#like it targeted me as the student to call out at random times

[all4yoi]

𝒩ot a bet﹕hyung line

𝑒nhypen x fem!reader ⚹ cw: each member ranges from 5-1k wc, fluff, lowercase intended, they swear, crying, uh someone kneels, not proud w heejake's 😞, not proofread ( lmk if i missed something! )

sypnosis : upon learning that you were merely the stake in a bet, they wasted no time in mending your relationship.

part one !

★ LEE HEESEUNG ( 0.8k wc )

"y/n wait!"

heeseung's voice only made you walk faster. you didn't want to humiliate yourself further by stopping and talking to him. all you wanted to do now was to just march out of the school, go home, lock yourself in your room and maybe eat a tub of ice cream while you ugly cry yourself to sleep.

"y/n, please." heeseung pleaded, taking your elbow in his grasp as he spun you around and pulling you closer to the point you can feel his breath on fanning your nose.

he looked at you pleadingly. "it's okay," you managed to say in a shaky voice. "i understand, you can all laugh at me all you want now-" he shook his head, "it's okay really!" you added, pursing your lips.

"i just want to be left alone now okay?" and even if he knew you didn't mean just 'now.' he'll respect your wishes and let you go, but he won't give up.

heeseung watched you walk away from him with a heavy heart, wanting nothing but to just explain everything to you before it was too late. he couldn't lose you, not like this.

when he couldn't see your figure anymore, he messily messed his hair and made his way back to the gym eager to teach a guy how to not spit nonsense.

it's been a week since that happened and a week since he's seen you in the school. he asked some of your classmates and club members but all he received were nasty glares and short cold answers. what happened between the two of you spread like wild fire the following day you walked away from him. everyone knew you were kind of a nerd, but they also knew you were a complete angel and had a heart soft as a pillow.

they also knew that betting on a person's feeling isn't exactly it. — more under the cut!

so throughout that week too, his popularity decreased day by day. he used to receive heart eyes on the hallways and joyful 'good morning, heeseung!'s by random students, now all he received were judgemental glances and they avoided him like a plague, scared to be the next target of a cruel bet.

he didn't care though, all he cared about was your wellbeing. it's been a week and you've still yet to show up to class, so imagine his surprise when you suddenly walk in to the room with your usual hair do, your bag slung over on your shoulder and your glasses almost falling off your nose bridge.

he sat up straighter, gulping as his eyes followed your every move. he could feel hear heart beating louder, as if it was calling for you, desperate to be near you again.

he needed to fix this, asap.

it felt like forever before heeseung heard the bell ring. as soon as he heard the annoying sound, he messily packed up his things and ran after you.

"y/n!" your forearm was then again grabbed by him. although this time, he turned you slowly. heeseung silently admired your face. he missed you so much.

"let me explain, please. it's not what you think. i promise." he whispered, vulnerability in his tone. the simple nod you gave was his signal to interlace his fingers with yours as he looked for an empty room.

you ignored the looks everyone threw your way, either worried and judging. all you could focus on was his warm hand on yours and how you missed it so much, you didn't even realize you both were now inside an empty classroom.

"there was no bet." you furrowed your brows, looking at him with mixed confusion and frustration. "i promise, there was no bet."

"why would they say that then?"

"i don't know, but i promise there's no bet. throughout the months we've been together everything i've said was real." he said, desperate.

heeseung stepped closer.

"what i felt for you was real," he scrambled to get his phone from his pocket, opening his messages app. "you can go through my phone all you want, ask any of my friends-" you raised a brow.

"not those friends! i mean sunghoon, jay, jungwon.. you know." your raised brow made him sputter. "to be completely honest, they've been ignoring me after they heard about what happened.."

you looked at him hesitantly as you scrolled through his messages with shaking hands. you scrolled for so long, you even reached to the messages months before you both got together.

he didn't have any messages to his basketball team group chat unless it was announcements from his coach. the group chat with his actual friends were only filled with his pining over 'the girl on the back of his biology class.'

"heeseung.."

"there's no bet, baby. i'd never do that to anyone." he whispered, stepping closer. "i can't lose you like this.. i love you."

you sniffled as you came crashing on his chest, letting tears fall again. heeseung immediately wrapped his arms around you, sighing in relief as he finally have you back in his arms.

"i was so worried baby." he mumbled, kissing your head.

"i love you forever. i'll kill everyone who tries to get in between us again," heeseung pulled you closer if it was even possible.

"and if they do, i'll make sure to fix everything even if it means the whole world would hate me."

★ PARK JONGSEONG ( 1.0k wc )

jay was confused.

the both of you had a very well planned date tonight, so he was utterly puzzled to see that you weren't responding to his messages. for heaven's sake, you didn't even read his messages, he was just left in delivered.

he had tried calling multiple times but was only met with your automated voice telling him to leave a voice message. it came to the point that he had enough and decided to drive to your house.

throughout the drive, jay wondered what could've happened. he couldn't think of anything that would make you upset like this, he hoped that you just fell asleep and forgot to have your alarm on.

walking up the porch of your house, jay rang the doorbell and was met with your mom who opened the door with furrowed brows when she laid her eyes on him.

"good afternoon mrs. l/n, is y/n home?" your mother's frown deepened, hesitantly looking at the stairs behind her before looking back at him. "i'm sorry jay, she said she doesn't want to see you?"

that caused jay to furrow his brows as well. "wha- may i ask why?"

"i was hoping you'd tell me." if jay was confused a while ago, he was even more confused now and frustrated.

"can i see her, please?" he pleads, the older woman hesitantly opened the door wider to invite him in, and before he could ascend up the stairs, your mom stopped him.

"jay.." he looked back. "i don't know what happened to you both but take it easy on her, alright? she's been crying, i can tell." jay gulped and only nodded, sending your mom a pursed smile.

he knocked on your bedroom door, when no response came, he tried to turn the knob and was thankful that it wasn't locked.

jay slowly opened your door, seeing you curled on one corner of your bed as your body shook from your sobs you tried to keep silent.

he could feel his heart break at the sight. stepping a foot inside the room, he mentally cursed at himself when he accidentally bumped on to your mirror causing your head to shoot up in alarm at the sound.

your already glassy eyes was once again filled with tears as your eyes met his. jay barely dodged the pillow you threw at him, screaming at him to "go away and never show your face to me again."

jay frowned and came closer until he was sat on the edge of your bed, ignoring the words you just shouted at him.

"baby.. what's- what's wrong?" he asked, attempting to hold your hand but you retracted it and tried to throw another pillow at him. he swiftly caught it and brought it back down gently beside you.

"was it worth the one month of free car wash?" you spat through hiccups. jay stayed silent, confused.

"of course it probably was, that's what you do right?" the sight of your swollen and red face kept breaking his heart, he was still confused on what you were talking about but he'll let you talk.

this way he knew how he'd make things better.

"make me fall in love with you in exchange of a month's free of car wash.." you muttered, your eyes still boring on to his. at your words, it finally clicked. "..am i really worth just that much?" another sob.

right, he had forgotten to end the call when his 'friend' came barging into his apartment. you had probably heard all the nonsense the guy sputtered.. but surely you must've heard the way he defended your relationship and swore at that him too?

"i thought.. high school days were done jay. please just leave me alone now. you got what you want." jay shook his head, coming closer and pulling your body to his.

he wrapped his arms around you, his hand rubbing your back as you sobbed hard. he didn't try stopping you when he felt your weak punches that you threw at his chest, his own tears clouding his vision but he didn't dare make them fall.

"you got it all wrong, baby." he whispered, rubbing your nape as your face now rested against the crook of his neck. he ignored the wetness there. "i'm guessing you overheard the conversation with sungjae?"

you nodded, now calmer but not pulling away.

"did you also hear the way i told him to drop the stupid bet he kept insisting to happen? the way i kicked him out of my apartment?" you stayed silent, only sniffling as a response.

jay sighed, wrapping his arm around your waist tighter and pulling you closer.

"the whole campus knows sungjae's an asshole, baby. he was a jerk who thought that being a dick to others were entertaining, and i guess that's why i was like that back in high school.. i wanted to be accepted in their group."

"but we're in college now, i left that group but somehow sungjae's here and is pathetically still stuck in the past." he pulled your face from his neck, cupping your cheek and wiping away your tears.

"i've loved you since high school.. and there's no bet, baby. the moment he had found out i was dating you, he kept bringing up a bet about how long we would last.. but i always shut him out, told him to cut it out and that there will be no bet happening, especially if you're the one getting betted on."

new fresh tears come rolling down your cheek, this time they were tears of relief. glad to know that everything was real, that you weren't just a toy.

"you promise you'll cut him off starting now?" you whispered, looking at him with big glassy eyes.

"i've cut him since high school, y/n. it's him who's keep clinging to me. but i promise he won't be saying anything about the both of us anymore." jay pressed your foreheads together, pressing a soft peck on your lips.

"you will forever be the prettiest and the only one i'll ever love this much in this world, my baby."

★ SIM JAEYUN ( 0.5k wc )

jake watched you run away in confusion, staring at the laughing crowd and turning to look at your locker only to be met with the note he has been telling everyone to throw away.

he angrily took it from your locker, ripping the small paper into pieces. "how many times have i told you to cut this shit out? do you want me to report all of you for harassment and bullying?" he raised his voice at the crowd who had stopped their laughter.

"that's what i thought." he frowned, pushing past them and running after you.

jake knew what everyone was doing the moment it spread that he was dating you. he had received dms telling him he could do better and if he was merely toying with your feelings.

he had told them countless times to drop it, even going far as to almost punch the person who has created the bets if it wasn't for sunoo holding him back. he had hoped that it wouldn't reach you. it was another one of his reasons on why he always went to school earlier, just in case it was placed on your locker. unfortunately, you were earlier than him today.

it's not like he was tolerating it, he had tried countless times to report it but they'd only say it was probably only for fun and he shouldn't take jokes seriously.

but jokes were meant to be funny, right?

jake opened the door that lead to the rooftop slowly, peeking his head to look if you were there. to his luck, you were.

your back faced him while your bag was placed down carelessly beside your feet. jake approached slowly, not wanting to overwhelm you further.

"baby?" he mumbled loud enough for you to hear. you turned your head towards him, showing him your tear stained cheeks. "oh, y/n." he sighed and held your cheeks, wiping away the salty liquid off your precious face.

"jake.. why are you dating me, of all people?" you ask through tears, avoiding his eyes.

jake's eyes softened, he dated you because you were different from everyone who wanted to be like the everyone else, did that make sense? you were your own person, you didn't care about social status, wealth, his circle of friends, and whether someone was good looking or not. you were soft hearted, to the point that you had let others take advantage of that leading them to walking all over you.

and he hated that.

"why not you?" he said softly, tilting your chin up so that you could meet his eyes. "you're everything i've ever needed."

"you can tell the truth." you mutter, looking at jake. his mouth formed a pout, heart broken at the way you had so little love for yourself.

"i am telling the truth, baby." he whispers, taking your hands and placing them on his face before putting his own hands back on yours. "everything is a joke to them when i'm involved." you whisper, ignoring the way your voice broke.

"we don't care about what they think, they're all just jealous. everything we've been through and what i feel for you are real, no jokes." he smiled, pulling you closer to him.

"you promise?"

"baby i'd choose you over anyone in this world over and over again until the heavens above is tired of me."

★ PARK SUNGHOON (0.7k wc)

sunghoon frowned, confused and hurt. he wanted to fix whatever happened, so he took his phone from the couch and his car keys from the wooden bowl in his foyer.

it was when he was in the elevator that he noticed his phone was open. his breath hitched, finally knowing the reason for your departure and choice of words. sunghoon quickly left the group chat and started dialing your number.

it was true that you were a bet. were. he didn't even know why he agreed, maybe because he wanted so badly to fit in. he didn't want a repeat of middle school, so instead of being the bullied and made fun of, he was now the one doing those to others. he wasn't proud of it at the slightest.

that doesn't excuse his actions though. the longer he spent time with you, the deeper he fell. sunghoon never planned for you to find out this way, he already had a plan. first he had to get rid of his 'friends', tell you everything then ask you if you still wanted him to meet your parents.

guilt always ate him alive whenever you would stay over and sleep by his side. he couldn't bring himself to meet your family knowing he hasn't told you everything and the truth.

he felt like his heart would jump out of his chest as he stood infront of the door of your house. if he died tonight on the hands of either your father or older brother, he'd welcome death with open arms.

i deserve it.

he audibly gulped when the door opened, revealing.. you. the way your brows furrowed at the sight of him tightened his chest. he stopped you before you could even close the door on him.

"y/n please, let me explain everything.. o-okay?" the way his voice cracked and the unshed tears in his eyes almost made you give in, but upon remembering what you've read, the anger in you was back.

"explain what?" you spat, turning to look over your shoulder before back at him. "that all those months i've spent loving you," you pointed at him harshly. "was just for entertainment? tell me, what was in it for you, huh?"

sunghoon shook his head, the tears now flowing down his pale cheeks. "no, no! i promise, please i love you." he reached out but you stepped back, biting your lip as you held back the tears.

"just.. leave me alone sunghoon," he felt his heart crack even more. "you've had your fun, you can laugh about i all you want now." you were taken aback when he knelt infront of you, hugging your waist as he sobbed.

"what the-" sunghoon tightened his grip on you, muttering along the words of 'im sorry', 'never meant to be like this', and something along the lines of regretting something.

"sunghoon- oh my god." you groaned as you descended to face him. "please, i didn't mean to. i-" he hiccuped, "i'm sorry, i know it was stupid and there's no reason for me to accept the bet- but i just wanted to fit in. i wanted them to take me as a part of their circle- but, but i soon realized that it was stupid." he looked at you with swollen eyes, desperation swam in his dark irises.

"because i realized that hurting you isn't worth being a part of their asshole group. it started with a bet, i admit, but i truly love you, please believe me." a sob made its way out his throat as he clung into you, his arms circling your neck. "it wasn't a lie whenever i said i'd meet your parents, i was constantly trying to get rid of them first before i met your family, i didn't want to meet them until i've told you the complete truth."

your own tears descended down your cheeks, your heart hurting for yourself and sunghoon. you stayed on the floor wrapped around each other for a moment before you both helped each other up to your feet, he looked at you intensely with red bloodshot eyes. "i'm sorry, i understand if you don't want anything to do with me anymore."

"i understand hoon," you whispered, bringing your hands to cup his face. "but you have to understand too that i can't trust you fully right up again." he nodded, putting his own hands on yours as he kissed your palms.

"i know.. and i'll spent the rest of my life earning it again. i love you."

— ౨ৎ thank u for tuning in ! @j-jinxee @slp23 @unsurereader @heelovesmeknot @sunshine-skz @hoondrop @jooniesbears-blog @jordan1024 @heeswif3y @outroherrr @harufluff @cheeseball0 @yjwluver @woofie-nctzen-fanarts @itjengirl @emiliasstuffs-blog @isa942572 @lufcxx @alienqbrain @woniebae @baekxo07 @titttuaf @chuuswifereal @kyanmeai @isabellah29 @deezbin @skzenhalove @eneiyri @a4ruby @saxytalks @denleave1088 @imdelulu @powerpuffstuts @hoonatic @dollydigital @chososloverfr @dummyf @chanyeolchannie @oddracha @wonwushu @strawberrynull @ceciloveshee @loumin908 @cexg68 @grassbutneo @gardenwons @pag-yerin @bora04 @iluvnikism @jellymiki

— i couldn't tag those who's usernames aren't in bold :(

[cece693]

Olá, você está aberto a pedidos? Se sim, posso solicitar uma história de Ethan Landry (Scream VI) com um leitor masculino.

Poderia ter algo com Ethan Landry obcecado pelo leitor tipo Joe de you aí o leitor descobre e o Ethan sequestra ele igual o Joe faz com back

You Belong To Me (Ethan Landry x M! Reader)

Thanks for the request. As I've stated before, I haven't watched any of the new Scream movies, so some of the information might not be accurate. I hope you enjoy it!

Summary: Ethan is obsessed with you. So when you manage to discover he's the masked killer, Ethan sees no other choice than to kidnap you.

You didn't consider Ethan Landry a friend. More like an acquaintance. He wasn’t the kind of guy to stand out in a crowd—shy, awkward, the kind of person who stayed at the edge of conversations, almost too easy to overlook. You’d barely exchanged a word with him beyond the occasional nod in class. To you, he was just another face in the sea of college students.

But to Ethan, you were everything.

It started as a creeping suspicion that something wasn’t right. The killings had started months ago—violent, gruesome, and seemingly random. Students whispered about the Ghostface killer, the terror gripping the campus. Some people thought the attacks were personal, while others believed it was all just chaos without purpose.

You didn’t give it much thought at first. That was until weird things started happening around you. Little things, things that felt off. Your stuff went missing—a hoodie here, a notebook there. You’d see someone out of the corner of your eye, just a shadow, but every time you turned around, no one was there. You’d get the feeling that someone was watching, even when you were alone.

And then you found the messages.

A dozen missed calls from an unknown number, voicemails that were just the sound of breathing. Texts that said strange things: “You’re so handsome when you think no one’s watching.” Another: “They don’t deserve you, but I do.” It made your skin crawl. You thought it was some kind of prank—until the bodies started piling up.

People you knew. A guy from your dorm. A girl you’d once gone on a date with. And it hit you—every person who’d been killed had some connection to you. Not close connections, but they were enough to put you on edge. Someone was targeting people around you. Someone was getting closer.

You started paying attention to the people in your life, trying to figure out who could be behind it. That’s when you noticed Ethan—awkward, clumsy Ethan—showing up a little too often. Sitting just a little too close in class. Staring just a little too long from across the cafeteria.

One night, unable to shake the gnawing feeling in your gut, you decided to follow him.

You never expected it to be so easy. Ethan had no idea you were tailing him, walking a few steps behind as he slipped into the old theater building. You ducked behind pillars and crept through hallways, your heart racing. Why would Ethan be here this late?

Then you saw him. Ethan, standing in the center of the empty backstage area, staring down at the iconic white mask in his hands—Ghostface. Your stomach dropped.

Ethan exhaled slowly, like holding the mask was some kind of religious experience. His fingers traced the edges reverently, like it was a piece of art he adored. “It was you…” you whispered, your voice barely audible. But it was loud enough.

Ethan’s head snapped toward you, his eyes widening in shock. For a moment, the mask slipped from his fingers, clattering to the floor. “Y/N…” he whispered your name like a prayer. His surprise melted into something far more dangerous—excitement. “I didn’t want you to find out this way.”

You turned to run, but you didn’t get far. Ethan was fast—faster than you ever thought possible. He tackled you from behind, his arms wrapping around you in a vice grip. You hit the ground hard, the air forced from your lungs. “Shhh,” Ethan whispered in your ear, pressing you down. "Don't fight. You don’t understand. This is a good thing. It’s what’s meant to be.”

You struggled, clawing at the floor, but Ethan was relentless. He pressed something cold and sharp against your throat—a knife.

“Don’t make me hurt you, Y/N.” he whispered, his breath hot on your neck. “I don’t want to hurt you. I love you.” Those words froze you in place, every muscle in your body locking up. This wasn’t love. This was madness. Feeling blood trailing down the left side of your face, you felt Ethan's hand going to your head before darkness consumed you.

When you woke, your wrists were bound with rope, and the rough bite of duct tape was pressed over your mouth. The dim light above buzzed faintly, casting shadows across the basement. It reeked of dust, old wood, and something metallic—blood.

Ethan sat across from you on an old couch, elbows on his knees, hands clasped like he was waiting for you to wake up. When your eyes met his, his face split into a smile—a wide, boyish grin, as if the two of you were old friends and stood up. “You’re awake!” he said brightly. “I was getting worried. You hit your head pretty hard.”

You tried to scream against the tape, thrashing against the ropes. “You're scared,” he said, almost as if he were hurt by it. He crouched down beside you, his eyes searching your face. “But you don’t have to be. I’d never hurt you, Y/N.” He reached out to touch your cheek, and you flinched, your skin recoiling from the feel of his hand. “Everything I’ve done…I did for us,” he whispered, his voice carrying a note of desperation. “Can’t you see that?”

You glared at him, fury rising despite the terror that coursed through you. The tape over your mouth prevented you from speaking, but your eyes screamed the truth—This isn’t love.

He seemed to sense your defiance because the calm in his expression cracked, and for a moment, you saw the darkness beneath the mask of his boyish charm. “You don’t believe me,” he said, almost accusingly, his eyes narrowing as if you were the one who had wronged him.

“You don’t understand,” Ethan hissed, beginning to pace. “Nobody understands.” His voice grew sharper, each word edged with frustration. “You’ve been surrounded by people who don’t even see you—people who don’t deserve you.” He stopped and smiled at you. “But I do. I see you, Y/N. I know who you really are.”

You shook your head, fighting against the tears that threatened to spill. You had to get through to him—had to find a way to reason with him, no matter how deranged he was. You made a muffled sound behind the tape, pleading with your eyes for him to remove it.

Ethan hesitated, his gaze flickering over your face. He approached cautiously, like someone might approach a wounded animal. “You’re not going to scream, are you?” he asked, tilting his head. When you didn’t move, he reached for the tape and slowly peeled it off, the adhesive burning as it pulled away from your skin.

You drew in a shuddering breath. “This isn’t love, Ethan,” you whispered, your voice hoarse. “It’s obsession.”

He flinched as if you had struck him. “No…” His voice wavered, but the intensity in his eyes remained. “It’s not an obsession. I’ve loved you since the first time I saw you. You were different.” He spoke as though he was trying to convince himself as much as you. “I had to protect you. I had to make sure no one got in the way.”

“And what about all those people you killed?” you asked, your voice rising with desperation. “Were they just in the way?”

His expression hardened, his jaw clenching. “They weren’t important.” His tone was cold now, detached, as though he were speaking about objects instead of people. “Not like you.” He moved closer, his hand gripping your shoulder with an alarming intensity. “You’re special, Y/N. Don’t you see?”

“No, Ethan!” you snapped, your voice shaking. “I’m not special, and this isn’t some romantic story. You’re sick. You need help.”

The words seemed to hit him like a physical blow. His grip on your shoulder tightened painfully before he yanked his hand away, his face twisting with a mix of anger and hurt.

Ethan's eyes darted toward the clock, and his frown deepened, as if he was weighing his options or calculating something in his head. His gaze shifted back to you, and for a moment, there was an almost regretful look in his eyes—like he wished things could be different, as if he genuinely believed this was all for the best.

“Maybe you don’t understand now,” he said quietly, his voice softening into something that almost sounded like pity. “But you will…you’ll see.” He took a step closer, his hand reaching up to brush your hair out of your face. “I have some things I need to take care of,” he continued, his tone unsettlingly calm. “But I promise, I’ll be back soon.”

Before you could say another word, he grabbed the roll of duct tape from the table and ripped off a piece, pressing it back over your mouth, smoothing it down with the same gentle care as if he were tucking you in for bed. His gaze lingered on yours, dark eyes gleaming with devotion. Then, without warning, he tilted his head and leaned in—his lips brushing against the tape covering your mouth in a lingering kiss. It was soft and disturbingly intimate, like a lover’s farewell.

“There,” he whispered against the tape, his lips still inches from yours. “Perfect.” He pulled back slowly, savoring the moment as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "I’ll be back soon, Y/N," Ethan promised, a twisted kind of love in his voice. "I’ll make sure no one comes between us ever again."

[forjongseong]

the reward // jay (ENHYPEN)

pairing: student!jay x tutor!fem!reader

genre: campus!au, smut (minors dni) // warning: older reader, they call reader "Noona", profanity, mentions of studying (lol), Heeseung makes an appearance, the rest of hyung-line are mentioned, making out, a lot of making out, just making out, fingering, protected sex (because Jay is responsible) // wc: ~9.5k

summary: you teach for a living, and you had been picking up tutoring since the extra money wasn't that bad. most of your meetings consist of essay-writing, mock tests, and speaking exercises; so when Jay became your student, you weren't expecting the lessons to include rewards.

author’s note: what?? two fics in the span of three days? with this I announce my retirement...

just kidding I STILL HAVE the secretary!Jay series to finish so I won't be retiring soon. this one is based on the rimless glasses series which is like, a random note I made for my wips, and believe it or not, while I made Bite Me sit and marinate on the shelf for so long, I finished this fic below within seven hours. yes, sometimes I am very motivated.

ANYWAY since I kept getting ideas for this one, I decided to sit down and write everything in one go, because if I pause to pick it up later I end up feeling not that confident with my work.

with that being said, I totally loved this one, so I hope you guys will enjoy it AS MUCH AS I DID writing it.

special mention to @excusememissiloveyou who was there the whole time virtually giving me mental support and good reactions

taglist: @thots4hee @end-hyphen @nyanggk @yoursjaeyun @maggstar @bucketofhiros @dimplejaehyuncutie @shinkenprincess-oh @mochimchimo @jongseonglogy @strawberrification12 @xiaoderrrr

You took the last sip of your latte as you tried to hold in your laughter. You then carefully swallowed your drink before chuckling and putting your cup back on the table, and then swatting the guy in front of you for cracking a joke and deliberately trying to make you laugh and choke at the same time.

“No, but seriously, thank you,” Heeseung said, tapping his fingers on the table. “I reached my target score.”

“What was it again?” You asked, at the same time unlocking your phone to check the time.

“7.5,” he answered.

You frowned. “That’s literally the same score you had before you took lessons with me, is it not?”

Heeseung nodded. “But without your help, I probably would have scored lower. Thanks for all the practice. And your time.”

You smiled and waved your hand, pretending to be humble. “Well, you’re welcome. I’m just doing what I get paid for.”

This time Heeseung was the one who chuckled, and before he could say another word you had to excuse yourself because it was time for your afternoon class.

“I’ll make the transfer tonight,” Heeseung said as he stood up, collecting the used napkins on the table. “Oh, by the way, Noona, I gave your number to my friend. He said he needs a tutor too. You don’t mind, do you?”

“Sure, you can broadcast my number to everyone who needs a tutor, to be honest. I’d love the extra money.”

Heeseung snickered and waited for you to start walking. He sped up and held the door open for you as you both exited the café.

“What’s his name? Or her, sorry, I just assumed.” You fixed your bag’s strap on your shoulder before taking out your phone again.

“Jay. He’s a med student too. We’re in the same class.” Heeseung started typing on his phone. “I’ve just let him know that you know he’s going to text you.”

“Awesome,” you said with a smile. “I’ll see you around, Heeseung. Good luck with the semester abroad.”

---

The waitress eyed the empty plates you had set aside before you started scrolling on your phone, and when you made eye contact with her you nodded, and she immediately took the plates away. You then placed an order for a cold drink since you were sure your new student was going to be running late.

“Punctuality,” you sighed to yourself, “should literally be counted in every single score…”

You heard the bell chiming as someone entered the restaurant, and your eyes immediately fell on him. The guy had his hair slicked back with a couple of strands hanging on his forehead, he was wearing a white button-down with a suede jacket on top, and the straight-cut pants he was wearing made you want to ask him where it was from.

“Y/N Noona,” he greeted you with confidence before you could even stand up, “Sorry, I’m late.”

“Hi, Jay,” you watched as he took his backpack off and set it on the chair beside him. He then sat down and looked at you with a huge smile.

The fuck? What is he so attractive for? You thought, smiling back.

“I didn’t know this place existed on campus,” he began, initiating small talk. His eyes were scanning the place, and as he looked around in wonder you thought for a second that he looked like a majestic black cat. And you love cats.

“Yeah,” you said before the silence became too loud. “It’s my favorite place to grab lunch or to hold private sessions like this. So, what do you need an IELTS score for?”

“Same as Heeseung,” Jay answered you only after he looked around for a waiter. He quickly placed his order and refocused his attention back on you. “Did you order yet?” He asked, sounding concerned as he looked around and saw nothing in front of you.

Your drink order arrived, and you thanked the waitress in a whisper and a smile, and you made an effort to explain yourself before Jay started to speculate.

“I already ate, and this is my dessert,” you said, turning the cup around and making sure it was the right order. “You can go ahead and eat while I answer any questions you might have about our lessons.”

“Right,” Jay shifted in his seat and cleared his throat. “So, I want to get a higher score than Heeseung, but I’ve never taken the test before, so how many meetings do you think we should have so I can achieve that?”

Confident, curious, and ambitious, you thought. You could definitely work with him.

“Alright,” you began, clearing the space in front of you and taking out your notebook and a pen.

You spent the next two hours talking to Jay, mostly stuff regarding lesson plans, but after that, you asked him about his studies, and he also asked you about your experiences and your current work. He mentioned the names of the students you had previously tutored, Jake and Sunghoon, and only then did you learn that the four of them must have their own clique.

“Where do you usually have your lessons with them?” Jay asked, wiping his mouth with a clean napkin after he finally finished his meal.

“Since they’re only available in between my classes, I usually ask them to go to cafes around the campus,” you replied. “I literally just go where I am asked, though. You guys are the students, so.”

“Can I pick the place for our next meeting?” Jay asked, grabbing his phone. “I’ll match your schedule first.”

You opened your calendar on your bullet journal and started jotting down Jay’s availability while he typed in your schedule on his phone.

“Right, so on Tuesday, since you only have a morning class, let’s have lunch at this place, hold on,” Jay said, eyes glued to his phone as he pulled up a website of the place he was referring to. “Here.”

You craned your neck to look at Jay’s phone, and when you read the address, you tilted your head. “I don’t know, it doesn’t seem like it’s walking distance from campus.”

“Oh, I’ll pick you up.” Jay blinked at you innocently. “I’ll drive you back to campus too. Or your home?”

“Campus is fine, I carpool with my brother,” you quickly replied. “Thank you.”

Jay shrugged and checked the time on his watch. “We’re done here, right?”

You nodded. “Unless you have more questions?”

He smiled and shook his head, and you hated the way you thought he was just so damn handsome. He then stood up and made his way to the booth, and you saw him take out his wallet while gesturing to your table. When he walked back to his seat, you leaned in and whispered.

“Did you just pay for my meal?” You asked, trying to be discreet.

“Why are you whispering? Of course, I did,” Jay replied, also whispering to match your energy.

You chuckled and mouthed a ‘thank you’ before you stood up, and you were slightly surprised at how fast he walked ahead of you just to hold the door open.

“I’ll see you Tuesday?” Jay asked, stretching out his hand.

You realized he was going for a handshake, so you took his hand. His fingers grabbed your hand firmly and you had to hold in a wince.

“Tuesday,” you replied, keeping your cool. “Bye, Jay.”

---

After a couple of meetings with Jay, you realized that the guy had grown on you and that he might be your favorite student ever if you were even allowed to have one. Skill-wise, he needed a lot of help, but he was a quick learner, and he took all your advice seriously, putting it into action almost immediately and showing up with instant results.

“Can I ask you what your thought process is like when you write an argumentative essay like this?” You said previously on your second meeting with him, at a café that he picked out.

“I look at the topic and begin writing, and I just… write as I go,” he answered truthfully.

You sighed and he took a quick glance at your face. “See, that’s where you’re wrong.”

You began explaining how outlining an essay was essential to make sure you can get your points across, and as you were speaking you kept looking at your notes, his hands, the window, and everything else except his face. But you can feel his eyes glued to yours. He attended every single meeting with the type of energy that you had never found before in any of your other students, and somehow, he just exudes positivity and passion.

During the meeting after that, he handed you over his homework, along with an extra essay that was written according to your input. He could not hide his stupid grin every time you complimented a sentence structure, and for the first time, you finally made him speechless.

“Thank you,” you said after ending your feedback.

Jay tilted his head and frowned. “What for?”

“For taking my input seriously,” you continued.

Jay became even more confused. “Isn’t that what students do?”

You scoffed and shook your head. “A lot of my students don’t.”

“Well, they’re just dumb, then.”

Your mouth hung open in shock at Jay’s sudden insult, and he found your face hilarious that he just had to cackle, his laugh echoing throughout the place. You covered your mouth and giggled silently, helplessly smacking his arm so he would quiet down.

On your fourth meeting, you requested to have the lesson at the campus café since you had to go home as soon as your session with him ended. This time, however, he was running late, and you had to spend a couple of minutes alone chugging down your latte to stay awake.

“Noona, I’m so sorry,” Jay said as soon as pulled the chair beside you. He sat down and started complaining. “My professor just announced this urgent assignment that we had to do, and…”

The annoyance that came with almost being stood up evaporated completely when you heard Jay yapping about what happened in his class. Maybe you were just too tired to be angry, or maybe you were just happy to see him.

“Shall we just practice Speaking then for now?” You asked after he finished his explanation.

Jay nodded quickly. “Anything you want. Do you want me to order another drink for you?”

“It’s fine, calm down,” you said, chuckling lightly. “Alright, let me look for a topic.”

You quickly browsed your phone and began asking him questions. You made a gesture and pointed to his phone, signaling him to record himself speaking, so he did so without breaking eye contact with you. For the next part, you picked a topic that required him to talk about a close friend, and as he began to elaborate on his answer, it was your turn to look at him intently.

“What I like about her is,” Jay spoke in the middle of his answer. He then paused as if he was searching for the right word to use, but you were feeling sleepy and goofy, so you interrupted him.

“Her smile?” You asked in a teasing tone before you started laughing.

Jay became flustered and quickly waved both his hands to deny your guess. “No, not that!”

He then joined you laughing, and you had to apologize for stretching the time limit he had. You then asked him to continue and wrap up, and after that you immediately gave feedback. However, when you were speaking you got tongue-tied a lot, and you kept saying the wrong words or taking too long to find one.

“Noona, if you’re really tired, we can end the class early, I don’t mind,” Jay said calmly, looking at you with concern but also smiling like he somehow found you adorable.

“No!” You said with an unreasonable tone of refusal. Jay flinched in his seat from how loud you spoke. “No, you already came late, so I’m not cutting this meeting even shorter.”

“Alright,” Jay chuckled to himself. He looked to the ground and saw that you had your shoes off.

Eventually, you gave him constructive feedback and even managed to pull up the previous essay he had written and gave him pointers on the spot. When it was time to wrap up, Jay cleared his throat before proposing an idea.

“Noona,” he began, “can we have the next meeting at my place?”

“Sure,” you replied without hesitation. “What’s the name of the café this time?”

Jay smiled and shook his head. “I meant my place, as in, my house.”

“Oh?” You paused and let your hand hover over your book, trying to formulate a response. “Uhm, I have never—”

“If you feel uncomfortable, it’s fine. We can go to another place. You can choose!” Jay quickly revised his statement, worried that he made the wrong decision of even voicing his idea.

“Well, where do you live?” You asked, genuinely curious.

“Not walking distance from campus,” Jay said with a smile. “But again, I’ll drive you there and back. I live alone, it’s my parents' house, but they’re currently living in another city to take care of their business, so they left the house to me. And we won’t be alone, I’ve got some workers who are doing renovations, so…”

You realized how flustered he became, and by now you already know that Jay tends to say a lot of words when he was nervous, so to save him from further embarrassment, you nodded. His eyes lit up when he finally got an answer from you.

“I’ll text you when you can pick me up,” you said. “Don’t be late.”

Jay licked his lips before grinning widely. “I won’t.”

---

You were lounging on a huge sofa, a couple of pillows under your head and between your legs, and you winced as you heard the sound of ongoing construction outside the house. You glanced over to Jay, who had his eyebrows knitted and his rimless bluelight filter glasses perched on his nose, studiously reading the questions on his laptop screen. The noise-canceling headphones you brought proved to be useful, as he seemed to stay focused really well, and you wondered why he did not own a pair.

After introducing the idea of taking mock tests online and reviewing them right away, you ended up staying for longer hours whenever your meetings were held at Jay’s place, and when you first came there, one of the workers mistook you for Jay’s girlfriend. You then began to wonder if he had brought home other girls as well.

“Noona,” Jay called for you, breaking your chain of thoughts. “There’s no way I can answer this one correctly.”

Jay pulled his headphones down and gestured for you to sit next to him, so you did, and he pushed his laptop to your side so you can see its screen better. He was complaining about the true-false-not given questions, and he was getting frustrated because he could not tell the difference between false and not-given.

As you began to explain, Jay pulled the laptop closer to his side again, and you wanted him to read but also listen at the same time, so instead of pulling it closer to you, you moved closer to him. You ended up sitting closer to the coffee table and closer to the screen, with Jay sitting right behind you.

“So, if you see this passage here, the third paragraph,” you said, pointing at the screen. You did not hear a reply. “Jay?”

“Sorry,” Jay quickly replied, shaking his head. “Sorry, I zoned out. You smell so good.”

You were not going to let Jay see you blush, so you merely chuckled and cleared your throat. “Okay, moving on.”

You continued explaining, and Jay kept responding to you with one-word answers or mere hums, and you thought as long as he was paying attention, you did not need to check on him.

Little did you know that as you were speaking, his eyes were scanning your whole body. He leaned in ever so slightly to take in your scent better, and he noticed how sheer the button-down you were wearing was. He could barely see the outline of your light blue bra strap, and as you adjusted your position, he realized he was leaning in too close, so he quickly backed away before he got caught.

“Do you get it now?” You asked, looking back at him.

Jay was leaning against the sofa, a fair distance from you, but his eyes were focused on your lips, and that was a hard thing not to notice. To be frank, you were fighting yourself and trying to regulate your heartbeat whenever it beat faster when he came a little too close to you, and now you were beginning to think that the feeling might be mutual.

“Jay?” You asked. You then waved your hand in front of his face. “You seem out of it—”

You could not finish your sentence as you were in shock from the way his hand grabbed your wrist. You froze instantly, and your heart was beating even faster than when he was up close.

“Sorry,” Jay said, clearing his throat. He lowered your hand and let go of your wrist. “Sorry about that.”

“We can end the session now if you don’t feel well—”

“Noona,” he interrupted, “don’t end it now.”

“Okay,” you replied as you shifted in your seat and turned to face him. “How can I help you understand this better?”

Jay licked his lips and looked at the screen before looking at you, and within a short moment, he was flipping coins in his head, trying to imagine the different possible outcomes that would happen if he suggested what he was thinking the whole time.

“If I get the answer right,” he began, “would you show me your boobs?”

The question came out of nowhere and your immediate response was to laugh out loud, but once you looked at his face you realized he was dead serious, and since he asked politely you decided to entertain the idea.

“Alright, why not? Nothing to lose here,” you replied, confident that he would get the answer wrong. It was one of the types of questions that you hated the most because of how tricky it was, so you were convinced that even he would not get it right.

You were glad that you were wrong, for the first time in your life.

“I got it right, didn’t I?” Jay asked minutes later as you leaned closer to look at the screen, scanning the answer key and looking at Jay’s answer.

“Goddamnit,” you muttered, mindlessly clicking the mouse all over the screen.

You heard Jay whisper a ‘yes’ triumphantly and you sighed to yourself before turning around to face him. You began pulling your button-down up from the tuck in your pants, and Jay’s eyes immediately widened.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” He shouted, reaching his hands out to stop you. “What are you doing?”

“Flashing you?” You asked back, fingers frozen at the edges of your shirt.

Jay chuckled and fell back leaning his head on the sofa, taking his glasses off and covering his eyes with his forearm. “Noona, I was just joking.”

You felt disappointed, for some reason, and a little bit humiliated. Was he really just using you to feel motivated? And did that actually work? Were you secretly hoping for him to get the answer right?

“Really?” You asked again for confirmation. Jay nodded.

You paused for a second and then smiled. Jay thought you were going to say, ‘Good one’, but then you began scooting closer to him, and he immediately tensed up.

“So, when I sat down in front of you, and you got distracted, that was part of the act?” You asked, almost batting your eyelashes at him.

You could basically hear him gulp. “Yes,” he said, eyes on yours.

“You said I smelled good, was that just a joke too?”

“No,” Jay answered, chuckling this time. “You really do smell good.”

You reached a spot close enough to hear his thoughts, your breasts just inches apart from his chest.

“I really hope you’re not lying,” you whispered, your lips almost grazing his.

Jay let out a soft grunt before he pulled you by your wrist, and you yelped as he somehow managed to maneuver you to sit on his lap. You then kissed him first, pushing him back and letting his head rest on the seat cushion. Both his hands began riding up your thigh as you mercilessly dominated the kiss, quickly tangling your fingers in his gorgeous hair.

His hands moved to your ass to give it a squeeze and you moaned into his mouth, your body shaking and quickly succumbing to his touch. You began grinding on him, barely feeling his bulge, but as he began to dominate the kiss you heard feet shuffling right out the terrace.

“Jay?”

You jumped out of his lap at the sound and immediately made your way to the open kitchen, pretending to busy yourself. Jay cleared his throat and wiped away his saliva, or maybe yours, from his mouth. He stood up and walked over to one of the construction workers who called him, and you tried to observe them quietly as he spoke to him. He held himself with so much composure, almost like he did not even get caught making out with his tutor.

The worker then nodded, and Jay waved slightly at him, and you assumed that the man just gave Jay an update before excusing themselves for the day. You took a deep breath and held the empty glass you took in one hand while massaging your temple. You saw Jay making his way towards you with an apologetic smile on his face.

“Sorry again,” Jay said, standing on the opposite side of the counter. “I actually… don’t have anything else to say.”

You chuckled and looked down to avoid eye contact because you were sure that one more look from him would make you combust.

“Are you okay?” Jay asked, voice full of concern.

“I am, why?” You replied, confused.

Jay shook his head, unsure. “I just did not want to come off as a… I just hope you know that I’m not taking advantage of you, and I really don’t want you to feel—”

You began laughing softly and Jay had to stop speaking.

“Noona?”

“It’s fine,” you said as you began walking to him. You fixed a strand of his hair that was out of place from how much you were ruffling his hair earlier. “I’m okay.”

Jay kept his eyes on you, and you detected a different emotion. Before, you saw that it was lust, but now his eyes seemed hopeful.

“If you’re really okay with it,” Jay spoke, placing a hand behind his neck, “do you think it would be cool if we make it, like, a regular thing?”

“Elaborate, please.”

Jay chuckled softly. “I meant like, I think I could get motivated a lot if there was a reward waiting if I get a question right. Or if I reach a certain score in a mock test, don’t you think?”

You liked the idea very much that there was literally no reason to refuse. “I actually agree.”

“You do?” Jay started smiling widely. “Okay, cool, so the next meeting—”

“You’ll have to pick me up again after my class,” you interrupted, “and we’ll probably need some snacks here.”

Jay nodded firmly as if he had just negotiated a great deal. “Wait, Noona, you don’t have a boyfriend, do you?”

You shook your head. “Do you have a girlfriend?”

“Of course not,” Jay scoffed. “I just didn’t want to get in between of anything.”

You pouted and nodded, understanding. “Well, you’d probably be getting in between something.”

Jay tilted his head in confusion, and you brought your hand to your thigh, patting it. Jay closed his eyes and sighed. You giggled at his reaction.

“This session is over. You need to drive me back,” you demanded, placing the glass you were holding the whole time back on the counter.

“Yes, Ma’am,” Jay muttered before winking at you and turning around to go grab his car keys. You rolled your eyes before following him.

---

To say that you could not wait for your next session with Jay would be an understatement. You were literally counting the days, down to the minute, and you were checking your phone a ridiculous number of times just so you could respond to his chats in an instant. When he picked you up and you saw him getting out of the car to open the door for you, your heart was beating like a drum.

It was understandable, and pretty logical, actually. You had not been intimate with anyone in a long time, and Jay was, quite frankly, fucking hot. It did not help that he was intelligent as well, which was definitely your type. Your heart was racing, and your mind was imagining a thousand different scenarios that you did not even realize that you had arrived at Jay’s place.

You quickly noticed the absence of noise when you stepped out of the car. Jay walked up to the door and looked back at you, noticing how you were also silent.

“It’s a day off for the workers, today,” Jay explained, “it’s just you and me.”

“Thank God,” you muttered.

Jay chuckled. “What?”

“Did I just say that out loud?” You asked back in shock.

Jay laughed, genuinely finding you amusing. “You said it under your breath, but I heard it.”

“How embarrassing,” you said to yourself as you entered the house after him.

“On the contrary,” Jay responded, “I find it adorable.”

For this session, you decided to stay as farther away from Jay as possible, to let him focus and also to clear your mind. He was doing a mock test on his laptop after he received major feedback on his homework essay, and you took the time to wander around his kitchen and check his supplies.

“I can hear you opening the cabinets,” Jay spoke in a louder tone, all the way from the living room.

“Don’t mind me,” you shouted back. “Just focus if you want to get a good score.”

“What was the reward again?” Jay asked, smiling to himself as he scanned the question on his screen.

“A make out session if you reach 7,” you reminded him despite knowing full well that he just wanted you to recite it back to him. “And if you reach 8, I’ll give you a blowjob.”

“Fuck,” Jay muttered to himself.

You were unsure if it was because the thought made him unable to focus, or if he was actually struggling to answer the questions. After a few more minutes, he finally finished his Reading mock test, and you walked over to check his score.

“Noona, I present to you,” Jay began speaking, proudly, “a 7.5.”

Your eyebrows knitted as you observed the screen and scanned the page, checking Jay’s answers and matching them with the answer key. Meanwhile, Jay was leaning back and stretching his arms up, cracking his neck and basically doing preparations as if he was about to run a marathon.

“Good job,” you said, pushing the laptop towards the center of the table. You then turned around only to find him sitting comfortably on the sofa, arms to his side and his lap looking so inviting.

“Can I get my reward now?” He asked, eyes glowing and expecting.

“I’ll count it as a 7, since we never agreed on anything if you get a .5 score,” you said, taking the scrunchie from your wrist and tying your hair up in a messy bun.

“I’ll take anything,” Jay whispered, his arms welcoming you as you carefully straddled him.

You paused to place your hands on the sides of his face, and you bit your lower lip slightly before you leaned into him. His lips greeted yours warmly, and you could not help but sigh into his mouth once you felt his heat envelop you. Jay roamed his hands around your waist, up to your back, and lingering on your shoulders for a moment, pushing you even closer to him.

“Fuck,” he muttered into your lips. “You taste so good, Noona.”

You smiled and kissed him even harder, hoping it would translate into gratitude. You felt his fingers going under your shirt, grazing your skin and you shivered at his touch. He continued kissing you, licking your lips, tugging on your tongue, teeth slightly clashing with yours when the two of you got way too passionate. His fingers tugged your bra and he pulled away only to ask you a question.

“Can I?” He spoke, voice raspy from the lack of air. You wanted it just as much as him, so you nodded quietly.

He unhooked your bra with one hand and immediately moved his hand to the front, squeezing your tits as he continued to devour your lips. You began moaning helplessly, and you could feel him growing hard against your core.

“Jay,” you whined, “your reward is just a make out session.”

“I know,” he whispered. “I know, but doesn’t this feel so good?”

You felt him pinch your hard nipple slightly and you flinched before giggling, hiding your blushing face in the crook of his neck. You realized that he had a birthmark there, so you began kissing it, then licking it, then sucking on it, and only then did Jay let out a moan that sounded new to you.

“Noona,” he said, breathless. “We need to establish clearer rules and rewards.”

You kissed him all the way up to his jawline before meeting his lips again. “What do you mean?” You spoke against his lips.

“How about,” Jay said, pausing to groan since he felt his hard-on getting too restricted against his jeans. “For 7.5, I get to finger you?”

You pulled away from him to look him in the eyes and chuckled. “That sounds like more of a reward for me than it is for you.”

“But I really want it,” Jay confessed. “Please let me finger you.”

“Now?” You asked, placing your hands on his shoulders.

Jay nodded. “Aren’t you wet yet?”

He took the liberty to slide his hand under your pants, which happened to be elastic, thank God, and placed two fingers right along your slit. You elicited a whimper, and Jay could swear that you even shuddered at the sudden contact.

“You are,” Jay announced boldly. “Would you let me?”

His palm was right on your core anyway, and you thought that it would be stupid of you to refuse since he was already making you feel so good. Besides, his argument made sense.

“Okay,” you answered breathlessly, and within a second Jay was pulling your pants down to the floor.

“Seamless,” he commented as he eyed your panties. “Why am I not surprised?”

You shook your head and chuckled. “Why? Do you prefer a lacey thong?”

Jay stroked the inside of your thighs gently as he guided you by your waist to sit back down on the sofa, letting him hover his body over you.

“I would actually prefer nothing,” Jay whispered before closing the gap between your lips.

You felt his tongue enter your mouth and his fingers slipping inside of you almost at the same time, and the immense pleasure made you arch your back. His two fingers curled up inside you, making a ‘come hither’ motion that somehow felt gentle and harsh at the same time. He was moving his fingers at a slow pace, but the pressure he put on made you see stars.

“Oh my God,” you breathed, reaching for Jay’s arms to hold on to. “Jay…”

He loved the way you moaned his name, so he curled his fingers one more time and you whimpered, feeling your legs beginning to shake.

“Fuck,” you muttered again, tilting your head to the side, and letting Jay leave love bites along your neck. “Fuck, Jay, I’m gonna cum.”

“Please do,” he whispered into your ear, maintaining his pace the moment you told him so.

When you finally reached your high, your legs were shaking, and your body was spasming, and Jay had to wipe the sweat that formed on your forehead, tucking your hair behind your ear at the same time. His hand was drenched, and you could feel your cum trickling down onto the sofa.

“Oh my God, sorry,” you said in an instant.

Jay shook his head. “Don’t be,” he said calmly, waiting for you to catch your breath before he deemed it was time to pull his fingers out of you. When he did, you watched as he stared at them, two fingers glistening with your essence. He brought his hand up to his mouth and took a sniff before tasting it. The sight made you roll your eyes back.

“It’s unfair,” Jay began, “the way you taste as good as you smell.”

“God,” you said to yourself, and Jay laughed lowly, proud of how he was able to render you speechless. “What about you now?”

Jay tilted his head and then looked down at the obvious tent in his pants. “Oh, it’s fine. I’ll take care of it later.”

“In that case,” you said, pushing his chest slightly so he could move away from you. You tugged down your panties that had stayed on the whole time, and when you took them off your ankles you handed them to Jay.

“For later.”

You smiled as he took your panties in his hand, and you cackled the moment he took a sniff dramatically.

“Thanks, Noona,” Jay said, leaning in to leave a quick peck on your cheek. “Time to drive you back now.”

---

The next couple of meetings were spent in the same manner, more or less. Jay would try his best to get a score as high as he could, but he would never go over 7.5, so all you did was make out with him in his living room, in his bedroom, or even in his car on the ride back to campus. He took it like a champ, though, and he never insisted on taking things further than what you had previously agreed on.

You had one meeting left with him before his scheduled test, and you were dreading the day. Usually, you would be looking forward to meeting him, but all things come to an end, even private lessons, so you halfheartedly dolled yourself up in front of the mirror in your faculty’s restrooms, still determined to look your best for your favorite student.

The car ride to his house was spent in comfortable silence, and you did not mind the way his hand reached for your thigh, resting it there as he rubbed his thumb along your skin. You were wearing a short skirt for a change, and you loved the way it had caught his attention in an instant. Once you arrived, Jay took you by your hand and led you straight to his bedroom for privacy, since the workers were currently at his house.

“Noona,” he called for you before starting the mock test on his computer. You were halfway making yourself comfortable on his bed. “Can you sit with me while I do this?”

“Where?” You walked towards him.

He spun his chair towards you and patted his lap. “Here.”

You chuckled. “Why?”

“It’s our last meeting and I want to be close to you.”

You were underestimating the effects of his words and you felt like your stomach did a flip. You never shied away from his advances, though, so doing it now would be weird. And you did not want it to backfire and end up demotivating him.

“Okay,” you said, turning around before you carefully sat on his lap. You had to adjust your position several times to make sure he was comfortable, and he wrapped an arm around your waist and rested his head on your shoulder as he began the test.

“You can answer in your mind if you want,” Jay said, tilting his chin towards the screen.

You answered by reaching your hand back to stroke his hair, and he hummed in delight as he began answering the test. Eventually, you leaned your back towards his chest and sat comfortably, almost falling asleep from his warmth. You eyed the screen and noticed that he was about to answer a question wrong, so you placed your hand over his and moved the mouse to the right option.

“Isn’t this cheating?” He asked, genuinely unsure.

“I’m giving you a pass, Jay,” you answered calmly, patting his cheek.

After a while, he finished his mock test, and you saw the results come up as soon as he clicked next.

“You did it,” you said, staring at the screen. “That’s an 8.”

You noticed that Jay was silent for too long, and then you realized you had sat on his lap for too long, so you quickly stood up and stretched your legs, smoothing your skirt down.

“Are you ready for your reward?” You asked, eyes full of anticipation.

Jay licked his lips and shook his head. You immediately frowned.

“I feel like if you hadn’t corrected that one question, I would still get a 7.5,” Jay confessed. “It’s okay, I’ll skip the reward.”

“What?” You said, almost spitting your words out. You did not know why his refusal got you so worked up.

“Noona,” he began, reaching for your hands as he stood up from his seat. “I appreciate what you’ve been doing for me, but I also don’t want you to get the wrong idea.”

You continued to frown, waiting for him to elaborate.

“I’ve loved the sessions we had, and I’m really thankful for all the rewards, but I need you to know that my goal remains the same, and it’s to get the highest score possible. The test is in a week, and I need to remain focused.”

He really did it, you thought. He used you to his advantage until he didn’t need you anymore.

But you knew that, deep inside. You knew that this way of giving him motivation would be dangerous, more for you than for him. You knew that Jay is a professional and that he takes his studies seriously, so you knew that catching feelings would be out of the picture for him.

Sadly, you forgot to set the boundaries for yourself.

You really thought that you could keep it casual, and you really thought that you were not going to start having feelings for him since it had been ages anyway since you had loved someone, so why does his professionalism hurt you? When in fact, you should be thankful that he respected you?

Your mind was running a mile a minute thinking of possible scenarios, and his face was becoming concerned. Eventually, you managed to fake a smile and you nodded before you said your response.

“As expected,” you began, “from the top student in class.”

Jay blinked, not expecting you to remember the one fun fact that Heeseung had told you about him.

“Your essays have improved so much since the first meeting. Your speaking is fine, just remember not to use fillers too much. You have no problem with the listening section, and for reading, I suggest you keep practicing during the few days before the test.”

Now, Jay was the one with a frown on his face. He was wondering why you were acting so formally again.

“I’ll text you good luck before the test, and when the results are out, tell me your score,” you continued.

“If I get over 7.5—”

“I’ll treat you to lunch.”

Jay scrunched his nose. “Pardon?”

“I’ll treat you to a nice lunch, okay? My pick this time,” you said with a smile so convincing that it was hard for him not to smile back.

“Okay,” Jay smiled back at you, trying to hide the tone of disappointment in his voice.

---

Days had passed by since Jay took his test, and even since the results of it came out. You held back from texting him first since he never responded to your good luck text on the day of his test. You then swallowed the bitter fact that, maybe, or most likely, Jay really was using you and your dumb self had consented to it.

But it could not be, you convinced yourself. He was a gentleman. Would he really do that?

You gave up trying to find answers that might make you feel better, so you decided to busy yourself with other freelance work that came your way. You felt bad turning down the other students that Heeseung had referred you to, and you had to come up with lame excuses like you had no time or you had way too much on your plate.

The real reason was that everything about the test prep now reminds you of Jay, and you would not want to take out your anger and disappointment on your new student. You thought it was best to stop tutoring for a while until you had completely moved on.

One of the latest gigs that got you a little too excited was speaking for a panel discussion in a workshop that was related to your teaching experience on campus. Previously, you attended these events as a participant, sitting in the audience and actively taking notes and recording the speakers, but now you get to see it from the other side of the stage, and you could not help but feel proud of yourself.

You dressed your best to impress, for once not dressing for yourself but for the audience, and when you sat in between the other speakers on stage you became so engrossed that you almost did not realize the familiar figure sitting on the front row but at the farthest chair from the stage.

Jay noticed you looking at him, so he threw you a soft smile and a tiny wave with his hand. You smiled and quickly turned towards the host who had called out your name to address a question. You answered the question and looked at the other speakers on your side, and you were glad that they were nodding along to your response, signaling that you had indeed answered the question correctly.

Surprisingly, it was not hard to stay focused on the rest of the discussion. Jay sat pretty far from your sight, so all you had to do was look anywhere except in his direction. You did look at him one more time, though, and you caught him looking at the huge screen that was focusing on your face as you were speaking. You almost sighed in relief a little too loudly when the session ended, and you gathered your belongings as well as your thoughts as the other people swarmed towards the outside of the hall.

You could feel someone approaching you from behind, and when you turned around Jay was looking at you with a soft gaze in his eyes.

“Noona,” he said.

“Hey, Jay,” you greeted him back.

“Listen, can I speak to you somewhere else private?” He asked before looking around and spotting several people still lingering inside the hall.

“This seems private enough,” you said as you looked around too. “I barely know anyone here.”

Jay became visibly uncomfortable, and you instantly felt bad.

“If you wouldn’t mind, I can drive you home and we can talk on the way, or—”

“Or, you can come up with me to my room,” you suggested.

Jay’s mouth was slightly open as he tried to process your words.

“I am staying here for the weekend. You don’t have to drive me anywhere,” you said with a smile, turning around to grab your bag. Your heart was beating a little too fast to your liking.

Jay tailed you and kept silent as you both waited for the elevator to open. Once it did, you entered and he followed behind you, waiting until the doors closed before he finally began to speak.

“I got an 8.5,” Jay said, looking down at the floor.

Your eyes widened. “Jay, that’s amazing!”

“I’m sorry,” he then said.

You were confused. “What?”

The elevator dinged and two people came inside. You decided to wait until you reached your floor to continue the conversation.

“I’ll explain once we’re inside, I promise,” Jay said as he matched your pace, walking beside you until you reach your door.

His face instantly switched from worried to wonder when he realized that you were walking all the way to the end of the hall.

“The event gave you a suite?” Jay asked, pure curiosity getting the best of him.

You could not help but chuckle. “No, I upgraded myself. Come in.”

As soon as you closed the door, you felt Jay pull your hand before he quickly trapped you between his body and the wall. You did not even have the time to be surprised because the next thing you knew his lips were latched onto yours, and your body betrayed you by reciprocating him and pulling him closer to you.

Jay quickly pulled away when he felt your fingers hooked on his belt. You licked your lips and let your eyes search for his.

“I’m sorry, I owe you an explanation,” Jay said, rubbing his hand on your waist. “I shouldn’t have lunged at you like this.”

You cleared your throat and fixed your hair, gently pushing him away from you before you made your way to the loveseat in the center of the room.

“Have a seat,” you replied, sitting on the sofa yourself and bringing your legs up to your chest.

Jay sat down and took his bag off, letting it fall to the floor as he let out a huge sigh.

“I don’t know where to start,” he confessed.

“Take your time,” you responded, stretching your arm and leaning your head on it. “Maybe start with why you didn’t reply to my texts?”

“I lost my phone,” Jay began. “Literally the night before the test. I had no time to get a new one, and I didn’t want to get distracted, so I just went on and took the test. Right after, though, my professor… that jackass…”

Your eyes widened at Jay’s frustrated insult, and you had to hold back a smile.

“It was just class after class, task after task, I really did not have the time or mental capacity to get back to you, and I don’t want you to think that I consider you as less of a priority, because I don’t, and I really tried to ask Heeseung for your number again, but it’s… you know what? These are excuses. I don’t want to give you excuses.”

You frowned but at the same time, an amused smile was slowly creeping up your face.

“I should have contacted you the minute I could, but I didn’t, and I let other stuff take up my time. That’s my mistake. I’m sorry.”

“Alright, apology accepted,” you said, tapping your fingers on the sofa.

Jay looked at you in confusion. “Really? That easy?”

You clicked your tongue and tilted your head. “That still does not explain why you kissed me a second ago, though.”

“Right,” Jay continued. He took a deep breath before he spoke again. “Right.”

You chuckled lightly and adjusted your position. “Why are you so nervous?”

“Because you’re so fucking gorgeous, and I have feelings for you but I’m not sure you have the same.”

You held a hand over your mouth in shock. “Jay,” you mumbled.

“You understood me wrongly,” he continued. “The day of our last meeting when I said I needed to remain focused. I was trying to confess to you.”

Your eyes were looking into his and you nodded once, telling him to continue.

“I really did not want you to think that I was taking advantage of you. I just grew to like you a lot, and you can’t even imagine how fucking relieved I was when you agreed to my proposal of rewards. Every single time I spent with you only deepened my feelings even more, and I…”

Jay paused to look at you, and you straightened your position.

“I’m doing it again, aren’t I? Rambling when I’m nervous?” Jay said, almost stuttering towards the end of his sentence.

You smiled to yourself before you pushed your body up. You made your way to his side and sat close beside him, touching your thigh with his.

“Well, let me tell you that I’m fucking relieved that you’re here to straighten things out,” you stated, resting a hand on his thigh. “Because guess what?”

You ended your question by inching your face closer to his.

“What?” He muttered under his breath.

“I have feelings for you, too.”

Jay sighed out of relief and smiled before he leaned in to kiss you, and as his hands found their place on your waist, you moved to straddle him. You were both in a familiar position, taking you back to the hours you would spend at his house, making out with him as a reward.

“Noona,” he spoke against your lips in between kisses. “When I said if I get more than 7.5, I was going to say I wanted to eat you out.”

You broke down laughing against his lips and you had to move your face to his neck so he wouldn’t choke on your breaths.

“You just had to interrupt me and say that you were going to treat me to lunch,” Jay continued before bringing your face back up and devouring your lips again. “You kind of owe me.”

You hummed against his lips and guided his hands to go underneath your shirt. He unhooked your bra with ease before moving his hands to cup both your breasts.

“God,” you muttered, grinding your hips harder against his crotch.

“Noona,” Jay breathed, moving his hand to unbutton your shirt. “Can’t you moan my name instead?”

“Oh, Jay,” you whispered, chuckling when you see him smile as your hands cupped his face. “You sweet little thing.”

Jay had managed to take both your bra and your shirt off in an instant, and you brought his head closer to your breasts so he could fondle them with his mouth. You moaned louder as he nibbled on your nipple, grinding faster against his hips and placing your hands firmly on his head.

“Why don’t I treat you to lunch now?” You proposed, tugging his hair and making him look up at you.

Jay nodded and you moved away from his lap, standing up and bringing him to his feet too. You started unbuttoning his shirt as you walked backwards, leading him towards the bed. He placed his hands firmly on your waist, letting you do your thing. Once the back of your legs hit the bed, you sat down and took off your panties and trousers in one go. Jay immediately kneeled in front of you.

“I still have your panties, Noona,” he said as you rested your legs comfortably on his shoulder.

“What do you do with it?” You asked, challenging him.

“I touch myself with it and imagine doing this to you.”

His lips brushed against your folds without warning, and you immediately fell back to the bed, lying down. He kissed your clit before running his tongue along your slit, and the warmth and wetness of his mouth drove you crazy. You began pulling on his hair, determined to get him even closer, and he reacted by hooking his arm around your thighs, humming as he lapped up your arousal.

“Jay,” you whimpered. “You’re doing so good.”

He began making loud wet noises deliberately, knowing how it would make you moan louder, and when you were squirming under his touch he inserted a finger, all the while toying with your clit using his tongue.

“Fuck!” You hissed, arching your back and lifting your ass from the bed. “Don’t stop, Jay, please.”

You pressed the ball of your foot against Jay’s back as he continued to eat you out, taking you to your first high of the night and cumming against his mouth. You were breathing loudly, panting so much like the air was sucked out of you. Jay squeezed your thigh before unlatching his lips, then he gently caressed your folds with his fingers, collecting the remains of your cum before licking them dry.

“Come here,” you begged, your hands reaching out for nothing until he moved and placed himself between your legs.

Jay leaned down and began kissing your jaw, and you took the liberty of unbuckling his belt and tugging his pants down as he devoured your neck. You felt the bulge underneath his boxers and almost froze at the contact.

“What’s wrong?” Jay asked, noticing how you stopped moving for a split second.

“You’re…” You tried your best to look down at his crotch. “You’re fucking huge.”

Jay was the one with a breathy chuckle now, amused at your reaction.

“That’s because it’s hard, and that’s because of you, Noona.”

“Fuck me, then,” you replied, bringing one hand to squeeze his biceps. “Literally, please.”

“Wait, let me just…”

Jay moved away from you to reach inside the pockets of his pants before kicking it off then he pulled his boxers off completely, and only then you realized he was holding a condom.

“That condom was in your pocket this whole time?” You asked in disbelief. “Were you expecting this to happen?”

“Noona,” Jay looked at you with a smirk. “You know how driven I am.”

“Oh my God,” you retorted, chuckling and covering your eyes with your arm. “Can’t believe I fell for it.”

Jay unwrapped the condom and slid it down his length with ease.

“Staying safe, are we?” You asked with a smile as you welcomed him back into your embrace.

“Well, I’m a med student, so…”

“Okay, enough, let’s just fuck.”

Jay kissed your face a couple more times until it got annoying because he was clearly stalling. You grabbed his face and he chuckled, biting his lower lip.

“You’re really pretty,” he confessed all of a sudden.

“And you’re hot as fuck, so can you just fuck me please?”

Jay nodded and kissed you with a smile, aligning his tip with your slit. “Take a deep breath,” he whispered.

You did as he said, and you were glad you did. Jay filled you up and once again you had underestimated your own predictions. Back when you were still just making out and straddling him, you only had a faint idea of his size, and he was wearing loose pants all the time, so it was not like you were able to tell easily. Your breath became shaky as you felt him bottom out, and he brought his hand up to caress your face.

“Tell me if it’s okay to move,” he whispered ever so gently before kissing your nose.

You opened your eyes and found him staring at you. You were breathing from your mouth, so he tilted his head to kiss your cheek softly. After that, you reached your hands under his arms, latched them on his shoulders, and then you nodded.

He pulled out of you and thrusted back in gently, and the force already had you gasping for air. Once he found a steady rhythm, you began matching his pace, thrusting your hips upwards and meeting him halfway. It was impossible to hold back your moans, and if you weren’t moaning you were whimpering, or breathing his name with every stroke he made.

“I’m close, Noona,” he spoke against your lips.

You nodded and ran your fingers through his hair. “Me too.”

Jay began increasing his pace, thrusting into you with a little more force. He looked down and placed a hand under your thigh, keeping your leg secure beside him. He then looked up at you to check if you were still okay. You licked your lips and pulled him into a kiss. His thrusts soon began to grow sloppy, and after he finally released his seed, your walls clenched around his shaft, letting him know that you had reached your high too.

You slowly try to catch your breath, and Jay kissed you once more before pulling out of you, careful not to make a mess. He took the condom off and tied it before quickly chucking it in the bin, and he made himself comfortable lying beside you. Your hand was looking a little lonely, so he took it and intertwined his fingers with yours.

The two of you sat in silence as both your chests heaved up and down. You turned your head to look at Jay and he was closing his eyes as if he was savoring the moment. You scooted closer to him, taking your hand away but letting him wrap you in his arms.

“So, what are we?” You asked in the most straightforward manner.

Jay’s heavy breaths turned into a chuckle, and soon after you were both just laughing like idiots madly in love.

-END-

© forjongseong 2023, all rights reserved

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!!! do NOT copy, translate, or repost any of my work to your blog or ANY other platform.

[crazy-dark-rainbow]

GrimmIchi - gang, Yakuza, mafia

[ The post belongs to the #theoryfanart series, more information about it can be found -> here ] [ Fanart autor: ->Yochiru-29]

TW: mention of prostitution, crime etc.

Yakuza, mafia and gangs are (probably) more common motifs in GrimmIchi. Or at least I come across them, because I love this motif in FF with mad love. It's always Grimmjow who fits me better as a member of the criminal environment. There's an aggressive attitude, appearance, behavior - he fits perfectly into the "suspicious" company. Ichigo is often the "in love", a random student, or someone who caught the eye of a "bad boy".

This is one of my favorite fanarts. Whenever I look at it, I imagine Ichigo as the lover of the mafia boss - Grimmjow. It could be the morning after one of their passionate nights. Sadness in Ichigo's eyes, because they have to part for the rest of the day, or maybe for more time. The occupational hazard of Grimmjow's job makes him afraid that he will see him again. Grimmjow is pissed off, because maybe he can't stand it when Berry is sad. Pissed at the whole world that their relationship has to look like this. That he has to hide Ichigo and his feelings so that Kurosaki doesn't become a target, after all, his world is brutal. And someone can hurt Ichigo just because he's close to him. He only catches moments, usually mornings after nights spent together. Grimmjow loves it when Ichigo's fingers gently touch his tattoos.

Maybe… maybe Ichigo is Grimmjow's favorite prostitute. Maybe it's getting harder and harder for them to part in the morning. Maybe he loved Kurosaki's tender touch too much. Maybe he fell in love with brown eyes. Maybe they'll call him stupid for falling in love with a prostitute, but hey, there are stupider people in this world. And he'll do anything to buy Ichigo out and keep him safe.

Or from another perspective: Ichigo could be a member of the Shiba clan. Someone is very bothered by the fact that anyone from this clan is still alive and hires Grimmjow, a hired killer, to get rid of the last heir. Ichigo always manages to outwit him and Grimmjow has to hunt him again. The cat and mouse game starts to amuse them. They even talk a few times. However, life likes to surprise and they fall in love with each other over time. After spending the night together, Grimmjow decides that he is unable to kill him. They have to escape and finally manage to find peace and get their lives together. Grimmjow never regrets leaving that life for Ichigo. Their new home is in the countryside, far from the city, old but well-kept and clean. They have cats. And the sight of Ichigo in a white bed with small flowers every morning is something he has missed all his life.

Grimmjow can also be a bodyguard. Kicked out of his gang, trying to avoid assassins sent to him, he gets a job as a bodyguard for Ichigo Shiba-Kurosaki. The son of one of the largest Yakuza clans. Ichigo, unlike his albino twin, does not see his future in the criminal industry, but due to his family and connections, he is a target for the family's enemies. That is why Grimmjow becomes his bodyguard. Ichigo, fascinated, scared and aroused by Grimmjow's brutality, begins to feel something for him. Grimmjow, on the other hand, is surprised by the persistence and strength of the young Kurosaki. His gentleness and strength. The fact that they fall in love may drive them to the grave. Or maybe not…?

[shina913]

Cortado | KNJ

Pairing: Namjoon x Fem!Reader

Rating: PG-15 (SFW)

Genre: strangers to lovers; meet-cute; tooth-rotting fluff; tiny bit of angst

Warnings: some cussing; brief mention of weed; self-consciousness/insecurity; it's just disgustingly cheesy and fluffy--sorry!🥴

Word count: 4,290 words

Summary: "There must be something about trains. You never know what to expect."

A/N: Here you go, @borahae-k! This is a couple of days late because I couldn't make up my mind about what kind of Joon I wanted to write based on his Spain insta-photo dump. Eventually, I happened to remember a show I saw that I thought would be the perfect scenario for this. Also, I just want to stunt-cast Namjoon in all of my fluffy fics! Thank you, Sim @itdoesntmatterwhy for looking this over and giving me notes (and just general screaming)! I got a little too into the ending that I almost didn't want to stop writing it 💕 The banner kind of sucks but hopefully, the story makes up for that!

“The train will be leaving in ten minutes…” the announcement echoed through the station.

Your eyes flick back and forth at your surroundings. Everyone was glued to their phones and devices. You hardly remember a time and place when people actually sat down and had a solid conversation without having to pull their smartphones every second to scroll around aimlessly.

Did anybody text them? Did they get a like on their latest reel?

If it weren’t an absolute necessity for your job, you’d have yeeted your own phone into a river. While you ponder on your cynical thoughts about technology, you are startled by your own annoying little device. 

You look at the screen to see who it was. Recognizing the caller, you answer, “Hey, mom.”

She asks if your train was right on schedule.

“Yeah, we’re just about to leave. The ride should be a little under three hours. Can you still pick me up? …Great, thanks. I’ll give you a call when I’m close so you don’t have to wait too long. …Okay…see you, bye!”

You hang up and set your phone on the table in front of you. You were lucky enough to get to the station and secure seats tucked in the back row. 

It was the end of the semester and the doctorate students from your program were given the option to take a short break before beginning their new projects.

You also took advantage of that option so you could finally move the rest of your things into your new office space. The university took care of moving your furniture and other personal belongings out of your flat and into your new location. However, you decided to bring some of your books. These editions were too precious for you to entrust to some stranger.

It wasn’t ideal to be lugging this many things around during a train ride since you didn’t drive. Thankfully, the seats across from you were vacant so you had enough room to set your textbooks down, along with a box of random knick-knacks from your former flat.

Still, you didn’t want to take over the whole space so you set them all against the window, leaving some room for anybody who would like to sit across from you.

You pick up the novel that you’ve been reading and open it to your dog-eared page, hoping to stave off any unwanted conversation on the train. You were a woman, traveling alone, and would be considered a perfect target.

Although, if you were being honest…you sometimes wished you’d experience a real-life meet-cute. Strangers on a train, having a random yet perfectly meaningful conversation–kind of like the novels that you were into.

God, you were so lonely.

It’s been a while since you’ve been with someone. Admittedly, you were jealous of your friend and colleague, Youjin, who somehow manages to balance her romantic life with her post-grad work. She was an inherent social butterfly and had a talent for spinning literature from the middle ages into the most romantic, sensual talking points during her dates.

Sometimes, you wonder what it was like to kiss someone again. The feel of their lips brushing against yours. The problem was, you really didn’t get out much and didn’t see the point of forced efforts of socializing. You were typically hostile to any ‘pickup’ attempt. 

You glance across the aisle to find another woman who was animatedly chatting with a couple who sat in the row behind her. They were putting away their luggage when she strikes up a conversation with them after complimenting the woman’s outfit. She twirls her hair between her fingers while they trade travel stories.

She reminded you of Youjin. Her carefree laugh and confident demeanor were qualities that you thought most men found attractive–qualities that would make them naturally approach her. And you have noticed, some of the male passengers who pass her do not hesitate to give her a once-over.

When she was done with her conversation, she settles back into her seat. For a brief moment, she turned her head in your direction, saw you looking, and gave you a friendly smile. You smiled politely back at her before she turns her attention to her phone screen. 

You were not Youjin or this woman. You were an awkward bookworm who had only been on a total of one or two dates since starting your graduate program.

You put your book down carelessly on the table and shifted in your seat. Straightening your posture, you turn to glance wistfully at the view from the window and sighed.

…Maybe you could do something to change that.

After thinking about it some more, you decided that you would step out of your comfort zone and dare to engage with the next man who talks to you. The thought of it sounded ridiculous but you figured, good things happened to people who took chances.

You move your books aside to make some room. You look up and glance at other passengers who were still making their way through the car before the train departs the station.

Next, you see a man smiling and excitedly greeting everyone he passes in the aisle.

You pick up your novel again and duck your head. Too chatty, you thought. Please don’t sit here, you internally plead as you avoid eye contact.

Much to your relief, the chatty guy finds an empty spot adjacent to your seat with another woman who, like him, was an eager conversationalist.

Not far behind him was a man who looked very questionable to you. He carried his bag with him–both arms wrapped tightly around it, hugging securely against his chest as if someone was about to steal it.

He had a skittish look in his eyes that scared you. Again, you silently hoped he would sit somewhere else–which thankfully, he did.

The overhead announcement informs you that the train is leaving in two minutes. Your shoulders sag and put your book down again, feeling defeated.

Maybe it just wasn’t the time.

Seconds later, another man huffs down the aisle, dragging his bag along.

He was tall and dressed in all black–a leather jacket over a black hoodie and black pants. Dark strands fell loosely above his eye line. He raked his hair back with his fingers whilst scanning the car for any open seats.

Your heart raced a little as you attempted to subtly get his attention, inviting him to sit across from you.

He pauses and makes eye contact when he reaches your position. You nudge your books aside, beckoning him to have a seat.

“It’s free,” you say meekly.

Just when you think that he was about to settle in, he glances across the aisle and takes the open seat next to the woman who reminded you of Youjin.

Your heart sinks to your stomach just as the train pulls away from the platform.

******

The train is approaching its third stop when you start getting another call. 

“Hi, this is YN.” It was the moving company.

“Oh, hi! Thanks for calling me back.” You proceeded to clarify your new delivery address since you mistakenly entered the wrong unit number. The representative on the other line was understanding, updated their records, and assured you that your things would be delivered within two business days.

”Sounds good, thank you so much!” You signed off. After you hung up, your eyes wander across the aisle and notice that Youjin’s doppelgänger had gotten up from her seat to reclaim her bag from the overhead rack.

You smiled to yourself as it left the man in black all by his lonesome.

You silently watch her walk down the aisle, toward the exit. After she had gone, you turn your head and happen to lock eyes with him again.

You cracked a smile, which he returned this time. You couldn’t help but get all flustered. He was devastatingly cute. You wished that he would drop you a cheesy line or two.

A lightbulb goes off in your head–you could initiate the conversation.

Overcoming your anxiety, you open your mouth to say something to him but are startled when the skittish guy with the backpack gets up–completely agitated–then starts yelling at the person they’re sitting next to. He accuses them of trying to steal their stuff. Seconds after his outburst, he hurriedly walks further and took an empty seat several rows down from you.

You and the man in black look at each other and grimaced.

“Man, there must be something about trains. You never know what to expect,” he muses.

“I’m not gonna lie…that actually scared the shit out of me a little bit,” you remarked. You clutched your chest, your heart still beating fast at the strange man’s outburst.

His expression immediately changes to a look of concern. “Well, either way–I’m not the type to just sit around. I wouldn’t have allowed anything to happen to you,” the man in black replies.

Although you loved romantic novels, you thought that ‘blushing’ was such a clichéd, uninspired way to describe someone who was incredibly flustered. And yet here you were…blushing at this stranger’s remark.

You mouthed your thanks to him.

“Are you coming from one of the universities?” He asks.

“How’d you guess?”

He points his chin forward and gestures at your things. ”Uhm…that pile of academic-looking books next to you,” he chuckled.

“Oh,” you remark, now blushing in embarrassment. “Yeah,” you affirm. “Some of these are rare and I personally didn’t trust anyone else to transport them.”

He bobs his head in a nod at your explanation.

“So…what do you do for work?”

“I work in tech. I was just visiting our office down south.”

You nod, thinking about how else to keep this conversation going. “Are you on your way back home?”

“Not yet. I have a friend that I’m meeting up north. I don’t drive and…although I could have taken a plane up here, I figured, why not take the scenic route,” he shares.

“Ah,” your eyebrows lift in curiosity. He struck you as somebody from out of town so you thought you could recommend a local landmark or tourist spot. “There’s a great museum up in that area–I don’t know if you’re into that kind of thing.”

“Oh, I know,” he responds. “It’s primarily why I’m going up there.”

“Oh–I…thought you said that your friend lived there?”

He chuckles. “Eh, we went to university together and he said I could crash at his place. I took it as a window of opportunity.”

You nodded. Suddenly, you felt the conversation slipping away. In a panic, you think of another random but perfectly neutral topic to bring up.

“So–”

“What are–”

You both crack up when you speak at the same time. “Uhm, why don’t you go ahead,” he urged.

“So–what does that mean, exactly? That you work ‘in tech’? I feel like, people say that all the time but I’ve never fully grasped it. I just kind of nod along.”

“Well, I work for a company that targets advertising for social media sites.”

“Oh! So you work in advertising?”

He shook his head gently. “No, I work in tech,” he corrects you. “I handle a bunch of accounts for companies and help them direct their resources properly so they don’t waste their money. We run algorithms based on…”

…And now he’s completely lost you. It’s the same thing that happens when someone tries to explain TikTok and how you can customize your ‘FYP’ settings.

“Nice,” is all you say as politely.

“What about you? What do you do for work?” He queries.

“I’m a scholar. But if you want to get specific about it, I’m a medievalist.”

He stares at you blankly. “Right,” he comments.

It was a reaction that you were used to whenever you engaged with someone outside of your field of study. “In my line of work, there’s not much technology going on there,” you say dryly.

“Maybe because processors were too slow back in those times?” He counters.

You snorted at his dorky joke. You couldn’t help but feel flutters in the pit of your belly.

“I’m sorry…this angle is killing me,” he says, gesturing at his neck. It occurred to you that you were sitting across the aisle from each other, facing the same direction that the train was moving, so he had been craning his neck while he talked to you.

“Would you mind if I sat there?” He points to the empty space in front of you.

You try not to squeal or look too eager. “Oh, of course,” you smiled politely.

“Thanks.” He gets up and takes the seat across from you. Now, you were sitting face-to-face.

“There. That’s better,” he grins. “Where were we?” He asks, hoping to pick up your earlier conversation.

You laugh nervously and fidget with your book. “Gosh, I can’t remember now.” You were frazzled–he didn’t just look good from a distance. He was even more handsome up close. You were in big trouble.

“Actually,” you piped up, snapping out of your haze. “Can I ask you a random question?”

“Sure,” he answers.

“When you were coming down the aisle earlier–what made you decide to sit next to her when you had the option of the two seats?” You were referring to the woman who had just gotten off the train.

“Ah, well,” he rubbed the back of his neck. “I just prefer to sit facing in the direction the train is going. I have a small issue with motion sickness,” he confesses shyly.

Your chest twinges at his admission. At the same time, you feel a small sense of relief knowing that he wasn’t put off by you for whatever reason.

“Now you’re facing the opposite way,” you point out to him.

“Right, but I’m facing you so my little quirk can take a back seat.” He shrugged, “It’s not a big deal, you know. It’s not like it dominates my life or anything crazy like that.”

“Would you like to switch seats?” You offer kindly.

“Yes, I would love that. Thank you,” he immediately responds in relief. You both rise from your seats, sidestepping and shuffling in the aisle to switch places. The train hits an uneven part of the track knocking you off balance so you grab onto the first thing you could to keep yourself upright.

Your breath hitches when you cling onto his bicep and elbow. He had removed his leather jacket now and didn’t have that extra layer on him. You felt slightly inappropriate at the invasive but purely accidental contact with his body.

“S-sorry,” you mumble as you let go of him and carefully settle into the opposite seat.

“That’s okay, it happens,” he says in consolation. “Where are you traveling to, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Oh, I’m moving to my new place…which also happens to be really close to my hometown so my mom is coming to pick me up from the station to stay with her for a couple of days. It’s just until I get my stuff delivered,” you rationalized.

“You say that with a hint of anxiety,” he points out. You appreciate how perceptive he seems to be so you take that as your cue to open up a bit more.

“I enjoyed living far from her these last few years. And the idea of coming back home for a couple of days…” you inhale through clenched teeth, “It’s a little daunting. But don’t get me wrong–” you immediately add, “I love her…it’s just that I can only take her in small doses these days.”

He smiled in commiseration.

“Plus, she’s also in this phase where she’s given up watching TV or having WiFi.”

“What?” He says, clearly taken aback.

You giggled. “I don’t know. I think that she’s going through some mid-life crisis.”

“Damn…no WiFi? Sheesh,” he shook his head, thinking that he didn’t want to be in that same predicament.

“Yeah. Although, in doing all that–she’s recently focused her energy on the arts and other simple things. She paints, writes poetry, listens to talk radio…tends to her plants.”

“Wow,” he says, sounding impressed.

“And she also rediscovered the benefits of weed so–”

“Ahah,” he chuckled. “I knew there was a catch!”

Your mom always waxed poetic about how she used to be such a free spirit when she was younger. Maybe you could pick up a few pointers from her.

“That’s funny… She kind of sounds like my brother–minus all of the creative, artsy, mid-life renaissance parts.”

You laugh at the little bit of personal information that he shares with you.

“He’s like Snoop Dogg, Willie Nelson, and all of Woody Harrelson’s performances rolled into one…giant joint.”

“He sounds very interesting,” you laughed.

“Yeah, maybe he and your mom can link up,” he jokes.

You were pleased with how long you’d kept this conversation going. And you had to commend your social battery for staying strong!

“So…tell me about medievalism,” he says.

You chuckled at that. “Like, in one sentence?”

He shrugged. “Sure.”

You roll your eyes subtly. “Of course you’d want an elevator pitch since you work in advertising.”

He clicked his teeth. “Tech. I work in tech,” he emphasizes while keeping his tone light.

You blew out a breath and shifted in your seat. “I don’t think I can explain what medievalism is in one train ride let alone one sentence.”

He nods in acquiescence. “I get it.”

“You seem to be the type who likes things that are straightforward. Kind of like a…’what you see is what you get’ kind of thing, right?”

“Yeah,” he agrees.

You hummed. “Well…I like things that take a bit more time to define. Things that can’t be easily explained. Things with multiple layers that you have to peel back, only to discover that there are more layers to uncover…more questions and answers that have yet to be revealed.”

“Kind of like an onion?”

You lift a shoulder. “Yeah, if you want to simplify it. Just like an onion.”

“Right but couldn’t you just cut right through the center of it? Get right to the point?”

You laughed. “Sure…but where’s the fun in that?”

He pursed his lips, leaned back against the seat, and nodded softly at your point.

“It’s like…” You clicked your teeth, trying to find the right metaphor for it. “It’s like this neverending prologue, you know?” Your expression softens. “Because once you begin reading a story…you know that the end is coming.”

“I’m the opposite, I guess,” he counters. “I’d like to think that I’m more practical and tend to see things from a logical perspective. What is this thing called, show me how it works; how does it fit into the big picture? I don’t think like a scholar. I prefer to know things that I can apply to my daily life.”

“That’s fair,” you say to him, acknowledging his point of view.

Then, after gathering up more courage, you tell him, “I’m really glad that you came to sit here with me.”

“Yeah?”

“Better than the other guy who looked like a murderer,” you say in jest.

His eyebrows furrowed. “Who?” Then his face visibly relaxes when remembers who you were referring to. He cranes his neck to take a peek at the guy who sat a few rows down from you.

When he turns his attention back to you, his expression darkened. He rests his elbows on the table, fingers steepled, while he leaned closer to you.

Squaring his jaw, he says, “I’ve got news for you, YN…you’ve made a fatal mistake.”

You recoil slightly. “Huh?”

He continued, his tone growing threatening. “I’m the murderer here. I’m sorry to tell you that this is a thriller and not the romance novel that you pictured.”

Your brows knit in utter confusion. Your pulse raised while you contemplated throwing your heavier, hard-bound books at him to defend yourself.

After a few beats of silence and intense eye contact, you see the corner of his mouth twitch. It effectively eased the tension and you both break into laughter.

“Holy shit, you should have seen your face,” he says in between cackles.

“Oh my–do not ever do that!” You were also relieved to find an even bigger nerd than you were.

After catching your breath, you switch tact. “By the way, how do you know my name?” 

“I kind of overheard your phone conversation earlier. Sorry,” he says apologetically. “I’m Namjoon.” You smile and shake his hand after he introduces himself.

“I didn’t realize that you were paying attention,” you say. 

“Yeah…I just…I don’t know,” he scrambled for an answer but failed.

“And who said anything about romance?” You cock an eyebrow at him and he turns sheepish.

Now it was his turn to look all flustered.

******

You don’t know how it happened but it’s been nearly three hours since you and Namjoon were completely lost in conversation. You bounced from one subject to another, rarely missing a beat. It felt so easy to talk to him. Presumptuous as it was, you felt a connection there.

The intercom announces that your stop was approaching in a few minutes. Hearing that takes you by surprise—and you also realize that you got so carried away that you forgot to call your mom to give her a heads-up on your arrival. 

Your face falters when you take your things, which he kindly offers to help gather. His expression turned sober as well, unsure how to move forward. His destination was still an hour away.

When this train ride began, all you hoped for was a random, real-life meet-cute. Then Namjoon came along and now you felt torn between wanting to live out some fantasy or pursuing this real-life thing…whatever this thing is.

“Well…uhm…i-it was really nice to meet you,” he stutters.

“Same,” you reply.

“You made the journey feel a lot shorter than usual.” Your cheeks warm at the compliment. 

There you were, face-to-face–lips pursed, looking like you were both trying to gauge each other’s thoughts.

And you didn’t know why, but all that confidence you felt earlier seemed to be slipping from your grasp. It occurred to you once more that this was real life, not a romance novel.

In the end, you would walk off this train feeling grateful that a guy like him had even taken a remote interest in you.

“I guess, I should be going now,” you muttered.

“Oh…y-yeah,” he stutters.

You get up and he follows suit. “Would you think it inappropriate if I were to give you a hug?” He asks.

You shook your head. “Not at all.”

With your consent, he opens his arms wide and wraps you in them. You inhale deeply, taking his scent in, further torturing yourself.

You both pull away reluctantly. With a heavy heart, you approached the car doors to wait for the train to slow into a halt…until the loud screeching of the breaks knocks some sense into you.

Did you really want to go through the rest of your life living vicariously through Youjin’s outrageous escapades?

It was now or never, you thought. You had to take a chance!

“Namjoon?” You turn around abruptly to face him again.

“Yeah?” He responds nervously.

“I never do this but–would you like to get off the train with me? We could get some coffee and…keep talking?” The words spill out of you a little too quickly.

You wait an agonizing few seconds for his response.

Then, his face breaks into the most boyish, absolutely knock-your-socks-off grin. He smiled so broadly that even when he relaxed his mouth, the creases of his dimples were still evident on his cheeks.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

He stands up and hurriedly grabs his bag overhead and walks towards you. Smiling, he takes a few books off your hands and you both off-board the train. As soon as you step onto the platform together, it began to drizzle so you both run for cover.

You both laugh while watching the rain start to pour from the skies. You glance sideways at him to find him grinning while staring at you.

Asking him for coffee was already a huge step out of your comfort zone. But something about Namjoon–the connection you shared and how easy and natural everything felt.

As cheesy as it was, you decide to take another huge leap.

Seizing the moment, you say, “You ever wonder what it’s like to kiss in the rain?”

Without a word, he sets his things down. Oh no…you’ve royally screwed it up now. He looked like he might run off in the other direction. Mortified, you wished you could go back in time and take it all back.

But the rom-com gods were watching and they liked what they saw. They decide to throw you a bone.

He surprises you and takes steps backward– under the pouring rain. He was soaked in seconds.

He held his hands out to you and says, “C’mon, now’s our chance!”

Giggling, you clumsily throw your things next to his, run into his arms, and kiss him.

It was…just as perfect as you imagined it would be. You melted into the kiss, swept away by the sheer lushness of it. Your heart pounded fast, synchronized with the raindrops that pelted you.

His lips moved against yours at a soft and leisurely pace. That wasn’t to say they weren’t eager…because you surely felt it.

When you finally come up for air, you both laugh. You stood there drenched, with your foreheads pressed against each other’s and his arms securely wrapped around your waist.

It was the perfect ending to your romantic novel. …Or was this just the beginning?

Main Fic Masterlist

You’ve reached the end! Thank you so much for reading!

If you loved it, please comment, reblog, or send me feedback! 📩. I love hearing from readers! If you didn’t like it so much, I would still like to hear about it. Help me become a better writer! 💜

Tagging: @itdoesntmatterwhy @internetjunkdrawer @purplewhalewrites @yu-justme @joonschocochip @deepseavibez @majamarantha @yoongukie-ff

[isekai-crow]

Mashle 2 Episode 2

Other Episodes-> ep1 ep3 ep4 ep5

This episode was a riot. It was so much fun.

SO many random HP easter eggs and we get some new fun characters!!

Specifically, Margarette Macaron!!

I love them. Non-binary, music magic, and a love of tartar sauce (and a motorcycle in the ending credits!). (It me? maybe.) Despite seeming like an overused Okama-trope, I have hope based on the spoilers I went searching for. I'm so hype for more of them in the next episode.

VA Squee: They're voiced by Koyasu, Takehito!!! The voice of Dio Brando! Touji Fushiguro! Faust VIII from Shaman King! and Clayman from TenSura!!! A very masculine voice that can also take on feminine tones and a perfect fit for Margarette. Manga Spoiler: I wonder if they'll have another va...

Ep 2 Spoilers Under the Cut! Warning IT'S SO LONG THERE'S SO MUCH.

We open in the middle of the decision to execute Mash or not, and Dumbledore, Harry, and Draco having a stand off lmao

We learn that Whalberg/Dumbledore is a famous wizard because he fought with Innocent Zero in his youth.

Does this mean the shadowed Innocent Zero who was called father by Cell War is the equivalent of Grindelwald, and Evil Jesus(Cell War (or cell wall if you wanna be a pun) is Voldemort? (Also is it father or Father lololol)

ALSO, ARE ALL THESE NAMES FROM A RNG OR PUNS CAUSE I CAN'T TELL YET lmao

We get a little speech from Wahlberg reminiscent of one of Dumbledore's speeches, but more importantly, WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF RAYNE ALSO BOWING???

Also his protecting the headmaster is a cute touch

I get that he is one of the Divine Visionaries, but is he more important than the others? He's still a student, wait, HOW DO STUDENTS HAVE THIS MUCH POWER IN THE GOVERNMENT?? NO WONDER ITS FUCKED UP??? Did I miss something??? (His reasoning for not wanting Mash dead also being the flashback to Rayne thanking him for taking care of his little brother?)

And of course Mashle can't be executed, so they set they give him a task to delay his sentencing...

The original goal Mash had in the first place, so ABSOLUTELY NOTHING HAS CHANGED.

Them backing the fuck up as Mash punches the floor is fricken hilarious. The best parts though...

1) Innocent Pero / Innocent Gyro - Thats a great subtitle translation choice, because they can't do a straight translation. Mash calls them Innocent Pero, with pero being the onomatopoeia for LICKING something in Japanese (WHATS THAT IMPLYING :EYES:), so Innocent Gyro is a good choice XD

and 2) the scene cuts to the bad guy's lair... which also seems to be shaking...

(I went and installed a gif maker for this >.>)

DON'T TELL ME. IS THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS UNDER THE BUREAU OF MAGIC????? (This is my theory and I'm sticking to it. Season 1 semi-stuck with random Philosopher's Stone plot points and the secret rooms, so it can be a semi-safe bet that season 2 might follow Chamber of Secrets?)

We then jump to an outing at the near by town to celebrate Mash Avoiding Death.

↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ The normal one ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓

Finn is the only actual normal one, WITH STYLE AT THAT, and I love him for it. (However he might also be the target of a Brother Complex and end up on the receiving end if Rayne can get over himself>o>)

The fucking Koalas...

What The Fuck Lmfao. That's all I have to say (but also this is a common gag for Japanese comedians and high school boys so... Still WTF. (This had my Beetle killing himself with laughter))

3 Wizards and a Macho walk into a wand shop and...

And the Macho is the one to get a wand. I'm so fascinated by this. How much damage is this thing going to do when Mash finally yeets it at someone???

The entire second half episode is so cute. Mash is so happy to have friends... I'm so happy for him....

But Also. Poor Finn. Look at these Freaks (affectionate).

YOU'RE ONE TO TALK. But Also Poor Finn.

The last bit. Our introduction to Margarette Macaron.

The fucking... shrimp.

Literally

It took Too Much Time for my ace-ass to realize they're THRUSTING the shrimp into the tartar sauce.

I love them? I love tartar sauce too. It's delicious.

They are so over the top. I love everything about them.

I've added too many photos to this post and tumblr is yelling at me.

So I will leave off with my hype for Rayne vs Margarette in the next episode!!!

↑↑↑↑Imagine me making this same face in anticipation↑↑↑↑

[beansnsoup]

Can we get Xavier protecting reader? Like maybe Bianca I’d jealous of their relationship or smth and is being mean to reader and Xavier is really protective and sweet?

Yes I can!

☆

Jealous Girl

Xavier Thorpe x gn!reader

Summary-:You were so happy to finally call Xavier yours, but everything come at a cost, out of all the people that could've been his ex, it just had to be Bianca Barclay.

Warnings: Bullying, slight angst, tinsy bit of violence, lmk if there is anything else!

-

I got out of your 3rd period this morning due to my teacher needing work done in the library, he was a good teacher, but he put all his paperwork onto his students. Honestly, I could never understand it, but then again, I wasn't complaining.

I began to walk up to the front desk to give the work to Thornhill until I overheard a few female students talking beyond the shelves,

"They're trying way to hard. He probably just asked them out as a rebound."

Oh my God, are they talking about me?

I had just gotten with "The Tortured Artist" of Nevermore, Xavier Thorpe. He and Bianca Barclay had broken up a few months ago, she's 10 times more irritating than she already was. She would always target me, I was just like any other kid at the school, an outcast, so I don't know why she had to single me out all the time.

I stopped my tracks so I could keep listening to their conversation.

"Right? It's honestly embarrassing. The way they were holding his hand today while walking down the hallway was so weird."

They all laughed, then Bianca chimed in,

"They probably brainwashed him or something, honestly can't think of another reason he'd want to ask them out."

That's when I decided it was time to find Thornhill and get out of here, the bell was going to ring soon anyways. I could feel myself getting lightheaded, I wanted to cry, I couldn't wait for the end of the day so I could let it all out.

I eventually find Thornhill and hand her the paperwork, she thanks me, and I leave the library. The hall is scattered with students, I feel an arm wrap around me, I look up towards the direction to find Xavier. "Hey there," he smirks at me, I give him a light smile in return, he furrows his eyebrows at me.

"Hey, are you okay? Did I do something wrong?"

"I've got to get to class."

I move his arm from my shoulder and walk off to my next class, I hate to leave him like that but I'm just not in the mood right now, if Bianca and her friends are telling the truth I'm just a random rebound he asked out on a date out of pity.

Thank God Enid is in this class, I could really use her right now.

"Hey! Oof, you look rough." She informs me.

I look at her, "Yeah, I overheard Bianca and her friends talking crap about me and Xavier in the library this morning and I can't help but think that they're right."

"Oh my God? What did they say?"

"Just saying how I'm just his rebound to get over Biance and that I'm trying too hard, etc."

Enid just looked at me in shock, she opened her mouth to say something, but the teacher started talking so she shut her mouth. I wonder if she agrees, what if everyone agrees?

It's hard to pay attention when my mind has drifted so far away, I feel like I should talk to him but at the same time I don't want to see him, not because I'm mad, just because I'm ashamed, scratch that.

He's ashamed of me.

"Okay, that wraps everything up, everyone remember to read chapter 10 of your books and go over your notes for the test tomorrow!"

The bell rings, I feel like it's been an eternity since I have entered this class. I walk out before Enid can catch up to me, I don't think I have ever felt this zoned out. Praise the Gods this is my free period, I go out to the center courtyard and sit at one of the benches. I don't even pull out my book, I just sit there staring at the grass in silence.

I hear footsteps walking towards the area thinking it's just a teacher,

"How pathetic."

I look up to find Bianca, wonderful. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm running an errand for Thornhill, but it can wait. What's your damage, how dare you corrupt him like that?

"What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, well, who. You need to stop being Xaviers little 'partner.'" She puts the last part in air quotes.

I just look up at her without saying anything, she adds to her last sentence, "He's only with you because he was so terribly in love with me that he needed something to distract him after we broke up, and it looks like he went with a pet."

I continue to stay silent, the more she talks the more I'm convinced she's right. I began to get up from the bench and walk towards my next class earlier than usual, she grabs my arm, "Where do you think you're going?" She pulls my back so are faces are inches apart and brings her hand to my throat. How did I get here? Why did I go on that date with him?

"Hey!"

Someone shouts before her grip can get any tighter, I look around with squinted eyes then start gasping for air as she lets go. She backs away, "What the hell Bianca?"

It's Xavier.

"Someone had to do it, they had it coming, they've brainwashed you Xavier, you're the crazy one."

He just looks at her, he grabs onto my torso to help walk me to his dorm, once we finally reach the dorm room I start to cry all the tears that have been pent up since this morning.

"Hey, hey, hey, it's okay, you're fine." He brings his hand up to my face, I grab his hand and take it off of my cheek and walk over to his bed. Xavier gives me a confused look and sits next to me on the bed, "What's wrong with you? You've been acting like this all day."

I didn't want to talk about it, or let him see me for that matter, but it was now or never. "Are you ashamed of me?"

He gives me a blank stare, "What? Of course not, what would make you think that?"

"I overheard Bianca and her friends talking about how you only asked me out because you needed a rebound and you felt bad for me."

He chuckles and moves a piece of hair out of my eye, "I think we've learned not to trust Bianca; I didn't ask you out to get over her, I asked you out because I think you are an amazing person and pretty at that."

I smile at him and give him a small kiss, he pulls me in for a hug as i lean into his touch,

Sorry if this is a lil short

I finally feel complete again.

[libraryledge]

Only Human (A Suspenseful School Story)

A/N: In honor of Halloween, someone challenged me to craft a story about a character having a scary encounter with a teacher. As I was writing it, the images of Timothee Chalamet on the set of Marty Supreme came to mind because his attire reminded me of a college professor. Although my story has no relation to the film, I used the photos as inspiration for what this professor would look like. Enjoy the final piece!

Everyone was scared of him. He was the substitute professor that no one wanted to be left alone with. He filled in for teachers when they couldn't make it to class or were feeling under the weather.

He would drop in on a random Wednesday morning, and the dreaded sound of his brown loafers clinked upon the marble floor of the hallway. He always carried a black briefcase, whose contents remained a mystery. The rumor was that it housed a black list of all the students that clashed with him. Others suspected that he had dirty secrets stored within the confines of his case. There were even a few rumors were too foul to recount. Whatever the case may have been, there came the fateful day when I found myself sitting in front of him as he stormed into the classroom and slammed the dreaded briefcase onto my absent English professor's desk.

Upon first entering the room, I placed myself toward the back, where most of my peers were seated, but he wasn't having it.

“No. No. None of that,” he said, waving his hand dismissively. “Come to the front. How do you expect to learn anything if you're hiding back there?” 

His look was unreadable, but one could only infer the pleasure that he felt by having such control over the room.

“Turn your books to page 394,”  he announced to us, with an indifferent air. “Clearly you haven't made much progress since the last time I was here, which to be fair wasn't quite long ago.”

He said this as if he was annoyed at our teacher for falling ill once more. Working at a university was a hotspot for contracting a nasty virus, so it wasn't unheard of for teachers to miss class due to illness. However, I had to agree with him that it was happening more often than not.

“So, Dr. Frankenstein. Was he a villain or a hero?” the man said, thumbing through the pages of our assigned reading book absent-mindedly.

Someone at the back of the class scoffed and replied, “How could he be a hero when he very clearly released a monstrosity upon the world?” 

Still flipping through the pages of his copy of the book, the professor looked at him over the rim of his wired glasses.

“Okay, so he's the villain then?” he prodded. The way he stared intensely at my classmate brought a chill down my spine. 

“Maybe…” the student replied, clearly stumped.

The professor's eyes roamed the classroom, looking for the next victim to call upon. Desperately not wanting to be singled out as the next target, I took the leap myself and I raised my hand.

“Yes? The young woman in the front,” he said, motioning toward me.

That was another thing about him that was so obscure. Despite being only a couple years older than us, he always referred to the students as “young man” or “young woman”, which made it seem like he lived many more lifetimes than us.

“I’d say that Dr. Frankenstein was neither a hero or a villain. He was simply a human who contributed something into the world that he could no longer control,” I said, slowly making contact with his green eyes.

The professor nodded slowly. “Alright. Can you elaborate upon that perspective?” he asked, as he thumbed through the novel. 

I took a deep breath and continued, “Well… it's like when you bring a child into the world. Yes, you’re responsible for teaching them and shaping them into a productive member of society, but you're only responsible for them to a certain extent because then they turn into individuals with minds of their own.”

I heard the sound of indifferent murmuring coming from the back of the room. I shrugged and quickly added, “I don't know, it's just my opinion.”

The professor looked at me with an unreadable expression upon his face. He looked as if he was mulling over how to respond. 

Eventually, he broke the difficult silence and said, “That's just your opinion?” he repeated.

I couldn't tell if he was mocking me or not so I nodded hesitantly.

“I have the strong belief that our thoughts are not “just opinions. Instead, they are the foundations of ourselves, but if we're too afraid to own them proudly..." he said, looking at me. “...or voice them out loud at all..."  he continued, his gaze trailed across the entire classroom towards the students who were clearly not interested in the lesson, “...then will we ever make any progress at all?” 

“Whether Dr. Frankenstein is a hero or a villain is irrelevant. What matters is how you approach your perspective of him. Humans are unique beings with individual minds and points of view, but if we're all so close-minded and afraid to be wrong, how will we ever learn?” he said as he closed the book and placed it on the desk with a sigh.

I shrunk in my seat under his gaze. Tears prickled at the brim of my eyes from the intensity.

“You both clearly have a strong perspective on the topic, but you need to own those views. Have confidence in them,” he said to the other student and I.

I heard my classmate mumble obscenities under his breath at the professor. Whether the man heard them or not was unclear. Regardless, I figured that it was best that the teacher didn't respond.

The professor sighed and took a seat behind the desk. 

“For the rest of class time, I want you all to write about why people are afraid to speak up for their opinions,” he said. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he directed the final word at me.

I slouched further into my seat in frustration just as my classmates began to protest.

“That's not fair! You can't assign us work that is not part of the curriculum!” protested a girl to my right.

“Oh, but I can if it will help you understand the material better,” he countered, his eyebrows twitching with obnoxious amusement.

Turning to face the entire class he continued, “So I suggest you begin writing. Class concludes in thirty minutes.”

A collective groan filled the classroom as I reluctantly began to write.

It wasn't fair. I was the only one who actually gave him a decent response, and he still managed to pick on me. I studied the teacher intently. With his old fashioned sweater vests and oversized blazers, it wasn't as if he was the image of perfection.

Therefore, I began to write. I wrote non-stop for the next half hour as I listened to the sound of the clock overhead, ticking down the minutes. After what seemed like an eternity, I heard the professor clap his hands intensely to gather our attention.

“Alright. I hope that by now we’ve found a response to this calamity of confidence,”  he proclaimed.

I rolled my eyes and was certain that he saw me, but he didn't acknowledge the gesture.

“I need someone to share their writing aloud with me,” he said. “Any volunteers?” Unsurprisingly, no one raised their hand.

I held back a smirk as he stared back at the class, which ironically hadn't learned from his so called lesson.

That's when I raised my hand. I'll show him, I thought.

Seeing my hand in the air, he responded with the hint of a smile as he nodded and said, “Ahhh! One Brave soul. The floor is yours.”

I stood up and began to read from my paper.

“As a society, we are afraid of being wrong. We don't want to be seen as strange for having views that are different from the rest. There are certain people who are so intimidated by others around them and are afraid of making a fool of themselves in front of them. They don’t realize that others are just as afraid as they are, but they are simply better at masking it," I said.

“For instance, like I mentioned before, I believe that Dr. Frankenstein is neither a hero or a villain. He's just a man who is afraid to face the repercussions that his ideas brought into the world. I firmly believe that. Although it might be intimidating to say this in front of an audience whom it may seem knows better than us…” I looked at the professor dead in the eyes as I read this part. 

“...this is clearly more than “just my opinion”. It showcases my views of how humans are more than right or wrong. We’re nuanced, and no one is exempt from learning from their experiences,” I concluded.

The professor began to clap slowly. “Impressive,” he said. “Glad to know at least one person took something away from today's exercise.”

The clock struck the top of the hour, and everyone was anxious to get out of the classroom, which was evident by the rustling of backpacks and shuffling the feet.

“Okay. I know you are all in a hurry to leave, but don't forget to finish the reading tonight. Your professor will know if you don't,” he said.

I picked up my copy of Frankenstein and stuffed it into my bag. I was in a hurry to get out of that classroom. I did not want to spend another moment with that obnoxious professor.

Just as I got out of my seat and headed toward the door, I heard a voice call out to me.

“Uh…miss?”

It was the professor.  I grimaced internally. Couldn't he give me a break? I turned to face him with a blank look upon my face, and he motioned for me to come closer. My classmates exchanged weird looks amongst themselves over his sudden action. 

“Good luck!" one of them whispered sarcastically in my ear, as he headed out the door.

I ignored him and walked towards the teacher. 

“Yes?” I asked, with an arched eyebrow, uncertain of how to respond to the summoning.

“I want to thank you for your honesty today. I really appreciate when students take the lesson to heart,” he said sincerely.

“You're welcome. I only spoke what I felt was my truth,”  I replied with a shrug. I observed him anxiously, uncertain of his ulterior motive for calling on me.

“That's important,” he said, with a nod.  At this point, we were the only two people in the classroom.

“I know you and your peers must hate me for being so uptight all the time,” he said as he gave me a wry smile. “I don't blame you because believe it or not, I'm only a few years older than you all, and I've had my fair share of professors that I’ve butted heads with.”

I stared at him, contemplating how to respond.

“Then why pick on us? On me? I'm the only one who bothered to respond to your lecture properly, and you still humiliated me!” I exclaimed.

 A look of guilt crossed his face. “I'm sorry that you felt that way. I'll admit that sometimes I take it too far, but it's only because I see potential in students.”

I was surprised by his apology. I'd never seen him so… Dare I say human?

“I've overseen many classes of students, and it's always the same. They're consumed by the fear of being incorrect and don’t speak up for themselves. I see that in you, and that's why I wanted you to gain confidence in your views,” he continued.

“You're right. Most people are simply better at masking their fears from others. Ironically, I preach about self-assurance as a manner of coping with my own fears,”  he said, as he adjusted his glasses upon the arch of his nose.

“What do you mean?” I questioned, almost incredulously, at this man who I found it difficult to believe was intimidated by anything.

“Something most students don't stop and think about is perhaps how anxious professors are. All those eyes staring at them, lessons to prepare for, and the constant judgment from fellow staff members, especially when someone is at the beginning of their career. Perhaps students may not see it this way but instructing them in the power of courage and confidence not only helps them, but it gives me a purpose as well,” the professor replied with a shrug. “Kind of strange, huh?” 

I'd never witnessed the professor be so honest and vulnerable. In a way it was quite touching to see him be so truthful with me.

“I guess it's not so strange," I admitted. “Going back to my opinion on Frankenstein,”  I said, emphasizing the word “opinion” which prompted a smile from him. “We're all just people learning from our experiences. Sure things can be scary, but not everything or everyone is what meets the eye.”

The professor chuckled, and that was the first time I'd ever heard him release such a genuine laugh, which in turn made me smile.

“Well, I don't want to keep you any longer. I appreciate our little chat,” he said as he began to pack up for the day.

He opened the famed black briefcase, and I held my breath at the realization that I would finally be able to see what was inside.  As he did so, a glob of something sticky spilled onto the counter.

At first I was surprised, but then chuckled as I realized what it was: a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. 

The professor rolled his eyes with a slightly abashed smile and said, “I guess you know my secret now. This briefcase is just what I use to store my lunch in. It makes it less of an easy target for prankster students. Trust me. I'm not going back to the days of having my sandwiches stolen.”

I chuckled. As we stood there in comfortable silence for a moment, I couldn't help thinking how I misjudged him. Here he was teaching us about the power of self-worth where he was struggling to get by himself. He had a tough love way of teaching and building us up, but his heart was in the right place. Deep down, the professor was just one of us. Not good or bad. Only human. This was one belief that I would stand my ground on because that was nothing to be afraid of.

[insideliascrazyhead]

High and Low the worst random rewatch thoughts 2 backwards cause that´s how I watched the franchise first time around

-Oochi brothers have one braincell they share and its for fighting any kinda threat to their friends even if they´re in the wrong

-You can see Tsukasas reason to live crawl back into him as soon as he sees Fujio.Aw and he´s smiling too!

-i love the way Tsukasa is like phew no responsibilities anymore hey now you all gotta do whatever that guy over there says

-Yasu- kiyo faction calling Fujio a shrimp but c´mon their leader is Yasushi who´s literally only 2 cm (my crazy ass googled it) taller then Fujio

-Jamou and Sabakan meet once a week to gossip you can´t change my mind

-i love the nickname the crazy bastards its like a trigger warning for a person,fits great

-the moment he realised they´re former neighbours Fujio already planned his force adoption and the creation of his own faction that way

-Yasushi laughing about„Doroki“until Tsukasa´s death glare and he just goes quiet with a slight cough pretending to be all serious is so great

-Sachio kicking crackhead ass is just chefs kiss

-Murayama sleeping with a book on his face he probably never read a page off also saying he got fired again means he´s a menace at work and i wanna know what he did

-Arata my man,you´re a miserable drug dealer,you´re not sneaky and you wear to attention drawing stuff just no also the colorful hair of the other crackheads isn´t helping i also strongly belive they snort the hair color too at least they look like it

-Fujio fcalling force adopting them into his family/faction „Im super busy on my misison right now“is so adorable it´s painful

-that even Oya High has a no drug rule among students made me realise i went to a ghetto ass high school man

-Tetsu being scared of the Oochi brothers.My guy you sit at a table with a angry cobra relax you´re gonna be okay.

-Fujio looks worse after the fall down the stairs then after any fight

-what if Cobra was busy when Murayama called and is just like oh great i can talk to you meanwhile Cobra sits in his underwear with his one night stand impatiently waiting.i mean he was probably getting drunk at the bar or disociating in the diner but its still a fun thought

-no one can tell me Yasushis injury didnt leave damage behind that he just tells no one about until shit goes down badly.

-they could´ve worn crackhead attire and would´ve made a lot more belivable fulltimers.

-I could swear they´re like a block from Yasushi and the wannabe Housen crackheads.

-at least they didn´t accidentally switch and the guys attacked the target they´re dressed up as

-what happened to Yasushi that night?Well that storyline has more cracks than Yasushis head

-Aww look at Tsukasa caring about Yasushi in a if anyone kills this lunatic it´s me kinda way

-look at Fujio being the motivational leader.man´s the definition of fuck shit up but don´t die and Tsukasa will wipe a tear and say it´s so inspirational.

-Tsukasas heart eyes are so bright they glow in the night

-love the beef with Yasu-Kiyo and ChunChun even though i think they already forgot why they wanna fight probably just for entertainment

-Fujio´s „Don´t get injured again“So sweet.

-Yasushi could be missing a fucking limb and still be up to kick ass or at least try

-that´s the movie nerd in me but Yasushi punching the car was just the cue for Shidaken´s actor to start running

-Yasushi.No,you don´t fucking tell them where you´re injured that they can beat you better this man saw Shidaken and suddenly,guy cute,brain empty.

-i love how Shibaman and Tsuji always fight together,also he took that thing with the hair color personally.

-Odajima really goes oh i like that one the others are losers but this one;friendshaped.I mean fight later friend shaped of course.

-why does Shidaken open Yasushi´s wound with pressure and not the force of a kick or hit?!

-after fighting Shidaken did he pass out or why do we not see him anywhere anymore

-Fujio vs.Shidaken reminds me of two ferrets

-Sachio crushed on Fujio at least a little bit

-Murayama with the damn truck has my heart

-Sabakan saving all of them

-Kiyoshi still fighting because he wants revenge for Yasushi those two bastards have such a adorable relationship and a heart of gold man.

-not Yasushi cooling his head with a water bottle thats funnier then it should be like my man you could´ve easily sit this one out

-I will never get over the disgust on Housen´s faces when they see Hope Hill then there´s Yasushi´s ah so many great memories smile

-Sachio,honey I know you love your friend and sympolism or whatever but wearing someone elses dried blood is just weird -Shidaken thinks he´s probably loosing it when they catch fire and don´t give a fuck like I´m not crazy ya´ll seeing this I´m not hallucinating jet my head injury comes next movie!

-i love how they throw rocks and Todoroki just goes well imma throw them right back at you!

-not Jamuo hiding in a damn trash can!I love the little guy so much.

-Fujio could´ve easily ran over the crackheads but no this guy runs over his own people and Housen

-why are the Oochi brother fighting in pimp coats?

-i love how soft Murayama is towards the other half timers

-the coolest introduction will always be Odajima´s Heya!That´s the housen killer corps have fun dying.

-Murayma with his Hyuga impression is adorable

-Fujio,Tsukasa and Jamuo running from Suzuran is the greatest ending ever.

[rose-in-a-fisted-glove]

Hi it’s the SU anon here I’m very sorry for how much I upset you, and I seriously wanted to piece tgt what I’m missing from the Jewish viewpoint so I appreciate u still being open to talking to me despite the ignorance. Also disclaimer I’m born and raised in Malaysia so I’ve not met an actual Jew in person until very recently in uni, so all I know is from the messy pile on the internet and I do genuinely learn from ur posts when I see them.

From what I see on ur blog u do show quite a lot of sympathy to the all the cruelty happening in Gaza, but don’t tolerate this being used as an excuse to target Israel/Jewish ppl. I do understand that the whole concept of pushing for an Israel/jewish ethnostate is very much entwined with the history of Jewish culture and the antisemitism endured through different times, so I think this is the part where I made the most ignorant statement on? After rereading what I wrote it might also have sounded like all Jews hold extremely reactionary views towards the word “ceasefire”? Pls do point out more of what upset u, I take full responsibility for what I said and pls stop this convo at any point if I end up offending u more.

Recognizing that you don't know something is the first step towards fixing it. It's good that you thought on your previous ask and tried to research it! But you're missing an awful lot so let's start from the top.

(As a reminder and so others can seee, here's the original ask)

"Hi, this a question abt ur opinion on what’s happening in Gaza just bc you’re one of my favourite blogs that goes deep into Jewish culture/issues. If at any point this question becomes annoying pls ignore.

Anyways so in my college SU meeting recently someone sent in a motion to make an official statement to condemn the war and call for immediate and permanent ceasefire + provide more support to the Jewish and Muslim/Arab students affected by increased hate in the community as well. This sparked a debate among those in attendance and of course there’s a few very pro-Israel voices that insists that a ceasefire will cause Israel to lose all ability to defend itself as well as many pro-Palestine arguments. The motion ended up discarded bc of procedural reasons but as someone who has mostly held a free Palestine view so far and has been hoping for a more inclusive Israel in the future, I don’t understand why stopping a war hurting both sides is taken as an Israel must disappear take by many. I always just accepted it as it’s probably got a lot more antisemitic undertone when it’s a Jew that hears it, but I really wanna hear ur take as well bc the debate I witnessed brought up very disturbing points that I can’t stop thinking about. Hope this didn’t end up sounding disrespectful and thanks for always sharing important Jewish viewpoints without undermining other social issues!"

First problem comes right with the opening sentence; "Hi, this a question abt ur opinion on what’s happening in Gaza just bc you’re one of my favourite blogs that goes deep into Jewish culture/issues."

Going to random Jews who do not post about the conflict and asking for their "stance" on it is part of a series of antisemitic loyalty tests and is extremely rude on top of it. Furthermore, speaking on Jewish cultures and issues and antisemitism is not the same as being experienced or knowledgeable on international conflicts.

And then your next paragraphs are of course riddled with anti-Israeli biases and examples that you've been listening to/reading propaganda uncritically, such as "wanting a more inclusive Israel" and in your more recent ask saying things like "I do understand that the whole concept of pushing for an Israel/jewish ethnostate is very much entwined with the history of Jewish culture and the antisemitism endured through different times". So you clearly have a basic lack of knowledge about both Israel and the conflict in general along with Zionism itself.

But, again, that's not an area I talk about much. If any of the folks who do talk about it, see this and want to go into it, please do! Just to repeat here, you shouldn't have been asking me in the first place.

Then, this part here, showed me that you have a history of dismissing antisemitism as Jews being overly sensitive "I always just accepted it as it’s probably got a lot more antisemitic undertone when it’s a Jew that hears it." And then that was compounded by your closing insult, "thanks for always sharing important Jewish viewpoints without undermining other social issues!"

And that closing insult told me that I had woefully failed in sharing any information about antisemitism at all. "Sharing important Jewish viewpoints without undermining other social issues". Jewish "viewpoints" and antisemitism are just as important as any other sort of bias. Pointing out antisemitism and sharing stories about antisemitism does not, and can not, undermine other social issues. It is not lesser. Honestly, I'm still kind of livid over that shot.

[lazar-codes]

Random Rambles, part 2

It's nearly 10pm on a Tuesday, and while I'm supposed to be doing school-work, I have some thoughts. So here we go!

School

I'm nearly done with my first semester of my Master's in Human Computer Interaction, and I'm excited to complete it. This semester has been tricky, and it's mostly because lectures usually start at 3pm. Sleeping in is really nice, but my sleep schedule is super messed up because I do schoolwork after class, and I want to have some time to do things for myself (read, Netflix, or draw), so I end up staying up until 1am. I did do some volunteer stuff this weekend and so far it has fixed my sleep schedule (working in a festival for the weekend ensures that I'm wiped out by 11pm), but that can easily get messed up again.

My classes themselves are alright, they just require a lot of reading. A lot of the content of my classes is what I covered in my undergrad as a health science student, which is odd. Although, while I took a UXD course in my undergrad, it focused on "task-centred system design", whereas now we're doing "user-centred design". In fact, my group project involves building an app to its hi-fi prototype stage. We're finishing up the low-fi prototype and I'm happy with how it's looking. I might even take it a step further on my own and program it...we'll see. It's a little intimidating to work on this project, mostly because all of my groupmates have industry experience with graphic design and I don't. But hey, I'm learning.

Related to school news; I'm taking a class called "Data and Society" and it's the most depressing class I've ever taken, but I really like it. The themes of this class are essentially that big corporations are taking our data and using it for advertising purposes, or for targeting people, or for separating people. Basically, our data is being used for bad, and rarely for the improvement of society. And the more papers I read on this topic, the more tired I am of being in this type of world. I'm already taking a step back from social media and such (I basically only use it to post art), but there's a part of me that now really, really, wants to live in the mountains away from it all. Of course, I'd still like my Netflix, but the rest can go away. 

That being said, my classes have certainly made me want to look into stuff like data/media preservation, and ethical data collection and such. Does it feel like fighting a losing battle? Yes, but I still want to try. 

Coding

I finally logged onto Github after months. Will I get back into programming soon? Probably not, though I'm tempted to do Advent of Code to dip my toes back into it. Or maybe I'll get into app development...we'll see. Like I said, I have a project for school that I can code in the future, so I might do that. 

Ok, I need to get back to school-work. Those papers aren't going to read themselves.

[halcyon-writings]

Are you still doing Cold Steel requests? If so can I get Machias comforting the reader on a bad day? (In CS1 era preferably)

Of course u can anon!! (thank god u clarified for cs1 bc I did NOT finish anything with cs2 yet)

nav.

Initially, Machias could not stand you.

Nothing truly against you, of course. Only that you happened to belong to a noble house. A prim and proper scion, he had called you. (You had to wonder, if such a literal title could be said with such venom, how else he could insult people? You were a little impressed to be honest, not that you would admit that.)

And like him, you had a proficiency in marksmanship. A rifle’s scope is trained on a target as you make another shot, right in the center. Yet the crease of your brow shows you’re not focusing on the target in the slightest. Machias crosses his arms as you place your weapon down, eyes looking past the target as you wipe your face.

“You’ve been staring at me for five minutes,” Your voice makes him jump.

He stammers out some weak excuse, one that you clearly don’t buy as you roll your eyes, reloading your weapon again as you begin to aim.

“Well, if you’re looking for someone to listen to your endless complaints, maybe go and ask Rean if he’s not busy being the student council’s errand boy?” You suggest with a thin smile. But it’s your eyes that make him falter. They’re focused on the targets, sure, but there’s something in your gaze that makes him hesitate in retorting. There’s a tinge of redness in your eyes. Had you been crying?

“Are you alright?” The words leave his lips before he can stop them.

You place the rifle down, perplexed at his words. Eyes shift from him to behind him, as though you’re expecting him to be asking someone else about their wellbeing and not yours. You don’t see anyone else. To his chagrin, you look again anyway.

“Will you quit that?” He snaps instead, the flush on his cheeks growing as even the tips of his ears felt hotter.

You make a face, nose crinkling as you tap your finger restlessly, waiting for him to speak. He pushes his glasses back up on the bridge of his nose, shuffling on the soles of his feet. The only sound now accompanying you both is the random chirping of birds to the whistling of the wind in the grass.

Still, Machias does not falter, this time uncrossing his arms.

“Are you alright?” He repeats. This time his tone is quieter, gentler even, unlike his usual one. “You look off.”

There it is. Your brow furrows again as you give him a look.

And with an unimpressed tone, your reply comes, “You suck at trying to sound comforting.” You’re facing him fully now, this time your arms crossed over your chest. Practice targets and rifle forgotten, this time conversing properly with your peer.

“I’m fine, if you’re that worried. But if you need to use the targets for practice, I still have…” You trail off, checking the watch on your wrist for a moment before you look up again, “…about half an hour.”

Well, that’s what he was there for. Your presence was circumstantial.

Still, he doesn’t believe you. And like many things about him, he was stubborn and wanted to prove a point.

“You’re not.”

“I am.”

“No, you’re not.”

“You’re unbelievable.”

Your tone sounds lighter as you go back and forth. For even a small smile grows on your face. And despite himself, a hint of a smile grows on his face too. For once you’re not some scion, that you remind him of, since you’re not the oldest child of your family. You’re just you. His classmate. But both of you make a face in agreement when the word friend floats around.

You pack your things, taking a final swig of your water bottle before tossing it in the cans nearby. You leave Machias to practice on his own now. His words somewhat of a comfort for what had been bothering you.

Friend, huh?

It was certainly not that. But it was a start.

[ranhaitanisgf]

guys let me yap for a second on main rq ……

OK SO first of all context to this is that my high school has a population of 4.5k students (💀💀💀) WHICH makes this very strange .

so there’s this guy that i’ve been seeing EVERYWHERE and seriously i’m beginning to be scared of seeing him because let me list all the times i see him in one day;

1. in the morning when i arrive at school and park, i am somehow always parked right across from his banana yellow jeep

2. in first period, where we are in the same group of friends

3. on wednesdays when we have homeroom because i have the same home room as him (he has mentioned that he sees me sitting by myself and that he feels bad bc i look like lonely like why did you have to say this in front of everyone . HE NEEDS TO BE STOPPED .)

4. during lunch because we have the same lunch period .

5. after lunch when we are at our lockers bc lockers are assigned by homeroom so our lockers r close together .

6. after school at the lockers and then we both walk the same way because we parked in the same damn place .

ASIDE FROM the regular times i see him , he also just shows up in random places sometimes . i.e literally this weekend when he was at the target i work at with his mom and brother, (i also am sometimes driving right next to him on the way to school which idk how that’d even possible )

also did i mention HE LIVES IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD . like get out pls this is my territory .

and now let me list the oddities of him and why he scares me :

1. as b4 mentioned, he had brought up THREE SEPARATE TIMES abt how i sit by myself in homeroom and that he feels bad for me like pls . leave me alone , AND WHY R U SAYING THIS IN FRONT OF EVERYBKDY GAWDDD .

2. as normal teenage girl behavior i sing karaoke to myself in the car while waiting for school to start . and then a week ago he said “oh do you talk to yourself in your car ? i always see you talking or something “ Y R U WATCHIBG ME .

3. on friday i was doing my eyeliner in the car and some it dropped into my eye so it stung and my eye was watering and stuff and so then when i got into class he said “were you crying in your car ? lol “ AGAIB Y R U WATCHING ME .

4. for the first three months of school he didn’t ever use his actual assigned locker (the one that’s near mine ) he was using his friends locker . but now he suddenly started using his assigned locker for rlly no reason AND IT STRESSES ME OUT . THIS IS MY TWRRITORY GET OUTTTT

5. it’s not weird but he followed me on instagram on friday and it freaked me out 😭😭😭

i’m gonna call him judas on here which is not his actual name but it’s what me and my friend call him lolol . SO THIS IS THE CONTEXT / BACKSTORY IF YOU SEE ME TALKING ABOUT JUDAS .

[midnighthybrid2]

(Ok random thing that you’ll leave up to interpretation!)

The welcome home characters as professors at hogwarts basic headcanons? Like what kind of class would each of them be teaching? (Frank would be the next Snape there you cannot say that wouldn’t happen.)

(Maybe if you would like to what kind of house would each of them be in, again leaving that for you to make the user’s interpretation).

Helllloooo! This was an incredibly fun prompt to think about, thank you for sending it in! I’d love to do some more Welcome Home-Harry Potter crossover stuff in the future, actually, if you have any more ideas!

There’s no particular order to these, but I tried to make them make as much sense as I could.

Enjoy! This is gonna be real long, so strap yourself in!

Welcome Home Characters as Professors/Staff at Hogwarts

Julie Joyful - 100% Herbology (Hufflepuff). Julie would 100% be the Herbology professor- she’s described as having a garden of her own and able to talk to plants, after all. I imagine this would translate to her having a very close connection to the plants- students are unsure if she’s actually talking to them, or if she’s just really good at telling when a plant needs more water or new soil. I imagine she’d be a little bit of an airhead at times, probably misplacing any physical homework assignments (like essays) or even sometimes forgetting to lock up the greenhouses at night! She’s probably found a magical creature inside, eating some of her plants, on several occasions. Definitely has had to call Professor Frankly over to help her get them out! She’s better with hands-on assignments, and I imagine she'd be a very encouraging and kind professor.

Frank Frankly - Care of Magical Creatures (Ravenclaw). Oh I agree 100%, he’d be the Snape of this cast. This reminded me of the Potter Puppet Pals Snape puppet- he even has the unibrow and nose- and now I can’t get that voice out of my head when I picture Frank. Frank would be the harshest of the teachers and would be incredibly strict during all of his lessons. His class would be a mixture of hands-on learning and note-taking (so.. much… note taking…). It’s clear to anyone with eyes just how passionate Professor Frankly is about his subject, especially with how he tends to go into passionate, verbose speeches about the biology of the Bowtruckle (for example). This, unfortunately, tends to make him the target of the more rambunctious students who find his overreactions to disrespect quite funny. He’s the professor that sends most students to detention. Despite his grouchy demeanor, Professor Frankly is known to be good friends with Professor Joyful, much to every student’s surprise. They gossip in the teacher’s lounge.

Eddie Dear - Groundskeeper (Hufflepuff). Okay okay hear me out. Despite having a whole arts and crafts teaching segment, Eddie doesn’t entirely strike me as a teacher type. He’s the type that’s used to running around, delivering Mail and such to his neighbors. I can picture him being a very nice if a little clumsy, groundskeeper of Hogwarts. His favorite duty would be to care for the owls in the Owlery- putting him on good terms with the care of magical creatures professor- because he’s always had a bit of a passion for the Mail service. He could often be seen running around the school, taking care of incidents, and trying to reason with the ghosts (if Peeves still exists, Peeves would 100% take advantage of Eddie’s clumsy nature for his own amusement). Eddie would also probably be a lot easier to manipulate than Filch would, and would probably more often than not let students off with a warning rather than a very harsh punishment.

Wally Darling - Defense Against the Dark Arts (Ravenclaw). Before I get into his teaching style, hear me out with his house- Ravenclaw is described as being highly creative and curious individuals. Wally, despite not being the smartest, is quite the creative individual, and he’s described as being the one to learn with the viewer during episodes of Welcome Home. He gives me… Luna Lovegood vibes, in a way, where the way he thinks and looks at the world may be a little different from how others do, but in the end that doesn’t make him stupid. In terms of how he’d behave as a teacher, I picked Defense Against the Dark Arts because of his fandom-agreed tie to very dark themes and such. I imagine in a Harry Potter AU he’d have had many run-ins with dark creatures in the past, and now he uses his experiences to help others in the present. Like Lupin, most of his classes would be very hands-on and he’d be a very professional, maybe a little eccentric sort of teacher who’s very patient with all of his students. Outside of the class, however, he’s still quite patient but also gives off a much different sort of energy. It’s not unusual, for instance, to find the professor lying on the stairs for several minutes at a time after having- yet again- missed stepping over the disappearing step. He’s quite the oddball, but many students do enjoy him as a teacher overall.

Poppy Partridge - Not a professor, would work in the Hospital Wing in Madame Pomfry’s place. (Hufflepuff). There’s no way that Poppy would be a professor- all of those spells and potion ingredients make her much too nervous, no no no. Poppy would instead work in the hospital wing as Madame Partridge and would help cure students and staff of their ailments. Don’t get me wrong- the sight of a boneless arm or a bloody werewolf wound would certainly make her faint from fright at first. Once that initial shock has passed, however, I imagine her practically squawking with worry as she works to patch her patients right up! She might overdo it at times, such as bandaging up sprains so thickly that the limb resembles more of a bowling ball than a limb, but she means well. I imagine she’s not that great at magic, but very knowledgeable on different healing potions and herbs.

Howdy Pillar - Either a Hogsmeade Salesman or Transfiguration (Slytherin). So… Howdy, to be honest, I don’t picture being a teacher in the Harry Potter Universe. Rather, I can see him being the owner of a General Store/Bodega down in Hogsmeade. His store would include general foods and stuff, but he’d also sell plenty of magical touristy items, such as ‘Limited Time - Spellchecking - Quick Quotes Quill - 50% Off Today!’ Or postcards featuring moving images of a snowy day at Hogsmeade or the Hogwarts grounds. However! For the sake of this post, I shall choose a job at Hogwarts for him- and that job would be the Transfiguration Professor. The main- and really, only- reason for this would be that… he’s a caterpillar… and… and caterpillars turn into (‘transfigure’) butterflies… I didn’t say I was clever when I was making these aight? Maybe he’d even be an animagus and could turn into a Butterfly, that’d be a fun nod to that. Anywho! As a teacher, Howdy would be the type to do pop quizzes- not in the traditional sense, however! He’d be like an auctioneer- saying stuff like “Name the Incantation for Fiend Fyre- am I hearing Pestis? Pestis what?- Did I hear it over here- aaaand correct, Miss Granger, Pestis Incendium! Ten Points to Gryffindor!” As for his House, I chose Slytherin because of the natural ambition that comes with being a Slytherin- Howdy’s a business and salesman, he’s quite the ambitious fellow. Not all Slytherins are evil, after all.

Sally Starlet - Astronomy (Either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, I’m 50/50). Sally was difficult to choose- I wanted to pick something theater-related, but there aren’t any very important classes related to that. There are a few elective classes, but those felt rather boring. When I remembered the astronomy class, however, I was immediately like “HAHA! YOU!” Sally’s incredibly passionate about her subject- some may say even a little too passionate. Somewhat like Trelawney and her passion/beliefs in Divination, Sally cares a whole lot about the planets and both what they can teach you and just what they are in general. The way she talks about them at times makes it sound less like she’s talking about planets and more so talking about old friends. It’s quite strange, especially to those who aren’t a fan of her subject and/or her very flamboyant ways. Like Frank, some students purposely mess with Sally to get a dramatic reaction out of her, more so because her ego tends to get irritating than because she’s unfair in class. Sally’s generally a pretty decent professor, being split pretty evenly between hands-on work and homework, she’s just very boisterous about herself often enough that it gets on some students’ nerves.

Barnaby Beagle - Charms (Hufflepuff). Charms for some reason always struck me as a more ‘chill’ sort of magic- at least compared to a lot of the others. I imagine that as the Charms professor, Barnaby is most definitely an incredibly laid-back sort of teacher. He’s the type that doesn’t stress much about deadlines and homework- quite frankly, he could care less about homework and dislikes having to grade it. He generally would only give students the bare minimum required homework, and then the rest would all be taught in class. Though his class would teach the students more or less streamlined charms and such, if you meet him after class he’d 100% teach you what he refers to as the ‘funner’ charms and their many uses. This includes more prank-like charms, such as how to bewitch snowballs so they focus on a target and continuously throw themselves at them. Basically, he’d be the Weasley Twins of the staff.

Hope you enjoy my drabbles, I somewhat wanna mess around with these ideas more in the future but I’m unsure what I’d do lol

If you liked these and have any ideas, please feel free to send in some asks! I’d love to hear y’all’s thoughts on the matter

[purpleeivy]

Day 12 of Drawing Dailily. This time it’s just a normal, aroace, introverted PK Academy student, (Yare Yare, Ivy you know no one is buying that…) Saiki Kusuo. Care to say anything Saiki? (You need to learn more Japanese to do what you wanted to do. How long is this going to take?) Ouch, no need to call me out like that. Well it’s hard to estimate, sometimes this takes me 10 minutes to write, sometimes 30, depends on how long I ramble for. (Yare Yare, goodbye then.) Anddddd he’s gone.

Okay I know that was dumb, but I don’t care, it was funny to me and I am the target audience of all my jokes. (That needing to learn Japanese was because I thought it would be funny to write Saiki’s bits in Japanese cus well, PK is in Japan. But I realised I don’t nearly know enough yet to be even close to doing that haha.) Anyway, it’s 3am again (so much for getting a better sleep schedule), so onto the commentary.

Negatives. His eyes are a lot narrower than they should be. A common problem that is very noticable here is that I make faces too sharp. Shading could have been better i guess? I don’t really have many other negatives.

Positives. I love his hair and his hair pins. I think I got most of the spikes right and shaded it mostly well. His glasses actually look kinda real. The PK Academy uniform looks really good to me, aside from the lack of shading for the green section. I think this is one of the best ones I have done so far, alongside Asuka.

Random Bullshit

My phone is on 4% lmao.

Stream “Koala” by Will Stetson.

I know it’s 3am rn, but I am probably gonna watch the new Ghost Files episode before going to sleep :3

And considering that I haven’t been able to sleep until 6am the last 3 days I probably won’t be able to sleep now even if I try.

Don’t think I got much else so… as always.

Good morning, good afternoon or good evening, and goodnight from me.

love you all <3

(ref image)

COFFEE JELLY ATTACKKK

[musings-of-a-crazed-musician]

Not sure if this is what you meant by “ask me anything,” but here I am anyway! Thanks for answering my questions! I appreciate it so much.

I do have a couple more questions, though.

What’s an RA? What are most people’s relationships with them like?

What are some common things college students fuck up? Like not getting enough sleep, not cleaning enough, not eating well, not going out enough, etc.?

What are some events students are encouraged to go to? What are some events that they’re required to go to?

How do class schedules work? What’s the routine for signing up for classes? What about going to classes? How often do they meet on average, and what’s the difference between classes that don’t meet as frequently and classes that meet very frequently? Is it in how important they are or how much content they cover?

I’m so sorry to bother you! I realize I have a LOT of questions and you might not have the time to answer all of these, but even so, thank you again for responding to my first post.

You're good!

I realize I probably should've just reblogged perhaps so that others could see but oh well lol

What’s an RA? What are most people’s relationships with them like?An RA is basically just in charge of a dorm hall. At my school, they're in charge of half a hall, for instance (dorm name) South or (dorm name) North. (PS. If you need to make a dorm name, pick a weird last name. Then just call it like, Smith Hall or whatever, students will just call it Smith.) However, people don't really call it that (south or north) lol, it's just for ease of officially naming haha. Anyway, theyre students that have no roomate usually and are kind of like big siblings for the students; making sure they follow the dress code, being there to take them to the airport at 3 am, being there so that people can come into their rooms with problems or tears, being there just to listen, coordinating with the school. For instance, they make sure everyone's out during a fire drill. Usually, the girls are pretty good friends with their RA, and the boys can be too, but in my experience they don't really know them that well. My female friends however are good friends with their RA and would routinely burst in with whatever shenanigans they were pulling.

What are some common things college students fuck up? Like not getting enough sleep, not cleaning enough, not eating well, not going out enough, etc.? Oof, that depends on the person and the major. I'm a music major, and this past fall semester I was routinely getting to bed at like 3 and getting up for an 8 am. I lovingly bully most of my friends to sleep and we all heartily congratulate them if they get like 6 hours lol. I knew a senior who typically didn't get more than 4, but she was well known as being absolutely crazy tho lol. However, some of my friends have lots of free time and get sleep. This one particular friend is an english major for reference. However, I think post people do struggle lots with sleep deprivation, but it wouldn't be too rare for someone to actually get good sleep (though everyone will go crazy when they announce that they got a full 9 hrs lol). Typically, everyone I know cleans ok, but there's certainly a rush before room checks. Also, the boys dorms are typically stinky lol so idk what theyre doin XD. Eating well is def a problem, since you get what the cafeteria gives you. My friends have gotten food poisoning, one friend had an earwig in his corn muffin, and we routinely question if the meat is what it says it is haha. At my school though wee have like healthy sections, were you can get a handmade sandwich or salad, as well as like premade healthier stuff and gluten free stuff. As for not going out, it depends on the person. However, Walmart trips or errand runs typically become a group thing, and random runs to nearby cities to buy the new Taylor Swift album exclusively at Target have also happened. So I'd say that those who never leave their room anyway have a hard time getting out, but even my busiest friends can carve out time for donuts or emotional support coffee. Also, people LOVE going to coffee shops to study or write, often in groups. One thing I'd also say we have a hard time with is procrastination. If someone does homework days beforehand, everyone is amazed. (PS. Due dates are typically like, Sunday at 11:59 or at 11:59 the night before the day of the class. Sometimes they're class time.)

What are some events students are encouraged to go to? What are some events that they’re required to go to? Some events they're encouraged to go to are all of the Student Life events. My school's OSL team (office of student life, this may be different at different schools) put on lots of fun events, like a black tie award show for students, a roller disco, various dances like junior senior, and also a midnight breakfast for Christmas. One thing they aren't really encouraged to go to at my school are performing arts events, much to my friend group's dismay. Sports games aren't really announce either I don't think, but more people tend to go to those. As for events, we aren't really required to go to things, and if we are, we're usually a little grumpy about it. Once, we were mandated to go to a FAFSA explaining thing even though most of us had already done ours (a FAFSA is a form u fill out for the US gov't that helps them determine how much money in federal aid and scholarships you get, aka. how poor u are lol). Other than that, I go to a Christian school, so we have like a Christian credit system were we have to go to some chapels and various events, but none are technically mandated.

How do class schedules work? Classes are determined on a weekly basis, with some classes meeting for an hour on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and others meeting for an hour and a half ish on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The credit hours are determined by the amount of hours in a week you spend in the class, so 3 1hr classes=3 credit class. 2 1.5hr classes=3 credit class. However, there are two credit classes that meet 2 days a week, or 1 credit classes that meet 1 hr a week on one day. Also, there are some classes that meet for 3 hrs one day, but those are rarer. As for class schedules, you basically just add classes up in your week. Also, they're typically on the hour so it's just a 1 o'clock class.

What’s the routine for signing up for classes? With the exception of my very first semester, I got to pick all of my classes. This can become a balancing act though when you have a MFW 11 o'clock that is required for your major and another class at the same time that's one that you really like. For me, the registration opens up on different days for different years, so that the seniors can get in before the juniors and so on. It is online and you just pick classes and hit register. However, we meet with an advisor first, bringing our list of required classes and our plan on when we'll take them and the advisor tells you if that works or not. They'll give you advice on when to wiggle things around so that you can take the classes that only come around once every two years or so. Also, u usually won't end up with a class every hour, typically it's like, 1, then a few hr break, then like 3 in a row or smthn. Also, it can line up where you get done at like 12 MWF and like 5 TT. It just depends.

What about going to classes? Basically, you just figure out what building and room your class is in and go. Open hour slots are used for homework, random trips, work, or in my case lots of piano practice haha. Hopefully this answers this question! (Also, there's usually a short break in between classes. So, the 1 hr 3x a week classes [MWF] go from 1-1:50 for example, giving u a 10min break between classes, and the 1.5 hr 2x a week ones [TT] go from 12:30-1:15, giving you a 15 min break before the 1:30 class you might have. )

How often do they meet on average, and what’s the difference between classes that don’t meet as frequently and classes that meet very frequently? I kinda explained this earlier, but basically the ones that don't meet as much, like the 1.5 hr, still have the same credit hour count, so it's the same amt of material. However, the 2 credit ones typically cover less material and are easier, same for the 1 credit ones. For example, for my 2 credit music history class we had to memorize a bunch of music pieces and titles and we were going absolutely bonkers trying to figure out WILD pneumonic devices to learn them and our teacher came in and was like, this is too much work for a 2 credit class. From then on we haven't had to do that XD

Is it in how important they are or how much content they cover?

Basically, like I said earlier, it's based on the amount of time per week and how hard the class is/how much homework is involved. This isn't always really true, as you can have a hard 2 credit, so it that happens the students will probably be mad.

More tips: -the limit for classes is 17 credit hours, which for a normal major translates to about 6ish classes. For me, that's like 9 since I have a LOT of 1-2 credit classes. The minimum is 12, which is about 4 classes if they're all 3 credit. Most people probably take about 15.

-If someone, as I have done, is taking more than like, 5 classes, people start to be like ??????? and be worried for you, as that translates to lots of classes, no extra time, and lots of homework. So if you need a workaholic character, make them take like 17+ credits (They can take more it just costs more lol), work, have 0 free time, have constant homework and also get 0 sleep. Have their friends bully them about this.

-Lots of friendship time happens at the meal tables. I cannot tell you how many absolutely BONKERS conversations I've had at tables. Like, planning a raid on the government cheese caves in Michigan (Michigan..? idk). But, they really boost friendships, especially the ones at dinner.

-Also, CLUBS! At my school, there's a skate club, a community orchestra that used to be the orchestra club, there's like a swing dance club, there's a chess club, just whatever you can think of you can add. These clubs are also good for bonding, for instance two of my friends started dating and at least part of the attraction was because they were frequent swing dance partners.

-Also movie nights (!!!) are great ways to also improve friendships. Because Christian school, boys and girls are in different dorms, but open dorm nights at both sets are allowed once a week where a girl can come into a boy's actual dorm (They're allowed in the lobby, but not in the dorm unless it's open dorm.). Over this past semester, one of my male friends hosted a big multi-week watch party where several folks hate watched twilight and it was one of the highlights of my college career.

-Also, for friendship and/or shipping, extra curriculars are also good. I spent a lot of time with the co-stars in the last play I did. I became great friends with the twilight hate watching host because my character was right across from his character in the show and our characters had a little thing for each other.

-Feel free to have people at each other's houses. I live close by, so I have had several little parties and stuff at my house (Once we watched studio ghibli movies all day, it was great.)

-Also, people hang out a lot in dorms. Since I don't live there, I spent quite a bit of time in my friends' suite and basically just goofed off, or watched Scooby Doo, or watched Disney channel movies or whatever. (Side note, remember what I said about open dorm? that's only for opposite gender. I could stay in my female friends' dorms as long as I want, or spend the night or whatever)

-Not all colleges have gender split dorms. Lots actually have co-ed, so i don't really know what it's like there. Open dorm probably isn't as much of a concept.

Man, that was al lot! Hopefully that's not too hard to digest :D

Feel free to ask me anything else!

For now I have to go do homework for my summer classes XD