#jaemin dodged a bullet not falling for him

[ellsieee]

Taeha really is a bit of an asshole isn't he?

He has no respect for Jiwoon, going so far as to enter his home without permission and to kiss him without explaining himself first when Jiwoon had explicitly told him he didn't want to continue their relationship.

I knew Jiwoon's resolve wouldn't last. He went back to Taeha immediately after finding out he broke off his engagement. It doesn't bother him at all that Taeha wanted to get married and have kids, and that he was willing to cheat and lie for who knows how long if Sohee hadn't called Jiwoon out. I'm worried for Jiwoon. He's telling Taeha what choosing him means, the societal pressures he will face, and Taeha says that having Jiwoon is enough, but seeing that he didn't deal with that pressure well the first time, I don't feel confident that Taeha understands what the consequences will truly be. I hope they talk about this issue a lot more off screen.

I hate that it's Jiwoon who is apologizing and kneeling. Taeha should be the one facing Sohee's wrath, groveling, and apologizing. That being said, I am glad Suk made Liuk do it because his acting was amazing and broke my heart.

That he takes on all of Sohee's blame and anger, and then pleads for Sohee to let Taeha off is too much. 😭 This whole scene was a knife to my heart. I can't live without him. Oh Jiwoon. 💔 Couldn't he have picked a better guy to love? He deserves better.

Oof. Sohee's words cutting deep. How else was she supposed to react though? I've seen comments saying she's psycho, but I actually think she's pretty normal about the whole thing. She's angry and lashing out. Who wouldn't be angry with being cheated on and dumped? Is she supposed to be nice and understanding about her fiancé breaking off their engagement? Should she be happy for Taeha and Jiwoon?

Jiwooooon. 💔 I want to give him a hug and then download tinder on his phone and find him a better guy. 😅

Arghhhh. Jiwoon protecting Taeha from knowing about how much he hurt Sohee. Why?? Taeha needs to know. I swear, the person that's going to be destroyed in this relationship is Jiwoon.

They've both said that they only need each other and are together so it's a happy ending right? Their final hug didn't make me melt though, it gave me more of an ominous feeling. It's romantic to say you only need each other, but reality is much harsher. I think it may be true for Jiwoon, but I have my doubts about Mr. I do what I want. I guess it's a happy ending for now.

I thought Suk would need a part 2 to finish Bad Guy, but I feel like this story is complete. Not completely satisfying, but complete. I wanted to see Taeha struggling with his feelings and then deciding to break up with Sohee. Also for Jiwoon and Taeha to talk about why Taeha wanted to get married in the first place, what's changed, and why Taeha will be able to make it work this time around. I think that would have provided the closure I'm looking for, and made Taeha a more likeable and sympathetic character. It would also give the audience confidence that these two can make it. As it is now, I think a lot of us want Jiwoon to find himself someone better.

If I sound like I'm hating on Bad Guy, I'm not. This was still a good series. I was engaged and excited for each new ep. I don't love Taeha because he's extremely selfish, but I found his character interesting. I love Jiwoon, my tragic lovefool. I enjoyed the exploration of a messy, imperfect, and helpless love. The acting was great too. I hope Suk hires Liuk again, he is the best actor (in a bl) Suk has hired so far. Though perhaps Suk can arrange to have Riu or Hoolim teach him how to kiss. There's room for improvement.

[stayarmytinyzenmoa-l]

Locked and Reloaded [Ch. 5]

Marvel AU

TW: Language, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Blood, Gun Violence, Implied Abusive Household

Genre: Action, Light Comedy, Angst

Pairing: NCT Dream x Reader

YN Pronouns: Female (She/Her)

(5/?) [First] | [Previous] | [Next]

[Main Masterlist] | [Locked and Reloaded Masterlist]

Word Count: 6.5K

Notes: It’s about time these members entered the story. I’m dropping this now instead of a Saturday upload because I’m getting my second dose of vaccine in about nine hours, and from how both of my parents reacted something tells me that I’m going to be incapacitated for the next two days, so I decided to finish this bad boy up now! Currently next on my list to work on is Infatuation, so I’ll see you in that update!

Disclaimer: Please remember that this is an AU and a work of fiction, obviously the idols mentioned/written about in this story would never partake in or condone these actions. I would never wish any of these actions to occur to the Idol(s) mentioned in the writings of these stories, nor do I wish any harm on them.

“That’s stupid,” you told your older brother. Baekhyun just laughed. You had just finished ranting to him how a majority of the premise of chemistry was ridiculous, being founded on one key theory that could be amended at any moment, something now set in stone or put to law. It was a theoretical science that clashed with the lawfulness of physics and the puzzle of biology. “Chemistry is literally the weakest link.”

“I don’t quite think so, songbird,” the nickname was sweet in his voice, it was one you had had for as long as you could remember. He leans against your desk and he points at the picture. “It’s just atomic theory.”

“Yeah, and it’s stupid. Imagine, all of this work, all seven hundred of these pages and countless other books could get proved incorrect if someone disproves it.”

“You read this entire textbook and that’s all you have to say about it?” Baekhyun raised his eyebrow and crossed his arms. “Wah, you’re so amazing and you don’t even know it,” he hugged your head to his stomach and you pushed him away.

“Ew, you’re so gross,” you wiped the sweat from your face. “At least shower before coming into my room! You’re disgusting when you use the gym.”

“And miss my darling sister? No way, that and I came to congratulate you!” He points at the certificate on your desk just under your coffee mug. “Not every day you win the science fair… again.”

“Yeah, yeah, thanks,” you put a textbook over it. He was right, but it was hardly an achievement for you at this point, it was an expectation.

“What did you do this year?” None of them even showed up, the only person there to help you with your project was Jeno, but he was always there whether you liked it or not.

“You don’t know?”

“I was at the conference, remember?”

“Oh, right,” you sighed. “It was just an observation on bees.”

“Whoa! Bees are great! They’re so helpful for pollination, for honey, and so much more!” Baekhyun smiles. “Hey, your birthday’s coming up, right? Fourteen? Oh god, oh no, my songbird? A teen? I don’t think I can handle this.”

“You’re overreacting! It’s not like I’m going to be any different. Plus, I’m already a teen.”

“Oh, (Y/N), you have no idea. Thirteen is the one year free trial before you start having to pay to be a teen. Once you turn fourteen, ugh, I don’t even know how to say this,” Baekhyun fake cries and wipes away the invisible tears. “It’ll be like you’re a whole different person.”

“Stop that! Why are you acting so weird?” You laughed and turned to him. Baekhyun crossed his arms over his chest and your smile dropped. You knew that look on his face better than anyone. “You’re leaving again, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I leave tonight,” he says.

“How long?”

“Maybe a week this time, dad wants to show me the properties over in Zone 8.”

“Seriously? What for?” The factories that far out from the city were nearly ghost factories, they just handled building the smaller removable parts of the weapons your father developed. You couldn’t think of a possible reason why Baekhyun would have to go out that far.

“I have no clue, maybe he just wants me to see the Byun system at a smaller scale,” Baekhyun sighs. “Will you be okay here?”

“Will I be okay here? Don’t make me laugh,” you slammed your textbook shut and stared at him. “She hates me.”

“Don’t say that.”

“She does! You’ve seen the way she talks to me when you’re not around, Baek, I genuinely think that woman wants to get rid of me.”

“She’s your mother.”

“No, she’s your mother.” You didn’t mean for it to come out as accusing as it did. But you could genuinely say that you never felt anything from her aside from the obvious disdain she must have held for you. But what could you do? You’d hate you too. If one day your husband showed up at your doorstep with a kid you didn’t recognize telling you to treat her as if she was your own, you’d despise that child’s existence. All you were was proof of infidelity, and your stepmother made that very clear. You were her daughter on paper alone, but in reality, you were nothing more than a freeloader. “I’m just the bastard kid from dad’s mistress.”

“Do not,” Baekhyun held a finger up and stared at you with an intensity you’ve never seen on his face before. Seriousness wasn’t something that Baekhyun often used, especially around you. “Do not ever reduce yourself to that. Do you understand? You are so much more than that and you can’t let anyone who says that to you bring you down, you cannot let that weigh on you. Who even told you that?”

“She did. Who else?”

“God…” Baekhyun looked away and huffed. He held his hand to his forehead and sighed. “Keep in touch with me, okay? Just one more year and I can take it to court.”

“Forget it, Baek,” you waved your hand. “It would never work. We have no proof.”

“Well,” Baekhyun pressed his lips together and placed a tape in front of you.

“A tape? Seriously?”

“Don’t hate on old tech, they’re still around for a reason. I have a walkman in my room, second drawer on my desk. Listen to it later, okay?”

“Yeah, okay,” you placed the tape in your own drawer, out of sight and out of mind.

“Just wait for me, alright?”

“Yeah.”

“(Y/N), I’m serious.”

“I know.”

“I’ll be back, okay?”

“Okay, just go, dad’s probably waiting for you,” you opened your textbook again and stared at the passages on it. You had a really bad feeling about tonight, but you couldn’t quite place your finger on it.

“Love you, songbird.”

“I know.”

~

“Sungchan! Four o’clock!” You shouted towards the agent. Sungchan, moving a second too late was met with the spine of a book to his face, promptly knocking him out. “Aw, geez,” you shoved your bag under a table, hoping that it would be somewhat okay after the fight, and threw a metal tray, the circular object blocking one of the flying weapons from hitting Shotaro on his way to Sungchan.

“Thank you!” He shouts. He leans next to his best friend and tries to wake him up while the fight continued.

“I’ll try to keep you guys covered, but you might need to fill in for me eventually, Reaper’s not doing too good over there,” you stumbled over to the two and handed Shotaro one of the pillows from the couch. “Is he okay?”

“Yeah, just knocked out, but I have to watch him just in case… you know.”

“I do, just make sure he’s fine.”

With Jeno’s sudden appearance the Sanctum became a new battleground. Ancient artifacts were being used left and right for battle, whether they were used correctly or not, and with incoherent shouts filling the previously calm room. Strange was doing his best to prevent anything potentially world-threatening from happening, the Sorcerer Supreme understanding the laws of the universe, as well as any of you did, while the Maverick worked to bring down Vulture. The surprise attack rendered them at an unfortunate disadvantage. Strange was more concerned with keeping the battle within the Sanctum than he was helping any of you out, which was entirely understandable.

“I got it!” Peter shoved back the bookcase that was about to fall on you.

“Thanks, Peter.”

“Just so you know I am so sorry I did not mean for any of this to happen I didn’t know.”

“Oh goodness, no hard feelings, Peter, it happens to the best of us,” you said to him. “There’s no way you could’ve known.”

“Thanks, (Y/N), that means a— Watch out!” He pushed you out of the way just as a shield lodged itself between you, you turned towards the source and saw Vulture, and you had to stop yourself from getting any more frustrated than you already are.

“Fucking hell,” you clapped your hands together and jogged in place. “Stretching before fights is good for you, Peter, don’t forget that,” you said to him. Then you saw Cap waving his hand. You pulled the shield from its spot and threw it back to him.

“Nice arm!”

“Don’t lose your shit!” You moved your head to the side just as a bullet whizzed past you. “And watch where you’re aiming!” You dodged another bullet as it ricocheted off of one of the metal artifacts of the Sanctum.

“I am,” Jaemin’s voice was steady despite the chaos. “Reaper!” Jaemin tossed one o the artifacts towards the other, particularly a sharp one, and Jeno drove it into the wall next to Vulture, just barely grazing the Follower. Vulture grabbed onto the back of Jeno’s neck, the razor claws on his hands emerging and sinking into the half-demon before Vulture slammed Jeno’s head through the wall.

“Urgh, I felt that,” you rubbed the back of your neck as the phantom pain shot through it. You quickly stepped back just as an eldritch whip snapped in front of you.

“Mr. Wong?!” Peter gasps.

“That one isn’t in our database,” Jaemin grabbed onto the whip as it went towards you again, ‘Wong’ staring at him with a slight confusion, to which Jaemin just tugged it away from the other’s hands, watching the concentrated energy dissipate.

“Well then add him later, dammit,” you charged towards Vulture but soon felt something wrap around your ankle. You looked at the portal next to your foot and the hand around it. “Ew! Oh my god!” You yanked it out of ‘Wong’s’ grasp and shot towards him, the bullets disappearing before they could get anywhere close. No wonder it was so fucking convenient, you hoped whoever the real Wong was and where he was currently wasn’t too horrible.

“We should name this guy,” Jaemin dodged the eldritch disk that nearly sliced his throat. “I’m thinking Frisbee.”

“Oh come on, let’s stay true to tradition and wait for Hyuck,” you pulled a sword from the suit of armor next to you and blocked the whip again. You turned the hilt in your hand and smiled. “Ooh, I like this. You know my ex used to be an expert fencer.”

“I almost forgot about that one,” Jaemin hums. “What’s with sleeping beauty over there?”

“Got hit in a face with a book.”

“Oh that’s good, one less bomb we have to worry about.”

“That’s rude,” you scolded him.

“Can someone help me over here?!” Jeno’s pissed off voice came from the office. He pushed himself up from the rubble and cracked his neck before his knuckles. “I’m going to kill this guy, fuck the Agreement.”

“Does the Agreement even apply this far out?” You asked. Jaemin pulled out his phone briefly. The Agreement was offered by the D98 Avengers, basically promising not to do any dimension altering things, but it was just a promise, nothing was set in stone and thus was lacking in any legality. It was a gentleman’s promise, so to say.

“Technically it doesn’t, D62 is far out of D98 bounds. And since none of the Avengers are here…” Jaemin let Jeno fill in the blanks himself.

“Good,” Jeno tapped his wrists together, a blood-red magic circle appearing between them.

“Wait, do you guys hear that?” You looked around while skillfully parrying evil Wong’s attacks.

“Hear what?” Shotaro was nursing the passed out Sungchan while blocking any projectiles that made their way towards him.

“It kind of sounds like screaming,” Jaemin furrowed his eyebrows.

“No, it sounds like… no, of all the members to send,” you groaned. Then the sound of doors crashing open accompanied the chaos that was the Sanctum while a familiar face ran in head first, literally, screaming his head off, and rams into Dr. Strange.

“I got this one, V! Don’t worry!” Chenle shouts.

“You idiot he’s on our side!” Jeno grabs a polearm from a nearby suit of armor and whacks it over Vulture’s head, the polearm breaking in half right after and really just pissing off the Follower more.

“Oh is he? Sorry!” Chenle detached himself from the sorcerer.

“Looks like we’ll be having a change in plans,” Strange murmured and disappeared from the room.

“Did the wizard just dip?!” You yelled.

“I think so!” Chenle yelled back, despite being right next to you.

“Why are you even here?!”

“We were talking to Fury when Jeno just fell into a sudden pool of blood! I followed your tracker here because I figured you’re in trouble. Be grateful!”

“I never said I wasn’t?!” You heard a pang next to you and turned to your side, a circular shield blocking your vision for only a brief moment before connecting with Other Wong’s abdomen.

“Thanks,” you nodded towards Steve.

“No problem,” he says. “But where’d that bullet come from?” Cap looks around the room. Jaemin rushes next to you and grabs something, pointing it upwards. Within a few moments, someone materializes next to him. A classic cloaking spell, of course, right when you needed it most.

“Monsieur,” her voice was hoarse.

“Lynx,” you saw him grimace while the woman drove a knife into Jaemin’s side and twisted it harshly. A loud groan left the man’s throat while you darted next to him and tackled the woman to the ground.

“I like your D62 version better!” You pressed your gun to her head and she threw you off before you could pull the trigger.

“Nat!?” Steve blocked another gunshot from her with his shield.

“Not Nat,” Bucky answers.

“Where have you been?”

“This thing’s still glowing,” Bucky held up the crystal.

“Give that to me!” Chenle appears next to them and grabs it. “You meaty idiots don’t know what to do with this.”

“Was that an insult?”

“Apperio!” Chenle ignored the Captain and chanted the charm, a magic circle appeared around the crystal. Following the ripple of two blue circles that expanded throughout the room, two more people appeared.

“There’s more of them?!” You shot Vulture in the leg. Before you were two other notorious members of the Elite. Arachnid, who you fought before, and Dead Shot, someone you were hoping not to run into in this dimension. “Someone get Parker out of here as soon as he touches Arachnid it’s over!” You shout.

“Oh please, I wouldn’t even try that. What good is this mission if any of us blow up the dimension while we’re at it,” Arachnid catches the flying dagger and flings it back towards Jaemin, who easily dodged it.

“We have orders to keep you alive, Vendetta, comply and the others will live,” Dead Shot spoke in his trademarked mechanical voice.

“Fuck that,” you pointed your gun at Arachnid and click. Click, click. “Well, this is awkward,” you chucked the magnum at Arachnid, the handle of the gun hitting the area between the mutant’s eyes and stunning him briefly, while Dead Shot released a flurry of bullets. You ran along the wall to dodge them, looking for something to shield yourself with now that Cap and Bucky were busy with Lynx, Jeno had Vulture busy, and Jaemin moved over to Arachnid so that Peter could handle Evil-Wong instead.

“Surrender or be forced to, Vendetta.”

“Well, shit,” you held a book in front of you while Dead Shot went through consecutive rounds.

“How could you not know a Follower was here?!” Jeno was pushed back next to you while deflecting Vulture’s attacks.

“How the hell was I supposed to know?! I didn’t even know that those three were here until a couple of minutes ago!”

“Are you kidding me?!”

“No, I’m not kidding you because if I was we wouldn’t be in this mess!”

“It has been thirty minutes! I let you and Jaemin go for thirty minutes and this happens!”

“In our defense,” Jaemin gets pushed back to the other side of you and clears his throat. “Peter brought us here.”

“I said I’m sorry!” Peter brushes off the embers on his suit. “Aw man, how am I going to explain this to Mr. Stark?”

“Explain? Have you been reporting us to him?!” You asked.

“Uh… no,” Peter’s phone goes off and he answers it. “Hi, Mr. Stark, there’s kind of a situation going on right now—”

“Tell them not to come here! If any of the other Followers show up it could tear the fabric of reality apart!” Chenle shouts. A magic circle appears under Peter’s phone and it short circuits. Chenle adjusts the watch around his wrist, a much larger magic circle appearing from it.

“Vocavi te ab umbris,” at the utterance of the words the shadows in the room gathered together to a much larger amalgamate. “Go, Vendetta, I’ll keep them handled.”

“Fuck,” you spotted your backpack, which was pushed up against the wall on the other side of the room.

“What now?” Jeno asks.

“Backpack.”

“What about it?”

“There’s something really important in there,” Jaemin sounded disappointed. “We could hole-in-one it, V.”

“We could,” you said. “But that risks shaking it up too much.

“Hot potato then?” Jeno offers.

“Who would start it?”

“The closest person is Shotaro, if he throws it far enough I could probably catch it,” Jeno says. “Pass it over to Jaemin.”

“Then I’ll pass it to you. But by then you need to be in that hallway,” Jaemin says.

“Got it, I can do that.”

“And if anything goes wrong?”

“Wing it.”

“We’re going to die in this dimension, aren’t we?” Jeno frowns.

“On the count of three, break,” Jaemin says, ignoring his best friend’s words. You hand Jeno the old sword, which he took without question. “One.”

“What do I need this for?”

“Well, I certainly don’t need it.”

“Two.”

“Wait, are we even on the same page?”

“I don’t know, are we?”

“Three!” Jaemin shoved you forward and you took off, dodging literally everything on your way to get out and probably get some more help.

“Shotaro! Pass me that backpack!” Jeno shouts over the gunshots. Shotaro perked up and grabbed the black bag, chucking it towards Jeno, who caught it easily. “Monsieur— Fuck, too far, Apollo! Pass this over to him!” Jeno tossed the backpack towards Chenle, the heavy bag slamming into the magician mid-spell.

“What the hell?!”

“Pass it here!” Jaemin knocked over Lynx and used her head the propel himself up and grab the backpack after Chenle threw it. He ran over towards you and threw it. Right as your hand grabbed the strap, it was yanked away from you.

“Fuck!” You looked back at who had it now, seeing your backpack in the hands of the last person who should have it. You were about the run over to him, but the bullet that landed too close for comfort reminded you that you had to leave now. “Arachnid has it!” You’d just have to put your trust into the three that were already here.

“Got it,” Jeno bashed his knee into Vulture’s head, finally incapacitating the Follower and switched targets. You turned around and ran into the hallway. You just had to call one of the other members to run over here with some extra materials. You hit the side of your phone, which only frizzed at the motion. Chenle must have jammed the signals to prevent more reinforcements from coming, great. You couldn’t run around forever, Dead Shot always hit his targets in the end, you continued down the hallway, not bothering to look back, but when you found yourself cornered against a hallway, you forced to figure out a solution. With the smell of smoke and the sounds of bullets hitting the ground— Wait a second. You looked down the hallway, bullets hitting metal and ricocheting towards you but never hitting any intended destination, there wasn’t even a bullet hole in sight, instead there were just empty shells on the ground. But in your analysis you failed to notice the stray bullet that was right in front of you. Then you saw someone’s closed fist in front of you.

“Did I get all of them?” He panted. He opened his hand and twelve bullets fell out of it.

“Oh my god, Mark, you’re just in time, I don’t remember you being this fast either,” you caught your breath and hugged the speedster, separating quickly. Mark pat down the smoke on his boots.

“I don’t think I’ve ever run that fast…” He stretches his back and kicks the bullet shells aside.

“How’d you even get here?”

“The sorcerer guy called Baekhyun and asked us to come right away. I had a feeling it wasn’t anything good so I came first, told them I’d scout the area. It’s a good thing I came, otherwise you’d look like Sponge-Bob…” He laughs awkwardly. “You’re at your quota, aren’t you?” He looks down at your feet. You followed his gaze and saw the rusted knife sticking out from it, then you noticed the bloody trail you left behind. You sighed and pulled the old thing out.

“Remind me to get a Tetanus shot.”

“You are at your quota,” he gasped.

“Can’t afford to possibly die right now,” you shook your head. “I thought since the dimension was far enough it’d get me some leeway, but I guess not,” you grimaced.

“Shit, it really is a good thing that I came just in time,” Mark looks over his shoulder. “Dead Shot should be on his way, you didn’t make it hard to find you.”

“Don’t smart-mouth me right now, Mark.”

“Right, yeah, sorry about that,” the speedster ruffled his blue hair and unzipped his jacket, pulling out a book from it. It was heavy, no doubt, leather-bound with metal embellishments around it. The book had lived through as many eons as it did dimensions. You had asked Mark to try to get it for you if he could, but nothing more than that. Better to leave him in blissful ignorance. “Look, I don’t have a lot of time to say this,” he says while he hands it to you.

“Just spit it out.”

“I was looking into that thing you asked me about and here, this is all I got,” he says. “Whatever you need it for it’d better be important, I almost got turned into a frog for it. The guy I got it from warned me not to read it though.”

“Why?”

“I dunno, something about corrupting the person who reads it.”

“Oh shit, I should have Jeno read it then.”

“True, you can’t corrupt a demon.”

“But then again he is only half.”

“Look, (Y/N), I only got you the book because you were so insistent on it. Just reassure me and tell me that you won’t do anything stupid with it.”

“I won’t, I won’t, I may be stupid but I’m not that stupid, Mark. When are the others coming?”

“I just gave them the signal to enter, they’ll be taking care of the Follower problem here in a bit. But you’re going to have to explain why you’re here to them, and I’m afraid that it might involve you revealing your identities this time.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Why else would you be in D62 being housed and paid by this dimension’s Avengers?”

“Fair enough—” you were cut off by the bullet grazing your ear and landing in the wall behind you. Another one rang out and Mark grimaced, holding his hand to his shoulder

“Argh! Come on!” He grunts. He puts a hand on your back and one behind your neck.

“Why?”

“Whiplash,” you blinked and suddenly found yourself back in the Avenger’s Compound.

“Mark, don’t you dare!”

“Sorry! Jeno’s orders! I’d rather a pissed off you than Jeno!”

“Mark, I swear if you zoom out of here—” but the speedster was already gone by the time you turned around. “Dammit!” You kicked the wall and winced immediately, you completely forgot that it was the same foot that had a knife driven through it earlier.

He was right, you’d reached your quota. There was a certain amount of times you were allowed to “die” until it would be too much, and you knew you’d be at this quota when your body would stop healing itself, it was getting ready for its original host to return. You just didn't think you’d reach it soon, and who knows until the number resets? It was always a varying number, and until it did you had to lay low. It was such a hassle that you always tried to avoid it, but coming to this dimension seemed to have expedited the whole thing. You heard a bag of chips drop behind you.

“(Y/N)? When did you get here?” Jisung stared at you while he picked up the bag.

“Mark.”

“Mark’s here? Where?” Jisung looks around.

“There was a complication at Dr. Strange’s place,” you limped towards him, he rushed over to you and reached for your hand to help you, but you tugged it away. “I’m fine.”

“Oh, okay,” Jisung gave you a little more space, but still walked next to you, sporting that easy-to-read concern. “Do they need help?”

“No. The Avengers are coming.”

“Oh… oh no,” Jisung caught onto why you were being short now. “Oh no, oh no, we won’t have a choice then.”

“No, we won’t,” you heaved the large book under your arm. Jisung looked at it but chose not to question you. “I’ll be in my room, I have a lot of thinking to do before we explain ourselves to the lapdogs so, if you need me, I’ll be in there,” Jisung says.

“Oi, (Y/N)!” Haechan held his hand up and Jisung furiously shook his head. Hyuck pressed on regardless. “Think you need this,” he waved the small box in his hand and you did a doubletake.

“Where did you get that?!” You rushed forward and snatched it out of his hands. “Be a bit more gentle with it!”

“Whoa! What’s got you pissed? Jeno drowned and dropped this. Changmin said to give it to you so I figured it’s important, damn.”

“The Avengers are coming.”

“Like… these Avengers?” He points around the room. “Or our Avengers.”

“The second one,” Jisung nods. “Right, (Y/N)?” You didn’t answer, you were already halfway to your room. You tossed the book on your bed and you opened the small box, pulling the vial of iridescent liquid from it. You twisted it open and downed its limited contents in one gulp. You felt all of your muscles relax at once and you sat on the bed. The wound on your foot closed quickly.

“Postponed, at least for now,” you stretched your arms. “But not permanently,” you placed the vial back in the box and you grabbed the book. As you held the two sides in your hands, ready to open it, you recalled Mark’s warning. Then you remembered the words of the Demon King himself.

“If you know what’s good for you, and what’s good for the world you reside in. Do not seek more than you already know about yourself.”

The times you spoke to Jeno’s father were limited, and your best friend liked it that way, preferred it actually, but the times you did talk they were always pleasant. Save for that warning. He knew something you didn’t, the both of them. You acquired this book without any of their knowledge. For years you just went with it, there’s a quota for death, there’s a reason why you can’t die, there’s a reason why you should avoid stepping near the Seraph, but now in this new universe, you had to know. There was something calling out to you in this dimension, it was very faint, and you didn’t truly notice it until you walked into the Sanctum.

You put the book away, sliding it under the bed.

Trust is mutual, if two very powerful beings are telling you to stay in your lane you probably should. You knew the bare minimum of your condition, so to say, you knew what you had to. Die too many times too close together and something else will come and reclaim its host, and all you knew about that entity was that it was some eldritch creature that took a millennia to finally contain, and for some reason, it had some affinity for you. That is where your knowledge stopped and your curiosity began. What could be so powerful that even the all-powerful Demon King wanted to keep it contained, and what did it have to do with you? Your answers were under your bed. But you risked too much by simply opening the book on its own. You hit your head lightly on the wall behind you. The liquid in the vial would extend your quota by at most three, you had to use them carefully. If you were going to attract a horrific monster, it would probably be best to not do it in a world that you didn’t belong to.

There was a knock at your door.

“What do you want, Renjun?”

The door opened slowly, and someone else stood at it.

“Is now a bad time?” Stark asks. You shook your head.

“It’s your building, come in,” you sighed. He walked in at your invitation, sitting at the table to the side.

“So this is what S.H.I.E.L.D. meant by living accommodations,” he laughs.

“What did you need, Mr. Stark?”

“Tony’s fine, thanks,” he says. “Sorry, it was eating away at me, I had to ask.”

“You wanna know about what you’re like in my dimension, right?”

“I’d appreciate it, but, something tells me I should come back later.”

“Oh, no, no, it’s fine.”

“Where are your friends?”

“Probably getting their asses kicked, but I’m here instead,” you shrugged. “Honestly, you’re not that different. Maybe a little less depressed, but that’s about it. For what it counts, to our knowledge, you aren’t a Follower. You work closely with the Seraph, if they found out then you would’ve been executed on spot, at the very least.”

“Oh yeah? Crazy leader or rational one?”

“Bit of both,” you leaned forward on your bed, kicking the book further under your bed. “Want to know anything else?”

“I was wondering if you could walk me through your Traveler of yours, is it anything like Time Travel?”

“Let’s call it two sides of the same coin.”

“How so? What do you use? Cosmic strings? Möbius strip?”

“Have you heard of the infinite cylinder theory?”

“Also known as Tipler?

“Yes!”

“Then yes, I’m aware.”

“How about Schrödinger’s Equation?”

“We’re talking hamiltonian operators?”

“Bingo. If you can manipulate those two concepts, you can get time travel, but it’s not perfect. So manipulate them differently, add a few more concepts because you have to take relativity into account, and bam. Dimensional Travel.”

“That easy?”

“Yeah, well, no, but in theory sure.”

“And you never went to high school?”

“What’s that got to do with it? If you need a degree to prove you’re right then you’re probably not the sharpest tool in the shed,” you shrug. Tony opened his mouth to retaliate, but couldn’t think of a good comeback to that. “Something tells me you want to ask me something more specific though, Peter let slip that he’s been sending you updates, so I’m sure you’re here for a different reason.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why help us?”

“Don’t really know how to answer that one, Tony,” you placed your ankle on your opposite knee and rolled out your ankle. “Usually we just take whichever job pays the most, but Changmin asked us personally to take this one, so how could we say no? The guy rarely ever asks us favors, and it was the least we could do.”

“That simple?”

“What? Did you want me to say that we wanted to meet you guys? I mean, it’s certainly a plus. Most of your team happen to be carbon copies of the same one who wants to kill us, so there’s that, we’re observing the ways you act, maybe it’ll help us in the future, maybe not. It’s like a two-way deal, you get your Traveler, and we get data.”

“Data,” Tony scoffs. “I can see why you’d come to that conclusion.”

“What can I say? It’s helpful. But, I can definitely say that we might be relieved of our duties soon, we’re technically here illegally, I’ll have you know,” you said to him. “We’re supposed to get official approval from the Secretary of Travel before jumping dimensions, but we’re not exactly law followers so we never did. But now that an official government team is on their way, hoo boy, my greatest rival is yet to come. Paperwork,” you made light of what would otherwise be a very very bad situation.

“I heard, so we get to meet the other Avengers.”

“Yup. And, let me tell you right now, they’re not the nicest people.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, just you wait until I tell you about them.”

~

The shadow amalgamate shattered into what it once was, scurrying back to their original positions, once Chenle had the wind knocked out of him by Lynx. He landed harshly on Jaemin, who then lost his balance and sent the two tumbling down to the first floor of the Sanctum.

“Sorry,” Chenle rolled off the top of Jaemin.

“It’s fine, call it even for the incident with the banshee.”

“Agreed, ugh, my head’s doing cartwheels…”

“Cartwheels? I feel like mine is being churned,” Jaemin holds his head. Chenle and Jaemin lay next to each other for a moment, trying to stop their spinning heads when someone stood over them.

“Are we bothering you, gentlemen?”

“Ugh, these fuckers are here,” Jaemin covered his eyes with his arms. “Tell me when they’re gone, Apollo.”

“That’s kind of mean,” Mark frowns. Jaemin moves his hand.

“Mark’s not a bad person, actually, Tony. I feel bad because I encouraged him to join the Avengers when they asked, but the other guys saw it as a complete betrayal. But he’s loyal, he doesn’t hate us and we don’t hate him, or at least I don’t.”

“Oh look! The traitor!” He lazily points at him. “Do you know how much shit we’ve been through since you left?”

“All the dishes we’ve had to wash?”

“V won’t even let us take your room because she thinks you’re coming back! You dumb traitor, what happened to our friendship bracelets, Mark?! Huh?!”

“You guys, don’t call me that, come on! Look I’m still wearing it!” Mark whines.

“Go away! You left us for your cooler friends who can legally blow things up, go! Go have fun with them!” Chenle points an accusing finger towards the speedster.

“Just leave them there,” Mark whispers.

“We’re looking for Strange,” a deeper voice says.

“Oh my god, is that Wong Yukhei?” Jaemin asks, his blurred vision not helping him at all. “You know, Vendetta has a cardboard cutout of you, I think she talks to it sometimes,” he laughs, his words slightly slurred as a result of the head damage received when he fell on the hard floors in the first place.

“Flattered,” Yukhei responds.

“Wong Yukhei, decorated soldier from the order of war and the first in the super-soldier experiments. Actually not a bad guy, but feels the need to flex his bravado every now and then because of the team he’s on, and honestly, I kind of relate to that.”

“The hatless wizard is somewhere upstairs,” Chenle points up and lets his arm drop to his side. “We’d help, but you guys look like one big ugly walrus right now.” Jaemin starts cracking up and the two high five.

“Do we have to work with them?” Another voice snapped.

“Li Yongqin, Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul, Lee Youngheum, he has too many names to remember so people usually just call him Ten. He was a perfect student in the military academies, which I’m guessing where his nickname comes from. But he’s pretty impatient, rather ill-tempered from my experience."

“We don’t have a choice,” a more suave on this time.

“Ooh, Lee Taemin. He's an interesting one, Tony. We’re actually pretty close, or used to be at least. He’s very good at what he does, he has years of experience under his belt, but it’s pretty scary. He’s probably done his research by now, be careful, he knows you better than you know yourself. Don’t argue.”

“Gentlemen, let’s end this, we have clearance from the Seraph to exterminate the Followers,” a more powerful one.

“Oh, oh, Lee Taeyong! He’s great. I’ve seen him work a couple of times, I think he’s shot me in the head before. Don’t ask. I have a great deal of respect for him, but he’s kind of anti-social, not easy to get along with him, but I think it’s all miscommunication in the end. I think if we really got to know each other we’d hit it off, but otherwise, I think I’m just a person with a bounty on her head in his eyes.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Jaemin pushed himself up, his eyes finally focusing. “Exterminate? Yeah, you guys do that, but let the Maverick leave first, we don’t want to get caught up in your deathmatch again,” Jaemin hits the side of his head a few times.

“Where’s the Vendetta?”

“Not here! She left because Reaper was being a little bitch!” Jaemin laughs again and Chenle joins him.

“We’re wasting our time here with these idiots,” another person says. Chenle squints his eyes to make out the figure.

“Now there’s Kim Jongin, he’s one of the people who started the Avengers project and got them all together. He’s an indispensable member, in my opinion. But when you’re in a team with that many star-studded members who are constantly in the public eye, it’s easy to get lost in the lights. But he knows how to keep things according to itinerary.”

“Who are you again?” He asks. “I thought the Avengers only had six members,” he stifles back a laugh.

“Dude that’s low!” Jaemin cackles. Mark swallows down a laugh when Taemin looks over at him, both of them trying to be respectful to their teammate.

“I know that’s why I said it!” Chenle hits his teammate’s arm and Jaemin winces, but the two continue in their little circus.

“Forget them, let’s just go,” Jongin. The team ascends the steps.

“Enter, the Avengers,” Baekhyun smiles.

“And finally there’s their leader. Byun Baekhyun— yes, he’s my older brother, no we don’t talk, and I don’t think he even knows I’m alive. He’s similar to you in some aspects, he pays for all of their shit. But he’s manipulative. He knows how to get into your head. Be careful with him.”

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[mistymark]

VIGILANTE/S III

part three // 2.4k words // superpowered!au // series masterlist

summary; in which you consider yourself somewhat of a vigilante.

warnings; mentions of blood, depiction of some violence

notes; I can't write fight scenes for shit but I hope this makes some sense x

You’ve only had about 5 hours of sleep, but Doyoung’s voice in your head is enough to get you moving in the morning. Other than the repeated “wake up” and shouts of your name, you swear you can hear him laughing. It’s not something you expected to hear, but the sound is comforting.

You slide a simple long-sleeve shirt over your head and a pair of Donghyuck’s sweatpants up your legs, tightening the drawstrings as tight as you can and trying not to think about the fact that you are wearing a dead man’s clothes. When you walk down the corridor to the main part of the warehouse, you feel a power you hadn’t before and you realise just how thick the walls between the bedrooms are when you’re overwhelmed by the power coming from a few doors down. The familiar dull ache of power you felt around Supers had been dimmed within your room, reducing the amount of power you could feel when you were inside.

You want to pry, to see what it is, but you ignore the surge of power that beckons you and continue on your journey to find breakfast.

Jaehyun is back in his office, back from his late-night trip, and his eyes meet yours through the transparent glass of his office as he listens to Johnny.

A few of the other team members are already awake, sitting at an absurdly long table and eating their breakfasts. The sight of these dangerous killers eating their chocolate-flavoured cereal almost makes you laugh.

“You’re new,” one of them says, as if it weren’t obvious. You’d seen him last night.

“Yeah.”

“So, what? You’re a part of the team now?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“I’m Jaemin.”

“I’m-”

Your gaze is lifted to Johnny, who had just exited Jaehyun’s office, and your mouth drops open. He’s holding a gun, aiming it straight at Jaemin, who hasn’t even turned around in his seat yet. Before you can warn him, Johnny shoots and you expect the boy beside you to – well – die, but instead, he vanishes. The bullet flies past you, missing your arm by a few inches. You look from where he’d just been sitting to Johnny in shock, only to see Jaemin standing in front of him, the gun Johnny had been holding now pointing directly at him in a menacing way. Super speed.

“Very nice,” Johnny nods, approvingly. “You’re getting faster.” He raises a hand, and a stopwatch dangles from his fingers. Jaemin gently takes the stopwatch from Johnny’s hand and tosses him the gun, smiling at the time displayed across the tiny screen. You hadn’t expected someone so dangerous to have such an innocent smile.

If you were being honest, you had yet to recover from the shock. Madmen. All of them.

Trying to hide the fact you’re still attempting to catch your breath, you look to the boy emerging from the dark hall, his hair a mess and deep bags under his eyes. “Morning,” he greets, though he barely looks towards the table as he walks through the room to Jaehyun’s office. As soon as he steps inside, the walls darken to their opaque grey, and you’re forced to look away.

“Training begins in an hour,” Johnny nods at the two other boys who have just stepped into the room as he makes his way down the corridor.

“Do you know how to fight?”

You turn to the person asking. You’d seen him last night, too. His black hair falls over his eyes, but you can still tell his eyes could probably turn people to stone. Yet the feature that catches your eye is his hands, bruised and bloody even in the morning.

He cracks a sadistic smile when he notices you staring at his hands, “You won’t be fighting me, don’t worry.”

You offer him a polite smile back, opting to answer his question, “No, I don’t know how to fight.”

He shrugs, turning back to his bowl of cereal, “Johnny’s a good trainer. You’ll catch up.” He pauses a moment, then frowns, “Who are you?” He looks at you from the corner of his eye as he spoons a mouthful of cereal into his mouth.

“Y/n.”

“Jeno.” He says the name like he has no attachment to it, and you wonder if he’s lying. Part of you wonders if you should have lied about your name, too.

“Good morning,” one of the newcomers sits across from you. His tone neither implies that it is a good morning nor it is otherwise – monotonous. The other doesn’t even spare you a glance as he sits down at the end of the table. Jaemin sits down again, dropping into the seat between yourself and Jeno. They begin talking about training, and you try to pick up as many clues about them as possible.

“Is Doyoung training with us?” Jaemin asks, and you subconsciously look at him. Ever since he’d blocked you from using his power, you couldn’t feel his presence anymore, the surge of power that came from him. You were no longer able to tell when he was around.

“Jaehyun has him running an errand.” The way Jeno says it makes you think Doyoung’s not picking up the dry cleaning or going grocery shopping.

“Who?”

“I don’t know, he didn’t say. Someone from the Den.” Definitely not grocery shopping.

One by one the boys leave, Chenle – Jaemin referred to him as such – departs without uttering a word, though he’d been silent during breakfast, anyway, so you weren’t expecting anything. The boy who had greeted you, Mark, at least had the decency to nod as he left, even if it was somewhat awkward.

Jeno and Jaemin leave together, and you can hear Jaemin laughing loudly down the corridor, though Jeno remains quiet. When you’re sat alone at the table, playing with the leftover food on your plate, Jaehyun emerges from his office. The walls are still dark, and you wonder if the other Super is still in there.

He’s dressed in another pressed suit, though this one is a dark blue. The colour looks good on him. He sits across from you, but he doesn’t make any move to eat. You knew he’d been out later than you last night, and had less sleep than you, yet it was impossible to tell. He didn’t look the least bit tired.

“Good morning,” he says, stiffly, and part of you wonder if he’s uncomfortable.

“Morning,” you respond, though it sounds more like a question.

He clears his throat, “I’m sorry I won’t be able to oversee your training today.” The way he speaks makes you remember what you’d seen in his mind last night – his upbringing. You try not to think about it, feeling invasive.

You raise an eyebrow, “Do you normally oversee training?”

“When we get a new recruit, yes. I like to see what I’m working with.”

You shovel another forkful of food into your mouth, “You know what I can do.”

“Escapism and combat are two different things.”

You pause as you chew. Pointing your fork at him, you shake your head, “You don’t think I could have taken you down last night?”

“You were weak and desperate. Definitely not.”

You’re taken aback by his words. He’s clearly not one for sugar coating.

“Don’t tell the rest of the team what your ability is.”

“What?”

“Let them find out for themselves. You’re weaker, slower and less experienced. You need the advantage.”

You stand up, taking your plate to the sink you’d seen the others put their dishes in. “I’ll be fine on my own, thank you.” You leave him sitting at the table, making your way back to the room you’d been shown to last night.

Somehow, you’d gotten used to the bloody sight, and changed into training clothes without a thought. Jaehyun’s words rolled around in your head as you prepared for training.

“Welcome to training,” Johnny claps his hands together. He’s standing in the large ring in the centre of the warehouse while you and the others stand outside. It’s bigger than most fighting rings, but it’s the standard size for Super fights. It looks exactly like the one in the Den, and the thought almost makes you shudder. “Jeno, you’re up.”

Jeno steps up into the ring, and you watch as they back away from each other, and Johnny presses a button on the outside of one of the posts. A large analogue clock blinks to life on the wall opposite you, its bright red letters beginning to count the seconds that pass. Jeno begins to circle around the ring dangerously.

“10 on Jeno,” Jaemin whispers. When you look to him in shock, he smiles, though he doesn’t look back at you. His eyes are trained on the dangerous dance in the ring.

When you don’t say anything, he glances down at you quickly, “You don’t think Johnny can win?”

You watch them for a moment, and you can feel their power. Super strength versus precognition. Jeno has a physical advantage, but Johnny has his own advantage.

“I don’t know,” you answer truthfully. Just as those words leave your mouth, Jeno lunges at Johnny and suddenly the ring is a blur of punches and dodges.

“Word to the wise,” Jaemin begins, as he watches his friend in the ring. Jeno’s strong but Johnny’s fast, easily dodging the onslaught of punches coming from the fighter. Just as Jeno goes to punch Johnny in the face, a punch that would knock him out for hours, most likely, Johnny swiftly dodges, grabs and slams Jeno’s body down against the floor. “Johnny always wins.”

You stare in silence as Jeno lets his head rest against the floor in defeat, his chest heaving with the exertion.

“Johnny can see what you’re going to do the second you think about it. It’s not so much fighting to win as it is fighting for your own survival.”

Jeno slides out of the ring with a huff, the hair hanging over his forehead sweaty. Shaking it out of his face, he disappears down the corridor, and you hear the distinct noise of someone punching something and an unexpected metallic sound.

“Is that it? Is he done?” You watch him disappear before looking to Jaemin in surprise.

“Nah, he’s training by himself. He’s trying to increase his strength.” Jaemin laughs when you raise your eyebrows. His gaze shifts to Johnny, who is cooling down after the fight while writing something in a notebook at the edge of the ring. “Johnny knows he can fight, he rarely trains with us.”

“Y/n, your turn.”

You look at Jaemin and he offers a smile, though it looks more like a cringe. He can’t hide the concern on his face, and you begin to realise that he’s the only one here who can’t hide his emotions like the rest. Chenle and Mark watch as you step into the ring, and you can feel their eyes on you, though they offer no support. At least Jaemin had the decency to look worried.

Johnny’s taken off his shirt, and you gulp at the sight of the scars and bruises that decorate his body. He’s a fighter through and through, and he’s intimidatingly large. He hunkers down, moving lightly on his toes as he watches you. You’ve never had any official training, but you’ve had your fair share of fistfights. Granted, they barely lasted ten seconds, and Jeno had spent minutes in here. Matching Johnny’s pose, you step sideways around the ring.

He watches you, analysing your movement. He doesn’t make a move towards you. He’s playing defence, not offense. He won’t move unless you do.

You step forward and swing, and he easily blocks it, and before you know it, you’re on the floor.

“Up. Again.” He turns around, waiting for you to stand and wipes his forehead once before returning to his original position.

Over and over again, every time you try and attack him, he easily deflects and overpowers you. The screen on the wall continues to count upwards. Johnny can see what you’re going to do the second you think about it.Jaemin’s words echo in your mind as you stand up for the tenth time. Your body aches in places you didn’t even know existed, and you can taste blood in your mouth. You ready yourself once again.

The only way you’re going to beat him is if you don’t think, you realise. Then, another thought crosses your mind. You move around the ring, light on your feet. Johnny mirrors your movements, and it looks like some kind of sick dance.

You think about punching him. Landing it, this time. As you move forward, Johnny moves to defend himself, ready for the punch he’s already seen coming. Yet, your fist doesn’t even come close to his body. You draw on Jaemin’s power to dart behind Johnny. The familiar sensation of power runs through your body as you draw on the boys’ abilities. The ball of fire you conjure leaves your hand and hits him square in the back. With a yell, he drops to the floor. The clock above you stops timing, and flashes brightly. Your turn is over.

The fire diminishes within a second, leaving no trace of smoke. The skin of Johnny’s back is red, but he isn’t burnt. Outside the ring, Chenle’s hands are raised, his eyes wide. He’d tried to remove the heat from the flames as soon as he’d seen the fireball.

It takes Johnny a moment to collect himself as he stands, but he doesn’t look at you, “Y/n. Out. Mark.” He cocks his head to something behind him, and Mark steps into ring. When you turn to exit, there’s fire in Chenle’s eyes as he stares at you.

You don’t know what to do when you leave, so you just stand beside Jaemin again. He’s speechless, staring at you with his mouth open. You notice Johnny nod at Chenle in thanks, before he starts the timer again, facing Mark.

Jaemin somehow finds his voice, “What the fuck was that?”

“I suck at hand-to-hand combat,” you respond, though your voice is shaky.

“So you decide to roast your trainer?”

“That’s not how you do things here?” Your attempt at humour lands successfully, and your uneasiness is settled when he cracks a smile, though it’s only a small one.

[glittermork]

Modern Royalty AU pt. 2

part 1  part 3

Summary: Jaemin is just trying to do his fucking job.

(Alternatively: Jaemin accidentally convinces his soulmates that he’s hooking up with the crown prince. It gets worse from there.)

“You know,” Jaemin sighs, staring at the couple attached at the, uh, lip, with disgust and a little bit of unfortunate longing. “You could at least try to be subtle.”

Renjun, utilizing what is perhaps the last of his common decency, climbs off his seat of Jeno’s lap, and offers Jaemin a sheepish grin. “Sorry, Nana,” (oof, nickname, way to stab him where it hurts), “we shouldn’t have gotten so carried away it’s just—“ “Making up for lost time, you know?” Jeno finishes for him, and Renjun blushes, tugging the prince down into another kiss.

Jaemin takes that as his cue to get out of the back and slide into shotgun next to a sympathetic Johnny. He glances back, prepared for their confusion, but they’re already kissing again, so he sighs, and rolls up the partition.

“Cute,” Johnny, Jeno’s chauffeur, remarks, as they listen to some ancient SNSD album Jaemin found in the glove compartment. They’ve been sitting in the bullet proof limo for about ten minutes now, waiting for the prince and his advisor to stop. . . .canoodling. . . . before they step out onto the red carpet. Jaemin wonders idly if this is what the rest of his life is going to look like: sharing a stale bag of watermelon sour patch with Johnny the chauffeur while they wait for Jeno and Renjun to stop kissing long enough to attend some charity banquet or another.

“That’s one word for it,” he remarks, and Johnny snorts.

They sit through several more Girls Generation classics, before the chauffeur decides to break the silence. “So,” Johnny continues in a way that Jaemin suspects was supposed to be subtle. “How long have you been in love with them?”

Jaemin wants to be shocked, but at this point the entire palace knows he’s pining after Jeno and Renjun. There’s no use trying to hide it. “Honestly?” He says, toying with the tube of lip gloss he keeps in the pocket of his hoodie. “I have no fucking clue.”

Johnny accepts his half-assed answer with a nod, and hands him the last two gummies. Outside, Renjun and Jeno giggle as they attempt to smooth each other’s suits. Jaemin would roll his eyes if it didn’t hurt so bad.

Jeno knocks on the window, and sticks his head all up in Jaemin’s face when he rolls it down. “You coming, Nana?”

“Of course you lovebirds,” he replies, ducking out of the limo as he pats himself down for all his weapons. “You know I’d never let you go without me.” He would smile if he wasn’t holding back tears.

—

“You know,” Taeyong sighs, looking up from the totally-official royal document he’s been pretending to read for the last twenty minutes. “That little pep talk last month wasn’t an open invitation for you to invade my rooms every time my brother and his boyfriend shoot heart-eyes at each other in your presence.”

"Lies!" Jaemin yells back from where he's been laying therapy-style on the couch in Taeyong's office with a kitten mewling on his chest. "You like me. Admit it! You—dare I say it? You enjoy my presence.”

The crown prince rolls his eyes, and gives up on his paperwork, fixing an unimpressed glare in Jaemin’s general direction. He does kind of have a soft spot for the bodyguard. “I’m having so much fun in your presence that I’m gonna have to ask you to leave,” he replies, taking a sip of the Starbucks Jaemin had brought him as a peace offering. “How did you know my order?”

Jaemin finally sits up and turns, just to roll his eyes at Taeyong. “I googled it.”

“He’s lying,” Mark mutters, walking in angrily with Yukhei trailing behind him pathetically. “He called me in a panic when he was next in line and realized that he forgot to ask what you normally get.

Taeyong ignores this in order to frown at Yukhei. “The fuck are you doing here?” He asks, and Yukhei pouts.

“Your highness, please tell your bodyguard that he’s being an unreasonable bi—“ “I wouldn’t finish that sentence, if I were you,” Jaemin interrupts, finally looking interested.

Mark uses his grown up stare on Yukhei and takes a threatening step forward. Yukhei, on his part, has the sense to step back. “Baby?” He asks tentatively, holding his palms up non-threateningly. Jaemin really wishes he had popcorn to watch this kdrama unfold.

“Don’t ‘baby’ me!” Mark explodes, “you made a promise and you forgot! We all make sacrifices for this relationship, Yukhei, and you’re not doing the same!”

And then, Taeyong’s fearless, selfless, tough-as-nails bodyguard bursts into tears. The minute Mark starts crying, Yukhei loses all the resolve in the world. He slumps forward immediately, cradling his much-smaller boyfriend in the gentlest of hugs. Now Jaemin just wants to look away from the sickeningly-sweet display. (He came here for a soap-opera, not a fucking hallmark movie.) Taeyong seems to have the same idea because when Jaemin nods his head at the door, the prince follows suit, practically dragging Jaemin by the hand as they escape.

And run straight into Jeno and Renjun.

—

“You know,” Hyuck sighs disdainfully, “You could probably do your job a lot better if you were, like, actually guarding the prince, and not eating your feelings on my sterilized counters.”

“Jeno’s at a meeting that I don’t have the security clearance to attend,” Jaemin shrugs, shoveling another handful of dry cereal into his mouth.

“And the other one?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“So I’ve heard.”

They sit (or in Jaemin’s case, lay) in silence for a moment longer, before Jaemin finally breaks. “Hyuck?”

“Mmm.”

“How in the fucking world do these things happen to me?”

“You mean the falling in love with two people thing, or the accidentally convincing them you’re dating Taeyong thing?”

“Both.”

“Ah, well, you have a knack for the wrong timing, Nana,” he says, patting the younger on the head. “For the record,” he says, “I think you still have a chance.” Jaemin closes his eyes. Maybe when he opens them it’ll be fourteen months ago when he’d taken a job as the younger prince’s personal bodyguard. Maybe he’ll do his fucking job and nothing more. Maybe he’ll keep a professional distance. Maybe he’ll wake up and find that this was all just a dream.

He opens his eyes to Hyuck staring sadly at his threadbare sweatshirt covered in bleach stains and other mysterious blotches.

“I’m gonna ignore the kitten that’s crawling out of your pocket. Lockup when you’re done, and try and get some rest, okay, kiddo?”

“Got somewhere to be?”

“It’s date night,” Hyuck smiles softly, and hangs up his apron.

“Glad to see Mark and Yukhei got over their fight from earlier, say hi to them for me!”

“Text your own boyfriends, baby,” Hyuck calls behind him, as the door swings shut.

Jaemin cries alone in the kitchens for ten more minutes, and calls it a night.

—

“You know,” Jeno sighs, “if you were—uncomfortable—with us,” he holds up his and Renjun’s clasped hands as if to explain what he meant by ‘us’. Jaemin needs a drink. Possibly a vacation. “You could have just said something.”

Jaemin stares at them blankly, but Renjun pushes forward.

“And you could’ve told us you and Taeyong were a thing! You know we would never judge you, I mean, of course, I have my worries—he better not being taking advantage of you just because you’re younger—not that Taeyong would do that—or that I don’t think you can take care of yourself—it’s just that you’re very closely involved, work-wise—but I know you two can separate professional and personal life, and—“

“Babe—baby, slow down,” Jeno caresses Renjun’s arm lightly and Jaemin has to turn away or else they’ll see him on the verge of tears. “You’re rambling,” Jeno reminds him gently, and oh, Jaemin would die for the blush creeping slowly up Renjun’s neck.

“The point is, Nana,” Renjun finishes, “we just wish you had told us yourself so we wouldn’t have had to find out like. . . .that.”

“And make sure you’re careful when you’re sneaking around,” Jeno offers, with a teasing grin.

Jaemin thinks, maybe, this is going to kill him.

—

“You know,” Jaehyun, Taeyong’s secret boyfriend, sighs, “I know you’ve been through a lot with your, uh, past, and the whole falling in love with two people and accidentally convincing them that you’re hooking up with my boyfriend thing, but do you really have to hang around here all the time?”

“Hey!” Taeyong flicks Jaehyun’s obnoxious ear with a strict glare. “Be nice! Jaemin is cute and sad and as his pseudo-parents, we have to let him mope around us. Plus he didn’t out us even though it made his whole situation even worse, so, we owe him a lot.”

“Thanks, Taeyong,” Jaemin grumbles. “Sorry I’ve probably been intruding way too much, it’s just. Hard. To be around them. You know?”

“Oh honey,” Taeyong sighs, and gathers the younger boy into his arms. “you’ve got it bad.”

“Yeah, kid,” Jaehyun grimaces, patting Jaemin awkwardly on the back. “That’s pretty rough.”

“I’m 23, I’m not a kid,’ Jaemin protests, even though they all know he’s ruining yet another of Taeyong’s fancy suits with his tears.

“Definitely still a kid,” Jaehyun replies without hesitation, and Jaemin sighs, sinking even further into Taeyong’s warm embrace. He hates his fucking life.

“Come on, baby,” Taeyong, releases him gently, and Jaemin dries his tears with the dumb, pastel pocket square Taeyong thinks makes him look more mature. “We’ll steal you some ice cream from Hyuckie.”

“I can do you one better,” Jaehyun laughs, and they turn to him in surprise. In his left hand, Taeyong’s annoying, delinquent boyfriend holds the keys to Johnny’s favorite van.

“Oh, you are so dead,” Jaemin laughs. But he follows them out the door all the same.

—

“You know,” Jaemin sighs, licking up the side of his ice cream cone. He’s currently sitting criss-cross applesauce in a sickly-pink Baskin-Robbins booth watching Jaehyun trying to feed Taeyong ice cream and the elder dodging each attempt. “I haven’t been to a Baskin-Robbins since I was eight?”

Jaehyun and Taeyong pause their weird foreplay to give him matching expressions of confusion, and Jaemin snorts involuntarily. “Chill,” he laughs, nibbling off a piece of his cone. “It’s not that big of a deal.” He stops for a moment to scrutinize the melted cream dripping down his hand, and sighs. “I was eight and my mom took me out to ice cream to explain that my dad was going on a trip for the rest of our lives.”

“Oh, baby,” Taeyong says, and squeezes Jaemin’s hand across the table. “I’m so sorry.”

Jaemin offers him a watery smile in return, and shrugs. “It’s okay, we were so much better off without him. But I didn’t realize until we parked right in front of here that I haven’t set foot in one since fucking—2008? Jesus.”

They sit in comfortable silence for about ten minutes, while Jaemin enjoys the rest of his cone and pointedly ignores the silent conversation Taeyong and Jaehyun are having. When Jaehyun finally decides to break the silence, Jaemin meets his gaze expectantly. “Well?” He says calmly, setting down his napkin. “Spit it out.”

“Why don’t you just date Jisung?”

Jaemin freezes, stolen-bite of Taeyong’s ice cream halfway to his mouth, and stares at them.

Jisung is. . . .something like Jaemin’s biggest almost. They were roommates at the academy, and applied for bodyguard jobs at the same time. They’re close, and it’s no secret that Jaemin spends half his time sleeping in the younger’s room, especially as of late, but. “It’s different,” he says finally, and shoves the melted spoonful in his mouth.

“How?” Jaehyun insists, and Jaemin wishes the ground would swallow him up whole.

“I’ve known Jisung since the first day of Academy,” he explains, “I think there’s a little too much history there for both of us.”

Taeyong frowns, biting his spoon. “What kind of history?” He asks suspiciously.

“Jisung has physically dragged me out of a bathtub, fully-clothed and twenty seconds away from overdosing,” he explains. “We’re too close to start anything again, I think.”

Smiling half-heartedly at their stunned silence he shrugs, and wipes his mouth. “It was a different time,” he offers, and taps the sticky table casually, with his cherry-red painted nails. Taeyong looks like he’s about to pass out.

Jaemin is contemplating just saying fuck it and buying himself another cone, when Taeyong’s phone rings, startling the three of them out of their little reverie. Jaemin silently thanks the gods. Jaehyun looks like someone pissed in his ice cream. Taeyong rolls his eyes, and digs through his backpack to get it. As he rummages through his cluttered bag, Jaemin’s eyes widen in realization.

“Taeyong,” he says slowly, as the phone stops ringing in Taeyong’s hand, just as the prince goes to accept the call. “Did you tell Mark we were leaving?”

—

“You know,” Johnny sighs, and Jaemin can already tell he’s gonna love this lecture, if Renjun and Jeno and half the palace staff watching behind the chauffeur are anything to go by. “You could’ve just asked me to drive you.” He looks like a six foot tall sad-puppy and it’s kind of fucking with Jaemin’s head.

“It was all me,” Jaehyun bravely (stupidly) volunteers, ever the ridiculous fucking martyr.

“And you are?” Mark replies, raising a single, terribly-intimidating eyebrow to show the three of them on the receiving end of this lecture who, exactly, is the boss right now. If he wasn’t about to get fired, Jaemin would find it amusing. Taeyong, unused to being in trouble because he’s definitely the spoiled golden-boy of this castle, if there ever was one, rolls his eyes, and grabs Jaehyun’s hand, holding them up for Johnny, Mark and the staff standing behind them that don’t seem to know how to mind their own business to see. “He’s my boyfriend, you dummies,” he glares, kissing a nervous Jaehyun on the cheek.

Jaemin ignores Jeno and Renjun’s matching gasps of horror, and starts explaining. “I threw a tantrum at Taeyong earlier so Jaehyun offered to drive us to Baskin-Robbins so I could eat my feelings. We forgot to tell Mark. Sorry about that.”

Mark blinks at Jaemin’s blunt honestly, and all the tension leaves his shoulders at once, like it was sucked out of him. “It’s okay, dude,” he sighs, enveloping Jaemin in an awkward hug. “I was just worried.”

Jaehyun interrupts their tender bro-moment with a mocking coo of affection, and Mark breaks the hug to glare at the amused couple. “And you! The fuck were you thinking, stealing a van? You’re lucky I don’t feel like revoking your gate access codes!” He grumbles, dragging them away to an inevitably long scolding. Jaemin watches them leave somewhat fondly, and the remaining staff take their departure as a cue to stop spying on all the drama. Suddenly, he’s left standing with Renjun and Jeno staring at him with matching expressions of hurt and confusion. Jaemin takes a deep breath, kicks his scuffed, platform vans old skools on the impossibly shiny marble floors, and walks away.

—

“You know,” Taeyong sighs, “we can always tell when you’re listening to your Sad Gay playlist.”

Jaemin frowns and tugs an earphone our of one ear. “Stop stalking my Spotify, that’s creepy. Don’t you have anything better to do than watch me mope? Like, I don’t know, run a kingdom?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be making sure my brother doesn’t die?”

“Touché,” Jaemin sighs, and checks his phone for the time. “Oh shit. I’m supposed to be accompanying him and Renjun to the annual spring donors ball tonight. Fuck!” He shrieks, scrambling out of Taeyong’s bed.

“Isn’t that in like two hours?” Jaehyun asks, when Jaemin shoves past him out the door.

—

If there’s one thing Jaemin can’t stand, it’s black-tie events. (And his father, but that’s a whole other can of worms.) His idea of fun has never been three constricting layers of a freshly-pressed Burberry tux, but this is his life now, apparently. Jaemin stands in the mirror, staring at his perfectly-styled hair, and thinks maybe, walking around in a penguin suit for the next five hours just might be worth it.

Because nothing compares to Jeno and Renjun walking toward him hand-in-hand, their own perfectly-tailored suits doing a number on Jaemin’s mental health. Nothing compares to the loves of his life standing in front of him with nervous smiles and shiny, insoled dress shoes doing nothing to affect their height difference with him.

Jaemin hates suits. But he’d do anything to ensure that it will always be him escorting he prince and his advisor on either arm to the bulletproof limo. Briefly, quietly, he lets himself wonder what it would be like, to stand with Jeno and Renjun instead of in front of them, as they stroll down the red carpet. He contemplates smiling at the blur of cameras, sipping bubbly with them before pulling them onto the dance floor. He looks down. At the way they both hook their hands comfortably around his offered elbows. And allows himself to smile. He’ll take what he can get.

—

No matter how many of these swanky, idiotic events Jaemin is forced to attend because it’s his fucking job, he will never get over the feeling of unrest that washes over him as soon as they step out onto the red carpet. There’s too many people. Too many distracting, flashing cameras. There’s too many factors and Jaemin hates not being in complete control of the situation. He may be a sad, lovesick little bitch, but he’s still a bodyguard and his number one priority with always be Jeno and and Renjun’s safety.

Theoretically, being the safest Kingdom of all time due to the sheer mass every other existing monarchy has on their tiny country, there shouldn’t be any danger at this event. Or any of them, really. Which is nice and all, but Jaemin has anxiety and an unhealthy level of suspicion for anyone he’s never met before, so he treats this ball like all the others, and keeps Jeno and Renjun as close and covered as possible. No one else looks worried, which isn’t unusual, because he’s kind of ridiculously overprotective, even for a bodyguard. But Jaemin has training. And a Kevlar vest underneath his six thousand dollar suit. So when he hears the familiar bang of gunshots, there’s only one option for him.

(He jumps.)

[serendipitykpop]

nerf war

Pairing: nct dream x reader

Summary: “Those were literally the most dramatic deaths I’ve ever seen.”

doing stuff with the dreamies masterpost

“I have declared war!”

“I’m busy, go away.”

“I don’t think so,” Chenle sings, resting his chin on my shoulder from behind. I shrug him off.

“If I say I declared war, war shall happen,” Haechan says, poking my side. I turn to him and glare.

“Well you see, I’m in the middle of doing something important.”

“Taking a quiz on whether or not you’ll marry your favorite idol doesn’t seem like an important thing,” Jisung comments, sitting across from me at the table. I growl.

“If you looked at the screen, I’m buying a gift for someone not doing some quiz like that,” I huff before mumbling to myself. “Besides, I did that earlier.”

“Is that someone me?” Jaemin asks, grinning.

“No,” I say, shoving his face away. He pouts, putting his chin on top of his folded hands.

“Are you saying I bought these nerf guns for nothing?” Haechan asks, pulling eight of them from behind the couch. My eyes widen, wondering when he put them there.

“Didn’t Johnny buy those for-” Renjun begins before being cut off by Haechan’s hand. He smiles innocently and shakes his head.

“What he doesn’t know won’t kill him.”

“If I must, I’ll play since it looks like I won’t get anything done,” I say and stand up. Haechan’s eyes sparkle as he starts preparing the nerf guns. “Are you boys joining?”

“I guess so,” Renjun shrugs and chuckles.

“You’re going down!” Chenle exclaims.

“Let’s kick some butt!” Jisung grins.

“You better watch out,” Jeno smirks.

“This is gonna be fun!” Mark comments.

“I’m so winning,” Jaemin nods and crosses his arms.

“So you, Renjun, Chenle and I are on a team. Mark, Jeno, Jaemin and Jisung on the other team.”

“How much planning did you put into this?”

“I wanted to play since last week, but we didn’t have the guns.”

I chuckle and ruffle his hair. “You need to do something else in your free time.”

“Should we get into position?” Haechan smirks.

“Wait, we’re playing in my house?”

“Where else?”

“Anywhere, but here?”

The boys stare blankly at me and I sigh.

“THIS IS WAR,” Chenle exclaims, firing the first shot and hitting Renjun.

“Hey! I’m your teammate!”

“NO ONE’S SAFE AROUND CHENLE THE GREAT.”

“Maybe this was a bad idea,” I mumble.

“You’re out, Renjun,” Mark hums.

“What? No! That doesn’t count!” He whines before walking to the stairs. He sits down on the step, sulking away.

“We haven’t started yet, come here.”

Renjun grins, running over to our team.

“FIND COVER, THEY’RE ATTACKING.”

We scurry around to find furniture to hide behind. We quickly move them around, trying to build a fort.

“Don’t make the walls so high! They’re going to fall over,” Renjun says while Chenle and Haechan are trying to stack the chairs. He turns to me and pouts. He points at them. “Talk some sense into them.”

I scoff. “They won’t listen to me.”

“I got this,” Haechan shushes us.

“See! Nobody ever listens to me.”

“Now you know how I feel!” Mark yells from the opposite side of the room.

“I feel your pain, Mark.”

“Get serious, it’s time to kick some Dreamies butt!” Chenle yells.

“But aren’t you Dreamies too?”

“Just have fun, you nerd.” Haechan pokes his tongue out at me. I huff.

“ATTACK!” The other side screeches, jumping out from their spots. Our eyes widen as we try to use our shield as best as we can.

“NO, WE’RE NO COWARDS. LET’S FIGHT!” Renjun exclaims, standing up to give his speech. We watch in admiration before a bullet bounces off his head. He pouts, making us snicker.

“RENJUN’S OUT!” Jeno yells and the other side erupts in celebration.

“I was giving a speech,” He pouts, walking to the stairs to sulk again.

“Let him back in.”

“This is war, you can’t revive soldiers!” Jaemin yells and Renjun sticks his tongue at the younger boy as he runs back to base.

“Now, we start for real!” Mark declares.

Bullets go flying everywhere as the sound of our yelling increases with every passing second.

“Mark, at the count of three, we shoot.”

“Haechan, we’re on opposite teams!”

Haechan immediately turns to us. “Chenle, Renjun, at the count of three, we shoot.”

“FIRE!” Renjun and Chenle stands up and yells, ignoring the fact that Haechan never gave his signal.

“YEAH!” Jisung exclaims.

“CHARGE!” Jeno yells as they move towards us while dodging our wild bullets. Swinging the cushions around, the bullets barely miss us.

Then, it happened.

Jeno was the first one to be hit.

Jaemin gasps, immediately running to his side. Jeno gasps for air, his hands trembling with his nonexistent blood.

“This is the moment where friendship is tested,” Renjun whispers as we watch in anticipation.

“NO, YOU CAN’T DIE ON ME!”

“But I must, I’ve been shot.”

“NO.”

“DON’T FORGET ME!” Jeno exclaims before his head goes limp. I facepalm and shake my head. Jaemin sniffles and wipes away fake tears.

“No man left behind!” Jaemin cries as he tries to drag Jeno’s body across the floor. Jisung climbs out from base and tries to help him. A bullet hits the wall beside them and their eyes widen.

Jisung giggles and runs off. “Bye!”

“JISUNG.”

“Leave me, Jaemin.”

“How are you still talking when you’re dead?” Jaemin asks, his head tilting to the side.

“JUST GO PROTECT YOURSELF, STOP WORRYING ABOUT MY BODY.”

“YOU’LL ALWAYS BE MY BEST FRIEND, LEE JENO.”

“Go!”

As Jaemin runs back to base, silence overwhelms us. We watch for any sign of movement on the opposing team, waiting for the right moment to attack.

“I spot the enemy, over,” Chenle says, imitating the sound of a walkie talkie when it cuts out.

“I see him too, over,” Renjun whispers, repeating what Chenle did.

“What are you doing? We’re literally three feet away from each other, not even.”

“Be quiet,” Haechan says and puts a hand on my mouth.

“We can hear you too, you know?” Mark says, making everyone laugh.

“Reload your guns, we’re about to ambush them,” Chenle commands and we do just that.

“Do the same thing,” Jisung shouts as they hurry to do the same. As both teams reload, we stand up and aim our nerf guns at each other.

“Put the gun down and no one gets hurt,” Mark says.

“Oh, but someone does.” Haechan smirks. “AND THAT SOMEONE WILL BE YOU.”

Chaos breaks loose as bullets go flying around the living room. Everyone yells at the person they’re trying to aim for.

“MAN DOWN!” Chenle exclaims, making Renjun and I whip around to look at the Haechan laying in his arms. Chenle cries and sniffles. Renjun covers for me as I rush to Haechan and hold his hand. He coughs a few times before throwing red ribbon from his side. He forms a pool of red ribbon near him.

“Wait what?”

“This is not the time for confusion! Haechan’s dying!” Chenle cries.

“No, I know. I’m just wondering where you even got the red ribbon,” I mumble, holding down on his fake wound.

“Come closer.”

“What is it?” I ask, bringing my ear closer to his mouth.

“I-I.”

“Yeah?”

“I hate Mark Lee.”

“That’s all you had to tell me?” I scoff, pulling away.

“REMEMBER THE NAME, LEE DONGHYUK!”

And then he dies.

“NO, I’VE BEEN HIT!” Mark gasps, clutching his shirt where his heart is. Renjun smiles in victory.

“WE’RE LOSING MEN!”

“Men,” I snicker.

“Let’s dominate them!” Jisung sniffles, wiping away fake tears. He charges in while Jaemin tries to tell him to stay back. “THIS ONE IS FOR JENO AND MARK.”

He was shot in the head with Chenle’s bullet. The boys snicker as Jisung takes his time to collapse to the ground before dying.

“Jaemin, you’re our last hope.”

“I’ll avenge you, Jisung! You too, Mark, Jeno!��

With good aim, Jaemin shoots Chenle in the chest. He lets out a loud yell, collapsing to his knees.

“I was too young and beautiful to die!”

“Maybe just young,” Renjun sighs, patting the younger boy’s shoulder. Chenle glares at Renjun before falling down beside Jisung, coming face to face with him. They giggle.

“It’s you and me versus Jaemin.”

“We got this, right?”

“I don’t know, do we?” He smirks, revealing the many bullets he somehow collected in his pockets.

“I’m so glad you’re on our team, Renjun.”

“Me too,” He grins. We load up our guns and Renjun jumps over our fort. He does a roll into kneeling, aiming his gun at Jaemin. I roll my eyes and walk to the other side of Jaemin’s fort, surrounding him.

“GO JAEMIN!” His teammates cheer, giggling.

“DON’T LET THE TEAM DOWN,” Jisung yells.

“You can do it!” Jeno cheers.

“I CAN AND WILL DO THIS!” Jaemin exclaims, jumping up from his spot and sending a bullet to Renjun. Renjun hurriedly aims his gun and shoots at Jaemin, but misses as he dodges it skillfully.

“NO!” Chenle cries as Renjun collapses to the ground.

“I can see the light,” He extends his hand upward and coughs.

“Get away from the light!”

Jaemin snickers. He rolls before standing up and aiming the gun at me. I quickly stand up as we’re put into a standoff.

“It looks like it’s just you and me.” Jaemin smirks.

“It seems so.” I cock my head and smirk.

“DON’T SCREW THIS UP,” Haechan yells, cupping his hands around his mouth.

“IF YOU DON’T WIN, I’M SPAMMING YOU FOR A WEEK!” Chenle exclaims.

“Wow, my teammates are so supportive,” I scoff and roll my eyes.

“I’m cheering you on!” Renjun mumbles and I send him a thankful smile.

“You know, you’ve always been my favorite?”

“DON’T GIVE INTO LIES.”

“I’m surprised you even made it this far, Jaemin.”

“Hey.” He pouts.

“I’m joking! I’m sorry!”

“JAEMIN, THIS IS THE OPPORTUNITY TO WIN!” Jisung shouts.

“DO IT NOW!” Haechan complains, wanting me to hurry and win.

“It looks like I’m going to win, Jaemin.”

“Says who?” He raises an eyebrow.

“Says me.” I smirk and pull the trigger.

It was too late. He was shot.

Jaemin places a hand on his chest where the bullet bounced off of. He drops to his knees and then lays on his back.

“Goodbye, cruel world. It was nice knowing you all,” He gasps before sticking his tongue out and closing his eyes.

“WE WIN!” The boys on my team cheer, running to me and engulfing me in a group hug. I laugh and grin, celebrating with my boys.

“VICTORY SCREECH!” Chenle shouts. The opposing team rush to the dead Jaemin, trying to bring him back to life.

“Come back to us, Jaemin!” Mark pouts.

“You can make it back!” Jeno shakes him back and forth while Jisung rubs his hands together.

“Clear!” Jisung yells before pressing them against Jaemin’s chest.

“I’m okay,” Jaemin says, pulling his members into a hug. They look over to us with big smiles. The Dreamies bring me along into their group hug.

“That was fun,” Jisung comments.

“We should do it again,” Renjun adds.

“I’m a genius with good ideas, huh?” Haechan asks with a proud smile.

“Those were literally the most dramatic deaths I’ve ever seen.”