz’s music’s cool but mildly heterosexual older brother. neither of them know what a bad song is it runs in the family. and both their music runs in my VEINS. whenever i describe my music taste they’re always the first two that come to mind, skz being my number 1 bc they are my best boys but mx bc of the Flavour. pls listen to the entire the code album then get back to me 😤🙌 ok but fr ur so right they are 7 of the finest men i ever seen (yes i say 7 bc i’m including wonho cause he deserved better and i’ll die on my ot7 bullshit.) like don’t get me started on them either LOL i LITERALLY downloaded that one insta video of changkyun working out his back n arm muscles w his tattoo showing bc i needed that shit saved for Science. they could do Anything w me like frfr. yes vixx is the bdsm contract group i’m telling ya they wildin. or at least they were. it’s been years since their last comeback idk what they’re doing anymore tbh. and yeah that makes sense, savouring the hyperfixation i feel it, but also i’m so attached to skz that i never let it die. like i hyperfixate on other things and other groups but i will Always go back to skz cause they’re my homeboys. hell, they’re my home. being a predebut stay i’ve spent more time w skz than most of my actual family members at this point. but that’s just me you do u boo xx just know that if ur anything like me ur never letting go once skz it’s been my longest lasting fixation cause they hit like Nothing Else Do. ik i’ve already said that but i cannot stress it enough. they’re really special. i’m gonna stop here before i get all sappy and emotional bc i really love those boys so fucking much and i don’t drop the L bomb often. SIDE NOTE I WOULD LIKE TO SEE UR LIST OF GROUPS RANKED BY THORSt. i need to judge ur Taste. and omg cat&dog is such a guilty pleasure song bc the lyrics make me cringe so much bc while pet play can be fun they be doing it in more of an “i’m an innocent soft dogboy uwu” kinda way that just Does Not Sit Right with me. it comes back to the objectifying of asians that asians themselves don’t help in industries like these and maybe i’m looking too far into it when rly it is just wholesome n cute or maybe they are into some pet play shit idk idc i will bop to the song regardless but i will not acknowledge the lyrics nope.

YOURE RIGHT THO SKZ’S OPENNESS IS IN FACT, A BIG DEAL, i’ll grab them for u if u want but i found these twt threads of skz supporting the lgbt community and i just felt a special kind of happiness man like sure the delusional part of me likes going “haha they’re gay” bc my brain likes to imagine them as my polycule of mlm boyfriends bc sometimes thats what gives me the serotonin to get me thru the day ok don’t judge but also bc it’s nice knowing that yes i’ll never know them personally, but at least i can support them knowing they’d respect my gender identity and my pronouns, they’d respect who i choose to love, and that’s already more than the general public can say so shit, it is special! it’s special that they don’t treat being cishet like the norm - they constantly remove gender from their songs and speech entirely, they don’t assume all stays are female anymore, we don’t talk abt the babygirls incident cause we got babystays in the end outta that ok, and it’s just. so refreshing and important to me bc i can’t get that anywhere else!! like my semi ults are the boyz and while i love them very much and there’s no way all 11 of them are straight i refuse, i do get just a little bit sad whenever they she/her their fandom by default and call them their girlfriends n shit even tho i do still identify as a girl, i’m also genderfluid/nonbinary/transmasc, and i have a very love/hate relationship w my womanhood and rarely use she/her pronouns, cause it’s like, do you not see me? see us? the ones who aren’t cishet women? i mean i know kevin does bc he congratulated a fan who came out as nb but it’s just not the same as the openness we get w skz. like how do i trust cishets i could be supporting them as a queer person when in reality they’d call me a slur. what would i know, behind the screen? so it’s so good that skz go the extra mile to make it a safe space for everyone. this is already long enough i will reply to the second half of that ask in another message… tomorrow cause it’s 1am and i’m tired gn -felix bi anon

I'mma have to start putting these under a readmore so that i don't absolutely make everything who is still following me for some reason go totally fucking insane 😂

NDJDHWJJAHFNAKBSJSBFBHHDBDNAJD YOU HAVE NO IDEA THE FACES I WAS MAKING READING THIS, I WAS FUCKING CACKLING AND GASPING EVERY OTHER SENTENCE SO HARD THAT I SCARED THE CATS NDJWHSHSB the fact that you went "oh you want me to get into kpop? Give me a hot minute, and I'll give you a whole ass private concert for free" biduehsjdbd biiiiiiiiiiitch you're a fucking ICON, I stg I could NEVER 😂 (and not just because I couldn't find a tune if you gave me a printed set of Google maps directions and that I embody the steriotype that white people can't dance, like my sister kept sensing me tiktoks of the whole "dance like a white girl" trend going lmfao look it's you and eventually I was like "sis please this trend has me feeling like being white is a disability and these mothafuckers are being ableist 😭 also I could NEVER be that on beat so yall ain't even doin it right 😭😭😭😭"). Tbh if I told one of my friends (lol what friends, i got jokes) to get into Skz and they showed up at my bday and performed the entirety of I Got It I would simply shower them in money and go "aight everyone else go home, you are no longer needed, you are being laid off, your position has been eliminated, we're downsizing, the company is moving up and you're moving out, you are not qualified for this role any longer, best of luck with future endeavors" 😊

I think part of the reason I can't deal w Twitter is the exact reason I refuse to leave tumblr, in that I've been on tumblr since 2006 and twt since 2008, and tumblr literally has not changed at all, not even a little, whereas going from the early days of twt where there were no corporate sponsorships or ads and you had to manually copy and paste someone's tweet and @ them to retweet it, to how it is now, like 90% ads and showing me shit from the timelines of people I don't even fuckin follow n whatnot, it's just not enjoyable. Idk how anyone finds anything on twt, it confuses and frustrates me because I am old and have not adapted well to technology changing 😂 But arguably, the skz fanbase doesn't want me on skztwt anyways so like it works for both of us lmfaooo. I am old and cringey, and also still think of twt as stream of consciousness whereas tumblr is your teenage bedroom where you can decorate the walls with anything that interests you. I do really love the nonsensical kpoptwt shitposts tho fhshsbdjjss like it is a very specific flavor of mental instability that I enjoy immensely 😂 OH and also I initially misread part of that and thought you were saying you actually irl do meth and I was like 😳 WHAT DO I SAY TO THAT. HOW DO I HANDLE THIS. Like how do I express like "I wasn't being judgy of people who use substances cause I've been there but I was just being insensitive 😳" And then went back and reread it and was like WHEW, IM JUST AN ILLITERATE FOOL 😂😂😂😂 ejeywhdhrhjwbfbdjshdhdhd I spent like an hour bwign like "IS THE REASON WE GET ALONG BECAUSE THEY'RE ON METH???? WHAT DO I DO WITH THIS INFORMATION??????" hrhehshe I am literally a fuckin idiot it's fine

It's not that I don't fw them, it's more like... Okay so like there is no situation in which I am going to skip a skz song if it comes on shuffle. You will not ever catch me NOT in the mood to listen to Sunshine, if God's Menu comes on we are THROWIN the meager amount of booty meat I got hither and thither, I could be in the happiest mood of my life but if Ex comes on I will stop to SOB. And I'm not like that with most music, so mx just falls into the category of "there is a time and place." Idk why but it just doesn't forcibly grab hold of my heart and ass the way skz always does. I really don't WANT my skz fixation to ever end, but I know that eventually it'll stop giving me dopamine bevause my brain is my worst fucking enemy 🙃 like my arcana fixation is to date the longest running hyperfixation I've ever had, going on almost three years, and I used to not be able to spend every single second of every day thinking about Asra, but now... I just feel nothing when I look at arcana stuff. As you can probz tell by the fact that I hardly post arcana anymore 😂 So I know that eventually all my happiness will end, it always does, I can never stay just as obsessed with something as I was for long. I CANT SHARE THE LIST BECAUSE I DONT *HAVE* TASTE YET 😭 I'm basically just compiling a list of any group someone tells me I should look into, ranked by how strong the kitty purred upon googling pics of them 😂 My mom read my ass to FILTH over txt lmfao she was like "they're not that adorable. Maybe your standard for adorableness has gone down with You Know Who still on hiatus 🤔" bfjwhdhd like MOMMAAAAA THE LIBRARY IS CLOSED 😂 she attacks me any time I even hint at stanning other groups, she is a skz purist and stans skz only, unofficial Momma Stay of All Stays keeping me in check lmfao.

I feel like skz really do follow thru on their promise that they're a safe space for stays, it's nice to see that they hold space for anyone and everyone in their fanbase and do it in a really simple and elegant way, I feel. Like they never make it seem like "okay here are the fans and here are the token weirdos that were only recognizing to make a buck off of them" the way a lot of artists make it feel like 😑 like they don't go out of their way to act like it's some revolutionary act to do the bare minimum of not shitting on certain parts of the fandom, if that makes sense. They feel very "yeah, of course we love all our stays, this is a welcoming space for literally anyone, that's how it should be, that should be normal," instead of like "Hi fans we love you 😊 and special shoutout to you ell gee bee tee folk, make sure to buy my rainbow merch after the show!!!" you know? Like, they're the friends who would never make you feel weird or different for some shit, the friends that take the attention off you if something they know ur sensitive about comes up, instead of weirdly snapping at whoever brought the unfomfy thing up which ruins the mood and makes you feel tiwce as bad, yk? They just give off this vibe that they, and the space they create with their music, is just a genuine and chill place to be and hang out and relax and bond. I feel like they'd be the friend group that is so goofy and sweet and silly and accepting and lovely and always makes you feel loved and excited to be alive 🥺 They are all good noodles 🥺🥺🥺

[ellebabywrites]

The Hitman - In Exodus

Type : Oneshot (Part of The In Exodus Series) // Angst // Fluff // Smut // Cartel!au

Warnings : angst, death, cussing

Author Note : This took me far too long and had my anxieties far too high. I’m finally happy with how it turned out and hope you all enjoy it too !! Please give me some feedback because I’ve worked so hard on this chapter..

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀*⋆.*:*･ﾟ: .⋆☾ ⋆**･ﾟ: *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:*⋆.*:･ﾟ.: ⋆*･ﾟ☾

The smell of freshly baked croissants flood the streets, a sign that the Bakery is about to open and the day beginning. Shutters rise and doors open. The busting workers of Exodus bracing for the day ahead; a day of sales to kids who can barely walk straight with the amount of poison saturating their bloodstream; a day of fighting with the guy from down the road who insists that things were ‘cheaper last week’; a day of overworking for much less of a profit than it’s all worth. Living the dream.

The bakery was different though. Something about it felt like home, and everyone treated it as such. It was the only building for miles that wasn’t painted in graffiti, the only business that was doing well for itself, a little slice of goodness in the middle of all that bad.

That’s what everyone thinks anyway.

Across the street, Jongin is watching through the scope of his rifle. Watching the Baker unlock his doors and flip the closed sign to open. He scoffs. Such a poser.

Saying Jongin enjoyed his job would be pushing it; how much enjoyment can one really get from taking a life without being a psychopath? But he’d be lying if he said that he wasn’t looking forward to taking out this one particular man.

He watches the Baker great the first of his customers with a toothy grin, hugging Mrs Jamison when she comes in for her regular morning pastry. If only Mrs Jamison knew all the dirty things that man had been doing with the hand she shakes so willingly.

The town’s beloved Baker wasn’t nearly as squeeky clean as he liked everyone to believe. After hours, he found himself in SUjU territory, hanging out with drug runners, dancing around the subject of Exodus till the haze of alcohol took control, divulging any and all information that might get him another drink.

Pathetic Jongin thinks, noticing how the Baker danced around his customers with such fictitious glee, as if he hadn’t sold them out a hundred times over.

Again, not to say EXO were any better, but surely there should be some sense of town loyalty right? Jongin thinks so; making this particular betrayal all the more infuriating and his death all the more inevitable.

Jongin lines up the crosshairs of his gun against the Baker’s head, having the courtesy to wait for the shop to empty. One. The corner of his lips pull into a smirk, the buildup of adrenaline flooding his veins working as his own personal high. Two. Is it sick to say he can’t wait to kill this guy? Maybe? He deserves it Jongin thinks, afterall, he did try and ruin their business for a few shots of tequila. Thr…

“Hey Joey!”

So close…

“Well this is a surprise! How’re you today darlin’?”

Usually, you would only visit Joey’s bakery at the end of the week, needing some sort of sugary treat to get through the piles of work you had to do; but today your classes were cut short and you were gagging for something with chocolate.

“Our professor had to leave early and a girl needs her goodies!” You joked, leaning against the counter.

Joey had been a staple in Exodus for your entire life, the man was everybody’s uncle, everybody’s friend, you could talk to him about anything and your weekly visits had become a huge part of your routine.

“Good job I’ve got a whole bunch for you to choose from duck,” Joey laughs at how your eyes quickly scan over the trays of baked goods like you were a starving puppy, “Ooo I know what you should pick, I need someone to try out my new brownie recipe!”

Fuck. Joey moved away from Jongin’s line of fire just enough to grab the box of brownies from behind the counter, the perfect shot ruined by a few brownies.

“Well if you made them Joey then I’m sure they’re absolutely delicious!” you coo, giggling at how easily you can make him blush.

Just as you were about to leave and the Baker to return to the firing line, a rush of people came flooding into the small shop, putting a stop to whatever chance Jongin had at completing his mission right now.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Nini groans in frustration, packing up his equipment quickly as to get away unnoticed, “he was right there, I could have had him!” It was frustrating sure, delaying his plans a few more hours before there would be another chance to take out his target; but there would be another chance and Jongin would get the job done. So while the sweet-toothed girl had momentarily saved old Joey’s life, it wouldn’t last much longer.

---

The clock read 11:57pm as you were hunched over on the living room floor, trying to finish this essay that you’d definitely not been putting off for weeks…

“Need ...sugar ...immediately..” you whine, dramatically throwing yourself across the floor to grab the box of brownies Baker Joe had gifted you earlier in the day. Mmnn, indulging yourself in the chocolatey goodness, you decide now is the perfect time for a break, only 6,000 words left to go anyway…

Completely oblivious to the ramifications those few brownies had had on the day for more than one party, you munched away the last of them, licking the crumbs from your fingertips and moaning at the euphoria a simple treat could bring.

‘Breaking news tonight : Beloved Exodus baker found dead. The 56 year old’s body was discovered an hour ago near his home, cause of death is officially named as a GSW through the neck…’

A chill runs up your spine as the news plays quietly from the television. Baker Joe was dead. Someone had killed him! You’re confused and hurt and angry all at once. Why would anyone want to hurt Joey? He was one of the only decent people in this shit-show of a city and now he was gone. Your eyes wander to the now empty box of goodies, the bakery’s logo printed on the front in swirly gold font and you feel the sudden need to cry, so you do.

---

Who did this guy think he was? An MX falcone wandering the streets of Exodus without a care in the world, stealing from the market stalls as he sauntered his way through the crowds. Minhyuk is his name. When Baekhyun had gotten word of their latest visitor, Jongin was immediately sent to take care of it. Honestly what did they think was going to happen? That they could just hang out in Exodus without consequence? That no one would be the least bit suspicious?

“You like the farmers market huh,” Jongin keeps a trained eye on Minhyuk as he moves from stall to stall. There were far too many people around for a direct hit so all he could do was watch and wait for the perfect opportunity.

“Why the fuck are you here?” He mumbled in annoyance, MX were getting far too comfortable for anyone’s liking; it was like the calm before the storm, except the storm was standing right in front of him chatting about produce with Mr Kim.

Suddenly, Minhyuk takes a sharp left, making his way out of the bustling crowd towards the alleys. He’d been made. Fuck. Following as quickly as he could, fighting his way through the sea of people, Jongin tries to keep up.

“Excuse me, I’m trying to get to…”

Minhyuk is fast, but maybe if you weren’t standing in front of him, blocking the way, Jongin would have been able to get him.

He doesn’t immediately recognise you. Your hair is tied differently and you’re wearing a different coat, but once Jongin places you as the girl from the bakery, he’s immediately on guard. Twice now you’ve gotten in the way of a hit. Could it just be a coincidence? Sure Exodus is small, you’re bound to run into the same people more than once. Baker Joe’s was a town staple and the market is always busy, but what are the chances? Jongin tries to side-step passed you, eyes scanning the crowds for Minhyuk, but you move along with him.

Holding out a map in front of him, you try again to ask for directions but Jongin doesn’t have time. He doesn’t have time to entertain the possibility that seeing you again could be anything but a coincidence, not when he’s about to lose yet another target.

“Move!”

You watch in astonishment as he pushes you out of the way before storming off. What an asshole you think; all you needed were directions, a simple no would have sufficed. Then again you’d come to expect nothing more from the people of Exodus. Sighing, you carry on your way alone, soon forgetting about the rude man you had met on the street.

---

8am lectures were the bain of your existence, but Professor Jeong’s class was always worth it.

Armed with a large cup of coffee and a stack of notes to aid you through, you made your way to an empty space near the front of the lecture hall. Biology never came easy to you, but the drive you had to succeed more than made up for it.

“Sorry I’m late guys,” Professor Jeong rushed into the busy hall, his own cup of coffee balancing on a pile of books clutched between his arms, “I got caught up with Professor Lyn, he’s such a ...fungi!”

The room fills with groans and muffled laughs at the attempt of a joke so early in the morning, but the Professor didn’t seem to mind. “Okay I’m sorry, let’s get into today. Can anyone tell me where we left off last week? Y/N?”

From the back of the room Jongin notices you.

“Oh you have to got to be kidding me..”

Once again, you happen to show up right in the middle of a job. There had to be a reason. There was no way this could be a coincidence anymore. Were you following him? Working with MX? Trying to get intel on EXO? Jongin didn’t know, but at this point he didn’t care. You were a problem.

Jeong was another star poser in Exodus. The esteemed environmental science professor, that drew students from across the country just to take his conservational bio class. The hotshot teacher who was already in the running for tenure. The slimy asshole that used his connections in the science world to help EXO’s competitors recreate their patented drug.

This was supposed to be an easy hit, wait till after class and use the pocket knife hidden in his belt to slit the professor’s throat before next period. But now, Jongin had to put those plans on hold so that he could figure out what to do about you.

---

Following you was far easier than Jongin had anticipated, thinking that he’d be kept on his toes trying to avoid getting caught, but you seemed completely oblivious to the fact that someone had been following you, watching your routines and judging them oh so harshly.

He kept his distance at first, observing from afar as you went about your daily activities. But soon enough, Jongin found himself immersed in the story that was your life. On the sidelines, a spectator, keeping mental notes of your behaviours.

Keeping space between you, Jongin follows you down the familiar street. He knows exactly where you’re going, the same place you’ve gone to for lunch every day that week. After your first class of the day you head straight to Lou’s café to grab something to eat and get some studying done. Like clockwork, the only thing to change was your order. Jongin would never admit that he’d grown to enjoy the establishment himself, but it was one of the least tedious moments of the day.

With the sky starting to darken in the cold weather, you fumble around your bag for your wallet amongst the loose scrunchies and old receipts, Jongin scoff in disbelief.

“How have you not been jumped yet?” He mumbled to himself. Before you’ve even walked through the café doors you have your money in hand, out in the open for anyone to take. Jongin had picked up on the blissful ignorance you had in regards to the danger in Exodus, instead, choosing to carry on carefree. Stupid he thinks.

Standing in line a few spots behind you, he watches as you let person after person cut in front and he just doesn’t get it. You only have an hour before the start of your next class and yet you’re willingly letting yourself be pushed back? People were clearly taking advantage of your kindness, but you were either incredibly stupid or didn’t care. When the older woman in front of you is a few dollars short, you don’t hesitate before lending her the difference, even putting back your own drink just so you could afford to help her. How could someone so generous be apart of something so evil? Then again, most of Exodus were playing that game.

Grabbing a coffee of his own, Jongin sits a table over from where you plant yourself, what had become your regular spots. Finding amusement in the way you struggle to fit both of your study books in the small space.

Now, only a short while before you needed to be back in class, you attempt to get as much work done while shoveling food down your throat as you could. Jongin thought it was hilarious, bar the tuna mayo that is. “Tuna? Really? It’s 11am jesus christ!” Maybe it was easy for him to judge you from a distance, but out of all the things he’d learnt, your love of tuna was the worst.

He watches your face scrunch and eyebrows furrow as you try and absorb the information, recognising the same study book you’ve been working on all week, the one for Professor Jeong’s class that you’d been struggling with. The pages covered almost entirely in highlighter with notes and doodles littering the margins. Cute.

You just seem so harmless. No matter how hard he tries Jongin just can’t seem to figure you out. Perhaps MX were blackmailing you? Maybe they had something that forced you to be their spy? It was the only explanation he could think of, because it just didn’t seem plausible that the girl in front of him, furiously editing her notes for the hundredth time that hour, the one with drops of mayonnaise left over on the corner of her lips, could be willingly working with the notorious MX. But you were involved somehow, of that he was sure.

---

The library is quiet, the sound of rustling papers and hushed whispers being the only source of noise. Luckily, it was busier than usual due to the wave of group projects being assigned, it made it easy for Jongin to blend in.

He watches you curiously from behind one of the bookshelves, trying to understand why you haven’t slapped the asshole beside you yet. He’d been cutting you off and putting you down every chance he could.

“I just think if we..”

“Seriously Y/N don’t strain yourself, I think we’ve got it.”

Asshole.

Even Jongin wanted to punch this guy. Being the only girl in the group, the others found it easy to dismiss everything you offered.

“Why doesn’t she say anything?” Jongin wondered, once again you were letting people walk all over you.

It’s not like you particularly enjoyed being treated that way, in fact you were daydreaming about slamming said assholes’ face into the wall at that very moment, but you couldn’t do that. This project defines your grade for the semester and you couldn’t afford that kind of taint on your record. So you bite your tongue. Act none the wiser and count the seconds before you could go home and be done with them all.

Across the library you spot Minho, the cute senior who’d been working as the student librarian for the last month or so. He’s scanning out returns at the desk, eyes glancing up occasionally, you presume to keep an eye on things . God he’s cute. When he spots you staring and then takes a look at the rather heated debate going on between your group, he decides to save you from the disarray, waving you over.

“My hero,” you tease, almost running to where Minho is.

“It was getting too painful to watch! What’s he ranting about this time?” He teases playfully, knowing all too well the constant tension in your study group.

“Ugh I don’t even know, it’s so much easier just to tune him out,”

Jongin’s teeth clench watching the exchange between you and the librarian. The childish giggling, the ‘accidental’ touches, the lingering stares. Disgusting.

“Who even is this guy?” If he didn’t know any better Jongin would think this was jealousy, but he did know better, so all of these unfamiliar feelings had to be from just how pitiful the sight was. This guy was clearly flirting with you, the blush on his cheeks and sweaty palms said as much, but from everything Jongin had learnt, you weren’t going to reciprocate. Tragic.

“Are you kidding me? Why is she twirling her hair like that!? He’s not even her type! He’s... he…” his mumbled ranting cut off by the sound of you laughing across the room. “Well if that is her type then no wonder she’s corrupt.”

He watches the pair of you for a little longer before the need to throw up eventually overtakes his need to stay, deciding he could catch you up later and spare himself the torture of sitting through whatever this was.

---

The open sign light bounces off wet concrete, illuminating your face with such a subtle glow of pink that Jongin could barely make out the streaks of tears running down your cheeks. He almost missed you sitting crouched over on the pavement, the smell of smoke being what made him stop. Why is she crying? He thought to himself, seeing you curled up in a ball, cigarette dangling from your fingertips haphazardly concerned him. Jongin didn’t have to wonder for too long though, the closer he got to you the clearer he could hear your muffled cries.

“Stupid fucking Geord,” you cuss, taking another long drag to calm your anxieties, “takes all my ideas, monopolises the entire presentation and then my contribution isn’t enough!?”

Jongin had come to know the infamous Geord all too well this last week, the pompous ass that had belittled you in the library, the snotty rich kid with mommy issues that just loved being right. Honestly the fact he hadn’t killed him yet was an accomplishment in itself; but still, seeing you clearly so upset gave Jongin a weird feeling.

You were either getting much better with your performance skills, or he was actually getting mad for you…

With each sniffle, each tear drop, Jongin felt his resolve breaking away and being replaced with a type of anger he’d never felt before. Why did he care that you were crying? Why was it affecting him so much? He didn’t know, but it took all his strength not to go find Geord and make him regret whatever he’d done.

As quickly as you put out the cigarette that was now burning short, you’re reaching for the box to light another. You only really smoked when you were feeling particularly stressed, Jongin hated it. Ironically it was the most disgusting thing he’d ever seen; painting the walls with someone’s brain was nothing compared to the strong stench of nicotine that passed your lips.

For a second Jongin lets his mind entertain the thought of approaching you, but the professional side of him reminds him who you were. This could be a trick...She’s not an idiot. Then he considers calling you out. Drawing his gun and putting an end to MX’s game once and for all, besides, he’d been observing you for a week now and he couldn’t afford for his attention to be diverted any more, he still had the good old Professor to end.

Before he gets the chance to do either however, you stand up. Taking one last drag before stomping out the flame, your hands carelessly wipe at your face in a feeble attempt at clearing the remnants of your breakdown.

“I’ll be fine, let’s just go home,” you whisper, more than familiar with putting yourself back together and wanting nothing more than a hot bath and warm bed.

---

When you first noticed that the new guy on campus was following you, you tried not to think too much of it. In all honesty, you were far too busy trying to keep on top of everything to pay much attention as to why you were being followed. Knowing the people in Exodus, you figured it was just his creepy way of flirting, or at the very worst he was planning on robbing you, not that you had much to take anyway. But as the days went by and the presence of your stalker persisted, you were growing frustrated. It’d been a stressful week and the last thing you needed was some guy watching your every move.

After getting the results back from Professor Jeong for your group presentation, you weren’t exactly in a ‘good mood’ and the looming shadow of the man trying to be inconspicuous as he followed you home, was the last straw.

"How much longer are you planning on following me?” You shout over your shoulder, not having the energy to even face him. When you get no response, you reluctantly decide to turn around to stare him down.

His chocolate coloured hair is pushed back exposing his forehead, eyes golden but harbouring so much animosity that they could have turned black, the jacket adorning his shoulders almost blending him into the dark street behind. He was handsome, strikingly so.

“Look dude it’s been a long day, can’t you just lay off the stalking for one night?”

Jongin stiffens at your words. So you did know he was there? And chose now, while you were both alone in a dark street, to confront him? God she’s stupid.

“Sorry Darling, can’t do that,” he insisted, watching how your shoulders slumped and fingers twitched at the side of your coat.

“Of course,” sighing deeply, too tired to argue, you decide to continue on towards your apartment, stalker be damned.

“Aren’t MX getting bored of this game yet?” Jognin calls. He figures if you already knew he was following you, then now would be the perfect time to put an end to it. You were alone after all.

When he sees you freeze at the sound of MX, he takes a tentative step closer, you’re still turned away from him, just a few steps ahead. “I mean, were you really the best they could do? We expected more.” The smirk on his face when you turn to him, wide eyed and lost for words, only grows at your reaction. Gotcha.

“What are you talki..”

“Come on now Darling, we both know what’s going on here.”

“I promise you we do not.” You’ve heard whispers of MX around town, while you didn’t know much, you did know that if this guy thought you were somehow apart of it, then this was a dangerous misunderstanding.

“You have a choice.” Jongin takes another step closer, “You can leave, now, and make sure MX stay out of Exodus for good,” Reaching under his jacket, he grabs the gun that’s been burning through the back of his shirt since you called out to him, “Or I can send them a message myself. Choose.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about!” You tried to keep calm, swallowing the lump forming at the back of your throat. When you spotted the gun being pulled from his coat, it was like a pin dropped and the reality of the situation finally began to sink in.

Exodus is a dangerous place. Exodus is full of dangerous people. You were standing alone with a strange man that you’d just yelled at, that had been following you for god knows how long, a gun pointed at your face and not a soul in sight that would help you.

He doesn’t flinch when you jump back, his smirk doesn’t falter when you start begging for him to listen. In Jongin’s mind, the fact you’d acknowledged his presence at all was enough to prove you were involved.

“Please, please, just listen to me, t-there’s been a mistake, I d-don’t kno…”

“Oh my god shut up!” He yelled over your desperate cries, “It’s over! Done!”

“I don’t know who you think I am, b-but my name is Y/N I grew up a few towns over with my parents, I-I study Conservation Biology at the university because when I was little I saw a film about sea turtles and now I love them.. I...” you read somewhere that telling a killer personal information about yourself would make them less likely to kill you; so, with your hands held up in surrender, you start begging, pleading, letting slip every boring and mediocre fact about yourself in hopes that the handsome stranger will let you live.

Jongin was taken aback to say the least. Never had a target begged for their life quite like  this before, but the more you rambled on and the more tears that fell down your cheeks, he couldn’t help it. He believed you.

This is a mistake... Did I mess up here? Fuck! His mind raced to find a way out of this, but his composure was breaking down with each second you plead your case. How could he have gotten things so wrong? Looking at you now; scared and shaking, there was no way you could be with MX. Jongin’s mind quickly looks back on all the time he’d been watching you, at school, at the library, with friends, home alone... Is it possible he let feelings cloud his judgment? No… Jongin didn’t have feelings.

Bang.

In a split second the air was slashed with bullets, plastering the wall behind you with open wounds. Your body drops to the floor, hands covering your ears like a scared child at a fireworks display, your screams piercing through the air.

Jongin doesn’t even think about it before he’s at your side. He fires back some warning shots, just enough to cover the pair of you so he could pull you out of there, but you were frozen in place.

“C’mon we need to get out of here! I can’t get a clear shot!”

Jongin hoisted your trembling body into his arms, waiting for a gap in the bullet wave before rushing out of the street. Weaving between the crumbling buildings, waiting in the shadows for a free moment to sprint out of there to a nearby underpass. It was sheltered and open, meaning Jongin could keep a solid eye on the surroundings while still keeping you safe while he let himself freak out a little.

As soon as he puts you on the ground you melt into the concrete, hugging your knees to your chest and crying into them silently. It’s all too much. How did this happen? Yesterday you were failing Bio and trying to avoid the creeper puppy boy that’d been following you. Now…. you were pretty sure you were going to die tonight.

“Fuck...fuck..fuck, fuck, FUCK!” Jongin paces back and forth, using the barrel of his gun to scratch away the headache slowly spreading across his temples. How could he have messed up this badly? He’s the best… at least... he was the best.

With every footstep he takes you flinch a little, hyper aware of the gun swinging from his hand, fingertip dancing along the trigger. You still don’t know who he is or why you’re there but you’ve seen enough to know to keep quiet. So you stay sitting on the ground, letting the tears melt into the fabric of your jeans, watching the state of panic escalate in the man in front of you while your own turned into something akin to resentment.

After almost half an hour of silently waiting for some sort of direction, you’ve had enough. Eventually Jongin had stopped pacing, choosing to lean up against the wall with head in hands, instead. In your mind, you have nothing to do with this. There is nothing connecting you to whatever chaos was happening here. You had no reason to wait around to get shot.

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?!” He shouts, annoyance bubbling beneath his skin.

“Home.”

“You can’t!” Pushing himself off the wall, Jongin reaches for your arm in an attempt to keep you still. You try to shake him off but his grip is too strong.

“I DIDN’T ASK FOR ANY OF THIS!” You’re screaming at him now. Tears no longer from fear, but anger. You feel trapped in whatever this was and it wasn’t fair, you just want to go home.

“Yeah well tough shit Darling, because unfortunately you’re my responsibility now and it’s my job to make sure you don’t get yourself killed!”

“I can take care of myself! I’ve been doing it long enough!” He rolls his eyes at your response, growing tired of trying to be the good guy for once. “Let me go! I’ll be just fine! Like always!”

Finally loosening the grip on your arm, Jongin let’s you storm off. Waiting, only out of spite, for you to be out of ear shot before cussing out loud at himself.

---

Somehow you managed to drag yourself to class. The events of last night still burning fresh at the back of your mind, but you were desperate enough for a distraction that even Professor Jeong’s morning class was worth that extra effort.

Barely able to keep your eyes open with the little sleep you were actually able to get, it takes you a moment to recognise the familiar body that plants themselves in the desk next to yours.

Jongin doesn’t look at you. Maybe it’s pride, maybe it’s nerves, but he keeps his eyes trained on the professor’s desk up front, waiting for his cover to be inevitably blown all for the sake of keeping you safe.

“Good morning class!” The professor’s abrupt entrance pulls your shocked and frustrated gaze from burning holes in the side of Jongin’s neck. His tan skin glowing under the plain white tee he’s wearing, hair falling into his eyes softly, contradicting the hard image he’d worn the night before. Does he have his gun with him? You wonder, letting your eyes wander to the waistband of his jeans, remembering how he’d pulled the weapon from them the night before. Stop! You hope he doesn’t realise you’ve been blankly staring at his crotch, mind racing with questions, you don’t even know his name.

“Today we’re picking up the remaining presentati…” When the admirable Professor meets eyes with Jongin, smirking from his seat beside you knowingly, he loses all train of thought.

It’s a feeling Jongin had missed. When a mark knows they’re done for, that he’s coming for them. When their eyes double in size. When fear pales their skin. When they lose all hope of fucking over EXO and getting away with it.

“T-today..um…” You can see the Professor eyeing your seat partner nervously, stuttering over his words. You’d never seen Jeong like this before, he looked terrified, and after last night it didn’t take a genius to figure out why.

Jongin shifts in his seat, enjoying the effect his presence has on the esteemed scholar. While Jeong tries to regain some semblance of decorum, Jongin wraps one of his arms around your shoulders and squeezes tightly, keeping eye contact with the professor, claiming you.

“What are you doing?” keeping your voice low as to not draw anymore attention to you both, you try to push Jongin’s arm away from you, only for him to put it right back.

“My job. Now be quiet.” He hisses, hiding the harshness of his voice behind a sickly sweet smile.

Professor Jeong spends the entire lecture avoiding your side of the room, refusing to make eye contact, completely ignoring you. You try not to take it personally of course, it’s definitely not because of something you did, that you know for sure; but for once you actually know the answers to some of these questions and want to participate.

“I told you, I can take care of myself!” you grumbled, again trying to physically get Jongin away from you, but he just smirks. Like he was enjoying it. Like this was all just some big game and not the life threatening situation he’d made it out to be the night before.

And you would probably believe that were true, if it wasn’t for his nails digging so sharply into your shoulder.

By the time class finishes you want to run a million miles away. The pressure of Jongin’s arm around your neck you’re sure will leave you aching for days; but as long as he’s far away from you, you can deal with it. You all but sprint out of the lecture hall, forgetting all about your next class and heading straight home; taking a back street you hope he hadn’t seen you use before.

“What the hell is this?” You mumble to yourself, pushing down the fear as far as you can in hopes the empty space will leave room for answers. You’re so caught up in your head, trying to figure out what you did to deserve this, you don’t even realise that Jongin’s been on your tail the whole time, watching you freak out and creep around like the amateur he now knows you are. It’s not until he steps into your building’s elevator with you that you realize he’s there.

“Jesus! Fuck, can’t you leave me alone!” He was exhausting; flattering when you thought it was a puppy crush, less so now you know he wanted to kill you.

“I can’t,” Jongin leans against the side of the elevator, growing tired of the chase.

“Why?! You’re the only one stalking me here!”

“Oh Darling, you have no idea.”

“Then explain! Because I’m tired of this! I have work to do, classes to study for, and I can’t when you’re scaring my teachers and dragging me through shoot outs!!”

Jongin understands why you’re annoyed. He gets it, he messed up and now you’re in danger. But to admit that outloud… to admit that to you… he’d rather not.

He doesn’t give you an answer, finding his reflection in the steel doors far more interesting, chewing the inside of his cheek and fixing his jacket over and over.

When you finally reach your floor, it becomes a race of wills to get to your apartment. Jongin trying to force his way in; you trying to lock him out. You sprint for the door, key in hand; almost managing to slam it shut in his face before Jongin’s hand pushes it back open, forcing himself through the small gap and locking you both inside.

In a second he’s slamming your back against the door with his hand covering your mouth, keeping you in place with the weight of his body, trying to work up the nerve to finally tell you the truth.

“I’m not going to hurt you, but you need to listen to me just for one fucking second… My name is Jongin, okay?” he asks, face dangerously close to your own. You manage a weak nod under his hold, terrified but needing answers.

“I made a mistake. I...I thought you were working with MX,”

Your eyes widen at the second mentioning of the infamous gang, more confused than ever as to why he thought you would ever be involved with them. He didn’t even know you.

“There’s rumours they’re coming for EXO territory..”

He’s with EXO. The realisation floods through your body like a lightning strike, frying your nerves, limbs locked in place while the rest of your body falls limp into his arms. EXO. The kings of this city. The reason shops close early and children aren’t allowed out after 9. The  doctors responsible for prescribing the death, the destruction, of a city once so healthy and vibrant. Monsters, as far as you’re concerned.

“They must have seen me tailing you and after last night, I think you’re a target.” Jongin watches as your eyes well up with tears, red and swollen as you choke back the sobs you so obviously want to release. It doesn’t affect him… it doesn’t make him angry… he doesn’t want to wrap you in a hug and take it all back… right?

“So as much as you don’t like it, I’m here. I messed up so I need to fix it, because this isn’t a game and this isn’t a joke. If they think you’re with us they will kill you. Milk carton kids, where are they now, 27 club dead.”

You wish he was a better actor. That he could hide the shame, guilt, pain he feels for putting you in this position better. That the cold exterior he wears so well didn’t have quite as many cracks, because then maybe you could tell yourself that everything was going to be okay. But if Jongin looks scared, then you’re absolutely terrified.

Blinded by the fear, your body reacts before your mind can catch up. Fists pounding into his chest weakly as the sound of your sobs rip into his heart. You’re in hysterics, screaming at him for an answer to questions still lodged at the back of your throat. Jongin doesn’t break down with you, as much as his body tries. Instead he just grabs your wrists, stopping their assault and pinning them into his embrace. His hold the only thing keeping you standing as you finally let the last walls crumble, letting out every tear, every scream, every desperate cry for it all to be some twisted dream.

Jongin doesn’t know how you both ended up on the floor, your head buried between your knees as his hand finds itself brushing through your hair. Somehow you manage to calm yourself down, letting the sobs turn to whimpers and cries to sniffles. Finally numb after the dust settles in your mind, you force yourself to look back up at Jongin. He looks how you feel, just doing a better job at hiding it; you don’t miss the concern that washes over his face and maybe that’s why you decide to let him stay. If he was so determined to fix what he’d done, you weren’t going to stop him. At least not tonight.

“I need to sleep,” you say weakly, standing on shaky legs but brushing off Jongin’s worried hands when he tries to help, “you can stay on the couch.”

---

Tiptoeing across the living room, shoelaces dangling from your teeth while your hands clutch onto your books; you’re desperately trying not to wake a sleeping Jongin. His sprawled out body half falling from the couch, you admit he looks a lot cuter when he’s sleeping.

Before you can stop it, one of your shoes drops from between your teeth, making Jongin jump up at the sound.

“What are you doing?” he mumbled, rubbing the fatigue from his face, stretching back into his familiar hard persona.

“Uhh, going for breakfast?”

“Did you not hear me last night!” It didn’t sound like a question. His voice raising ever so slightly in frustration as he stands to tower over you. Failing miserably at being as intimidating as usual, with his hair a mess and cheeks puffy.

“I heard you,” you say, pushing your feet into the fallen shoes before giving him a chance to stop you, “I’m just not going to hide away like a victim when this is your mess.” He stiffens at your words, ignoring the cut they etch into his heart, instead focusing on your relentless stubbornness in such a risky situation.

“If they catch you out alone they won’t miss another shot!” Jongin clenches his jaw when you roll your eyes at his remark, unsure of what he can do to change your mind.

“Look if you’re so worried, you’re more than welcome to join me,” you offer, determination radiating off of your face in such a way that Jongin finds himself unable to argue.

---

For the next few days Jongin stays by your side, sleeping on your couch, going to breakfasts, your classes, all to make sure you were safe.

He walks the familiar routes around town with you, not from a few paces back this time, but shoulder to shoulder. Sitting beside you in Professor Jeong’s early morning classes, Jongin was having far too much fun watching the colour drain from his face each time he showed up to one of your lectures to kill him just yet.

Everything became a threat to your safety. As far as Jongin was concerned, your life was in danger and MX could strike at any moment…. Even if it had been quiet since the shooting… it was better to be safe. That’s what Jongin told himself everytime he stayed a little longer.

“Hey Y/N!” Minho waved at you from across the library, he was reshelving returns when he spotted you studying at your usual table.

Jongin felt his ears burn red at the sight. Jaw clenching when he sees the boy walk over. Eyes narrow in judgment when you return his warm smile.

“Hey Minho, how are you?” It’d been a few days since you’d last had the chance to talk with Minho, him still as handsome as ever, but your heart not jumping quite so high at the interaction.

“I’m good, are you? I’ve missed seeing you around lately..” Minho let’s his words fade noticing the glare he was getting from the man sat beside you. “Oh I’m sorry, I’m Minho, Y/N’s friend!”

Jongin glances at Minho’s outstretched hand between them, choosing to throw his own over your shoulder rather than shake it.

“I’m Kai, Y/N’s boyfriend.” He smirks at the shocked expression that Minho wears, ignoring your startled one in favour of silently challenging the boy to leave.

“Oh...oh uh… Nice to meet you, I’ll see you guys around..”

Jongin keeps you close till he’s sure Minho has gone, only loosening his grip when he feels you nudge him gently.

“What the fuck was that, Kai?” You’re more amused than angry, but you’d never let him know that, enjoying seeing the varied emotions you can bring out of him now, when  he was supposed to be a stone cold killer.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about?” feigning innocence, Jongin tries to go back to reading the book he’d randomly grabbed from the pile in front of you both.

You scoff at his reaction, or lack thereof, staring at him quizzically till he finally gave in.

“That guy is sketchy! I’m here to protect you right?  So I’m protecting you. Good?”

“Minho is not sketchy,” you giggle and Jongin can’t help but smile at the sound, “and who is Kai?”

“It’s what my friends call me!”

---

“Hey!” Jongin had appeared out of nowhere, pulling the cigarette from between your lips and stomping it out. With Geord goading you relentlessly for the last hour of class, you were desperate for a smoke. You would argue that those little white sticks of bliss were the only thing keeping you from ripping his throat out.

“It’s disgusting,” he says, leaning down to your height so he could look you in the eye, “why do you do this?”

With a deep sigh, you stuff the near empty packet of unlit cigarettes back into your coat  pocket, storming away in frustration, knowing he’d follow you.

“Wait, I’m serious!”

“I like them!” you shout back, thankful the streets were empty so you could argue in peace.

“They’re bad for you you know!” he teases, laughing when you throw your middle finger up behind you.

“My cigarettes are better for me than you are!” Teasing back, you finally turn to face him, a cheeky smile on your face.

---

“We got him.”

While making dinner for the pair of you, Jongin’s phone buzzes on the counter, a string of messages coming in from someone called Minseok. You tried not to be nosey, sitting on the counter beside him while he cooked, but he didn’t even glance at it.

“Wasn’t MX. Some small town nobody trying to prove himself.”

“Jongin”

“Call me when you get this”

“Boss wants you back asap”

The thought of Jongin leaving had never even crossed your mind till then. It hadn’t been that long at all, but it felt like an eternity since he’d first come into your life. Maybe it was selfish to want him to stay.

Jongin had recently started to open up to you more about his work with EXO. He was their protector, he kept them safe. You didn’t see him as this dangerous monster anymore, he was just Jongin, Kai, the one who took care of things. Just like he’d been taking care of you all this time.

You knew deep down that when he left you’d probably never see him again; if what EXO suspects is true and MX really were making their way into Exodus, then there was a storm coming and Jongin would be right in the middle of it. He wouldn’t risk getting you anymore tangled in EXO’s mess.

“Here, try this,” Jongin held a spoon up to your mouth expectantly; pretending he didn’t see Minseok’s messages, pretending you didn’t see them either, holding on to this reality for just a little longer.

---

“We need you back Jongin,”

After ignoring Minseok’s messages a few days ago, Jongin couldn’t ignore another call from the boss.

“Jun I have to pr..”

“No you don’t! We took care of the shooter, the girl will be fine! EXO needs you, I need you!”

He doesn’t want to leave. Jongin doesn’t know what it is that makes him want to stay near you, keep you safe, go to breakfasts at Lou’s - but the thought of leaving it all behind makes his heart twist and turn in unimaginable ways.

His whole life had been about EXO. They’re his friends, his family, and he would never abandon them. But somehow he’s made a new home with you, in his heart at least. You feel like home. Sitting on your living room floor watching Blue Planet feels like home. Falling asleep on your shoulder in the middle of your lectures feels like home. EXO have been his entire identity for so long, but now there’s this other life, another door, and Jongin was finding hard to resist stepping through.

“Be back today. We have work to do.”

After Junmyeon’s orders, the frustration coursed through Jongin’s body with such force he hadn’t even realised he’d thrown the phone till you were beside him, asking what was wrong.

“I...I have to leave.” He couldn’t look you in the eye. He didn’t want to see the betrayal, the disappointment, the pain reflected in them. “It’s my fault you’re in danger and now I have to leave you…”

He doesn’t know that you know.

“I..I’ll be okay Nini.. I can look after myself remember?” Your voice is weak but you do your best to convince him; as much as you want him to stay you know that’s not an option, and you know he knows it too because he can barely look at you right now.

“Y/N… I don’t want to leave..”

It broke your heart but there was no other choice. You had to let him go. The boy you’d tried so hard to avoid just a few weeks ago, you now didn’t want to see go.

“I know..” You cup the side of his face, forcing him to look at you as you spoke, “but they need you Nini...” It was hard to keep how you were really feeling hidden, especially when he looked like he was about to break, “You’re the best Nini, they deserve the best.”

He knew you were right. He needed to be there for EXO, his family. Things in Exodus were about to get a lot messier and the fallout would be astronomical, if he wasn’t there to do his part there’s no telling what could happen, then you really would be in danger.

Leaning into your touch, Jongin grips onto your hips like it was the first time not the last, pulling you flush against his body. Memorizing the shape of your hips, touch of your skin, smell of your shampoo. Locking you inside his heart. Melding the memory of you into his soul so that this wouldn’t be the last time. He would forever be with you and you would always be there for him, long after he’s gone.

Looking at you would be too much, he might not be able to force himself away if he saw your eyes. Saying goodbye felt too final, like the end of something that never really was. Instead Jongin buried your head into his shaking chest, placing a gentle kiss to the top of your head, pretending he can’t feel your tears soaking through his shirt, before turning away and walking out of your life forever.

[asoftervirge]

Of “Love” & Murder (7/13)

CHAPTER TITLE: Logan Oxford: Esteemed Novelist

RATING: PG PAIRINGS: P. Sanders/V. Sanders (main/one-sided); R. Sanders/V. Sanders (former); V. Sanders/L. Sanders (former); V. Sanders/D. Sanders (former); Remy/E. Picani (side); T. Sanders/OMC (mentioned)

CHAPTER WARNINGS/KINKS: mentions of Anxiety, Logan being A Nerd, Philosophy Jargon, mentions of a previous Murder, mentions of Poisoning CHAPTER SUMMARY:  Logan tell Patton how he met Virgil.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: And we’re introduced to Logan! :D This chapter is shorter than the Roman introduction, but it should still bring excitement for people to want to learn how xe died. That’s a weird sentence. lol And yes, xe not he. Logan has had a number of changes with this update and I’m very pleased with them, so I hope everyone else is too. Also, this chapter is PG, so that’s good! Have fun reading everyone! xx Virge

INSPIRATION: This post by @phantomofthesanderssides

AO3 || Buy Me a Ko-Fi!

Patton squeaked and stood up straighter. For some reason, this person gave off a cold and aloof aura. Much different from the warmth and passion that radiated from Roman.

“You— You must be the second of Virgil’s husbands?”

“Spouses,” the second ghost immediately corrected. His lips curled into a slight scowl. It was pretty intimidating to say the least, especially with how tall he seemed to be. “While I do not completely mind being considered his…’husband,’ I would prefer to be called his spouse. Also my pronouns call be he/him, but I would prefer xe/xyr.”

“O-Oh!” Patton blushed, feeling bad he accidentally misgendered another person. “I’m so sorry! I-I didn’t mean—”

“Since this is our first encounter and it was merely an accident, I’ll let it slide.” xe told the confectioner while marching toward him, maintaining a good distance. “However, should we encounter each other again multiple times after this, and you still continue to misuse my pronouns, I can guarantee I will not be so friendly.”

Patton gulped. “Got it.”

Xe held out a hand for him. “Logan Oxford. Esteemed novelist and self-admitted astrophile.”

The confectioner didn’t know what half of those words meant. “U-Uhm,” he shakes Logan’s hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mx. Oxford.”

“Logan, please. No need for formalities.”

He nodded. Now that he thinks about it, Patton has heard the name Logan Oxford before. His cousin Emile brought xem up a couple of times when he talked about therapy (while still keeping patient confidentiality, obviously). He mentioned how xyr essays were really good, but they seemed a little too…stuffy, for his personal tastes (like most scientists/doctors/philosophers/etc).

Now meeting xem for the first time, he can understand why Emile said that.

While Roman had on very bold, fancy colors: reds and whites and golds, Logan was a stark contrast to that. Similar to his own palette but not quite. Xe had on a dark blue dress coat with a white button-up underneath it, along with black suit pants and dark brown dress shoes. A little bit of gold was on his buttons and cuff links, but other than that, the colors xe wore were predominantly dark.

Come to think of it, there were a lot of differences between he and Logan. The novelist had dark eyes while he had baby blue. Logan had straight, gelled black hair while he had strawberry blonde curls. A medium build with a good amount of muscle as opposed to a soft curvy build with a bit of chub. A sharp face as opposed to a rounded one. Square glasses as opposed to rounded lenses.

Regardless, xe were a very clean-looking individual. Perhaps even handsome in xyr own right, much like Virgil was.

“I suppose you’re wanting to warn me about Virgil too?” he asks.

“Is that not why you’re here?” Logan responds. “Or were you just wanting to put your nose into the affairs of a relatively wealthy man?”

Patton pouted. He didn’t have to be rude about it!

“But yes,” the novelist says immediately after. “I am here to also warn you about the dangers of Mr. Virgil Nyx of 613 Rue Morgue.”

“Well take your time. I’m not here to rush you.”

“I appreciate your concerns, but my past before Mr. Nyx is easy to discuss,” Logan tells him.

The confectioner nods, listening to him attentively.

“Growing up as a child, my father was a firm believer of knowledge,” Xe began. “He always believed that it was an incomparably valuable, multipurpose tool, instrumental in identifying and solving any of the world’s problems.” Dark blue eyes casted themselves over to the books. “One of the things he used to tell me was, “If you are ever worried about getting hurt, then seek knowledge. It is our greatest weapon, and our greatest defense.” And so, with that, my ever-growing thirst began.”

Xe went on, “I scoured for any form of knowledge, be that books or even educative television, wherever I could find it, I absorbed it entirely. I read every book from both my father and Ye Ye, every book from the libraries— primary school, the public one, university— etcetera. All of it was not enough for me. I eventually received my Master’s in Philosophy and a Doctorate in Physics, wishing to expand my love of all things intellect and share it with the world.” He turns back to Patton. “Before my graduation, I had published a few theses that were eventually used at other prestigious universities; and afterward, I had written a book or two, which resulted in my rise to celebrity.”

Patton nodded. Then he asked, “Had you known about Virgil before you met him?”

“I was aware of him, yes.” the novelist’s lips thinned into a firm line. “I had heard about the…supposed suicide of Roman Scarlet, famed Broadway actor and beloved performer of the Storytime lounge. I had also heard of his brother’s desire to take Virgil to court without any proof of murderous intent, I believe he was even in contact with a lawyer despite this.”

The confectioner looked at xem in surprise. “Even when he didn’t have evidence, his brother had contact with a lawyer about wanting to see if Virgil could be charged with murder?”

“Indeed.” Logan nodded. “At first, I read it off as some silly story for revenge, not exactly understanding how that was actually the truth.”

Patton nodded. “So…Did you meet him at a book signing or…?”

Logan didn’t say anything of the longest time. When xe did, it was very vague-sounding. “When I met Virgil…well, let’s just say it was…a strange sense of irony.”

…

If he could, Virgil would have openly spat about how much he did not want to be here. When he became as wealthy as he is, he swore up and down that he would never return to this place, return to the old life he lived before he knew what it was like to have money.

And yet, here he was, walking into a familiar-looking bookstore. The name re-entering his mind like he hadn’t shoved it out oh so many years ago.

Catching his eye was the small clump of beings standing outside its old, paint-chipped door; maybe the line won’t be as long as he thought. However, he quickly (and unfortunately) realized that the clump of people outside stood at the end of a line that snaked through the entire store.

Everyone and their mother apparently wanted to meet Logan Oxford today of all days.

He should’ve expected this, and yet, he didn’t. Idiot.

Actual anxiety slowly began to seize his being as he continued to approach. Everyone seemed to have a book clutched in their hands. Most were the newest release that came just before the holidays, while some seemed to be personally chosen titles by the older audience, and then there were even books of essays that were held and gossiped about by students (or who Virgil assumed to be university students).

By the time the line actually started moving, Virgil felt sweat starting to coat his palms. He let out a noise of annoyance and shoved them into his pockets.

He was not going to let his stupid anxiety ruin this chance for him. He wasn’t!

Walking in, the little jingle of the bell above sounded like the heavy dong of a church one.

Virgil forced himself to look around. This cozy little hellhole remained the same even after almost a decade. (He even forced himself to wonder if the old owner was still here. Probably not. Maybe retired. Or dead.)

The lighting was still bad, but it gave the small interior of the store its warm glow; the carpeting was still old fashioned and had that untraceable smell to it; the chairs scattered about the store were all patchy and worn-down; the wooden tables had scratch marks and random-ass messages that people carved in with pencil; and there were still crazy knickknacks and antiques hanging from the walls or seen from the shelves.

For the widower, this place was a walk-in nightmare, like walking into someone’s grandmother’s house. But for the many customers who come and go daily, it was a little spot of comfort.

Silver-grey eyes eventually found the prize he was looking for.

Logan Oxford sat at a small table with a pen in xyr hand. The writer smiled very thinly up at an admirer as xe handed back their book from across the table.

A thousand little details flooded Virgil’s mind all at once. A full mouth that could be expressive if it wasn’t so clearly behind a reserved wall. A face that was as sharp as Roman’s but it was much more angular. Rich, dark eyes that almost seemed black: dark and mysterious, they looked like they were pulled from the night sky. Slicked back hair that would still be considered neat without all that damn hair gel.

Xe were more than attractive than the widower realized. Perfect for being his next target.

Just before it was his turn, he saw a stand full of Logan’s books, all new and old alike. Making sure no one was looking, he snagged a copy before making his way towards the novelist.

The novelist took the book without even saying anything, not even so much as a polite hello. Xe flipped it open to the first page and started to scribble on the first page with blue ink.

Virgil looked down at the book he grabbed and an idea sparked in his mind. He cleared his throat, but not loud enough to cause a scene. “Mx. Oxford?” he pretended to sound eager. “I know you’ve probably heard this before, but your philosophy essays are so fascinating.”

“You are correct, I have heard it before.” xe said. Dark eyes flashed up at him, a brow quirked and his expression monotone. “Do you have a particular question you’d like to ask me?”

He nodded. “Actually, I do…Do you believe that your field of study has been hindered by the teachings of Aristotle, or are you one of those science-y people who just nod and continuously say he’s right without any substantial proof?”

At that, Logan’s head shot up. “…beg pardon?” Xe were a little stunned by the question being asked of him.

“Do you agree with Aristotle’s teachings, yes or no?” Virgil asked again, a tiny bit amused as he made the novelist react in such a way.

Xe cleared xyr throat, trying to regain some composure. “W-Well,” he stammered. “In the case of Aristotle…the man was usually wrong. A lot. Most of his descriptions of the natural world are some variety of incorrect,” xe tell him. “Looking past his blatant sexism, his understanding of motion and forces is wrong, is astronomy is wrong, a good portion of his biology is busted, and science has in fact suffered for it. For almost 2,000 years to be specific.”

The widower hummed. (Truth be told, he hated philosophy. It was basically a bunch of old guys trying to preach certain ethics and ideologies that would eventually become outdated and criticized.) Nevertheless, he wanted to know what Logan thought about it.

“However,” Logan continued, a glimmer of something sparkling in his eyes. “It wasn’t until the 1800s when the atom was officially declared A Thing, that people began to believe his contemporary, Democritus, as opposed to himself.” Xe snort. “Not to mention, according to Cicero, his prose was apparently a flowing river of gold…when it actually was not. And it was because of him that we not only lost science but also a catastrophic amount of classical literature.”

“So in actuality, his works are basically glorified lecture-notes from his students?” Virgil smirks faintly. “I guess you know now why we should’ve listened to Gorgias instead.”

“Gorgias?” Xe ask, looking at him incredulously. “The man was, excuse my Greek, a pathological pain the ass. He didn’t care for objective truth and stated that everything was a matter of opinion, which was always bendable.”

“Exactly!” Virgil smirks more. “Everything is a construct, therefore we tried and failed. So now all we need to do is to hide under the covers until the sun goes away.” With that, the widower takes his autographed book and begins to leave the store.

“Falsehood!” A screech came from behind him, making him jump. He turns around to see the novelist get up and stride over to him, a sharp look in his eyes. The widower immediately stood straighter. Damn…that glare reminds him of a certain someone that he does not wish to remember right now. “Just because Gorgias was able to obliterate Stephanos of Thebes with straw-man arguments and casual fallacies, does not mean you can, Diogenes the Cynic.”

Virgil blinked. “…Diogenes the Cynic?” he echoed.

“Yes,” Logan says. “A philosopher who believed that all Sophists were liars, the Philosophers were too pretentious, therefore taking immense pleasure in poking fun at their logic.”

The widower pondered thoughtfully. “…yep. That sounds like us just now.” A glint of wicked humor shone in his eyes as Logan just looked done with him. “But in all seriousness, Mx. Oxford. You have to realize that philosophy can be a bit asinine, right?”

Logan stayed silent for a moment before breathing out. “I suppose so,” xe states. “All of the big, complex ideas simply come from those who are fallible and prone to…ridiculousness. For every Plato’s Republic, there is a Diogenes urinating at a banquet table.”

“There you go,” Virgil laughs. “I hope you really didn’t get offended by what I said. I like presenting counterarguments just to see how people react.”

“No harm done. Although I must admit, while I don’t particularly enjoy socializing with others all that much,” Hard same. “I would like to talk to you more. Maybe about science-based media— or whatever it is you’re a fan of?”

Virgil nodded, smirking internally. “I don’t mind at all. In fact, I would like to challenge your claims on what you call cognitive distortions. As someone who has generalized anxiety, I wanna know what your psychology thinks about my over-reactionary mind.”

Logan hummed in interest. “Oh? I look forward to it then, Mr…?”

“Nyx. Virgil Nyx.”

“Mr. Nyx.” Named after the Roman Goddess of the Night, the novelist mused. Xe liked it. Xe scribbled something onto the back of a bookmark, handing it to Virgil. “Again, thank you very much for coming and I hope to communicate with you again soon.”

“See ya.”

With a finger salute, Virgil left the bookstore with a sigh of relief. He was quite glad that his anxiety didn’t make him look the a fool and that he was out of that atrocious place. He opened the book and saw the fancy penmanship of the novelist.

On the bookmark, was his phone number.

He smirked. Maybe he did succeed after all…

…

Patton listed as Logan finished telling him about xyr first meeting with Virgil. He had to admit, it was rather nice to not listen to any…graphic details about things he didn’t want to know, even if Roman told him in a vague manner.

“So how did you stay close with Virgil?” he asked, remembering the questions he presented Roman. “You gave him your number; did you call each other on the phone? Or did you both kept meeting at the bookstore.”

Logan shook xyrs head. “No. However, I would invite him out for some coffee if I was in the area. And every time we did so, we would always have little discussions that would turn into…not-so-little discussions after a period of time…”

Patton raised an eyebrow, smiling knowingly.

The novelist scowled. “We did not argue, if that is what you’re thinking! We…debated, that’s much more civil.” The confectioner giggled but allowed him to continue. “And, while I’m not a traditionally…emotional person…it was quite nice to have someone debate on certain subjects with me, even if they tended to hiss at me from time to time.”

Despite this slowly becoming a sad tale, Patton giggled again. He won’t lie, Virgil did act like a cat every once in a while. It was actually kinda cute (you know…despite the fact he murdered three people…).

“I would also take him to any conferences or panels that I would be invited to attend or speak at,” xe told him. “He would act as my plus one, if you will. I must admit, even if I could manage them on my own, it was…almost beneficial for me to have him around during those events.” Xe chuckled. “I say this despite the fact that he detested such things, as they tended to prompt his anxiety and cause him to rudely hiss whenever someone— and I quote— “reached his limits with stupid questions.” Not only that, he was not primarily invested in the actual subjects of said discussions and was more interested in the catering they served.”

That caused Patton to actually laugh. That also seems like something that Virgil would do, though he doesn’t blame him at all. In fact, if he were in his shoes, he would be a bit more curious in the food too.

Logan couldn’t help xyr lips from twitching upwards. “I shall confess, there were times where I myself have agreed with his sentiments.”

Unfortunately, the smiles and laughter had to end at some point.

“But what happened afterward?” Patton eventually asked. “What caused everything to go downhill?”

The little twitch of a smile instantly when back to a frown. The confectioner sees xem turn to grab a book that was suddenly on the table (when did that get there anyhow?). It was a very beautiful looking book: dark indigo in color with a title that he couldn’t quite make out, but he could see Logan’s name at the very top. Xe opened the book, flipping it to the very last pages before handing it to Patton.

‘ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS’ Baby blue eyes skimmed through the short paragraphs of text. Logan gave simple but kind words as xe thanked the people who helped xem achieve such a feat, such as his parents and former professors.

Then he followed to where the novelist had pointed a finger at.

“Lastly, I would like to give acknowledgments to my husband, Virgil Nyx.

While we have not known each other long, and have newly become married, but having your support throughout this journey was momentous for someone like me to complete this project. Your harsh and honest (almost too honest) criticisms of my work were what kept me going to make and achieve better than my means. And while I am not an emotional person, nor do I express my emotions often, I quiet enjoyed having your company while I wrote and rewrote my rough and final drafts… And I must thank you for bring me my favorite green teas and jellied biscuits whenever I hadn’t eaten or drank anything for hours on end.

This is the most I have genuinely praised someone so highly (and also a first), but it cannot be helped. I truly hope you see the appreciation and respect I fester for you.”

Patton couldn’t help but tear up. To Logan, they may appear simple, but they were also so beautiful.

“As you’ve read, by the time I had written my last book, Virgil had become my spouse.” Logan says. “We were married in a simple ceremony. Something that was vastly different from Roman’s grandiose nuptials.”

Patton giggled. It was amusing with how Logan was poking fun at Roman from beyond the grave. (In an almost magical way, he could almost hear an indignant noise in his ear).

“But,” Logan’s face grew sad, almost angry. “That did not last long, unfortunately. I had quickly fallen for Virgil’s rouses like the one before me. And, like him, I was met with an unfortunate end.” A deep, almost tired sigh. “To think, someone like him could have been two steps ahead of me in a metaphorical game of chess…I must say, it was truly a checkmate on his end.”

“Him murdering you, you mean?” Patton asked, fearing the answer Logan will give him. Silence. A very familiar silence.

Then, Logan nodded. “Yes. Although, poisoning is the correct terminology this time around.”

[memoriesofkpop]

Adoration of U Ch 8

Tags: Fluff, Angst Jihoon; Jun; Soonyoung (Hoshi); (Y/N) Female Reader; ft. other members of Seventeen Series: 8/?

Ch 8: Let Me Hear You Say

    With all of the managers helping, the boys were able to get Jun into the car unspotted and transported to the hospital for a IV drip to sober him up. Saying he was a mess at the moment was an understatement. He had fought everyone and everything while they got him into the darkened van, complaining and whining the whole way there. 

    “I can’t believe you did this on a day you had a shoot. You’re almost done for God’s sake WHY would you do this now?!” Seungcheol scolded as he sat by Jun, who had the IV in his arm and didn’t dare respond. 

    He didn’t know why he did it. His co-stars wanted a few drinks since filming was coming to a close and who was he to deny them of a few drinks? 

    He let out a sigh unconsciously. Why bother lying to himself?

    His thoughts were constantly consumed of thoughts of her. Thoughts of Y/N. He wanted to drink to forget...or maybe drink to remember the good times. Who knows. All he knew was that the alcohol helped drown out his sorrows and he felt better that way. 

    “-got to stop this. Jun. Jun? Are you listening to me? We only have a few hours left for you to get sober and rested and prepared for filming...Jun!!” Seungcheol continued, frustrated at the lack of response from the boy who sat in front of him with lonely eyes. 

    “...I...Do you think she’ll talk to me…?” Jun asked, looking up for the first time since arriving at the hospital. Caught off guard, Seungcheol hesitated in his reply. But before he could say anything, Jun continued. “..Do you think she still loves me like I love her? Did I even love her? I wouldn’t have cheated if I did...right? Does this mean I love Minah…?” 

    “...Jun… Look. I’m going to be honest to you because that’s what you need. No. You obviously do not love Y/N. Or at least not enough to stay loyal. So no. I do not think she will talk to you. In terms of Minah...I can’t help you there. Maybe you do love her. Maybe you don’t. Maybe you just love the idea of having someone by your side. But you’ve got to remember that as an idol, none of this matters right now. Your loyalty and love should be directed to the fans,” said Seungcheol firmly. 

    “Then why’d the company let me date her?” Jun questioned.

    “Y/N? Because we thought she’d be good for you. And she was,” the other boy stated matter-of-factly. “Minah on the other hand...you know why.”

Jun couldn’t help but sigh once more.

    Before either boy could speak again, there was a knock on the door and a man stepped in. 

“Charts and tests look good. He should be fully sober and ready to work in an hour. We will discharge him then,” said the doctor. Seungcheol nodded as the man stepped back out with a smile and closed the door gently. 

    “An hour left,” Seungcheol said to Jun, just as one of the managers walked in. 

Though the room fell silent, Jun’s thoughts couldn’t have been any louder within his head. 

A tear slowly trickled down his face. Shocked, Jun quickly wiped it away, not know why these tears were falling.

“I don’t know what to do anymore… I really don’t…” he whispered to himself.

--

“You must have me mistaken for someone else,” Y/N firmly said to the woman in front of her, leaning back in her seat. 

“Are you sure? I’m certain that you are her. Your face. Your voice. I recognize them,” the woman replied. Y/N shook her head. 

“Sorry. You’ve got the wrong girl,” she replied. The woman paused for a few seconds. 

“Look. I don’t mean any harm. I just wanted to talk to you,” she started. Y/N only blinked back at her. “I need to know for certain that you and Jun are over.” 

“Lady, I have no relations to a Jun let alone YOUR Jun,”

“Can I check your phone then?”

“What? Why would you even-- don’t touch my stuff!” Y/N stated, snatched her phone from the table. 

“He has been texting someone. And been on his phone a lot more. I’ve caught him scrolling through your pictures together,” she said softly. 

“We are not together. You can trust me on that,” Y/N repeated once more.

“But-”

“Is everything okay here?” said the barista as he placed down a cup on the table, glancing at Y/N with a slightly worried face. 

The woman took this chance to stand up and grab her sunglasses. She turned to Y/N. “You can be sure I WILL get to the bottom of this. If you told me lies, you better watch your back,” she said before brushing past the barista and out the door. Her heels clicked against the hardwood floors her whole walk out. The sound was slightly drowned out by the music playing in the background but it was deafening none the less. Y/N couldn’t do anything but watch her leave. 

“You should breathe. I think you were holding your breath ever since she stood up,” Jaehyun said quietly, leaning ever so slightly towards Y/N. She exhaled, not even knowing she was holding her breath and glanced at the man beside her. 

“Th-thanks. For coming over,” she said. 

“Of course,” he said with a gently smile. “Would you like to order anything else? Some food? We also have a nice but small selection of books in that corner over there,” he continued, gesturing to a far corner. “I’m just glad I’m not alone in here. This place is small and people tend to just walk right past us. Imagine my surprise when a lovely lady walked in, followed by Minah,” he said with a chuckle. She froze at the name. 

“You know her?” she questioned. 

“Well. Not personally, no. But I am--or was-- a fan,” Jaehyun said. 

“A fan? Who is she?” 

“You don’t know her?”

“Not at all.”

“Minah. Daughter of the famous Director Lee. She’s an actress herself. I believe shes under the MX entertainment Label,”

“Ah. I see. Thanks,” she stated. Silence began to fill the air. 

“Um. I’ll go make you some food and something to drink, on the house” he replied after clearing his throat. His sheepish smile returned as he scurried back to the center back of the cafe. 

----

Jihoon wrote and rewrote only to rewrite the ever changing lyrics on the worn out notepad in front of him. The pages were littered with lines that crossed through his rushed writing. The more he thought of her, the quicker he wrote. The faster his hands traveled across the pages, the move he crossed out. The frustration grew within him and as he hit his fourth page of scribbles, he smacked down the pen against the notepad and sighed. His hands furiously traveled to his head as his fingers ran through his hair. With his head hung low, he desperately tried to rid himself of the words Jun had said to him the other day. With their surprise visit to his studio that night, Jihoon has been struggling to stay focused on life let alone on music. The words Jun confessed to him replayed over and over in his mind….

-Flashback to that night - 

“You know that I love her. Don’t you?” Jun questioned, desperation apparent on his face.

“Minah?” Jihoon replied.

“Both. Her and Y/N.”

“...do you really love her then?”

“Minah? ...I think so… she’s always there for me. And the company approves of her and-”

“What about Y/N?”

“... I… I don’t know… She’s nice and really sweet… She’s good to me. Maybe too good...But I’m not willing to give her up. I still love her. I will always love her. She has and will always be my everything…She’s the one my parents approve of.. The one you boys like better...but...I don’t know...”

“You don’t seem to sure…”

“...I am sure that I’m supposed to be with one of them… I just… She’s not fond of the idea of being with me right now ‘cause of Minah…”

“Well...what are you going to do?”

“...I’ve thought this over before...and… you either end up being married or end up breaking up. Those are the two options...and…Y/N….Minah…. I think i’m going to ask her…”

“Ask her….what exactly?” Jihoon questioned as his body grew more and more anxious.

“To marry me...Yeah...I’ll just ask her to marry me!” Jun exclaimed.

Jihoon stood up from his seat so fast that his chair rolled a good distance from the table before them. “You’ve got to be kidding,” Jihoon stated. “You can NOT just decide to marry someone like that! You have to think this through!”

“I did think this through!”

“Obviously not if you’re thinking about proposing to Y/N after you cheated on her! What is that messed up brain of yours thinking?! You’re an IDOL, Jun. Think of what this will do to your career. Think of what your fans will think! What the company will do and-”

“If my fans truly love me, they will let me marry the girl of my dreams!” Jun retorted quickly, feeling the hurt from the insults stabbing into him.

“And is that Y/N, Jun? Is it really?” Jihoon shot back. “You’ve done nothing but hurt her. I’ve seen her try so hard to smile and I’ve seen her cry more than I’d like to admit. You were the cause of it all, Jun!”

“I never meant to hurt her! I’ve been trying my best!”

“Your best isn’t enough and you know it! She deserves so much more than you can ever offer her!” Jihoon shouted. He didn’t know why he was filled with so much rage and hurt but he projected it onto the doe-eyed boy standing before him without another thought. 

“Then what the hell am I supposed to do! Huh?! And why are you so defensive about her?!” Jun shouted back. 

Jihoon didn’t have an answer nor a response. He simply glared at him with his lips sealed shut. He didn’t understand his own feelings, so how was he supposed to put them into words? Confusion started to build within him.

Then something clicked for Jun. His anger seized for a moment as he looked at the boy before him. There was something sorrowful in his eyes. Perhaps Jihoon felt bad for him? No...It wasn’t simply pity. It was guilt that flooded his glistening eyes. With a shaky voice, pleading eyes, and a blind hopefulness that his gut was wrong, jun softly asked him his final question.

“...Jihoon...do….do you love her?”

Prev  |   Next

Ch 1 Ch 2 Ch 3 Ch 4 Ch 5 Ch 6 Ch 7 Ch 8

Masterlist

[insomni-snacc]

Mx. Shoggoth, I Presume? Pt 4

Warning! Sexual humor and heavy swearing ahead.

-----------------------------

It's Showtime!

You two stood there, shuffling your feet for what seemed like hours. You'd never been proposed to before, even if it was fake. What came next? You had an old ring you had picked up the day before. The etched silver band reminded you of him, the carvings almost matching his signature stripes. You supposed you ought to give it to him now.

"Ah, by the way doll." Beetlejuice cut through your thoughts, "I uh… well since we need this gaggle of breather kids to see me it'd be best if…" he trailed off, barely audible as he mumbled "I'd like it if you'd summon me."

"Pardon? Sorry, I didn't catch that."

He raked his hands through his violently pink hair, "Just read this, dammit." He handed you a business card.

"... A matchmaker? Beej I don't think I need this right--"

"TURN IT OVER."

You did so. "Beetlejuice… Beetlejuice…"

He had to lean against the side of the house to steady himself. He was way too happy with the way his name sounded coming from you.

"Beetlejuice." You finished. A familiar cloud of green smoke formed around the two of you as the demon launched himself into the air. He did a flip and summoned up some fireworks, sending a wink in your direction. What a showoff.

"It's showtime, baby!" Being summoned, let alone by such an exceptional human, gave him the high he needed to get past the last few awkward minutes. He glided down to you, grabbing your hand to give you a quick twirl before pulling you off of your feet and dipping you backwards. "Thanks for callin' on me, tootse. What can I do ya for?"

"What just happened?"

"Well," he pulled you back up to your feet and swung you through a few dance steps while he explained, "I haven't really felt like I could ask Lyds to summon me after what happened last time, so I've only been here in SPIRIT, you might say." He chuckled at the pun. "You can only see me because you're a bit strange and unusual, like her. For normal folks to see me, and for me to be physically here, I gotta be summoned - and guess who just summoned their first demon!"

"... I did?"

"You did!" He nearly leapt around you as he continued flinging you about. Where had this man learned to dance? Was the instructor on cocaine?

Flustered by trying to keep up with his quickening dance moves (and, admittedly, by all of the physical contact with your attractive demonic friend), your thoughts went back to the ring burning a hole in your pocket. "Ah, here." He (thankfully) stopped dancing as you pulled the ring unceremoniously from your pocket, thrusting it towards him. "Gotta have the matching set, right?"

Gosh. You were just so smooth. Cool was your middle name. The demon across from you definitely didn't notice your palms sweating, right?

"Ah… yeah. Yeah I guess so…" His earlier bravado fled from him like a frightened bird. He picked up the ring and fiddled with it for several moments, avoiding eye contact like one look could strike him re-dead.

"Y/N! Beej! C'mon! We're gonna be late!" Lydia shouted from the driveway, pulling you two from your stupor.

"Shit, right. Uh… let's go wrangle some children?" Beetlejuice said, attempting to sound suave and totally unbothered (and failing).

"Yes, let's shall!" You two were going to set a record for the smoothest not-couple in New England.

Lydia, itching to test out her provisional license, insisted on driving the three of you to the school where you would be meeting the other students. Saving you from making any further cool-headed and completely normal conversation, she took the liberty of walking you and Beetlejuice through the rules on the drive. "Beej, I'm going to need you to shapeshift. Can you make yourself look, you know, alive?"

He slapped his cheeks, turning his skin marginally pinker and wiggling his eyebrows at you as if he'd just built the Eiffel Tower in front of your very eyes.

"Can you put in about 1% effort, at least?" Lydia deadpanned.

He huffed and shook himself, emitting a puff of green smoke. The man who emerged looked like your demon friend, but cleaner and a bit… suburban. His hair was a muted brown with emerald green streaks at his temples, the moss and soil that usually clung to every crevice was gone (though the earthy scent remained). He even swapped out his signature striped suit for a casual black button up and dark wash jeans. He looked… well he still looked really damn attractive, especially when he used your staring at his new appearance to give you that cocky grin of his.

"Like what you see, tootse?" He said, running his left hand through his hair. Your eyes snapped to the ring, your ring, on his finger.

"Yeah, life suits you." You smiled sincerely. "Could do without the grave smell, though."

"Hey, that's my natural musk you're talking about. Drives my lovers crazy, if you know what I mean." He leaned towards you, craning his neck to give you a good angle to take a whiff.

You fought the urge to take an exploratory inhale. You were failing. Thankfully, Lydia literally snapped you out of it, before you could embarrass yourself a third time today, by clicking her fingers in agitation. "Let's focus, lovebirds. We're almost there. Y/N, you remember the backstory I gave you?"

"Yup! I moved here one year ago looking for a quiet place to write my book, (and God, do I wish the quiet part were true) and met BJ while I was working on my laptop in the diner on 7th. He told me he'd help me through some dialogue I was stuck on if I took him to dinner. The rest, as they say, is falsified history" At least the reason you moved to New England had been true, though you hadn't exactly found much quiet time for writing in the last few months.

"We snuck out and fucked in the alley behind the diner, right next to that graffiti of those two cartoon cats. It was hella romantic." Beetlejuice slung an arm around you, "you told me right then and there you couldn't live without me or my amazing penis. Of course, I have standards, so I made you wait a few months before I popped the question, but--"

"Beej." Lydia warned.

"What? You didn't give ME a rundown on OUR backstory, so I've gotta improvise."

"I gave you the notes three days ago, it's not my fault you drew dicks all over them, Just let your lovely, responsible spouse do the explaining, ok?" She said, pulling into a parking space in the back of the school. There was a bus waiting there to take them all to the airport, already full of kids. She quickly jogged up to the doors, taking a seat with two kids in the back that you assumed must be her friends. You wasted no time in hauling your luggage inside and addressing the crowd.

"Hi! I'm Mx. Shoggoth, call me Y/N. I'll be your guide--"

"That's my bit!" A disgruntled Beetlejuice complained, pushing you aside. "Hey kids, who's ready to party it up in the Big Easy? Maybe get your voodoo on?"

"We're here to make sure they DON'T get into trouble, BJ."

"Ugh, lame."

"Right. Anyway, this is my husband, Lawrence. You can call him BJ" You gestured to your partner in crime, whose cheeks were tinged with that familiar pink you were used to in his hair. "We're here to make sure y'all don't get mixed up in any voodoo or, you know, die in any fashion."

"Booooo." A teen moaned from the back of the bus. You could hear Lydia chuckling, as well.

"See? You're lame, the kid agrees." Beetlejuice smirked, shoving you aside and taking a seat at the front of the bus. He patted the seat next to him, glancing at you as you finished up your safety spiel.

"... and we'll be meeting your music teacher at the airport, so til then I've been told you should be looking through your sheet music." You ended your speech, taking your seat next to Beetlejuice.

"So professional. Keep that up and I may lose my libido forever." He snickered.

"Yeah well, your sex life isn't any of my concern." You hissed.

"Oh, isn't it? Is that any way to talk to your loving husband?" He grabbed your hand, grazing your knuckles with his lips for good measure. It seemed, once there was an audience, Beetlejuice transformed back into his needy perverted self with no issue.

You, on the other hand, were still easily flustered. Perhaps, you noted as you felt your cheeks practically light on fire and your breath catch in your throat, even more so with an audience. You contemplated jumping through the bus doors just as they closed, sealing you into your fate.

https://insomni-snacc.tumblr.com/post/189284584571/mx-shoggoth-i-presume-pt-3

[joshpup]

To Love or Not To Love // Pt. 16

Intro // Pt. 1 // Pt. 2 // Pt. 3 // Pt. 4 // Pt. 5 // Pt. 6 // Pt. 7 // Pt. 8 // Pt. 9 // Pt. 10  // Pt. 11// Pt. 12 // Pt. 13 // Pt. 14 // Pt. 15 // Pt. 16 // Pt. 17 Word Count: 2,624 Genre: Svt Mafia Au Member: Mingyu TW: same as always Note: im back from the dead, idk how long this kick will last but im going to try and finish this series. also no hard feelings against mx, love that group more than anything, it just fit lol

The day finally came for you to send everyone off on their mission, leaving you behind. Well, to be exact you, Jihoon and Seungkwan would be staying behind. Jihoon was staying behind to hand the electronic side of things from the base, and Seungkwan...honestly, you weren’t sure what he was staying behind for. Everyone had disappeared into the one room you weren’t allowed into, and when they came out it was like a different group of people had emerged. The thirteen boys you had run into when your cafe was being taken over were now standing in front of you again, preparing for yet another mission.

           “Alright,” Seungcheol began, “so, let’s go over the plan one more time.”

           You weren’t sure if Seungcheol didn’t know you were there, or just didn’t care at this point, but you were able to pick up quite a bit about the mission. The boys would be going onto a huge boat from what it sounded like. Wonwoo was supposed to do something with cameras and an elevator first from what you heard, then Junhui would be sneaking in, disguised as a delivery man. He was already in his black outfit and fiddling with his earpiece, set to make his “delivery” right away. Jihoon would be doing stuff on his end too and was supposed to alert Junhui through his watch. Damn, they planned this out well… you thought to yourself as you heard them go over more of the plan. No wonder they haven’t been caught yet… Hansol was supposed to sneak in with the staff and help Soonyoung and Minghao, who were then to get to a certain point without triggering anything and turn off the alarm. Simple enough. Whatever they were going after had to be pretty intense for all this planning. You heard the word “bombs” a few to many times to feel comfortable about it and tried to focus your mind on something else. The thought of everyone going off to do something dangerous made you feel uneasy. They were your family now after all.

           “We’re going to head out now.” Mingyu said, walking over to you. You stood up from your spot on the couch and looked at him. He had dyed his once dark hair to a bleach blonde, and even went as far as to cut it a lot shorter than you had been used to seeing. He wore a yellow and black turtleneck sweater and a long black coat over it. Not something you would expect to see him in while he’s trying to sneak onto a huge boat.

           “You’re wearing that?” you questioned.

           “What, does it look bad? I thought it would go well with my new hair…” Mingyu said, looking down at his sweater.

           “No, it looks fancy. And I like your new hair, it’s just not what I expected to see you in. you are like storming a boat right? Actually, everyone’s dressed really nice...”

           “(Y/n), we’re mafia members, not some lowlife thugs.” Mingyu said with a chuckle.

           “Right…” you rolled your eyes, “of course, how silly of me.” Mingyu gave you a look but said nothing. “Good luck with everything, even though I’m pretty sure this is all illegal. Just come back to me safe, okay?”

           “Well, know that you’ve told me that, I have no choice but to come back unharmed.” Mingyu said with a cheeky smile.

           You and Seungkwan watched as they drove down the long path, and eventually disappeared into the woods, while Jihoon headed straight for his “office” as he called it.

           “Seungkwan, what are you going to be doing here?” you questioned after silence had finally settled into the house.

           “That’s a secret.” He said with a smirk before disappearing into his room as well. Then, you were met with complete and utter silence. A quiet, still, empty silence you hadn’t heard in months. With thirteen boys in the house, there’s never silence, from snoring at night, to yelling during the day, and the constant background music playing, there is never silence. You hadn’t realized just how much you had missed it. The first thing you did? Sleep of course. Because why not. You woke up around lunch, bored out of your mind. At least when the guys were here you had someone to talk with. Sitting around the house like this was excruciating. The once blissful silence had become stifling.

You tried to listen through the walls to Jihoon’s office but heard only the clicking of keys. No sound came from Seungkwan’s room, leaving you alone for sure. You snuck into Mingyu and Wonwoo’s shared room and pulled a few books you had never read before and settled down on the couch to read. Jihoon only came out of the office once, he shuffled into the kitchen, grabbed a donut, and shuffled back to the office, not staying a single word. You heard a few crashes from his office not long after that but didn’t bother to go investigate. If something during the mission went wrong, you didn’t want to be anywhere near the short boy.

You fixed yourself a small, late lunch, then returned to your book. Nothing much seemed to be happening, that is, until late afternoon. All of the sudden, Seungkwan busts out of his room, dressed in a sweater and pulling on his long tan coat before flying out of the front door, hopped on a motorcycle and tore down the road. Curses erupted from Jihoon’s office, and you decided it would be best if you retreated into your room. Hopefully everyone was alright. The thought of Mingyu was constantly floating around in the back of your mind after that. The sun had finally set and the moon shone brightly outside. Your peered out of one of the front windows and saw a small light coming towards the house, which you assumed was Seungkwan coming back. You moved from the window and around the house, cleaning up little things here and there since you had nothing else to do. You threw yourself down on the couch, waiting for Seungkwan to come through the front door. You hoped that he would finally be free and the two of you could talk, you were even willing to cook up some sort of dinner for him if he wanted. He never came however. Instead you were met with creaks in the house

That was a lot more creaking then the house usually made on its own though. Maybe Jihoon had come out of his office for dinner? You stood up from the couch and slowly headed towards the door leading to the rest of the house. You peeked your head around the corner and saw no one. But what you did see made your heart jump into your throat. The front door was open. Wide open… any normal person would have stayed put. If the front door was open and you could hear someone moving around, not good to go blindly walking in. Then again, it’s not like you could call the police if anyone had broken into the house. You didn’t even know where the dang house was, let alone bring the police straight to a mafia base? Not smart.

You snuck further through the door a little further to see if you could catch a glimpse of whoever was in the house if anyone at all. Your heartbeat seemed to be right in your ears, and you felt as if your breathing was now the loudest thing on earth. You tiptoed around, hoping to at least get to the stairs and rush up to Jihoon’s office unnoticed and some backup. After all, someone breaking into a base of a mafia by themselves doesn’t really stand a chance at all. If there were others…now that’s a different story. You had almost made it to the base of the stairs when you heard someone whisper your name. you physically jumped upon hearing it and whipped around to see none other than Hoseok standing there. Your Hoseok…Monsta X’s Wonho, standing in Seventeens base home.

           “What are you doing here?” You whisper, not moving an inch from where you stood.

           “I came to get you.” Hoseok whispered, moving closer towards you.

           “Uhhhh… no thanks?” you whispered. “you need to go, Jihoon’s still here!”

           “I know, that’s why you have to come quick, he won’t notice for a while if we go now.” Hoseok whispered in a rush, already making a move towards the door.

           “Hoseok, I’m not going to leave.” You stated.

           “Why? They kidnapped you, I’ve been planning to come get you today ever since the ball.”

           “Because even if I do get out, I can’t just go back to my normal life. Not now, not ever. I’m stuck like this forever now, there’s no point in running away.”

           “But you could at least come with me and stay with someone you actually know. The other guys in my gang are super nice.” Hoseok explained.

           “But Seventeen is just as nice, I like it here with them. Plus, if you take me, that will just ruin the relationship between the two groups.” You whispered, still worried Jihoon would come down and find Hoseok in his house. “How did you even find me?”

           “I’ve been tracking you for years now. I knew the exact moment you got tangled up with seventeen. I knew when Mingyu kept coming to your café that something was up. I should have pulled you out before anything happened but I was too late. It was a bit harder to find you after seventeen had taken you to their base, but I found you eventually.” Hoseok explained, moving away from the door and closer to you once he realized you weren’t going to follow him.

           “Wow, that’s…that’s really creepy.” Was all you could say.

           “Look, I didn’t come all this way to leave without you, (y/n).” Hoseok said in almost a growl. Now you were starting to get a little freaked out. The Hoseok you knew in high school was so different from the Hoseok you were seeing now. It was starting to scare you. You were contemplating running up the stairs to get to Jihoon, but right as you were about to bolt up the stairs, Hoseok grabbed your arm, yanked you back and clamped his hand over your mouth. You tried to break free but he was to strong compared to you. There was no way you were going to be able to break free. You thrashed around, hoping that your thumbing against the floor would catch Jihoon’s attention, but you had the feeling he had his headphones on to fully focus on their mission. Amidst the horrible feeling of being betrayed by your once close friend and not being able to break free, you were being kidnapped again. You shouldn’t have even been kidnapped once, why did you have to say again. Before you could put up even more of a fight, a cloth was held against your face. You held your breath for as long as possible while you tried to pull your face away from his strong grip, but eventually you had no other choice but to breath into the cloth, leading you to black out not much longer.

           When you woke up you were met with a very familiar feeling. The familiar feeling of waking up sore, confused and very, very unhappy. You had been kidnapped yet again. However, this time you felt a little calmer than before. You didn’t wake up in a car this time around though. You woke up in a bed in a rather small room. You sat up and rubbed your temples, becoming painfully aware of the throbbing headache. You rolled out of the bed and headed towards the door and were surprised when you found the door to be unlocked. You slowly opened the door and poked your head out and glanced around. You could hear people talking downstairs, but other than that there was nothing else. The halls were empty save a few shut doors and big windows. You slowly crept over towards the stairs and peered over the railing, trying to get a better view on where you were. You couldn’t believe you had gotten kidnapped again. Right under Jihoon’s nose as well. Was Mingyu going to think you ran away? Both him and Joshua knew you had been thinking about it… were the going to come look for you? Would they even bother to look for you? It’s not like you were technically part of their gang, in all honesty, you were essentially dead weight to them. Maybe Seungcheol would be glad to finally have you off his hands.

           You stood at the top of the stairs, contemplating what you should do. Should you stay in your room and refuse to come out, try and make a break for a door or window and escape, or just walk down in and see all the members of Monsta X again. Eventually you decided to go downstairs and just see what happens. If you saw a place to get out, you’d go for it. Even if you had no idea where you were, getting out would be a good start. If you didn’t find a way out, maybe you would be able to get in contact with seventeen somehow through one of the members. If these two gangs really were as close as they’ve said before, there should be a way they contact each other. Maybe you would be able to get a message to them and let the seventeen members know who had you. Whether your idea was complete impossible and dumb, it was better than anything. Then again, you thought as you slowly crept down the stairs, if Hoseok could track me so long, seventeen should be able to find me, right? After all, if Jihoon really was as good as tracking and Joshua said he was, shouldn’t he be able to find you? So many thoughts were swirling through your head you hadn’t even realized you’d already made it to the room were all the voices had been coming from. You stood in the frame of the door as you stared at seven boys, who were looking back at you.

           “Oh, you’re up.” Hoseok declared.

           “Yah.”  You replied, all nervousness leaving you and becoming replaced with annoyance. “Take me back home please.”

           “Home?” Hoseok repeated. “How did that place become your home?”

           “Probably the same way this place became your home.” You said, frustrated.

           “Then you should easily be able to adjust to this place and make it your home. You’ll be happier here, honest.” Hoseok declared.

           “Yah right.” You said before turning and heading upstairs. However, something caused you to stop at the foot of the stairs and listen. A little bit after you had left the room you heard hushed voices talking.

           “Wonho, I still don’t think we should keep them here.” A voice said.

           “I know what they mean to you, but maybe you can just let them go back to their normal life? They don’t have to go back to seventeen…” you wanted to stay around and here the rest of their conversation, but upon hearing the scrap of chair legs and footsteps you quickly launched yourself upstairs so no one would find out you had been listening in on their conversation. You sat down on the edge of your bed and ran your fingers through your hair. It’s not like anything bad was happening to you, but god you wanted to leave. You wanted to go home. Not your original home, no, you wanted to go to your home were your family was. Where Seventeen was.

Next...

[bts-svt-mx]

Maid For You (Part 2) Taehyung x Reader

Author: bts-svt-mx

Taehyung x Reader

Jungkook x Reader

Rating: Fluff, M, eventual smut if i get to it lol

Tags: Slow burn, Enemies to Lovers AU, Idol! Taehyung, Taehyung x Reader, Jungkook x Reader, Hoseok, mentions of other members

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (M), 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Word Count: 2,000

Description: Wanting to get out of your parents house and experience what the world had to offer is way more expensive than people tell you it will be. So when your glamorous “manager to the stars” cousin Hoseok hooks you up with a  job as the live-in maid for a hillside, massive mansion, you feel as though life might actually be looking up. That is until the mansion’s absentee high profile celebrity owner surprises you by moving back in leaving you to wonder if this mansion is big enough for you and his huge ego. 

“Not that I’m not enjoying the show… but may I ask,” Kim Taehyung, Grammy winning world famous pop star, looks you up and down as his features twist into something more stern, angry even. “Who are you and what are you doing in my house?”

You were going to kill Hoseok.

Chapter 2:

They say to never meet your idols, and after today, you think you know why.

There you are, in front of one of your favorite singers in the whole world and all you can do is stand there looking like a cat caught with his hand in the fishbowl.

The utter look of displeasure plastered on his face made you feel uneasy.  You can’t help but stare blankly at him taking in his rude tone of voice.

Is this real? Have the chemicals just gotten to your head? You thought you had read the labels and made sure they were safe but you probably should have opened up a window or- “Hello?” Snap, snap, snap. Kim Taehyung’s hand is now directly in front of your face snapping repeatedly.  “What, are you suddenly mute now?” He scoffs moving out of your immediate personal space once again.

Curse your awkward staring. You always knew you had a bad habit of staring off into space. And today that space just happened to be occupied by your favorite idol in the world. “Y-you hired me.” It comes out kind of like a squeak but you speak up again, voice a little shaky from the surprise he just gave you. “I’m Y/N…” His face is still blank. Zero recognition going through his brain. “The live in maid...” You continue. Shouldn’t he know who he hired to take care of his home? Or at least know your name if he didn’t know your face? This whole situation is so awkward. You were in your pajamas still for goodness sake!

You blame stupid Hoseok.

Taehyung’s stare that once made your knees weak a year ago makes your stomach settle weirdly now that it’s actually directed towards you. He’s like a photograph come to life. A beautiful, rude picture. God, why did he have to open up his mouth and ruin it?

“I didn’t hire you.” Taehyung spits. “My manager did.”  He leisurely walks around the room picking up random things and analyzing them. It’s odd. He looks as though he’s never seen this place before. He looks... out of place.

“Just like he does everything without my permission,” he mumbles, almost as an afterthought. Looking over to you, a slight smirk creeps over his once unreadable expression. “And where did he find you? Craigslist?”

Your jaw literally drops. How dare he ask you a question like that? You would think he’d be a little bit more considerate since you’re pretty much strangers. Obviously he doesn’t know his basic manners or how to be a decent person for that matter.

If there’s one thing you hate, it’s blatant rudeness. It’s like a light switch. 0 to 100. Your blood begins to boil.

It’s official, you’re pissed.

Well this is definitely not what you always imagined meeting him would be like. More like you imagined you’d run into him on the side of the street, him knocking you over. And he’d catch you before falling to the ground, look into your eyes and- well.. that fantasy popped like a pink bubblegum bubble stretched too far. The initial shock and excitement of coming face to face with your favorite idol had subsided and now you were just angry at his disrespect and quite frankly, kind of offended for Hoseok’s sake too.

He’s back on the other side of the kitchen, analyzing a red and olive colored ceramic rooster and for a moment, you think you see a look of relief and soft eyes before he picks up a similar ceramic frog next to it and cringes at it’s ugly yellow/green color. There he is, looking so nonchalant, not even caring how blunt he is being in the moment. Not even caring how his words might hurt you.

Standing up straighter you find your voice again. You don’t care who he is. You weren’t going to take this disrespect from him. “Your house would have looked like the Haunted Mansion by now if it wasn’t for me cleaning this massive place while you were out for months wasting money and partying it up in a different country every day.”

His gaze quickly snaps back to you, surprise reflecting in his face from your more than un-lady like tone of voice. What? So he can talk to you like you’re nothing but you can’t do the same back to him?

“And Hoseok’s a good man,” you continue.  “He works his ass off to make sure you’re happy every day which I’m sure can’t be an easy job.”

It’s true. Hoseok can’t really talk about his clients but he does tell you about how exhausted they make him. Hoseok never really lets it get to him though and you know he bounces back quickly, but still. No one disrespects your family like that.

“So who are you to blame him for hiring a damn housekeeper for you while you’re away?” you sputter out quickly. Woah Y/N. Where did all of this aggression come from? He had only really said 3 or 4 things to you. Granted, every one of those things was something insulting. Your confidence began to falter again. His hard gaze on you was making you self conscious. Tearing your eyes away from his for the first time, you look down and toy with the hem of your Mickey Mouse pajama shirt.

Wait, no. Look up again Y/N, you can’t give him the feeling he’s winning here.

“And who are you to make me feel like I’m the one intruding here?” You add, trying to fake more confidence. Voice raising to a yell. “You know nothing about me or this house. You look like you’ve never even seen this place before!”

Your own words hit your ears with a boom as they bounce off of the marble walls. Shit.. that was probably too far. Ugh. Why can’t you ever keep your mouth shut? You were so going to be fired after this. Goodbye to the freedom of the city, hello Mom and Dad’s house. Again.

Using both of his hands to push himself off of the edge of the countertop he’s leaning on, he scoffs. Expression once again unreadable. A closed book with no title.

“Of course I know you,” He speaks, eyes narrowing.

Slowly, he makes his way over to the refrigerator where you stand. You don’t know how, but he’s clearly taken back the control in this conversation.

Suddenly you feel small again. Obviously he isn’t used to being questioned and you just had to go ahead and run your mouth. 

“You’re just another fangirl desperately pulling any strings she can to get close to me.” He explains laughing slightly, but devoid of any real humor. It’s at this point you realize how tall and broad he is. Towering over you in the physical sense and also in the metaphorical sense. Closer and closer he walks. Suffocating you like a snake coiling around its prey.

His lips curl into a condescending smirk as he places his hand flat against the freezer door effectively trapping you in. “What? Do you actually believe in your insane, obsessed mind that you would have a chance with me if you got close to me?” His eyes scan your face, assessing just how much his words are affecting you. There’s hatred in his voice. Though for you or for himself, you’re not quite sure.

His face is so close. You could feel his breath on your cheek. Surprisingly very minty with a hint of jasmine, you think. And his cologne… Not too overwhelming but definitely distinct enough where you were certain you’d be able to pick it out anywhere from now on. It melted through the air, wrapping around you slowly until it was all that you could focus on.

Woah... it was really messing with your brain.

His other hand reaches out to move a strand of your hair that had fallen out of your bun while dancing just a few moments ago. Effectively ripping you out of your former lifestyle being the pseudo owner of this huge mansion and thrusting you into your reality of being a full time maid.

Because really, that was all you were.

Sure, you had your fun living in this house by yourself with all the freedom in the world at your fingertips. But did you expect it to last forever?

You don’t want it to, but your heart chooses this moment to start beating like it’s about to pop out of your chest. The look he’s giving you right now.. you know it well. And you’re sure it’s the one he uses to get any girl he wants, whenever he wants.

The only thing connecting the two of you physically is his fingers threaded around the strand of your hair. You might as well have been fully pressed against each other with the amount of heat you feel creeping up inside of you. And though you don’t really want to admit it, you have to physically restrain yourself from pushing yourself into him by gripping firmly onto the refrigerator door handle behind you.

“Well, you are quite pretty,” You didn’t know it was possible but his voice drops to an even lower octave. Vibrating through your chest as he speaks. 

He’s considering his next words carefully. Gaze following the lines of your face. Eyes meeting eyes, moving across the map of your face to your nose, your reddened cheeks, then finally landing on your lips.

“Maybe if you don’t turn out to be a complete psycho I might actually fuck you.” His eyes dark, smirk still plastered on his face. “You know, to get you out of my way and save us both some time.”  

What you thought was your heart about to burst out of your chest turned out to be a fit of laughter causing Taehyung to recoil quickly, pulling his hands from the side of your head and away from your hair out of surprise. His face contorting into something of a mix between confusion and disgust as you cackled in his face. You almost couldn’t get your next sentence out as you doubled over laughing.

“See...” More laughing. Any feelings of lust caused by his entrancing scent now replaced with amusement in an instant. “That’s where you’re wrong,” Even more laughing. Wow, it’s been a while since you laughed this much.

“I could give less of a fuck about who you are.” You say mocking his vulgar word choice. A few more giggles leaving your lips. Okay, it was a lie. You’ll admit that. The you of last year would have been freaking out about who was in front of the present day you right now. But the situation you were in is just so ironic! You had dreamed about meeting Taehyung for a couple of years now and now that it has actually happened, it’s so completely the opposite of what you had always played out in your head that it was almost… well, yeah actually it was just hilarious.

Who would've thought the world’s sweetheart would be such a complete and total douchebag?  

“Hoseok didn’t even tell me who owned this place.” You tried to catch your breath as the giggles finally subsided.  “I just needed easy money and a place to sleep. Hell, I don’t even know what you do for a living!” Okay, that’s another lie but honestly, who really cares at this point. Clearly the respect and love for him you had before was just of the image he portrayed to the media. 

That was not the man standing in front of you right now. And it made you more than a little angry. What’s a little white lie at this point when he’s been lying to the whole world for who knows how long?

“Now if you’ll excuse me,” You push yourself away from in front of the refrigerator putting the mop in the small cleaning supply closet a few steps away. Taehyung hasn’t moved an inch. Now it’s his turn to be speechless. “I have a job to continue doing seeing as I’m the main person making sure your house doesn’t end up looking like an abandoned dump with all the dust the piling up from no one EVER USING ANYTHING HERE,” You practically scream the last part in his direction, words reverberating off the walls once again as you turn swiftly on your heel to head rather quickly to your room on the West side of the mansion.

You had a phone call to make.

<-- Previous Chapter | Next Chapter -->

[thewinsister]

Pretty Boy

Warnings: Curse words, this isn’t edited

Characters: Sam and Dean Winchester (mentioned), Sister!Reader Winchester, Peter Parker, Ned, etc.

Summary: The reader goes to New York and meets some new friends at her school

Word Count: 1,818

Y/N: your name

Y/N/N: your nickname

E/C: eye colour

Mx. This is like Mr. or Ms. except it doesn’t identify gender. I wanted to make this without mentioning gender so

a/n: Yup, this is a crossover. Spn and Spiderman:Homecoming! Hope you guys like it

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Slowly you opened your eyes as the sound of your alarm clock continued to sound. You yawned loudly as you hit the alarm clock, the annoying sound finally stopping. 7 AM it read, you rolled your eyes and laid in your bed thinking about how much you didn’t want to get up. You had never gone to an actual school, not in a long time at least. Your brothers let you have online school, it was much easier for everyone really. They didn’t have to worry having to put you into the a different school overtime you moved and you didn’t have to worry about all the stress other people gave you. You don’† know why they decided right now was a good idea to put you back into a real life school, Sam had said something about wanting to give you the full high school experience before you graduated.

You let your mind wander to your first day back in school, you were entering as a sophomore. You remembered how nervous you were, you had completely forgotten how stressing real life schools were. There were so many people all the time now, before you didn’t have to deal with any popular kids giving you a hard time. 

You walked to the principals office after asking around for about twenty minutes. Immediately noticing your presence, the man stood up and presented himself.

“Hello I’m the principle here at Midtown, you must be Y/N?”

“Y-yeah.” 

After a minute of talking about how you you used to take online school and your classes, the principle said “Well, come with me. Classes are ‘bout to start.” He walked towards the door and opened it, letting you walk out first. The walk to your first class was awkward, primarily your principle asking you questions and you answering with an “Uh huh” or an “Uh uh”. Finally you reached your class. Again he opened the door and let you walk in first. 

“Your first class is World Religions I believe” he said to no response.

“Good Morning everyone!” The man was answered by a few muttered good mornings in response. “Well, today we have a new student. Please treat her kindly, she’s must be very nervous. Just like you must have been when you first entered!” You rolled your eyes slightly at this, man you hated doing this.  “Please, Y/N tell us a little about yourself. Where you’re from, and so on.” He said, and you cringed internally, you really  hated this. 

“Um, hi. My name is Y/N.” You said awkwardly, you knew that none including yourself was gaining anything by doing this. “Right now, I’m coming from Ohio. Before that Kansas, before that- um I don’t remember I kinda come from everywhere.” You said you began to balance your self on your feet. You looked around the class, everyone was looking somewhere else. Everyone except for a pair of eyes, who belonged to a boy. He was kinda cute honestly, he had chocolate coloured curls laying on his head, his eyes were a more Hazel tone. His head rest on his palm looking at you intently looking at you. When he realized you were looking at him he got slightly pink and looked down, which you thought that was so cute. Shit. This was another reason you hated going to real life school, there was always a cute guy you would end up liking and then you’d have to leave.

“Mx. L/N?” You heard the voice of your principle, apparently he had asked you something while you were too busy looking at the pretty boy.

“Yeah- uh. Sorry?” 

“It’s alright, it happens a lot.” He said the last part muttering, “I just asked why you moved so much.”

“Oh um, because of my dad’s job.”  You answered vaguely.

“Oh what does he do?” 

“He uh- he sold stuff.”

“Sold?” 

“Yeah he died.” You said looking down, this was terrible.

“Oh I’m sorry. Well what about your mom?”

“Died too” you gave a sad awkward smile, god why didn’t he stop.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine I never met her.”

“Oh, well. I think it’s time for you guys to start class now, I think you’ll uh fit right in.” He said and immediately walked out the door trying to avoid anymore awkwardness. Smooth you thought.

“Well, then Y/N. Please take a seat any place where it’s available. You looked around the class, everywhere full. Except for, you guessed it, next to the cute boy. Fan-freaking-tastic. You moved towards the desk and smiled slightly a the boy who had continued his staring, this time he smiled back instead of looking away. You now had one mission for this week, which you had basically already failed. Avoid the boy with the pretty hair and sweet eyes.

Your first class went pretty good, you were talking about the myths and creatures of the different world religions. Since you have been doing research for your brothers for the past 5 years of your life, you knew every answer to every question. Everyone looked at you in both amazement and confusion. You couldn’t help but notice how the pretty boy’s eyes sparkled overtime a ray of sun hit his eyes. You shake your head slightly trying to get the idea of his pretty eyes out of your head.

“Okay, so there’ll be a group project. You will have to research about one of the beings you learned about in this class in more detail and have to explain in front of the class for friday.” Said the teacher before the end of the class, “ it will be in groups of three.” The bell rang and everyone got up immediately, everybody had already got their groups. You walked outside completely bewildered about what to do, before here came along pretty boy and another boy beside him a little taller with black hair. 

“H-hi!” He spoke excitedly, “I-I mean hi.” He then said in a much calmer voice when the boy you thought was his friend nudged him slightly.

“Hi.” You said shyly looking down at your feet then back up.

“Um I- we were wondering if you wanted to be in our group?” He asked, you wanted to say no trying to stick to your mission but his face turned into one of a puppy asking for food. And you just couldn’t say no to that.

“Uh- yeah sure. I mean I don’t want to be a bother to you.” 

“What? Never.” He said it seemed like he was almost mad that you had said that.

“What my friend means to say, is that we’d love to have you in our group.” His friend said smiling, it was one of those kind and genuine smiles that made you smile back. “My names Ned by the way, and this is my friend Peter.”  The pretty boy you now knew was called Peter smiled nervously and you smiled back.

“What class are you going to?” It seemed as if he relaxed much more now that you had agreed to be in their group.

“Chemistry, what about you guys?” 

“Great, we have chemistry too!” Said Ned and began walking you and Peter following him. The rest of the day went pretty smoothly, during lunch they invited you to sit with them which you happily complied with since you had no one else to sit with.

You all sat together, you enjoyed their company. They were more similar to you than you thought, they were the perfect balance of nerdy and geeky. You knew you got your nerdyness from Sam, since he always tried to teach you new things and you helped him study. It was basically just listening to him while he recited what he had to know.  Although Sam was also quite geeky you thought you got it more from Dean. When you were little it was with him that you watched all the lord of the ring movies, and Harry Potter and Star Wars, and basically everything else. You used to steal his comic books, it was basically entirely batman, but you read them all.

A tall brown girl with messy hair walked over to where you were sitting. You thought she was coming to talk to one of your new found friends, but instead she almost completely ignored them and sat next to you. She stretched her hand out for your to shake it, “Hi, my names Michelle. You’re the new kid right?” 

“Hi, my names Y/N. And yeah that’s me.” 

“Hey! Penis Parker!” You heard a voice from behind you, turning around you saw a short brown boy with black hair. Everyone else seemed to find his joke funny, it really wasn’t.

“Look at you! Trying to find new little girlfriends, I see your new technique” He said looking at you then back at Peter, “Flirting with the new girl cause she’s the only one who doesn’t know how lame you are!” Again mostly everyone laughed, you frowned slightly. 

“What’s up with that dude?” You whispered into Michele’s ear.

“Oh, that’s Flash. Most of the time a total dick.” She said casually, used to him.

“Hey, your Flash right?” You said after hearing his name, immediately the boy looked at you.

“Yeah?”

“Sorry, it’s that you have something on your face.” You told him, the boy embarrassed began to touch his face worried. Everyone stared confused.

“Where, what is it?”

“Oh, it’s just a bit of the stick that’s so far up your ass.”  Everybody began to laugh as Flash took his hands off his heads and glared at you. He turned around and left you. You kept a straight face until you saw that he was far away, and began to laugh along with the others at your table.

“Hmm, I like you” Said Michele with her always calm voice, you smiled at her. Then you all began to talk, you were so into the conversation you didn’t notice how Pretty Boy Peter stared at you with all the wonder in the world when you laughed, or how his heart beat faster every time you glanced at him.

You didn’t notice how he began to analyze your face, and your hair. You never noticed how he thought your E/C was so pretty specially when you smiled, how your hair bounced perfectly from your head every time you laughed. No you didn't notice how slowly Pretty Boy, thought of you as Pretty Girl.

At the end of the day you happily walked to the motel you and your brothers were staying at. You flopped on the bed smiling, as you remembered your day.

“How, was school sweetheart?” Sam had asked you.

SHIT, SCHOOL. You looked at your clock 7:30 AM, you were gonna be so late!

..............................................................................................

Hey guys! So this is my first time writing crossovers. I might do more stuff like this, just let me know if you want it

[prince-eric-saylor-blog]

Where Have I Seen This Before?

Eric Saylor sat in his living room, surrounded by open text books, studying for the mid term. He had to start off strong, he had a reputation to maintain, he was never the very top of the class but he was certainly up there. His goal was to impress the teachers with his dedication so they would be more likely to work with him on projects. He’d been at it for hours, the sun was beginning to set, a fire flickered in the fire place and the lamp directly behind him was turned on but the rest of the massive room was slowly fading into darkness. He highlighted a key phrase in his notebook on his lap, glancing up to look at his dog max who was curled up, asleep by the fire. He looked out the window at the warm orange glow and the long shadows it created. When he was little, five or so, he would always take advantage of the lighting to pretend he was a giant but nowadays he found it eerie. He sighed and shook his head, he had nothing to be afraid of, he probably had the best security on his house in the whole town and it wasn’t like he was home alone, Grims was working away in the basement. He wondered if the old man would like a coffee or maybe some company but thought better of it. They both had work to do.

Eric sighed and rubbed at his eyes, he might not go and get Grimsby a coffee but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t get himself one. He folded up his notebook, put a sticky note on all the pages in his text books he was studying, closed them up and made a pile on the coffee table. It was seven thirty and he reckoned he’d earned a break of some sort. He got to his feet and stretched out his back, there was a loud crack and his eyes widened, as did Max’s, the dog’s head raising, head tilted at him. Eric laughed, “I guess hunching over school work is bad for your back, huh boy?” he said. The dog said nothing, as usual. He sighed and walked around the couch, out of the room, casting a long, long shadow as he made his way out of the living room and into the kitchen. He grabbed a mug from a nearby cupboard and the coffee pot from the coffee machine, pouring himself a cup before grabbing a carton of cream from the fridge. He tilted the spout over the cup, giving it a shake, he emptied what little was left before throwing it in the recycling and dumping a few packets of sugar. Carlotta, bless her perfect soul, always set the coffee machine up before she left so He and Grims could have good coffee when she was gone.

When he returned to the living room he found Mx waiting by the sliding door, “need to go out?” he asked as he opened it, letting the dog scamper out towards some bushes where he always did his business. It always made Eric nervous to let Max out at night when he couldn’t see him clearly but he reminded himself he was safe in his house and on the property. He closed the door, knowing the dog would be awhile and sat down on the couch again, putting his mug on a coaster on the coffee table. On a whim he opened the drawer of the coffee table and took out the TV remote. He hadn’t watched any TV in a few weeks so he figured now was as good a time as any, it would be a good distraction from the homework but not so distracting that he wouldn’t notice when Max wanted to come in. He turned on the TV, a massive screen set in the wall adjacent to the fireplace and straight across from the sliding doors.

He adjusted his position on the couch, leaning over the arm rest he began to flip through the channels. He could have sat in the sunken in couch that was closer to the screen but the screen was huge and he found it overwhelming sitting so close when it was only him in the house. Reruns of sixteen and pregnant were on one channel, keeping up with the Kardashians on another, Hells kitchen, Some kids show with giant puppets he couldn’t remember the name of, the news…He flipped back to the show with the puppets and narrowed his eyes. Why did this seem so familiar? It was like sesame street but it wasn’t exactly. There was a dog wearing a suit and tie, sitting with some kind of white alien looking creature at a kitchen table in an old looking house that was somewhat dimly lit, he imagined it was to keep the strings and stuff from being visible on the screen. “Hey,” said the Alien creature, “what time is it Mr. Wolf?”  

The wolf howled, “lunch time Jersey,” he said in a low rumbling voice. Eric smiled and laughed. It was a dumb joke but he remembered playing that game as a child. He remembered no one fighting over who was it because everyone wanted a turn being Mr. Wolf, except for Sarah who wanted to be Miss Wolf and Malcolm who was scared of wolves at the time. Thinking about Malcolm made the smile fade almost immediately. It was still too soon to think about the good times fondly without remembering what happened to him in the end.

“What are we gonna have for lunch?” said the Alien creature, Eric noticed that the creature’s lip movements didn’t match the voice. It was disconcerting, kind of creepy really but the material was so tight around the puppet’s mouth, he understood that articulating proper mouth movements would be hard and he was sure kids wouldn’t get hung up on it much. Mr. Wolf. Jersey… what was this show called? He knew he had seen it before but when? When he was a kid but it was still hard to place. He sat up and propped his head up on his hand against the back of the couch.

“Long Pork sandwiches Jersey,” he said as two long looking sandwiches came in on wires, although upon second glance he saw they weren’t actually all that long.

The Jersey creature laughed, hands on his belly “they don’t look very long to me Mr. Wolf,” he said. Eric nodded, “exactly,” he muttered, shaking his head. He was glad the show was at least somewhat self aware. Maybe it was a production cost thing.

The wolf raised its head and howled, the camera panned into a close up of the raised puppet’s head just going at it, howling. It was a boring shot but it just kept going and Eric found himself sucked in. Maybe it was going to be like some sort of spongebob sketch, there would be some kind of joke at the end about how long the wolf howled. He couldn’t imagine this kind of thing not driving parents insane though, despite that he was entranced, very interested to see how long the wolf would howl.

“Eric,” he heard someone say behind him. He didn’t answer.

“ERIC!” the voice said again, a strong familiar hand planted on his shoulder. He jumped a bit surprised, turning around to see Grimsby looking at him with a bizarre expression. “What are you doing?” he said sternly.

Eric adjusted his position, firmly away from the TV to get a better look at Grimsby. He furrowed his brows at him, confused as to what exactly he’d done wrong. “I was just taking a break from studying…I found this weird show on TV do you recognize it?” Another bizarre expression came across Grimsby’s face, he looked…almost horrified. “What?” He looked over his shoulder and his eyes widened, Max stood at the door, snarling, barking, ramming into the door. “Shit! Max,” he got up from his seat but Grimsby grabbed his arm.

“You’ve been staring at the TV for hours,” said Grims “Max has been at it for hours I had to call your name ten times for you to look at me.”

“Ten?” Eric said stunned, “no, it was only twice, I’ve only been watching for ten minutes, Grims, what’s going on are you okay?” the wolf was still howling. He glanced back at the TV and saw…

Static. White noise.

The air and the heat left the room and he looked back at Grimsby. “Eric, you’ve been staring at that TV for hours, watching that. Son…are you okay?” Eric heard the sound of Max barking in the background. He felt like he was going to be sick. He shook his head, too stunned to say anything or do anything else.

He glanced back at the TV, a violent shiver went through him. He closed his eyes and turned away. “Grims, I need to let max in and I need you to unplug the TV, please. Please.” he said, covering his ears, closing his eyes. “Get rid of it.”

“Right away sir,” he hear Grimsby say in that strong, firm tone of voice he had, letting his arm go. Eric practically ran to the door opening, hitting his leg against the arm of the couch as he did. Sliding it open Max scurried in past him standing between him and the TV, snarling and barking as loud as he had inside. Eric looked at his phone as he heard the sound of the white noise go silent. Almost midnight. “Let’s go to bed Max,” he said with a shaking voice, heading towards the stairs. He didn’t change and he didn’t shower. He got in bed and curled up with his dog and didn’t sleep a wink. He did not go to school the next morning.

[studymotivation53]

How to extend your focusing abilities when studying? Before giving you the tips. I’d like to tell you “What type of student I was.” I didn’t have time to study for a long period of time actually, I have classes from 7:30am to 8pm. I’ve got 4 major subjects of 4 different topics that would have a quiz the next day. I have manuals for my laboratories to finish. Hours of Classes to attend. I have to sleep and study and do this and that chores and etc. I have 8 hours of laboratory duty during Saturday. So as you can see. I’m tired. I don’t get much studying done. I’m a huge blah and tell you the truth? I don’t even know how to time manage at that time. Now that I’m done I wish I was able to like focus right away and when I have a Sunday for myself instead of sleeping and resting I wish I spent it on studying. Before the tips. I want you to put this as your routine in life. Sleep very very important!!! No way are you be able to focus without it .I’d rather sleep than study believe me! Next focus on class. Some people wants to write while listening. I do to but not the wordy type. I place my pen and notebook on my desk empty page and all cross my arm and listen real well. I process what my teacher is talking about not just listening but actually visualize what he is saying step by step I try to put the thoughts together in my mind. (For example. The Immune system is at a constant of battle. We have 3 lines of defenses The skin and the mucous membrane (and impenetrable barrier that cannot be easily destroyed, lines the nose and etc to trap antigens so that they can be flushed out), next are fever and inflammation (Increase heat makes the antigens uncomfortable this is due to increase in blood flow of RBC and the fever produced by the body) , last but never the least the Immune system (T cells and B cell are responsible for I.D and production of antibodies which destroys the antigen that has entered).) People would write it down this way. Line of defense 1.skin mucous membrane - and impenetrable barrier that cannot be easily destroyed, line the nose and etc to trap antigens so that they can be flushed out like coughing and sneezing 2.fever inflammation - Increase heat makes your antigens uncomfortable this is due to increase in blood flow of RBC and the fever produced by the body 3.immune system - T cells and B cell are responsible for I.D and production of antibodies which destroys the antigen that has entered Me: sure I have to read the book and read this too. Great more things I need to do with my schedule. -__- My version? I’ve processed this in my mind like a drawing. To tell you the truth I wouldn’t have to write it down. I got it in here (Brain) let’s just imagine this as kind of like a hand drawing. Antigens = red circles; Triangle = heat; y=antibody Pic on top.

Then Eat real food. You’ll have more energy this way for the day. Then you can still study when coming home instead of feeling like dying. Now on to the tips!

1. Get it started. When you aren’t used to studying for a long period of time. It is normal that you can’t stay focus for more than 15 minutes. I experienced this as well. Start a time you want to study like 7 am in the morning choose a desk that is wide enough for you to place your things, oh and Don’t eat a lot! We get sleepy when we are too full, sometimes apps that will refrain you from using my phone can’t help me because it has become an essential part of my life now not to mention I’m used to holding and using my phone all the time. So what I did was use a timer app that would time my progress of studying (Brain focus is what I use (not sponsored)) I studied for like what? 3 minutes at first then I was grabbing my phone because I was sooooo bored with studying. But that clock that counts my time makes me stop myself from holding it. But when I do use my phone I press the pause button of time I’m studying.

NOW a minute or two of progress is a great deal already. Yes it is! Progress is progress no matter how small it is. You just have to keep going! Now if you can’t study anymore then get off the desk and do something else. Don’t watch movies and if you have that feeling that I won’t get up after this I’m sure try to push yourself to try again. If you really want to watch a movie I have a Chinese series called Love O2O. The girl is a Gamer but she is also a scholar student so her friends studies for exams and all and she’s like I’m done with my studies gonna play a game now.(I so want to be like that!!!) gives me a boost whenever I see her study.

2. Keep studying at your assigned time 7 am EVERYDAY yes EVERYDAY. You have to get used to it train your mind to think in the morning (Sidetrack I used to be a night own now I’m a morning bird. You have to teach your body to work in the morning that is when exams, quiz, class usually occurs right? You have to sleep at night remember? I know studying is boring but you’ll get used to it . YOU HAVE TO GET USED TO IT. 3. Track your status, the app (Brain focus has like statistics on how much studying you’ve done for the day) you have to make it your goal to improve! Push push push yourself and let it get used to it. Habit is the key! 4. I used to be someone who doesn’t like any sound when studying. For me this is a no no, your future circumstances like me I aim to be a surgeon someday is not going to adjust for you. Is the O.R or E.R or the hospital itself quiet? Nope! It is one of the noisiest place when during an emergency, the sound of machines beeping, people calling out for aid, groans of patients, bustling sounds of clothes, footsteps etc etc. I changed this by listening to study with me videos from youtube (Ways to study is a fave of mine. Awesome study tips by the way! Check her out, my friend tried her methods and she’s having perfect marks recently) not full blast ofcourse just enough for it to be a background noise (Using an LGK10, app mx player volume 12(This lets you play Videos like an MP3. I have to see the Brain focus app)). 5. Don’t eat too much! You will get sleepy!Tthe body will focus on digesting your food. So you will get sleepy and you won’t be able to study and a 10 minute nap? No way man! My bed is too comfy. I suggest a cup of water if your thirsty, or an apple. For me I don’t eat anymore when I study. I study when I wake up, then have breakfast after an hour or two as for snacks I have them in the afternoon. Around 3 pm just a piece of bread study again then dinner. Hmmm go online a little bit(I post on my studygram studymotivation53. I don’t have to set that much time on going on line because when I have my break I post on my studygram so no need) then study then sleep. 6. If you achieved a 30 minute or more improvement of focusing test yourself. Move your location. I was scared to go home when I did this because I’m staying at a boarding house for my review. I was scared that I MIGHT NOT GET SOME STUDYING DONE SINCE I’ll be staying home for a bout 2 weeks and that’s a lot but glad to say that I can study even though its not my desk with the TV with just a wall separating us. I used to get frustrated that my brother screams or plays loudly now it doesn’t bother me anymore or the sound of what used to be my fave show TEEN TITANS now teen titans Go! My laptop playing Ways to study’s study with me vlogs. 7. Hmmm nice study stuff is a bonus too a great pen and a smooth white paper or notebook really helps me out when I study. Highlighters are great too. My pens are color coded (Blue = Title; pink = terms or names of organisms or test etc etc.; orange = explanation or notes). Nice things makes you want to stay more on your table so make that desk simple but efficient. 8. Planner. I do have a Bujo but I prefer to use my challenge accepted pad. Like I want to finish 12 topics for today so I list them down and check them out after I finish the topic. Remember a cute Bujo would be useless if its not going to help you. Don’t spend too much time on doing them.  9. So to summarize it all. Start. Discipline. Make it into a habit. Change yourself don’t stay on your comfort zone. Sorry If I have some grammar mistakes or like commas are missing. English isn’t my mother tongue sooooooooooo Sorry!!!!!!!!

I hope I could help! 1 person that can improve is a big big motivation for me. Speaking of which I also have a studygram (studymotivation53) I post motivational quotes over there. If you could give me tips on how to improve myself then I am always open for messages and Dm’s!

[hgfstreamchats]

The Grinch

This week, I have no option for inputting audio. I'm sure this was some attempt to streamline the features in only the best of intentions that went horribly awry. Or, they don't know their hands from their asses. either/or AND OF COURSE THE SHINY NEW ALTERNATIVE IS DOWN. Bah. Naturally We could... watch with subtitles? That's no fun. Let me restart and if that doesn't work, we'll fall back on watch2together or one of the other options nobody likes. Hooray! ...Well, I'm livid! There, there. SOMEthing will work. We could try... sharetube?  I've only just heard about that one, not tried it Oh, doesn't seem to work... What did we do between rabbit and kast? I remember we tried a whole slew of options. I mean it seems to sort of half-work but I can't seem to get specific videos Yeah, but none of them seemed to quite work.  There was one that wanted us to download something and I think one that wouldn't play anything Wait. Let me try one more thing. SUCCESS! Fingers crossed, everyone... WOO AHA Oh man The Dragon Prince is so good it IS, I'm not caught up on it though just the first season It just gets better Time to reward ourselves with some well earned this. YES Yes! That 'extended cut' caught my attention I admit Classic. A normal interaction! spoof? let's watch that! I'm sure it would have continued to be perfectly normal had the parents not walked in It was at the top of the list on the video page Oh my god a;sdjfldjfsl At first I thought this was a redub, but THIS one however is my favorite, personally. Wow ASDL;JFDLDSFKJ; *eyebrows* I like the subtlety Likewise! Quick and to the point. Is there another window open? I keep hearing more sounds and someone's voice Better? Hrn no audio at all now THERE we go Wonderful! You know, I think just having snowballs made FOR you misses the point ...So did HE put up all those signs, or did they At least the dog seems happy in this one Man, this song is terrible Much happier than Halloween Max. psh mold spice I like that he took the time to garnish his depression spaghetti. And light candles. gotta take a self care day awwww Hahhaha I think this officially counts as assault Following him around to make his ears bleed Gosh, I wonder why he doesn't like christmas!  It must be because there's something wrong with him and not because they're all very annoying He's within his full rights to defend himself Ewwwww He's fully justified in stabbing at least three of them. If you want to help your mother, sit down and eat your eggs. "Sorry I struck you in the skull at 20 miles per hour." hahahah just visit santa in person, like in that other movie! okay okay the timing of that with 'DECK' the halls was hilarious I admit It was very cute. That is a nice cave though It's nicer than any of the Who homes. spacious, good ventalation, Giant crystals growing out of the bathroom walls. Could use some carpet, but I'm sorry but why does he have a banquet table for 30 people space, so he can make max sit on the opposite end can't risk any semblence of closeness He likes to feel fancy. Look at him, he's having fun awww oh my gosh a little picture of them Oh my god "It's 3000 years old and now it's dead!" That tree was probably like 800 years old lololol But hey!  Who cares, as long as they get to have it dying in the town square for a month And not even that, since it's four days before Christmas. I bet her wish is for her mom to meet someone For the month of January, they find a seven story whale and drop it in the center of town to slowly dehydrate. Ooh a turtle kid's got good taste honey no That's just insult tin injury Hello there, extremely realistic depiction of a panic attack. Yyyup yeah that is something Wait so he used to live here Why is he the only... whatever his species is so lemme get this straight The only one in the area, at least. the entire community is close and tight-knit and involves everyone with everything for the holidays but the completely isolate the orphanage from joining any festivities?? Except him, because... he's an orphan?  Because he's green? Yeah that is fucked Was he the only orphan in the place? Did he just slip off into the mountains and they wrote it off as an acceptable amount of orphans to lose? this revelation is horrifying So he was like... a small child when he went off to live by himself as a hermit he's completely justified in being bitter And Max is his little service dog. oh god I did NOT need to see that How does he get all this stuff, is he rich Does he steal it Probably. Sit. And eat. Your food. She really just lets her daughter do whatever huh And don't put batter down the sink. ...Are they planning to come back that way EAT THE FOOD YOUR MOTHER GIVES YOU. Wait how come their treehouse has electricity I'm sure she works the night shift so her daughter can give away her breakfast. No you don't Did he make the hat just for this occasion? uh the... This very, very specific occasion? So he wants to summon HORNY reindeer ... the MATING call? You're going to get a reindeer charging at you, spike a-flapping. Skifree! TRAP these kids are vicious Did...did they just admit to stealing 16 dollars from her mother's suitcase? I think so oh yeah, THAT'S what's happening, your dog is delivering cakes Uh I like how everything is striped. Aww. awwww, let him have f--actually sausages might have stuff in them that'd poison a dog, so good call there I'm sure he gets plenty of poison-free sausages. He seems infinitely more loved than any of the other Maxes. the audio and video out of sync for anyone else? I'm glad Yeah. oh it stopped? Actually, it seems okay today (The yeah was to Max being more loved) What did they THINK would happen omg omg CUTE I did NOT like the sensual way he grazed his finger along the paint job he SPECIFICALLY MADE a little sidecar for Mx, that's adorable Between this and the reindeer mating call... I like the implication that max can read english Maybe he MAKES all the stuff he has I want a movie about the man with a bird on a leash. I feel like this movie is careening towards her and the grinch getting together oh god please no Absolutey not. Bet you a dollar. nO Figuratively speaking. I *need* to see that dog robbing houses. Oh, he's actually staying outside. somebody's gotta play look-out Why so many stockings, how many people LIVE there Is--is Max in his little drone thing hahahah I love how this is supposed to based on the book but they're barely using any of the prose at all the original prose He totally brought this on himself "It's very drugged." "we'll just skip this house" That was a lot of night shifts' worth of stuff. But ah, well. Yes because I'm certain everyone would just shrug this off like nothing Right? I appreciate that they kept it metaphorical. It's not literal -- it's how experiencing something profound feels. I hope that's not the reindeer mating call horn gussied up oh god "hoo boy, didn't plan this out" "I'm sorry I ruined your Christmas but here's a stampede of urine soaked, sex-starved reindeer.\" AS;LDKJF awwwww now RUN Night I swear to GOD if this goes in the direction of him and the mom hooking up I'm personally blaming YOU for cursing it into existence Hhaahhaha There's no way this wasn't created by an entire crew full of humans who all suffer from crippling anxiety disorders. Hang on, are they ALL furry and he just dyes himself aparently He's the equivalent of a middle aged human wearing flesh toned, skintight pants and absolutely nothing else. and a tie I wasn't goin gto say it don't forget the tie And a tie. That seems like a small roast for all those guests. They have other dishes, though sooooooo Nothing actually solved the mom's problems huh I guess not? Oh, that's where the credits come in. Which...doesn't count, really, but still. oh THERE we go Oh hey! Cute. And they didn't get together! although it wasn't part of the story sooooo well that was certainly a thing Pretty good A fun movie :) It's a very gentle movie. As is this. well I'd love to stay but I've been putting off getting dinner started for too long Enjoy the short/rest of your night, guys! Enjoy your food! Thanks for the stream, Knock Out! Say hi to Breakdown and Impact for me! Of course! WOW, rude! How dare he be mean to Max Unforgiveable! Well, that's all the Grinch content I've got! Max is the best character and the best dog. Without question! Thank you for coming -- I've been looking forward to this one since last year! Hmmm... You know, I have a suggestion for a future movie :) :) :) Shoot! You'd love it!  It's all about racing!  It's called "Turbo". *snicker* It looks horrid. We'll ring in the new year with it! Horridly amazing, I'm sure! Clearly! Anyway--thank you for hosting.  It's been a blast! Glad to hear it! Thank you for coming! Goodnight! Goodnight!