#like dude. i went out of my way to do this and already spent a significant amount of money

[raticalshoez]

i'm having hyperfixation drought so i did what i did best and created a crossover episode

[kangaruined]

ranting abt my roommate in the tags dont look at me

[cyripticchronicler]

Healing

Pairing: Azriel x Reader

Summary: You had spent years in pain and agony, wanting nothing more than to go home to your mate. But now that you are home, you're unsure if he still loves you.

TW: Torture, wanting to die, potential SA, depression, crying, short mention of needles and blood.

A/N: This isn't my best work ngl but I was malaptive daydreaming about it this morning and figured I should make it into a fic! It's also my first Azriel/ACOTAR fanfic which is crazy! I love this dude and I'm definitely going to write about him more <3 It's a short fic but I hope you still like it!!

Masterlist

ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻ੈ✩‧₊˚ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻ੈ✩‧₊˚

Ten years. You’d been gone ten years. 

Ten years of excruciating torture. Of being poked by needles. Touched by strangers. 

You’d always loved humans. You found them fascinating and tried to learn as much about them. But they wanted to know about fae as much as you did humans. 

You were sent on a task by Rhysand. It was simple; go to the human lands and see if it’s possible to form an alliance with them in the future. Everything was going smoothly until you were taken by an older man who spent his life researching fae and was determined to find the answers to his curiosity. He was a cruel, evil man. He took away your life. Your freedom.

You used to be happy. A blaze of sunshine that not even the biggest clouds could cover. And you had many reasons to be that way, the mating bond between you and Azriel had snapped; not yet accepted but you had planned to do it soon. You had a place in the IC. You worked hard for your court and created a home for yourself in Velaris. 

If you had known how quickly everything could be taken from you, you would have worked harder to protect it. 

You had almost given up, almost begged the man who hurt you to finish you off. To kill you. But the Gods weren't finished with you, and, no matter how much you wanted to die, you were found before you could. You were thankful, of course, but, despite being home with your loved ones once again, it doesn’t remove the long-lasting memories of agony and longing. 

Azriel hadn’t stopped looking for you ever since you went missing. While you spent ten years being tortured, he spent those years in his own sick form of torment. Each night he was plagued with dreams of you and each day he was troubled with worries of how you were doing and where you were. It was a never-ending cycle of you. 

When he found you, bound in chains with blood running down your cheek, he swears his heart stopped. You were back in his arms, wrapped around you so gently like you were made of glass. You’d melted into his warm body, tears freely falling down your scarred cheeks as you quietly sobbed. 

That was the only time you allowed yourself to cry in front of him. In front of anyone, for that matter. You didn’t want to worry anyone with your problems. They’d already spent years worrying about you, they shouldn’t have to anymore. So you jumped straight into your old self. You were talkative, made friends with Feyre and the other Archerchon sisters, and smiled and laughed when expected to. 

Despite your happy facade, Azriel hasn’t done more than hug you. He’s slept in the guest bedroom in The House of Wind while you’ve stolen his bed, his silk sheets nice and familiar. You’re unsure how to approach him. Does he still want to be with you? You’ve seen how he looks at Elain, eyes soft and caring. 

Ten years is a long time. And you’re worried that during that long time, he’s moved on. Maybe that's why you’re trying to act like yourself again. If he sees that you’re the same as you were before when he loved you, he’d love you again.

Your last straw was a month after you came home. All the tears you’d been holding back, and the emotions you’ve ignored overflowing one random night. You were lounging in the living room with Elain, Nesta and Feyre. You were nestled in an armchair, arms wrapped around your knees that are pressed up against your chest. 

You’ve already zoned out of the conversation, eyes glazing over as you stare at your frail hands, still so thin and shaky, like you never left that place. You only tune back into the conversation when a certain someone mutters your mate's name. ��Azriel is a really good kisser. I bet he’s better than Rhys and Cassians,” Elain states casually, as though this was a normal thing to be talking about. Feyre and Nesta immediately jump in and defend their mate's skills but you’re already standing. 

Tears blur your vision, unable to be stopped with your usual pinch on your arm. Your fears had come true; Azriel, your mate, your love, had moved on. “Honey?” Your walk to the door abruptly stops, your lip pulled between your teeth and your eyes downcast. “Hey,” You’re embarrassed by the way your voice cracks. 

Azriels scarred hand tentatively reaches up to grip your shoulder, his other hand gently gripping your chin. He tilts your face, forcing your eyes to meet his own, warm caramel making your heart melt. “What’s wrong?” You shake your head moving away and wiping the tears from your face. “Nothing. I’m going for a walk.” He doesn’t respond and you take it as your sign to leave, hands eagerly reaching for the door handle as you escape into the chill night. 

Azriels footsteps were silent, a habit from being the court’s spymaster for centuries. His silence was why you didn’t notice him, loud sobs breaking free since you figured you were alone. By the time he makes himself known, your loud sobs have quieted to quickly falling tears and you’ve found yourself a bench to sit on and think. 

You let out a squeak when he sits beside you, jumping up from your sitting position. You whip your head around, letting out a sigh when you notice the familiar face. “You can’t just sneak up on me,” You mutter, cheeks flushing in embarrassment as you sit again. 

“I’m sorry,” He whispers genuinely, eager eyes tracking your every movement. “We need to talk.” You sigh, slumping against the bench as your heart beats faster. “Do we have to?” You’d rather live in oblivion than hear what he has to say. He’s going to tell you he’s in love with Elain and that he can’t be with you. Then you’re going to have no one and you’ll end up alone and sad forever-

“-I’ve been trying to give you space. To let you process what happened. But I don’t think you are processing things, honey.” He sighs, hand reaching up to rub at the back of your neck. “I want to be there for you. I’m your mate and I love you. Let me in.” His eyes are pleading, begging. 

Your breathing turns ragged, heart pounding in your chest. “Don’t-” You shake your head, turning away from his face. “Don’t lie to me.” You shrug his hand off your shoulders and scoot further down the bench but he doesn’t let you go far, hands holding your face as he leans into you, desperate. “I’m not lying to you, baby. Why do you think I’m lying to you?”

“B-because Elain-” You can’t finish your sentence, breaking into desperate sobs before his eyes. His eyes are knowing, laced with guilt as he pulls you into his chest. “I was planning to talk to you about this when you were feeling a bit better.” He ensures your eyes are staring into his when he speaks. “Elain and I kissed once. A year ago. I was- Gods I was so lonely without you and I was drunk and she was there. I swear when I squinted she looked like you. But as soon as I kissed her I regretted it immediately.”

He’s desperate for you to understand, voice pleading as he as he grips your face tighter. Tighter but never hurtful. “You are it for me, baby. I don’t want anybody else. I’d rather spend hundreds of years alone than be with someone else.”

“I’m sorry,” You whisper, hanging your head in shame. He’s quick to calm your worries with another hug. “Don’t be sorry. I should have talked to you about it sooner.” You shake your head, wrapping your arms around his neck and hiding your face. “I am sorry, though. I should have talked to you sooner. I just-” You’re sick of the way your voice thickens with tears. You’re sick of crying.

“I’m so tired.” You break, pulling him tighter against you. He hugs you just as tight, not wanting to let you go. “I want to be myself again. I want to be happy again but I’ve changed, and I’m scared you’re not going to like who I become.” You spill all your deepest worries, holding onto the lightness in your chest that you’re afraid won’t last long.

His breath fans your ear, a warmth that makes you shiver. “I’ve never expected you to stay the same. Even before you were taken. You’re changing but I’m changing too. That’s okay. You’re okay.” You pull away with a shaking sigh, hands moving to wipe your tears but Azriel pulls them into his own. 

His soft lips kiss your forehead, evoking another shaking breath. His lips then travel to your cheek, hot breath fanning against your flushed skin. As he places a kiss on your other cheek you can’t help the soft smile that lights up your face. Excruciatingly slowly, his lips graze down your cheek and to your jaw, light kisses making your skin heat.

He pulls away ever so slightly, breath fanning across your lips. He stays still, eyes eager as he waits for your response. He doesn’t have to wait long, your hands moving up to fist his hair. You quite practically yank him to you, lips greedily searching for his.

The kiss is warm and gentle and perfect. Love pours through him with each touch of your lip and swipe of his tongue against yours. You haven’t felt this loved in so long. So cared for. You keep him close, each touch mending the frail cracks in your heart.

“I love you,” you whisper, smiling your first genuine smile in years. “I love you, too. I always will.” Butterflies fluttering in your stomach, a sense of comfort washes over you. 

You know you’re not okay. But for now, you feel like you are. And that one moment, spent cuddled up to Azriel while the stars glisten down on you, gives you faith that you’ll be okay one day. As long as you have Azriel on your side.

[wonderjanga]

Billy and Bars

Now, as you probably know, most of the time Billy is ages 8 to maybe 15 (that’s what I’ve seen anyways) and of course, his Captain Marvel form looks like an adult. So, it wouldn’t be strange for an adult to ask another adult to go to a bar with them. Which is why Billy is caught in a dilemma. On one hand, he could just say no, but after a long mission where they’d all spent like two days on an alien planet under constant heavy fire from a cute and cuddly, yet surprisingly bloodthirsty race? It’d be weird not to accept. They might suspect him for being a kid! And boy, Billy does not want that. But on the other hand, he’s not of legal drinking age.

He ends up going with them anyways. Now, all the heroes are sat at a dingy bar in Central City, out of costume, of course. Though, some of them cough Bruce cough Diana cough Arthur cough and you can’t forget Billy, still in Marvel form. (He took a page out of Supe’s book and wore glasses. He’s also for some reason wearing Hawaiian print. (He didn’t have actual adult clothes and needed to borrow from a bargain bin))

Billy thankfully found a loophole for this whole mess. That’s right, this guys gonna be sipping virgin margaritas for the rest of the night. And, he try as many flavors as he wants because you wanna know the best part? Bruce is paying for everything! If Billy could jump in joy, he would. It didn’t matter that Hal was a little obnoxious when drunk off his mind. He’s dealt with worse and it’s not like it’s all that bad. He’s kinda funnier than usual this way. He gets the spend the rest of the day with people he considers friends, that’s all that really matters.

GL: “Dude, why do you keep ordering virgins?”

Crap. What does Billy say to that? Right off the bat, Billy ignores Solomon’s first, and quite frankly, wild lie to tell.

Marvel: “Hmm? Oh uh… I… like the way they taste…?”

He’s a bad liar.

Aquaman: *drinking beer* “Try again, bud.”

Okay… It looks like he might have to listen to Solomon after all. Gosh dang it.

Marvel: “Uhm… I kinda used to maybe sort of might’ve had an addiction and had to go to AA a long time ago.” *Sips drink*

He was always better at lying when the lie was already prepared.

*Whole table goes silent*

Marvel: “Uh… I’ve been sober for a while. Like…” ‘Twelve years, Billy,’ Solomon supplied in his head. “…Twelve years.”

*Table is still silent.*

Flash: *Interrupts silence by slamming hands on table* “Dude! You cannot keep dropping Marvel Lore Bombs™️ on us like this!” (Btw this is the same universe as the Marvel Compilations post. I didn’t mean to write it like it was the same universe but I might as well connect them cause why not)

Marvel: “Whaddya mean?”

Superman: “Well, Marvel…” *scratches back of head* “You kinda have this tendency to… Gosh, how do I put this?”

Martian Manhunter: “You drop obscure information about yourself at random times.”

Wonder Woman: “Then you just go about your day like you didn’t say it in the first place. For example Cap, you can’t just tell me that at some point you were an Amazonian, you were there for my birth, and then just walk off.”

GL: “Marvel, how old are you?”

Marvel: “Uuuuuuhhhhhhh….”

Batman: “You date back to having existed before Mesopotamia. I want to know the answer to that question Marvel.” *Bat-glares Billy while sipping from his drink.*

Bruce was definitely going to add the AA thing to his quite small folder on Marvel.

The night continues on with the other members of the JL grilling Billy for more information about himself, which Solomon helps with by either supplying him with lies, or with things previous champions did. By the time the night was over, Billy never wanted to go to a bar again. He unshazamed in an alley and went home to his little place. He bee-lined to his sleeping bag and just when he was about to fall asleep, something popped into his mind:

‘Why didn’t I just say I didn’t like the way it tastes?’ That thought kept him up for a couple more hours.

[themultifanshipper]

hi babes

can i request some angsty/fluffy fic with oscar and pregnant reader, where she's feeling a little down and overwhelmed with how changed is her body (like with her size or stretch marks, idk) and oscar recomforts her, saying that she's beautiful and she's doing so well..

thankyou, i love your works sm<33

Warnings: light angst, Oscar being a lil clumsy but sweet, fluff that quickly goes into smutty territory :3 (no actual smut scene though)

Also quick psa, it's very common to get depression during and after pregnancy. It's a very real disease that millions of women battle with. If you feel like you have symptoms of any description, don't keep them to yourself, talk to someone you trust about it and seek help, stay safe out there my dudes <3

This weekend had been rough for you.

Apart from all the obvious pregnancy symptoms like morning sickness, which had been really kicking your ass for the past few weeks, it was the other things that were starting to get you down.

Your body had changed, and it felt alien to you. Like it wasn't even your own anymore.

You'd spent hours staring at the stretch marks that covered your stomach, wondering if they would ever fade.

The weight you'd put on made your thighs look massive, and you could already see the signs of your breasts almost doubling in size.

You felt huge, to put it simply.

And your self confidence was in the gutter.

You'd been ignoring Oscar's worried calls and messages while he was away at the Grand Prix, choosing to turn your phone off altogether and wallow in self deprecation.

Oscar was supposed to be getting a jet back on monday night, but he was so worried about you he bought a last minute flight right after the race, to get home to you as fast as he could.

He opened the door to your shared apartment, keys jingling as his hand trembled in his hold.

“Sweetheart?” He called out, once he was finally inside.

There was no answer.

He noticed a faint light coming from the corridor, and he followed it only to realise you had left a lamp on in the bedroom and fallen asleep with the latest book you were reading still in your hand.

He melted at the sight, putting the book on the nightstand (after putting a bookmark in it, he's not a savage) and turned the lamp off before stripping and getting into bed with you, giving you a quick kiss on the forehead.

He wrapped his arms around you and held you like that, his breathing synchronised with yours until he fell asleep, exhausted from his long day of racing and travelling.

What he didn't know, was that you had been pretending to sleep. You weren't ready to talk to him about what was troubling you because you knew it was stupid and he probably wouldn't take you seriously…

The next morning Oscar woke with a start. The other side of the bed was empty which was odd, you never usually woke up this early and you always cuddled up to him in the morning, putting your perpetually cold feet against his skin to warm them up.

He listened for any activity in the apartment, the coffee machine, the tv… but not a single noise could be heard.

He slid out of bed and went looking for you.

It didn't take long to find you, curled up on the sofa, blanketless and shivering in your sleep.

Oscar whined quietly to himself, what on earth was up with you?

He put a gentle hand on your shoulder and rocked you awake.

“Baby it's 5 in the morning what are you doing on the couch? Come back to bed with me”

You just curled up tighter and hid your face from him. “No it's okay Osc I'm fine here”

He put an arm around you, trying to get you to sit up.

“You're obviously not babe, you're shaking with the cold, let's go cuddle up in bed under the-”

“Oscar I said I'm fine just leave me here!” You protested, wriggling out of his grasp.

“Don't be ridiculous you're freezing out here come on”

“Fuck off! I said I'm fine!” you snapped, and Oscar would have believed you if it weren’t for the way you're voice cracked and a tear rolled down your cheek.

He was so shocked at your outburst he froze, not quite knowing what to say as he noticed how pale you looked and how red rimmed your eyes were.

“Baby…” he put a comforting hand on your hip but you flinched away “Babe what-”

“It's nothing” you said, slightly softer, wiping your tears with the obviously already very damp sleeves of your pyjamas. “It's just the morning sickness and stuff has been really bad and I didn't want to wake you”

Oscar was entirely unconvinced but he didn't push.

“Alright, come to bed with me then, we need to get you warmed up”

You nodded, indeed feeling very cold at the moment and you let him steer you back to your bedroom.

Once you were back in bed with him, he snuggled up behind you and pulled you across the distance you had tried to put between the two of you.

“I love you” he whispered, his fingers tracing patterns over your skin.

You didn't reply, and your body was so tense it was a miracle you hadn't pulled a muscle.

After a few seconds a quiet sob wracked your frame and Oscar tightened his hold on you.

“Baby please, tell me what's wrong.” Oscar pleaded.

You sniffled and tried to get your breathing straightened out before answering.

“I just… I don't like how my body’s just- what if it doesn't- I don't want-” your breaths were coming in short as you started getting choked up again.

“Baby slow down. Deep breaths now”

You took a deep breath in.

“I’m scared”

Oscar blinked at the back of your head.

“Of what?”

You sighed.

“That my body is ruined, and that it will never be how it was before… and that you won't like it anymore”

Now that you were saying it out loud, it sounded stupid even to you, but the fear and insecurity was clawing at your insides harder than ever.

“Baby your body is changing for the better, trust me. You're making a baby inside you, that's bound to make some changes. But I love you even more because of them. I love that inside your belly there's a little human that is the result of how much I fucking love you. And I'm going to be with you every step of the way.”

You heaved in a breath “I just- I didn't know it would be this hard…”

He kissed your cheek and stroked your belly under the blanket. “I’m so sorry if I've done anything to make you think I wouldn't love your body no matter what. Your body isn't ruined, baby. You have no idea how much it drives me insane to think of you waddling around our apartment, belly full with my kid”

You turned around to face him with fresh tears in your eyes.

“I want you.” He smiled softly “I want you so fucking much you have no idea.” He kissed your forehead sweetly before pulling you into his arms, adding “I’ll always want you baby, nothing will ever change that”.

You breathed in his comforting scent as you melted into his arms.

“And if you don't believe me…”

He pressed closer to you and you felt him, half hard against your hip.

“… let me prove it to you”

One of his hands trailed down to where your ass filled out your shorts a bit more than it used to.

“This body…”

He kissed your neck, then lowered himself down to your where your nipples were visible through the material of your thin sleep shirt.

“... is a masterpiece…”

He kissed lower and lower until he got to the waistband of your shorts

“ and it's all. Fucking. Mine.”

He growled as he dipped his hand under the material and felt the wetness already gathering.

“Jesus fuck” he groaned “you're so perfect, so good for me”

You raised your hips so he could slide them off you and spread your legs, licking his lips at the sight of you in front of him, full hips and thick thighs on display for him.

Not to mention your growing belly peeking out from under your shirt.

His eyes went from brown to black at an alarming pace as he slowly lowered himself and looked up at you with a devilish smirk.

“You ready?” he purred, voice deepened by arousal.

You were on the verge of crying again, feeling so overwhelmed by the attention Oscar was giving you, but you swallowed the feeling down in favour of sliding a hand through his hair.

You tightened your grip, pulling at the roots slightly and he shivered, his eyes closing in pleasure. He let out the tiniest whimper when you did it again.

When his eyes met yours again after a few moments of him composing himself, you smiled down at him.

“Get to work”

[vivwritesfics]

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE soulmate au with Fernando. he's MY old man.

DUDE I SPENT WAYYY TOO LONG THINKING ABOUT THIS

Fernando Alonso was born without a soulmate tattoo. It was the most bizarre thing, something doctors couldn't explain.

Actually, no. Him not having a soulmate mark for the first few months to few years of his life wasn't strange. But then he was ten years old, still without a soulmate mark.

That was a medical mystery.

By aged fourteen, Fernando stopped checking for his soulmate mark. He was concentrated on getting into Formula One, and that was all that mattered.

He didn't know when the flag appeared on his shoulder. He was in his twenties when it was first pointed out to him, the little chequered flag on his shoulder.

Fernando went to the doctors. Because it was concerning, how it had taken almost twenty years for his soulmate mark to appear on his body. The only explanation the doctor had for him was that his soulmate had only just been born.

The age gap was terrifying, and Fernando knew he had to forget about his soulmate for the next twenty years at most. He pushed it to the back of his mind, had flings and things, never searching for his soulmate.

But then he found her.

It was a change meeting. He was already in his early forties, already felt like a little bit of an old man (but not in the ways that mattered). But then he met her. In her twenties, with that little flag tattoo peaking out of the back of her top.

He'd just been walking behind her in a garage. He didn't know if she was a fan or what. But he reached out and tapped her on the shoulder.

Fernando Alonso was asking to see her soulmate mark. She couldn't say no to him, and she was pushing down her shirt to reveal the little chequered flags on the back of her shoulder.

Fernando Alonso was doing the same, revealing the exact same soulmate mark to her. "Holy shit," she couldn't stop herself from reaching out and touching it.

And, the moment she did, sparks danced across her fingertips

[oracle-of-dream]

Just A Dare

Summary: One day, Soobin played a game with some friends. Truth or Dare. One dare led Soobin to pretend to be in love with you. 3 Months later, you're still dating, but Soobin's recently grown cold toward you...

Warnings: Male Reader, Soobin x Reader Relationship, All of TXT are friends, Rude/Mean Soobin, Breaking up, Fake relationships

Wordcount: 3.35K

You stretch widely as you walk into the kitchen, Soobin sitting at the table with his phone in his hand.

"Morning, Binnie." You hummed to him.

He looked at you with indifference and sighed.

"Would you like something to eat?"

He raised an eyebrow, leaning back in his chair as he crossed his arms. "No, I'm not hungry."

"Any plans today?"

He shook his head, eyes trained on you. "No plans. Why?"

"I was wondering– Never mind, it's nothing."

He rolled his eyes. "Spit it out."

You took a deep breath. "I'm going out today and wanted to know if you wanted to come with me. but you don't look like you want to."

He shrugged. "I'm not interested." His voice was cold and completely uninterested.

"Okay, I'll text Yeonjun you said no."

Soobin's eyebrow twitched slightly at the mention of his friend's name. "Why are you texting him about me?"

"He asked if you were coming with me, and I told him I'd ask you."

"And you're just going to tell him everything I say?"

"N-No! Just that you're not interested in coming."

Your boyfriend leaned forward, eyes narrow. "You know, it's not your job to tell people about my plans."

"And it's not your job to tell me what to do!" You spat.

He scoffed. "I'm not telling you what to do. I'm just saying you shouldn't be telling Yeonjun everything I say. It's none of his business."

"I'm not telling him everything!"

He threw his hands up. "Sure, you're not."

You tried to speak through the lump forming in your throat. "Look, Soobin, you're in a bad mood. I'll just leave you alone for a bit."

As you turned to leave, Soobin mumbled under his breath. "Yeah, that's a good idea. I could use some quiet."

You covered your mouth, keeping any grimaces silent as you went to your room to change. You locked the door as soon as you shut it, softly sobbing at how Soobin had been.

He started stepping backward in your relationship about a week ago. First, he was irritated with you for being around. Then in front of his friends, he scolded you for being in the way. And he's fussing at you for bothering you during his "game time".

After taking a breath, you put on some nice day clothes and dried your eyes. You ran to the front door, seeing Yeonjun's car parked outside. "Okay, Soobie, I'm headed out. Text me if you want anything while I'm out!"

He stood in the doorway of the kitchen, glaring at you. "Fine. Have fun with Yeonjun."

You walked out and shut the door, sighing in relief to be out of the house. You didn't have time to put your key in the door before you heard the lock snap behind you. Soobin must've been kind enough to lock the door for you...

You spent the day with Yeonjun, shopping and touring the town. You'd planned to meet up with Beongym and Taehyun too!

The original plan was for Soobin to ask to be there since they were his friends, but as soon as they pushed for you to come along he said he wouldn't go anymore... They always tried to make you feel like a part of the group, to the point you'd even started hanging out with them without Soobin. You'd grown close to them over the last three months and were glad to have them around. You took a picture and posted it on your Instagram story Dinner with my favorite dudes. Before you could put your phone down, you already got a reaction. A thumbs down from a blank account...

You frowned at it but didn't pay it any mind.

You and Yeonjun were seated outside the restaurant waiting for Beomgyu and Taehyun to arrive. As soon as you saw them, you waved them over.

"Hey Taehyun! Beomgyu!"

The pair waved back as he got closer.

Taehyun smiled. "How's it going?"

"I'm okay, how's everything with you?"

He shrugged. "Same old, same old. Just hanging out at the gym. Beomgyu came with me but refused to step into the main area. What have you been doing today?"

"Nothing really. We went shopping and bought a few things. And I got Soobin a gift that might cheer him up."

Beomgyu raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What's up with him?"

"I don't know... he's been weird lately." You slouched in your seat. "I told him I was going out with Yeonjun and he totally went off on me."

Beomgyu rolled his eyes. "Typical Soobin. He's always been a bit of a jerk when in a bad mood."

"But what could be putting him in such a bad mood? He's been like this for a week!"

The boys all exchanged looks of confusion before Yeonjun spoke. "He hasn't told us anything about you or anything else. So he's being super private about it... But now that you mention it, he has been dark and brooding than usual."

"What am I going to do guys? I feel horrible when he talks to me like that."

Beomgyu patted your shoulder. "Just talk to him. Communication is key, or whatever. Tell him how you feel and see what he'll say."

"What if it just pisses him off?"

Taehyun smiled. "Then maybe you can try and get him to spill why he's so wound up lately."

"W-What if... he dumps me?" The fear started to seep in as the sky felt like it was getting darker.

"If he dumps you, then he's not worth your time. You deserve better than that, and I'm saying that as his friend and yours. But, don't assume the worst before you even talk to him."

You sighed. "You're right..."

"That's the spirit! Just be honest and don't take it personally if he's being difficult," Yeonjun added.

"Should I just text him? I don't know if I have the heart to hear him say mean things to me."

Taehyun nodded. "Yeah. A text might be a good way to get things rolling."

You pulled out your phone, texting Soobin.

YN: Hey Soobin?

SB: What do you want?

YN: I wanted to tell you something if you're not too busy

SB: Fine, what is it? I am a little busy, so make it quick.

YN: I feel like you've been a little mean and distant lately–Did I do something?

SB: No, you didn't do anything. I'm just not in the mood to deal with your constant clinginess.

Your jaw dropped at the message. Beomgyu and Taehyun leaned in to read what he said.

Yeonjun, on the opposite end of the table, couldn't see. "What? What did he say?"

You tried to hold in a sob. "He said he's tired of my clinginess."

"What a jerk! How could he say that to you?!" Beomgyu grunted.

"What do I say?"

Tarhyun, calming patted your back. "Just tell him he's being hurtful and that's not something you're really willing to put up with. You deserve better."

You picked up your phone again.

YN: Well... you're being really hurtful and I won't put up with it.

SB: Oh, so you're gonna play the victim? Grow up already. I'm not obligated to cater to your every need.

A rush of anger took over your fingers as you replied faster than your mind could register

YN: Then don't cater to me at all!

SB: Glady. It's not like I enjoyed spending time with you anyway.

YN: Fine! We're through then!

SB: Fine. Good Riddance.

You block his number and slam your phone down. Your eyes stung as you reeled from what just happened. "It's over..."

Yeonjun got up from his seat moving next to you. "It's okay, you're better off without him. He's being a jerk, and you don't deserve that.

"What am I going to do now? I can't go back home."

Taehyun pats your shoulder. "You can stay with one of us."

Beomgyu nodded. "Yeah, my house is pretty big, you can stay in the guest room. And Kai lives with me, so we can both support you."

You nodded in between your tears. The tears you held in for so long finally rolled down your face as your friends collected your things and helped you into Yeonjun's car.

"Can we all spend the night together? Just for tonight?" You begged with big eyes.

Beomgyu looked at the others for agreement. "Sure! It'll be like one big sleepover."

After making a pit stop at Yeonjun's house, the group meets at Beomgyu's place. You knocked at the door and Beomgyu opened it, with Kai behind him.

"Beomgyu told me the news. I'm so sorry..." Kai mumbled.

You felt the tears coming back and started wiping your eyes.

Yeonjun tried to smile. "Hey, don't cry. We're here for you, okay? We'll have fun tonight and forget all about Soobin."

Beomgyu's house was warm and cozy. It was huge compared to Soobin's house. Beomgyu passed at least three other doors before reaching the guest room where you'd sleep for a while. He helped move your things into the room.

"Are we going to do anything tonight?" You asked.

"We're gonna have a movie night and order some pizza. How's that?"

"Sounds awesome." You sobbed as you hugged your friend.

Taehyun arrived with the pizza while the group was still deciding on a movie. "Hey guys, no romance ones tonight. I want something scary!"

Yeonjun groaned. "I hate scary movies..."

The boys started arguing over movie choices. You took a moment to slip away into the bathroom, your phone glowing in your hand. You knew it was a bad idea, but you had to know... You unblocked Soobin and waited to see if he'd texted. Nothing... Then you checked his Instagram, which sent your stomach off a cliff. He'd removed all the pictures with you in them...

You felt the pain in your chest grow unbearably. You left the bathroom in tears. The boys stopped arguing as they heard you, rushing to you.

Beomgyu knelt to look at you. "What's wrong?"

You showed them your phone, pointing out the changes to Soobin's page. "Soobin's really just going to move on? Just like that!? What do I do..."

"It's your call. You can try, and ask him about it, but I don't think he'll give you a straight answer. Or you can just move on too?" Beomgyu's words were soft and gentle.

"I was sort of hoping you'd say something a little more devious. Like payback or something."

He smirked. "That works too."

"I wanna make him jealous. Make him see what he's losing."

Taehyun chimed in. "Are you sure? It's risky. If it pans out badly, you could make things worse."

You shook your head. "I'm totally sure!"

Beomgyu started again. "There's a few ways to make him jealous. But I think using social media will be the easiest. He always has his phone."

You nodded. "He probably has me blocked by now. So that means one of you guys should post it and accidentally tag him."

Yeonjun smiled. "I can do it. You mentioned he didn't like the thought of you hanging out with me, right? That shows he's already possessive of you when I'm involved."

"Before we do anything crazy, I just want to make sure. Soobin is your friend. Are you sure you want to sign up for this?" You looked over the group closely.

Yeonjun spoke for the group, "Of course we do. There's no way we'd let him get away with treating you like that. Not ever."

You smiled. Their support meant the world to you. So now, you have to run with it.

"Okay, Yeonjun, let's pose and make it super flirty."

Yeonjun doesn't hesitate to pull you by the waist to him. "'Just stand like that and smile. And look like you're in love with me."

You smiled brightly and stared into Yeonjun's eyes. Soobin never held you like this before, it felt... nice. Yeonjun could not help smiling back at you. He took a step closer, his body pressed against yours. He ruffled his hand through your hair.

"You look pretty good like this, you know."

The sudden compliment caught you off guard, and Yeonjun kept going.

"Flustered already, cutie?"

As soon as Beomgyu takes the picture, you squirm out of Yeonjun's grasp. You dust yourself off and rub your cheeks, trying to dispel the warmth in them.

Beomgyu showed you the photo.

It looked perfect.

"Now we just need Soobin to see it."

Yeonjun snatched his phone up. "Oh, he'll see it alright." He typed a few things before hitting the post. A few minutes later, Yeonjun's phone buzzed with a text from Soobin.

"S-Soobin! He texted!" You covered your eyes.

Yeonjun read it aloud.

SB: What the hell is this? (A screenshot of the post)

Yeonjun smiled. "Exactly as planned. We got him!"

You uncovered your eyes. "So he does care?"

"Seems that way, but let's really mess with him." Yeonjun started typing away.

YJ: Just some friends hanging out.

SB: I don't care. But you better not do anything stupid.

YJ: And what's that?

SB: He's mine. You shouldn't be spending time with him.

YJ: He's yours? I heard you broke up. He's fun to be around, so why not?

SB: Yeonjun, don't fuck with me. He's mine.

YJ: Someone's jealous~

SB: I'm not jealous! I just don't want you around him.

You take the phone from Yeonjun, typing out your own messages now.

"YJ": Well, when I'm done with him, he'll forget all about you.

SB: What fuck does that mean!?

"YJ": Me, Taehyun, Kai, and Beomgyu are here. Keeping him company. And he's gonna sleep with me tonight.

SB: You're lying!

"YJ": Wanna bet?

SB: You're dead if you touch him.

You looked over at Yeonjun. "It's working!"

He nodded. "You're good at this, he's losing it."

Another devious idea popped into your head. "Guys, if you're okay with it, can we all do a picture where we're close to each other? Like flirting?"

Yeonjun smiled. "I'm always down."

Kai stepped away. "Count me out. I'd rather be a bystander on this one."

Beomgyu and Taehyun exchanged doubtful looks.

"Please? Just one quick one!"

Beomgyu looked at you. "Are you sure?"

"Yes!" You nodded.

The pair agreed to make you happy. They curled up next to you on the couch.

"Closer guys! Like you wanna make a move on me."

Taehyun laid your head in his lap, stroking your hair, while Beomgyu lay between your legs. Yeonjun held up his phone, ready to take a selfie with the four of you in the shot.

He immediately sent it and handed you the phone back.

SB: WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING OVER THERE!?

"YJ": It's just a little fun, Soobin. No need to get worked up~

SB: This isn't funny! You know we're together so stop it.

"YJ": Then why'd you leave him like trash?

SB: I didn't! I just needed some space.

"YJ": Then we'll make sure to give you space.

SB: What do you mean by that?

"YJ": Nothing. Just supporting y/n the best way we can.

Before you send the next message, you stop and turn to Yeonjun. "Can I ask for a favor?"

He nodded. "Anything for you."

"Can you pretend to date me?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Pretend to date you? What's in it for me?"

You shrug. "What do you want?"

"I want to get Soobin back bad. So, I want you to act like you're falling for me. I want him to think you're choosing me over him." He smiled deviously.

You nodded. "Okay!"

"Excellent." Yeonjun grabbed your arm and waist and pulled you in. "Let's get a little more touchy-feely then. hold my hand, lean on me, and giggle at my jokes a bit. And Taehyun, record a bit of this."

Yeonjun's advances were more than you were ready for. But you had to stay strong. You forced yourself to be as close to Yeonjun as you could, nuzzling his neck and humming softly. The way you used to be with Soobin...

Yeonjun pulled you closer, his hand resting on your hip as he whispered in your ear. "That's it. You're doing so well. Just keep acting like you're enjoying my company."

"I am enjoying your company... and thank you for doing this for me."

Yeonjun, clearly enjoying himself, smiled. "No problem. Anything to mess with Soobin. Plus, you're not so bad to be around yourself." He pulled you fully into his lap, wrapping his arms around your waist. "You're into this, aren't you?"

"You're more into it than I am..." You blush.

"Can you blame me? You're pretty cute when you're flustered." He ran his hand up and down your back, his touch sent shivers down your spine.

"S-Stop..." You almost moan.

He tightened his grip on you. "Why should I stop? You're enjoying this, aren't you? You're practically melting In my arms."

"Hey, I think that's enough," Taehyun interfered. You climbed off of Yeonjun and watched the video. "It looks pretty convincing. Soobin will definitely believe it."

You pressed send and waited. You say Soobin's text bubble pops up multiple times before going away. It took him almost fifteen minutes before he replied.

SB: What the hell was that? You guys were all over each other!?

"YJ": So? You broke up.

SB: Don't give me that bullshit. You're way too close, and you're fucking enjoying it.

"YJ": Well, you broke his heart.

SB: And that gives you the right to be all over him?

"YJ": He chose me. I didn't force him to do anything.

SB: He's confused or drunk. He doesn't know what he wants right now, and he'll come back home eventually.

"YJ": Not if I keep him. Then you'll have to come get him yourself.

SB: You're not keeping anything. I'll make sure of it. And I'll do whatever it takes to get him back.

"YJ": Even beg?

SB: Except that. I'll do anything but that.

"YJ": Then it looks like you won't be getting him back anytime soon.

SB: You don't get it. You don't know anything about my feelings for him.

Tears built up in your eyes as you read his words.

"YJ": I know you're being super shitty about it. You can have all the space you want without being an asshole. You don't deserve him.

SB: You don't get to decide what I deserve. You don't know anything about heartbreak!

"YJ": But you broke Y/n's heart.

SB: I didn't mean to hurt him. I just... got angry. And said some stuff I shouldn't have. He'll understand I'm the only one he needs.

"YJ": Well, you've got a funny way of showing that.

SB: I know I messed up. But I'm going to fix it. I'm the only one who can make him happy. And I intend on getting him back, no matter what.

"YJ": Good luck with that.

You turn off Yeonjun's phone after pressing send on the last message,

"So, what's the verdict?" Beomgyu asked.

"He said he'd do anything to get me back..."

Yeonjun patted your head. "Well, don't give in too easy. If you do, he'll just hurt you again. You have to show him you're serious about this. And that he can seriously lose you."

Taehyun nodded. "And we need to keep an eye on Soobin. He won't forget about what "Yeonjun" said to him."

You looked off into space. "Yeah... Soobin might try to fight Yeonjun."

Yeonjun chuckled at the thought. "I'd like to see him try it!"

You laughed at Yeonjun's words. A full genuine laugh... one you haven't done in a while. You hug Yeonjun tightly. "Thank you... for saving me."

"Of course, I'll always be here for you. And so are the others. We're going to make Soobin pay for ever treating you like this..."

With a loud cheer, the group went back to the TV to finish their movie. One by one they fell asleep on the couch, you slept in Yeonjun's warm embrace...

[bigwishes]

Pretty Boy's Mistake

Kye was you average university athlete, mainly there to get a degree a generic sports degree to get a job as a personal trainer in the high end gyms, he rarely went to his lecture but always got outstanding grades. It wasn't that he wasn't passionate about sports or health, in fact he had taught himself pretty much everything the university had to offer before he had even gotten there. He was only there for a piece of paper. He spent most of his time in the gym, lifting weights whilst also training some guys on the side for some cash in hand work but he always made sure to put his own workouts first. His body was almost perfect and he loved every inch of it.

Although he wished he could be bigger. He saw some of the guys in the gym, how their tank tops looked like they could burst at any moment. One time he even saw a guys tank split because of an insane chest pump. He loved huge guys, wanted to be fucking huge like them. He would picture his gym crush and how his entire car would bounce and wobble when he squeezed his massive frame inside, he wanted a guy like that in his bed, he wanted to be bigger than that but a body like that would probably take him another 15 years to build and he wanted to enjoy and flaunt that size before he left uni.

Kye was in the gym when he saw a huge lumbering giant walk in. The man looked like a superhero right out of a comic and something possessed Kye out of no where. He followed the huge meathead to the locker room.

Kye stood there seeing the giant block almost all the lockers on a wall his back was so wide and Kye got nervous, a lump formed in his throat and he spat out what he had to say.

"so...how do I get as big as you bro"

the massive dude turned around looking around the locker room checking to see if he was talking to someone else, he let out a thunderous chuckle.

"you talkin to me pretty boy?"

Kye grew red in the face "y-yeah man, look I been lifting for a few years and I really wanna get fucking huge like you man"

"aaa just keep at it guy, youll be massive like mean real soon"

"how old are you?"

"Im 22 bro"

"22!" Kye yelled "bro im almost 23 how the fuck you get so big man, you gotta tell me your secret"

"hmmm, look, you're kinda cute bro so, I'll let you in on a little secret, for a trade of course"

"Anything man, anything, Ive tried everything I know with diet and routine and I'm just not swelling up like other guys are"

"I'll give you my secret if you tell me why you wanna be so big, annnnd, for a date" the large man raise his eyebrow and walked closer to Kye.

Kye's heart started pounded as he imagined what it'd be like to have his skull crushed by the giant bodybuilder's monstrous thighs

"o-okay, ummm, phew, is it hot in here?" kye tripped and stumbled over his words like it was his first time ever talking to a guy.

"so, why you wanna be big pretty boy?"

Suddenly the man had is arms leaning on the doorframe behind Kye forming an arch over him looking down at him.

"eer, well, I-I like size and, I like guys with size and I wanna be big y-ya know" Kye tried to avoid eye contact as the massive brute leaned in

"So you like big guys hey? why don't you keep your lil jock bod, let a mountain like myself have fun with you"

"Because I ain't no bodies bottom bitch, believe me man, if I was as big as you, I'd of already throw you against the wall and you'd be beggin for it"

The massive meat head in front of him bit his lip

"so you promise, once you're as big as me you'll be tossing me around?"

Kye smirked trying to keep up the confident façade

"yeah bro, but gotta warn you, I'm already a catch, once guys see me with arms tearing out of my shirt and my huge muscled fat ass squeezed into tight gym shorts you'll probably have some competition"

"oh I like a cocky meathead"

the man turned around walking back to his gym bag pulling out a small vial of orange fluid, he handed it to kye

"I'm Jason by the way"

"What is this?"

"My secret mixture, drink it man, it'll make you real big...and give you that fat juicy ass you want"

Kye instantly downed the drink and gave Jason a wink.

"Alright, Im gonna go workout man"

"See you tomorrow pretty boy" Jason laughed as Kye walked out.

Kye was stepping into his car, having to stop to catch his breath, he worked harder than he ever had. He knew the vitamin shot he was given wasn't going to do anything but it was at least energising. Kye felt a strange tingling, as the veins on his pelvis swelled with blood pumping downwards. Kye gritted his teeth feeling like he was about to get hard and suddenly he watched as his package swelled and doubled in size in his pants.

Kye jumped in his car feeling his thighs and arms swell. Like his pump was subsiding but his muscles weren't shrinking down to normal size.

He drove home, gritting his teeth and occasionally grunting the entire way.

Kye stepping of of his car feeling his shirt tight around his chest and arms. He let out a tired sigh feeling strange and walked inside. Kye saw himself in the mirror, his shirt tightly pulled across body. He pulled off his shirt seeing his abs slightly stretched out, rubbing his stomach watches his package swell again.

UUUUUGGGGhhhhhh He groaned.

"W-what the fuck is going on"

Kye watches as his bulge swelled outwards in his pants straining against the fabric, as his stomach swelled outwards with it.

"W-WHAT THE FUCK MY, MY ABS"

Kye grabbed his stomach feeling it strain

UUUUUUUGGGGHHHH-UUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRPPPPP

Kye let out a painful groan that turned into a belch as tears started to form in his eyes, his perfect 6 pack was gone swelled out like he had been bulking all year round.

Kye couldn't hold back the belches escaping his mouth and with each on his body changed. His arms swelled bigger, his thighs swells bigger.

He watched helplessly in the mirror unable to stop the changes, no matter how hard he pushed his stomach trying to get it to shrink the only thing he managed to do was push out another belch. Kye mercilessly began scratching at his jaw and neck feeling an annoying itch take over. He was too busy watching as his body swelled up to notice the changes in his face. Kye finally looked up from his bloated stomach to see himself, hairy, big and bulky.

"WHAT THE FUCK, I" Kye pinched the side of his waist in disbelief

BUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRPPPPPP

Kye's massive meaty hand felt is muscled gut vibrate as he belched. Feeling a surge of change again, but he didn't see himself get any bigger in the mirror, he heard a slight ripping noise and looked around. Turning to the side he saw the fabric of his gym shorts tight, torn and ripped over his massive muscular ass. His face turned bright red.

"Oh god..I'm...uuggh I'm like a fat bear"

Kye's stomach grumbled and he made his way to the kitchen poking and patting his gut hoping by some mirecal it would shrink and turn back into a six pack.

Kye sat in the gym locker room trying to hide his new burly body under bagging clothing. Embarrassed and hoping Jason would walk in at any moment. After about an hour Jason walked in.

"H-Hey Jason"

"Oh hey Pretty Boy, hows it feel bein big"

"I" Kye couldn't even finish his sentence before letting out a monstrous belch

"I didn't ask for this"

"yeah you did bro, you wanted to be big"

"AND NOW LOOK AT THIS, WHERE ARE MY ABS IM TUBBY" Kye lifted his shirt and poked at the muscled slab

"Man you aint tubby, you bulky, thick muscle"

"But I wanted my abs bro, I wanted to look like some pro bodybuilder not like some kinda burping werewolf"

Kye rubbed his gut cocking his mouth open belching causing Jason to laugh. Kye's face turned bright red

"Dude stop laughing and fucking do something, uuuggghhh"

"alright bro, quit the complaining I might have something for you"

"Anything is better than this man"

Jason handed Kye a vial filled with bright pink liquid

UUUURpp "so, this'll fix me?"

"Oh man, it'll give you the perfect body"

Kye looked at it suspiciously feeling the concrete wall he had for a stomach. He closed his eyes and downed, a few moments passed and Kye didn't feel much different, when suddenly the familiar sensation rose up from his gut to his throat.

UUUUUHHGG-UUUUUURRRRRPPPP

Kye's eyes widen and his face turned white

"WHA-UUUUUURRRPPPP DID-UUUUURRRRRRPP YOU GIV- UUUURRRPP ME?!"

Kye tried to speak more but he struggled to form a full sentence from his constant belching

"Looking good man" Jason laughed

Kye, felt is rock hard bloated gut and heard the sound of tearing fabric as his muscles bulged out of his shit, soon he was left standing there in the gym locker room in nothing but his underwear.

Kye looked at himself in the mirror disappointed by his huge muscle gut, he cocked his mouth open and belched.

Jason let out a booming laugh "bro you look like you take roids and smash 6 protein shakes hourly"

"bro why'd you do this" Kye sheepishly asked

"because you wanted to me big"

"then why not make me like you, why give me this huge gu-UUUUURRP"

"Coz you were cocky, and I find it hot when cocky guys get taken down a peg"

"oh" kye smiled "so now you've gotten you kick I can go back right?"

"nah, you were a pretty boy jock, now you can enjoy being a bulky cunt"

Kye went to walk away from the mirror, hearing his underwear start to rip around is massive muscled ass. That'll teach him to take stuff from strangers in the locker room.

[crosbyism]

"but then again this is the guy who’s publically known for loving to eat ass so"

I'm sorry, I thought Nate eating ass was fanon. Are you telling me this is an actual canon fact??

god i love when people don’t realise how much “fanon” around sid and nate is actually canon. it’s like heroin to me. also bc it’s like. 90% of the stuff in fics (which is probably why people assume it’s fanon but. oh boy it’s not. there’s shockingly little fanon around these two, mostly because canon is so abundant).

yes, nathan mackinnon is a known ass-eater. let me direct you to this post, anon. you’re welcome.

other nate (and sid) facts you might not have realised are canon:

nate is a known advocate for therapy. he’s been seeing a sports therapist since 2017

they wear matching clothing all the fucking time, sid has said publicly that he started wearing white sneakers and updated his wardrobe due to nate’s influence (iirc nate might’ve even bought him his first pair of white sneakers? either that or it was a “he told me i need to so i did” situation). they share a tailor. unfortunately i now have to bring your attention to the fact that since they have an alarming amount of matching clothes that they’ve bought for each other, that means that they in fact have to know each other’s clothing sizes off by heart. they also low-key share clothing btw

their families celebrate canada day together and their dads are best friends. in-law behaviour goes crazy

nate did in fact stalk his way into sid’s heart (got the same personal trainer and agent at age 13; built his house next door in 2017; they’ve been spending every day in the summers together since at least 2015. sid cooks for them daily, or at least did pre-pandemic. sid refuses to use nate’s gym tho so they always use sid’s).

nate used to have a fan twitter account more or less where he rooted for the pens. it was active until 2017.

sid and nate regularly go to summer weddings together as each other’s dates. they have done this since, once again, at least 2015

nate has confirmed that he used to have a poster of sid on his wall as a teenager (he didn’t confirm he used to jerk off to it but frankly. i think that’d be saying the quiet part out loud)

when sid won the cup in 2009 and held the parade in cole harbour, nate stood by the side of the road watching it. he was about to turn 14, he was already working with sid’s trainer and agent, and he was about to start attending shattuck (sid’s junior high). due to old pics we also know that this was RIGHT before nate had his first growth spurt and hit puberty. i’m not saying seeing sid with the cup kickstarted nate’s puberty and gave him his first boner but i’m not NOT saying it

nate dated vanessa morgan of riverdale fame in his rookie year. she’s now good friends with elias petersson from the vancouver canucks (this means nothing but i do think it’s a very funny coincidence).

nate schmidt, formerly of the VGK, once failed a drug test (it turned out to be a testing-fuck-up); when nhl players were asked about it natemack iconically said “i don’t think he was sticking a needle up his ass” (i just like this one)

when he was a kid, the one other thing sid wanted to be was a hairdresser. nate, on the other hand, “didn’t have a plan B”

nate is canonically possessive of sid (see: the asg 2024) and sid is canonically delighted by this and into it

they go on so many lunch dates in the summer my dude. they go grocery shopping together. like there’s so many pics of them in grocery stores or out having coffee or weird green shakes

oh i almost forgot, they went on a roadtrip through ireland last year. they’ve been on holiday together multiple times over the years though. done some eurotripping together and stuff. in 2015 they spent three months together, three weeks of which were spent living in sid’s santa monica condo together just the two of them

sid has put up a picture of every stanley cup winning captain in his basement since 2008, when the pens lost in the scf to DET. apparently this serves as motivation for him to win the cup. he notoriously does not watch the playoffs after the pens are out

however, he partied so hard at nate’s cup party he actually closed down the party with his dad. nate is the only non-teammate sid’s ever been seen supporting for a cup run (he’s also never been to his teammates’ cup parties afaik so. there’s that)

also they talked on the phone daily and between periods during nate’s cup run. they also canonically have almost weekly phone dates that can run multiple hours. quote nate “i can’t talk to anyone else the way i can talk to him”

they each have pictures of the two of them together framed in each other’s houses

there’s rumours they’re building adjoining houses on neighbouring properties in cape breton next to a golf course bc apparently being neighbours in halifax isn’t enough or something. this one is as yet unconfirmed by reputable sources though

[sungbeam]

𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 — part one

nonidol!ji changmin x f!reader

messing around with demonic rituals isn't exactly how you imagined getting bound to changmin's soul. (note to self: salt circles don't work when you draw the pentagram inside it...)

▷ genre, warnings. f2l, technically a college au, demon au (it's different from night terrors i swear. also it's not as intense lol), comedy, suspense/mystery, swearing (a lot... sorry 😭), drinking, low fantasy/supernatural elements, mentions of chronic illness, mentions of rituals and pentagrams, self induced soulmates? 🤔 but ofc 😂, kissing, mentions of blood, very small amount of violence (like one scene), what is a mfking slow burn like who needs to take their time w falling in love i sure don't 🤷🏻‍♂️, one allusion to death

▷ part word count. 16.3k out of 34.8k / read part two here

▷ inspired by. incantations (composed by richard meyer) it's not like,,, the fic's "soundtrack" or anything. i just think it sounds cool lol

this is my submission for deoboyznet's boyz who bite event! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

a/n: i'm telling u that i resisted the idea of another demon changmin au for ONE WHOLE MONTH. i went through THREE OTHER IDEAS BEFORE FALLING BACK ON THIS DRAFT. I SWEAR. so pls reblog + comment + enjoy! :') and thank u to @justalildumpling as usual for reading this for me 😭💖

PART I: THE CATALYST

THERE WERE WORSE WAYS TO GO OUT, you supposed. However, the paranormal wasn't often a subject you frequented, so sitting atop an ashy-white pentagram wasn't exactly how you expected to be spending a Friday night.

“Changmin, you're always hooting about this shit,” Juyeon said as he peered over his shoulder at the boy lurking in the far corner of the living room. “Are you seriously all bark and no bite?”

No one really paid attention to Changmin's response besides you and Juyeon (kind of—he was busy lighting the candles). Technically, it was a new behavior; Changmin was usually the one obsessed with horror movies and the paranormal, constantly getting you all to participate in Halloween horror nights and haunted houses, and bringing his beloved (cursed) Chucky doll to any and every group movie night. But now that you were finally acting on his demonic big talk, all of that stuff and nonsense dissipated like the snuffing out of a candle.

A shadow fell across his face. “I already warned you guys. This isn't something you should be toying around with.”

“It's a Ouija board—what could go wrong?” Shuhua wrinkled her nose as she began tapping out a circle of salt around your body and the pentagram on the floor. “I saw them on sale at Toys R Us for half off.”

Because you were the last one to arrive tonight, you were chosen as the sacrifice. It wasn't really fair because this was literally Juyeon and Changmin's apartment, but it didn't matter much in the end. You didn't believe in this stuff and it wasn't your salt being wasted. (You were also exempt from venmoing Hyunjae a portion of the paycheck he spent buying candles and chalk. Save fifteen bucks and sit on a pentagram in a salt circle? Why the fuck not.)

“Don't we need to draw blood or something?” you asked, half joking.

“No.” Changmin's expression somehow grew even darker. Your eyes widened slightly; you'd never seen him so serious. “Absolutely not. Do you want this to turn out worse?”

“Changmin, dude, you gotta chill, man.” Hyunjae dumped the Ouija board he'd dug out of his parents’ attic onto the floor next to you, just outside the salt circle.

Shuahua squawked. “Oy! You're ruining my perfect circle!”

“Just redo it, dumbass!”

“You redo it, asshat,” she growled back, tapping out some salt to finish it.

Juyeon, as if to placate your friend, said to Changmin, “The salt will protect her.”

You blinked. “Oh, that's what it's for?” You could've sworn that was what the candles were for, but again, you didn't believe in this, so why would you know a thing about it?

Changmin's face hit the palms of his hands with a resounding slap. “Absolutely not. You can't have Yn in the circle if she doesn't even know what the Hell is going on.”

“So do you wanna be in the circle?”

His left eye seemed to twitch as he cocked his head to the side. Something about that movement made a shiver crawl down your spine. The sensation was akin to watching a predator consider its prey from the brush… but that wasn't right. Changmin was all dimpled smiles and goofy shenanigans and twinning with his horror doll child. There wasn't anything remotely scary about him, unless you made him mad (you hadn't yet). So why were your inner alarms screaming for you to run? “That's actually not a bad idea—”

“Okay!” Hyunjae called his hands together. “Let's get started, shall we?”

The thoughts were brushed beneath the dusty rug in your head. You shrugged at Changmin. “Too late, I guess.”

You thought you heard him mutter out something under his breath in frustration, but you didn't understand the language.

All of your other friends began to gather on the side of the circle where the Ouija board was. You weren't even sure what all the pomp and circumstance was for, but Changmin didn't seem up to correct anything. He continued to sulk in the corner with his arms folded over his chest, eyes shaded by the brim of his cap as he stared onward.

Hyunjae's eyes fluttered closed as he, Juyeon, and Shuhua placed their fingers upon the planchette. “To the spirits who may be here in this room with us—”

“And demons,” Shuhua murmured.

A choked sound came from Changmin's side of the room.

Your eyes flickered open and saw him rub a hand down his face as if he was stressed.

“We are opening the veil between your world and ours,” Hyunjae continued. “My name is Hyunjae, and with me are Shuhua, Yn, Juyeon, and Changmin.”

Shuhua inhaled shallowly. “Is there someone here with us?”

The apartment was consumed in a dead silence as the five of you waited. You sat cross-legged in your ring of salt, cheek resting against your fist. Your eyes were drifting to half-mast—it’d been a long day for you, and considering it was approaching midnight already, it was about time you went to bed.

“We brought you a sacrifice,” Hyunjae said. “We were wondering if you could tell us your name.”

A chilling breeze brushed past your cheeks and you glanced up, expecting the air conditioning to have caused it. There was no vent above you, however. Strange.

You wrung your hands in your lap. “You could possess me if you'd like.”

Your eyes joined your friends’ as you all pinned your gazes to the Ouija board. The planchette remained still.

After a beat, your patience ran thin, and you sat up to lean back on your hands—wasn't something supposed to happen?

The amber glow from the candles in the living room wavered violently. In your surprise, your fingers grated against the salt and hardwood as you nearly fell backward. You yanked your hand back to you at the sting.

The bodies in the room went taut, speechless.

A gust of wind—something impossible in this enclosed space—whipped past you in a wide circle. The salt circle was no more, the candle flames were snuffed.

You sat stiff as a board. For a moment, you could swear you felt some invisible, foreign weight rest upon your chest. It sank deep into you, a phantom hand reaching into your body as if to latch onto your very soul.

Ba bump ba bump ba bump, your heart drummed wildly in your chest.

Howls and gasps of delight were drowned out by the blood in your ears; they were sounds of awe from your friends. You placed your hand over your sternum in the dark to feel for that unseen force, but there was nothing.

The room flooded with warm light. It chased away the shadows to the furthest corners.

You glanced up and saw Juyeon at the light switch with a boyish grin stretched across his lips. “That was crazy! Yn, how do you feel?”

Eyes darted to you.

The pentagram beneath you was smudged, the white chalk staining your pants and your hands. You managed a smile, and then a slow nod. What you felt earlier was probably nothing.

“I'm good,” you chirped. You glanced over at Changmin in the corner, his eyes still shaded by the brim of his cap, but with the muscle in his jaw clenched. Why? Why did you look at him? You couldn't fathom why survival instinct had you encoded to turn toward that which was capable of your demise. “Yeah, I'm good.”

A yawn tore through you as you stepped into your darkened apartment. Your hand fumbled for the light switch and you tucked your shoes away on the rack, before depositing your keys onto the table with a noisy clatter. The remainder of your time spent at Juyeon and Changmin's had been spent cleaning up the failed ritual, and you hit the road as soon as it was over.

Your roommates were all out for the night, so the apartment was cold and quiet as you stumbled down the hall to your bedroom. Compared to your friends, you'd left rather quickly because of a text you'd received from Lee Chan, a good friend of yours and former neighbor from childhood. His home life hadn't been the most spectacular, so you and he became fast friends during the moments after school when you hung out on your front lawn.

He'd swung by your apartment earlier to drop off banana muffins, but you hadn't been home. I'm home now! But you can totally come by in the morning instead, you texted him after setting your backpack down and peeling off your jacket.

As you sat in the dim gold illuminating from your desk lamp, the pressure in your chest returned. You could feel your heart pick up speed in your ribcage and you lifted your finger up to your mouth to suck on the dollop of blood that had welled to the surface. It was a small scratch from when the candles went out—your own clumsiness—but it was nothing a My Little Pony bandaid couldn't fix.

A featherweight sensation drifted over your arm, and you slapped your palm over it as if to catch whatever invisible insect crawled atop your skin.

There was nothing though.

You glanced over at the window to your right. The sky outside was an unpeculiar ebony riddled with the white speckles of distant stars. No breeze drifted in from outdoors and you double-checked that the window was closed.

You startled as your phone vibrated on top of your desk.

dino!!: oh it's okay! i have dance practice early in the morning, so i'd rather bother you while ur still awake haha dino!!: i'll be by in about 10ish min if that's cool? your phone: sounds good lol and tysm :’)) love mingyu's banana muffins

You smiled to yourself at the thought of those delicious pastries. Chan's friend Mingyu baked whenever he was stressed, and he usually gave out the results of his stress-bakes to friends. The first time you'd tasted his banana chip muffins was the closest you would ever get to heaven on Earth.

“I'm glad he makes you smile at least.”

Your phone clattered to the floor, your physical body leaping five feet in the air as your soul flew out of its encasing. Everything in you jolted like one, big heart palpitation, and your wide eyes took in the sight of a person standing by your window.

Ji fucking Changmin had nary an apology on his lips for scaring the everloving Hell out of you. It was as if he hadn't even moved out of his position at his apartment: the crossed arms, the tense posture, the clenched jaw.

Except, his eyebrow was cocked this time, unamused by your very valid fear.

“Oh, fuck you.” You braced your palms against your bed as you stood opposite from him. “Fuck you, fuck you, and fuck you.”

“I got it the first time.”

You could have blown steam out of your ears. “What the fuck are you doing in my room, you creep?”

He raised his palms up, finally breaking pose. “I know what this looks like—”

“You know what this looks like?” You let out a scoff, throwing your arm out in wild gesticulation to match the throttle of your heartbeat. “This looks like Edward Cullen in Twilight, except this isn't a movie, you're not Robert Parkinson, and you just climbed up a five story building!”

Changmin stepped forward, and you took a very obvious step back. He exhaled, pressing his lips together. “Okay, I deserve that,” he muttered.

“No shit. I should call the cops on you, friend or not. What is the matter with you?” You had known Changmin for as long as your college career thus far. The five of you had met in the freshman dorms and stuck together like a package deal since. You were all quite close, and you'd spent more than your fair share of quality time with Changmin.

But this—nothing could warrant this behavior.

“I need to talk to you about something important.”

You enclosed your palms around your arms, defensive. “Then you call or text or use the front door. My window was locked—”

“The lock on your window should be the least of your concerns,” he huffed. There was a firmness in his voice and behind his words, and a matching gleam of desperation in his face. He pressed his fingers against your bedspread and the air seemed to still.

That phantom breeze had returned and it drifted against your arm. It came accompanied by the weight in your chest. “What,” you stammered, “do you mean?”

He glanced away then, that tension seizing his shoulders again. He scratched his jaw seemingly at odds with words. “The ritual that happened tonight… that was real.”

You paused. “You have got to be shitting me.”

“I'm not.”

“Changmin, I'm way too exhausted to deal with your pranks right now. If tonight was all an elaborate thing you guys did to get back at me for waking you up at 4AM—”

“Yn.” The tone of his voice made you stop. It made you think. You considered the graveness of his expression differently; you had never seen him so serious. It was jarring. “I am being incredibly serious. The thing that happened to you tonight? That was a summoning ritual, and you were actually put into contact with Hell.”

You remained quiet, unknowing of how to answer. All logic in your brain was countering his statements profusely—it wasn't possible. There was no way something as little as chalk, salt, and candles could open up a portal to Hell.

At your lack of response, Changmin continued, “Tonight, a line to Hell was opened. The ritual was meant to contact a demonic entity. Usually, ritualists use it to make deals and bargains with whoever answers the call. The human link—the 'sacrifice’” —he looked at you pointedly— “is one half of the signing party responsible for fulfilling whatever the bargain is.”

A shudder rattled down your spine at what he revealed to you. This had to be a joke, you thought. This could not be real. But every time you looked at Changmin, the expression on his face did not change and his voice did not waver.

You swallowed, hard. “So,” you said finally, your voice barely a whisper, “you're saying…”

A lone nod. “You made contact with a demon tonight.” He paused for a beat, something warring behind his eyes. “You made contact with me.”

What. You sputtered out a laugh.

Changmin released a small, but sharp exhale, patiently waiting for you to let your giggles out. There were undoubtedly better ways to reveal it, but any way would still evoke such a reaction from you.

“Okay, now I know you're fucking with me,” you said with the lingering curl of a smile on your face. “You're saying that you're a demon?”

He seemed to weigh an idea in his head for a millisecond before caving. He flicked his chin out toward you. “You cut yourself tonight?”

You flinched and instinctively curled your right hand, your other fingers running over the small slice in your index finger. “What?”

“Come on. Let me see.” At your balking, he lifted up his hand. “I bet you I have a matching mark.”

Your eyes narrowed. “What hand and where?”

“Right hand. Index.”

“This doesn't count because that's the most predictable hand and finger.”

He rolled his eyes. “Yn, don't be silly. I literally have the same mark.”

Slowly, he stepped his way around the bed to your side, stopping only close enough where you could inspect his hand from a distance. Lo and behold, the flesh of his index finger was neatly sliced open, slightly diagonal in the top right quadrant of the finger—exactly where yours was.

The breeze returned like a cool breath, gentle against your cheek, as you raised your eyes to meet his again. The horror in your gaze must have confirmed that he'd convinced you of who—no—what he was.

“So what does this mean exactly?” you asked him. There were no giggles this time.

Changmin sucked his bottom lip between his teeth. “We are now bound via soul,” he said and extended his hand out slightly. His fingers curled inward and he gave a tugging motion level with your chest, and something deep within you moved.

Your eyes went as wide as a full moon. “What the Hell…”

“That's the line we're connected by.”

“I'm on a leash?”

Changmin glanced toward the ceiling as if mentally counting to three, then took a breath. “Not a leash; it's just a line. That's what was created between us when I became the demon on the other end and you spilled your blood on the pentagram. It doesn't mean we're restrained to stay within physical proximity of one another, but it does mean that you can't run away and hide from me.”

You shuddered. “That sounds scary.”

“It would be if you didn't fulfill your end of a bargain, but you never made a bargain.” He lifted his baseball cap up to card a hand through his blond hair before replacing the hat on his head. “Which basically means that we're stuck like this. We are emotionally and metaphysically bound to one another.”

There were a lot of words that had been said over the past few minutes, and most of them were difficult to wrap your head around. The worst truth of all was the brief, but very real sensation you had felt when Changmin had tugged on the invisible link between the two of you. That weight on your chest from earlier… had that been the “bond” settling into place?

“How could sitting on a chalk pentagram even” —you waved your hands around as you attempted to formulate words— “how was all of that possible? I thought Ouija boards were fucking toys?”

“I told you guys that you shouldn't play around with those things.”

“Well, how the Hell were we supposed to know this was going to happen?” you countered. The four of you had done some innocent fooling around, and now, you were “emotionally and metaphysically bound” to Changmin. Whatever the fuck that meant.

Changmin sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. “We can undo it. I think.”

You think? “How?”

“I—I need to do some research,” he said with a grimace. “I've never heard about instances like this and I didn't think it was even possible. I thought I could just intercept the call—”

Intercept the call? You shook your head. “I need you to start from the beginning, but slowly, as if you're speaking to a five year old.”

He opened his mouth to retort, then stopped abruptly.

A change in expression flickered across his face. It was brief, almost instinctual. You swore it looked like mild irritation, but it was gone before you could be sure. “You should probably answer the door.”

“Answer the what?”

You nearly yelped at the sound of loud knocking at the apartment door. Confusion pummeled you first, then you were swearing. “Chan.” You forgot he was stopping by.

“I'll be right back,” you said, moving toward the bedroom door.

“It’s fine. I need to go looking for answers.” Changmin stopped you before you went out, and you couldn't suppress the violent shudder when the invisible line in your chest pulled taut. “And Yn? Don't do anything stupid.”

You made a face at him from over your shoulder. “I'm already soul-bound to you by accident. How much more stupid can this get?”

He threw his hand up in the air. “Just don't do anything Hyunjae or Shuhua would do. Actually, just don't tell any of them about what I just told you.”

Why not? You were about to ask when you heard Chan's voice at the door calling out to you. Another swear fell from your mouth and you rushed out into the hallway to rip the door off its hinges.

Chan startled as it opened, his eyes going wide like a deer's in the bright hallway lights. There was a loose blue hoodie hanging over his green dinosaur pajama pants. He had his phone in his hands along with a paper bag undoubtedly carrying the legendary banana muffins. “Oh, hi. Sorry, is someone here with you? I thought I heard another voice.”

You braced a hand around the doorframe. Don't tell anyone. “Ah,” you winced, the lie curling up your tongue, “I was just on a call with a friend and he wouldn't shut up. Sorry about the wait.”

“No, it's no worries,” he insisted with a classic, easygoing smile. It made the adrenaline in your veins calm somewhat. Chan had always been a good presence to be around. There was something perpetually warm about his persona that made you want to stay in his orbit. “Oh, right!” He handed you the bag. “These are all yours. Mingyu says to let him know how they taste this time around, as always.”

As you accepted the bag, your face lit up like a Hollywood billboard. “I can guarantee that they will taste as divine as always. Tell him thanks for me” —you glanced up sheepishly from the paper bag— “and also, thanks for stopping by. I wish I was home earlier so you didn't have to drive all the way back.”

You didn't realize your face had contorted into a grimace. If only you had come straight home instead of indulging your friends’ curiosity tonight. Then, you would have been here with the banana muffins and one less soul-bond to worry about; and you would have been none the wiser to the fact that one of your college friends was a demonic entity.

Hadn't Changmin mentioned that you were now emotionally and metaphysically bound? Did that mean he could feel your emotions?

The smile had long since slipped from your face, but now your hands grew cold. When you got your muffins just now, did he know—

“Yn?” You perked up at the sound of your name. Chan's hand froze midair, then retracted back to his pocket. Concern shone on his face as stark as day. “Are you okay? You look like you just forgot you have something due tonight,” he chuckled half-heartedly, but the sheen in his eyes told a different story.

“Oh.” You forced out a laugh. “I'm fine! Yeah, I was just reminded of something. Actually—uhm, I shouldn't hold you up for any longer. It's getting late.”

Chan stared at you for a moment longer, and for that seemingly infinitesimal second, you feared he could see the invisible knot tied to your ribcage. “Right,” he said suddenly while shaking his head. “You should get some sleep.”

Your hand reached for the doorknob. “Thanks for dropping by again.”

“Wait” —his palm pressed against the door to keep you from closing it— “are you sure you're okay?”

It was as if your guilt was written in plain words across your forehead: No! I just became magically handcuffed to one of my demonic friends! And I also sat in a pentagram salt circle less than two hours ago! Please help me!

You channeled all your energy into a convincing smile. “Yes, I promise I'm okay. Have a good night, Chan.”

It was enough. That easygoing beam graced your eyes once more and he took his hand back. “Okay,” he said, “good night.” He waved to you as he turned on the ball of his foot, and you waited until he turned the corner before closing the door.

Your entire body deflated as you let out a rather dramatic sigh. That sigh turned into a loud groan, which eventually escalated into a borderline scream.

Like a woman possessed (would possession have been a better outcome than this?), you slunk back into your bedroom with your treasures in your grasp. “Hey,” you muttered as you kicked the door closed, “I'm… back.”

The room was vacant. Not a trace of the blond demon could be found.

“Son of a gun.” You settled into your desk chair and pulled out one of Mingyu's stress-baked muffins. As you peeled the parchment wrapper from the muffin's bottom half, you attempted to process all that had occurred within the past two hours. Every time you rewound the events, you met the same dozen or so questions. If only Changmin were still here to answer them, but he mentioned something about going off to answer questions of his own, including ones pertaining to undoing this rather inconvenient situation you’d found yourselves in.

“He should have stopped us,” you garbled between bites of banana chip muffin.

Your chewing came to a gradual halt as you marinated on that thought. “He… should have stopped us.” Why didn't he stop the four of you? If he had stopped you and suggested a movie instead, or any other activity for that matter, you wouldn't be here and he wouldn't be stressed.

He should have stopped you since he knew what you were getting yourselves into.

You crumpled the now empty muffin wrapper in your fist. Ji Changmin had far too much to explain to you.

PART II: THE CONSEQUENCES

IF THERE WAS NO REST FOR THE WICKED, Changmin didn't want to be wicked anymore. By popular perception, he and half his heritage were “evil.” While his father was a human from this mortal plane, his mother hailed from one of the nine circles of Hell. They'd fallen in love, conceived a halfling child, and the remainder was history.

“You look like shit, Ji.”

Changmin's eye twitched as irritation needled beneath the surface of his skin. “Thanks,” he drawled, not bothering to spare Lee Chan a glance. If he had limited energy reserves, he wasn't about to spend a drop on giving Chan the time of day.

Plus, Changmin was more than aware of the thick shadows that lingered beneath his eyes like fog clinging to cobblestone. He had woken up from his ninety minute power nap, trudged into the bathroom, and faced his own gauntness in the mirror. Why the fuck did Lee Chan think it necessary to point it out?

Chan's stare lingered on him through the practice room's mirror for a moment longer until he was called away by Kwon Soonyoung. Only then, when Chan's attention was passed elsewhere, could Changmin release the breath he was holding onto.

It was one thing that Changmin couldn't shake the offputting energy he felt whenever he was near Chan; he could stomach being on the same dance team as the guy, even though they each harbored an unspoken dislike for one another; but it was another thing entirely that he and Chan were both friends with you. The two boys attempted to be civil in front of you because your comfort was more important than their pettiness, but currently, said truce was nowhere in sight just as you were.

Simply, there were less reasons for him to be amiable today, including his thinning patience. Last night’s debacle had drained him of his energy. He was a halfling, not a pure-blooded demon. Additionally, his mother wasn’t a high-ranking demon by any means, which basically screwed him in the area of power stores. He had magical capabilities, but it could only handle so much. Answering ritual calls and creating soul bonds required a decent amount of power, which was why they were usually only answered by the more powerful demonheads of Hell. They enjoyed making human suffering a pastime.

Tacking onto that Changmin’s brilliant idea of warping into and out of your room last night instead of using his own two feet, as well as spending hours digging through the occultish corners of the internet, added all together to make for one exhausted, stressed, and grumpy halfling.

A presence—this one being far more welcome than the previous one—appeared by Changmin’s side in the mirror. “You really need to start going to bed when you say you're going to bed,” Juyeon said as plopped down onto the laminated hardwood to stretch out his calf muscles.

Changmin followed his lead onto the floor, but opted to slide into a left split. “I was tossing and turning the whole night,” he dismissed with an innocent lie. (Well, “innocent” was subjective.)

“You should try this new matcha that Hyunjae got from his hyung. He brought it back from his recent trip from Japan.”

For a second, Changmin let the words feed into his head one by one: matcha… from Hyunjae… from Hyunjae's brother… which one was he? Oh, the one who just got back from Japan, Sangyeon. When his tired brain finally caught up, he gave a nod. “What about it?” he asked, raising himself up to switch his hips into the right split.

Juyeon looked on with envious admiration, even if this was the thousandth time he stretched with Changmin. “It’s really refreshing and has a bit of a caffeine kick, but it's not as awful as coffee. Indigo likes it, too—said something about it being one of those rare finds that you can only get in the secluded countryside or something.”

Changmin paused. Juyeon's girlfriend Indigo was someone Changmin got along with well, but that wasn't why he was slightly interested in the matcha now. What Juyeon wasn't aware of was Indigo's witch heritage. Just as Changmin was hiding in plain sight, so too was Indigo. And if she recommended some countryside matcha powder, he was going to be inclined to try some.

“Yeah,” he coughed, “sure. Sounds like it wouldn't hurt to try.”

Pleased with the outcome of the conversation, Juyeon smiled and nodded. “I'll get you some later today then. Hopefully it'll help with the weird headaches you've been having, too.”

Changmin had nearly forgotten about those with everything that had happened. He'd recently been struck by random headaches; there were no patterns to their appearance, and no remedy—human, at least—that could soothe them until they faded on their own. He'd failed to ask Indigo about it because, well, he didn't think it was important enough to act on. But if this tea could help him out, then it would be taking out two birds with one stone.

Practice went on swimmingly. Though Changmin could only boast about his ninety minutes of sleep, when it came to dance, it was as if he was possessed. This was a hobby—a passion—that never failed to drive a fire through his veins. It didn't matter if he'd had the worst week in the history of worst weeks; when the music started, he was cued in, and he gave it his all.

As a river of sweat poured down his face and the room suffocated with the humidity of everybody's labored breathing, practice came to an end. Changmin hiked his duffle bag over his shoulder and poured water down his throat. Juyeon wasn't far behind as the two of them waved goodbye to their teammates and headed out.

Saturday mornings usually occurred in similar fashions: dance practice was held from 7AM to 10AM, then Changmin and Juyeon would return to their apartment to wash up; Changmin would then eat about an elephant's worth of food while he caught up on lecture recordings—unless he had something else to distract him.

In the case of this Saturday, as soon as Changmin had finished showering, he plummeted face-first into his pillows and was out like a light.

Demons could dream, one must understand. However, the demonic body tended only to dream when it was well spent—exhausted. Demons liked to correlate a weakness with having dreams, because foolish visions meant that one was unable to control their own mind. Control was rather important when dealing with magic.

Even if the dream was about, say, something real and occurring right at the moment Changmin was asleep—it was still considered a dream. Because he had not yet learned to leash his mind from meandering down his fresh soul bond, he found himself in a body that was not his own.

Yours. It was your body.

Was this real, he wondered, as he soaked in the familiar sight of your bed, the desk, and the closet space. He'd been in here just last night—albeit, in a fashion that wasn't agreeable—and he didn't expect it to change, but it did look real.

It was like he was actually sitting in your room, except he wasn't able to move or control his own body. The heart that beat in his chest was yours, the blood that pumped in his ears was yours, and the breath that fell from his mouth was yours.

He inwardly sighed as you adjusted your position at your desk chair. What a predicament he found himself in. He could feel the ache in your back from the uncomfortable piece of furniture beneath you, as well as the knots in your shoulders. (Did that mean you had a bad night of sleep?)

Though, it wasn't all bad, he supposed. He did adore the smell of your perfume lingering in the air and clinging to the sheets, the walls, the furniture… You would never know this of course, if he could help it.

You were currently reading a book—for class or for enjoyment, he hadn't the foggiest. The left side of the novel you clutched in your hand was riddled with colored sticky tabs, and you had the back of a ballpoint pen pressed between your lips. (His lips? …No, this was a precarious line of thinking.)

Changmin followed along as you read. Well, he tried. Whoever designed the layout of this book must have had perfect vision and no sympathy for someone visually challenged. The font size was likely less than ten point, and good grief, the line spacing—

“Holy shit.”

He paused. Right, that was you and not him.

You leaned forward and brought the book closer to your face as you read over the line again.

“Oh my gosh, Eliot, you incredible, talented woman.” This earnest compliment was swiftly followed by a colored tab to mark the passage. Changmin was about to read what you tabbed, but your eyes went down to the desk to scrawl a thought onto a post-it note. “Dorothea, you poor, poor soul. Casaubon needs to get the fuck over himself—you are fifty, dude.”

Changmin, frankly, had no clue what was happening. But he didn't entirely mind, because the pure joy that fluttered in your (his) chest was enough to keep him satisfied. There was something oddly serene about being in your sphere of presence, and in this state of being, that kept him at ease.

The stress of breaking this soul bond ebbed away like the receding edge of a tide.

Alas, all good things had to come to an end. Changmin couldn't tell how much time passed before you bookmarked your place with an index card and pulled your phone toward you.

12:04PM was what your lockscreen read.

Oh, so he was definitely catching up on sleep, at least.

Wait—had you not eaten lunch yet? The unmistakable void in the pit of your stomach…

Yn! Eat lunch, you silly girl! Eat—

“He could just be away from his phone,” you muttered to yourself. There were a few app notifications waiting for you, but each dismissal was fueled with mild disappointment.

Who were you talking about, he wondered.

A flash of bitter annoyance pierced his chest at the memory of who you'd been texting last night with that big smile on your face. However, any of that sentiment was dashed clean away when you pulled up your text chain with him, not Lee Chan.

Changmin's heart sped to a gallop as he watched you swipe out just as quickly as you'd checked in. The reason was two-pronged: one, you were wondering about him; and two, you had texted him while he was currently asleep and he did not know how to wake himself up.

Ji Changmin, he chastised himself, you're not only intruding, you're also inadvertently ignoring her.

He could understand that he put you (and abandoned you) in a worrisome place last night. If he could tear out the strands of his fried, blond hair he would.

You were his friend, were you not? He cared about you, and this soul bond wasn't only stressful to him, but to you as well. Maybe ignorance really would have been bliss in this case.

Your phone emitted a low vibration as it rang. Changmin had missed the moment you decided to call someone. Juyeon's contact name and photo was displayed in the middle of the screen, and he answered before the call went to voicemail. “Yn, what's up? You're—you’re not mad about last night, are you?” The wince in Juyeon’s voice was audible.

“No, I'm not mad,” you promised him as you leaned your cheek against your palm. “I was just wondering if you know where Changmin is. I texted him an hour ago and he hasn't answered yet—I guess I'm just a little antsy.”

Shuffling, then, “Oh! Changminnie's sleeping. He didn't sleep well last night, so as soon as we came home from practice, he was knocked out.”

Relief made your shoulders sag. “Ah, okay.” A smile, self-deprecating in nature, curled up on your mouth. “No worries then. Thanks, Juyo.”

“No problem. I'll let him know to call you once he wakes up.”

“No, it's okay” —you began putting your materials away— “have you had lunch yet? I can swing by with food; I haven't eaten yet.”

“Really? I haven't eaten yet, and Changmin hasn't either. I'll split the cost with you.” Changmin wished he could say that he would also split the cost. Why were you coming over? He hadn't gotten a good look at the texts you sent before.

(It had to be because you wanted to see him, right? To talk—of course to talk and not for any other reason.)

You stood up from your chair and stretched out the stiff muscles in your back. “I'll be by in—maybe twenty or thirty minutes?”

“Sounds great!” Juyeon chirped. “Thanks Yn-ie. See you in a bit.”

You let out a small laugh. “Yeah, see you.”

As the call cut off, Changmin was left with a daunting task: to wake himself up. There didn't seem to be many options as to do this. If demonic dreaming was activated based on lack of control, that meant he had a lack of energy. Thus, if he couldn't yet regain control, it could only mean that he was still tired.

There were a great many things that he had yet to figure out about this kind of magic. It wasn't like his mother ever anticipated he would need to know about it, so she never explicitly taught it and he never asked.

He was kicking himself in the head now.

Meanwhile, you had busied yourself with getting ready to leave. You'd selected a jacket from your closet, swiped on a thin layer of lip gloss, and spritzed yourself with that divine-smelling perfume. It made his toes curl and his chest feel fuzzy.

Just as you were filling your purse, your phone jolted with an incoming call.

Changmin soured as he saw the caller ID through your eyes and felt, not disdain, but pleasant surprise. He couldn't fathom what you saw in Lee Chan, but he never said anything; you and Chan knew each other longer, after all. It wasn't his place to say anything, especially when his reason revolved around something as subjective as a “vibe.”

“Hi Chan,” you greeted when you accepted the call.

It was funny—a dull, but annoyingly familiar pulsing appeared in Changmin's head. It beat steady against his cranium, hard and relentless. The longer it continued, the more it hurt. Could you feel it, too? The sensation was recognizable at this point after so many instances of the random headaches popping up. Was he seriously getting another stupid headache during a dream?

He winced to himself, but suddenly felt his heart drop into the pit of his stomach when he heard you audibly grimace.

Was this headache yours or his? Should he be worried?

“What was that? Are you okay?” asked Chan from the other side.

Changmin/You clenched your jaw as your vision went spotty for a moment. Your hand whipped out to catch yourself against the table.

Panic seized his chest as you muttered out a reassurance, though unconvincing. The invisible string that tied Changmin to you tightened, stealing the breath right out of his lungs. It was as if his own physical body was yanking him back.

He was waking up.

No, he thought, no I need to make sure she's okay—

Distantly, he heard yours and Chan's voices. Your words between one another were muddied and distorted to Changmin. Before he could even begin to understand what was happening, his eyes opened.

“I could smell lunch through the door,” Juyeon sang to you in greeting as he eagerly beckoned you into the apartment.

You chuckled, shucking your shoes off under the rack by the door. In your hand, you held onto a large bag containing a box of delectably fragrant fried chicken and fries. Oh, glorious sodium and cholesterol. “Yeah, well, imagine my suffering as I was driving over here with it in the car,” you mused.

Juyeon locked the door behind you and took the bag out of your hands.

It was another thing to return to the site of last night's ritual. You'd been in this apartment dozens of times before, but it was difficult to look at the specific spot on the living room floor where the chalk and salt had been. Even if the vacuum cleaner had taken care of all that remained, you couldn't help but choose to sit on the end of the couch farthest from that spot on the floor.

“Oh, could I get a glass of water, by the way?” you asked Juyeon as the two of you began taking things out of the bag to lay them out on the coffee table. “I was feeling a bit lightheaded earlier.”

Juyeon's eyebrows creased as he straightened to head into the kitchen. “Shit, yeah—of course. You drove here while feeling like that? What if you passed out, Yn-ie?”

You snuck a fry into your mouth, murmuring your thanks as he handed you the cup of water. “I'm fine,” you insisted with a vague wave of your hand, “it was just the blood rushing up to my head, I think. And besides, you were already expecting me and I was hungry.”

“I would have woken Changmin up and dragged his ass out of bed.” Juyeon settled onto the couch with you and cracked open the can of Sprite he'd gotten out of the fridge. “You know, Changmin's been getting these random headaches, too. I guess not exactly nausea, but you guys have gotta be more careful,” he waved a fried potato at you as he said this.

The irony could not escape you, and you failed to keep a sarcastic smile to yourself. Uh huh. Be more careful, you say? Too late for that. You took a ginger sip of the water. “Is that right? Maybe he just needs more sleep or something.”

“That's what we thought at first,” Juyeon hummed, idly scratching the back of his neck, “but they happen no matter what he does. There's not really a noticeable pattern.”

You wondered if it had anything to do with his demoness. You couldn't be too sure because you hardly knew anything about his species yourself, but that could explain the seemingly randomness of the headaches. Perhaps it was another question to add to your list.

“Huh.” You frowned. “Well, I hope they go away for him soon.”

Juyeon nodded solemnly. “Yeah, same. Hyunjae's gonna bring over some matcha for him to try… oh, hey! You like matcha—do you want some?”

“Sure, I'd love—”

Your phone buzzed violently in your jacket pocket. A laugh of disbelief flew from your mouth when you saw the caller ID, and you flashed the screen at Juyeon. “Speak of the Devil.”

Juyeon chuckled as you answered. “Hello?”

“Hey, I'm so sorry I missed your text.” His voice, rough from sleep, was accompanied by heavy breathing and the sounds of fabric shuffling in your ear.

You nearly choked, but you remembered that Juyeon was none the wiser to the weird spike in your heartbeat, nor the reason for it. “It's all good; I was being impatient. Juyo said you didn't sleep well.” Your eyes darted to his closed bedroom door and wondered why he hadn't come out yet.

“Yeah.” A brief pause. “Are you—are you okay?”

“Of course, I'm okay,” you drawled, glancing over at Juyeon. “Why? Should I not be okay?”

“No, I mean—” His voice in your ear and behind his bedroom door overlapped one another like two ocean waves colliding along the sand. His door ripped open.

Changmin stood on the threshold with his phone in one hand and the other clutching the doorknob. He was in a loose white T-shirt and sweatpants, a thin layer of sweat making his cheekbones shine. His eyes, a wild creature of their own, landed on you—all of the tension in his body melted away.

He exhaled and sank against the doorframe, ending the call. “Hell…” he muttered under his breath as he dragged a hand through his hair.

Concern had you rising to your feet. “What? What's wrong?”

Changmin closed his bedroom door behind him and collapsed onto the couch somewhere between you and Juyeon. “Bad dream,” he grunted. “How much are we splitting?” The latter was asked as he shoved a fry into his mouth and pulled out the Venmo app on his phone.

You and Juyeon exchanged glances over the blond head: what just happened?; you think I know?

Juyeon sent you a shrug. “Well Yn?”

Now their focus was on you. You took your seat again and reached for your glass of water. “Ten bucks each.”

All of the food that you brought turned into crumbs faster than Cinderella's carriage at midnight. Considering all three of you had barely eaten all day, it was expected. At some point, Juyeon dipped out of the apartment to meet someone for a group project, so that left you and Changmin alone. It was the perfect opportunity to get what you came here for.

“You left pretty abruptly last night,” you said to him as you returned to the couch with a full glass of water. Changmin stood nearly opposite to you, his back against the wall by his bedroom door. He also nursed a cup of water. “And I have some questions.”

He let out a small laugh, his lips pressing his dimples into his cheeks. “I'm sure you do. Sorry, I realized that after I left,” he admitted and raised his free hand up to grab the back of his neck. “So shoot.”

It was strange, you thought. There was no way this guy could be a demon, but was that leaning into stereotype? Last night, that feeling you got when he looked at you from beneath the shadow of his cap… your hairs had stood on their ends and you couldn't shake the spike of adrenaline in your bloodstream. It had been undeniable.

But here he was with a pretty, boyish smile as if he was a completely different person.

“What did you mean by 'intercept the call?’ What exactly happened during the ritual last night?” you asked.

The smile slipped from his face a little, and his eyes flitted over to the spot you had been sitting twelve hours ago. “Like I said,” he began, “you opened a line to Hell—like a phone call, basically. I channeled enough energy to answer it before anyone else from Hell could. And instead of, y'know, appearing in front of you like another demon would, I was already there and just chose to stay quiet when the candles went out.”

You straightened. “So the breeze in the room was your doing?”

Changmin cocked his head to the side with a wince. “I think so? At least, I can't control it yet. Think of it as a physical manifestation of power.”

A physical manifestation of power—you imagined last night's scene from Changmin's point of view, where he stood in the far corner. He would have focused his energy toward the breach between the worlds, and that fulfillment swept through the room like a gust of wind. But then what about all the other times? That moment wasn't the only other instance of a cool breeze on your skin.

When you brought this up to him, Changmin pressed his lips together. “Ah. This?”

On cue, something lightweight and cool brushed past your cheek. Your hand darted up to cover it, and you looked over at Changmin who arched a brow at you. “You get creepier and creepier the more I know you.”

His mouth burst at the seams with a smile. He ducked his blond head, shaking it. You were missing some kind of joke here. “Don't speak too soon,” he said. When he raised his head back up, he ran his tongue over his smile. “It happens when I want it to, it happens when I don't want it to. Just depends.”

“Great.”

“I'll get it under control,” he promised.

You leaned forward onto your knees and pressed your mouth into a slight pout. “Is there anything I can do to bug the shit out of you? This seems like it's only entertaining for you.”

“Well,” Changmin shrugged helplessly, “that's kind of the point of why demons started to do this. They find humans entertaining, and they also like to hold them accountable. The line” —he gave a gentle tug at the invisible string you still couldn't find— “is an insurance policy.”

“Saying it like that just implies it's that much harder to work your way around it.”

“Pretty much.” A grin split his face, and you were struck by the ease you smiled back without having meant to. “Don't look too excited now.”

You flattened your face and voice. “I'm thrilled.”

Before Changmin could respond, you suddenly remembered the main question that plagued you last night. You cleared your throat, your fingers dancing around the sides of your glass. “By the way… why didn't you stop us last night?” You watched his facial expression and how it was carefully knitted into something blank. “If you knew what was going to happen, you could have insisted we stopped, and we would have. Why let us get to this point?” you asked, gesturing between the two of you.

Changmin's throat bobbed as he swallowed. “I was pretty confident that I could intercept it, so there wasn't any real risk with doing the ritual if you guys wanted to have fun. I just didn't count on…” He lifted his right hand, where the pinkish scar was left on his index finger.

He hadn't counted on you getting cut and sealing the bond.

You pinched the space between your eyes. “Ah. My clumsiness has now doomed me to be metaphysically handcuffed to you.”

“I wasn't going to say it…”

“Oh, go to Hell.”

Changmin laughed. “Only if you come with me.”

Heat rushed to the surface of your skin. Sometimes, his mouth moved too fast. You snuck a glance at him through your fingers while he sipped on his water. If you peered close enough, the tips of his ears were flushing to a light pink.

He lowered the glass from his lips, and a crease formed between his brows. “Also,” he said carefully, his tone starkly different from less than a minute ago, “I do have another side effect to add to the list.”

Your stomach flipped. Not another thing—

“I may or may not be able to occupy your physical body when I'm dreaming—”

Changmin grimaced as the bottom of your glass banged against the wooden coffee table. That expression only deepened at the wide-eyed fury—fear—on your face. “And when I was asleep earlier,” he continued on, dooming himself to walk the plank, “I kind of intruded on your reading session, and when you called Juyeon, and when Chan call—”

“Can I murder you? Would that harm me in any way?” you cut in.

His mouth was open, but no words were coming out.

You stood, abandoning your seat on the couch and your water glass, to step across the room toward him. “Because if I could,” you said while pressing the back of your knuckles to your lips, “I can rid myself of the absolute creep of a friend I have!”

Changmin's eyes widened as soon as it hit him—your hand. Your hand hit his shoulder.

He bolted.

“Hey, let's talk about this, Yn-ah!” he exclaimed and dove into the kitchen to duck behind the counter. Some monstrously high-pitched scream left his mouth as he scrambled to stay out of your reach.

“We are talking about this, Changmin-ah.” You charged after him, chasing him around the counter and back out of the kitchen. If you didn't respect Juyeon like you did, you would have fully embraced becoming a bull in a china shop.

Your fist hit the solid plane of his bedroom door just as it slammed in your face. You let out a sound suspiciously close to a growl. “You possessed my body without my consent!”

“It's not like I consented to it either! It just happened!”

“That's not a valid excuse, you panini head!”

“I don't want to possess your body!” he insisted through the door with his voice going higher than the Eiffel Tower. “Why would I want to possess your body? I don't wanna be around when you and bestie Lee Chan gush about Star Trek.”

On certain occasions you really wished you had Superman's laser vision. Then you could burn through this stupid piece of door and roast a demon. “You're not helping yourself, Ji.”

A beat passed. “Look,” he huffed. “It only happened because I was exhausted as shit, okay? I really had no control of it, I swear on my life.”

You remained still with your arms braided across your chest without a word coming to mind.

“I didn't see anything sensitive, I promise, and my body woke me up and pulled me out of it when you got that really bad headache.”

Huh? That bout of lightheadedness… was that related to how the connection was severed? Or at least, hindered? You brushed the curiosity aside; weren't you supposed to be mad at this guy?

“Which was also why I was worried when I woke up and asked if you were okay,” he added in earnest. He did look worried like you were going to die when he woke up…

You glared impetuously at the closed door to the point you were sure even the wood grains were two seconds from apologizing to you. “Okay, fine,” you relented. “But you're not fully off the hook; I just won't use the kitchen knives.”

A choking sound filtered through and you felt the corners of your mouth tug upward.

“What can I do to make it even?” Changmin asked, though he continued to remain behind the closed door.

Frankly, there weren't many things he could do to even the score unless you chose to be creepy and sit in on his private moments. You shuddered—you’d rather not. Those were private for a reason. Maybe he could burn his eyes out with bleach. (Kidding… ish.) “I don't know,” you said half-heartedly, ”tell me a secret.”

A moment of silence passed. “I thought it was hot when you asked if you could kill me.”

Not even an ounce of shame with this one, huh? “You're sick. I'm leaving.”

For the second time today, his bedroom door ripped open. “No, wait, I was kidding! Yn, I was kidding.” (He was not kidding).

You stopped, half-whirled around. In your periphery, he stepped out of his room, but refrained from getting too close. When you turned around fully, the red that dusted his cheekbones was unmistakable. Unfortunately, seeing him flustered was enough for you at the moment.

With a feigned, heavy sigh, you motioned to him. “C'mere.”

Changmin perked up like a confused puppy.

“Come here,” you repeated with more urgency this time. You curled your hand toward you to beckon him closer.

He crept closer to you. There was a gleam of uncertainty and suspicion in his eyes as you continued to gesture at him closer… and closer still. Your heart throttled against your ribcage; your physical body was even unsure of what exactly you had in mind.

Only once his face was close enough you could count his eyelashes were you satisfied. You could hear him gulp.

And maybe you let the moment linger too long. His gaze flickered away from your eye contact for a heartbeat, eyelashes fluttering as he considered something out of the bounds of friendship.

You raised your hand up to his forehead and flicked him between his eyes. Hard.

Changmin yelped and fumbled backward to the boisterous sound of your laughter. He rubbed his forehead furiously where an angry, red mark formed and smarted. He snarled at you, “Not cool!” His face was nearly as red as the mark… oops.

“That's what you get!” you countered with an accusing finger. “Now. Promise me you'll never purposely possess my body in your dreams, you perv.”

A grumble came from the depths of his throat—agreement. “I never did it on purpose,” he mumbled, slapping his hand with yours in a binding handshake. He sounded like a teen boy who's gaming console was just taken away.

“And promise me that you will take care of yourself, so that we can get out of this binding thing and so that you don't accidentally possess me.”

“Didn't you offer to get possessed last night?” Changmin stiffened as the words left his lips. “I didn't mean that! Don't get the kitchen knives!”

His giggles pierced the air, sharp but endearing, as he scrambled back into his room with you clinging to his heels. “Or get the kitchen knives—it’s kind of hot.”

“Ji Changmin.”

PART III: THE RELATIVE

WHEN YOU APPEARED IN YOUR 8:30 biopsychology lecture on Monday morning, you had nearly forgotten that the world had not completely turned upside down when you bound your soul to Changmin’s. No one else but you and he knew about it, and it seemed he was determined to keep it that way. Nonetheless, when you settled in your usual seat about midway up the lecture hall, close to the exit on stage right, you looked into Yeh Shuhua’s terrifyingly beautiful eyes and almost blurted your secret.

It was because of that reason, and the fact that she was one of your close friends. She was one of the participants of the ritual; it was only right that you disclosed to her the consequences of all your actions. However, the reminder from Changmin echoed in your head like a dull heartbeat: Don’t tell any of them. Don’t do something stupid like Hyunjae or Shuhua. He realized that ‘stupid’ applied to him, too, right?

“You seem antsy,” were her first words to you as you finally decided on how you would roll up your jacket. It had taken a couple tries and configurations before you settled on just draping it over the chair behind you.

You straightened in your chair. Perhaps subtlety was not with you this morning. “My coffee was too strong,” you said.

She snorted, a bright and unassuming sound, as she pulled her laptop out from her bag. “Honey, you don’t drink coffee.”

…Right. You let the words sink in to properly register your dumbassery, then settled on the most basic excuse known to college students. “It’s too early for this.”

“Amen.” Conversation saved.

When you first signed up for this class, you were under the impression that it would be a riveting insight into the brain and its inner workings. Alas, your professor from Psych101 did you a disservice by testifying to Psych210’s interest factor, because it was entirely lacking in interesting things. The majority of what was being discussed in lecture could be read about via the slides, but unfortunately, participation was mandatory. Even worse was that this class was the prerequisite to the neuroscience class that was actually interesting.

You didn’t like to critique the teaching skills of a professor who was meant to research and not to teach, but you were going to for the umpteenth time.

Beside you, Shuhua barely swallowed a yawn and hid the last bits of it behind the lid of her coffee tumbler. She took a sip, then leaned over to you. “I’m pretty sure I learned all of this in freshman year biology.”

“Is that right,” you murmured. You hadn’t taken the introductory biology series because you were only minoring in psychology, whereas Shuhua was a neuroscience major. “You must really be suffering then.”

Her head slowly touched down onto your shoulder. “Tell me about it… by the way, did you hear about the house party that’s happening on Saturday?”

You hummed. “Who’s hosting?” House parties were usually something you needed to be a part of a friend group to be invited to. Though, that was usually the case for all parties in college, you’d found out. Fraternity parties were oftentimes exclusive to Greeks, or if you knew a frat brother or sorority sister. Other parties were spread by word of mouth and required an entrance fee that amounted to a fraudulent sum of money. Thus, if you went to any party, it was either a house party hosted by a friend of a friend, or one of your friends’ birthday parties.

“Hm… it’s my family friend’s kid’s friend group.” She paused, then clarified her statement, “Yangyang. You know Yangyang, right?

You made a sound of acknowledgement. “Isn't he friends with Xiaojun, Kevin, and Yuqi, that group?”

“That's the one,” she chirped. “But he only lives with Xiaojun and a couple other guys. It's a house in one of the neighborhoods nearby.”

“I see. Are we going?”

“Of course we are, silly.” Shuhua blindly patted one of your hands and you imagined that her eyes were likely already closed. You and your friends were accustomed to forcing one another to socialize outside the group from time to time; it made the college riptide a bit easier to swim through. “I just didn't know if you were aware or not yet.”

“Well, now I am,” you chuckled.

“You sure are.”

The remainder of the lecture went by as dull as it usually did, and 9:30 could not come faster. You and Shuhua bumbled out of the packed auditorium among the crowd of others filing out.

A yawn stretched your mouth open as you checked your phone. “You've got a class after this, right?” you asked Shuhua.

She nodded. “Unfortunately. Do you wanna have lunch together afterward?”

“Ah” —guilt anchored itself to the pit of your stomach, allowing the urge to spill your secret to dwindle— “I'm actually hanging out with Changmin today.” Neither of you had terribly busy Mondays, so you both decided to do some solution-hunting together, whatever that meant. He just needed to be back by the time his dance rehearsal started.

Her mouth quirked to the side in a slight frown. “Oh, okay. Just you two?”

“Yep.”

For a second, you thought she was gazing right into your soul where the invisible knot was tied linking you to your mutual friend. But she suddenly smiled and blew you a kiss. “No worries! Have fun.”

You blinked, the anxiety lingering. “Yeah… thanks. You, too.”

Shuhua left first to hurry off to her next class while you remained in the lobby. You had fully expected that she would at least ask what the two of you were doing, and you were prepared to come up with another dumb excuse. It wasn't suspicious that you and Changmin were hanging out alone, right? There were plenty of instances where you hung out solo with your close friends.

You brushed it away. It was the paranoia talking.

You headed toward the nearest parking lot. Because you lived relatively close to campus, there was usually no need to drive, but since you and Changmin were going elsewhere in the city, you opted to drive.

As you settled into the front seat, you sent him a text to let you know you were on your way over to his apartment. It would be convenient if you could somehow use the soul-bond to communicate with him instead, you thought as you navigated through campus to a nearby neighborhood. Alas, based on what Changmin told you before, the bond was more useful to him than it was for you. How wonderful.

You let your car run as you pulled up to the curb outside of his apartment complex. Through the windows on the first floor, a periwinkle sheen caught your eye. There wasn’t much doubt in your mind that it was the ribbon Changmin tied to his bicycle. It was his favorite color—not that you knew that for any particular reason, other than the fact that you were friends. It was useful information for birthday cards, was your reasoning.

Before you could meander down some weird mental road of thoughts, the passenger side door opened and closed. Your counterpart was dressed in dark green today: dark green sweater, a darker but muted shade of cargo pants, followed by a matching cap shoved over his blond hair. “Hi,” he said, strapping himself in with the seatbelt and setting his bag down by his feet.

He looked particularly pocket-sized today with the cheeky, dimpled smile on his face and you smiled in greeting. “Hi!” you chirped back. “Where to?”

“An aunt of mine lives downtown. Do you know how to get to Union Station?”

You nodded, tugging the car into drive, “Yup. Wow, she lives down by the waterfront?”

“Yeah,” he laughed. When he did, he ducked his head so you only caught a glimpse of that dimpled smile. “She’s married to a siren.”

Your eyes went wide, and his laugh grew louder. You flattened your expression into a deadpan as heat rushed to the back of your neck. “Don’t laugh,” you muttered. “Why are you laughing?”

“I’d say for you to not pout then, but it’s cute,” he replied with that smile lingering on his face in the form of a half-smirk. He had pulled his phone out to text someone. “I’m only laughing because I had a feeling you’d react like that, and I was right.”

You huffed. “I feel like I’m at too much of a disadvantage around you.”

“You have more power than you think.” Changmin passed you a glance and deposited his phone in the cupholder. He leaned his cheek against his knuckles. “You just need to exercise it.”

“Well, I can’t exactly threaten you with kitchen knives and forehead flicks all the time.”

He shrugged. “That’s not what I meant, but it’s whatever. How was class?”

Changmin, Juyeon, and Hyunjae were all aware of yours and Shuhua’s disdain for your shared biopsychology class. The complaints had filed (flooded) in as soon as the first week of classes were over. You could gab on and on about the boredom that plagued you, but you hardly wanted to be a broken record when there were other things to talk about. “It was fine,” you said, then swiftly moved to something else. “I think I almost told Shuhua, like, twice about the soul bond thing. Why can’t we tell them again?”

“Do you really think they’d believe us?”

You thought about it—about the twin cuts on your index fingers, the unseen string that tethered your souls together, the dream that Changmin had. They would think Changmin had roped you into his regular shenanigans, and in a way, he had. You sighed, albeit reluctantly. “True. But it just feels…” you grimaced. “Is it weird that I feel guilty?”

Changmin shook his head. “No, I’ve had to tiptoe around my mom’s and my true nature around you guys for years. It’s natural to wanna be truthful to your friends, Yn, but some things are better left unsaid.”

“Is there a reason why the supernatural community stays hidden? Is that something I can ask?”

“Of course,” he said easily, turning his gaze out the window. “It’s just that it’s better—safer—for us this way. Humans can hardly handle differences amongst themselves as it is; imagine what would happen if they found that even more species of sentient beings existed, y’know?”

Truth was a difficult pill to swallow. It was a capsule that often found itself lodged in a throat rather than being digested. And even if it eventually managed to make it to the stomach, it sank to the bottom like a body anchored by bricks in a river. There was, unfortunately, much merit to what Changmin said.

Your eyes flickered to your side mirrors as you merged onto the highway. “I see.”

“It’s definitely relieving that at least one of my close friends knows the truth now, though.” He knocked the back of his hand against your arm in a warm gesture, and although you were unable to return the expression or even look at him then, he was looking at you.

Because you and Changmin set off just after rush hour passed, the drive through the downtown scene was relatively easy. The rest of your time in the car was spent chatting about the party Yangyang and his housemates were throwing, as well as Changmin directing you to his aunt’s residence by the marina. His ability to give directions left much to be desired; your car was filled with shouts and bickering whenever he told you to turn too late.

Somehow though, you arrived at the right street, and he even helped you find a parking spot along a curb that didn’t involve ungodly hourly parking rates. You wouldn’t call it a complete redemption, but he was on his way toward one.

“Are you sure it’s cool if we just show up unannounced like this?” you asked him, tilting your head back to peer up at the apartments that towered above you. Some of the windows were left open and their curtains drifted whimsically in the mid-morning breeze; some of the fire escapes were connected by copper-colored ladders, fitting together like a puzzle. You liked to think that complexes like this housed residents who were friendly to one another like some fantasy video game—a pair of friends hanging out of their windows to gossip across the fire escapes, a cat sleeping in the window—that sort of thing.

Changmin stood next to you, but his gaze was turned out to the marina in the distance, the sails of boats in the foreground of the slate blue-gray of the bay water. “Yeah, it’s cool. And we’re not exactly unannounced; I told her we were coming.”

“When?” You followed him in through the front door. The hinges squealed upon use and the door shuddered violently when it closed.

“In the car.”

You deadpanned at his back as you followed him up the stairs. “You’re an awful relative.”

“Don’t all relatives show up to their other relatives' homes unannounced?” he jested. “I’m a model nephew, actually.”

“A model in what standard? Hell?”

He shrugged up ahead, glancing back to pass you a boyish grin. “Yeah, basically. My mom says demons just kind of teleport into their relatives’ homes unannounced.”

“So that’s where your incredible lack of boundaries comes from,” you said and glowered up at him.

You met Changmin on the landing of the second floor and ducked out of the stairwell into the dimly-lit corridor. It was quiet here in the middle of the day, but you could hear the muffled sounds of television programs and voices emanating behind different doors you passed by. The carpet was well-trodden and didn’t kick dust up when you walked, and the overall smell was vaguely fishy and reminiscent of the seafood section of a supermarket.

“Cultural difference,” he replied cheekily. “This is hers, Aunt Jenna’s.” He gestured to the door he stood at with a rusted, gold B29 hanging on its surface just above the peephole.

You tucked your hands into your jacket pockets. “Anything I should know before going in?”

Changmin paused and his face flashed with realization. It translated roughly, but accurately enough, to ‘Uh oh.’ He opened his mouth to say something, but the door beat him to it.

Correction: his aunt beat him to it. Or at least, she was who you assumed was his aunt. Her facial features and bone structure weren't similar to Changmin’s at all, but those eyes—dark like the deepest corner of a shadow; engulfing, embracing, enveloping—her eyes were what made familiarity pang in your chest where the soul-knot sat.

Her mouth stretched into a bright smile. “Changmin-ah! And his significant other, isn’t it—or kids these days say partner instead, hm? Don’t be strangers now; come in, come in!”

What did she just say? You have got to be kidding me.

Too overwhelmed to think, you let his aunt usher you and Changmin in through her front door. You threw—chucked—an alarmed glance over at your counterpart, who could only meet your wide eyes with his own. Shoes were exchanged for slippers, and you were guided toward a couch settled in one part of the cozy living space.

“It’s nice to meet you, Aunt Jenna,” you finally managed to say through the heat flaring up your neck and behind your ears. “But I do have to, uhm, correct you.”

Changmin coughed beside you on the couch as his aunt perched on the coffee table across from you both. “She’s not my romantic partner, auntie. Yn’s just a friend.”

You nodded earnestly.

His aunt’s face flickered from that sunny smile to a more somber surprise. She broke into a sheepish sort of laugh, absentmindedly brushing a lock of hair behind her shoulder. “Oh, well how silly of me. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable—I got embarrassingly excited,” she confessed. She addressed Changmin specifically, reaching over to whack his knee, “You used the word for lover when you texted me earlier!”

Changmin’s hands rocketed up as both you and his aunt fixed him with pointed looks. “It was a typo and an honest mistake,” he swore. “I haven’t spoken or written in that demonic dialect in awhile,” he said to you, “and the words for friend and lover are, like, one letter different.”

His mouth had pursed into an unconscious pout, and you reached over to flick him between the eyes. Bone against fingernail, and the dense thunk sound the impact produced was quite satisfying.

“Ow! I'm sorry!”

You turned to a rather amused Aunt Jenna. “I'm sorry I did that in front of you. I swear, I won't make a habit out of it.” That remained to be seen, however. How had you refrained from flicking him for his behavior before this?

She chuckled. “I'm sure he's warranted it more than once. It's nice to meet you, Yn.”

“Likewise. You have a lovely home.”

Changmin held his forehead with his hat now sitting in his lap, and his eyes narrowed at the two of you. “This was the worst idea I've ever had.”

“Do you drink tea, Yn?” his aunt asked you, waving aside her nephew's comment. “I'll make us some tea and we can talk about whatever you both came to discuss.”

Tea was served on an elegant tray made of polished dark wood. The color was a deep red, as if it had been dipped in a vat of blood, and was engraved with images of what you assumed to be flowers with long stems crowned with big, beautiful petals. You nursed a Finding Nemo mug between your palms, gently blowing on the steam that wafted out of the aromatic floral tea.

Just the fragrance of the drink was enough to put you at ease. The muscles and knots in your shoulders loosened, your frown lines smoothed over. You took a gentle sip and savored the tangible warmth that streamed down your throat and into your stomach.

You nodded to Aunt Jenna who's dark eyes gleamed knowingly over the rim of her mug. “That's very good,” you said.

“Isn't it? Would you like to take some home?”

Changmin harrumphed from beside you after taking a hulking gulp of his own drink. “Guys, please.”

“Mm yes, yes.” Aunt Jenna waved her free hand flippantly. “Your problem.”

While Jenna had prepared the tea, you and Changmin explained to her how your souls became tied together. Most of the explanation consisted of specific details of the ritual itself, not the circumstances before. You described the physical sensations on your end, and Changmin added in his out-of-body experience.

When your piece was said, it left Aunt Jenna to marinate on all the facts. She took a sip of her drink first. “Well, you're both fools, but you” —she wiggled an accusing finger at her nephew— “especially. How could you be so irresponsible as to let your friends go through with a bargaining ritual?”

Changmin grabbed the back of his neck and hung his head like a kicked puppy. “It didn't seem like the end of the world if they wanted to have fun.”

“I suppose,” Jenna muttered, but not without some sympathy. She was a demon living amongst humans, too, after all. “But look where that's gotten you both. There are just far too many unforeseen variables that could have made this situation ten times worse. You and Yn becoming soul-bound is probably the best outcome, frankly.”

You would beg to differ, but you kept your lips stitched together and attached to the rim of your mug.

“But as for undoing it, I'm afraid there aren't many options.”

You detached your mouth from the mug.

You and Changmin exchanged a glance with one another. He asked, “What are our options?”

Aunt Jenna's mouth pursed slightly to form small divots in the sides of her cheeks. “The one most accessible to you is to bargain with another, more powerful demon to take over your bond with Yn.”

“Absolutely not,” he interjected. “That's out of the question.”

“I guessed as much,” she said, taking another sip. “Then it's quite literally impossible—unless you used cursed magic—but even if you didn't care about facing the hellish consequences, gaining access to a Book of the Diabolical is insanely difficult.”

Though you were completely ignorant to almost everything Aunt Jenna was saying, you weren't so ignorant to her message between the lines: you were fucked. Supremely.

Looking over at Changmin only confirmed what you were thinking. There seemed to be a war being waged behind his eyes as he clutched his mug in his lap and glared at a grain in the hardwood floor. This situation was partially your fault and his, and now, the only thing you could do was to drown in the consequences.

You turned to his aunt. “Then how can we live with it?” In your periphery, Changmin's head raised. “I mean, are there techniques to better control this situation, like on both Changmin's end and my end if we can't simply rid ourselves of it?”

Aunt Jenna considered you for a moment, then nodded slowly. “There are,” she said. “Control is something very valuable to demons, Yn. I don't know how much Changmin's told you—”

You sent him a thin smile.

“—but mastering your own body is one of the most integral things young demons first learn. If you don't have control over your mind and body, then how could you possibly be trusted to control anything else?”

That made sense, you thought. It was a thoughtful principle, too, that others (humans) could learn from. What other parts of demon culture and values were there that these two would be willing to share with you?

Jenna had finished her cup of tea by now and set her empty mug back onto the tray. “So the easiest way, I think, to safeguard yourselves against one another is to strengthen your minds.”

What exactly Aunt Jenna had in mind was meditation. Because you were human and couldn't exactly perform the same demonic energy rituals and mind exercises that Jenna and Changmin could, meditation was the next best group activity. In order to do this, Jenna shut all of the curtains and sealed the living room off from the outside world. The coffee table and sofa were shoved to the edges of the room, while the empty space was occupied by three bath towels and a Bath and Body Works candle.

It was reminiscent of the ritual from That Night, but your heart rate sat a little more stable with the belief that you were in capable hands this time.

The three of you arranged yourselves in a loose triangle around the lit candle, its small flame shuddering at the force of your breaths.

“You can place your hands wherever you're most comfortable,” Aunt Jenna said lowly, softly—a vocal embodiment of the small head of fire upon the candle. “Sit up straight, close your eyes, and breathe in deep… let the darkness envelope you.”

There weren't many moments when you considered yourself petty, salty, or bitter. But at this very moment, you were most certainly all three at once.

“Are you really still mad that you fell asleep?” The question was posed with as much audacity as there was incredulity in his voice.

You didn't have to direct your glaring eyes at Changmin for him to feel the edge. “It was embarrassing,” you grumbled.

“Aw, it's okay. Not everyone has the mental fortitude to meditate.”

And you do? you wanted to snap back like a five year old. Instead, you tightened your grip on the steering wheel and focused on not steering the two of you off the road. “I will literally ditch you on the highway.”

He leaned his head against the window to watch you with a twinkle in his eyes and a toothy grin on his lips. “And I will literally haunt you in your sleep.”

The pair of you were in the car driving back up to the university. You had just left Aunt Jenna's about fifteen minutes ago after the failed meditation session (for you) and her insisting you both stayed for lunch. With your stomachs full and your heads quite literally empty, there was nothing left to do but to return home.

There had been a moment before you both left when Jenna pulled Changmin aside to have a private conversation. You had lingered outside the apartment door, but couldn't hear anything despite it being left slightly ajar. There must have been some crazy soundproofing done on her apartment. A charm, perhaps?

But when Changmin came to join you, you picked up the tail end of their talk. It had to do with Changmin pleading with her not to tell his mom about what happened; Aunt Jenna would only agree if he promised to babysit her kids next week.

That thought made you smile to yourself even through the cloud of salty pettiness in your vision. What was Changmin like around kids? The guy was rather childish himself, but… you wouldn't deny that he would probably be good—

“What are you smiling about?” he mused as he peered out from under the brim of his cap. He reclined his seat back a little and crossed his arms over his chest, settling himself in for the ride back.

You scoffed and forced the smile away. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

He hummed. “Methinks it was about me,” he teased and tugged his cap further over his eyes so even his mouth was barely visible. At your silence, he murmured, “Also, I hope you're not bothered about earlier.”

“Hm?”

“I mean—the fact that you weren't able to meditate. And,” he added quickly, “I'm not trying to make fun of you. It's just that that was the only way Aunt Jenna could think that you could safeguard yourself against me. I'm gonna be really good about this, Yn, I swear. I don't—y’know, I don't want anything to change between us.”

Ah. Well, since his hat was over his eyes, you allowed your smile to slip back into place. The weight in your chest was warm, a comforting sort of tightness. You were gradually getting more accustomed to its presence, and at this particular moment, you were glad to be aware of it.

“I believe you,” you said to him. “And I don't want anything to change between us either.” You were friends before the ritual, and you would continue to be friends after it.

You were content with being accompanied by your thoughts and the radio for the remainder of the ride. Your companion in the passenger seat had drifted to sleep at some point when the highways began to grow rather congested with the early afternoon traffic. Changmin had a dance rehearsal in a couple hours, which gave some leeway as to what time you needed to get him back by.

By the time you hit the university district, the sun perched lower in a sky spotted with cirrus clouds, wispy and drifting in the autumn breeze. The filter it cast over the world was a mute gold, warm.

Changmin peered out his side window as you navigated through the busy streets, his face nearly pressed up against the glass because his cap was turned around. There was far too much foot traffic at three in the afternoon, but it was unfortunately a popular time to be out and about for students on a Monday. “Could you drop me off at the sandwich shop on the corner over there?” he asked suddenly, his voice gravelly from disuse. He inclined his chin further down the block, and you had enough time to switch lanes.

“Yeah, sure,” you murmured, glancing over at him. “You don’t want me to drop you off straight at the dance hall?”

“Nah, I’ve got a couple hours, so I think I’m gonna get another bite to eat first.” He rummaged around in the bag at his feet, double checking that he had brought along everything he needed. “D’you wanna…” His voice trailed off as he turned his head up toward you.

You hummed in question and furrowed your brows in concentration to direct your car into a parking spot along the curb.

“Did you wanna come in with me? I don’t know what your plans are after this.” Changmin had one foot out the door, but the rest of his body remained here with you, in the car, as if hesitant to leave just yet. With the brim of his cap turned around, you could better see his face, the hair pushed out of his dark eyes. There was a small smile seated upon his lips, hopeful in the way it curved into his cheeks in the way you always found slightly endearing.

Your hand lingered by your seatbelt. What were your plans after this? Nothing, right? “I mean, if you don—”

“Yn, is that you?”

The voice and the interruption elicited similar jolts from both of you. Your head whipped around on instinct to locate the person who had called out to you.

Crossing the street to you now was Lee Chan. He had his backpack slung over his shoulder, and he waved a hand at you when he caught your eye. But they flickered away from you to someone behind you—Changmin straightened to his full height, his head appearing over the roof of the car.

You glanced back at your counterpart. That smile, so boyish and innocent, had grown an edge.

“Thanks for the ride, Yn,” Changmin said to you, ducking his head to address you. He reached into the car so he could clasp your hand, his fingers clutching yours as he stole your gaze away… they lingered. “I’ll talk to you later, hm?”

You nodded, unsure why you were so dumbfounded. “Yeah, sure,” you stammered out. “I had fun today.”

“Same.” And there was that smile again. It wasn’t exactly the same, but it had softened out at the corners. With a final raise of his hand, he shut your passenger door and jogged off toward the shop.

You blinked as air suddenly filled your lungs again. Had you been holding your breath the whole time? You forgot to wish him a good rehearsal.

A knock on your window had you swiveling your head around. Chan grinned as you rolled your window down. “Hey, what’ve you been up to?”

Not a mention of Changmin, you noted. You were aware of Changmin and Chan’s dislike for one another, and though it caused you a torrent of internal conflict, there was nothing that you could do about it. If they were unwilling to talk about it with each other or with you, then there was no use. Both of them were important figures in your life, so it was just as important that you could keep them both—was that selfish? It seemed that they were able to somewhat coexist, however, if they participated on the same dance team. How did that even work out?

“I was out with Changmin for most of the day,” you said. “We were just… y’know, visiting a relative of his downtown.” There was no harm in saying that, right?

Chan’s expression didn’t even shudder. “Oh? I didn’t know he had relatives downtown.”

Of course, you didn’t. You appreciated that he tried to be civil about Changmin around you, but sometimes the pretense was more aggravating than the petty disdain. “Yeah, they were really nice. We drank tea and chatted a bit.”

“Glad it was a chill time,” he smiled. “Ah, speaking of—I was wondering if you wanted to go visit Chaeyoung noona with me sometime this week? I've been trying to figure out the best time to go see her before midterms.”

You brightened at the mention of Chan's older sister. Though his parents had passed away before Chan graduated high school, he was supported mostly by his older sister, Chaeyoung. You'd heard and seen for yourself the chronic illness that she was cursed with, however. There had been a decent stretch in time when her situation looked much better, but recently, she had been forced back into long-term care at the hospital.

“Yeah, definitely! It'll be nice to see her after so long. Just text me and let me know what day you decide.” The last time you saw Chaeyoung was probably at the start of the past summer break when you went home to see your parents with Chan. Though you and Chan were around the same age, he acted more as an older brother figure to you, likely because of Chaeyoung's good influence.

The golden hour sun glinted its rays into your eyes, and you were reminded of the time. “Oh, don’t you have dance practice soon? Need a ride over?”

“Yeah, I do, but I don’t need a ride,” he said. “I was about to meet Vernon in the cafe down the street though. Do you wanna come with?”

The idea of accepting his invitation crossed your mind, but the ache in your legs and at the nape of your neck were suddenly a lot more prominent than before. You hadn’t even realized how tired you were. “Not this time; I think I'm a little tired. Thanks for the invite, though!”

He pressed his mouth together in slight disappointment, but waved it away with a casual hand motion. “Of course. Drive home safe, then.”

“I will. Have a good time, Chan.”

Chan returned the sentiment back to you, but instead of leaving right away, his lips parted another time. He paused, concern gleaming in his eyes—or was that the setting sun? You couldn’t tell the difference, but there was something he couldn’t quite articulate with words that his facial expression was desperate to reveal to you instead.

You frowned. “Something wrong?”

He let out a small laugh and brushed away the thought. “No, don’t worry about it.”

Are you aware that you've been cursed?

Aunt Jenna's words echoed in Changmin's head ceaselessly throughout the dance rehearsal. They had been subdued slightly when he was asleep in your car earlier, but consciousness tended to surface more nightmares than the unconscious state. Even in the bright light of day, those shadows found a way to creep in and force him into some horrific tunnel vision.

No, he wasn't aware that he'd been cursed. How could he?

Out of everything he thought she pulled him aside for, that was the last thing he expected. The look in her eyes—those dark irises that mirrored his in depth—had been stricken by a grave worry. Those all-knowing eyes, far surpassing his in experience, had taken one look at him coming in through the door and determined something horrible had happened.

A curse?

You haven't been feeling strange lately? She had grasped him by the shoulders, her hands firm in their iron grip. Any strange aches and pains?

The headaches. He told her about the random, spotty headaches that had been plaguing him recently. It hadn't occurred to him at all that they could even be a side effect for a curse.

I've heard some strange things have been going on to the demons in your area. The curse has subsided for now because of your half-humanness, but…

Changmin could fill in the blanks.

His appeal to Aunt Jenna about not telling his mom about any of this included both the soul-bond and the curse. Based on what his aunt told him, there have been demons in this area who have been forced into critical conditions by an energy-stealing curse. That would explain his frequent headaches and his increased exhaustion. Though, the headaches had been on the decline as of late, which coincided with the other part of Jenna's warning.

He was at odds. He couldn't simply sit around and wait for whatever maniac was at large to suddenly stop. He and all the other demons around him were sitting ducks. Worrying about the soul-bond was one thing, but he supposed this now took priority.

Changmin hunched over his bag in one of the darkened corners of the practice room. The lights had been turned down slightly as their four reserved hours drew to a close. It was a hard night, but the sweat, heat, and adrenaline was a delightfully addicting mixture.

Absent-mindedly, he rubbed a palm over his chest. The invisible knot there that linked you to him tightened at the attention. He had made a habit of this over the course of the past few hours; the physical sensation of the string tugging grounded him and kept him from disappearing into his head too much.

Could you feel him on the other end? He was certain you could if he made it obvious. If he tugged just right—

“Ji. I need to talk to you.”

The only sign of surprise Changmin let Lee Chan see was the raising of his eyebrows. “I don't need to talk to you.”

“It's about Yn.”

Changmin's movements froze. He let go of his bag's strap and zippers with a sigh, then straightened up to meet Chan eye to eye. He crossed his arms over his chest. “What about Yn?” You were his problem now, whether you liked it or not.

Chan's eyes narrowed at him, a muscle in his jaw twitching. “I don't know what you think you're doing with her, but you need to stop. It was enough that she's friends with you—”

He couldn't help but scoff. What the fuck is he going on about? Changmin's mouth twisted into an incredulous smirk, the points of his canines peering out from under his lip as he jabbed his tongue into his cheek. “I was wondering when you'd finally drop the Nice Guy act.”

“This isn't about me putting up a front,” Chan quipped in hushed tones. He wouldn't have done so if he wanted to make a scene. “This isn't even about us not liking each other. My problem is that you're roping Yn into your—your fucking bullshit.”

Changmin furrowed his brows. “You're being vague and dramatic, Lee Chan. I really don't have the time or the patience for this.”

“I know who you really are, Ji.” In any other context, those words in that order would have made Changmin bark out a laugh.

Changmin shuddered as he sized up Lee Chan in a different light. It was almost funny how perspective could change everything. In the daylight and bright fluorescents, Chan was a model kid with a charming smile and unshakeable charisma. He cared about you and watched over you like a brother. But without the presence of light was when Changmin was most afraid of what he saw. It was not because he was afraid of the dark—the shadows, frankly, were a demon's ally—it was because the dark did something to Chan in the same way blood infested clear water.

Chan's mouth was set in a firm line, and nothing about his facial expression or stance gave even an inkling that he was bluffing.

“I still have no fucking clue what you're talking about,” Changmin replied lowly, scooping his bag up and brushing past Chan.

He went to find Juyeon. The organ in his chest pumped his blood wickedly fast through his system; the blood thundered in his ears, loud and deafening, like an oncoming train. Aunt Jenna was in his head, you were in his chest, Lee Chan was at his back.

Ba-boom, ba-boom, ba-boom, ba-boom—

He and Juyeon were out the door in a flash, but Changmin glanced backward—because we always turned toward that which was capable of our demise; that was survival instinct—and he flinched when Chan's eyes caught his again.

Changmin let the door slam behind him as he stole into the cold night. If only the darkness could hide him from whatever just happened.

read part two here (if the link isn't there yet, refresh out of this page and it'll be linked at the top)

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[smileysuh]

Energizer Bunny

🌙 staring. Haechan x afab!Reader

🔮 preview. “With me here, you’re in no danger at all,” the white wolf hybrid says. “However- I think everyone else might be in danger of becoming quite enamored with you.” You’ve heard about predator hybrids having prey fetishes- with bunnies being an often glorified playmate option- but you’ve never truly witnessed it firsthand, not like you have tonight.  

cw/tw. unprotected sex, pussy eating, fingering, bunny hybrid fetishes, praise, big dick hyuck, semi-inappropriate boss x subordinate relationship, hand holding sex, slight choking, slight overstim, dumbification, slight dacryphilia, begging, multiple orgasms, slight orgasm control, dirty talk, etc...

👹 rating. 18+ explicit I wc. 19.1k

🍭 aus. hybrid au, brother!mark, bunny!reader, etc...

☀️ mlist + an. there's just something about Hyuck

1:  Friday

“I just don’t see why you won’t let me come visit you while you’re at work,” you sigh, looking your brother up and down while you cross your arms over your chest. “And before you even open your mouth to tell me that ‘it’s not a fun club’ or ‘it’s not always safe,’ I’ll have you know that it’s a top rated hybrid friendly bar, and also that it will be safer for me and my friends because you work there-”

“I just really don’t think it’s a good idea,” Mark groans, rubbing at the back of his neck. 

“Well, too bad,” you say defiantly. “Your friends keep saying I should stop by, and that wolf dude you’ve been bringing over invited me too-”

“Yuta did?” Now you’ve grabbed Mark’s attention, and he stops in his tracks on the way to the door. He gets finicky about being to work on time, but it seems that the mention of his new ‘friend’ is enough to trump his bunny hybrid time anxieties. 

“Uh huh,” you confirm. “You went down to the lobby to get our dinner delivery and he mentioned that it’s odd he’s never seen me around before- something about me already knowing Jeno and Jaemin, and the club always being in need of good little bunny hybrids, with our sensitive noses.”

“Well that’s the last time I invite Yuta over-” Mark groans for the umpteenth time. “Look, I just really don’t think it’s a good place for you.”

“Mark, you know how hard it can be for hybrids like us to get good jobs in this town.”

“Who said my job is a good job?” 

“The paycheck you get every month, and the tips, that’s who.” You take a deep breath. “Look- money is still kind of tight- can you imagine how good it would be if we could both be working? I hate to say it Mark, but I’m pretty sure I’d get more tips than you could working at a bar.” 

“I’m just-” Mark shakes his head, “you’d get eaten alive in there.”

“Not with you hovering around- and Jeno’s a doberman, he could protect me!” Your brother doesn’t look convinced so you go for a hybrid even higher on the food chain than the puppy you often find yourself enthralled with; “Yuta seems like a good guy.”

“Wolves eat bunnies in the wild,” Mark reminds you, “don’t forget about that part.”

From the vibes Yuta’s given off the two or so times you’ve met him, you can confirm that the wolf definitely wants a piece of your bunny hybrid brother- “Let me come by tonight,” you say again, “just to see what it’s like.”

“Something tells me you’re going to do what you want even if I say no,” Mark sighs, picking up his keys and testing them in the palm of his hand. “If you and your friends really want to see the club tonight- just invite Jeno too, he’s not on shift, and I’d feel better knowing he’s there with you.”

“Mark, it’s just a club, a club you work at- you shouldn’t be so worried about my safety.”

“And you shouldn’t be so sure it’s a safe place for a bunny like you.”

2: Friday con't

Although Jeno’s spent a few nights out with you and your friends, it’s always been with Mark and Jaemin hanging around too. Walking into his work place with a bengal cat, bunny and a fellow doberman hybrid - all three of whom are gorgeous girls - makes Jeno feel like he’s on top of the world, and he has to make a conscious effort to stop his tail from wagging with pride.

“This place is so cool!” you beam, grabbing onto Jeno’s arm as he leads you through the large open space bar. He likes the way you tuck into his arm, looking around with eyes full of bunny wonder - it had taken both Mark and Jaemin a few shifts to get used to all the lights, sounds and smells.

The happy doberman sometimes considers what it would be like to be a prey hybrid - someone at the bottom of the food chain - however, he doesn’t envy you. 

On your left Yeji is grinning, already throwing flirty glances at a few men by the bar, and on Jeno’s right, Ryujin is walking with her hands in her pockets, a vision of doberman watchdog calmness. 

“I thought you said this was a hybrid bar,” Yeji comments, her cat ears flickering with interest, “I’m not seeing many hybrids.”

Before Jeno can respond, you’re nodding. “I’d say less than half of the people here are like us.” 

He marvels at how quickly a prey hybrid like you can read a room for danger, and he’s shocked that you don’t know more about the way the club is run. “Hasn’t Mark told you guys anything about this place?”

“What do you mean?” Ryujin asks, her gaze darting to him.

“This is just the front room, humans and hybrids allowed. The real fun is in the back room, hybrids only.”

“Hybrids only?” Your eyes have widened. “Is that allowed?”  

Jeno had asked the same question when he’d been hired, and his raven manager, a regal, intelligent man named Doyoung, had explained that with all the discrimination and segregation the hybrids had faced in the past- well, they all deserved a safe space too. He’d also compared it to a gay bar, but Jeno’s not about to confuse you by making the connection himself.

“It’s legal,” he assures you. “Look, there’s Mark!”

The doberman hybrid is always happy to see his bunny best friend, and Jeno almost forgets himself and lets go of you in favour of lumbering towards your brother- but your grip on his arm makes him be patient. When Mark catches his eye, Jeno can feel his tail wagging again, and an enthusiasm bubbles in his chest. 

“You guys came.” Mark, on the other hand, doesn’t sound too enthusiastic, but he makes a visible effort to force a smile.

“Of course we came!” Yeji beams, pulling Mark into a hug.

The bunny stiffens in the cat’s grasp, and Jeno can’t help but grin. Mark used to have a pretty big crush on Yeji, and Jeno will be sure to put in a good word for him tonight.

“Well this is surprising.” Jaehyun, the black lab hybrid on Mark’s right, is looking the small group up and down. Jeno can feel himself deflate a little under his hyung’s gaze.

“They’re with me,” Mark says quickly, letting out a small cough. “Uh, this is my sister, and her two friends.”

“I didn’t know you had a sister.” Jaehyun’s eyes linger on you for a few moments. 

“Yeah, there’s a reason for that,” Mark sighs. “You guys can all go in, but uh-” he pulls Jeno to his side, lowering his voice, “there’s a lot of Level Fours inside tonight, so try to be quick? I don’t want anyone to get… overwhelmed.”

By anyone, Mark clearly means you, and it warms Jeno’s heart to see his friend be so protective of his sister. “You got it Mark,” he nods, bringing two fingers up to his forehead in a mock salute. “I’ll keep my eye on all three of our girls.”

Yeji practically purrs at Jeno’s words, grabbing onto his arm as Jaehyun opens the door to let them into the back room of the club. 

The doberman definitely feels like a big dicked dude now, walking into the hybrid only section of the bar with two pretty girls on his arms… and Ryujin, of course. 

“What did Mark mean when he said there’s a lot of Level Fours here tonight?” you ask, and it takes a moment for Jeno to properly register your question.

“Oh uh- it’s a ranking system we have here.” He clears his throat. “So- prey hybrids like you and Mark are Level Ones, and the ranking goes up to Level Five. Basically, Mark was just letting me know we have a lot of Level Four big predator hybrids here tonight- wolves, bears, tigers- that sort of thing.”

You open your mouth as if to ask more questions, but before any words can come out, Jeno’s attention is captured by one of his hot coworkers stationed at the bar. 

“Let’s go get drinks,” he announces. “First round’s on me!”

3: Friday con't

“I didn’t know Mark had a sister.” 

“What?” Johnny looks up from his drink, leaning closer to Haechan to follow his gaze. “Who?”

“That girl with puppy boy Jeno.” Haechan nods towards you.

“How do you know she’s Mark’s sister?” Johnny asks, taking a sip of his beer.

Haechan cocks his head ever so slightly, somewhat annoyed that even after all this time, he has to explain himself to a bear hybrid below his rank. “I can smell the family resemblance.” 

“You can smell the family resemblance,” Johnny repeats with a chuckle. “Your nose never ceases to amaze me. It’s as good as any Level One hybrid’s.”

“Are we talking about Mark’s sister?” The wolf on Haechan’s other side leans in now too, and Haechan smirks at the way his most hardworking bunny employee has Yuta wrapped around his finger.

However, there’s a familiarity in Yuta’s words that doesn’t exactly sit right with Haechan. “You know her?” 

“Met her a few times now- and you’re right, there’s something about the Lee bunnies,” Yuta’s gaze darkens, “they always smell particularly tasty.” 

“Why have you never mentioned her before?” Haechan can feel himself getting aggravated, he doesn’t like it when his friends keep things from him, especially not pretty little things like you. “And why isn’t she working here yet?” 

“Slow down-” Yuta gives his head a small shake, and the slight pink tint to his skin tells Haechan he’s probably already had too many drinks. “I’m the one who told her to come visit- Mark has this thing about your club being dangerous-” 

“My club?” Haechan scoffs. “Dangerous?” 

“You know how easy it is to scare a bunny,” Yuta’s grin widens wolfishly. 

Haechan takes a moment to consider his options. “How about you go buy a round for Mark’s sister and her friends. On the house. As a welcome to our dangerous club.” 

“Why can’t you do it yourself?” Yuta asks, but he’s already pulling himself to his feet to follow through.

“Like you said,” Haechan sighs, “bunnies scare easy. We all remember how Mark reacted when I met him for the first time.” All three upper level hybrids let out laughter, but Haechan’s subsides quickly. “I’m not looking to scare her off. I’ll stay here, in VIP, for now- I’m sure I’ll get to meet her sometime soon. Something tells me this little bunny will be back.” 

4: Friday con't

You smell the wolf before he’s even fully approached you, but you give him the grace of allowing him to sneak up on your rear as you stand by the bar. 

“Funny seeing you again,” Yuta’s voice is as smooth as ever.

You turn to look at him, taking in his white hair and pretty wolf ears. He’s dressed in a simple dress shirt with black pants, and the outfit compliments his pretty ashy colouring. Sharp canines glint at you when he smiles.

“You invited me to come see the club,” you remind him. “How could I pass this up?”

Instead of responding, Yuta catches the eye of the bartender. “Another round for me and my friends,” he announces, “and one for Jeno too.” 

“You don’t have to-”

“It’s on the house,” he assures you with a dismissive wave of his hand. Yuta’s gaze shifts past you to where Jeno and Ryujin are in a heated debate over some doberman hybrid thing- “I see you have two watchdogs tonight, and a kitty running around- they seem to like the place, but how do you feel being here?” 

“Is my anxiety that obvious?” you laugh, running a hand over the back of your neck in an effort to calm yourself. You’ve been doing your best- but the bright lights, loud sounds and the smells of the club are a lot to get used to.

“Don’t forget who you’re talking to, little bunny,” Yuta grins. “The pretty scent of bunny fear only adds to your allure… which is why most bunnies feel more comfortable in the general section, with humans- pretty prey hybrids like you are less inclined to come back here, where it’s a little more… dangerous.” 

You blink up at Yuta. “Am I really in that much danger?”

“With me here, you’re in no danger at all,” the white wolf hybrid says, grabbing at the drink that’s placed by his hand. Then he leans in, breath teasing by your throat, “however- I think everyone else might be in danger of becoming quite enamoured with you.” 

When he pulls away, his gaze lingers on your face, and you can feel your heart picking up speed in your chest.

You’ve heard about predator hybrids having prey fetishes- with bunnies being an often glorified play mate option- but you’ve never truly witnessed it first hand, not like you have tonight.  

You can feel your throat getting dry, and the power behind Yuta’s gaze makes you fold, eyes flickering down to your own drink. You’re glad you’ve only been ordering small cocktails, as they’re much easier to drink than the beer in Yuta’s hand.

“Thank you very much for the mojito,” you say. “I hate to disappoint you, but I was actually just planning on finding my friend Yeji and getting out of here-”

Like the perfect bengal kitty she is, Yeji appears a moment after you say her name, a pretty grin on her face. “You called?”

She’s looking Yuta up and down, and he returns her flirty gaze with one of his own.

“Yeji, this is Yuta, he bought us a round,” you hand her the gin and tonic the bartender had left by your hand, “he’s one of Mark’s friends-”

“One of his bosses, actually.” 

This is news to you, and you falter a little, but Yeji takes the cup from your hand, teasing the straw past her lips. “Mark never mentioned he had a cute wolf hybrid boss,” she flirts.

“He never mentioned he had a cute kitten for a friend either,” Yuta returns Yeji’s smile, and you catch another glimpse of sharp teeth.

Before they can continue flirting, Jeno and Ryujin join the conversation, their own drinks in hand. “The bartender said you got us a round?” Ryujin asks in confusion.

“Oh shit-” Jeno runs a hand through his hair, cheeks flaring an even brighter shade of pink than they already were, “Mister Nakamoto-”

“Mister Lee.” The wolf in front of you nods to the two new doberman hybrids.

“You really didn’t have to get us drinks-” Jeno says sheepishly.

“Like I told our pretty bunny friend here,” Yuta’s smile returns to you, “it’s on the house.”

 There’s a beat of silence where all four of you ‘lower level hybrids’ wait for the wolf to continue, then he lets out a sigh. 

“Y/N was just saying you should be leaving soon. I won’t keep you. Enjoy your drinks, and I hope to see you three lovely ladies again sometime.”

 “You bet,” Yeji says dreamily.

With one final nod, Yuta leaves you be, and you watch him retreat towards the raised VIP section. 

“Oh my god-” Jeno lets out a deep breath, huddling you all in closer, “that was my boss-”

“Yeah, Mister Nakamoto,” Ryujin teases, elbowing Jeno in the side gently. 

“Stop it!” Jeno bats her arm away. “That was so embarrassing- do you think it was obvious I’m drunk?”

“No one could tell,” Yeji plays it cool, but when she reaches out and pinches Jeno’s chin, her grin widens mischievously, “you’re always this lovely pink colour.”

“Fuck-” Jeno groans. “I need to get out of here-”

You watch him finish his beer in three large gulps, and then you’re downing your own cocktail in record time.

The alcohol helps things become fuzzier. You can almost forget that you’re in a room filled with Level Four hybrids - as Mark would say - but when you look out at the crowd, you’re met with all sorts of dangerous eyes.

A tiger hybrid stares you down and you tear your gaze away, looking after Yuta-

Your heart lurches in your chest as you lock eyes with a man in VIP. You’re at a distance, but you could swear his irises are red-

“Come on, y/n,” Yeji tugs on your hand, “let’s go.” 

5: Saturday

Ushering a bratty wolf out of his apartment at 8 am isn’t something Mark wants to get used to any time soon, but it’s an obstacle he’s being more and more acclimated to as he pushes and shoves Yuta towards the door.

“No breakfast?” the white wolf questions- he always looks for any reason to stay.

“No breakfast,” Mark confirms. “You have to get out before my sister wakes up.”

Yuta flashes a toothy grin. “Hate to break it to you Mark, but I'm pretty sure that sharp-eared bunny hybrid sister of yours heard us last night.”

“We were quiet-” Mark tries to insist with a shake of his head, but the wolf’s smile only widens.

“Sure you were, bunny boy.” 

“I was!” 

“What if you come out with me and we get breakfast somewhere else?” Yuta suggests, 

“Jeez-” Mark lets out a deep sigh, opening the door to his apartment, “you act as if you’re not going to see me at work in twelve hours- just go!” 

With one last eye roll, Yuta steps over the threshold and into the hallway beyond. “Don’t be late, bunny boy.”

“I won’t be-”

“Mark?” Your voice makes the bunny jump- usually he’s pretty good at tracking you with his ears, but he’d been so focused on getting Yuta out of the apartment that you’ve been able to sneak up on him.

He closes the door in his boss's face, and the small chuckle that sounds from the hallway beyond is enough for Mark to know the wolf won’t hold it against him.

“Y/N!” Mark swallows thickly, one hand moving to rub the back of his neck awkwardly. “You’re awake early!”

“I uh… couldn’t sleep.”

The way you’re looking at him tells Mark that you definitely heard him and Yuta last night, and the thought makes his skin flush with heat. He goes for a topic change, grasping at straws until he’s able to state; “Glad Jeno got you back home last night in one piece.”

Now it’s your turn to sigh. “Your club didn’t give that many bad vibes- of course I got home alright.”

“Speaking of the club-” Mark swallows thickly. “Listen, I don’t know how I feel about this yet, but it would be against my morals not to mention it- Yuta told me last night that apparently you caught the eye of one of my managers? They said they’d give me a raise or something if I ‘recruited’ you-” 

“Oooh- which manager?”

Mark can see interest in your eyes, and it makes his skin crawl. “You’re not going to fuck one of my managers,” he warns you. 

“You’re one to talk Mark Lee,” you look him up and down. “Hypocrite.” 

He should never have let Yuta come home with him last night-

“I want to go see your workplace again,” you insist. “To see if I like it. It would be good to have two incomes- besides, all your friends work there- and I’d be getting to use my bunny smelling senses-”

What you’re saying is - by all accounts - true. It would be a good job, for any bunny- but unfortunately you’re not just any bunny, you’re his sister. Mark worries about which manager you caught the attention of- there are a few Level Fours he could handle, but if either of the Level Five managers get their hands on you-

Mark doesn’t even want to think about it.

“I guess you can go see what it’s like,” Mark sighs. “Yuta told me to give you his number- something about maybe popping by tonight when it’s busy and meet the managers and such-”

“Really?” your eyes widen with excitement. “You mean you’re not going to fight me on this anymore?”

“I’m not,” Mark concedes… he’s just hoping you’ll spend one night working behind the scenes and decide to hate the club.

6: Saturday con't

You’re not sure what you’re expecting when you walk into Mark’s bar for the second time in your life, but it’s definitely not a small, timid deer hybrid by the name of Moon Taeil. From the look of his small, spiny, horn-like antlers, you think he might be a pudu, and you wonder how he ever obtained a high ranking position at a club like this one. 

“I’m the main manager of the front area of the club,” Taeil explains, as he walks you through the room of both humans and hybrids. “The majority of our servers in this section are Level Twos. Mark must have walked you through the levels?”

“Refresh me?” you suggest, sending a pleading smile Taeil’s way.

The elder man sighs. “Level Ones are small prey animals,” he tells you, “Hamsters, bunnies, rats, mice, that sort of thing. Level Twos are larger prey animals like myself, so deer, zebras, we’ve even got a lovely cow hybrid bartender. We also have a few humans we employ to keep the ‘diversity’ structure.  Level Ones like you generally work the door to the back section, with a Level Three hybrid bouncer.”

He takes a deep breath, and his large deer ears flick to follow other sounds in the bar. You can tell that Taeil doesn’t like going through these details, as he runs through them quickly.

“Level Three’s are smaller and ‘domesticated’ predator types, so dogs, cats- we’ve mostly got dogs on the doors. You already know Jeno, our doberman. We also have a golden retriever, and a lab-”

“Not to mention our resident Raven,” a regal man appears on your left, and one whiff of him tells you he’s the bird in question. Hybrids that fly all share a uniquely airy scent, or at least, the ones you know do. 

“This is Doyoung- he’ll be your manager while you’re here.” Taeil seems more than happy to pass you off, not that you mind. 

“If you end up liking the place,” Doyoung sighs. “And if we like you. We always have openings for Level Ones in door inspection like your brother, but I’m guessing you’ll fit in as more of a bottle girl.”

You’ve heard of bottle girls; the pretty females who provide top of the line waitressing service to VIP’s and such. You’ve also heard that they’re the ones who make big money on tips. 

“Have you ever had any experience in a bar?” Doyoung is quick to get to business, and Taeil scurries away. 

“I worked in a restaurant once,” you tell him, thinking back to the humans who had been nice enough to give you a shot.

“Bottle service is easy,” the raven assures you. “The real test you have to pass is for manning the door.”

“A test?” you ask, following Doyoung through to the back room.

The bar isn’t open yet, and it’s different to see the large space without fun, flashy lighting, the dancefloor empty of guests. 

“Sounds like Taeil was walking you through the levels, right?” Your new manager walks you through to a hallway that leads to the staff restricted zone. “Level Fours are big predator animals, think lions, tigers, bears, wolves-”

“And Level Fives?”

Doyoung gives you a look. “We don’t get many Level Fives in here- and trust me, when we have one, you’ll know.”

It’s the only level that hasn’t come with a hybrid list, and you’re not quite sure what to make of it.

“How will I know-” you ask, as you follow Doyoung into a staff room where a white wolf is waiting for you.

“Trust us, Lee,” Yuta grins, “with a nose like your brother’s, you’ll know.”

Doyoung rolls his eyes at the flirty tone in his coworker’s voice, and he’s quick to move on. “If you could take a seat, we’ll begin the nose test.”

“So soon?” You feel like you have whiplash. Yuta pulls out a chair at the small table by the staff lockers and you’re quick to sit down, looking at both men with confusion.

“Trust me, you’ll pass,” Yuta assures you again, resting one hand on your shoulder while flashing you a charming smile.

“Did you bring your blindfold?” Doyoung isn’t talking to you, but your heartrate picks up in your chest.

“You know I always have one on me,” the wolf responds, reaching into his pocket.

“Blindfold?” you squeak.

“It’s nothing weird,” Doyoung is quick to assure you. “You’ll just put this on, and five people, one from each level, will come in, then you’ll have to identify their level by smell.”

You suppose it’s a fair trial- after all, with your eyes covered you won’t be able to identify anyone by their hybrid marks, so you accept the blindfold and put it on. 

With your eyesight gone dark, you take a deep breath, trying to focus on the smell of the Level Three and Four that surround you.

“Are you ready for the first person?” the raven asks.

You nod.

In the periphery of your senses, you hear a door opening, and then a familiar smell washes over you. You’d only spent a short time with the timid deer manager, but Taeil’s scent is already committed to your memory. “Level Two,” you announce, adding “Mister Moon” for good measure. 

Yuta lets out a small chuckle at your rear, and you hear Doyoung groan at his friend’s behaviour. “Very good,” he praises you. 

The sound of a door opening and closing prepares you for the next smell, and even this one is somewhat familiar. It’s a very puppy specific smell- but you’re not quite sure if it’s one of your friends, so when you say “Level Three,” you simply leave it at, “dog hybrid,” instead of adding a name. 

“You can’t take your blindfold off,” Yuta reminds you, “but this is Jungwoo, he’s our resident golden retriever.”

“So lovely to meet you!” comes an enthusiastic voice, and loud footfall tell you the large man is approaching you. He gently shakes your hand and you try not to jump at the sudden contact.

“Good to meet you too,” you smile.

“It’s always nice to have another Lee in the building,” the puppy continues. “We love Jeno, and then we got Mark- now we have you! Everyone loves a cute Lee!”

“Some more than others,” Doyoung mutters, and you can’t help but think it’s a jab at Yuta. It seems you’re not the only one who’s aware of your brother’s shenanigans with his so called ‘boss.’ 

“I’ll see you on shift, bunny,” Jungwoo says, and you can practically hear his grin. 

“She’s not officially hired yet,” Doyoung is quick to remind everyone in the room.

“She’s a Lee- a legacy!” Jungwoo insists. “Like I said, see you on shift.”

You hear him leave the room, but his scent takes longer to drift from your senses. 

The door opens again, and it’s the easiest smell to identify so far. A Level One prey is always a pleasant experience, and this one smells particularly earthy. “Level One,” you say with a smile.

“Three for three,” the raven counts. “Although, this one might also be a bit of a cheat- I think you’ve met our Hamster hybrid, Jisung?”

You’d nearly forgotten about the tall, quiet boy that Mark had introduced you to last month, but now that Doyoung mentions it, the meeting comes back to you. “We have met once,” you admit.

“Nice to see you again.” Jisung’s voice is as quiet as ever, and you wonder what an introvert like him is doing in a bar like this, but then again- what are any of your prey hybrid acquaintances doing here? 

You listen to the hamster leave the room, and you’re left waiting long enough to start to question it. “Uh, is the test over?” you ask after five minutes of silence have gone by. You can feel your ears twitching, and your nose ruffles as you try to track any new scents.

“Two more,” Doyoung tells you. “These last two like to be late-”

“Or maybe we like to make an entrance,” a new voice and smell nearly overwhelm your senses. 

While most hybrids have an earthy note to their scent, this man also brings in a touch of smokiness- for a moment, part of you wants to announce that he’s a Level Five, but you bite your tongue.

You’ve not smelt something like him in a long time, but when you search your brain for a memory, you realize what hybrid he reminds you of. “Level Four?” you ask, feeling unsure for the first time, “a bear?”

“Wow, it’s always the bunnies with good noses, huh?” The new voice lets out a chuckle, and you think you must have clocked him spot on. 

“Told you she’d be good,” Yuta says pridefully. 

“Does this mean I’ve passed?” You’re eager to take the blindfold off- being in a room with a raven, a wolf, and a bear - without your eyes to protect you - well, it’s making your stomach fill with butterflies. 

“There’s one last person you have to meet,” Doyoung explains with a sigh.

“A Level Five?” If you go by process of elimination-

“Yes, a Level Five.” Yuta’s hand finds your shoulder again, giving you a gentle squeeze. “When Mark met this Level Five, he puked- so Doyoung’s put a bucket by your foot… if you need it.”

“Why-” you swallow thickly. “I mean- if I already know it’s a Level Five, do I have to meet him? I thought you said I wouldn’t see many Level Fives-”

Doyoung sighs, and it’s a sound you’re becoming much too familiar with. “We don’t want the first time you see one being on the job- better to puke now rather than later. Besides, the Level Five coming in owns the club, he’s the one who gets the final say on you.”

Now you definitely feel like you’re going to hurl- and the elusive Level Five hasn’t even entered the room yet.  

“He’s not that bad,” Yuta reassures you, but you suppose it’s a very Level Four thing for him to say. The wolf behind you can never know what it’s like to be in your shoes as a prey hybrid, so you take his opinion with a massive grain of salt.

“Usually I’d tell you not to trust Yuta,” the bear’s voice sounds again, “but in this case, he’s not wrong. Hyuck’s not so bad.”

If only you knew anything about the bear- about how accurate his perception might be.

Your skin is prickling with anxiety, but you know you’ll have to get used to being surrounded by upper level hybrids if you’re going to do well at this job, so you focus on your breathing.

A minute passes, and then comes the familiar noise of the door squeaking ever so slightly on its hinges.

A shiver runs from the tip of your toes all the way to the top of your head, and an overpowering energy overtakes you. 

It’s not so much a smell as it is an overwhelming sense of unease. 

Something isn’t right- and you’re pretty sure it’s the new Level Five who’s just entered the room.

“Good job on not puking,” Yuta laughs, patting your shoulder again.

“She’s got a better stomach than Mark,” the bear adds, and as much as you might wish to defend your brother, you can hardly bring yourself to even open your mouth to speak.

“This little bunny is a fighter, isn’t that right?” The smoothness of the unfamiliar voice takes you back a little, and despite your eyes being covered, you get the sense that the Level Five has a pretty face to match his pretty voice. 

You itch to take the blindfold off- to get a look at the elusive hybrid. 

You wonder what markings he might have that would point you in the direction of identifying what, exactly, he is. 

“Can I-” you swallow thickly, and the hybrid’s smokey scent that fills your lungs makes your throat feel dry again, “Can I take this off?”

You reach a hand up towards your face, but Yuta is one step ahead of you, pulling the blindfold from your head. 

At first, your eyes take a moment to adjust to the light, but your prey instincts are quick to get a gauge on the Level Five.

He’s handsome- more handsome than you could have imagined. But he’s also young- close to your age, you’d guess, if looks are anything to go by-

Fluffy brown hair and caramel eyes match the pretty tan skin that almost shines golden in the light.

You can’t spot any hybrid marks, not even a tail, and you’re completely blindsided by what the man in front of you might be. 

“Hi, bunny.” The Level Five grins at you, and the sharp canines that greet you are the only hint towards his hybridism- although, without visible floppy ears, you highly doubt the man in front of you is any sort of dog.

“If you’re looking for hybrid marks, good luck finding them,” Doyoung tells you, pursing his lips. The large, obvious, black wings that protrude from his back ruffle with annoyance, and you wonder how many other prey hybrids have been enthralled by this Level Five’s lack of clear hybrid marks. 

“Hyuck’s good at hiding,” Yuta notes. “Come on, give her a hint.”

“But just know,” the bear quips, “you’re not going to leave this room with any definitive answers about what he is. That information is for people who’ve proven their loyalty here.”

“Something tells me she’ll be loyal,” the Level Five, or ‘Hyuck’ as they’ve called him, is looking at you like you’re dinner. “Isn’t that right, little bunny?”

“Yes, sir,” you respond without a moment’s hesitation, clearing your throat. “I’m loyal. It’s a Lee family trait.” 

While you’re talking about your brother, you suppose Lee Jeno is also quite loyal, although that might be more of a dog and doberman trait than a Lee-specific one. 

The Level Five continues to stare at you, and then his pretty caramel eyes seem to flick with a new colour, almost like a flame, licking from his iris- within a moment his eyes are a fiery red that makes your heart practically stop in your chest, because… you’ve seen these eyes before. 

You’d seen them that night when you’d first visited the bar, watching you from up in VIP.

It becomes clear to you that the ‘manager’ who you’d caught the attention of is none other than the Level Five himself.

7: Sunday

“You look tired.” Mark’s usually not the type to enjoy seeing you burnt out, but he’s hopeful that one night on the job had been enough to show you that you might not be cut out for bar life.

“I am tired,” you sigh, taking a seat at the breakfast table.

He watches you for a moment, but when it’s clear you’re intent to just pick at the apple in your hand, he decides to prompt you for more. “Aren’t you going to tell me how it went?”

You groan.

“I mean-” he swallows, “obviously you made it past their scent test-”

“Speaking of which,” now your eyes are on him, and you shift in your seat, “you have to tell me what kind of hybrid Hyuck is!”

Mark nearly chokes on his coffee. 

You’re on a first name basis with Lee Donghyuck?! 

“When did you meet him?!” Mark gasps.

“What do you mean ‘when did I meet him’?” You roll your eyes. “He was the Level Five in my scent test!”

“He was?!” This is definitely news to Mark.

Your brows furrow with confusion. “Wasn’t he yours too?”

“Of course not! Mine was Renjun!”

“Who the heck is Renjun?” 

Mark doesn’t answer- after all, there’s truly no way to explain who Renjun is, not without giving you details about his Level Five status-

“Look, this ‘Renjun’ dude doesn’t matter,” you insist. “I need to know what Hyuck is.” 

Mark’s throat goes dry, and he rubs his thumb against the coffee mug in his hand. “I mean… you know I can’t tell you that.” Mark sighs. “What do you think he is.” 

“I don’t-” You bite at your lip. “A giant snake? His eyes go red- that’s… that’s kind of snake-like, right? And his skin has a pretty sort of golden sheen sometimes. No one’s described what Level Five’s are yet, so I don’t even know what general hybrid types to be considering. A snake doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, but maybe he’s exotic or something? Are Level Five’s exotic predator types?”

The bunny opens his mouth, then closes it. He’s not sure what to say. 

“Come on, Mark-” you groan. “Please?” 

“Look…” he sighs, running a hand through his hair. “I really can’t tell you what Hyuck is. He’s my boss’s boss’s boss or something- but… you’ll probably never meet Renjun, so… if I tell you what he is- maybe it will help give you some ideas?” 

“I really don’t see how it will help-”

“That’s because you have no idea what a Level Five is- they’re not even in the same ballpark as snakes, which are Level Three’s, by the way.” 

“Fine,” you give in. “Tell me what Renjun is.”

“But you have to promise not to repeat this anywhere. And if you end up meeting him… you’ll have to pretend you had no clue about his hybrid type... deal?”

“Of course! Who am I going to tell anyways?”

“Yeji for one, or Ryujin-”

“Yeah, yeah-” you wave a hand. “I promise I won’t.”

He studies you for a second. 

You’ve never been one to go back on your word, and after a deep breath, Mark Lee goes back on his own promise not to reveal a Level Five hybrid type. 

He supposes sending you into a monster’s den with no clue what you could be up against isn’t the best idea in the world- and perhaps this will finally show you why he’s so hesitant to allow you anywhere near his work.

“Renjun- well…” Mark takes a deep breath. “He’s a phoenix.” 

There’s a beat of silence, and then you let out a small laugh. “Stop teasing me.”

“I’m not,” Mark tells you earnestly.

Your eyes search his face for any sign that he could be playing around, and then you’re jaw is dropping. “A phoenix?!” 

“Lower your voice!” 

When you speak next, it’s in a half yelled whisper; “Pheonix’s exist?!”  

“Yeah.”

“So what does that make Hyuck?!” 

“You’ve got to drop the Hyuck thing,” Mark groans. “I told you about Renjun, now just trust me when I tell you to stay away from your bosses. That includes Johnny… and Yuta.”

“Again with the hypocrisy, Mark-” 

“Just-” he reaches over and places his hand over yours. “Please.” 

Your energy dies down before his very eyes, and Mark can guess that it’s probably because he’s made a point not to ask you for much in your life. 

He’s glad that this ‘please’ packs a punch.

“Fine,” you say, taking a deep breath. “But I’m still choosing to work at the bar.”

“Oh my Jesus-” 

“We need the money!” you insist.

He can’t argue there. “When are you on shift?”

“You’re not going to like this- but uh… they have me on off days right now? Monday through Wednesday-”

“You know I don’t work Monday through Wednesday,” Mark groans, hating the idea that you’ll be at the club without him there to protect you.

Sure, Mark’s a bunny hybrid, but he’s a bunny that bites… if he has to. 

“I know, I know-” you sigh. “But I checked the shift chart and it looks like Jaemin will be there, Jisung too!”

He’s glad you’ll have to familiar faces at least. “Who’s the Level Three bouncer?”

“The golden retriever- Jungwoo I think his name was?”

Mark feels himself relax a little. He knows Jungwoo’s character- and despite being a puppy, the dog can hold his own. “I guess you could be working with worse people.”

“Don’t be so hard on your coworkers,” you laugh. 

It’s his bosses he’ll have to be explicitly hard on if he’s going to keep you away from them, and Mark knows it. 

8: Monday

When you arrive to the club for your first official shift, it begins very much like the training one had. Taeil meets you at the front door and hurries you through the space. 

“Doyoung’s in a bad mood,” he tells you, deer ears flickering with something like anxiety. “Something ruffled his feathers this morning. But… it should be an easy night.”

“Oh, okay.” You’re not sure what else to say, and you instead opt for being quiet, adjusting your silky black shirt and toying with the cuff link by your wrist. 

“It’s a nice outfit,” Taeil continues, watching your movements with a doe like expression. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if someone tells you to wear a dress next time.”

You swallow thickly and look down at what you consider to be your ‘fancy pants.’ 

When you’d gotten dressed, you’d decided to go a more modest route. Mark always heads to work in dark attire, and you’d done your best to match it, but you suppose it’s no shock that the bosses might prefer for their female bunnies to be in something a little more showy.

“I’ll uh- look through my wardrobe?” you suggest, as your eyes lock in on the regal raven man who’s just come through the door leading to the back of the bar.

Taeil laughs, and it’s the first time you’ve seen the serious deer hybrid smile. “Don’t worry, outfits will be provided. We’ve had a few bunny bottle girls, and Doyoung has stats on what attire gains the best tips.”

Why are you not surprised that Doyoung has outfit to tip ratio statistics. 

“I guess Taeil’s already given you my critique then,” the raven says smoothly as you approach. “Dresses will be provided… if you make it through this first official shift.” 

He makes it sound like he thinks you might fail, and it only makes you more determined to prove your worth.

“Tonight you’ll be doing bottle service,” Doyoung explains as he leads you through to the back section. 

You’re a little surprised to see a few Level Four hybrids already bustling about by the bar, and when you’re ushered into the staff room, two familiar faces make you feel more at home.

“Little Lee bunny!” Jaemin grins, pulling you into a hug. “Mark told me you’d be working here, but I almost didn’t believe it!”

“Believe it,” Doyoung grunts. “You’ll be showing her the ropes of being a bottle person. Jisung-” your eyes shift to the other man you’ve met in passing, “you’ll be on the door with Jungwoo. Y/N got an intro course in manning the door, and she’ll end the shift with you, got it?”

“Yes, mister Kim.” The hamster hybrid nods solemnly, flashing you a shy smile before scurrying off.

“Speaking of Jungwoo though-” Doyoung sighs, “where is that dog?”  

“I believe we passed him at the bar on the way in here?” you suggest, recalling the familiar scent that had briefly caught the attention of your senses as Doyoung had rushed you to the staff room.

The raven looks at you, and then he flashes you a pretty gummy smile. “You are quick on your feet, aren’t you?”

“I try.” You can feel your skin heating at the compliment.

“What else did you smell on the way in here?” he prompts.

“I think- a handful of Level Threes and Fours by the bar- but not a Five in sight.”

“And if you see a Five?” Doyoung presses.

“I’ll assume that as door man, Jisung has made a note of it, but I’ll also come tell you- if it’s not Hyuck or Renjun.”

“Very good,” the raven nods at you. Then he takes a deep breath. “I should warn you both, before shift officially starts-” his eyes shift to Jaemin, “Johnny and Yuta are planning to stop by tonight to see how our new hire is doing-”

“What?” Jaemin’s nose scrunches up with distaste. “But they never come in on Mondays!”

“I know, and I told them not to.” Doyoung sighs again, “It will just throw off our team, but- like I said, they want to see our newest bunny in action.”

Jaemin groans. “Jeez-” 

“Just remember,” Doyoung looks at you, “Level Fours - and Fives - can be difficult to manage. Stick close to Jaemin, and if you need anything, come let me know.”

“Okay,” you nod diligently.

“You’re part of my team now.” The raven hybrid offers you a smile. “And I’m not about to let anything bad happen on shift tonight.”

9: Monday con't

Yuta hasn’t been able to take his eyes off of you for what feels like hours. Sure, he might have a little something something going on with your older brother, but he thinks there’s no harm in watching you… it’s for scientific purposes, really.

Okay, maybe more like his own twisted pervert purposes, but who’s going to judge a wolf like him? 

“She is cute, I’ll give you that,” Johnny says, drawing Yuta’s attention. “I can see why Hyuck likes her.”

After a moment to consider the bear’s words, Yuta nods, gaze shifting back to you. “And she seems good at the job.”

In the two hours they’ve been sitting in VIP and watching you, you’ve definitely impressed not only them, but many other Level Fours as well. 

A snow leopard acquaintance and business partner had even approached the two owners of the club to enquire about you, and Kun’s generally not the type to get so easily enthralled, especially not by bottle girls and workers.

Even though you’re shadowing Jaemin today, you’ve noticed Yuta and Johnny’s drinks being low, and have personally brought over a bottle of champagne for refills, a bright smile on your face every time.

Yuta’s already tipped you more than he’d tipped Mark on his first day doing bottle service, and that’s saying something.

He can’t help it though. There’s something about you- something that makes him want to risk it all-

But there’s also a voice in the back of his mind that tells him not to. For one, he has Mark- and even more- you’ve caught Hyuck’s attention.

Hyuck’s a collector of pretty things, and he can be quite defensive when he thinks someone’s impeding on his territory. 

No, Yuta’s better sticking with the elder Lee bunny, and he just hopes any man that’s interested in you has the brains to rethink testing Hyuck’s patience.

10: Tuesday 

Although Johnny is one of Hyuck’s most trusted confidants, the Level Five finds himself calling up the wolf in his company for details about your first day. 

As a friend of your brother’s, Yuta can provide insight Johnny might not be able to- and besides, Yuta always tells it as it is. He’s not one for fancy language or tiptoeing around, and that’s one of the things Hyuck appreciates most about him.

The wolf answers his phone on the second ring, and Hyuck pays the same respect that Yuta always does; he doesn’t bother inching around the reason he called, and goes straight to ask; “How was our new bunny on shift yesterday?”

“I mean…” Yuta lets out a chuckle, “She’s Mark’s sister, so she took to it pretty naturally. But that’s not too surprising, is it?”

“I guess not.” Hyuck can’t help but smile. He enjoys hearing that you’re already excelling at your new job, and it extends past the pride of a boss finding a new money maker. “I hear she was on bottle duty yesterday.”

“Uh huh, kept my drink full the whole evening.”

“So she’s even better than Jaemin,” Hyuck’s grin widens.

“It’s not that hard to be better than Jaemin.” Yuta’s eye roll is practically audible. 

The wolf has never been a fan of the lazy bunny, but Hyuck keeps Jaemin employed for his own entertainment. 

“Anyways,” Yuta continues, “a few VIP’s even enquired about our new hire, said she was doing a good job.”

“Really?” Hyuck feels the flames of jealousy licking across his skin. “Who?”

“Kun and Ten mostly, but I think everyone was pretty eager to watch her work. Scurrying around with her little grey bunny tail and those twitchy ears-”

Hyuck will have to deal with Kun and Ten if it comes down to a turf war over his new bunny, but for now, he takes a deep breath, mind more pleasantly occupied; “What was she wearing?”

“I guess no one told her about our affinity for bottle girls in little black dresses-” Yuta sighs. “But she still looked absolutely delicious in black pants and a satin dress shirt.”

“What have I told you about preying on my bottle girls?” Hyuck can’t let this comment slide.

“Yeah, yeah,” Yuta sighs. “I was just trying to paint a pretty picture for you.”

As if Yuta has to verbalize that you looked good enough to eat. Hyuck’s way past that. 

“Hey,” the wolf catches Hyuck’s mind from drifting, “just so you know- I know that Girl-Bunny-Lee is off the table. You don’t usually go for bunnies, so a few others might get confused, but… well, I know she’s yours.” 

Hyuck takes a moment to consider his friend’s words.

What Yuta’s just said is true though, Hyuck generally isn’t one to spend too much time with Level Ones. He has a preference for Level Four big cat hybrids; panthers, tigers, he’s even had a daring lion or two-

Bunnies always get jumpy around Hyuck, and for good reason. 

He’ll enjoy breaking you in- in more ways than one.

“I appreciate that you know your boundaries, wolf,” Hyuck says smoothly. “To ensure that everyone else knows not to toe the line, how about you talk to Doyoung about putting our newest little bunny on bottle service for Friday night. Mark will be working- it will give us both a chance to watch our Level Ones scurrying around.”

“You know, boss,” Yuta chuckles, “I like the way you think.”

11: Friday 

Mark can feel his annoyance practically perfuming off his own form, and he’s not the only one who’s noticed. While transiting to work, the few other prey hybrids on the bus have moved away from him, and you keep shooting him worried looks.

A few stops from the club, a human couple leaves, and Mark is quick to snatch the newly vacated seats.

He lets out a deep sigh as he sits down, immediately leaning against the window to cast his gaze outside.

“Mark, stop being such a party pooper,” you say in a hushed tone, gently poking at his side.

He rolls his eyes.

“Seriously. I know it’s a little fast that I’m working a busy shift, but that means more tips, and isn’t making money the whole point of this?” 

“I just-” he groans again. “It’s a Friday night, all the VIP big bosses will be there-” He bites his tongue, although he has much more to say. Like how he knows Hyuck’s the reason you’re working tonight, because Hyuck has final say on shifts, and any change in schedule immediately points to the picky Level Five having his hand in it.

“So what if all the big bosses are there?” you ask. “I’ll just work harder to swindle them for their money.”

You’re trying to lighten the mood, and Mark can’t help but crack a small smile.

“You need to be realistic about this though,” he warns you. “Do your job, be nice, but don’t be too nice. Do you understand?” 

“I’ll only do what I’m paid to do,” you nod. “Honestly, I think you’re overthinking this. Doyoung’s been a great manager, and tonight’s going to be fine.”

He wants to tell you that you’re too trusting. That you’re a naive little bunny going into a den of upper level hybrids - some of whom, you can’t even truly name. 

He might have told you that Renjun is a phoenix, but you still have no idea what you’re going up against when dealing with Hyuck.

“Just-” Mark sighs again. “Don’t be too nice.”

12: Friday con't

It’s a busy night, and Hyuck gets a fabulous view of you and other ‘bottle bitches’ running around his club.

You’re in a black dress, and in many other work places, it would be considered much too short. In fact, the only thing truly keeping the fabric over the rump of your cute little bum is your fuzzy grey tail. 

Hyuck thanks god for hybrid specific clothing, and he makes a mental note to congradulate Doyoung on quickly taking care of your wardrobe. Yuta had mentioned the pants you wore to your first shift were nice… but Hyuck doubts that much could look better on you than this.

You look good enough to eat, and Hyuck wants to unwrap you-

But he’s not the only one. 

An hour goes by, then two, and as the night gets more lively, a few Level Four hybrids get increasingly cocky with you, much to Hyuck’s annoyance. 

Hell, even a few Level Threes who should be working seem to be revolving around you. 

Hyuck’s not sure if it’s because they’re also seeing the way men are looking at you, or if they themselves are as into you as everyone else seems to be.

You had come to the club with Jeno your first time, and as Hyuck watches the doberman practically do laps around you while you scurry about, he wonders if there’s anything going on between the two of you. 

After tracking you with his eyes for half an hour more, Hyuck decides there’s no way you could be dating Jeno. Hyuck would have smelt you on his doberman, and while Jeno often comes in smelling a little like bunny, it’s always been Jaemin and Mark’s scent still lingering on his skin.

Hyuck is getting increasingly impatient watching you tend to the lower section of the bar. While he’d insisted on having you work tonight, Doyoung had been just as firm about Jisung being the bottle bitch to the VIP’s, and Hyuck’s not sure how much longer he can go without seeing you up close.

Doyoung’s not usually one to put his foot down when Hyuck gives him orders, and as Hyuck watches Doyoung watch you, he begins to wonder about even the raven’s integrity when it comes to pretty little bunnies. 

It’s near the end of your shift when something happens that finally allows Hyuck to act; a tiger hybrid seated at a booth catches your arm as you rush past him with a bottle of champagne. The roughness of the sudden grip makes you stagger.

Hyuck’s on his feet in an instant, eyes fixed on you.

The tiger leans up to say something in your ear, and even with top hybrid hearing, Hyuck can’t make it out with all the noise in the room. However, by your reaction, it’s obvious that what ever has been said, well… it doesn’t sit right.

A look of shock crosses your features, your jaw dropping-

Hyuck hurries down the stairs of VIP. He’ll make it to you in less than five seconds-

The tiger hybrid stands up and everything seems to go in slow motion for the Level Five. He’s optimized for this kind of thing, this kind of situation- and his body kicks into high gear, muscles tensing-

The champagne slips from your hand-

Before it can hit the floor, Hyuck’s fingers are wrapping around the bottle’s neck, and in one aggressive motion, he’s using it like a baseball bat and wacking the shit out of the tiger hybrid’s shoulder.

Glass and booze explode at the contact, shards and bubbly spraying every direction. 

The tiger hybrid recoils and others jump at the sudden eruption of anger that had come from a VIP who hardly leaves his section. If the big cats and other predators in the vicinity hadn’t smelt Hyuck for what he is before, well- it’s obvious to everyone who the big boss is now.

“Don’t you know anything about being in a club?!” Hyuck rages at the tiger, who practically shrinks under his fiery gaze. “You can look, but don’t you ever think about touching one of my bunnies like that again!” 

“I’m sorry-” the man’s eyes are full of fear, and the smell of it makes Hyuck’s lungs burn. 

In his periphery, Hyuck sees Jeno, Jungwoo and Doyoung rushing to surround him. He sees Jeno reach for you, protectively putting you behind his back-

“Throw this guy out,” Hyuck announces to his subordinates. “And tell Mark to make a note by his name.” His gaze lands on the cowering hybrid. “If you comes back here, I’ll do worse than break a champagne bottle.”

Hands grab at the tiger, and he’s hauled off by the two dogs who do Hyuck’s bidding. 

The Level Five inhales deeply to calm himself, running a hand through his curls before turning to look at you. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine-” you assure him, but you sound breathless, and your eyes are wide.

“Was that really necessary?” Doyoung asks. “Cleaning the champagne and glass up is going to be a shit show-”

“Yes, it was necessary,” Hyuck snaps. “Everyone here needs to know-” he casts his eyes around at the predator hybrids that frequent his club, “employees at my club are off limits.” 

“I’m sure they know that now.” The raven isn’t even bothering to hide his exasperation. Surely he wouldn’t have handled things this way, in such an abrupt and aggressive manner- but he’s not Hyuck, and he’s not a Level Five.

Hyuck looks at you again, assessing you for any sign of injury. Up close, you’re even prettier than he could have imagined, and you meet his gaze with those wide, wonderous eyes of yours-

“Your shift is over,” Hyuck declares. “It’s been an eventful night. I’ve been watching you scurry around for hours.”

“But-” you and Doyoung both go to argue, and Hyuck holds up a hand.

“It’s her first night working a busy shift,” Hyuck states. “I think she’s had enough.”

“I-” you bite on your lip. “Thank you- but… I mean, I have to stay here until Mark’s shift is over in half an hour anyways-”

“Then how about you join me in VIP while you wait for your brother.” 

Doyoung lets out an annoyed sound in the back of his throat, eyes rolling before he turns to leave. No doubt he’s had enough of this conversation, enough of Hyuck- and the Level Five doesn’t mind. This is a conversation best had without the stickler raven hanging around. 

“Thanks for the offer- but I really shouldn’t. Mark wouldn’t like it, and I mean… you’re my boss after all.”

Hyuck lets out a chuckle. “That’s never stopped Mark from joining Yuta when his shift is over. Your brother sounds like a hypocrite if he’d get upset at you joining me.” 

You blink up at him- and then you’re smiling and Hyuck feels like he’s on cloud nine. “That’s what I’ve been saying! He’s been very hypocritical lately!” Then you do something no bunny before has ever done, you lean closer to Hyuck, lowering your voice; “He sort of told me to stay away from you.”

Hyuck’s grin widens. “So you and your hypocrite brother have been talking about me, huh?”

Your pretty bunny ears twitch, and you cast your eyes down with embarrassment. “Not at length- he still won’t tell me what type of hybrid you are-”

“Come have a drink with me, and maybe you’ll find out.”

You look up at him again, and Hyuck can tell you’re searching his face for a sign of deception. Then you give in; “Fine. I’ll have one drink while I wait for Mark, but not in VIP.”

It’s almost like you’re taunting him, and when you turn to head toward the bar, Hyuck’s natural predatory instincts kick in. He gives in to the chase, following close on your heels.  

People part for Hyuck as he walks through the busy dance floor. He supposes they could just be being careful from the champagne bottle incident, but there’s also the fact that he gives off intense vibes. Even without knowing what Level Five hybrids are, many of the Fours in the room have no problem identifying him, once in a blue moon when he comes down from VIP. 

Yuta had told Hyuck when they’d first met that he simply smells and feels like an other- something not of their normal hybrid world. And Hyuck supposes there’s some merit to that. 

He joins you at the bar, and within an instant, his persian kitty bartender, Taeyong, is rushing up to take his order. Doyoung eyes Hyuck from the end of the bartop, but keeps his distance.

In record speed, two drinks are being sat in front of you, and Hyuck can finally give you his full attention. “So how’d a bunny like you get into working restaurants?”

“Hmm?”

“Your resume,” Hyuck clarifies. “It said you’ve worked in the industry before.”

“Oh, uh-” you fiddle with the straw in your drink, “I mean- growing up, Mark used to call me Little Miss Energizer Bunny, you know, like the battery? And I guess, I’ve always liked being helpful, so running around a room and making sure people are happy seems like a no brainer.”

Hyuck watches you with a smile. He likes the idea of you being a little Energizer Bunny- his little Energizer Bunny. 

“How about you?” you ask, lifting your chin to appear confident in your question, but your eyes and twitchy ears betray you. “How does a young Level Five like yourself end up owning a club?”

Hyuck chuckles. “I’m not as young as I look.” 

“Really? Is this a hint as to your hybrid type? I will figure it out, you know.” 

You’re his little Sherlock Holmes the Energizer Bunny. It’s cute. 

“Sure you will,” Hyuck says, although there are doubts in his mind. “How are you liking the work here?”

“I’m enjoying it,” you tell him. “All my coworkers are really nice, and Doyoung is a great manager.” 

Hyuck can’t help but crack a smile at this. The raven has had many complaints against him in the past, mostly from Jaemin and Jeno, who think he’s much too strict and bitchy- but Hyuck guesses there’s no surprise that Doyoung puts his best foot forward with you.

The Level Five opens his mouth to ask another question, but before he can, he notices your brother weaving through the crowd behind you. 

“Uh-” Mark coughs awkwardly, gently tapping you on your arm, “Doyoung said there was an altercation- said I should take you home early?”

Maybe Hyuck will have to file a complaint against Doyoung too, for being a royal cock block. 

“Oh, yeah-” you nod quickly, “let me finish my drink-”

Hyuck watches the way you suck on your straw, and his mouth starts to water. It takes all his energy to force his eyes to your brother. “You usually bus, don’t you, Mark? I could get someone to drive you both home.”

“We’ll be fine,” Mark states, and there’s a stubborn set to his jaw even though he can’t truly meet Hyuck’s gaze. “I’m sure y/n made enough tips to pay for a cab.” 

Hyuck would be entertained by Mark’s big brother protectiveness, if it wasn’t directed at warding him off. But Hyuck also supposes that, if he were in Mark’s shoes and had a sister, especially one as cute as you, he’d be doing the same thing Mark is doing right now.

“Your call, Markie.” Hyuck raises his glass, nodding at the bunny whose cheeks are now a pretty shade of pink. “Get home safe, and I’ll see you-” his eyes meet yours, “sometime soon.”

It’s a promise, but it also might just be a threat.

13: Friday con't

At first, the atmosphere in the cab is tense, silent. Mark is like a brewing volcano on your right side, and you’re just waiting for him to say something. Yet, your brother throws none of his anger your way. 

It almost feels like you’re going to get home unscathed, and then all of the sudden Mark is throwing his hands up and looking at you with an exasperated expression; “I thought I told you to stay away from him!” 

You’re too stunned to speak. Mark hardly ever raises his voice at you, and the fact that he’s doing this in front of your driver when you’re already so close to home is just as shocking as the outburst itself. “I-” 

“I’m serious, y/n-” Mark’s eyes flicker to the taxi driver. “I don’t want to talk about levels too much right now, but- trust me- if you think Yuta and Johnny might be dangerous based on their hybrid types- just know that Hyuck is ten times worse than that!” 

“He doesn’t seem that bad-”

“Doesn’t seem that bad,” Mark repeats, and you can’t tell if he’s about to laugh or cry. 

Your brother opens his mouth to say more, but the taxi comes to a stop in front of your apartment, and the obviously uncomfortable driver quietly tells you how much you owe him.

You grab money out of your work fanny pack, tossing it into the front of the cab before exiting the vehicle. There’s much more you want to say to your brother, but it’s not going to be said in front of some innocent bystander who’s just trying to make a living.

“Mark, I hate to say it,” you follow him towards the entryway of your building, “but you’re being extremely hypocritical right now.”

“Me?! How?!” Even in the middle of an argument, Mark holds the apartment lobby door open for you.

“Don’t act as if you’re not involved with Yuta. He’s a Level Four, and I see how much calmer you are when he’s around. He’s like a protector, maybe I’d like a protector too.” 

You think back to how Hyuck had appeared out of nowhere when the tiger hybrid had been aggressive to you, and you feel dirty at the way your panties begin to stick to your core-

“Then go for Jeno or something! Why does it have to be Hyuck?! He’s a Level Five!” Mark insists as you enter the elevator. “And he’s probably got a bunny fetish-” 

“Mark Lee-” you say, shocked beyond belief, “for someone who’s paid to pay attention, you don’t seem to notice the hybrid types that usually surround Hyuck in VIP. They’re all cats, Mark- big cats!” 

Your brother doesn’t seem to have a rebuttal for you, so you continue; “Besides, he might not even like me that way…”

“Jeno said that the guy practically swooped down from VIP and smashed a champagne bottle over a tiger hybrid’s head just to protect you.”

“He smashed it over the guy’s arm and shoulder area,” you correct. 

“Still!” Mark insists. He takes a deep breath, and when he speaks again, his tone has calmed down substantially. “Please,” your brother sighs, “trust me on this.”

Doesn’t he know rule number 3 of the imaginary sister code? Never take your brother’s advice, especially when it comes to love.

And you don’t intend to.  

14: Saturday

“So I heard that then, Donghyuck comes down from VIP and straight up kills this tiger-” 

Mark’s been listening to Xiaojun and Hendery discuss last night’s events since he came into the staff room five minutes ago. Usually their gossip isn’t something that interests him, but tonight, he feels the need to step in.

“He didn’t kill the tiger-” Mark groans, drawing the eyes of the other Level Ones who have just finished their own shifts. 

“He didn’t?” Xiaojun blinks.

“He just- whacked him on the arm or something.” Mark shakes his head. “Jisung apparently spent an hour cleaning up all the shards.”

“That’s crazy, dude,” Hendery's large rat hybrid ears wiggle with distaste. He’s never been one to enjoy actually working at work, and even Mark had been a little shocked at how much their resident hamster friend had been forced to do to make up for their boss’s outburst.

“And it was over your sister, right?” Xiaojun presses.

Mark had entered this with a sneaking suspicion that the two of them were talking so openly about the incident to get more information, and the bunny decides he’s not about to fall into their feeble minded trap again. 

Especially not when there are more important matters to attend to… like the schedule he’s currently looking at. 

Just then, Doyoung walks into the room, and Mark jumps at the opportunity to discuss things with his manager. 

“Hey-” the bunny grabs the attention of the raven, “it says here that my sister’s working Wednesday night, I thought you had her on afternoon shifts?”

“Oh-” Doyoung’s broad wings ruffle behind him, “yeah, there was a schedule change.”

“I thought I told you that I only wanted her working evening shifts when I can be here,” Mark sighs. Wednesday is the one night a week he has classes at his local college, and he’s pretty sure everyone here knows it, especially Doyoung.

“Unfortunately, Mark,” Doyoung adjusts a stray piece of hair that’s fallen haphazardly over his brow, “you’re a Level One, and this schedule change was recommended by someone much higher in the food chain than you.”

“Hyuck,” Mark states. Doyoung might not have said their head boss’s name, but Mark can feel the culprit in his very bones.

“He told me to offer to schedule you in as well,” Doyoung breathes, “but we both know you have class.” 

Mark would bet all his savings that Hyuck knows it too.

There’s nothing he can do about it though. He can’t miss class.

He hates how easy it is for Hyuck to be a puppeteer, pulling on everyone’s strings. And above all, Mark especially hates how you’ll probably play right into the Level Five’s hands. 

15: Wednesday

While Hyuck has always been the kind of guy to love watching his club make money, there’s something to be said about slow nights… or maybe it’s just the fact that you look calmer. 

There aren’t fifty plus Level Fours surrounding you, just a handful of Wednesday night regulars, and it’s obvious to Hyuck from his vantage point in VIP that things are easier on you tonight than last Friday.

He’d also be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy the way you pay particular attention to him. With only a few VIP clients in tonight, you have much more ability to watch his own cup, and you frequently pop up with a bottle of whisky to refill his glass.

On top of all of this, maybe it also has something to do with Mark not being present. Your brother's watchful gaze is understandable, but yet another barrier between you and Hyuck, a barrier he’d been quick to deal with. 

Tonight, the door is manned by Jaehyun, the stoic black lab, and Jaemin, who looks down at his phone absentmindedly between guests arriving. Neither of these men are intent on watching you, and Hyuck hopes it stays that way.

He enjoys the way your gaze so often shifts to his table, even if it’s just to check on his drink, and for the countless time tonight, you hurry up the steps with his favourite whisky in hand.

“Can I refill that for you?” you ask.

Hyuck gently pushes his cup forward, remaining silent and watching you.

“I hate to ask this,” you say, as the amber liquid pours, “but should I maybe grab you some water? I’ve only been keeping this bottle out for you tonight, and you’ve already gone through most of it-”

“You’re concerned I can’t handle my liquor?” Hyuck grins. You’re such a funny, amusing, little thing.

“You can definitely handle this, much better than I could, at least,” you’re quick to assure him. “I just- technically my shift ends soon, and I think I’m the only one who’s really been paying attention to you. If I don’t go grab you some water, something tells me you’ll be neglected till closing.”

As if he couldn’t easily wave down Doyoung- but still, Hyuck enjoys the sentiment.

“If it would make you happy, you can go grab me some water,” he concedes.

You flash him a small smile, and then you’re scurrying off, his little bunny errand girl. 

You return with water not two minutes later, and Hyuck has already pulled out a few bills. “Here,” he says, holding them out to you, “for paying special attention to me tonight.” 

You blink at the wad of cash. “Sir, you don’t have to-”

“Of course I don’t have to,” Hyuck interrupts. “I own the place. I can do what I want. And what I want, is to give you this. As a token of my appreciation.” 

He hasn’t bothered to count the exact amount, but he knows it’s somewhere in the hundreds, which is probably why you’re being so nervous about accepting it.

“Here,” Hyuck sighs, standing. He reaches out, tucking the cash between the waistband of your fanny pack and black dress that's been capturing his attention all shift. “Make sure you don’t lose this.”

“Thank you, I-” you blink up at him, and Hyuck sees something like stars in your eyes- or maybe that’s just the light reflecting from the disco ball. “Are you leaving?

“Yup,” Hyuck runs a hand though his hair, smirking and offering you a wink. “I’ll see you soon though, yeah?”

He likes the way you mutter “yeah” as if you have any choice in the matter, and then he heads down the VIP stairs, ignoring the glare that Doyoung casts his way.

16: Wednesday con't

“You should take a cab,” Mark tells you, and part of you wishes you’d never even called your brother while waiting at the bus stop. 

“I’ll be fine,” you assure him. “It’s late so the bus will be empty.”

“Yeah, it’s late, which makes it more dangerous out there,” Mark insists.

You open your mouth to argue back, absentmindedly watching a black sports car slowly approach- and then the window is being rolled down, and Hyuck is looking out at you. 

“Need a ride?”

“Mark, good news,” you say into your phone, “Hyuck just offered me a lift.”

“Don’t get in his car,” comes your brother’s stern response. 

“Sorry, I can’t hear you, line’s breaking up-” you lie, “See you in ten!” Then you hang up on Mark, addressing Hyuck for the first time. “Yes, thank you, I’d really appreciate it.” You grab the door handle, getting into the car and quickly telling him your address. “Mark was just hassling me about busses being dangerous-”

“Good thing you’re safe in here with me now, huh?” Hyuck grins, waiting for you to have your seatbelt on before he pulls away from the curb.

“Very safe,” you confirm, even as your bunny senses take a moment to adjust to his overpowering scent. The fiery nature of his presence is something you’ve gotten more and more used to, and in the back of your mind you wonder if he - like his business partner Renjun - is a phoenix of some sort.

“You did good today, on shift,” Hyuck says, and the praise makes your heart sing in your chest.

“Thank you.”

“And you’re doing good now, too, you know. Not many Level One hybrids like to be near me, let alone locked in a car with me.” Hyuck’s fingers gently tap on the steering wheel. “Did your brother ever tell you how he puked the first time we met?”

You laugh. “Mark hasn’t talked about it, but Yuta mentioned it during my scent trial.”

“If you feel sick, let me know and we’ll roll down a window,” Hyuck teases.

“I mean,” you feel your skin heating, “I’ve got butterflies in my stomach, but it’s not puking related.”

Hyuck sneaks a glance at you. “Really?” 

“Uh huh.” You look away shyly.

A moment later, his warm hand is finding the middle of your thigh, and he gives you a gentle squeeze. 

“You’re cute, bunny,” he tells you, and just as you think things might get even hotter, he pulls away, fingers returning to the wheel. “It’s good to have you on the team.”

“It’s good to be on a team.” Good to feel appreciated.

Hyuck’s a fast driver, and the roads are dead on a Wednesday night, so you’re turning onto your street much sooner than you’d wish to be. To your surprise, you can already see Mark waiting on the curb for you. 

“And there’s your brother,” Hyuck sighs. He pulls over a little distance away from your apartment, and Mark begins approaching. “I guess I’ll see you at your shift on Friday night.”

“I guess so.”

“You should plan on ending early again, I’ll want your company in VIP.”

“Is Doyoung going to be okay with that?” you question. “And besides, who says I want to come to VIP? Haven’t I told you already that you’re my boss-”

“Look,” Hyuck cuts you off, “If you weren’t up for it, you wouldn’t be in my car right now.”

He’s right, but you won’t admit it. You just stare at him as Mark comes all the way up to the car with a mildly frustrated scrunch to his nose-

“Like I said,” Hyuck laughs, watching you reach for the handle to exit his vehicle, “I’ll see you at your next shift.” 

17: Saturday

“You’ve gotta stop eye fucking my new hire.”

Hyuck assesses Doyoung over the rim of his whisky glass. It’s a busy Saturday night and Hyuck can’t believe the raven hybrid is broaching this subject now of all times. 

“Uh oh,” Hyuck grins at Yuta next to him. “Looks like I’ve ruffled some feathers…” His gaze shifts to Doyoung again, “I’ve gotta stop eye fucking your new hire.. Or what?”

“Or we’re going to lose Mark, his sister, and Jaemin and Jeno, because those two losers do everything Mark does-” 

“They might be losers, but neither Jaemin or Jeno is stupid enough to quit working here,” Hyuck scoffs. “Besides… why is it so wrong for me to want to get to know the cutest Lee bunny?”

“Well for starters,” Doyoung sighs with exasperation, “You’re her boss?!”

“Get on Yuta’s back then,” Hyuck chuckles, nudging the wolf seated next to him.

“And second-” Doyoung continues, “because it’s just some weird bunny fetish, and it’s not good. Your intentions aren’t pure.” 

“Bunny fetishes can be fun,” Yuta notes, and although Hyuck agrees with his friend, this is definitely not a case of Bunny fetishization… or at least, he doesn't think it is. 

“I’m getting awfully tired of you questioning me,” Hyuck sighs. 

Doyoung lowers his voice, but his words are still laced with venom when he says “And I’m getting tired of you watching y/n work her butt off to pay rent while you sit up here at VIP drinking expensive whisky!” 

“You know what?” Hyuck stands up. “Fine! If you want me to be a gentleman about it, I’ll go and ask her on a real date, how’s that sound?”

“That’s not what I meant-” Doyoung’s pale skin flushes a deep red colour, and it only pushes Hyuck to act quicker.

“Too late, I’m going, right now.” He brushes by the dumbstruck raven, heading down the VIP stairs. 

His eyes are on the prize; you. Specifically, his gaze is fixed on your cute little tail and perfect ass. Your back is to him as you stand at the bar, waiting for Taeyong to grab you a bottle of wine, and for a moment, Hyuck thinks it might be fun to ambush you-

Then he sees a shiver run up your spine, and you turn to look at him, lips parting in a silent question.

“Hey you,” Hyuck grins. “Got a second?”

“For you, I have two or so minutes.” 

“There’s my funny little bunny,” he says affectionately. “Listen, Doyoung’s mad that I keep looking at you. He thinks my intentions are- well, let’s just say he thinks I’m going to be a dick about this. To prove him wrong, I thought I’d ask you out. How do you feel about brunch?”

“I mean…” he watches you swallow thickly, “I love brunch- but, you don’t really seem like a brunch kind of guy?” 

“That’s just because you don’t know me yet,” he winks at you. “Brunch is good because I work in the evenings.”

“Oh, right-”

“I know you’ve gotta quickly run away like the little Energizer Bunny you are, so I’ll make this quick. I know a place with a great view and the best mimosas in town… what do you say about tomorrow?”

You look up at him with those big pretty eyes of yours, and then your gaze shifts over his shoulder. He wonders if you’re looking for Mark, but then you’re nodding. “Pick me up at noon?”

Hyuck nods. “You got it, bunny. I do know where you live.” 

18: Sunday

When Hyuck drives you to an expensive apartment building, you’re a little confused. But you play along as he parks in the underground and takes you to the elevator.

“The best mimosas in town,” he assures you. “I guarantee.” 

“I trust you,” you laugh, leaning back against the wall of the lift and watching him with a smile.

He looks good today, but when does he ever not look good?

In black dress pants and a silky charcoal shirt, with its sleeves rolled up to expose tanned, veiny forearms-

Well, there’s a lot you want to do with the Level Five hybrid in front of you, things you’d never do with a boss. 

You admire the golden tint to his skin, and think through a list of things he could be. There’s the phoenix, kitsune, dragon, griffin, chimera, unicorn- you’re pretty sure he’s not a unicorn, but at this point, he could be just about anything. 

The elevator dings and the doors open. You find yourself walking into a lovely entry way, and you’re certain now that this location couldn’t possibly be a restaurant.

“Welcome to my home,” Hyuck tells you, flourishing an arm. “Also known as the place with the best mimosas in town.”

“Well aren’t you confident in your cocktail abilities,” you quirk a brow.

“Sure, but I’m actually talking about my private chef,” Hyuck laughs, leading you through a lush living room to the open concept kitchen, were low and behold, a human is standing there preparing food.

You can tell he’s not one of you by the way he smells, and the fact that, while still focused on his craft, his eyes are slow to find you. “Hi there,” the chef smiles.

“Y/N, this is Jin. Jin, this is our lovely brunch guest.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” Jin waves his knife around as if it were his own hand giving you a greeting. 

“I was thinking,” Hyuck’s palm finds the small of your back, “we could sit on the terrace, have some food, and I could give you a full tour later.”

“Works for me,” you agree, giving one final nod to the chef before allowing the Level Five to guide you through his home once more.

The terrace is lovely. The view is no joke, and it’s decorated modestly with a table and chairs, with many plants livening up the place and enjoying the sun. Hyuck pulls out a chair for you and you sit with your eyes still taking in all the lavish wonder his home has to offer. 

“Wow,” you muse, smiling as he takes his own seat, “you’re really pulling out all the stops today, aren’t you?”

“I told Doyoung I’d be a gentleman, so here I am,” he shrugs. 

“It’s nice that he’s so protective of me,” you muse. 

“It feels like everyone who meets you feels protective,” Hyuck nods. “Is that just due to your bunny charm, or is it something deeper?”

“Let’s just leave it at bunny charm, don’t you think?” you laugh. 

“So you’re not a little flirt then?”

You take a moment to respond, grinning before you tell him, “only for you.” 

“Good. That’s what I like to hear.” 

Jin arrives with mimosas a moment later, and before you know it, you’re sipping on your drink and laughing with Hyuck in the afternoon sun. 

It’s easier to talk with him in this non work setting, and the view gives you a constant thing to marvel at- aside from the beautiful man you’re conversing with. You find it easier and easier to hold his gaze, but you’re still not fully comfortable with him yet.

The chef interrupts for a second time, holding two platters of food. On one is every veggie and fruit you could possibly imagine, and on the other are more suitable brunch foods.

“I wasn’t sure what you liked,” Hyuck says, scanning the eggs, bacon and sausage links, “so I told Jin to make whatever he’s best at. I hope there’s something here for you to eat.”

“This is wonderful,” you look to the chef, “thank you.”

He simply nods. “Is there anything else you two might need before I leave for the day?” 

Hyuck waits for you to respond, and after another look at the food in front of you, you shake your head. “This will be perfect.”

Hyuck nods to his chef, and Jin excuses himself. 

When you begin to put things on your plate, you keep your bunny ears open, listening to the chef grab his things and depart. It feels like a weight has been lifted as soon as you know you’re alone with Hyuck, and he visibly relaxes also. 

“Something’s on your mind,” he says, toying with a piece of bacon. “Tell me.” 

“I’m just thinking about what kind of hybrid you are,” you confess.

“Any guesses?” 

“A few.”

“Let’s hear them then. Come on Bunny, spill.”

You smile at the Level Five. “At first, I thought you might be some kind of snake-”

“Definitely not.”

“Yeah, don’t be mad, but Mark told me I was way off. He also may have let it slip that one of your friends is a Phoenix-''

“He did, did he?” Hyuck arches a brow, but you don’t see any anger in his expression, only amusement.

“He did,” you confirm. “So I figure, if we’re in the realm of mythical beasts, well, I don’t see any hybrid marks on you-”

“It’s a Level Five adaptation,” he tells you. “So we can blend. Renjun can’t have fire wings protruding out of his back every day now can he? That’s a fire hazard if I’ve ever heard of one.” 

“I guess not-” you laugh at the joke, “but… he does have wings?”

“They retract, back under the skin,” Hyuck nods. 

“So… theoretically,” you put a fruit down on your plate, giving Hyuck your full attention, “you could be anything.” 

“Theoretically.”

You assess him for a moment longer. “Okay, this information totally derails all my theories, but I guess, I was sort of thinking you could also be a phoenix, due to your eyes flaring red. Or maybe a kitsune because you’re kind of fox-like and mischievous-”

“Am I?”

“You definitely are,” you laugh. 

“Any other theories?” 

“I mean, you could always be a dragon or something-” you mean it as something of an off hand joke, but the way Hyuck’s chin tilts down ever so slightly- his eyes suddenly going serious- you think you may have just guessed your way into a truth “Wait, no, you can’t be-”

“Does it scare you?” Hyuck asks, cocking his head to the side. 

You take a breath, trying to ground yourself in your own body. It’s hard to say exactly what you feel, but it’s definitely not fear. “Do you… do you have retractable wings too?”

“Big ones,” he confirms, “and they’re a pretty golden colour.”

Part of you wants to see them, but you bite your tongue, considering what he’d said about Renjun’s own wings. “Does it-” you swallow thickly, “does it hurt when you retract them?”

Hyuck watches you, and it’s a few moments before he answers. “No one’s ever asked me that before,” he confesses. “But yeah. It hurts.”

There’s silence at the brunch table. Your mind is going a million miles a minute, trying to process what he’s just revealed to you.

“Most people want to see my wings when they find out what I am,” he states. “Don’t you want to see them?”

“Not if it hurts you!” 

Hyuck chuckles. “You’re a funny little bunny, has anyone ever told you that?”

“I’m sorry-”

“Don’t be,” he waves his hand. “You have nothing to be sorry for. In fact, I’m impressed. You guessed what I am, and like I said, most people just want to see my wings. They don’t care about the pain of skin tearing to reveal the mark of my hybrid self, but you do. I’ve gotta say…” the dragon sips his mimosa, “I like you, bunny.”

“You do?” your voice is practically a squeak.

“It might be stupid, but I’ve been around a long time- and I don’t think I’ve ever met someone quite like you, let alone a Level One.” Hyuck cocks his head to the side again, eyes scanning your form. “You’re something special, aren’t you, bunny?”

You open your mouth to respond, but before you can, your phone rings loudly in your purse.

“Shit,” you cuss, immediately knowing who’s calling; “it must be Mark-”

“I’m going to take a wild guess and say you haven’t told him who you’re with right now.”

“Of course not-” you swallow thickly. “I’m really sorry, but I have to answer this-”

“Go ahead.” Hyuck leans back in his chair, eyes never leaving you. 

With one last sigh, you answer your phone. “Mark?”

“Where are you?”

“Uh-” you lick your lips, “Yeji wanted to meet up for a bit-”

“Are you coming home soon?” your brother presses. “Jeno said he’d help me move this new shelf into my room that we found down at the thrift store, but he bailed.”

“I can come help,” you say without a second thought. 

“Awesome! See you soon then!”

“Bye!” You hang up, gaze lifting to meet Hyuck’s. “I’m really sorry-”

“Again, don’t be,” he tells you. “You’ve told me that you’re a bunny who likes to help, and it sounds like Jeno fucked Mark over. Of course you need to go help your brother, although- I have to admit, the idea of two bunnies carrying a bookshelf is a little amusing-” Hyuck downs the rest of his mimosa. “So our secret brunch gets cut short… come on, I’ll give you a ride home.” 

19: Wednesday

Watching you work your Wednesday evening shift, Hyuck can’t get the thought of kissing you out of his head. When he’d dropped you off a block from your home on Sunday, he’d known it wasn’t the right time to make a move, and for two nights he’s been dreaming about what if’s.

What if he had kissed you. What if he had cupped your jaw and pressed his lips to yours, moving gently and taking things at your pace. What if his tongue had just happened to glide across your own, earning a pretty moan-

Every time you come to refill his cup, Hyuck finds his patience running thinner and thinner- by the time your shift is officially over, the dragon practically pounces, following you into the staff room.

To his dismay, Taeil is also there, and the Level Five has to push his instincts to the side. You can’t have your first kiss at work, and he hates it- but he knows it too. 

“Hi, Hyuck,” you smile at him while pulling your bag from your locker, wrapping your hot little body in a jacket appropriate for the weather outside.

“Hi, Bunny.” He leans against the lockers, looking you up and down. “Shift’s over… how do you feel about coming over to my place,” his gaze moves to Taeil, “I need to talk to you about your resume.”

Taeil scoffs loudly, and it seems the lie hasn’t worked on you or the Level Two who hurries to exit the space. 

“I can’t,” you frown. “As much as I’m sure my resume needs to be discussed, Mark’s waiting for me at home.” 

“How about tomorrow?” Hyuck presses.

You cock a brow at him, and Hyuck wants to throw you against the lockers and have his way with you-

“Are you really that eager?” you question.

“Yes.” 

You smile up at him, and each second you wait to answer is practically painful for the dragon. He’s used to getting what he wants, and what he wants right now, is you. 

“I can see you tomorrow,” you confirm. “Your place again?”

“Uh huh,” Hyuck nods. “But this time, no private chef.”

“I wasn’t aware you wanted to get me alone so badly.”

“Then you haven’t been paying attention.”

You laugh, and Hyuck only wishes you knew how much energy it’s taking to hold himself back from you right now. 

“Let me give you a ride home,” Hyuck insists.

“You know,” you grin, “I’m finding it harder and harder to say no to you.”

Not only does Hyuck know this fact, he’s banking on it. 

20: Wednesday con't

When you’d arrived home on Sunday, one whiff of you had told Mark that you’d been with Hyuck. The Level Five’s dragon scent had clung to you like the smell of weed on a stoner, and despite every fibre of his being telling Mark to cause a fuss about it, he’d tried to play things cool.

The more he argues with you about Hyuck, the more he realizes he has to come to terms with the fact that you’re going to do what you want to do, advice be damned. 

To be fair, other than the overtly horrible way Mark’s body had reacted when he first met the dragon, Hyuck hasn’t ever actually done anything bad to Mark personally. 

When you and he had been children, your mother had told you to follow your noses, and Mark had taken that as personal gospel. One wiff of the dragon had been enough to send him in the opposite direction… but his nose is not your nose. 

If your nose is directing you towards the Level Five… then Mark supposes that’s your own truth, and maybe he has to respect that. 

With all of this in mind, however, Mark still gets annoyed when you show up home from your shift wreaking of dragon. And he hates the way you walk down the street as if you’d taken the bus, as if you hadn’t gotten a ride home.

Mark holds the door open for you to enter your apartment building, and in the elevator, he finally finds his nerve to address the problem. “I really wish you wouldn’t hide things from me.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Mark sighs, “if Hyuck drove you home, that’s fine. Next time, just tell him to drop you off where I can see you instead of parking around the corner.” 

“Well what if he drops me off out of your sight because he wants to kiss me?”

“Has he kissed you?!” Mark’s hands ball into fists, an innate reaction when it comes to hearing a dragon may have done bits with his sister-

“No,” you confess. “But in the future he might.”

“So you guys are getting serious, huh?” Mark tries to control his breathing. 

“I think so.” The elevator is quiet for a moment. “I’m sorry I’ve been lying to you about seeing him.”

Some of the tension in Mark’s shoulders dissipate, and he lets out a sigh. “I’m sorry I put you in a situation where you felt the need to lie… but, with that being said… if Hyuck ever hurts you, I don’t care if I’m a Level One bunny, I’ll kick that dude’s ass.” 

“Sure you will, Mark,” you smile fondly at your brother as you leave the elevator.

“I’m serious.”

“I know you are… and if I’m being honest, I don’t think anything ‘bad’ will happen, at least, not the type of things I think you’re expecting. Hyuck seems like a good guy. I don’t think he goes on real dates often, and that has to count for something, right?”

“I guess,” Mark sighs.  

“Besides, stranger things have happened.”

“Stranger than a bunny falling for a dragon? Her biggest and most vicious natural predator?”

“Honestly,” you laugh, “the fact that Level Five’s even exist is pretty strange, even in a world full of hybrids.”

Mark can’t argue with you there. 

21: Thursday 

You definitely know what to expect when you get to Hyuck’s apartment, and the matching bra and pantie set under your dress is proof of it. What you’re not prepared for, however, is the way the dragon keeps his hands off of you even in the elevator.

Sure, his eyes are practically burning a hole into you, but he stays on his side of the lift.

“Hyuck?” you say his name as you step into the entryway of his penthouse.

“Should I give you a tour now?” he asks. “Seeing as we missed doing that last time-”

“I mean…” you play with the hem of your pretty dress, “sure, you can give me a tour.”

“But?” He smirks at you. “It sounds like there’s a but in there somewhere.”

“I was just…” you bite on your lip, “aren’t you going to tell me I’m pretty?”

His eyes visibly darken, and they take their sweet time looking you up and down. “You look good enough to eat, bunny.”

“Then why don’t you?” you ask. “Eat me, I mean. But in a sexy way, not a dragon way.” 

Hyuck lets out a shaky breath, and then his hands are reaching for your waist, tugging you tight to his chest. “Is that really what you want?”

“Isn’t it what you want?” 

“I need to know you’re not just doing this because you’re a people pleaser,” Hyuck says. “Or because I’m your boss.”

“Actually, I think I’m doing this despite the fact that you’re sort of my boss.” 

“Yeah?” He grins, and you practically melt getting an up close and personal look at his pretty, sharp, canines. 

“Please, Hyuck-” you ball your hands in the fabric of his crisp white dress shirt, “just kiss me.”

“Bunny,” his hand comes up to cup your cheek, “I thought you’d never ask.”

He’s surprisingly gentle as he presses his lips to your own, and for a moment, you wonder if he’s even a dragon at all. You’d expected him to be rough- as needy as he’d seemed last night. Instead, he’s controlled, thumb stroking your cheek bone while he kisses you with intention.

His tongue swipes past your bottom lip and you stifle a groan, shifting to wrap your arms around the back of his neck while you open your mouth for him.

Hyuck lets out something of a growl, and the sound nearly rattles your bones. It reminds you who you’re dealing with, and you find yourself clinging to him even tighter.

 A whimper of pleasure escapes you and that’s all it takes for Hyuck to snap.

In one fluid motion, he reaches down and grabs your bum, lifting you up so your legs wrap around his waist. He’s strong, and you love it. 

Nothing has ever felt as good as kissing him does, and you get lost in his lips- so lost, that you hardly even realize he’s carrying you through his home.

You break the kiss to catch your breath, and that’s when you notice he’s taken you to his room. His mouth is hot on your throat while you look around, soaking in the ambiance of his most personal space.

“Your room is nice,” you tell him, but your words come out in moans when he finds your sweet spot and his sharp teeth drag against your skin. 

“Nicer with you in it,” comes his quick witted retort, and it makes your panties stick to your core uncomfortably. 

“I like it when you praise me,” you whisper as he moves you closer to the bed, laying you down on the silky covers.

“Yeah?” Hyuck looks down at you, breaking your body contact enough for him to tear off his shirt. “My little bunny likes being told what a good girl she is?”

You whimper, eating up each piece of newly exposed skin with your eyes, which drift down-

There’s a bulge in the front of his pants, and it makes your mouth water.

“Hyuck, you’re so big-” you reach out, and you’re almost surprised he doesn’t bat your hand away. He lets you touch him through his pants, throwing his head back to let out a moan that does wonders for your pussy.

“Probably the biggest you’ll ever have,” Hyuck breathes. “Dragon perk.” 

His gaze finds you again, and he lets out something between a chuckle and a groan. “Fuck, Bunny- you have such tiny hands-”

“Anything compared to your huge dragon cock would look tiny,” you defend yourself, and it makes Hyuck laugh. 

“I can’t believe-” his hips push forward as you trace him, “can’t believe we just kissed for the first time and now you’re going to let me fuck you. I guess the term ‘fucking like bunnies’ came from somewhere, huh?” 

You can only whimper in response, too busy oggling his massive cock to think coherent sentences. 

“Tell me you want me to fuck you.”

“I want you to fuck me,” you moan.

“Tell me you’re my good little bunny.”

“I’m your perfect little bunny.”

“Yeah, you are-” Hyuck’s hands find his belt. “Take off your dress. I wanna see you.”

“Can’t you take it off of me yourself?” you suggest, and the dragon’s motions stop.

He looks down at you. Then he’s on top of you, pressing you between his hot body and the mattress while his hand wraps around your throat. He applies just enough pressure to make your eyes widen, and he grins. “For a people pleasing little bunny, sometimes you can be a bit of a brat.”

“I just thought you’d want to unwrap your present.” 

Hyuck lets out a deep groan, and then he’s kissing you again. His lips are desperate against your own now, and his tongue invades your mouth with newfound fervour. 

You tangle your fingers in his pretty hair, and Hyuck grinds down against you, dragging the front of his pants across your panty covered core.

“Mmm-” you whimper. “Hyuck-” 

“That’s it, pretty bunny, say my name,” he growls, pressing feverish kisses down to your throat again while he ruts his hips-

“Please, I need you so bad-” You’ve been needing him since that first day you met, and you’re only truly realizing it now. “I’m so wet-”

“Dirty bunny,” Hyuck’s lips continue downward, and he lifts up your dress, exposing your belly for his hot mouth. Then his fingers hook in your panties. “Ask nicely for me to eat you out.”

“Please, Hyuck, I’d be yours forever-”

“You’re already mine,” the Level Five growls, tearing your panties off your body in one rough tug that leaves you gasping. “Dragon’s covet pretty things,” he tells you as he settles down between your thighs, his breath teasing your pussy- “and you, my perfect little bunny, are the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen.” 

“Hyuck-” you whimper desperately, pushing your hips up in the hope it will entice him-

His hands firmly hold you to the bed. “I’ve never needed anything more than I need you,” he presses a kiss to your inner thigh that has you crying out- 

He’s so close- so close to giving you what you need-

“Please-” 

Red eyes meet yours as he brings his mouth to your pussy, and a squeal of delight erupts out of you. 

Your hands reach down to tangle in his hair, looking for an anchor, and to your surprise, Hyuck offers you his own hand, linking his fingers with yours and giving you a gentle squeeze even as he buries his tongue in your wet hole.

“You feel so good,” you praise him, and you’re rewarded by his lips wrapping around your clit.

More cries of pleasure escape you, and with one of his hands still holding you down, there’s nothing you can do but close your eyes and enjoy what he’s giving you.

“Oh my god-” your stomach is twisting into knots faster than you’d ever imagined it could, “I’m gonna cum-”

Hyuck pulls away from your pussy and lets go of your hand, causing you to whine loudly- only for one of his fingers to slip into you. 

“Already?” he taunts. “Fuck, you’re so tight, bunny. Hasn’t anyone fucked you properly?”

“No,” you shake your head, “not properly, not like you-”

“You haven’t even had me yet,” he chuckles, and his breath on your pussy makes you twitch.

“I just know-” you insist. “Your so big, so good, gonna stretch me out so good-”

“Listen to you blabber, my cute little blabbering bunny…” He adds a second finger and you whimper loudly. “I guess you can cum.” His lips return to your clit, and the feeling of both his digits and his mouth has you seeing stars.

“Hyuck-” you gasp, body tensing on the precipice of euphoria- 

Then it’s slamming into you, and try as you might to buck your hips, Hyuck holds you down through your high. His tongue flicks your clit while you nearly scream with pleasure. 

Without his hand to grab onto, you’re left grasping at the sheets, but try as you might, nothing keeps you anchored to earth. You can feel your body ascending to something akin to heaven, and your mind goes completely blank except for the wonderful tingles that jitter through your form. 

“That’s it, bunny,” Hyuck’s breath is hot when he pulls away from your clit, but his fingers continue inside your wet core, “look at my pretty girl cumming for me. You’re so perfect-”

“Hyuck-” you’re nearly crying now, on the cusp of beginning to shake from overstimulation-

The dragon lets up, and when he takes his fingers out of your pussy, the smell of you engulfs your senses.

You’re too tired to open your eyes just yet, but you hear Hyuck lick his fingers clean, and he groans. “You taste as good as you look, pretty bunny,” he tells you, “just like I always knew you would.”  

If you had the energy, you might ask him how long he’s been thinking about doing this to you- but you can hardly find the words to speak as you attempt to catch your breath.

“Aw, is my bunny crying?” The bed dips as Hyuck settles his hips flush against your own again, an elbow pressing into the bed beside your head while his hand cups your cheek.

“No,” you whisper.

“Liar,” Hyuck chuckles. “Should I fuck you now? Would that make everything better, bunny?”

“Yes, but…” you take a breath, still recovering from the intensity of your orgasm, “you should know… if you ever hurt me, Mark will kick your ass.”

“Not you thinking of your brother right now.”

“I’m serious,” you swallow thickly. “You’ll have like, two bunnies, a bengal cat, a hamster, two dobermans- a whole hoard of people coming to kick your ass-”

“Oh, I’m so scared of a hoard of Level Ones and Threes,” Hyuck laughs, pressing a kiss to your throat. “I promise not to hurt you. Unless you ask me to.” 

“Split me open.” 

“You got it, bunny.” The dragon sits up again, and he removes both of your clothes faster than you can keep track of. “I tried to stretch you out with my fingers, but… well… it might not have helped much,” he tells you, and you open your eyes to watch him spit on his hand, lubing his cock up.

He’s big. Even bigger now that his pants are off, and part of you wonders how he’s even going to fit inside of you. However, you know he’ll make it fit. 

“You ready?” he asks, laying over you again and pressing a gentle kiss to your lips. 

You can feel his cock throbbing on your thigh, and another gush of wetness between your legs makes you nod enthusiastically. “Please-”

He wraps one hand around the base of his cock, guiding the head to your hole- you gasp at the feeling of the intrusion as he slowly pushes into you. 

“Oh my god-” you wrap your arms around the back of his neck, eagerly seeking out his lips as some form of distraction-

You know it will feel good once he’s inside of you properly, once he starts to thrust- 

“That’s it,” Hyuck groans against your mouth, “Good bunny-” 

“You’re so big-”

“I know,” he assures you, “and you’re taking me so well-”

His praise definitely makes you relax, and he slips deeper and deeper into your core until his hips are flush with your own. You both let out groans of pleasure, and Hyuck breaks your kiss. “I’m gonna fuck you now,” he tells you. “Be my perfect little bunny and let me know when you’re going to cum.”

You love how certain he is that you’ll reach your high again. A few of your past lovers had missed the mark completely, but Hyuck doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who misses. 

He certainly doesn’t miss your gspot, his cock dragging against it with each thrust- 

You can feel your pussy squeezing him, can feel your toes curling with pleasure as he finds an increasingly rough pace. 

“Fuck-” Hyuck groans, lacing his fingers with yours and pinning you to the bed while his lips press kisses along your throat. “You feel amazing-”

You’re pretty sure he’s the one who feels amazing- any hole would be tight around a cock like his, you’re just glad you get to be his hole tonight- and hopefully something more afterward.

 “And listen to your pretty whimpers-” the dragon hybrid fucking you moans loudly. “You sound so fucking good for me, who’s my perfect bunny?”

“I am!”

“And who loves this big cock stretching out her tight fucking pussy?”

“I do!” You’re nearly crying again. “Hyuck, I’m gonna cum- I’m gonna cum so hard- please-”

“Hold it for me, bunny,” he gasps against your neck. “If you cum, I’ll cum, and I’m not quite done with you yet.”

You squeeze his fingers, focusing all your strength on holding off the orgasm that’s beginning to tingle up your toes- 

“So tight, so warm, so good for me-” Hyuck groans again.

“Please-” you feel a tear slip down your cheek. “I can’t hold it- I need to cum- need to cum so badly- please, Hyuck-”

“Fuck, I love it when you beg-” The dragon fucks you even harder, and you know that there’s no way you’ll be able to hold off your orgasm now- “You can cum. Cum for me. Come on bunny, cum on this cock.”

“Hyuck!” His name feels like a prayer, tumbling our of your lips as your orgasm takes over your body. If you’d thought the first one had been heavenly euphoria, you don’t even know how to describe this high.

It’s pure ecstasy, all encompassing and white hot. It sends electric tingles of pleasure up and down your form, making you cry out, muscles tensing as literal contractions wrack your body- 

“Fuck-” Hyuck lets out a low groan, and then he’s cumming inside of you, filling you up with everything he’s worth- there’s no fear of you getting pregnant, as cross species hybrids can’t mix, so you’re left to simply enjoy the feeling.

The sounds he makes are music to your ears too, and you swear you could listen to him cum all day long- 

He works you through your high, squeezing your hands as his pace begins to slow. When you’re both done, he presses his mouth to yours, kissing you while you both gasp and struggle to catch your breaths. 

“You’re so good-” he tells you. “So good for me, bunny-” 

You’ve never felt this good in your entire life, and when Hyuck releases your hands, you wrap your arms around the back of his neck, holding him close. You can feel his heart thundering in his chest, and his smell engulfs you. It’s comforting in a way- 

He might be a big scary Level Five dragon hybrid, but he’s your big scary Level Five dragon hybrid. 

You feel safe with him, like you’ve never felt safe with anyone in your entire life.

“It’s cute,” Hyuck sighs, “what you said about your hoard of friends earlier.”

“Cute?” you echo, opening your eyes to blink up at your new lover.

“If it makes anyone feel safer about this situation, I could work on getting to know them better.”

You can’t believe he’s offering this, while still buried balls deep in your pussy. A laugh bubbles out of you, and you find yourself nodding. “I think I’d like that.”

Hyuck grins down at you, pressing a kiss to the tip of your nose, and when he looks at you, there’s nothing but adoration in his pretty caramel-coloured eyes. “Anything for my Little Bunny.”

And you can tell that he means it.

☀️ mlist + an. thank you for reading! I really liked making this au and the hybrid world that came out of it, although I will note that Dragon Hyuck was a self-indulgent fantasy - read the bear!Johnny spin-off here

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🔮 preview. “I can feel how wet you are through your panties, bunny,” Hyuck groans against your neck. “I didn’t know you were such a little whore for exhibitionism… letting me fuck you at your workplace. What a dirty girl you are.”

cw/ tw. exhibitionism/sex in her workplace, unprotected sex, mirror sex, dirty talk, praise, jealous/possessive hyuck, sexy dragon wings, big dragon dick Hyuck, fingering, multiple orgasms, begging, finger licking, mentions of being ‘full/filled’, choking, etc…

👹 rating. 18+ explicit I wc. 5.1k I teaser wc. 600

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bonus

When you’d started seeing Hyuck, you’d thought you’d have the end of unwanted attention while working. Surely his outburst with the champagne bottle and the tiger hybrid was enough of a warning to others, and if not that, then his predatory scent marking you as taken should ward off other would-be suitors-

But nothing, as it seems, is ever enough to keep a Level Four away from a little bunny. 

A particularly proud lion hybrid has been trying to capture your attention for over an hour, and you can feel Hyuck’s eyes burning into the back of your head from VIP. Yet, your dragon lover stays with his friends, and you wonder if he’s given the lion grace because the man has kept his hands to himself.

“I dont want another scene,” Doyoung says when you head to the bar to fill a drink order. His gaze is aimed towards VIP, and you think he must be in one of his staring matches with your boyfriend, they do this much too often. 

“I’ll try not to make one then,” you promise, “but I can’t help it if the lion decides to test his luck.”

The raven looks at you with a flicker of amusement in his eyes. “Which is why I’m sending you to the keg room on an errand. The Guinness needs to be refilled, think you can handle that?”

While Jungwoo had shown you how the keg room in the basement worked when you first got hired, you’ve never been asked to do it yourself. You turn to look at your manager with confusion. “Aren’t the kegs really heavy?”

“Take Jeno with you,” comes his quick response. “I just need you off the floor for a bit. That lion who’s been flirting with you is getting drunk enough for me to cut him off. I’ll go settle his tab and when you come back up, he should be gone, if he knows what’s good for him.”

While Doyoung is quite thin and birdlike in appearance, he’s still a Level Three predator, and you sometimes forget that the raven can hold his own. He’s a manager for a reason, after all, and you respect when he makes decisions like this.

“I’ll go grab Jeno and get that keg fixed for you then,” you agree with a nod. 

“Take your time.” Doyoung assesses the tray of drinks that his Persian hybrid bartender has just set in front of you. “I’ll get Jaemin to take these out for you while you’re away.”

With another quick head motion of agreement, you dart off to find Jeno. 

The doberman is never that difficult to locate, and tonight you find him monitoring the steps to VIP. The club is packed on a Saturday night, and despite red ropes keeping unsuspecting partygoers away from Hyuck and his friends, the crowd has been encroaching on the sanctity of VIP for over an hour.

“Hey!” you say, raising your voice so your friend can hear you over the loud house music blasting through the speakers. Jeno leans in and you steady your hand on his shoulder so you can relay the information in his ear, “Doyoung wanted us to go deal with a keg!”

Jeno gives you a quick nod, and then he’s pushing through the swarm of people. Before you follow, your gaze shift up to VIP, and you notice Hyuck has stood from his table. His red, dragon eyes are fixed on you, and he looks to be on high alert. When you send him a smile, his shoulders relax ever so slightly, and then you’re turning to race after the doberman hybrid.

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[blackcoldcrackedheart]

Part 1. Part 2 Part 3

Ngl, watching Lou's character on hymym look so down after his failed proposal basically inspired this.

Tommy was thankful that the weather was nice and cool on Catalina Island.

Tommy and Evan were enjoying a nice dinner on the beach, complete with a blanket, a shared bottle of red wine, and a lovely seafood dinner.

Tommy had successfully set the mood and setting, granted they weren't alone at the beach. It was still crowded with folks still swimming or enjoying the sun starting to set on the horizon.

The two had gotten to the island yesterday and had spent day one relaxing and taking in the water and enjoying a long stroll with no aim or direction. Just casually getting lost in Avalon.

Today was a little more hectic, Tommy had planned for them to go zip lining and then take a hike through the moutains.

They even went surfing for a bit and enjoyed lazily basking in the sun till they decided to take a nap and shower back at their hotel room.

Tommy couldn't believe how it was only two days in and was already thinking of their honeymoon.

....

But first...

"Hey Evan." Tommy forced himself to sound unwavering and made sure to keep his hands on his knees since he could already feel the nerves turn into adrenaline.

"Hmm."

Tommy moved to get up, Evan had been using his shoulder to rest his head. He grabbed the younger man and pulled him up as well.

"You ready to go already?" Evan asked, frowning a bit since they had decided to stay to watch the sunset.

"Uh no. Not just yet." Tommy rubbed his hands down his pants, he couldn't look at Evan directly. He knew one look at Evan and he would unravel and just blurt out the question he had been wanting to ask for months now.

"You know I love you, like I -" He couldn't help it, he felt himself giggle as he watched Evan's face light up at that, hearing Evan laugh along made Tommy's heart jump. "Like I can't imagine loving anyone else like I love you. You came into my life and I- I don't want to go back to a life where you're not right besides me, where we aren't right besides each other for the long haul."

He felt along his pocket and got down on one knee.

If he hadn't been so focused on watching Evan and controlling his nerves, he would have realized he had garnered an audience. The crowd around them started to gasp and a few let out a shouts in excitement.

"So Evan Buckley, will you do me the honor of marrying me?" He pulled out the box and was surprised when he heard Evan nearly shouted ecstatically. "No way!"

Tommy froze.

And his heart cracked.

He figured, despite what others have said, that there was a possibility that Evan would say no or not yet.

He just didn't think the "No" would hurt like this, the way Evan had shouted it felt like the idea of a proposal was way too left field for Evan.

"Uh. Oh -"

Evan covered Tommy's hands with his, a bashful and excited smile on his face. "Not like "No way" like "no" I- I just mean, just- just hold on! Give me like 10 minutes! Don't move!" Evan started to jump hop into a run towards their hotel, "Just don't move! I'll be right back!" Evan shouted behind him.

Tommy could feel his face heat up and his eyes begin to sting as he slowly got up, he could hear the whispers around him now.

Some folks were looking at him with confusion while some others looked weirdly excited.

"He said he would be back!" One woman with curly hair yelled out, her blond friend giving Tommy a hopeful grin and thumbs up.

Another person yelled out, "You got this dude!"

Tommy was unsure what to do. Or how to feel.

Evan hadn't said no.

Right?

He saw Evan running back towards him now, a even more excited smile on his face.

But Tommys nerves were too frayed, he stumbled to get the words out as he tried to stuff the ring box back into his pocket. "Evan, I'm so-"

"You moved!" Evan pointed out, nearly buzzing with excitement. "I said not to move!"

"You said-"

"I said I'll be right back so I could do this."

The crowd erupted into cheers and wolf whistles as Evan got down on one knee.

"Oh my God." Tommy huffed out a wet laugh as he covered his face, he knew he was shaking- partly in relief and mostly in shock. "Oh God."

Evan reach for his hand and pulled towards him, "Tommy, I love you and I refuse to believe that there is anyone else for me. I know you're it for me and I've known that since the first time you kissed me." Tommy spluttered a relief laugh as he saw Evan’s eyes become watery as well. "You've been the person I've wanted and waited for, Tommy. And while I did plan to ask this tomorrow morning during a breakfast at sunrise- Tommy Kinard, will you marry me?"

"You brat! I asked first!" Tommy laughed, not missing Evan’s devious grin. "You hijacked my proposal!"

"You can go first with our vows " Evan chuckled, opening the ring box to expose a two tone gold and platinum ring. Tommy felt his breath hitch as he realized the ring was the perfect match to the ring he bought Evan.

Despite the audience around them, Tommy felt as though it was just them at the beach as Evan kissed the back of his hand. "What do you say? Marry me?"

Seeing all the love in Evan's eyes, how Evan's thumb brushed the spot on the back of Tommy's hand where he was just kissed, and having their future right in front of them made Tommy feel overwhelmed with emotions.

While he knew he had always wanted to be in a relationship and to be loved, there was a part of him that felt like he didn't deserve it. That he was risking his heart breaking into pieces by even daring to propose to Evan

Beautiful sweet, charming, and kind Evan who was now proposing to him.

Evan picked him to love.

Tommy let out a choked sob as he nodded yes. "Yes. Yes. Yes." He cried, pulling in Evan for a kiss as the crowc erupted into cheers and loud wolf whistles yet again. "Yes." He repeated for good measure as Evan slipped the ring on his finger. They both laughed as Tommy finally opened the ring box meant for Evan, showing Evan the two tone gold and platinum ring he got for Evan. There were obvious differences between the rings but they complimented each other, much like the newly engaged couple.

It was later when they realized that Maddie had been made aware of their plans to propose to each other.

"So what are the chances that your sister didn't already tell everyone that we somehow planned to propose to each other?" Tommy asked as the two curled around each other in bed, holding each others left hand and sharing soft kisses.

Tommy shivered as Evan kissed his temple and neck. "Knowing them, they probably already have a pool going on who asked first." Evan chuckled, brushing back Tommy's curl as he kissed his chin this time.

"They wouldn't!"

Evan raised a brow, only giving his fiance a haughty smile before going back to kissing Tommy's neck.

Tommy rolled his eyes, "What am I saying, of course they would." He shook his head and rolled towards Evan, they could talk about the betting pool later.

He wanted to celebrate their engagement now.

Part 5

[jojomiwbvb6]

Author's note: I thought this blurb up tonight and knew you guys will eat it up bc bitch, me too. (Yes the title is inspired by INK, but it fits)

The Shower Scene

Warnings: this is a work of fiction. NSFW, MDNI. Smut (18+) Swearing, voyeurism, descriptive, masturbation

Part 2 / Part 3

You had a long day on tour. Load-in was exhausting. Every time you turned around, at least one mechanism had a glitch or a cable went haywire. At least 2 malfunctions during the concert that they spent 10 minutes fixing. By the time load-out commenced, you were flat on your face and crawling to the bus.

The Bad Omens bus was as homey and fun as they could make it on the road. Tomorrow they had a day off in Denver, Colorado, and decided to venture the city for the day. As the bus pulled up to their nightly hotel, the crew, including you, and the band gathered their bags and got ready to depart the bus.

"Dude, I'm so ready to lay in that goddamn bed, I'm so fuckin' tired," Ruffilo commented.

"Fuck yeah, Albuquerque fucked me up." Folio responded.

"I'm gonna take the hottest fucking shower. The devil himself wouldn't be able to take the heat." You said.

This earned a chuckle from a few of the guys around you.

Noah walked up behind his bandmates. His face was calm, devoid of having any idea of what he could be thinking. He briefly ran his eyes over you, quickly looking away into the shadows.

Noah was always so cool, calm, and collected. He was so talented and funny and so, so fine. Of course you would never tell him how much you would say yes to him bending you over if he asked for it.

--

Holding your key in hand, you walk down the stale smelling hallway until you reach your door. You slide the key card into the slot, the door clicks, and you let yourself in.

You're looking at the floor before observing the room, rolling your suitcase into the door. You notice the light is already on and-- "oh my fucking god dude, you scared the shit out of me!"

Noah smirks and gives you a laugh. "Good,"

You blush, and quickly look for something else to look at.

"I know that normally we wouldn't room together," he paused, maybe noticing I was holding my breath. But he continued, "But the hotel was short a room, and we got stuck together last minute." He stopped again.

You nodded, trying to act like you normally do.

"If you're uncomfortable..." He began to say, unsure.

"No, Noah. Not at all. We bunk in the same bus. It's not like we're sleeping together."

There was a small silence that carried on slightly too long.

"Mmm. So, Imma take a shower," you said, ending the conversation with the man you were desperately trying not to want for the sake of your job.

You enter the bathroom, stepping out of your clothes. The door locked behind you, you stare at it and begin to overthink. The tension in your stomach gets you hot when you get the idea. You slowly unlock the door, slowly and silently turning the door handle and leaving the door cracked just a little.

The hot water hits your skin, steam rising into the air. You look at the door, there's nothing there. You shrug. It wouldn't work anyway, there's no way he's even gonna notice.

--

Noah looks down at his phone.

Hey, come get a drink downstairs, we at the bar.

The text from Davis lights up his phone. He texted back,

Yup be down in a minute dude.

Noah gets up from his bed and makes his way to the door, approaching the bathroom. He slows his tracks. Noticing that you had accidentally left the door cracked, Noah reaches out and goes to close the door. He looks up and just by accident, he gets a glimpse of the whole side of you.

You're closing your eyes, caressing yourself with the soap running down your breasts and to your hips. Everything all on display.

He knows that he should look away from you, but my God, the way your hands rub at your skin, his breath hitches and he's glued to his position.

--

After a few minutes of showering, you'd given up the small ounce of hope you had that your nasty fantasy faded and you began to really take a shower.

You applied the soap to your chest and stomach, rubbing the loofah against your skin. You scrubbed at your legs, and then when you glanced up, you almost didn't catch the tall silhouette in the shadow of the hotel room behind him. You did a double take, to make sure he was what you were seeing, and he was.

Your breath picked up. Smirking, you bit your lip and turned away from him. He didn't need to speak, and neither did you. He didn't have to know that you saw him, if he couldn't tell you did. No one in the band or crew needed to know he was in that door frame looking at your wet, naked body. And it's what you wanted.

You began to make every movement you made sexually charged. Pulling your hands over your breasts, you tugged on your nipples. Your fingers caressed and played with your breasts, rubbing the soap into them.

Dragging your fingers down to your navel, you squirmed. How much of a show did you want to give Noah? You decided you wanted him to remember just how hot you got with him standing there.

Not yet looking at him, you turn your back to the door. Rubbing your hands into your ass cheeks, gripping and spreading them only slightly. You bent over as you did this, sure to give him a little sneak peak of what you want him to see very soon.

You see his silhouette shift in the door over your shoulder, just knowing you have him right where you want him.

You turn around, finally letting your hand slide further down, and leaning against the back shower wall, you raise your leg to the ledge of the bath. You finally allow him your gaze and look at him completely as you spread your legs and sink your fingers into yourself, letting a small moan fall from your mouth.

You hear a quiet "Fuck," from the doorway and see his long, tatted fingers grip the door frame, revealing his presence from the shadows.

"Mm. I knew you were there," you said very quietly. He gave no response. You didn't look at him, continuing your movements into your pussy and letting Noah drink in every stroke and buck into your hand.

You continued to fuck onto your hand, gaining confidence under his silent watch. You turned your back to him again, bending over and putting your entire pussy on display for his viewing pleasure. Reaching underneath you, you begin rubbing yourself at a fast pace, small moans falling out of your mouth. You buck back on your hand again when you sink two fingers into yourself. You see Noah's fingers gripping the trim and more of his hand appears from the dark.

You gave him another treat by moaning "fuckkkk," and crying out. You swear you hear a growl from the doorway. The hand falls, palming a desperate hard on, but there's no way he wants what he is seeing to stop.

This was way too hot.

You took your fingers from your heat and placed them in your mouth, looking directly at the doorway. Dragging your hand over your pussy again, you finally lock eyes with his dangerous glinting eyes in the dark.

You insert a finger. "Oh, fuck," you smirk and tease as you talk. You look away, and pretending Noah isn't even there, you put in another finger. "Mmm..." And one more finger, you're brave enough to sigh, "Noahhh..."

At that, he storms into the bathroom. It's no longer a "secret" that he was standing there. His eyes are wicked and wild with a starving desire and he doesn't even hide the hard rise in his sweats. You're so hot and wet already, but it makes you tremble that he's here and has his eyes on your spread heat.

"Fuck..." You trail, gasping through your self assault that you didn't even stop when he surprised you with his barging in. You gasp, a moan coming out through your sentence. "Don't speak. Don't do anything. Just watch me, Noah. Fucking watch me... Please."

He does as you ask. He latches and locks the bathroom door, leaning back on the sink. Noah doesn't say a word. He doesn't touch himself, but his eyes feast on every single inch of you that's available to him.

You continue to touch and tease your body. Your fingers move faster and your heat is wetter with his presence in the room. Your moans are quiet but just loud enough for his ears. You see him run his eyes down your body with a slow lick of his lips.

Under his gaze, your fingers begin to move faster and your gasps come quicker. You're curling your fingers against that spot inside you, arching your back and giving him the best show possible.

"Ah, ah, ah," you chant, "Noah, fuck," you give to him, earning a small and satisfactory "mm." From Noah.

Your eyes roll back. Your hands are making your head spin and your stomach clench under his eyes as you rub your clit and bite your lip. His eyes never give way and stay locked on you. Sparks shoot through your body and your gasps never end. You see stars, your juices flowing down your legs. You're crumpled against the wall and panting.

Noah doesn't speak. He gives you one last burning, hot look, soaking the whole sight and everything that just happened into his mind.

He smirks at you, unlocks the door, and without saying a single word to you, he leaves the bathroom.

--

Noah. Dude. Thought you were coming down?

Text from Davis again.

Sorry man, I accidentally passed out for a minute. Be right there.

[sc0tters]

Best Yet | Luke Hughes

summary: when luke gets the wrong idea of your friendship with ethan you can't help but let your feelings for luke slip.

request: yes/no

warnings: swearing, underage drinking.

word count: 2.53k

authors note: just like that we are back with the regular fics! this one has been staring at me from my inbox for a while now so it felt right to get it done. I know a lot of you guys wanted it to be done in one part but it didn't feel like the vibes meshed well so due to that keep your eyes peeled for part two soon!

part two

Being Luke’s best friend was the role you had your entire life.

Your moms went to college together so when they learnt they were pregnant at the same time it was of course a matter of destiny. When you were five you moved to Toronto and ended up having Luke a treehouse away from you. Quickly the two of you got known as each others other half as you were never seen too far away from Luke and he the same with you.

Life came at you both quickly as you ended up forever in Luke’s corner and his number one fan who was now watching him almost live out his dreams. Both Quinn and Jack had paved the way for him to become the third Hughes brother in the NHL and Luke wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass him by.

Draft day was finally upon you both and it was suffice to say that Luke was a nervous wreck. You had been in Toronto still after he moved to Michigan.

It was tough on you both having to watch him leave you “I can come visit?” Luke’s proposal was honestly there to make him feel better too as tears formed in his eyes “you better.” You nodded pulling him into a hug as tears streamed down your face. Ellen and your mom couldn’t help but feel bad about separating you two as it now meant you were no longer y/n and Luke who do everything together. You were now going to have to be y/n and Luke who only see each other twice a year “I’ll text you when I land.” Luke offered making you nod “no you better call me!” To the untrained eye they would think you two had never left each others sides. But you had, and the two months he spent in Michigan over the summer two years ago were total hell for the both of you.

Jack and Quinn couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of their younger brother “dude you’ll see her in December!” Plans had already been made for you to spend Christmas with the Hughes family but not even that felt like enough “now move over and let us hug her.” Jack nodded in agreement as he ruffled his hand through your hair making you groan.

But life had found itself getting in the way of your friendship when you were in Greece the same summer of the draft. Luke was crushed when he realised that you weren’t meant to be back until the week after the draft “Luke honey could you get the door please?” Ellen called out as she heard the knock. With the pandemic it meant the draft was happening from peoples homes “why should I have to?” Luke groaned getting up as he saw that Quinn and Jack were both closer to the door.

Yet when Ellen sent her son an unimpressed look Luke knew that he was best to go and see what was up “yes I’m coming!” Luke complained rolling his eyes until he froze upon opening the door.

There you were with a golden tan that he was certain you got whilst in Europe “surprise?” You smiled bringing your hands up as you shrugged “what are you doing here?” Luke asked as he rubbed his eyes trying to see if he was dreaming or not as he looked at you “you really thought I’d let you get drafted without me here?” You laughed as you shook your head.

What you two didn’t notice was that Jack and Quinn were watching “just hug her you idiot!” Jack groaned as he rolled his eyes waiting to see you hug his brother. Luke didn’t wait for another second as he pulled you into a hug where he continued kissing your head like if he didn’t you would disappear.

The point was that through everything, even the draft, you were there. Even when you were both applying to university you were together.

It was a warm morning when you and Luke hopped onto a FaceTime call “you got your college?” You asked tucking your hair behind your ears as you smiled looking at him. You were in one of his old sweaters as you bounced your legs waiting for him to answer “yep.” He nodded shutting his door as you two agreed to only tell each other about your university applications until you accepted one.

Your moms agreed that it might sway your decisions about where you were going to go if you each knew what the other was doing “promise you wont get sad if I’m not at your college?” You teased making him scoff “I made peace with you not coming to Michigan months ago.” Luke rolled his eyes as your face dropped.

When you didn’t respond it made him raise his eyebrows “you didn’t apply to Michigan did you?” He blinked as you nodded “Umich.” You really didn’t remember the last time that Luke cheered the way that he did hearing you say that “me too!” It was one of those moments that you two seriously wished you were together so you could celebrate this.

Everyone laughed upon hearing the news that you and Luke were finally going to be back together. You were happy to have him back in your life sure. It was great having him back to only being a couple of minutes away from you. But what you never could have taken into account was that you would develop feelings for him.

Sure everyone predicted that it would eventually happen. Even Jack and Quinn were smart enough to know that this was on the cards for you and their brother. But not even having it in big bright letters would have made you believe it. Lo and behold though you were in the midst of watching your love grow strained as Luke found himself trying to get with other girls.

Every party came with Luke flirting with a new girl as he fully lived out his time as a college boy. It was clear he never wanted to settle down. With each new girl who took his attention it only seemed to land up with you hurt. And to top it all off Luke couldn’t even bother to pick up on it “you deserve better peach.” Ethan sighed as he pushed off of the wall to see you quietly nursing a beer.

It made you stare at the ground as you shook your head “doesn’t matter when it’s not what I want.” You had turned down every guy who looked at you since April of your freshman year. You thought that if you showed Luke that you wanted him then maybe, just maybe he would want you too “maybe you’re looking in the wrong place.” Ethan shrugged wanting you to see that you were wanted by someone who was right in front of you.

But as Luke’s laughter echoed in your ears you couldn’t help but shake your head “this is stupid.” You chewed at the inside of your cheek “I’m gonna go.” Ethan watched as you went to leave “let’s to do something tomorrow.” His offer made a smile form of your face.

You nodded as he squeezed your shoulder “I’ll text you the details then.” Ethan announced as if he didn’t already have something planned for his time with you.

The boys were leaving for Tampa the next day so of course the moment the final skate ended Luke was back in your dorm as he sat on your bed helping you get ready for this date. All of the dresses in your closet weren’t worthy as Luke stayed stolen for way too long before muttering something along the lines of “it’s okay.” Before he would point out something he didn’t like about it “since when do you dislike my entire closet?” You scoffed as Luke bought you two of the dresses that he had turned down.

Luke felt bile rise into his throat as he shook his head remembering how the last two hugged your body in all of the right places. It looked a little too good on you for Luke to even consider letting you wear it. If it was up to Luke he would have burnt the red satin fabric so nothing could see you in it again “why do you even care about looking good for Ethan?” Last night when he got back to the house Luke was less than impressed to hear about how Ethan was taking his best friend out.

The one and only rule Luke made the team agree to was that you were meant to be off limits. It had always been the rule amongst his teammates as Luke knew what some guys were like and you deserved better than that “I want to look good for myself.” You corrected him as you had been raised on the idea that dressing up for yourself meant more than dressing up for a guy who didn’t want you.

You hated how quiet Luke was as he sat cross legged on your bed with your duck plushy on his lap. Quacky was something he won for you when you guys were seven at the town fair. Quinn joked that it was your guys’ first chance at being parents to your child. At the time it was something that you brushed off as the sheer thought of becoming a mom especially to Luke’s kids. It actually made you laugh when you looked back on it, going from thinking that the boy had cooties to now having your world revolve around him had you feeling sick.

As you stared at Quacky, Luke couldn’t help but let his mind come out in the form of word vomit “if I didn’t know any better I’d say you like Ethan.” Luke teased watching the color drain from your face. It was the way that the smug look sat perched proudly on his face yet in actuality he was so far away from the truth that you almost wanted to laugh “not him.” You shook your head raking your fingers through your hair.

That answer made Luke feel sick as he raised his eyebrows trying to mask his surprise “is it Luca?” It was clear that the Fantilli boy had always had a thing for you from the moment he met you. The way he left himself tongue tied after most attempts to talk to you had everyone laughing in amusement as they teased him, well everyone but you did and Luke thought he finally knew the reason behind it.

You couldn’t help but pinch the bridge of your nose “Rutger is a guy that could be your type too.” Luke thought aloud as he nodded to himself remembering the times you went for tall blonde guys “no god dammit!” You snapped finally hitting your palm flat against your table as you rolled your eyes. You had to chew at the inside of your cheek in an effort to stop the tears from rolling in.

Part of you refused to let Luke see you like that and the other part of you knew you wouldn’t have enough time to fix your makeup. Once you let your floodgates open you knew they weren’t going to shut.

An irritated laugh left your lips as Luke clearly scanned your face as he grew concerned by your outbreak "you're the one I like!" You blurted out for the first time in your life leaving Luke absolutely speechless. It was crazy how five words could do that to someone you have known your entire life, the one person who is meant to know you better than you know yourself is left with their lips sealed shut and their eyes wide. As if that wasn't meant to bring you comfort already you instead opted to dig the hole you were forming around yourself deeper "which I don't know why I am telling you because it's not like you have even noticed it as you've got your head shoved so far up these girls asses that I'm pretty sure you could see the light of day if you looked hard enough." The efforts you made to not cry were officially thrown out of the window as you raised the back of your hand to wipe your cheek.

Still Luke didn't know what to say, honestly a little surprised that you felt so strongly about the girls he saw "which kills me because you really are a great guy but you aren't letting anyone, even yourself see it anymore!" You were going through an emotional roller coaster similar to grief as you now found yourself getting angry "Ethan saw that I was upset at the party and he said we should go out." Your words finally made sense to him as Luke finally found comfort in the fact that you were going out with one of his best friends in just under thirty minutes.

Your fists clenched as the boy remained silent now staring at the floor as he processed your confession making the room feel heavy "would you just say something please?" You begged as you went to touch his shoulder but the boy was quicker as he pulled away "I-I-I need to think." Luke shook his head as he got up, his ears were ringing and his skull felt like it was closing in on his brain. He was waiting for you to say that this was some kind of sick prank, some kind of joke. Like the YouTube videos where someone jumps out of the bushes with a camera, they reveal that it was all just some big setup.

But as tears streamed down your face and your lip began to quiver Luke felt the pit form in his stomach as reality sunk in. You were in love with him "I'm sorry." Luke didn't know what he was meant to say as he pushed past you when he went for the door of your dorm. He didn't dare look back as he could feel the sound of your sobs attack his heartstrings. Through your blurred vision, you reached for your phone when you collapsed onto the floor needing to call someone, literally anyone to talk to you. But in that moment you knew there was only one person that you could have spoken to "Ethan?" It wasn't clear why you were so hurt by this. You had prepared yourself for rejection as you knew you weren't Luke's type.

Yet even as you had done that, it still wasn't enough. That day Luke hadn't rejected you, but he also didn't tell you he felt the same way. It left you feeling like you were in this awful state of limbo going back and forth between the two options. But not even four days on, Luke no longer needed to tell you how he felt.

The radio silence and the message that you had to get from one of his brothers sealed his feelings towards you practically on the dotted line.

quinny 🧸: what do you think about Luke going to Jersey?

[crushpunky]

rafe cameron x girlfriend!reader thoughts !!!

met during the events of season three, and grew closer following ward’s death. y/n really inspired him to be a better person and see the best in himself.

at the beginning of their relationship, rafe was very hesitant to show any type of vulnerability or emotion, worried he would come off as “weak” or “overbearing” and scare y/n off. slowly but surely, y/n showed him that he doesn’t have to hide and can express himself however he needs to when he’s with her.

rafe’s love languages are definitely physical touch and gift giving… and he loves to shower y/n in both

y/n’s love languages are definitely quality time and words of affirmation. she loves spending time with rafe doing anything or nothing, as long as they’re together she’s fine with that.

y/n wasn’t nervous about introducing rafe to her family. she loved him so much and was well aware of his own familial issues, but she also knew her family would care for him as much as she did.

on the other hand, she was very nervous about introducing rafe to her cat, kit kat:

“why are you sweating so much? do you need some water?” rafe asked as they pulled into y/n’s driveway. “no, it’s fine. i’m fine.” y/n trailed off. “you’re acting weird, baby," rafe reached across the console, taking y/n’s hand. “i’ve already met your parents, and they’re wonderful people. i don’t—” “no i’m just nervous about you meeting kit kat.” y/n mumbled, avoiding the small smirk that crept on rafe’s lips. “the cat?” rafe stifled a laugh. “don’t laugh, cameron! this is very serious!” y/n groaned, running a hand through her hair nervously. “what if he doesn’t like you, then what?” “you’ll just have to get rid of it i guess.” rafe said with a shrug, causing y/n to gasp. “that is not funny, rafe. and don’t call him ‘it’.” y/n scowled.

while kit kat did in fact like rafe, rafe held some sort of one-sided beef with the small, fluffy gray cat. he was fine with cats, but what he didn’t appreciate was how the cat always stole y/n’s attention…

rafe picks her up every saturday at exactly 9 am (even though he despises getting up anytime before noon on the weekend) to get coffee and stop at her favorite flower shop. the look of “surprise” on her face when he gets her a bouquet always makes his heart melt. because of this, he always made sure the vase in y/n’s windowsill was always filled with fresh flowers.

when rafe made it to 100 days clean, y/n woke him up with a cake she had spent the whole night making and a new lingerie set she had seen him eyeing the last time the two of them went shopping on the mainland. he wasn’t used to this sort of celebration or attention on his accomplishments, but needless to say he was very happy with the surprise.

y/n pushed rafe to reconcile with his sisters, encouraging him to make an effort to apologize to them and tell them about how much he’s changed from this violent, drug addicted young man he used to be.

for christmas, y/n convinced rafe to wear matching sweaters with her to their friends’ christmas get together. never in his life would rafe cameron ever thought to find himself doing something as cheesy as that, but with y/n, it just felt natural. not even topper and kelce’s teasing could shake his commitment to seeing y/n smile at their identical sweaters:

“no fucking way.” topper scoffed. “what’s your problem, thornton?” rafe quirked an eyebrow, wrapping an arm around y/n’s torso. “dude you are so pussy-whipped.” kelce shook his head, taking a sip from his mug. “yeah, yeah, i love my girlfriend, what’s so fuckin wrong about that? hm?” rafe pulled y/n in to kiss the top of her head. “you should see kit kat’s sweater too.” y/n said, going to pull out her phone. “woah, woah, woah. you did not tell me we were matching with the cat—”

rafe was so head over heels for y/n it was crazy. he found himself thinking about her all the time, picturing a future for the two of them together. he had never thought about having a family before, after knowing how fucked up his own was, but with y/n he wanted that. he wanted everything, as long as it was with her.

[pepperf]

Genuinely can't decide if the writers intended the Five and Lila relationship to be toxic, or if that's just their idea of romance - just like Rochester, Heathcliff, Darcy, and that dude from Twilight, right???

Okay, let's have a readmore. Note tags, ppl, and curate your experience.

Lila has a relatively sensible approach to relationships, which is consistent, despite her somewhat Machiavellian approach to getting what she wants out of them - she put Diego in his place about having realistic expectations back in s3. She's pretty clear about who she is and where her lines are drawn, and is "weirdly self-actualised", according to Klaus. And Five - romantically inexperienced, thinks everyone should do what he says at all times - tries to impose his notion of How This Should Go onto her, from nearly the start of their brief romance, but leaning hard into it once it starts going sour - which also checks out: he was alone for 45 years and his previous relationship was all in his head, giving him full control, so that's what he's used to. But I couldn't tell if they genuinely intended to show it as him being incredibly selfish in prioritising his feelings over her wishes, or if they honestly thought it was romantic. I mean, the barbed wire-style bracelet is a little on the nose, and there's some symbolism that I'll get into in a sec. Truthfully, I'm not inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt - I think SB at least thought it was hot, judging by what he's said about identifying with Five, and about how he finally gets to have a romance. This seems to have been his pet project for the season, blergh.

It's that tedious old misogynist chestnut, that all women secretly want A Man to take control. It's frustrating, because they already established that Lila likes to be in charge, she wants to be free to make her own choices, she'd already had twenty-plus years of being told what to think and do. And yet she has to remind Five, who really ought to know her better by now, "You do not get to decide what I do with my life!" It's also very disconnected from reality. It's not actually fun or sexy to be gaslighted, to be lied to by some insecure asshole who thinks they know better about what's good for you, that they have a right to stick their nose into your personal relationships or keep you away from your kids. Not cool, Five, not cool. He's lucky she didn't kick him in the nuts on the way out. But another reason I think they didn't do this consciously is that Five doesn't seem to realise his assholery - there's no hint that he's regretting anything other than being dumped.

Lila was trapped for seven years in an intense, claustrophobic situation with Five - and if they'd continued to exist, she could have worked through the feelings that come out of that. Like Ritu said, of course there's going to be love there: they've spent seven years together, on the run. If nothing else, it would be a matter of survival - either you find a way to get along, or you kill each other. And they went in with a fair amount in common already (although being adopted by the Handler at age four is not at all the same as being recruited by her at age fifty-something). So I'm annoyed that Lila's whole arc this season is one of frustration about having to be the grown up in her relationship, taking a break to reassess, going off to do something a bit crazy and fun - and promptly getting stranded with someone considerably less emotionally competent.

Okay, I'm being somewhat harsh - Lila unexpectedly getting the timeout she wanted could've been a decent storyline, she could have some time to reflect, live the child-free life without consequences, and have some adventures (she actively enjoys danger!). And she and Five got to bond, that had lots of interesting potential, especially with their complicated history. But it tipped over from being a potential opportunity into an immensely over the top punishment for her impulsivity, and took them so far from where they'd started that there's a total emotional disconnect with the main story. Which is a fucking weird choice for one episode in such a short season, ngl.

And then, ugh, she's right back to dealing with the apocalypse, visibly thrown by a Diego who has unexpectedly thought about what she said and is trying to be a better husband, and dealing with a Five who has decided to get territorial. It's deeply uncomfortable, Five is gearing up to start trouble, so wrapped up in his own hurt feelings that he's functionally useless for the actual problem in front of them - leaving Lila to deal with the mess he creates, and then leverage said feelings to get him to put on his big boy pants and help. She still reaches out to him in the end, I think she knows him well enough by this point to understand what makes him tick...and she's having to be the sensible one up to the end of her existence. Can't she have someone who's willing to meet her halfway? The reflecting that Diego did, him making a start on making amends (given that it was only a few hours for him, that's about as much as they could squeeze in) was basically just wasted. They start to reconnect at the end, and mutually apologise for the damage they've done - but that's all they get, and it's a travesty.

Personally I think the whole storyline should have been cut, but if - if - they really felt it added something, they could have given it some time in the real world, see how this shaky new romance holds up against a serious relationship that's been massively fractured. In a different show, that might have been a fine story. But they don't do that. Whatever she might have wanted, Lila doesn't get time to even think about her choices. She gets to stop existing. (Or they could just have not gone there in the first place, god I hate love triangle plotlines, they do no favours for anyone involved!)

Given a continued existence in which to do so, I'm sure Five would have moved on pretty quickly. It's his first romance with a real person, he feels it intensely - but once the dust settled, he'd see that they were in very different emotional places (she wanted to get back to her family, the break from reality is way overdue to end - and he wanted to stay in their little bubble and leave all that behind). The actual romance part was actually pretty brief, and lacking in any deep communication - as Lila says, it wasn't real. They're playing house in an attempt to feel normal - in a greenhouse (a fragile structure, not a real home), eating strawberries (a treat more than real sustenance), like children...hey, maybe I'm wrong and the writers DID intend to do that, bc that's some choice visual metaphors. And they're playing roles: all their normal antagonism - what made them so fun and sparky in previous seasons, and even during the earlier part of their adventure! - disappears. Lila is a chameleon, taking on a character is her happy place - and this was how Five kept himself going, last time he was in this situation, so he's slipping back into that method of survival (although he's not as good as she is at separating reality from fiction). So while all that is totally understandable, it's insubstantial. If Five had the space to do some self-reflection, or if one of his more rational siblings (Luther maybe, or...um...or a friend, if he can make one...or maybe that dude in the Losers Department at the CIA...) sat down with him and explained that you need to treat a partner as an equal, maybe he could do better next time - or double down and keep being an asshole, that's also a strong possibility.

idk - I still don't honestly think the show intended it that way, unfortunately. I think they shoehorned the characters into the scenes they wanted, regardless of sense or even plot requirement. There are a LOT of badly-explained or badly-thought out moments in this season, and this whole mess just adds to the incoherency. Or maybe it's just a consequence of TV - you get multiple creative people involved, and the reasoning gets muddied, especially over time. Maybe it was SB's intention from the start, but he didn't inform the actors until the final season, so they've been playing it straight.

This show has an...interesting tendency to do something that you think is totally unacceptable and just gloss over it at the time, and then address it next season (like Luther apologising to Viktor), as if the writers all brought it up in their respective therapy sessions during the break, and worked through the issues - so maybe if they'd had another season, they would have gone into all that. Maybe. But we're clearly not going to get that, and they're all gone from existence so I can't headcanon that in this universe, they eventually sort it out. So I'm putting it down to one thing:

Break out the dodgy facial hair (I see you're ahead of me, Five) and let's get kicking babies!