#liu would have to be at a lower grade

[apollos-boyfriend]

a lot of people see liu as jeff’s older brother, and while i agree that it makes more sense, it’s so much funnier to imagine him as younger than jeff. we know jeff is 13, and making liu younger means the police genuinely believed a like 10-12 year old was able to single-handedly beat three kids, one likely twice his size, is so fucking funny. they sent a fuckign toddler to juvie

[raibebe]

Of needles and seduction

Genre: Fluff and smut Words: 15.2k Prompt: Johnny tattoo shop AU featuring best friends Yangyang and Jaemin Warnings: contains smut, Daddy-kink, size-kink, mentions of mirror-sex

A/N: This is very self-indulgent, I’m sorry. While I do have piercings myself, I know next to nothing about tattoos, so I’m sorry if anything is inaccurate. Also I don’t advise what some characters in this are doing for yourself. Just a quick special thanks to @burtonized​ who has listened to me ramble about this story and Johnny and helped me write this by giving me ideas and support. Thank you darling! This fic is a beast, I have never written anything this long,it’s insane. If smut isn’t for you, you can stop reading after the phone call and still have a pretty decent story. If you feel like, you’ve seen this post before, you might have. I deleted the original one because tumblr decided to delete it from the tags.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” You asked for what you felt was the tenth time in the past five minutes. “It’s going to be fine. The shop is clean and sanitary,” your friend Yangyang groaned while running his hands through his messy, blonde hair. It was getting way too long, hanging low into his eyes. “I’m just saying that this doesn’t seem like a safe place,” you mumbled but followed your hyper friend through a more than dubious looking side street of Itaewon. “Jaemin got his piercings done in the same shop and those healed just fine, stop being a baby,” the blonde said while rolling his eyes. He quickly checked his phone for the address of the (probably illegal) piercing and tattoo shop and took a sharp turn into an even shadier looking street. “I still don’t get while you need me to come with you when you want to get your nipples pierced for god knows what of a stupid reason.” “It’s easy,” Yangyang grinned at you, “Ten said I wouldn’t dare to do it. And I’m going to prove him wrong and you’re going to document the progress.” “Do you ever listen to yourself talk? You’re literally paying someone to stab you into your nipples to shove a piece of metal through it just to prove a point.” “It’s just one nipple though.” “How does that make it any better, Yangyang?” You deadpanned. Your friend groaned again. “I knew I should have taken Guanheng with me. He would have been supportive.” “He would also be supportive of getting ‘I love Tacos’ tattooed on your ass.” “He would,” Yangyang agreed with an exaggerated dreamy look on his face. “What a madlad.”

You sighed but couldn’t help smiling at his antics. You had befriended the hyper exchange student when you had been assigned to be partners for a group project for your mandarin class. Yangyang had only taken the class for extra credit and easy good grades while you were struggling like crazy and had seriously questioned all your life choices that had let to you taking the class. (But mostly you regretted listening to Renjun who had convinced you it would be an easy class.) The group project turned out to be rather easy when you had a native speaker as your partner and you had become fond of the younger student, staying in touch with him and helping him find his way around the big campus. If you had known that he was a package deal with a bunch of other equally hyper and questionably crazy exchange students, you might have thought a little longer about keeping in touch after the project was over. But who were you kidding, the other boys and Yangyang were incredibly dear to you and if Kun had his regular morning coffee, the others weren’t even that chaotic.

“That’s it,” Yangyang suddenly exclaimed, pointing at a small beat up looking wooden door that looked like it was ready to fall out of the doorway any second. But a little green neon sign that hang next to it flashed the word “open” onto the street indicating that a shop must be hiding behind it. Your arguably best friend quickly grabbed your hand as if he had been sensing that you were about to complain again and dragged you into the shop. A little bell jingled quietly when Yangyang closed the door behind you two. You took a deep breath to calm your nerves (hell you weren’t even the one to get stabbed with a needle) and took a look around the small room. It was small and poorly lit and every free space on the walls was plastered with drawings and photos of both freshly done and healed tattoos. You had to admit that whoever had done those had done a good job, they looked really neat. You guessed that at least two artists must be working in the shop. A good portion of the art were very neat black and white works (some looking freakishly realistic) while others were very vibrant and artistic.

With a confident bounce in his step, Yangyang went up to the counter to a man with wild bubblegum pink hair wearing a black tank top that showed off the ink on his arms and torso, all kept in black except for a deep red rose on the side of his neck. His eyes were lined with dark eyeliner, making them seem like dark bottomless orbs, and they were fixed to the screen of a laptop that was covered in stickers that were a wild mixture of cute characters and various rock and hip-hop bands. “And what brings you here?” The man asked with a surprisingly deep voice, turning his head towards your friend. “A friend of mine told me I could get pierced here,” Yangyang spoke, his hands fumbling with the loose threads of his sweater. “And if that was the case, what would you want to get pierced?” “My nipple.” At that the other man raised one of his perfectly arched eyebrows. “People usually start off with getting an earring or something.” “Go hard or go home,” Yangyang grinned, making the other man snort. “If you have 70.000 Won in cash, I can look if one of the piercers is free.” When your friend got out his worn wallet and put a couple of bills onto the counter, the other man smiled for the first time. It didn’t quite fit his whole dark punk aesthetic but you couldn’t deny that he was really good looking.

“Don’t run away now kiddo, I’ll see if someone is free,” he grinned, “I’m Taeyong by the way.” When he disappeared behind a curtain made out of pearls into the back, Yangyang turned towards you with the biggest smile on his face. “I told you it was going to be fine.” You just hummed nonchalantly, still not entirely supportive of the whole idea. “One of the guys is ready in a bit,” Taeyong said when he came back to the main room. “Are you getting anything?” He asked, looking at you. “Oh no, she’s a scaredy-cat, just here for moral support and to document that I actually did it,” your friend answered for you. Your face immediately heated up under the intense gaze of the pink haired tattoo artist. “Too bad,” he just shrugged. “So technically you need to sign stuff for legal issues and whatnot. But since this place doesn’t exactly exist on records, we’re skipping that part. You’re not on drugs or any meds, right?” “I’m not,” Yangyang shook his head, making his hair flop back into his face. “Any issues with fainting or other medical conditions?”   “Nope.”   “Great. Had a good meal before coming here?” “I had breakfast,” Yangyang shrugged. “You had a slice of cold pizza from yesterday,” you groaned. “That I ate in the morning, therefore it’s breakfast,” he argued. “Well in that case,” Taeyong interrupted your bickering and threw a granola bar into Yangyang’s hands, “Eat that and let your girlfriend treat you to some proper food afterwards.” Before the blonde could deny anything, you had already opened your mouth to tell the other man that in fact you weren’t dating.

“Sure, sorry for assuming,” he shrugged and sat back behind the counter, taking out an iPad and began drawing something, probably a tattoo design. “Nervous yet?” You asked Yangyang who was uncharacteristically quiet while munching on the granola bar. “Shit, I’m really doing this,” he replied, exhaling shakily. “You don’t actually have to, Yangyang,” you tried to comfort him. “And let Ten just get away like that? No way. I am doing this. I’m not his little baby Yangyang anymore,” he said like the stubborn child he was. You could just sigh and roll your eyes at him. “He might have just been joking, you know?” “One does not simply challenge Liu Yangyang like that and not expect consequences.” “Kun is going to actually flip and pop a vein,” you tried to reason with your friend for a last time. Kun was doing a lot of coordination work for the exchange students with a Chinese background and had taken on almost a fatherly role for the younger students that hadn’t been in Korea for long. And even though Ten wasn’t even that much younger than Kun, he almost lost his otherwise calm composure when the Thai boy had announced that he successfully had pierced his ear by himself yet again after he had convinced a poor med student to smuggle some equipment for him. And from there the situation had somehow escalated into Ten daring Yangyang to get a nipple piercing. “Well he can’t do anything about it once it’s done. We’ll just make sure he’s with someone who can call an ambulance if he ends up having an aneurism.”

“Someone still wants their nipple pierced?” A new voice interrupted your conversation and a tall man with dark inky hair came into the room, making the pearls of the curtain clink against each other. One side of his head was shaved while the longer hair on the other side framed his handsome face beautifully. He was wearing a loose black T-shirt paired with ripped jeans with almost as many holes as there was fabric that hugged his long legs perfectly, showing that he had also ink on his legs. From his lobe dangled a little silver chain and of course his arms were covered in intricate designs, one arm strictly black ink while the other sported some colorful pieces as well. In the center of his plush lower lip sat a black ring and just beneath his left eye two little silver balls were reflecting the low light. You couldn’t deny that the man looked absolutely stunning despite his unusual appearance.

“Yes, me,” Yangyang eagerly answered the man’s question and walked towards him, tugging you with him. “Too bad,” the piercer grinned cheekily and winked in your direction, making your heart flutter in your chest and heat rise to your face, before he extended a big hand to shake Yangyang’s much smaller one. “I’m Johnny,” he introduced himself before leading you both into a smaller room in the back with a simple black padded bench in the middle of the room and a desk tucked into a corner. The walls were plastered with art and photos like the main room, showing that Johnny apparently was able to pull off a bunch of different tattoo styles. He seemed to have a thing for florals and roses though. The only free space was taken up by a full body mirror at the opposite wall. Johnny sat down on the little stool that was standing by the desk and motioned for Yangyang to sit on the bench while you sat down in the only other chair in the room, made of worn looking black leather.

“Let me see your chest before we start this whole thing,” Johnny spoke to your friend after he had grabbed a pair of silver framed glasses that sat low on his elegant nose and slipped on a fresh pair of black gloves. With only slightly trembling hands, Yangyang pulled his sweater over his head, keeping his hands buried in the fabric. “Looks good to me. Left or right one?” “Ehrm, I haven’t really thought about it,” he confessed. Johnny chuckled. “Spontaneous decision to get your nipple pierced?” “He does it to prove a point to a friend,” you supplied before Yangyang had the chance to answer. “Seems like a valid reason,” the tattoo artist grinned, “You play guitar or anything where the strap could irritate the new piercing?” “Just the violin,” Yangyang supplied, demonstrating how he would hold his instrument. “Then I’d suggest we go for the left one,” Johnny concluded, grabbing a bunch of stuff he needed. “Is it going to hurt badly?” “No idea, mine aren’t pierced.” “The first one is fine,” another voice chimed into the conversation and a pink mess of hair appeared in the doorway. “My client is there and Jaehyun isn’t back from his break yet, have an open ear for the door.” Johnny just hummed but it seemed enough to satisfy Taeyong who disappeared just as quickly as he had appeared.

“You ready?” Johnny asked one last time. Yangyang took a deep but shaky breath and nodded. “You better film this so Ten knows it’s real,” he said, holding out his phone towards you. Rolling your eyes, you got up from your actually really comfortable chair and took the phone from your best friend’s hands while Johnny disinfected Yangyang’s nipple and drew two little circles where the bar would go through it before grabbing a small mirror to show him. “Let’s do this,” your best friend nodded and you pressed record. “It’ll be quick,” Johnny promised, disinfecting one last time before he grabbed a pair of tongs to hold the nipple in place and freed a needle from a foil package. “I’ll count to three and then I’ll start, alright?” “A-Alright.” “Last time to chicken out.” “No, I’m doing this,” Yangyang gritted out, closing his eyes. After that everything happened really fast: Johnny counted to three and steadily pushed the needle through Yangyang’s nipple, who bit his lip hard. He then let the needle dangle from the nipple while freeing a little barbell from another foil package to insert it through the canal he just had made. “And that’s it,” he announced when he secured the little balls on either side of the barbell. You ended the recording when Yangyang left out the breath he had been holding in. “Now no sports, especially no swimming or sexual activities for a while. Clean it well and don’t worry if it gets sore, that’s normal. It can take a while to heal, so be patient and don’t let it get infected. You can get a smaller barbell or a ring once it’s healed. Just come back to get it changed to be safe.” “Fuck I really did that,” Yangyang cursed and looked down to his chest, “I think I need a minute before I can get up.”

“Take your time, I don’t have any clients for another half an hour,” Johnny reassured him, putting the used materials into the trash. “Just please don’t vomit all over the floor or hit your head while fainting.” “That has happened before?” You asked, eyes wide. “Not on me but it’s not unheard of. You sure you don’t want anything?” he asked, turning towards you. His silver framed glasses had slid down his nose a little and you couldn’t deny that the man looked really hot, looking at you from beneath his lashes. “She’s too scared,” Yangyang teased. He couldn’t feel too bad if he still could do that then. “Too bad, I think you would really suit a little conch or something,” the piercer motioned around his own ear to indicate what piercing he meant. “A conch?” You asked, turning towards the mirror to try to imagine it. “Wait let me show you.” Johnny quickly got up to search through the drawers of his desk before he pulled out a little box with a bunch of jewelry, grabbing a small hoop. He stood behind you in front of the mirror. “Hold still for me,” he breathed and bend down to push your hair behind your ear before he carefully put the fake piercing in place. For a moment you could swear that time had stopped. You felt his breath fanning over your skin gently and could smell the intoxicating smell of his cologne. You were so close to each other, you were sure that if you turned your head, your noses would brush against each other. But before you could do anything stupid, Johnny pulled back and gently turned your head so you could see the little silver ring. “I think I could put an even smaller one if you wanted,” he said, watching you through the mirror with an intense gaze from his dark eyes. “I’ve never thought about getting a piercing,” you admitted shyly. While you did get your lobes pierced when you were a child, you never thought of it much. “It looks good. Not so much like daddy’s good girl anymore,” the piercer grinned. You almost choked on air when the words left his plush lips, feeling the heat rush to your cheeks.

“How much?” “For you I’ll do it for free, darling,” he grinned, running a hand through his thick dark hair, making his muscles shift beneath his inked skin. While your brain was still short-circuiting from the nickname, Yangyang seemed to be back to 100%, destroying whatever the atmosphere between you and the tattoo artist just was. “Are you really going to say no to a free piercing, dude?” You could just groan and roll your eyes at your best friend. “Stop calling me dude, Yangyang.” “Only if you get that piercing.” “That’s blackmailing.” “Just do it, it won’t even hurt right?” “It’s just a bit of pressure,” Johnny assured you, his lips curled into a smile. “I can always take it out if I don’t end up liking it,” you thought out aloud. “The beauty of temporary body modifications,” Johnny sighed before he stepped in front of you to take the fake piercing off again. With his face so close to yours again, your eyes traveled over the little silver balls beneath his left eye, over his elegant nose down to the black ring in his lower lip and you briefly wondered what it would feel like to kiss him. “So what will it be?” You looked over to your best friend who had put his hoodie back on and nodded his head enthusiastically, making his fluffy hair flop into his eyes. He really needed a haircut.

“Alright, let’s do this,” you decided. “That’s what I like to hear,” Johnny grinned and moved to get his stuff ready. “Need me to hold your hand?” Yangyang grinned when you took his place on the bench. “I wouldn’t want to contaminate you with girl germs,” you teased, sticking your tongue out at him. “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind some girl germs if they’re coming from such a pretty girl,” Johnny cut in when he rolled back over on his stool, his glasses pushed back up his nose again. You couldn’t even fight the heat that crept onto your face at his words, he sure could feel it radiating off your cheeks from where his gloved hands were touching your skin. “I’ll do it where I placed the fake one, just with a smaller ring, alright?” He spoke softly when he disinfected your ear. You could just nod, anxiety taking over, making your heart race and skin prickle. When you heard the plastic bag that held the sterile needle rip, you pressed your eyes shut and balled your hands to fists. “Take a deep breath for me, doll,” Johnny mumbled, gently caressing your skin where he had grabbed your face to stabilize you. “In and out.” You shakily did as he asked you, his low voice comforting and calming your anxiety a lot. “Now you breathe in and let me count to three, then you gently release that breath. Can you do that for me, darling?” “Yeah,” you breathed, eyes still closed so you missed the soft smile on Johnny’s face. “Alright, deep breath in. One, two, three,” the pain of the needle piercing through your skin made you clench your fists harder, “And breathe out.” You tried your best to release the breath evenly until the pressure of the needle was just a low thudding. “You’re doing great, darling,” the handsome piercer reassured you, “I’ll just push the ring through and we’re all done here. Take another breath for me.” This time the feeling wasn’t as painful, just a really uncomfortable feeling of pressure. “All done, pretty,” Johnny concluded, clicking the ring closed. “Open your eyes.”

When you did open your eyes again, he held the little hand mirror from before in his still gloved hands so you could see the little ring that sat against your ear now. The skin was a bright red and you could feel your pulse throb around the metal but it actually fit the shape of your ear really nicely. “Thank you,” you smiled at Johnny. “It’s been a pleasure,” he winked before gathering the used needle and tissues to throw them away. “Take good care of it and try to not sleep on that side for a couple of nights and it will be healed in no time.” “Let’s go home, big baby,” Yangyang chirped in, already on his feet to leave the room. “I’m starving.” “There’s a good ramen shop a little up the street, not too expensive either,” Johnny recommended.

“Thanks for the piercings, man,” your best friend thanked the artist when he took you back to the main room. “No big deal,” Johnny shrugged and sat down where Taeyong had sat before, putting his long legs up on the counter. “Well, have a nice day, maybe we’ll come back for more some time,” Yangyang grinned, opening the door to leave the shop. “Oh I’m sure you will,” the artist replied, locking eyes with you before winking. “Take good care of that piercing, doll. You know where you have to come to if you want more.” You nodded shyly before bowing to the man. “Thank you, Johnny.” “I’ll see you again,” it wasn’t a question. Somehow you and him both knew that this wouldn’t be the last time you would step into the shady tattoo shop.

The next time that you found yourself in the shady streets of Itaewon came faster than you had thought. This time you were accompanying Jaemin to his tattoo appointment after Jeno had ditched him because he had to take over a shift at the cat café he worked at. (That poor boy had to take antihistamines before every shift because of his allergies but couldn’t resist the charm of the kittens.)   “You’re a lifesaver seriously,” the hyper boy repeated while jumping up and down excitedly, “Sitting still for hours on end is really so boring if you have no one to talk to.” “Can’t you talk to your artist?” You asked confused. “He threatened to stab me with the tattoo gun the last time when I was trying to talk to him while he worked,” Jaemin pouted. You could only imagine how irritating Jaemin and his moods could be to someone who wasn’t used to him. Ever since he had decided that he wanted to commit to what he had dubbed a soft punk look, he had been going to the shop somewhat regularly to start a collection of tattoos and piercings. It had started a year ago when he first had dyed his hair to a light blue color. Shortly after that he had first gotten his ears and then his nose pierced. The two lip rings in his lower lip were his newest addition as far as piercings went. The tattoos came a little later. After much consideration he had made the decision to start a floral piece on his arm, the center would be a hummingbird, all with black ink for now.

After a little bit of Instagram stalking you had easily identified the intricate flowers that adored Jaemin’s upper arm as Johnny’s work and the thought of seeing the handsome tattoo artist again had made your heart beat faster in your chest. Not that Jaemin needed to know that you weren’t coming with him for his sake but rather because of your desire to see the dark haired flirty man again.   You had been thinking about his dark eyes behind his silver framed glasses and how he scrunched his eyebrows when he was concentrating a lot for the last weeks. (Not that you had replayed the video of him piercing Yangyang an unhealthy amount of times or anything…) Every time you took care of your new piercing it reminded you of how his fingers felt on your skin and how his deep voice had gently guided you through everything. Not to forget how easily the pet names had rolled from his lips. And oh god his lips… His Instagram account featured a good amount of pictures of himself both casual and while working and the way his plush lips would curl into a confident smirk did things to your heart. His latest update had been the actual death of yours though. It had shown the new tattoo he had gotten recently: It was an intricate eagle that spread over his muscled chest, the feathers of the wings blending seamlessly into the other art covering his strong shoulders and biceps. Did you already mention that he was freaking shirtless in the picture? And that he was hiding a seriously ripped body beneath the wide T-Shirt he wore the last time you were at the shop? So to say that your thoughts had started to spiral after seeing that post was a little understated.

You still felt a little uneasy when you followed Jaemin through the backstreets of Itaewon but when the shabby door with the neon green ‘open’ sign came in sight, you felt the feeling disappear, only for it to be replaced with a mixture of excitement and anxiety. Jaemin grinned widely when he pushed the door open and his good mood was always infectious, a smile creeping on your lips. This time a new man sat at the counter, lazily rocking back and forth on the chair with his phone in his hand. His hair was dark and hung into his eyes and he wore a dark, long sleeved hoodie, so you couldn’t see if he had as many tattoos as his colleagues but if the tattoos on his hands and neck were any indication, he must be pretty covered as well. You recognized the rose on the back of his hand from one of Johnny’s Instagram posts. When the man looked up, you saw that he didn’t only have tattoos but piercings as well: In his lower lip sat two rings right next to each other, a ring dangled from his nose and two little silver balls sat in the hollows of his dimples that showed when he smiled at Jaemin. “Back for more?” He asked with a deep, rumbling voice and got up to greet Jaemin properly, bumping their shoulders together. “Got an appointment with Johnny for my sleeve,” the blue haired boy replied. “I see the snake bites healed well.” “Done by the best piercer of the shop.” “You know it,” the man laughed, throwing an arm around Jaemin. “Brought your girlfriend?” “I’m just a friend,” you quickly corrected the piercer. (Why couldn’t you just platonically join a friend for his tattoo session?) “Alright, just a friend, I’m Jaehyun. Johnny should be ready by now. You know the way?” Jaemin nodded and pulled you with him to Johnny’s room.

When Jaemin pulled the curtain to the room open, you weren’t prepared for what you were seeing: Johnny was standing in front of the full length mirror with his black button up shirt unbuttoned, applying cream to his still tender looking eagle tattoo on his chest, making his beautiful sunkissed skin glisten. “You’re early, Jaem,” he spoke. “Jaehyun said you were already ready,” the blue haired boy shrugged and plopped down onto the black bench. “Oh you brought company,” Johnny turned around when he spotted you and grinned, “I knew you’d come back, doll. How’s your piercing healing?” You had to summon all your strength to rip your eyes from Johnny’s strong and glistening chest to meet his dark eyes. “It’s fine as far as I know, doesn’t hurt anymore,” you stumbled across your words. Couldn’t he just button his shirt back up? “Let me see.” Before you could protest he had made two big steps and was right in front of you, the intoxicating smell of his perfume filling your senses. He gently tucked your hair back to have a look at the piercing and you swore you could feel electricity buzz beneath your skin where he had touched you. “You took great care of it, darling. Not regretting it yet?” “No, I like it.” I like you. The words had laid on your tongue but you managed to swallow them back down.

“Stop flirting with her, I’m the one paying for your attention,” Jaemin whined from where he was sitting. You of course immediately felt all your blood rush to your head but Johnny just chuckled. “I haven’t seen any cash yet, boy.” The tattoo artist gave you a last wink before turning towards his actual client, buttoning his shirt back up but leaving the last two buttons unbuttoned, letting the head of the eagle just barely poke out. Taking a deep breath you sat down in the worn leather chair while Jaemin handed Johnny a bunch of bills that the taller quickly counted. “Alright, I’m all yours for the next five hours or so,” he grinned, “You saw the drafts I sent you?” Jaemin nodded while he took off his jacket and rolled up the sleeve of his T-Shirt to expose the ink on his arm. It was already beautiful even though it wasn’t even halfway done. The hummingbird was still missing its shading and he hung in the air for now, the flowers and leaves stopping above its head. “Yeah, I’m still not sure about the color though. Can’t we just do more flowers instead?” “Sure but the inner arm and near the elbow is going to hurt like a bitch. So it’s either that or you let me color that hummingbird.” Jaemin groaned dramatically, turning his arm to look into the mirror. “He does look weird just half-finished like that.” “So color it is?” Johnny asked while rolling up the sleeves of his shirt a bit, exposing his own tattoos: A snake like dragon curled around his entire right arm, kept in all black ink. “I really liked that green-blue watercolor thing you sent,” Jaemin supplied when he turned to lie down. “Right, then I’ll do some flowers directly surrounding the bird and color that thing.” He snapped his black gloves on and turned to prepare his machine and the colors.

“Come closer with that stupid chair,” Jaemin whined, making grabby hands at you. After Johnny nodded, you pushed the chair closer with great effort. “Are you going to whine for the whole time?” You groaned but smiled fondly at your friend. “Most likely,” Johnny answered instead of Jaemin and rolled over on his little stool, his silver framed glasses back on his nose and a pen between his lips. “I’ll freehand a bunch of flowers first to make sure they fit around that little guy nicely.” “And I thought you liked putting others in pain,” Jaemin joked when Johnny adjusted a little lamp and began to draw flower after flower. It was really fascinating how quick his hand drew delicate petals and leaves, filling up the space around the hummingbird. “Oh if I put others in pain, they usually like it,” he grinned, his voice dropping an octave. You almost choked on plain air and had to try to mask it as coughing but if the way Johnny’s eyes twinkled was any indication, he had seen right through it and dared to be smug about it. “Wow my third appointment and we’re already talking about kinks?” “Sorry Jaem, not interested,” the artist laughed, “I’m more into cute girls.” He leaned back to examine his drawing, throwing you another quick wink. You barely held in a squeak. He really wasn’t even trying to be subtle about his flirting anymore. “Ready for the big gun?” “Oh dick jokes now, nice,” Jaemin chuckled while you were sure your head was about to explode from how much blood was collecting in there. You covered your hot cheeks with your hands in a hopeless attempt to cool them. “Oh look Johnny, she’s getting shy already.” “I haven’t even started yet, baby.” That was it. This man was going to be the death of you. You really didn’t need to know what it sounded like when he spoke those words that were dripping with honey. “Why did I agree to come with you?” You groaned, hiding your face in your hands. “Because you missed me”, Johnny said at the same time as Jaemin said: “Because you’re a good friend.”

After a beat of silence in which Johnny arranged his actual tattoo gun and Jaemin stared at you while his smile grew bigger and bigger, he asked: “Now which one is it?” “I’m not answering that,” you mumbled from beneath your fingers. “No answer is an answer as well,” Jaemin singsang but luckily the low buzzing of the tattoo machine saved you from any further embarrassment… For now…   “Now hold still or I’ll actually stab you,” Johnny warned before he dipped the needle into black ink and began to trace the lines he had just drawn on with a fine needle. “Yessir,” Jaemin joked, wiggling his eyebrows.

Johnny was unusually quiet while he worked, completely tuning out the chatter of you and Jaemin about shitty professors and assignments. You were absolutely fascinated by the confidence he radiated while dragging the needle over his client’s skin. He went back and forth between two different tattoo guns and rubbed Jaemin’s skin every now and then to get rid of excess ink. Soon Jaemin’s whole upper arm was decorated with delicate flowers and leaves and Johnny leaned back to both take a deep breath while stretching his back and to look at his work. “Let’s take a break before I do the color,” he proposed, wiping down the skin. “It looks great,” you complimented his work, taking a picture for Jaemin so he could see it himself. “Damn that pain really pays off,” your friend grinned, zooming in and out of the picture before posting it to his Instagram. “Does it hurt badly?” “You get used to it,” he shrugged, not taking his eyes from his feed, “It’s more like someone continuously scratching you.” “I can show you if you want,” Johnny chimed in from where he was cleaning his tattoo gun from the black ink. “I don’t think I’m spontaneous enough for a sudden tattoo.” “Not even if I offer it for free again?” He laughed. “I’m not mentally prepared for that,” you tried to reason. “I can still show you how it feels though. Without ink.” You shyly nodded and held out your arm for him that he quickly wiped down with disinfectant when he was done putting a fresh needle into the gun. “Just don’t flinch, darling,” he softly spoke before the buzzing of his tattoo gun filled the silence. You expected it to hurt a lot more when the needle touched your skin but it really wasn’t that bad. It was an odd kind of pain you couldn’t really describe. “It’s not that bad,” you told him, looking into his beautiful brown eyes behind his glasses. “It hurts more when it’s directly on the bone or at a more tender area,” Johnny explained and turned the gun off again, bending down to look at the slightly reddened skin of your arm before chucking the used needle into the nearby trashcan. “Let’s patch that up real quick, just treat it like any other scratch.” You nodded and let the handsome man put a band-aid over it. But before you could pull your arm back again, he leaned down to press a kiss on the cloth “For a good and quick healing,” he breathed and grinned smugly when you quickly turned your head away to hide your heated face.

“When you’re done flirting, will you finally put some color into me?” Jaemin interrupted, grinning widely. “That’s what she said,” you mumbled under your breath, making Johnny chuckle. “All you need to do is ask, darling.” Before you could even wrap your mind around what the tattoo artist had just implied, he had already rolled back over to your blue haired friend to take a look at the hummingbird. “Alright let’s do this,” he grinned before wiping down the skin once more. The buzzing of a new machine filled the room and Jaemin scrunched his eyes shut when the needle dipped in turquoise ink met his skin. “This is nasty,” he complained. “Don’t be a baby,” Johnny murmured, dragging the needle over your friend’s skin that accepted the ink quickly. “You want to hold my hand?” You giggled. What you didn’t expect was for Jaemin to actually reach out to you with his unoccupied arm, making a grabby hand. “Jeno always holds my hand,” he whined. “You’re such a big baby, Nana,” you sighed but still laced your fingers together, yelping loudly when Jaemin squeezed down hard. “You said it didn’t even hurt, you big liar,” you squeezed out between gritted teeth. “You’re not the one getting stabbed,” Jaemin argued, “That shit hurts different than the black.” “It’s a different needle,” Johnny explained, “People usually say it hurts less than outlines though.” “It’s not more or less, it’s just different.” “Well it’s going to hurt more if you keep seizing up like that, relax.” “You’re one to fucking talk,” Jaemin sounded upset. “Don’t curse at me for giving you a pretty tattoo,” Johnny just said, dipping his needle into the little pot that held the color again. “Talk him through it,” the artist said to you, looking up from behind his glasses that had slipped down his nose again.

“Hey, remember that time when Donghyuck was so drunk he wanted to jump from the roof into the pool at that frat house?” You quickly said, the silly story coming to mind first. The memory made Jaemin giggle. “Jeno and Mark had so much trouble holding him back once he managed to climb out of the window,” the blue haired boy chuckled. “They were lucky they didn’t fall off.” “That would have made for an even better story though,” Jaemin laughed. “They could have hurt themselves,” you said, scandalized, “You’re hanging out with Renjun too much.” Jaemin didn’t answer, instead he just hummed and wiggled his dark eyebrows.

“Did you ever go to college?” You asked Johnny out of curiosity even though Jaemin had said that the artist preferred to keep quiet and concentrate on his work. “Do I look like I went?” He just laughed, cocking one of his stupidly perfect eyebrows at you when he looked up. “Well, I didn’t want to assume,” you shied away under his gaze. “I dropped out of high school to learn tattooing,” Johnny shared while painting Jaemin’s skin as blue as his hair, “I wasn’t good in school anyways. So art school or something wasn’t an option either. Not that I would have had any money for that.” “What made you want to pick up tattooing then?” You asked curiously. “Art usually is very temporarily and if you make a mistake, you can just erase it or paint over it with another color. Not so much with tattoos. I like that. It’s immortal as long as you don’t start shooting lasers at it.” “I’ve never thought about it like that,” you confessed. Tattooing had never seemed like art to you but that was exactly what it was. Just not on a canvas but under your skin. “Thinking about getting one now?” Jaemin teased, squeezing your hand that he still held. “I haven’t even told my parents about the piercing,” you scoffed, “They would disown me.” “Well too bad, I know a pretty good tattoo artist,” he joked and poked his tongue out. “Do you now?” Johnny asked, a grin on his lips, wiping down Jaemin’s arm before going in with a lighter color. “Yeah, he works in this shady ass shop in Itaewon and I am pretty sure you can buy drugs there as well.” “Those are not for sale,” the artist chuckled when he saw your scandalized expression. “It’s just anesthetics for certain piercing procedures, calm down doll.” “So sadly, it turns out you can’t buy drugs at their shop but it still looks shady and I’m pretty sure they’re paying part of the mafia so the police won’t come to investigate.” “I know nothing of transactions of this sort,” Johnny commented before you could get an actual heart attack. Illegally tattooing and piercing was one thing but mingling with the mafia was a whole other thing. “Anyways, he does pretty cool tattoos and pierces as well,” Jaemin continued, a grin on his lips, “Also talking male to male here, he’s pretty ripped.” At that Johnny started grinning as well. “Wanna know his name?” Jaemin asked you when Johnny turned to clean his needle and you just rolled your eyes but nodded, wondering what he was getting out of all of this. “It’s Jaehyun.” “Excuse me?” Johnny exclaimed with wide eyes when both you and your blue haired friend started laughed at his stupid joke. “This kid,” he mumbled and shook his head before putting the needle back to Jaemin’s skin who seemed to have forgotten to whine about the pain.

The rest of the appointment was spend with you and Jaemin chatting about this and that and a short video call from a red eyed Jeno who had finished his shift at the cat café and wanted to apologize and promised to buy you two dinner after you were done. “I think that’s all I can do for today,” Johnny said after he had stared at the little hummingbird for a while, “Your skin took the color well but if I do any more, I’ll stress the skin too much. I can go in another time if I need to fix anything.” Jaemin nodded, sitting up so he could inspect the colorful hummingbird in the mirror. “Wow that looks sick,” he commented, his eyes going wide, “Totally worth the pain.” “That’s what I wanna hear,” the artist grinned, grabbing some paper towels to rub the tattoo down once more. “Let me snap a picture to post.”

After both men had taken about 20 photos each, Johnny quickly wrapped Jaemin’s arm in plastic wrap, reminding him how to take care of it. “Text me for the next session, I think we could fit some pretty roses at the bottom. Maybe add a dash of color here and there or other animals,” the artist smiled, slipping the glasses off his nose, gently placing them on the table. “I’ll think about it but first I gotta slave away behind the bar to make more money,” Jaemin sighed, shrugging his jacket back on. “And you darling?” Johnny asked, putting on his confident smile again. “When will I see you again?” You just stared at him, at a loss for an answer. Did he really want to see you again? But before you could even open your mouth, Jaemin had already pulled your phone from your grasp, unlocked it and shoved it towards Johnny. “Put your number in already,” he sighed and rolled his eyes dramatically. Laughing, Johnny did as your friend had said. “Very smooth, Jaem.” “I- I guess I’ll text you,” you stuttered when Johnny gave your phone back, your fingers tingling where his touched yours. “I’ll be waiting, darling,” he winked, raking a hand through his inky strands. “Alright, time to leave, before you start drooling,” Jaemin destroyed the intense atmosphere and grabbed your arm to pull you back to the main room and out of the parlor, leaving a laughing Johnny behind in his room.

“I wasn’t even drooling, what the fuck Jaemin,” you argued when you were outside, your phone clutched to your chest. “Stop complaining, I got you his number, you should be thankful,” he just grinned, absolutely shameless, tugging you along through the little street. “I will not thank you for embarrassing me in front of him,” you pouted, unlocking your phone to confirm that Johnny had indeed put his number into the contacts with a little black heart behind his name.

“Is it too early to text him?” You asked when you and Jaemin sat in the subway on the way to his and Jeno’s dorm to take him up on his offer for food. Your friend just laughed at you, making an elderly man scowl at the two of you, who shook his head in disapproval. Well, Jaemin’s visuals didn’t help him when he acted like this in public. But as long as he didn’t care, you wouldn’t care either. “Text him after we’ve eaten,” he advised you. “Then you don’t seem as desperate as you are,” he added, which earned him a punch to his not tattooed arm.

All through dinner, Jaemin retold every embarrassing moment that happened at the tattoo parlor, making Jeno laugh so hard that he almost choked on his rice. You really needed to find new friends. These ones were just harassing you at this point. (Aside from the fact that Jaemin had indeed managed to get you Johnny’s number, you’d thank him later when he couldn’t make fun at you.)

Later that night, you laid in bed in your own dorm room, staring at the screen of your phone. Your fingers were hovering over the keyboard but you really couldn’t think of what you should text Johnny. You didn’t want to seem weird. With how confident he was, he probably did this a lot and you were too proud to make a fool of yourself. Groaning you tossed and turned in your bed for a while, still staring at the empty chat box that by now must be mocking you for your cowardice. Sighing you typed out another short message to immediately delete it again. Should you just send him a simple ‘Hi’ or ask him if he had eaten? How the rest of his day went? In moments like this you whished you were more confident in yourself.

The sound of an incoming message suddenly filled the room and made you jerk. When you saw Johnny’s name on the screen, your heart first stopped for a second before it started beating about three times as fast as it should. How did that happen? With shaking hands you unlocked the phone to see that you in fact didn’t delete the last message but accidentally send it. Luckily it wasn’t as embarrassing as it could have been and Johnny had just answered that he was glad that you had finally texted him. Before you could think of an answer he sent another text asking you why you were still awake this late when he expected you to be a ‘good girl’. You could practically hear his smirk and you couldn’t fight the heat that rose to your cheeks. You replied that you were already in bed and were about to sleep if he was concerned about your sleep pattern that honestly wasn’t the greatest ever since the semester had started. ‘Oh, sexting already’ he replied, making you shriek in embarrassment. Was this what your message had looked like? ‘You alone?’ He asked and with a furiously beating heart you answered with a simple yes.

A couple of seconds went by with no answer from him which definitely didn’t lower your anxiety before the loud sound of your ringtone tore through the silence, Johnny’s name on the display. You quickly answered it to not wake up anyone on your floor, pressing it tightly to your ear. “Hello?” “Good evening, miss,” you heard the rumble of Johnny’s voice, “Missed me already?” “You’re the one who called,” you argued, making the man on the other end of the line giggle. “That is true.” “Why did you call?” You asked curiously, shifting to lie down on your back, staring at the ceiling. “Just wanted some company. My last client just left and I’m cleaning up the shop for today, the others already left,” he explained. “Jaehyun and Taeyong?” “Yeah those two guys,” he sighed and you heard him rummaging in the background. “Is it just you three at the shop?” “Yeah, it was just me and Taeyong at first but Jaehyun is an incredibly quick learner once he had found someone who was willing to teach him a thing or two. So he quickly joined the two of us.” You just hummed, your fingers playing with your hair, unsure of what to say. It was somehow easier to talk to him like this when you couldn’t see his eyes twinkle in mischief or his lips curling up in that confident smirk. Like this he was just a boy who wanted company and not an insanely handsome, heavily tattooed man who flirted shamelessly. “Do you usually work this late?” You asked to fill the silence and out of curiosity as well. If the shop wasn’t legal there sure weren’t any laws regulating how long the artists were supposed to work. “I don’t,” Johnny laughed, “But thank you for your concern. I was just tattooing a friend for free after my last paying client left because he was in the area.” “You do that a lot? Offering up your services for free?” “Just for friends and special people, doll,” he chuckled, “Why? Are you considering getting inked after all?”

Well were you? You didn’t even know at this point. Whenever you had thought of tattoos you had only ever thought about big bold and very black lines, of skulls, names of exes on your skin forever and warped pictures of people’s faces. But never of delicate flowers, bright colors and intricate designs. Johnny had made it obvious that it was art that he was doing and that it wasn’t just some technical procedure to get color beneath your skin. “I- I don’t know,” you confessed, “I never thought much about tattoos until Jaemin started getting them.” “I thought so,” the artist chuckled, “But I bet I could design a pretty piece that would compliment you nicely.” “I don’t think I’m the type for it though,” you argued, thinking about the amount of ink on Johnny’s body and you hadn’t even seen half of it. (Not that you planned on doing so but you were curious to know if there was more hiding beneath his clothes.) “It doesn’t have to be an obvious one. Just something only you know about.” That really got you thinking. His tattoos were really delicate and you had seen that he could write in really pretty cursive. “I don’t want to pressure you into anything, darling. But if you ever want one, you know who to ask.”

“Yeah, thank you Johnny,” you murmured, lost in thought about how you would look like with multiple tattoos. “I like the way you say my name.” “You- what?” You stuttered when he caught you off guard like that, making him laugh. “You’re cute,” he said once he had calmed down. “Stop pouting,” he added when you weren’t answering. “How did you know I was?” Johnny chuckled again. “I just knew.” “Thank you for keeping me company,” he said when you hadn’t said anything in a while. “It’s alright. I like talking to you,” you confessed. You could hear a door closing and his deep chuckle on the other end of the line. “You probably hear that a lot…” you murmured, embarrassed at how the words had slipped past your lips. “I actually don’t,” Johnny said, “I appreciate the words, darling. I’m all done cleaning up now, thank you for keeping me company.” “It’s fine, no need to thank me.” “You should go sleep now, it’s already late. Sweet dreams, doll. Maybe I’ll even visit you.” “Goodnight, Johnny,” you squeaked. The last thing you heard before he ended the call was another chuckle and a hushed goodbye. Smiling widely you turned your face into your pillow to muffle the scream you let out. How could this man make your heart beat faster like that with just a few simple words? And why did this short phone call make you so happy? Sighing, you put your phone to your nightstand and cuddled tightly into your blanket, the thought of Johnny’s smooth voice guiding you to sleep where he indeed did visit you.

After that initial phone call, Johnny called you more and more often. Sometimes when he was on his lunch break and his colleagues were still working, sometimes later at night when your head was spinning from studying and he was cleaning up the shop. You two talked about your days, you complained about professors, deadlines and assignments and he told you about tattooing and his sometimes crazy clients. And every now and then Johnny would bring up his offer to tattoo you. Which made your thoughts spiral every single time. In class you would scroll through Johnny’s Instagram account, imagining what some of the intricate, more feminine designs would look like on your skin. After much consideration you definitely ruled out anything big or colorful. But something small wouldn’t hurt, right? Well it would, you would be giving him permission to stab you with an automated needle a bunch of times which in itself sounded really scary. But Jaemin’s tattoo looked nice. And after his skin had peeled, the hummingbird truly looked absolutely incredible and you couldn’t wait for him to visit the shop again to keep working on the sleeve.

So in a whim of bravery and with the help of the little glass of wine you had drank you told Johnny that he should tattoo you. “Are you for real?” He asked. “I am,” you giggled, “I’ve thought about it a lot the past weeks.” “I am honored, darling. What will it be?” “Something small and no colors please,” you told him. “That’s all you’re asking for?” “Yeah, I�� I like the simple black stuff you do,” you stuttered, suddenly really nervous and unsure if this was actually a good idea. “I’ll design something that’ll match you perfectly,” Johnny promised, sounding very eager. You could hear some rummaging on his end of the line. “I could fit you in Friday evening after my last client. It won’t be too late and I need some time to come up with a design that’s worthy of being in your body.” You swallowed dryly. If you said yes, you couldn’t back out anymore. You would be getting inked. Secretly. Without telling anyone. Not to mention illegally. In a reasonably shady shop that was owned by the most gorgeous man you had ever met. Taking a deep breath, you nodded before you realized that he couldn’t see that. “I’ll be there,” you promised. “I’m looking forward to it, doll,” Johnny said before he wished you sweet dreams just like every time when he called you late at night.

The neon light in front of the door to the shop was already shut off when you arrived the next Friday late in the evening but the door gave away when you pushed it open with trembling hands after taking a deep breath. “I thought you weren’t going to come, darling, you left me waiting,” Johnny greeted you, jumping down from the counter he had sat on. He was wearing a simple black t-shirt with a little white rose design over his heart that fit him perfectly. His hair was elegantly swept back, exposing the freshly shaved part on the side. “I’m sorry,” you mumbled, fumbling with the sleeves of your hoodie. “Don’t be nervous, I’ll take good care of you,” he promised, quickly locking the front door before taking you to his room where he motioned for you to sit on the bench. “Do you trust me?” He asked, tipping your head up so you would look into his dark eyes. “I- I think I do,” you stuttered. “I won’t tell you what you’re getting,” Johnny grinned and your eyes widened in shock. “You will like it and it’s not that big.” “I’m not sure, Johnny,” you voiced your concerns but he just pressed his index finger to your lips before you could say any more. Your breath hitched and he could definitely feel your shaky exhale against his finger. “You said you trust me, doll.” Taking another shaky breath, you nodded and a smile spread over his plush lips. “I need you to take off your shirt and lie down on your left side,” he spoke, his voice casual but you could feel something shift in the air between you. At a loss for words you just nodded again and did as Johnny asked when he turned around to gather his stuff.

“Take a couple of deep breaths for me, darling,” he instructed you when he rolled over on his little stool, his glasses sitting low on his nose and his hands already gloved. “It’s going on your ribs,” he told you so you wouldn’t flinch when he quickly dragged a razor over the area before disinfecting it. “I’ll draw a quick sketch first. I don’t want to mess it up when it’s going on your beautiful skin.”  You felt the tip of his pen meet your skin in a gentle stroke, tickling your skin so you had to giggle. “Don’t make me mess this up, baby,” Johnny scolded, playfully slapping your back. “It tickles,” you pouted. “I’m trying to be gentle with you,” he said and you could hear the smile in his voice. While he was sketching, you closed your eyes, trying to figure out what he was drawing. But all you could figure out was that it was something rather small which calmed your nerves a bit.

“All done,” the tattoo artist announced after a while and quickly pulled his little side table with his tattoo gun and ink closer. When the low buzzing noise filled the air, you pressed your eyes shut even tighter, balling your hands into fists. Technically you knew it wouldn’t hurt badly, Johnny had shown you before. But you were still getting stabbed a bunch of times and fuck, you were really doing this. Letting this man put something on your body that was going to be there forever and you didn’t even know what it was going to be. “Relax, darling. I’ll be as gentle as I can be,” he promised, running a hand up and down your back. “It’s going to be on me forever,” you said. “It is. Your own personal piece of art on your body. Just for you to have.” That was a beautiful way to see it, you thought. It’s not just some pigment stabbed into your skin but art. Something unique no one else had. And Johnny would be painting it on just you for you and you alone. “Okay, let’s do this,” you breathed. “That’s my good girl,” Johnny praised and the words made your stomach twist with a feeling you didn’t want to further explore.

The pain was bearable. It was weird at first and the ribs sure hurt more than it had on your arm and the bones somehow seemed to amplify the buzzing, making it travel through your body. You had to grit your teeth when Johnny went over what seemed to be the middle part of the tattoo, where he grazed the skin in quick successions. “That hurts.” “I know, baby. But you’re almost done. You’re doing so well for me,” he soothed and gave you a small break to breathe before he went back in.

“All done, darling,” Johnny announced a little later, turning off his machine and rubbing the tattoo down with a wet paper towel. “Can I see it now?” You asked. “In a bit, keep your eyes closed,” he spoke softly and took your hands in his now ungloved ones to first guide you into a sitting position and then off the bench and over to what you assumed to be the mirror. He turned you so your side was facing the glass and put one of his big hands on your waist. It felt hot on your exposed skin and made goosebumps break out on your skin. “Open your eyes, doll.” You did and looked directly into his dark chocolate brown eyes behind his glasses. “I’m too scared to look now, is that silly?” You asked, losing yourself in his eyes and leaning towards his body that just seemed to radiate heat. “It’s beautiful, just like you,” he assured you, squeezing your waist reassuringly. After taking a deep breath, you tore your gaze away from him and turned to look at yourself in the mirror where a delicate, black chrysanthemum was awaiting you on the skin over your ribs. It indeed looked beautiful, absolutely stunning. It was small but looked so delicate and realistic and fit well with the curves of your body. “It’s stunning,” you whispered.

“Thank you, Johnny.” “No need to thank me, darling,” he chuckled and when your eyes met again, his were dark and almost hungry. “But I think I should reward you for being so good while I tattooed you.” Before you could ask what kind of reward he was talking about, he had already connected your lips in a passionate kiss and pulled your body flush against his. You couldn’t help but sigh now that you finally knew what the metal of his lip piercing felt like against your lips. Johnny was a good kisser and you were boneless in his strong grip not long after he had slipped his tongue past your lips after you had moaned into the kiss when he had started to push you backwards to the bench again, hoisting you back up. “Let me make up for the pain I’ve caused you,” he breathed against your swollen lips when you broke apart to breathe.   “Just keep kissing me like that,” you demanded, burying your hands in his soft black locks to kiss him again. He chuckled and let you dominate the kiss for a while, toying with the black ring in his lip and exploring his mouth. Meanwhile Johnny’s hands started to wander from their place on your waist down to grope at your ass, pulling you forward against him, so you could feel his growing erection between your legs which made a spark of arousal shoot through you.

“Let me make you feel good, baby,” he breathed heavily while kissing down your neck, gently taking the skin between his teeth. “Please Johnny,” you begged, feeling the arousal simmer low in your stomach. Grinning he pulled back and raked his dark eyes over your figure before making quick work of your belt and sliding your jeans along with your panties from your legs, only shortly struggling with your shoes. “It’s not Johnny now, baby,” he rasped when he kneeled down in front of you, pulling you towards him roughly, so your glistening core was exposed to him. “It’s Daddy,” he added before licking a broad stripe through your folds and flicking his tongue at your clit. You could just mewl and throw your head back in pleasure. You didn’t know that this would be such a turn on for you. “Say it, baby,” Johnny demanded, lazily dragging his tongue over your sensitive bundle of nerves. “Please Daddy,” you whimpered and you could feel his low groan vibrating against your core. He wasted no time to attach his plush lips to your clit, gently sucking and grazing his teeth over the little nub, making you mewl and shiver in pleasure. He definitely knew what he was doing, altering between stimulating your clit to the point where it almost became too much before he focused on dragging his tongue through your folds, gently prodding against your entrance before it gave away. When Johnny moaned you could feel it travel straight through you, making your head swim with pleasure. Looking down to the man kneeling in front of you, you were met with his dark eyes, staring straight up into yours. Moaning, you threaded your fingers into his soft hair and pressed his face closer to your core, not even taking the chance that he could move back. “Feels so good, Daddy,” you moaned when he spread your labia with his fingers so his tongue could dive deeper into you, stimulating your velvety walls. When he hummed it send sweet vibrations through your core and you could feel your orgasm approach almost embarrassingly fast. “Mmmh, so close Daddy.” “You wanna cum, baby?” He rasped, his hot breath fanning over your clit that he was lazily rubbing with two fingers. You bit your lip and met his dark eyes, nodding furiously. “Then beg for it, doll. I could stay here for hours,” Johnny spoke before he turned his head to mouth at your thigh, gently biting and sucking at the sensitive skin until it bruised under his ministrations. “I would just keep you right on the edge for hours until you’re a shaking mess for me, begging for release.” His lips split into a wicked grin when he saw how his dirty words affected you and he slowed his fingers on your clit until it was just enough to keep you stimulated but not enough to make the knot in your stomach snap. “Please Daddy,” you whimpered. “Please what baby?” He rested his head on your thigh, looking up at you from innocent eyes as if he wasn’t driving you insane with just his fingers. “What is it beautiful?” He repeated the question, replacing his fingers with his tongue. “You wanna cum?” “Yes please,” you whined, grinding your hips against his tongue to get more friction. “Well if you ask so nicely…” Johnny immediately slipped two fingers inside you with almost no resistance from how ridiculously wet you were and began pumping them in and out of your core fast, crooking them to search for your sweet spot. “Come on baby,” he growled, locking eyes with you again when he closed his lips around your clit. Almost screaming his name, you came hard when his fingers finally found your sweet spot, rubbing at it mercilessly to help you ride out your orgasm. Your thighs were shaking and you fell back onto the bench, the leather sticking to your back where you just laid for a while, your head spinning, breathing heavily.

“You look gorgeous like that,” Johnny complimented you, when he got back up from the floor, raking his clean hand through the mess that was his hair before he shamelessly took his fingers that were covered in your essence into his mouth, sucking them clean. Through half lidded eyes you could see the way he was still straining against the fabric of his jeans and the sight made your mouth water. “You’re still hard,” you said breathless.   “I am,” he said matter of factly. You wordlessly let your thighs fall open for him, exposing your core to him. “Oh baby,” Johnny cursed, pressing the heel of his palm against his bulge, “As much as I want to fuck you right now, you still have a fresh tattoo, doll.” “Please, Johnny, I want it,” you begged. “Shh, baby,” he soothed you rubbing a hand over your thigh, “Let me dress that tattoo and then I’ll take you upstairs to fuck you on an actual bed like you deserve.” You nodded, amazed by his amount of self-control.

Johnny worked quickly and efficiently: Cleaning your tattoo one last time before putting some ointment on it to keep it moisturized. At last he gently taped down a small sheet of plastic foil to keep it safe. “All done, beautiful,” he spoke before pecking your lips, “You still want to come upstairs with me?” “Yes Daddy,” you answered and you swore you could see his eyes darken just from the word alone. “Hold on tightly,” he ordered before scooping you up into his arms, holding you up by your thighs. Squealing you quickly wrapped your arms and legs around him, holding on tightly. “I’ll get your clothes before we open up tomorrow,” he mumbled when he carried you through the back door of the shop that lead to a dusty staircase. You pressed your body closer to his, nuzzling your face into his neck where the smell of his cologne was the strongest, to have some of his warmth seep into your skin when you started to shiver from the cold air. Lazily you let your lips travel over his skin, sucking a mark next to a splash of ink.

Johnny quickly grabbed the keys to his apartment’s door from atop of the doorframe (not really safe) and unlocked his door while holding you up with just one of his arms, the display of strength making your head spin. With quick steps he crossed the way to his bed and gently laid you down on the soft sheets, immediately crawling on top of you, crowding you against the mattress. “I knew you would look good in my bed,” he rasped, kissing your neck while his hands made quick work of the bra that you were still wearing for some reason. “You’re gorgeous, doll,” he breathed after he had sat up on his knees, looking down at you with dark eyes, his big hands roaming your body. Feeling shy under all the attention and compliments he was giving you, you tried to hide your face behind your fingers but he wasn’t having any of it, quickly grabbing your wrists in one hand to pin them above your head. “Don’t hide from me baby. Daddy wants to see how much you’re enjoying yourself.” You could just nod, trying to force down the whimper that almost spilled past your lips, he hadn’t even done much yet and you were already feeling arousal pulse through your veins. “I couldn’t hear your answer,” Johnny teased, gently grabbing one of your boobs to massage the soft flesh. “Yes, Daddy.” “That’s my good girl,” he grinned, releasing your wrists to slip his T-Shirt over his head, revealing his strong chest where the eagle majestically spread its wings and the hard lines of his abs. “Like what you see?” He asked smugly, climbing off the bed to unbuckle his belt and slip his jeans off his narrow hips, revealing strong, muscled thighs. One of them was covered with the face of a growling panther while the other was decorated with a colorful koifish tattoo that disappeared beneath the fabric of his dark boxers that were doing very little to hide a prominent bulge. “Let me,” you breathed and crawled over to hook your thumbs into the waistband. But before you pulled them down, you pressed a couple of kisses to the cherry blossom branch tattoo that seemed to stretch from his back over his hipbone and further down, mingling with the koi tattoo further down. With every centimeter of skin you exposed, more ink from the blossoms became visible and you kissed every single one of the delicate flowers. When his length finally sprang free, you had to swallow dryly: His cock was huge and hung heavy between his legs. Licking your lips you looked up to him, to find him grinning down at you. “Go to town, baby.”

He didn’t need to tell you twice, you were itching to feel his heavy weight on your tongue. You pressed a sweet kiss to his tip before placing a hand at the base only to find him surprisingly soft as you experimentally pumped your hand once. “It takes a while for it to get fully hard,” he groaned when you moved your hand up and down his shaft a couple of times, feeling it pulse beneath your fingers. Damn if he wasn’t even fully hard, how big would he be if he was? Holding him at the base, you licked a broad stripe up the whole length before you swiped your tongue around the pink head, pulling another groan from Johnny’s lips. Taking a deep breath, you finally took him in your mouth and hollowed your cheeks, tasting his skin. The weight on your tongue felt just right and you couldn’t help but moan as you slowly started to take more and more of him until you felt him hit the back of your throat. Shit, you were barely able to fit half of his length in your mouth like this. “You’re so big,” you moaned when you pulled off of him with a wet pop, spreading your saliva down the shaft with both of your hands. Johnny just hummed and grabbed a handful of your hair to shove your mouth back onto his dick. He cursed when the velvety heat surrounded him again and gently began to thrust in and out your mouth. “Fuck you look so good with my cock in your mouth,” he breathed heavily. You could only moan where your lips were stretched around his length and hollow your cheeks when he pulled out, the grip he had on your hair keeping you in place while he snapped his hips. “Shit baby,” Johnny cursed when he pulled out, panting while he rested the head of his cock on your outstretched tongue. “I could cum like this.” You whined pathetically, looking up at him with pleading eyes. He chuckled and gently slapped his cock against your lips, smearing them with precum. “But you don’t want that, don’t you, baby? You want my cock inside you? Stretching you out?” “Yes Daddy, please. I need it so bad,” you blabbered, not even knowing where those words were coming from but you seemed to have said the right thing with how Johnny’s dick twitched in his hand.

“Then get on your hands and knees for me, baby. Ass up.” It was almost comically how fast you complied, baring yourself to him. “Such a good girl,” he praised, grabbing your asscheeks to knead and pull them apart. “Beautiful.” “Please Daddy,” you begged him, arching your back further. “Patience baby,” he chuckled. A frustrated groan got stuck in your throat and turned into a drawn out whine when he pushed two of his fingers inside you, pumping them quickly and curling them to find your sweet spot again. Soon two fingers became three and he had reduced you to a moaning mess with how he abused your sweet spot once he had found it again. “You think you’re ready for my cock, baby?” “Yes. Oh god, yes please,” you begged while shamelessly grinding back on his fingers that he had stilled inside of you. “Spread your cheeks for me,” he ordered while quickly grabbing a condom from his bedside table and rolling it onto his cock. Balancing your weight on your knees and shoulders, you reached around yourself to pull your asscheeks apart so Johnny could see your core clenching around nothing. “You’re such a good girl for me,” he rasped, running his palm along the curve of your body while lazily thrusting his cock through your folds, making it glisten with your essence. Finally you could feel him nudging at your entrance with the thick head of his cock. “You want it, baby?” “Yes please Daddy,” you gasped, trying hard to be good and not grind back against him. “You’re such a good girl for me,” he chuckled, “And good girls get what they want if they ask so politely.” With that he finally sank into you in one agonizingly slow thrust until you could feel his hip bones press against your skin. You had to screw your eyes shut and bite your lip to suppress a whimper. You had never felt so full before.

“Fuck baby, you’re so tight,” Johnny groaned, grabbing you by the dip of your waist with his big hands, grinding you on his cock. “I’m so full, Daddy,” you gasped when he slowly pulled out until only the head of his cock was inside you before he languidly thrust back in. “Yeah? You like that? Being stuffed full of my cock?” You could only moan and nod where your head was pressed into the sheets. His cock was so big that it seemed to press against every good spot that was inside you, setting your nerve endings on fire, the pain from being stretched like that only adding to your pleasure. “You‘re sucking me right back in baby,” he cursed and gripped your waist harder, pulling you back on his cock as he picked up the pace, low groans falling from his lips. Your moans got progressively louder and louder the faster Johnny snapped his hips. “Hands behind your back, baby,” he ordered panting and immediately grabbed both your wrists in his hands to use them as leverage so he could fuck into you faster, the change of angle and pace making you moan his name. Your head was swimming with pleasure and you could only moan and mewl beneath him, imagining how he would bite his lip while watching his dick disappear inside you over and over again, stretching out the delicate skin of your sex. “God baby, your ass looks amazing,” Johnny groaned, praise after praise falling from his lips that reduced you to a moaning mess.

With one particularly hard thrust he buried himself to the hilt inside you and draped his body over yours, his hot breath fanning over your face when he spoke, a deep rumble in his chest while grinding his dick right against your sweet spot that had you seeing colors behind your closed eyes. “Wanna see you bounce on my dick, doll. Can you do that for me?” Taking a deep breath, you nodded. Your ability to form coherent sentences had left you as soon as he had begun to fuck you in earnest. “You’re such a good girl,” he purred and gently pulled out, making you whimper from the loss. You felt the bed dip next to you and when you opened your eyes, you were met with Johnny’s pleased smirk as he leaned against the headboard of the bed, his cock resting against his hip, too heavy to properly stand up and you couldn’t stop another whimper. “Come on baby, I know you want it,” he grinned, crooking a finger in a ‘come closer’ motion. Dragging your limbs from beneath you with great effort, you climbed onto his lap, immediately claiming his lips in a messy kiss. You buried your hands in his stupidly perfect hair to mess it up and tug at the inky strands, causing Johnny to moan into the kiss. “Hmm, my baby is feisty,” he chuckled when he broke the kiss, the pupils of his dark eyes blown so wide that they seemed almost black. “But you promised me to ride my dick,” he reminded you. “And I’m gonna,” you slurred, reaching between your bodies to grab his cock, giving it a couple of strokes. “But turn around for me baby. Wanna see how much my fat cock is going to stretch you out,” he rasped, playfully biting your lips. “But I want to see you too,” you complained. “Oh you can,” he grinned and pointed over your shoulder. You reluctantly turned around before you saw what he meant. Right across from the bed was a big mirror and you gasped because of how fucked out you already looked. A couple of tears had rolled down your cheeks and messed up your makeup and your lipstick was smeared around your lips.

You carefully grabbed Johnny’s cock again and held it steady so you could sink down on him, watching yourself in the mirror until you sat snug on his lap and had to close your eyes because the feeling was so overwhelming. He felt even bigger like that. “You okay, baby?” He asked, grabbing your hips tightly to help you swivel them on his cock, making it press into your walls just how you liked it. “How does your cock feel even bigger like this?” You gasped as you leaned forward and slowly started to ride him at first to get used to his size and figure out the best angle for you. Your legs shook with the effort to keep your rhythm but the look Johnny had on his face, his eyes glued to where you two were connected, made it worth it. Suddenly a wicked grin spread on his lips and he snapped his hips up when you lowered yourself again, tearing loud moans from both of you. “Fuck, do that again,” you demanded when you raised your hips again. “What’s the magic word?” Johnny teased, holding you up so you wouldn’t drop down again. “Please, Daddy.” Groaning he started to snap his hips up every time you ground down on him, making your skin slap together with an obscene noise.

God you wanted to die on his dick. “Do you now?” Johnny laughed. Shit did you say that out loud? “Want to feel how deep it goes inside you?” He rasped, wrapping his strong arms around your waist. You went lax in his hold and mewled helplessly. Who knew that a little display of strength and a big dick were such turn ons for you that your brain was reduced to mush. Grinning he carefully pulled you up and against his chest and draped your legs over his after he had planted his feet firmly onto the mattress. “Watch, baby,” he ordered as he lifted you off of him until only the tip was barely inside you anymore before letting you drop down again. You mewled and thrashed in his hold, the feeling just on the edge of too much. Feeling him deep inside you was one thing but actually seeing it was a whole other thing and it messed with your head. Curiously you pressed your hand down on your lower stomach when Johnny had started to piston his hips up into you instead of dropping you down onto his cock every time and you swore you could feel him move inside you. A drawn out curse left your lips and you threw your head back onto his shoulder.

With the way he was snapping his hips up you could feel your orgasm approach at lightning speed and you were so far gone that you shamelessly reached between your legs to stimulate your clit. “Fuck baby, you’re so hot like this,” Johnny groaned, grinding his dick inside you as you quickly rubbed your clit, toeing right on the edge. “Please Daddy,” you cried out, not sure what you were even begging for. “You gonna cum on my cock?” He rasped, snapping his hips harshly, “Wrapped around my big cock stretching you out like this?” You nodded your head furiously, your eyes screwed shut. You were so close that you could already feel your toes curling. “Show me baby. Show Daddy how good his cock makes you feel.” That’s what pushed you over the edge, the way he was panting in your ear, his voice strained from how he was drilling into you. The coil in your stomach snapped and you almost screamed his name, your body curling inwards and thighs shivering as your orgasm washed over you, making a bunch of colors explode behind your lids. In the back of your mind you registered Johnny’s curses and how he was grinding his cock inside you to help you ride out your orgasm. “Such a good girl,” he praised when your body went lax on top of him, your chest heaving with heavy breaths. You briefly wondered if you had ever cum this hard and you couldn’t think of any other time. “Thank you Daddy,” you panted, turning your face to press a messy kiss to his plush lips that were bitten raw. He chuckled lowly when you whimpered when his still hard cock shifted when you tried to turn around.

“Will you let me fuck you for a little longer, baby?” He asked, running a hand through your sweaty hair. Instead of answering him, you lifted yourself off his dick to turn around on his lap, capturing his lips again. “Want you to ruin me,” you whispered between kisses, “Want you to ruin me for any other men. Want to only remember how you feel inside of me.” Johnny growled deep in his chest before he pushed you down onto the bed, hungrily licking into your mouth. “You’re the one who is ruining me,” he panted, rising to his knees. He quickly grabbed your legs and threw them over his shoulders before he sank into you again with a low groan. This time he didn’t waste any time with building up the pace and immediately snapped his hips harshly, chasing his own orgasm. “You’re taking me so well, baby,” he panted, folding your thighs to your chest so he could push into you even deeper, making you see stars with how he was nailing your sweet spot with the new angle. And even though you had just cum, you felt another orgasm build inside your stomach. A row of curses left Johnny’s lips when he could watch his dick slide in and out of you again and he gripped your thighs so hard you were sure you’d have bruises there tomorrow. But that was something you’d worry about later, right now your world was only made up of the handsome man with his huge cock that was currently rearranging your guts with how vigorously he was snapping his hips, making your skin slap together with lewd sounds.

“I’m gonna cum baby,” Johnny grunted, his hips losing their rhythm. “On me,” you managed to choke out, still lost in your own pleasure. Another groan left his bitten lips before he quickly pulled out and ripped the condom off, jerking his cock with quick strokes, his eyes fixed to yours. All it took was a couple of jerks before he threw his head back and you could see his abdominal muscles contract before the first burst of white hot cum spurted from his dick and covered your chest and stomach. With parted lips he stroked himself through his orgasm, milking rope after rope from his cock until he hissed with overstimulation. “Fuck,” he cursed before giggling when he saw the mess he had made of you, his cum dripping from your boobs and running down your stomach. He cursed again before claiming your lips. “You want to cum one last time, baby?” “Please Daddy,” you whined, spreading your legs further for him. “My good girl,” he sighed, sinking two fingers into your heat, quickly crooking them to stimulate your sweet spot while his thumb was putting sweet pressure on your clit, making you thrash beneath him. “You look so good covered in my cum,” he rasped before he kissed you harshly to swallow your moans and cries of pleasure. You desperately held on to his shoulders, breaking the kiss when your head was spinning from the lack of oxygen. While speeding up his fingers, Johnny began sucking bruises low on your neck and over the soft skin of your cleavage. “Shit, I’m gonna-“ you didn’t get to finish your sentence because right that moment he had sucked one of your nipples into his mouth which was just enough to send you over the edge for a third time that night, your lips parted in a silent scream of his name and your thighs shaking and closing around the handsome man kneeling between them. “That’s my good girl,” he praised breathily and gently rocked his fingers to help you ride out your orgasm before he pulled them out, instead winding his strong arms around your body, holding you to his inked chest.

For a while he just held you close, not caring that his cum was now also stuck to his chest. “Fuck that was a lot,” you chuckled, burying your face in the crook of his neck, inhaling his calming scent. “Not what you thought would happen when you get a free tattoo?” Johnny softly spoke, carding his hand through your messy hair. “Not at all.” Another question was burning inside your head but you were too scared to ask it. You didn’t want to push him and ruin the mood. “I should clean you up and see if that tattoo is still okay. Then we can cuddle, alright?” The tattoo artist said before he detangled your bodies from one another to get up from the bed. He looked around on the floor for a cloth and you could finally see where the cherry blossoms on his hip were coming from. A big samurai was stretched over half his back, surrounded by the pinkish blossoms. It seemed like it wasn’t a complete piece yet, the samurai staring at the still untouched skin of Johnny’s left shoulderblade. “Your back tattoo is really pretty,” you mumbled to fill the silence while Johnny was wiping his chest clean before he gently did the same to you, taking extra caution when looking at your still fresh tattoo. “Thank you,” he smiled, pressing a kiss to your forehead, the metal of his piercing feeling warm on your skin, “We should change that foil real quick.” You just nodded and let him do his work, exhaustion settling into your bones.

“Do you do this with all your clients?” Shit. You hadn’t meant to ask that, the question had just slipped your lips and you could feel Johnny freeze where he was dressing your tattoo again before he secured the last piece of tape. He sighed and slipped beneath the covers, pulling you against his chest, so you could listen to his heartbeat. “Not all of them,” he answered eventually, “I haven’t slept with a client in a while. It happens sometimes but usually I don’t think much about it.” “And now you do?” He just hummed nonchalantly, playing with your hair. “They usually don’t come back after I fuck them.” He paused, holding his breath. “Will you come back?” Your heart started to race and you could feel a bright smile spreading over your lips. “For more free tattoos and piercings?” “Oh, yeah, I guess,” he sounded so deflated, the confident tattoo artist suddenly gone. “You idiot,” you giggled, pillowing your head on his sternum so he could see the smile on your lips, “I like you Johnny. I’ll come back if you want me to.” Now he was also smiling, his features softening. “Don’t make jokes like that, my heart is fragile,” he joked, wrapping you up in his strong arms.  

“Which one was your first one?” You asked him when the silence between you stretched while you traced the scales of the dragon that wound around his arm. “My first tattoo?” Johnny shifted around for a while before he showed you his other arm that had all kinds of different designs on it, some in bright colors, some strictly black. “That little guy over here,” he said with a smile on his lips and pointed to a little sunflower at the bend of his elbow, “To remind me to always look at the sun, at the bright side of life.” “It’s cute,” you breathed, touching the yellow petals. “And then it went downhill from there,” he chuckled, “It’s addicting.” “Let’s hope I can stay abstinent.” “What a shame, I’d love to cover you in my art,” Johnny confessed, tilting your face up so he could claim your lips in a kiss. “Maybe one or two more,” you breathed in between kisses, making him chuckle against your lips.

[missfangirll]

If im not too late, I'd request anything for Beiyuan/Wu Xi. There are so few works out there for them :c

So, I wanted to write some XiYuan fluff and somehow ended up writing Dad!Beiyuan bonding with Chengling, Beiyuan thirsting after his husband and a sort-of-fix-it for WoH episode 36?? 😅

The plot follows the show, after episode 36, but their shared past in the novel (Qi Ye) did happen, if that makes sense? 😅 Sorry for the confusion.. The title is a Chinese poem called 蝶恋花 by Liu Yong.

Anyway, here's some XiYuan fluff/dad!Beiyuan/WoH fix-it? 😂😂

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Fandom: Qi Ye, Word of Honor Rating: General Relationship: Wu Xi/Jing Beiyuan, Jing Beiyuan & Zhang Chengling Tags: Fluff, Bonding, Beiyuan thirsting after his husband, Fix-it of sorts Words: 2565 Summary: In an inn, Jing Beiyuan and Wu Xi, together with Zhang Chengling, await the return of Zhou Zishu and Wen Kexing, who have run off to die on a mountain. Beiyuan has to care for Zishu's disciple, while being distracted by his husband.

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Butterflies in Love with Flowers

Jing Beiyuan has plenty of practice waiting.

He has waited for sixty years at the Three-Life Stone, has waited for Helian Yi for six lifetimes. Has waited in the Imperial City for his schemes and machinations to bear fruit, has waited for Wu Xi. He has plenty of practice.

Which doesn’t mean, however, that he is a patient man.

Jing Beiyuan paces the inn room he shares with his husband, deliberately walking closely past Wu Xi who is sitting cross-legged at the low table reading, looking entirely unperturbed. Much to Jing Beiyuan’s dismay, that is to say, so he brushes Wu Xi’s back with the seam of his sleeve every time he walks by.

Wu Xi doesn’t react for a while, but after the sixth turn, without saying a word, he casually grabs Jing Beiyuan’s sleeve and, turning slightly, pulls him down in his lap, effectively trapping him there with both arms tightly around him.

Jing Beiyuan is a lot of things, but he's not an idiot, and he would never let an opportunity pass to cuddle his husband. With a deep sigh, he settles into the other’s embrace, leaning his head on Wu Xi’s broad chest.

“I am worried,” he admits eventually.

Stroking his hair soothingly, Wu Xi just hums in quiet understanding.

"I'm worried about the two idiots on the mountain," he adds, as if that wasn't obvious, and Wu Xi, as expected, doesn't reply. Jing Beiyuan continues, unbothered by his husband's lack of reaction. "I keep telling the little idiot," here he pauses to marvel at the fact that he distinguishes his companions merely by the grade of their idiocy, then sighs inwardly, "that his shifu and shishu are fine, that he should focus on his training in order to have something to show his shifu upon his return, but sometimes I…." He trails off, snuggling closer into the other's neck.

Zhang Chengling isn't coping well with the fact that both his mentors left with the intention to die on that mountain, albeit with different purposes in mind, and Jing Beiyuan has had to forcefully stop him from climbing that mountain himself, twice by now. For now he seems to have begrudgingly accepted his fate, although Jing Beiyuan can see his outbursts of anger for the fear they are.

He inhales deeply, willing his thoughts to calm down. All they have to do now is wait, wait for Zishu and his little maniac to return safely, and return they will, he has no doubts about it. He can’t, for Chengling’s sake.

A knock on the door interrupts the silent moment and with a groan, Jing Beiyuan clambers out of his husband’s lap to open the door, while said husband reaches for his abandoned book. The elderly innkeeper in front of him doesn’t spare a glance at Jing Beiyuan’s slightly ruffled hair, fiddling with the cap in his hands. At the other’s raised eyebrow, he bows so deep his forehead seems to touch his knees, and Jing Beiyuan has to bite back a grin.

“Yes?”, he asks magnanimously. The man shifts uncomfortably. “Your highness,” he begins, but Jing Beiyuan interrupts him with a hand on his shoulder. “I am certainly not worthy of such a noble title, my good man, just call me Lord Seventh, and speak freely. What bothers you?”

The other man bows again, not as low as before, but it still looks uncomfortable. “Your lordship,” he begins, and Jing Beiyuan sighs, hearing a slight huff of laughter from behind. Wu Xi knows of his resentment against his past life and the decorum it entailed. “Your lordship,” the man repeats, sounding increasingly desperate. “Your, umm.. The young master… He… The courtyard…” He doesn’t finish his sentence, but Jing Beiyuan has a vague idea of what he is trying to say, so he just nods and breezes past the innkeeper, who hastily shuts the door and scrambles to follow him.

From the inn’s inner courtyard he can already hear a dull thudding noise that grows louder as he approaches. In the yard, next to a small wooden shack, he finds the source of the noise: Zhang Chengling, gracelessly hitting the timber wall with a training sword, his face and back sweaty, his hair in disarray, his mouth a thin line. Jing Beiyuan nods to the innkeeper, who retreats to another building, then slowly approaches the boy, keeping his distance from the sword. Leaning on the wooden wall, he stays silent, observing Zishu’s disciple. The boy has grown a finger’s breadth over the last weeks, his body starting to stretch, his face about to lose the softness of childhood. He has seen a lot these past months, Jing Beiyuan muses, and feels infinite fondness for the little idiot.

Zhang Chengling has seen him, of course, but doesn’t make any move to stop his grim assault on the shack, so Jing Beiyuan says after a while, “You might want to use a real sword when you intend to put a hole in that thing.” His teasing doesn’t gain a reaction, however, the boy still hacking away at the wood. “Chengling,” he says after a while, softly, gently, “they will return.”

“I know,” comes the strained reply, but the beating doesn’t stop. The hits seem to grow less forceful, though, and Jing Beiyuan inches closer. “If Tian Chuang had succeeded,” he adds quietly, “we would know.” He looks directly at Chengling who stubbornly avoids his gaze, but his movements slow further, until he swings the sword like a flag bearer his banner in a parade. Jing Beiyuan carefully closes the distance, intercepting the last swing with his hand, gripping the wooden sword. He notices its shaking, and it’s only a heartbeat before Chengling collapses into his arms, letting go of the sword and wrapping both arms around him in a desperate embrace. Jing Beiyuan lowers the sword, then enfolds the boy in his arms, a hand on the back of his head, and lets him sob quietly into his shoulder.

“I miss them,” the boy snuffles into his robes, his face hidden. “Sometimes I dream about them, dead and cold, buried under all that snow and I…” He hiccups, then starts sobbing again. Jing Beiyuan breathes slowly. A few days after Zishu, and then the Ghost Valley Master, ascended the mountain, there had been news of an immense avalanche that had buried a large group of people, presumably the joined forces of the Window of Heaven and the Scorpion King. But nothing had reached them since, and all of them had grown restless, even Wu Xi, even though he would never admit to it.

A hand on the boy’s back, Jing Beiyuan rubs soothing circles. “Come with me,” he says at last, “Let’s go inside and have some tea, hm?” A nod, then Chengling takes a step back, sheepishly rubbing his red eyes. “‘m sorry,” he mumbles, but Jing Beiyuan just huffs. “Never be sorry for how you feel,” he admonishes gently, putting an arm around the boy’s shoulder, subtly scooping the wooden sword up with the other hand. “Let’s have some tea and sweets, what do you say?” Chengling sniffs again, then says with the hint of a smile, “Didn’t the Great Shaman explicitly forbid us to eat sweets before dinner?” Jing Beiyuan makes a carefree gesture, then, lowering his voice, adds in a conspiratorial tone, “We have to hide it, then,” which finally makes Chengling laugh. A lighter air around them, they stroll back to the room. (Wu Xi gives them a stern look as Jing Beiyuan retrieves a bag of sweets from his sleeve, but says nothing when they share some over tea, which Jing Beiyuan secretly finds endlessly endearing.)

⚘⚘

The next morning finds Jing Beiyuan on a bench in that same courtyard, at the other side this time, half hidden under a canopy hung with ivy. In the middle of the courtyard, illuminated by the rising sun, Wu Xi is practicing his martial arts.

Jing Beiyuan admires everything about his little venom. His honesty, his loyalty, his unrestrained emotions, but watching the other train always leaves him breathless and with a dry mouth. Wu Xi, in his usual black robes, is a sight to behold: Even under layers of cloth his broad shoulders are visible, his long black braids with the silver hairpiece, the moon mirrored in a clear lake at night. Wu Xi in his robes is a force to be reckoned with. Wu Xi without his robes, in just some black pants, is… Well. Enticing enough to make Jing Beiyuan leave the bed before sunrise and watch him train, even after being together for years and having seen his husband naked plenty of times. Still, watching him move through the forms is different. His skin glistens with sweat, making the light catch on his collarbones, his abs. His movements show a raw power, a graceful intensity that always reminds Jing Beiyuan of a large tiger. He moves silently, with deadly precision, as if he wanted to sneak up on a hidden assassin. He doesn’t use a weapon, but Jing Beiyuan knows how strong he is, how fast, and is pretty sure that a sword would only slow him down.

Distractedly petting the sable that is curled contentedly in his lap, Jing Beiyuan marvels at his husband, until Wu Xi ends his performance with a graceful vault, landing on his hands and feet like a large cat. His hair, tied back only with a simple black leather cord, falls over his face with the movement, his eyes like glimmering coals behind the black curtain. It reminds Jing Beiyuan of their early days, of the time Wu Xi wore a veil, and he himself a mask of another kind. Trying to hide the slight shiver, he smiles at his sweaty husband who now approaches him. Before he can say anything, Wu Xi steps between his knees, carefully scooping up the sable, then reaching down to cup the nape of Jing Beiyuan’s neck. With a hint of restrained power, he pulls him up and into a searing kiss. Smiling against his lips, Wu Xi whispers, “Room,” and Jing Beiyuan lets himself be pulled.

It’s still early enough in the morning that they don’t have to be overly cautious, so when they shed their respective robes - and pets, Wu Xi’s tiny green snake gets set in its cage, while the sable leaps nimbly away from the commotion - Jing Beiyuan can’t suppress a giggle at his husband’s eagerness.

“What brought this on?”, he asks, a little breathless, as the other’s teeth close over his pulse point. Wu Xi stills for a heartbeat, then bites down harder, licking over the spot, which elicits a shiver.

“You,” is the answer, and Jing Beiyuan pulls away a fraction to look at his husband with a raised eyebrow. “I can’t remember doing anything out of the ordinary,” he smirks, “whereas you were--”

“You watched,” Wu Xi breathes into his neck, leaning back in. With another giggle, Jing Beiyuan lets himself be pulled to the bed.

Later, when they lay under scrunched up covers, sated and sweaty and content, Jing Beiyuan nuzzles into Wu Xi’s chest, inhaling his sharp scent.

“Would you do that,” he asks eventually, his voice quiet. “Sacrifice your life, I mean. For me.”

“Yes,” is all Wu Xi answers, firm and without hesitation. “I would. I will. Everything.” His arms tighten around Jing Beiyuan. After a long silence, the latter says softly, “But what if I didn’t want that?” He turns slightly to look up. “What if I didn’t want a life that’s bought with yours?”

Wu Xi doesn’t meet his gaze as he replies, “I still would. I couldn’t bear the thought of being without you, Beiyuan. I’m a coward, but I couldn’t. I thought I’d lost you once, and I..” His voice breaks, and Jing Beiyuan reaches up to cup his face. “You’re not. I would like to say that I would react differently, but…” He shrugs with a wry smile. “I wouldn’t. If I could save your life by giving up mine, I would. I would, and then wait for you again at the Three-Life Stone, until you came to meet me. And maybe this time, you would be the one with white hair.” Snuggling closer, he trails a finger over the other’s chest, then places his hand on his sternum, feeling the unrestrained energy underneath. Wu Xi turns his head, then cups Jing Beiyuan’s cheek, meeting him in a slow, languid kiss.

“I love you,” he breathes against the other’s lips, “I have loved you for all your lifetimes and I will continue to love you in all that follow. Where you go, I’m going, Beiyuan.”

⚘⚘

It takes almost another month until Zishu and his little-, no, his giant idiot return. On a sunny afternoon, as if they had just been out for a stroll, they saunter casually into the inn’s dining room, and Jing Beiyuan almost drops his teacup, staring in disbelief. Before he can say anything, Zishu grins - he grins! - at him and plops down into the bench opposite him, Wen Kexing at his side. Jing Beiyuan notices in utter shock that the latter’s hair has gone completely white.

“Wha--,” he starts, but now the waiter has spotted them, hurrying over. Giving their, admittedly quite ragged, appearance a cautious once-over, he clears his throat, but Jing Beiyuan hurries to assuage him. “Whatever these gentlemen desire to eat,” he declares, probably with more grandeur than necessary, “they will receive.” The waiter hurries to nod his head like a turtle, but Zishu just shakes his head. “Just cold water,” he says, much to Jing Beiyuan’s and the waiter’s astonishment, but the latter immediately scrambles off to bring them their order.

Jing Beiyuan looks scrutinizingly at both of them, then says slowly, “Welcome back.” Zishu nods solemnly, taking Wen Kexing’s hand under the table. “Sorry it took so long,” he says quietly. Jing Beiyuan snorts. “You don’t have to apologise to me,” he gestures into the general direction of the inner courtyard, “but to your silly little disciple.” Zishu at least has the decency to flinch, looking uncomfortable. But it is Wen Kexing who speaks first. “How is he?”, he asks, and Jing Beiyuan notices the cautious fondness in his voice. Shrugging, he admits, “There are good days and bad.” After a pause, he adds, more quietly, “And good nights and bad.” Zishu nods, as if in agreement, and Jing Beiyuan’s curiosity wins over. “What happened?”, he asks animatedly, gesturing to the state of their robes, then Wen Kexing’s hair. “You were gone almost two months, and--”

Zishu interrupts him, sounding incredulous. “Two months?” He casts an uncertain glance at his companion who looks equally stunned. “Oh.” Inhaling slowly, he adds, “Well, I’d prefer to tell the story only once, so where is that useless disciple of mine?” Grinning, Jing Beiyuan gestures again to the inner courtyard. “Training.” Zishu gives him a skeptical look, then gets to his feet. Ignoring the waiter who just arrived with their order, he heads for the inner courtyard. Jing Beiyuan tilts his head a fraction, looking at Wen Kexing, both smiling slightly. Then, from outside, “SHIFU!”, and a dull thud, followed by another muffled “Shishu!”.

Smiling into his teacup, Jing Beiyuan closes his eyes. Some stories seem to have a happy ending after all.

[justnerdthings]

New Beginnings Ch.2

Female Reader x Liu Kang/Kung Lao (Not sure which yet)

Note: Chapter 2. Friend said last one was good. So have another. >w<

Raiden had introduced himself properly and explained Mortal Kombat to you. You were at a complete loss. You hadn’t believed any of it at first, but Raiden had made it clear that this was not a dream or trick. The man shot lightning out of his hand! You were convinced. This was real. It had to be. You weren’t creative enough to dream this up. He was a god.

You were still in shock as Liu led you through the hallways again, this time avoiding any views of the outside. You were lost in your own mind until he stopped at a door. Again, a very simple door.

“This is your room,” He told you, eyes searching you again as he opened the door and gestured for you to take a look.

The room was small and very modest. A simple bed was pushed against a wall. A small wooden table and chair was pushed against the other side. Another doorway led to a small bathroom that, thankfully, had a modern-enough sink and toilet. It would do for one night at least.

“Will you stay and fight Shang Tsung?” Liu asked gently, feeling you out. Raiden had admitted that you didn’t need to help them. Raiden would not force you. But Raiden did say it was your duty. The dragon mark on your left shoulder blade was proof.

Funny. People always did say your birthmark looked like a dragon.

But would you stay? You weren’t sure. This was so much to take in. Why you? You had no experience fighting. You once punched a bully in grade school, but that was it!

You sighed and combed your fingers through your hair. “I don’t know,” You answered. Obviously it wasn’t the answer Liu had hoped for. “I just… This is crazy.”

He nodded. “I understand,” He said, sincerity in his voice. “It’s your decision.”

You turned and looked at him standing in the doorway. “You do understand, don’t you?”

He lifted a brow curiously. “Yes. I felt similar when I was told of Mortal Kombat as well.”

“When was that?”

He thought for a moment. “A little over ten years now.”

“Ten years? You’ve been training here for ten years?”

“Here? Yes. But I grew up in a shaolin monastery. I’ve been training most of my life.”

So he was a monk. Now his behavior made sense. “Did you get taken here out of the blue too?”

“No.” He shook his head. “I defeated a child trafficker and gained his mark. I unlocked my arcana soon after. Lord Raiden found me then. I’ve been here ever since.”

“You never left? At all? Not even to visit family?”

“Oh, yes. I am free to come and go as I please. I often leave to run errands for Lord Raiden.”

“Errands?”

“Yes.”

“Like eggs and milk errands?”

He laughed and shook his head. “To find people and information mostly.”

“Oh.” You weren’t sure what to say to that.

“Does this help you decide if you will stay?”

“I think I just need some time to digest this,” You admitted.

He nodded again. “Speaking of digesting,” He spoke, “Would you like some dinner?”

Oh, god, yes, you thought. You still had no idea when the last time you ate was. A day? Two? Raiden said you were passed out for quite some time. “Yes.” You nodded. “Please.”

Liu smiled again. You liked his smile. It was genuine. Kind. Sincere. He stepped back out of the doorway, allowing you to step out of the room.

You were led into a large room filled with fur rugs and handmade cushions. A low table was placed in the center and another man was already seated and eating. He looked up as Liu led you over.

“Brother, this is Y/N,” Liu introduced you. “She has the mark,” Liu told him as he sat across from him at the table.

“Hello.” You hesitated. This guy had a different energy about him. Or maybe it was just your anxiety. He, you, and Liu were all about the same age. And he, like Liu, was attractive. He probably had a nice ass too.

You weren’t sure if you imagined it or not, but Raiden’s laugh echoed in your mind. Averting your eyes, you lowered yourself next to Liu.

“You don’t look like a fighter,” the man said with a mouth full. His eyes were looking you up and down critically.

“Don’t be rude,” Liu chided as he watched.

The man glanced to Liu as he swallowed his food, then looked back to you. “My name is Kung Lao,” He introduced. “Descendant of the Great Kung Lao.” He was proud of himself.

“Oh…” Was he a prince or something?

“You have no idea who that is, do you?” Kung Lao accused, pointing his chopsticks at you.

A small shrug tugged up your shoulders as you shook your head slowly.

Lao grinned and shook his own head as he looked to Liu. He stopped once he noticed his brother’s disapproval. “So what do you do, Y/N?” he asked as he looked back to you. The way he said your name didn’t bring you much comfort in his presence.

As you stared at him, trying to think of how to answer him, he’d bitten into an egg roll while keeping eye contact with you. “Um… Not really anything, I guess,” you said, nerves starting to get the best of you. This guy was more intimidating than Raiden was.

“Nothing?” Lao asked. “You must do something. You’re breathing right now. That’s something.”

“Lao…” Liu warned and passed you a bowl of rice.

You took the bowl with a small, awkward smile to Liu and began to make your plate. Maybe if you just didn’t look at Kung Lao, you wouldn’t feel so judged. “Well, I’ve been a nurse for the past seven years… But it’s hardly anything to talk about. I just work at a small office. Nothing ever really happens there.”

“That’s an honorable career,” Liu said as he began to eat.

“If nothing happens there, why do you stay? Seems boring,” Lao commented.

“I kinda like boring,” You admitted. “I uh… I used to have real bad anxiety as a kid. Boring is comfortable. Routine.”

“Anxiety?” Lao asked.

“Yeah. It uh… It got so bad that eventually I was scared to leave the house.”

“That’s awful,” Liu said with a frown.

You nodded. It was always hard to talk about your anxiety. But Liu seemed mindful enough to not tease you or make you feel like an idiot. “Eventually I couldn’t take it anymore and went to see a doctor. They put me on medication for it. I was a new person after I got used to the meds. Felt like I could breathe again.”

“What made you so anxious that you would be afraid of leaving your house?” Lao asked, harsher in his words. What did you have to worry about compared to him.

“I don’t really know,” you admitted. “I was always teased as a kid. I was the weird kid. Didn’t have a lot of friends.”

“Childhood trauma?” Liu asked.

“Maybe?” You shrugged, not sure. You never really tried to get to the bottom of it.

“Is that where your fear of heights comes from?” Liu asked.

That one you did know. You gave a small laugh as you straightened up a bit. “No. That was me falling out of a tree as a kid.”

“Did you hurt yourself?” Liu asked.

You shook your head. “No. Just some scrapes and bumps. It just kinda stuck with me after that though. Never climbed another tree.”

“Well, at least you weren’t harmed,” Liu said as he ate.

“If you didn’t get hurt, then why were you so scared to climb another tree?” Lao asked.

“I don’t know. Guess it’s one of those weird things that happens when you’re a kid,” You told him.

“You have bigger things to worry about now, than falling from trees,” Lao pressed.

You stared at your plate of food. Lao was right. Scared of climbing trees sure did sound stupid now that you knew about Mortal Kombat. Weird, the idea of Mortal Kombat didn’t freak you out as much as climbing a tree. “Anxiety doesn’t ever really make sense,” You told Lao. “I used to be perfectly fine one minute, then crying and convinced I was about to die the next.”

“Were you being attacked?” Lao asked.

“Not by a person,” You answered.

“Animal?” Liu chimed in, curious.

You shook your head. “Anxiety.”

Lao just stared at you. It didn’t make any sense to him.

Liu was more curious than confused. “So your own mind was attacking you,” he concluded after a moment of thought.

You nodded. “Yeah.” You moved some food around your plate idly. “I know. It makes me sound crazy. But it hasn’t happened in years.”

“Because of the medicine the doctor gave you,” Liu concluded again.

“Right,” you answered.

“So, let me get this straight,” Lao began. “A nervous wreck of a person, who is scared of climbing trees, and has no formal training to fight, has the dragon mark?”

“Yeah, I’m kinda lost on that too,” you admitted.

Lao looked to Liu in disbelief. “Is Lord Raiden out of his mind?”

“I’m sure he knows something we don’t,” Lui told him.

“Mortal Kombat is only a few years away. She won’t be ready!” Lao exclaimed in annoyance.

“We’ll just have to do our best,” Liu answered and lifted some rice to his mouth.

“She’ll have to train every hour, every day, to be even remotely decent,” Lao said.

“Lord Raiden knows what’s best,” Liu said.

“Lord Raiden’s out of his damn mind!” Lao shouted.

You’d gotten used to people talking about you as if you weren’t there when you were a kid. But it hadn’t happened much since then. You set your chopsticks down. “Look, I don’t know if I ever could be ready for Mortal Kombat. I don’t know if I’ll even try. But do you really think it’s a good idea to talk that way about guy who literally shoots lightning out of his hands? And another thing, I am not a nervous wreck of a person!” You looked right at Kung Lao, clearly unamused.

Lao just looked at you, at a loss for words, for what seemed like forever. It was really only a few seconds before he looked to Liu and grinned.

Liu was already grinning, looking at his food.

With a huff, you pushed away from the table. “Sorry, Liu. I think I lost my appetite,” you said, annoyed… Doubting yourself… Still hungry, but you’d had enough of Lao.

Liu looked over with concern as you stood. He set his bowl down and stood with you. He was going to try and convince you to stay, but decided against it. “Would you like me to walk you back to your room?” He asked kindly.

You’d get lost if you didn’t have help. You nodded and turned for the door.

Lao was still grinning as he continued his meal.

Liu quickly joined you in the hallway. “Y/N,” He spoke carefully. “I apologize for Lao’s behavior. He’s not usually like that.”

You sucked in a stiff breath. You shook your head. “No. It’s okay. He’s right. I have no business being here.”

“Don’t let him scare you away. Lord Raiden believes you’re worthy. That’s enough for me. Lao will come around,” Liu said as he began to lead you down the hall.

Maybe. Maybe Raiden did know something you didn’t yet. “The monk I met when I woke up… Feng, I think. He said something about my arcana saving me.”

Liu looked at you, then nodded. “I heard about that. I don’t know the details though…”

“I don’t even remember doing anything,” You said.

After leaving you at your room, Liu returned to Lao. He sat back at the table. Looking to a still grinning Lao. He returned it.

“She has a fire in her,” Lao said.

“She does.” Liu agreed.

“I heard she passed your test,” Lao inquired.

Liu, glancing to him, sipped from his tea, then nodded. “Five times.”

Lao was surprised to hear that. He figured you’d only make it once if at all.

“It took some coaching the first couple times, but by the fourth one she was doing it on her own,” Liu explained.

“Impressive. If her anxiety is as bad as she said, she manages it well,” Lao said.

Liu nodded again. “How much of it was the medicine, I wonder.”

Lao had almost forgot. “Ah. That may be an issue.”

“Withdrawal from it may prove difficult.”

“Meditation training is first on your list,” Lao suspected. He knew how Liu thought.

Liu nodded. “How about yours. Did she pass your test?”

“I would have liked to see more, but it's a start,” Lao answered with a nod.

“You may get your wish if you keep up that act of yours,” Liu said.

“Oh, I intend to.” Lao smirked.

"Don't scare her away," Liu warned.

"She'll stay," Lao said with his mouth full. "She faced her fear five times. She's determined. And a nurse?" He nodded as he took another bite. "She commits herself to helping."

[pyox1]

A Team Effort - Liu Yangyang

When you learn from your teacher that the biggest project of the year will be a team effort, you can’t help but grow frustrated. Yet again, you’ll have to give double the efforts for an assignment that’ll be signed by two names that haven’t done anything close to equal work. You can’t help but be pleasantly surprised when you find out your partner is actually a fairly decent person.

Genre : Stranger to lover au, fluff

Pairing : Liu Yangyang x reader

Word Count : 3,2k

This goes out for the anon that requested a stranger to lover au with a shy yangyang confessing. Hope you like it <33

It had all started when you had been assigned to a project with a name you weren't familiar with. Your teacher had decided on making the biggest project of the year a team effort, which you found to be ridiculous. Your grades were something you were proud of; not like the usual student that attended your school. Even if you were in enriched classes, the vast majority of the class couldn't care less about their academic performance. All from rich families with contacts in almost every field, they didn't have to worry about studying, knowing their dream job was already waiting for them.

When your name had been called after the one of Liu Yangyang, you were everything but happy. You wanted nothing more than to be able to work by yourself, without having to constantly drag someone behind you, only to get a passing grade.

Not knowing much about the boy, you had been reluctant to meet up with him. You could already imagine how your first meeting would look like. Awkward silences followed by ideas the both of you wouldn’t agree on, and even more awkward silences. You had already come to the conclusion that you would have to do the work on your own.

Surprisingly, it had gone well. He had arrived ten minutes earlier than planned, with arms full of notebooks. You clearly remembered how he approached you with a warm smile since you were expecting the complete opposite.

"(Yn), right?" He asked, to which you nodded. "Hi, I'm Yangyang. I'll say it right now, I'm so happy to be paired with you. Now I won’t have to worry about Lucas leeching off my back for good grades." Relieved flooded through you. You let yourself relax into your chair as he sat down next to you.

"Okay, so, I did a bit of research this weekend since I had free time. I hope that’s okay with you." He said flipping through pages, already immersed in the work. To say you were in awe was an understatement. You couldn’t believe he was real. "Uh, hello?" He waved his hand in front of your face.

"Yes! Sorry- yes. It’s perfect." You said, trying to hold back a blabbering mess from spilling. "I just… I didn’t think I'd be paired with someone so enthusiastic."

"Is… that a bad thing?"

"No!" A loud shush resonated through the library. You swallowed nervously, repeating lower. "No, it's a great thing." Yangyang stared with a playful glint in his eyes.

"Good. I was joking by the way." With that, he continued explaining his ideas as if nothing happened. Your mind couldn’t process the situation. First off, you had been teamed up with a decent person. Well, decent was underplaying it. He seemed hard-working, interested, and even… kind? You concluded the next few weeks weren’t going to be so bad after all, and you were right.

In fact, the first few meetings in the library had gone so well that Yangyang had invited you to work over at his place instead. He had tried convincing you by saying that you’d be able to share your ideas more freely without the constant death stares of the librarian.

"Plus, I have an amazing variety of snacks and drinks at my place."

"Mmmh, I'm not sure if I'm convinced." You said with a teasing frown.

"Well, I also have a hot older brother that you can swoon over while you're pretending to listen to me." You through a pencil his way, trying to distract him from the blush that was slowly glazing your cheeks.

"You’re an idiot."

"I'll take that as a yes. We can walk there tomorrow together after school." and that’s exactly what you did. Walking down the streets of the neighborhood felt comfortable with him. The conversation flowed naturally, with jokes and teasing being the main elements. It was as if you had known him for a long time.

After walking through his front door, you immediately complimented the nice home. He had laughed a bit, promising to tell his mom. He assured you that it would bring her over the moon. You smiled thinking about Yangyang talking to his mom about you.

If you had thought that studying at his house would be a good idea, it had turned out to be a horrible one. Without the constant supervision of the librarian, you and Yangyang were left on your own. Almost no work was done that night. Instead, you discussed your favorite shows, meals, hobbies, and much more. You quickly realized you had a lot in common and that you liked being in his company. You hoped he felt the same way.

The rest of the week was spent forming a pattern. With you walking side by side with the grinning boy, arms occasionally touching each other. It was such a banal touch, but it still got your heart pumping faster. You were getting more at ease in his presence.

You had spent every afternoon over at his place. Sometimes you even forgot the main reason you were over, too occupied talking about anything and everything. It was so out of character of you to avoid finishing your school work, but here you were, captivated by the words of a boy you barely knew.

You usually left before his mom got home, trying your best to avoid any uncomfortable introductions. Each and every time, he’d walk you out with a twinkling smile and a promise to see you again tomorrow.

You always felt on cloud nine while walking home, reminiscing over every little detail that had stained your mind. For example, when his finger brushed against yours while reaching for the same pen at the same time. Or when he’d compliment your makeup and your clothes, although already seeing you that day.

Those small moments brought out the cliche school girl in you. You wanted nothing more but to stay in a constant state of daydream, with these little bits of souvenir being its main plot.

God, you were such a hopeless romantic. One more step and you were about to write his last name with yours in a journal.

It was only on Friday night that you told yourselves you needed to concentrate at least a minimum on the project due in a week. The both of you putting your mind at work for once, you had completely forgot about the time ticking by. It must had been around 6 o’clock when a little girl appeared in the dining room.

"Yangyang?" The girl called out. She could only be his sister, you assumed.

"Yeah?" She shyly walked up to him.

"Mom was wondering if your girlfriend was staying over for dinner." Shoot, you had overstayed your welcome. But wait... Were you hearing things right? Had she just called you his girlfriend?

"I don’t know, why don't you ask her." You felt as if you were on the edge of bursting. He stared at you intently, a smirk plastered on his lips. The girl inched towards your side of the table.

"Will you?" Her eyes held a hopeful glint.

"I- I, yeah. I mean- yes, sure." The little girl's smiled grew as she excitedly exited the room. You didn't dare to say a word until the sound of her skips resonated further in the house. "What was that about?"

"She wanted to know if you were staying over for dinner." He answered, unbothered, his attention glued to the screen of the laptop in front of him.

"Huh? Yeah, I got that part." You tried formulating your next words without sounding like an idiot. "She called me your…"

"You'll have to speak up if you want me to understand anything you're saying." He was playing dumb, you thought. Unless he was actually dumb but that couldn't be right. You crossed paths with a lot of stupid people in your life, and Yangyang wasn't a part of them.

Shaking your head, you let out a small laugh. It had probably just slipped out of his sister's mouth by accident. She probably called all of his female friends that and it just went over his head.

"Nothing. Don’t worry about it." You still weren’t sure if he was messing with you. He probably hadn’t heard it. Looking back at him, you swore you could’ve seen a look of disappointment flash on his face. You instantly tried lightening up the mood.

"Didn’t you tell me you had a hot brother?" You took the snicker he let out as a success.

"I only have a little sister… How else was I supposed to convince you to come over?" Definitely not the answer you were anticipating.

"Oh… I see." Silence followed. You had no idea how you were supposed to answer. You continued writing down on your paper until his voice interrupted you.

"The rosy cheeks is a good look on you." That's when you officially knew that Liu Yangyang would be the death of you.

After the dinner you had spent with his family, you felt that you couldn’t get closer to the boy. It was crazy to you that you barely knew of his existence a week ago.

His sister had shown herself to be way less timid at the table, blabbering her day away to you. You had listened carefully, adding jokes, where you thought, was necessary, earning high pitched giggles from the girl. You hadn't noticed how Yangyang was carefully watching the interaction.

His mom also noticed the way her daughter had opened up so easily to you. She also had caught the way her son's smile formed as he talked with you. She hadn't seen his smile get that big in a while. Peacefulness invaded her mind. She automatically knew that you were going to positively influence him.

When the dinner was finally over, you took the time to thank his mom for her kindness and the meal. You helped clean the table while the overjoyed girl insisted on showing you her doll collection.

"Don't bother her dear," Her mother tutted. "Y/n will have to go home now.” The girl crossed her arms, displeased with her mom.

"Yangyang, why don't you walk her up to the door?" Her mom sent you a wink, assuring you that you didn't have to clean up. She made it clear that you were welcomed whenever.

Arriving at the front door, the boy cleared his throat. "Sorry for my sister and my mom, they're a bit intense."

"Don't worry, they're super nice. I might come back next week just to see them again."

"Not me?" He let it out as a joke. He would have never admitted to it out loud, but he also wanted to see how you'd react.

"I think we've seen enough of each other for a while now, don't you think?" You teased back. He shrugged, his hands hidden in the pockets of his pants. Any trace of sarcasm had left him.

"It's nice spending time with you." He admitted. Your breath got caught in your throat. The expression on your face said it all. He took it as a win. "See you next week then."

The weekend succeeding that Friday night felt like the longest you had ever lived. Confined between the four walls of your bedroom, the minutes felt like hours. It was the first time you could remember being bored alone. Usually, you’d love having time to yourself, but now it seemed so pointless.

Still, an idea popped into your mind. You could take some advance on the work. That way, you'd get more time with the boy without this stupid project butting in.

“I’m such a genius.” You had mumbled to yourself, tipping furiously away on your computer. Even then, the subject had become dull and boring. You huffed and puffed through a few paragraphs before coming to a realization.

You wanted nothing more then to be in Yangyang’s presence again.

That’s why when you got to school Monday morning, the first thing you did was to scan the hallways, in search of his brown locks. When you had finally landed on his tall figure, putting his books in his locker, you felt an instant boost of happiness. Clutching the straps of your backpack, you walked up to him.

"Good morning!" You chirped. In response, he laughed gingerly. He was wearing a black hoodie and black jeans. It might not have been the finest fashion, but he shined in whatever clothes he was wearing.

"Someone seems to be in a good mood." You couldn’t even let his teasing get to you, too happy to finally see his charming face again.

"Your place tonight? I found more information, I think we might almost be done with this project!" The intentions behind your words were to be encouraging, but Yangyang had taken them like a blow to his guts. He didn’t want this project to end this fast. You, on the other side, we're working on the side to finish it quicker. Maybe he had read this wrong.

"Yeah, sure. I’ll meet you at the end of the day when the bell rings." With no other words, he walked further in the sea of students. You stood in the middle of the hallway, a pit forming in your stomach.

Something was wrong. You hadn't known him for long, but it had been enough time to know that the lack of emotion in his voice was not normal. You disparately wanted to run after him to know what was wrong, but ultimately decided against it.

You shouldn't have to push any information out of him. If he had something on his mind, you believed he'd come to you to discuss it.

In the meantime, you had continued your day as normal. It had gone by longer than usual, the itching thought of an upset Yangyang never quite leaving your mind alone.

As promised, when the last bell ranged, he was waiting beside your locker. The walk was different that afternoon. You had tried the usual small talk, but his answers were cut short. Even when you had thrown a few jokes, his reaction had stayed the same; serious and thinking, almost.

Arriving at his house, you were already making your way to the dining room until he grabbed your hand, stopping you from walking any further.

"Is it okay if we study in my room this time?" He asked. It was the first real sentence he had spoken to you in the last hour. His voice had a hint of a plea in it.

"Aren’t we going to finish the work in the dining room like we usually do?" The boy let out an exasperated sigh. There you were again with your fixation on finishing the project.

"Is that all you care about? Finishing the project and then going back to what it was like before?" He said, his grip on your hand tightening, almost as if he was scared you were going to disappear into thin air.

"Yangyang… I have no idea what you're talking about." He signed again.

"Can we please just go in my room, I’d prefer having this conversation in private, out of prying ears." He gestured to the side with his chin. You looked over to catch sight of his little sister's curious eyes peeking from the living room.

You agreed, following the boy in silence, your hand still in his. Entering his room, he closed the door behind him. His eyes wouldn’t leave the floor.

"Look, I know that you only care about the assignment at this point and all you want is to end it as quickly as possible, so here's what I suggest. I can finish it myself and you won’t have to come back-" You rapidly cut him off.

"Stop rambling, I won’t let you finish this thing alone." He had been bottling up his thoughts for the whole day and now they were coming out like word vomit. He bit his lip, annoyed with himself.

"Look, what I guess I’m trying to say, is that you don’t have to spend time with me anymore. It’s okay, I won’t take it personally." You held his arms as if to shake him out of his weird thoughts. His eyes finally met yours.

"I don’t know who or what made you think I didn’t want to spend time with you but it’s the complete opposite. I want to finish this project to spend some time with you, you idiot." Right away, you felt himself relax in your hold.

"So that’s why you continued working without me this weekend?" His tone was suddenly much gentler.

"Of course it is. This weekend felt like an eternity to me. The least I could do was to take some advance to spend some time with you doing literally anything else." The boy felt all his worries wash away. You knew exactly what to say for him to feel better.

"I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought those two days were abnormally long." You broke into a giggle. His expression quickly returned to a serious one.

"Y/n… I have to tell you something." You nodded, encouraging him to continue. " I- um, this is kind of hard to say."

He started playing with his fingers, trying the find a good way to deliver his feelings. You would’ve never thought you would get to see the boy grow so nervous. It was the first time you saw him stumbling over his words. Normally, you’d be the one in that position. You found the situation quite amusing.

"Stop smiling," He whined. "I’m trying to be serious!" You pressed your lips together, repressing a laugh.

"Sorry, sorry, go on." He walked around his room for a while before taking in a big inspiration. He stood in front of you, standing as still as a statue.

"I like you, Y/n." He said. His confession was remarkably anticlimactic that you couldn’t help but be confused.

"I like you too…?"

"No, you’re missing the point." He bit the inside of his cheek. " I like you, like you. I like the way you laugh or the way you’re so serious about your studies. I like your smile, your eyes, your nose, the way you giggle, or the way you roll your eyes when I say a stupid joke. I want to spend all of my free time with you. But most importantly- I want you to be my girlfriend." Your hands reached for his face, cupping his cheeks gently. He closed his eyes at the contact, his hands coming to layover yours.

"You’re in luck then, because I’d really like for you to be my boyfriend." You didn’t leave him the time to answer, instead choosing to press your lips carefully against his. He hummed, his hands diverting to your neck. His thumbs threw circles on your skin as he deepened the kiss.

His tongue swiped on your lip, to which you gladly let access into your mouth. Shivers ran through your body, the closeness being almost intoxicating. When he backed away for air, your lips mindlessly followed his, to which he chuckled, resting his forehead against yours. His lips landed one more time on yours, in a quick and chaste way.

"Don’t worry, when we finish this project, we can do all the catching up we have to do in that subject."

Aaand it's done! This is my longest work yet and I'm super proud of it.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to read it. Feedback is always appreciated:)

[imaginaryelle]

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 (Thanks, as ever, to @morphia-writes and @miyuki4s for betaing!)

*

The transportation array drops them in a small clearing with a flash of fire at their feet, a few lingering notes from Chenqing, and only slight disorientation. Lan Wangji has read that the use of the teleportation talisman is heavily taxing to the spirit and can often cause physical disruption in the user, but Wei Ying shows no sign of pain or confusion, and nor do Jin Rulan or Liu Weixin, who, if the array’s design can be trusted, also contributed spiritual power to the effort. Jin Rulan even manages to look somewhat bored by the process.

“I don’t understand why we all have to come look at whatever this is,” he says as soon as Wei Ying lowers his hands and the glow of the array at their feet fades. “Why can’t we just—” he cuts himself off and stares hard at Wen Sizhui, who wears an expression of distinct discomfort. “What?”

Wen Sizhui bites his lips and looks to Wei Ying, who has gone still.

“The buildings were burned down,” Zhou Xiuying reports quietly.

Lan Wangji follows her line of sight and strides quickly through the trees, but he can already smell the smoke in the air, lingering and acrid. He reaches the edge of the forest and sees only ash and rock in the large space where the compound once sat. There are no smoldering embers and no half-burnt husks to mark the structures; only lines of soot and the pattern of paving stones show any indication of the size or use of the space.

Wei Ying grabs his sleeve, and he realizes he’s walked right up to the edge of the ward’s inscription.

“Don’t touch it.” Wei Ying guides him back slightly. “How many people were here?” he asks.

“None.” The guards were dead when he left. Still, Wei Ying obviously has doubts. He raises Chenqing to his lips and plays a low and beguiling melody, coaxing and haunting by turns.

On the other side of the ward, ashes swirl in still air.

Rise.

Drift gently around ghostly faces—two, then three, the four, then more, until seven ghosts are drawing themselves together along the inside of the ward. They ripple as they cross over the etched lines, but seem to suffer no other effects; perhaps it is truly inert now, or deliberately broken.

Wei Ying cocks his head to the side and whistles, sharp and commanding. The ghosts rearrange themselves. There are men and women, some are old, others in the prime of life. Wei Ying turns and looks expectantly at Zhou Xiuying.

“What do you see?”

“They all died violently and without proper funerary rites,” she says, crossing her arms over her chest, her sword gripped tight in her hand. “They can’t move on in peace.”

Wei Ying nods and shifts his attention to Liu Weixin, who presses his lips hard together and squints at the ghosts, as if that will improve his assessment. He sketches a talisman in front of his face and pushes it outward. Each spirit takes on a dull red glow, strongest at one end of the line and diminishing with each ghoul in succession.

“You’ve put them in order by the strength of their resentment,” Liu Weixin determines. Relief spreads over his face as Wei Ying nods again.

Jin Rulan scowls and stares off at the trees instead of meeting Wei Ying’s gaze.

“You wanted to go night hunting,” Wei Ying says, as if this is a familiar impasse.

“This isn’t night hunting,” Jin Rulan protests, waving his arm at the line of ghosts. “There’s no hunting involved.”

Wei Ying waits.

“That one suffered lingchi” Jin Rulan huffs, gesturing at a ghoul who bears innumerable cuts on his face and hands. It’s an unusual and harsh sentence, carried out for only the highest of crimes. Lan Wangji finds looking at the marks difficult; it is too easy to remember waking to the smell of blood and rot. Jin Rulan, he notes, also averts his eyes quickly. “And that one was drowned. Happy now?”

Wei Ying just grins at him and turns to Wen Sizhui.

“These ghosts were probably suppressed when the ward was active, and the fire was built into the design.” He points to three portions of the etched diagrams. “Whoever was here, burning the buildings was always part of their plan.”

“Mn. Make a copy of the ward; it might be useful later.” Wei Ying looks back along the line of ghosts. “Shall we try Inquiry?” he asks, and wheels on his heel to face Lan Wangji.

“I cannot,” Lan Wangji admits. Even if he carried a guqin, the spiritual power required is currently beyond his grasp.

Wei Ying’s face scrunches up. “I don’t suppose you know a transposition for dixi? Or perhaps Zewu-jun has one for xiao?”

There is no such transposition. “Inquiry requires seven strings.”

Wei Ying sighs. “Well, it was worth a try. They’re not too talkative. I think some of them had their tongues cut out.” Wei Ying turns back to Jin Ling. “How do you suggest finding out more about them?”

“Evocation requires a physical medium.” Jin Ling’s nose wrinkles. “Maybe Trace?”

“Could be helpful,” Wei Ying agrees. “Do you all have paper?”

Lan Wangji watches with interest as they produce paper and grind three grades of ink, from a watery gray wash to a thick, rich black.

“One of yours?” he asks, as Wei Ying steps back to watch his disciples work. But Wei Ying shakes his head.

“He Sect. They introduced it at a discussion conference a few years ago, for determining a spirit’s location of birth and death, along with their movements in the week before they died.”

It’s clever. Without a physical medium or sufficient knowledge of the guqin, determining more of a spirit’s history could lend valuable insight to pacification efforts. A spirit’s family or the site of a disturbed grave might be found much more quickly. Lan Wangji nods approval, and Wei Ying smiles lightly.

“Come watch,” he says as Zhou Xiuying and Wen Sizhui quickly settle cross-legged beside their prepared paper and ink. Jin Ling and Liu Weixin are only a few moments behind.

It is an interesting process. The ink blooms over the pages, gradations of definition outlining mountains and forests, roads and lakes and even crisp, dark characters—town names and Sect enclaves. A trail of footprints mark the last few days of a life.

The results are mixed. Only two of the ghouls seem to have died here, a few days’ journey caught between Moling and Gusu—a man bearing a cursemark that covers his neck and torso, and a woman who shows clear signs of death by qi deviation. The lingchi victim’s map shows a death in Yueyang. The drowned ghost met his end in Caiyi. The others record deaths in Tanzhou, and Yingchuan and Qishan.

Jin Ling glares at his papers. “This can’t be right,” he says. “Maybe it didn’t work.”

“It worked,” Zhou Xiuying insists. “Trace doesn’t allow spirits to lie. It’s a physical record of the soul, not a question.”

“Perhaps someone moved them for a night hunt?” Wen Sizhui sounds doubtful, even as he voices the thought.

“Perhaps,” Wei Ying agrees, but his eyes are on Lan Wangji. It is not difficult to follow his suspicions. Liang Feihong was desperate enough to risk two souls for vengeance. Something as simple and commonplace as a planned nighthunt is unlikely to prompt such an act.

“What do we do with them now?” Liu Weixin asks.

Wei Ying’s face twists as he examines the ghouls again. “A few might be pacified by offerings, but the rest are too bound to revenge.”

“So, banishment?” Jin Rulan asks, a talisman already held between two fingers.

Wei Ying considers for a moment. His eyes slide back to Lan Wangji.

“How many spirit bags do we have?” he asks his disciples.

Zhou Xiuying, Liu Weixing and Wen Sizhui between them produce four such bags.

“Build a shrine,” Wei Ying directs his nephew, “We can’t offer burial, but we can do that much. Perhaps some only want to know they’re remembered. We’ll see how many are left afterward.”

Jin Rulan’s shoulders slump, but he does as he’s been told and soon there is a small offering of their combined supply of travel food, a selection of loquats and a few handfuls of paper money to burn.

Wei Ying steps close and stands warm at Lan Wangji’s shoulder as Wen Sizhui starts the fire.

“Does burning paper money work?” he asks, soft enough that their companions won’t hear. “Did you get any?”

“It is not a Lan custom,” Lan Wangji tells him, because it isn’t. He doesn’t elaborate. He does not know how to put into words the vagueness of his thoughts on his own death, the lack of distinct memory combined with the iron-hard certainty that he did die.

“I burned some for you.” Wei Ying is watching the flames dance in the steel bowl Liu Weixin had produced for the purpose. “I—” his mouth snaps shut with a click and he steps away, careful space reinserted between them. Lan Wangji watches as he crosses his arms over his chest, clearly discomfited.

“Thank you.” It is … gratifying, in a way, to know that Wei Ying mourned him.

Wei Ying shrugs the thanks away. “Doesn’t matter much if you didn’t get it.” He coughs. “Looks like we’ll have to take care of a few of these the hard way after all,” he says, nodding at the spirits. Only one, the weakest, has responded to the offering. Lan Wangji lets the change of subject pass without remark.

“The ones who died here might be most useful,” he says instead. “They carry some of the strongest resentment, and likely saw their murderers. Xiongzhang could ask after the focus of their vengeance.”

“And Zewu-jun is too honest to hide their answers,” Wei Ying agrees, nodding. “Will you go to Gusu then?” he asks. “Or can I tempt you to Yiling first? I’ll give you the talismans I have made, of course, but in Yiling we could try other methods, and Wen Qing might know—” he talks faster with every word, like he thinks he has to be convincing.

“Yiling is fine,” Lan Wangji assures him. The curse’s implications eat at his thoughts, and he would like to have more evidence than a selection of angry souls to present to his brother. And of course, Yiling has the benefit of Wei Ying’s presence.

“Oh.” Wei Ying smiles, something tentative in the expression. “Good then.”

“Wei-zongzhu?” Liu Weixin approaches them. “Which spirits should we keep?” he asks, twirling his pair of bags around his fingers.

Collecting four ghouls does not take long—one for each bag, Wei Ying tells his disciples, as these spirits are more likely to tear into each other than not. Then he pairs them off and frees the remaining two ghouls from Chenqing’s control, for suppression and elimination. Jin Rulan in particular takes evident satisfaction in the act; Wen Sizhui, in contrast, is the most efficient in his movements, and Zhou Xiuying’s sword work betrays her He Sect training.

“It’s a shame we couldn’t get anything else,” Wei Ying says as Liu Weixin dispatches the last spirit, a grasping ghost with needle teeth and a hollow in its belly. “Though I suppose we should count ourselves lucky there was anything left at all. If these souls were gathered for a purpose, they should have been dealt with before the fire.” He holds out the collection of spirit bags with a curious quirk of his eyebrow, and Lan Wangji carefully adds them to his qiankun pouch.

“Lianfang-zun has such a clear memory,” Wei Ying sighs, “He hardly writes anything down if it’s not official business. If this really is his doing, it’ll be difficult to prove.”

Lan Wangji nods. Even in his own memories, on occasions when he knew for fact that Jin Guangyao exaggerated a recollection, or misspoke, it had been difficult to sway others’ belief in his words. The position of Chief Cultivator would seem to convey more respect on his shoulders, not less.

“Tomorrow, tomorrow,” Wei Ying says as he turns back to the forest, and the dim but still-glowing transportation array. “Today, we have other worries.”

*

They arrive not in the Mass Graves, as Lan Wangji expected, but in an open, airy courtyard framed on three sides by sturdy buildings and clean-swept boardwalks. The main gate, behind, is closely carved with talismans, and he can sense at least three layers of wards extending outward from his location for several li. To the west lies a lotus pond, and beyond it what looks to be an archery field. It is not Lotus Pier, in any sense, but it is clear that Wei Ying drew from his childhood home in the design of the compound, just as the dark woods and red embellishments recall the halls of Qishan Wen. The crows in flight, carved into latticed windows and screens and embroidered onto hanging curtains, seem unique to Yiling-Wei, and match the small embroidered details at Wei Ying’s collar.

Wen Qionglin is waiting for them, unchanged from the last time Lan Wangji met him but for his clothes, which are of finer fabric and much cleaner. He smiles at Wen Sizhui, and looks curiously between Wei Ying and Lan Wangji.

“Liang Feihong, patient for Wen Qing,” Wei Ying says, twirling Chenqing as he steps out of the array that, here, is etched into the stone and anchored to both the lotus pod and an encompassing iron rim. Zhou Xiuying has hardly stepped onto the boardwalk when a young woman in Wei sect colors comes running to meet her—her wife, Lan Wangji gathers, from the tone of their reunion.

“I’ll show you around in a moment,” Wei Ying tells him, “I just need to see Jin Ling off first.”

“I’m fine,” Jin Ling protests. Lan Wangji tries to focus on other things as what is evidently a long-familiar family argument erupts: Jin Rulan is adamant that he can travel alone, by sword, and that he has enough talismans, and that yes, obviously, he has his Jiang spirit bell and his Jin-embroidered protections and yes, even that charm you gave me, Dajiu, can I go now? Lan Wangji finds the looming menace of the Mass Graves as he examines the roofline, its position indicating that the Sect grounds likely sit just outside the town of Yiling itself, a guarding presence between the common people and a problem the entire cultivation world has been unable to solve for generations.

Wei Ying extracts a promise of a message by Jin butterfly as soon as his nephew reaches Lotus Pier, and then he rejoins Lan Wangji, walking with his hands clasped behind his back and looking pleased with himself.

“I think it’s the eldest sibling thing,” he says, as he draws close. “That, or he’s absorbed all the worst parts of Jiang Cheng and his father at once and there’s no room left for Shijie’s influence. A-Yuan has never been so intractable.”

Wen Yuan is inspecting a quiver of arrows and speaking quietly with Wen Qionglin on the other side of the courtyard. Lan Wangji does not comment on habits Jin Rulan might have learned from a cultivator whose general approach to rules at his age was to rather gleefully break them.

“What do you think?” Wei Ying asks, gesturing at the courtyard, the buildings, and the lotus pond. He grins, mischievous, and waves in the general direction of the Mass Graves. “You were expecting to be back there, weren’t you. In the Demon-Summoning Cave?”

Lying is forbidden, and the thought had, indeed, crossed his mind, even though the young Wei cultivators looked far too hardy to have spent so much of their daily lives among the restless dead.

“It’s still up there,” Wei Ying assures him, as if he might be disappointed if it weren’t. “I can show you later—some of my best experiments are there, still.”

Lan Wangji has no particular interest in revisiting what Wei Ying had termed his ‘blood pool,’ or any experiments of a similar nature.

“You mentioned Wen Qing,” he says.

“How’s that talisman feeling?” Wei Ying asks. “I could show you the library first—we’ve got a library, not as good as Gusu’s of course, but I think you’d like some of the collection—and, oh! We could get you a new horse-tail whisk, if you want one? Or a training sword? Or maybe you’d like to see the sword hall … ” his grin grows wider and wider as he speaks, until his eyes are nearly squeezed shut by his own mirth. “I’ll stop, I’ll stop,” he says. “You know, it’s really amazing. Your face is so different, but the expression is exactly the same.”

Something unfurls in Lan Wangji’s center like a sun-seeking flower. That Wei Ying can recognize him without the soul bond—that Wei Ying remembers him well enough, after so long a time, to make such an observation—soothes a prickle of unease in his thoughts. Small worries he hasn’t put a name to quiet as Wei Ying escorts him through the enclave’s sun-drenched pathways, pointing out lush gardens and chattering about his disciples as if he never sat in a dark, damp cave that smelled of mold and blood and called it his home.

Never wreathed himself in resentment.

Never gave up the sword.

on to part 8

[svnflowery]

The weekend had passed in the blink of an eye, and now you found yourself in front of the classroom's door, your heart rumbling so loudly in your chest that you wondered if you had a carnival inside it. Cold sweat ran down your neck, and your fingers trembled. You took a shaky breath in hopes of soothing your racing heart, but it was of no use. The crowd of students following their path in the hallway behind you made you even more anxious.

"Are you going to get in or are you going to stay there all day? The door doesn't bite, you know," a voice interrupted your thoughts, making you jolt. You turned your head and indeed, there was Yangyang, the culprit of the disaster that was about to come. You decided to ignore him and finally opened the metal door, perhaps too hard.

You rushed to your seat and took out your notebook at a lightning speed —the one you never managed to recover because of Yangyang and his stupid flashlight— to try to absorb as much knowledge as possible in the miserable five minutes left before the exam started. You knew someone was talking to you but you were totally focused on squeezing the stupid words into your brain, so you didn't even bother to respond. Whatever it was wasn't important at the time.

Just as if fate was laughing at you, the teacher arrived five minutes early and announced his entry with a loud greeting followed by the order to put all the notes away immediately. You let out a curse in a low voice and reluctantly threw the notebook into your backpack. Stupid Yangyang, you thought.

The exam had been a complete failure. Since you had all your notes in the damned notebook, you had been unable to study anything, and due to the anger and frustration that were running through your blood right now, the only at fault in your mind was Yangyang. Okay, you had left it for the last day, but if he had minded his own business none of this would have happened because you could have spent a night of stress and study accompanied by the bitter coffee you hated but needed so much on all-nighters.

Anyone could see that you were in a foul mood, stomping and with smoke almost coming out of your ears. You felt the heat of anger roaming your body, and even though you weren't an aggressive person, you felt like hitting the lockers on your left. This stupid exam was going to lower your average score, a lot actually. "Stupid Yangyang," you muttered to yourself again.

"That's me, even though the "stupid" hurt me" speaking of the devil. He was walking beside you with that same stupid smirk plastered into his face.

"Leave me the fuck alone, Yangyang"

"I assume you didn't do very well on the exam," it sounded more like a statement than a question, and that irked you.

"I didn't do well? I didn't do well?! Thats an understatement!"

Yangyang let out a nervous chuckle, a little taken aback by your sudden raised voice. "Uh... Are you alright? It's really not that big a deal, really, I'm sure it's not that relevant to your grade, you're a good student—"

"Listen, you idiot, this is all your fault. If you had left me alone I would have gotten my stupid notebook, I could have studied and none of this would have happened. But no! You had to go and get into my business. You know what? Don't talk to me again, Liu Yangyang. You're just nothing but a skater who doesn't care about anything beyond his stupid skateboard." You snapped at him, almost shouting the last sentence, fists shaking.

Yangyang, perplexed, said nothing. He didn't even blink. The silence was almost deafening, except for the loud beating of your heart in your ears.

"If that's what you think," he said, lowly. His face seemed indifferent but his voice and eyes really showed that you had fucked up. And he left, lightly pushing your shoulder with his.

"Fuck" you whispered, grabbing your head in frustration. You heard murmurs all around you and at that moment you didn't want anything more but the earth to swallow you.

skate to you - two

a/n: i hope you liked this chapter! i'm sorry there isn't sns screenshots but it needed to end like this, hehe. hope you liked it! feedback always appreciated! ٩(๑> ₃ <)۶♥

[ask-marble-pasta-boys]

au where everyone is happy and absolutely nothing went wrong, ever

Sorry for bad grammar and spelling, it’s late at night when I’m writing this and I’m very sleepy. Have many long headcanons!

Masky/Tim- Tim never had any medical issues and went to a normal school. He had an average time in collage, making good life long friends like Brian, Jay and Alex. He worked on Alex’s shitty film which he still cringes at today, but once it was over he got a good paying job and lived his life normally.Hoodie/Brian- Brian never had to become Hoodie to stop Alex, so he became quite popular after the shitty film. He worked on a few more short films with Alex and Co. but ended up going into nursing. He is loving it and goes out for drinks with his friends at least once a week.Skully/Jay- He ended up working in a photography shop! Not where he was expecting but he likes it. He is slowly writing his own book, a mystery with codes and hidden double meaning every where. He is half tempted to ask Alex to help him turn it into a movie��maybe.Alex Kraile- Moved around quite a bit after collage but stayed in contact with the others from his shitty film- it’s okay he knows it’s shitty now too- he has worked on small no name films but is waiting for his big break! He works at a flower shop- very very strange but it’s helping him write a love story.Ticci Toby- His sister never died, he ended up moving out with her when she became of age. He worked at a game shop, knowing just enough to making him a valuable worker. He wanted to go into spokes talking about his conditions but is happy where he is at the same time. His sister and him live in a small apartment but they are happy.(VERY LONG POST! MORE UNDERCUT)

Eyeless Jack- He finished collage- no, not on top of his grade. He would have but he didn’t really give a shit about his last exam, going through a life crisis. He did end up being a surgeon. He wasn’t the best well known, but he was rather good! He was content with life, learning other things in his free time. He liked to travel a bit more, see the world and all it has... at the same time he’d like to have a good place to call home, some place safe that’s for him to be happy.Laughing Jack- He was never lonely and never abandon.Jeff the Killer- He was a high school drop out, but that’s okay! He ended up working in a small coffee shop owned by a family member. He was interested in policing but at the same time wasn’t. He ended up doing volunteering, in children’s homes were “disturbed” kids where. They never weredisturbed , just angry at the world.Homicidal Liu- He ended up being an English teacher! Loving doing it. He loved asking his students to write small stories, loved seeing the creativity. He wrote poetry in his free time and even helped out his brother with the children’s home, helping them have an outlet with writing!BEN Drowned- He ended up never joining the Moon Children, but ended up growing up. He loved computers as a kid and got a thing for hacking. He knew the ins and outs of them. He ended up graduating UNI for computer science on top of his class- though that was because he hacked into the schools computer and lowered everyone’s grade by 3. Bloody Painter- Became a well known painter, eventual moving on to special effects and going into movies. He’s do sets and effects, becoming very well known.

[bookofjin]

Annals of Gaozu of Song, Part 4

[Punishing the thieving Xianbei and their false Yan. From Songshu 001]

[Yixi 2, 4 February 406 – 24 January 407]

2nd Year, 3rd Month [4 April – 3 May], supervised Jiao and Guang provinces.

10th Month [28 October – 26 November], Gaozu sent up words saying:

Formerly Heaven brought calamity on the August House, the immensely wily were free to usurp. Your Subject and others, righteous but only old servants, content simply with the state's kindness [?], raising the head to certify the tokens of trust and obedience, bowing down to hone the subjects' resentment [?]. Even the providence of the altars of soil and grain pressed down to likewise serve and carry out the multitudes' relief. Their assistants of safeguarding encouraging the loyal and earnest, the gentlemen of civil and martial with all their strength, the humble of setting forth and taking charge of being themselves [?], the great of employing the waning state's body [?].

They straight-away stretched out to administer the multitude armies first going up, together planning to raise up righteousness. [We] started with pacifying Jingkou and Guangling cities. Your Subject and the General who Consoles the Army, Yi, and others, 272 people, combined afterwards to hasten to righteously set out for the capital and hem the roads for great battles, with more than 1 566 people. Also the General who Assists the State, Changmin and the former Serving within the Palace, Wang Yuande and others, 10 people, gathered 1 848 people. [I] requests [there be] correct enfeoffment and rewards. Their multitude armies of the western conquest, [we] must discuss to assemble and continue upwards [?].

Hence the Masters of Writing memorialised to enfeoff and commend the master of the righteous plan, the General of the Garrison Army, taboo, as Duke of Yuzhang commandery, with a revenue estate of 10 000 household, and bestowed 30 000 bolts of tabby silk. The remainder were enfeoffed and rewarded each proportionally. The assistant personnel of the Garrison Army office were brought down [below?] the former Grand Tutor, Xie An's office by 1 grade.

11th Month [27 November – 25 December], the Son of Heaven repeatedly repeated the previous order, concurrently [made] Gaozu Palace Attendant, advanced his title to General of Chariots and Cavalry, Opening Office with the Same Ceremonies as the Three Ministers. He firmly declined. A decree dispatched the hundred companions to genuinely urge.

[Yixi 3, 25 January 407 – 12 February 408]

3rd Year, 2nd Month [23 February – 24 March], Gaozu returned to the Imperial Capital, and was about to pay visit to the Commandant of Justice. The Son of Heaven first decreed the prison officials did not get to accept. He paid visit to the palace to argue to yield, and then saw and heard. He went back to Dantu.

Intercalary Month [25 March – 22 April], the office general Luo Bing planned to make chaos, wanting to put on [armour] and hold [weapons]. He fled on a single horse, the pursuit beheaded him. Executed Bing's father, the Grand Warden of Yongjia, Qiu. Qiu was originally a clerk of Dongyang commandery. At the chaos of Sun En, he rose up righteously at Chang Mountain, and for that reason was selected and employed.

Earlier, at the defeat of Huan Xuan, since Huan Chong [had been] loyal and true, appointed his grandson Yin. Arriving at this point, Bing planned to use Yin as ruler. He an the Grand Warden of Dongyang, Yin Zhongwen, secretly joined together. Therefore executed Zhongwen and Zhongwen's two younger brothers. Everyone of Huan Xuan's remaining partisans at this point were all executed and eradicated.

The Son of Heaven dispatched the Combined Grand Minister of Ceremonies, Ge Ji, to confer a record as Excellency, saying:

When Youhu overflowed Heaven, Yiyi made use of blood oaths. Chaotic junctures [?] interferes with the norms, and as a result disturbs the august pinnacle. The traitorous subject Huan Xuan relied on favour to carry out disobedience, and therefore broke apart and overturned [Mounts] Hua and Huo, upended and uprooted [Mounts] Song and Dai. The Five Peaks wholly exterminated, the Six Lands were changed.

The Duke instructed the generation's prominent to straighten up [?], stored up receptacles and waited for the time. Following that his heart counted on [?] reverence, and pledged to wipe away the state's shame. Sighing with resentment over the levelling of the mounds, [he] sincerely issued out in the dead of night. Soon a few months after repeated moves, the divine receptacles were already distant, the loyal and filial were in deep-held confidence [?], as a result linked up the three intelligences.

So then [he] with stone resoluteness exploited the moment, circulated the covenant to all of them begin, decrying [?] azure Heaven to consider it as proper, to signal the righteous journey and spur on alone. The racing spear-point were several hundred, [their] power and zeal fervent lightning. A million were not able to withstand and hinder, arranging to travel daily straight to towards [?] the city.

Thereupon he sent charging whales in overwhelming flows [?], the tyrant fish ran to Han, the temple surpassed the distant more and more [?], the heavy vapour began to cleanse [?], the Two Principles broadly purified, the Three Lights turned around to shine, serving thereupon for perpetual eras, achievements lofty breaking open, managing the subtle and assessing speech, righteous feelings in Our heart.

As for the Way being an aid for ourself [?], still fettering his feudal rank, furthermore given [his] sincerity and virtue are altogether extreme, his deeds are the best of Heaven and Man! Thus [he] makes use of establishing this nation and state, perpetually blessing the mountains and rivers. Words and thoughts begins in the breast, no speech are sufficient recompense. Depart and be reverent!

[He] caused the shielding of I the One Man, long aiding August Jin, the flowing wind handing down blessings, radiant and ardent without end. Thus submit to receive the auspicious record, respond by lifting up Our instructions.

12th Month [14 January – 12 February], the Minister over the Masses, Recording the Masters of Writing, and Inspector of Yang province, Wang Mi, passed away.

[Yixi 4, 13 February 408 – 31 January 409]

4th Year, 1st Month [13 February – 12 March], compelled [?] His Excellency to enter and assist, conferred Palace Attendant, General of Chariots and Cavalry, Opening Office with the Same Ceremonies as the Three Ministers, Inspector of Yang province. Recording the Masters of Writing and Inspector of Xu and Yan provinces like before. He petitioned to remove Yan province.

Before this, dispatched the Best of the Army Liu Jingxuan to attack the Shu traitor Qiao Zong. had no merit and came back.

9th Month [6 October – 3 November], since Jingxuan had been checked and withdrawn, he yielded his rank. It was not permitted. He was therefore lowered to be General of the Central Army, Opening Office like before.

[Yixi 5, 1 February 409 – 19 February 410]

Earlier, the bogus King of Yan, the Xianbei Murong De had usurped the title in Qing province. When De died, his elder brother's son Chao inherited the rank. From beginning to end several times there were border troubles.

5th Year, 2nd Month [3 March – 31 March], [he] greatly plundered north of the Huai, carried off the Grand Warden of Yangping, Liu Qianzai and the Grand Warden of Ji'nan, Zhao Yuan, and drove and took away more than a thousand families.

3rd Month [1 April – 30 April], His Excellency unyieldingly petitioned for a northern punishment campaign. Used the Intendant of Danyang, Meng Chang, to oversee the Central Army and to stay behind with the office affairs.

4th Month [1 May – 29 May], the naval host issued from the Imperial Capital, sailed upstream the Huai and entered the Si.

5th Month [30 May – 28 June], they arrived at Xiapi, and halted the warships and supply wagons. The foot army advanced to Langye. Whenever they proceeded, the always built forts to stay and defend. The Xianbei's Liangfu and Jucheng guard posts ran and fled.

Murong Chao heard the kingly host was about to arrive. His great general Gongsun Wulou advised Chao:

[We] should decisively [?] occupy Daxian [Mountain], reap and remove the grain sprouts, make strong the barricades and clear the countryside to thereby wait for them. That one's away army is without supplies, and will seek battle but not get it. Within ten days to a month, [we can] snap bamboo and beat him with it, that is all.

Chao did not follow, but said:

That one when comes from far away will be tired with the toil, in the circumstances [he] will not be able for a long time. Only draw out to cause [him?] go beyond Xian. I will use iron cavalry to trample him, [I] am not anxious about not routing [him]. Why make preparations to mow the sprouts and crops, and first urgently weaken myself!

Earlier, when His Excellency was about to move, opinion considered that when the traitors heard a great army had set out for far away, in their hearts they would not dare to battle. And if they did not decide at Daxian, the would firmly defend Guanggu, reap the grain and clear the countryside, to thereby cut off the supplies of the Three Armies. Not only would it be difficult accordingly to have good results, but they might not themselves be able to turn around. His Excellency said:

I am familiar with the calculations. The Xianbei are greedy and do not come up with far-reaching plans. [When] advancing they take advantage to overcome and capture, when withdrawing they preserve the grain sprouts. [They will] say our lonely army is coming from far away, and will not be able to sustain for a long time. They will not go beyond advancing to occupy Linqu, but will withdraw to defend Guanggu.

If I only get to enter Xian, people will have no heart for withdrawing, drive away the multitudes of certain death, and turn to being of two minds about capture [?]. What is the fear of not vanquishing! That one will not be able to clear the countryside to strengthen the defences, and will make the various lords protect it.

When His Excellency had entered Xian, he raised his hand to point to Heaven and said:

My aid in affairs!

6th Month [29 June – 27 July], Murong Chao dispatched Wulou and the King of Guangning, Helai Lu to first occupy Linqu city. When he heard a great army had arrived, he kept the weak and old to defend Guanggu, and then fully set out. Linqu has Jumie River, 40 li distant from the city. Chao announced to Wulou, saying:

Quickly go and occupy it. If the Jin army obtains the river, it will be difficult to strike.

Wulou swiftly advanced. The Galloping Dragon General Meng Longfu had led cavalry to stay there first, and ran to go and contend with him. Wulou therefore withdrew.

The multitude armies' march advanced. They had 4 000 chariots, split the chariots to be the two flanks, and marched slowly on parallel paths [?]. The chariots stretched fully out as a screen, and the drivers held lances. They also used light cavalry as a patrolling army. The army's orders were strict and severe, the marching squads were equally orderly.

They would not yet reach Linqu for several li, when the traitor's iron cavalry, more than 10 000, from van to rear altogether arrived. His Excellency instructed the Inspector of Yan province, Liu Fan, his younger brother the Inspector of Bing province, Daolian, the Consultant Army Assistants Liu Jingxuan and Tao Yanshou, and the Army Assistants Liu Huaiyu, Shen Zhongdao, Suo Miao, and others, to act together and strike them.

With day turning to afternoon, His Excellency dispatched the Consultant Army Assistant Tan Shao to straightly hurry forward to Linqu. Shao led the General who Establishes Power, Xiang Mi and the Army Assistant Hu Fan to swiftly depart. By then end of the day [?], they had taken the city, cut down its serrated banners and fully captured Chao's supply wagons. Chao heard Linqu had already fallen, drew out the multitudes and fled. His Excellency personally drummed him. The traitors then were greatly routed.

Chao escaped and turned back to Guangu. They captured Chao's horse, bogus imperial carriage, jade signet, leopard tail etc., and sent them off to the Imperial City. They beheaded his great general Duan Hui and others, more than ten people. The remainder who were beheaded or captured numbered a thousand.

Next day, the great army advanced to Guanggu, and fully slaughtered the greater city. Chao withdrew to guard the lesser city. Hence [they] build a long encirclement to guard him. The encirclement was 3 zhang tall, outside they dug three major [?] moats. They stopped transportation on the Jiang and Huai, and made public [?] the grain in the lands of Qi. They consoled and accepted [those who] surrendered and adhered, the Hua and Rong were happy and pleased. They aided the talents and conferred feudal rank, and because of that they then served them.

7th Month [28 July – 26 August], a decree added to His Excellency Inspector of Beiqing [“North Qing”] and Ji provinces. Chao's great general Yuan Zun and Zun's younger brother Miao both led multitudes to revert to obedience.

His Excellency was just then putting into order assault implements. A person atop the walls said:

You have not got Zhang Gang. How [will you] be able to do it.

Gang was Chao's Gentleman of the Masters of Writing. That person was quick-witted.

It happened that Chao dispatched Gang to declare allegiance to Yao Xing, beg for a host and request relief. Xing pretended to allow it, but in truth dread His Excellency, and did not dare to dispatch. Gang consequently turned back from Chang'an. The Grand Warden of Taishan, Shen Xuan seized and sent him off. Then they mounted Gang on top of a storied building, as a display to within the city. Within the city they could not but lose colour.

Hence they made Gang greatly put in order assault implements. Chao sought to rescue but did not acquire [him], and Gang turned around to captivity. He turned anxious and afraid, and therefore requested to declare allegiance. He sought to cede Daxian ans the border, and presented a thousand horses. They did not listen, but the siege became urgent [?]. Those people living north of the He who came shouldering halberds and carrying provisions daily were several thousand.

The Army Assistant for Recording Affairs Liu Muzhi had a talent and facility for organizing and planning. His Excellency used him as chief planner, when acting or desisting he certainly consulted with him. At the time Yao Xing dispatched envoys to announce to His Excellency, stating:

The Murong are neighbours on good terms with me, and also when impoverished informed of the urgency. Now [I] will dispatch 100 000 iron cavalry to straight-away occupy Luoyang. The Jin army, if it does not withdraw, [I] readily will dispatched the iron cavalry on a long gallop and advance.

His Excellency shouted at Xing's envoy, in reply saying:

Tell your Yao Xing, after I have settled Yan, and rested the armour for three years, [I] will pacify Guan and Luo. Now [if he] is able to issue out himself, [he] readily can quickly come.

Muzhi heard there was a Qiang envoy and swiftly entered, but His Excellency had sent out and dispatched [him] and had already departed. Due to the words from Xing and what's more the answer, he arranged to talk with Muzhi. Muzhi reproached His Excellency, saying:

The affairs of regular days, great or small, are certainly granted and given [me] to plan them. This [so we] ought to well examine them. Why then so sudden to readily reply? [?] The reply by His Excellency to Xing's word, [while] not yet able to dominate the foe, are just sufficient to enrage that one, and that is all. Suppose Yan is not yet possible to uproot, and the Qiang's aid soon arrive, [if we] are not careful how [will we] accordingly receive them?

His Excellency replied, saying:

This was a military opportunity, not resolved by you Sir [?], for that reason [I] did not tell, that is all. This was him seeing us attacking Yan, on the inside he already fear in his breast. An explanation to bolster himself, that is all. [?]

9th Month [25 September – 24 October], advanced His Excellency to Grand Commandant and Overseer of the Palace Writers. He firmly declined.

The bogus Inspector of Xu province, Duan Hong, had previously ran to the Forlorn Caitiffs.

10th Month [25 October – 22 November], he reverted to obedience from north of the He.

Zhang Gang's putting in order the assault implements was complete, he prepared various unusual cleverness in the categories of soaring towers and wooden screens, they could not but fully prepared. On top of the walls [they had] fires, stones, bows and arrows, but nothing were of use to them.

[Yixi 6, 20 February 410 – 8 February 411]

6th Year, 2nd Month, dinghai [25 March], slaughtered Guanggu. Chao went over the walls to flee. The Officer of Board of Banditry to the [General who] Conquesr the Caitiff, Qiao Xu [?], captured him. They killed his absconders and below [?] and took more than 10 000 people and 2 000 horses. Sent off Chao to the Imperial City. He was beheaded in the market of Jiankang.

[firstchaptertranslations]

The Emperor Plans, The Minister Executes: Chapter 2

Gu Bing knelt there, soaked through all over with cold sweat. In that moment, it felt as if he were back in the drawing room in his maternal uncle’s house.

Several days a year, his younger self would go kneel there, receive a few scraps of silver from his maternal aunt, endure a round of everyone’s mockery, then silently leave, alone. After that was a crude dwelling, a single lamp, and classics, essays, and poetry.

That sensation— of being pitied and held in contempt, of having no more power over his own fate than a floating bit of algae.

He was long used to it, and thus able to endure it.

“Do you know why I picked you alone, out of the several hundred examinees ranked within the three tiers?” the man on the dais asked idly.

“This commoner does not know, Your Highness.”

“You’re a Retainer of the Crown Prince now. Don’t call yourself a commoner anymore.”

Gu Bing’s brows knitted. Retainer of the Crown Prince was a sixth-rank second-class position, better than what even many scions of good families could hope for. This good fortune had arrived so quickly that it left him fearful.

“Should you not express your gratitude?” The man on the dais chose a forbidding wording, but his tone of voice was so gentle as to seem a touch careless.”

“This minister thanks Your Highness for your generosity.”

A fine-featured handmaid went back and forth, topping up teacups and waving a fan. “You still haven’t answered my question.”

Gu Bing sighed inwardly. “Most likely the show of myself I made at the banquet at the Apricot Garden amused Your Highness--”

The other man startled. “You remembered my voice all this time?”

Gu Bing shook his head. “Your Highness’s voice is akin to the cry of the dragon and the call of the phoenix, but I didn’t recognize you by voice.”

The man on the dais stood and ambled his leisurely way down. Gu Bing saw the train of his robes trailing on the ground, embroidered with cloud patterns, like the lavish ripples of light atop Daming Lake.

“Tell me more.”

“In fact, I realized during the banquet itself. There were three main points of notice.”

“What three points?”

Gu Bing hesitated for a moment before replying deferentially. “First, Your Highness was youthful and magnificent, and of handsome bearing. No one less than a scion of the great families could’ve obtained the clothes you wore. Second, Your Highness had keen knowledge of the affairs at court. You even knew that Zhou Qi was going to the Prince of Jingxi as an aide. I doubt an ordinary princeling would’ve had the ability and interest. Third, no ordinary ministerial family could have employed the servants who blocked my way and asked after my name that day.”

The Crown Prince mulled over this for a moment, then clapped and laughed. “You really are a meticulous thinker, Gu Bing. I’d forgotten that several of my servants are the kinfolk of fallen ministers, tattooed as punishment and sent into the palace to serve the emperor’s family. Looks like I really was right to keep you.” The Crown Prince half-turned and eyed Gu Bing, then sighed. “But I really didn’t choose you because I found you amusing. Rather, I… never mind, you probably wouldn’t believe me if I told you. I didn’t expect you to be like this either.”

His words left Gu Bing bewildered. All he could do was obediently answer in the affirmative. “This minister fears he presents an incommodious sight to your imperial eyes.”

But the man didn’t spare him another glance. He only said, “After this you’ll be at my side attending upon me. Naturally you’ll be moving into the Crown Prince’s residence, the East Palace. You must be tired today— go retire and rest. Come to the inner court tomorrow at quarter past the fifth hour to await me.”

Gu Bing arrived at the courtyard neatly dressed before five the next day, neatly dressed, only to find that the tutors of the Crown Prince’s Academe, the Secretary of the Crown Prince, and even the Grand Guardian and Grand Tutor, were already lined up there, all present and accounted for. Even though everyone wore new court robes, they more resembled rows of wilted, sickly trees.

The Secretary of the Crown Prince was a rather forbidding man. “Minister Gu.”

Gu Bing immediately bowed, afraid to even raise his head. Secretary was a fifth-rank first-class official position, a full three grades higher than his own.

“Having just entered officialdom, I fear you possess little understanding of the court, let alone the East Palace. His Highness the Crown Prince is benevolent and kind in character, and treats his subordinates with great generosity. But this does not mean we ministers can grow careless. The East Palace morning meeting is at the fifth hour, after which His Highness must attend court at Liangyi Palace at quarter to six, so ministers should arrive here by three. You’ve newly passed the exams, Minister Gu. Do not make the mistake of sinking into idleness in your youthful prime!”

Spittle flew as Secretary Huang spoke; Gu Bing’s head sank lower and lower, almost burying itself into the dust too deep to pull back out.

Now he heard a series of rustles. The palace handmaids walked out in a line, with Crown Prince Xuanyuan Zhaomin standing in their midst. In an instant, everyone in the inner court was kneeling on the ground.

Gu Bing hurriedly knelt too, feeling sore of back and dizzy of head.

Xuanyuan looked at his gathered subordinates and smiled a little. “You have a voice like a great bell, Minister Huang Yong. You must be in fine health, if I could hear you a mile away.” Secretary Huang hurriedly begged his pardon, but Xuanyuan waved him aside. “Xiao-Gu only just arrived, and he’s had to work a good deal lately with the examinations. I was the one who told him to come at a later hour. With the chilly weather lately, I want to push the time of the meeting back fifteen minutes from now on, and everyone can get more sleep. What do you think, Grand Tutor?”

Gu Bing couldn’t resist raising his head. Xuanyuan looked cheerful, his phoenix eyes half-shut with his smile, like an enlightened old fox. Where was the slightest shadow of his wild, willful self from the banks of the winding river a few days ago?

As he woolgathered, he spotted Xuanyuan’s gaze suddenly turn toward him. His lacquer-black eyes could suck in souls. Hurriedly, Gu Bing lowered his head.

The corner of Xuanyuan’s mouth curved. He directed everyone indoors.

After the meeting, Gu Bing’s head spun with the multitudinous official position names and relationships— something something Attendant Liu  was Chancellor Wang’s brother-in-law, something something Senior Minister Shi’s protege Zhao Zixi was the cousin of His Majesty’s current favorite Consort Zhao, something something Grand Tutor Su’s son was serving as Inspector in Huizhou, but due to an unhappy relationship with his father had gone over to Senior Minister Shi…”

How fortunate that he sat next to another Retainer named Wu Yong, who dragged Gu Bing into his incessant chatter. The buzz of his secret-sharing made Gu Bing’s head hurt. His face was turning pale.

Xuanyuan banged on his table somewhat impatiently. “So, after all that talk, how are we going to arrange for Third Brother to depart the capital as a regional prince? We still haven’t settled on how to respond to my Emperor Father. Can’t everyone give me one unified answer?”

“The Third Prince’s mother occupies a lowly position in the harem. The title of Prince of Lingnan should be good enough for him.”

“You don’t understand, his mother is cousin to Senior Minister Shi’s daughter-in-law!”

“And what do you know? Senior Minister Shi’s son favors Lady Ru.”

Xuanyuan laughed. “I know, you all write a petition and give it to me, right now. I’ll bring it to court afterward.”

Immediately, a clerk distributed sheets of paper. Gu Bing hesitated for a moment, then began to write. Wu Yong beside him snuck a glance, then frantically tugged at him. He was easy to lip-read: Are you crazy?

Gu Bing shook his head, and had the clerk bring up his response.

Xuanyuan’s gaze swept down the page. He gave a cryptic little smile and rose to attend court.

[khalilhumam]

The impact of COVID-19 on student achievement and what it may mean for educators

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New Post has been published on http://khalilhumam.com/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-student-achievement-and-what-it-may-mean-for-educators/

The impact of COVID-19 on student achievement and what it may mean for educators

By Jim Soland, Megan Kuhfeld, Beth Tarasawa, Angela Johnson, Erik Ruzek, Jing Liu Virtually all K-12 students in the United States are currently missing face-to-face instruction due to COVID-19. Many parents and educators thus share a common worry: When the pandemic subsides, kids will return to school with lower achievement. There are also concerns that the gap between high- and low-achieving students will become larger. Given the need to address these concerns, we decided to use prior test scores from millions of students and leverage research on summer learning patterns to make informed projections of what learning loss due to the pandemic might look like. Ultimately, we wanted to know: What sort of learning losses could we expect from the shortened 2019-20 school year? Answering this question is complicated by the unique circumstances of COVID-19. Current school closures have added to the time that most students already spend at home during the summer months without explicit face-to-face instruction from teachers. Meanwhile, teachers are scrambling to adapt content for an online platform and parents are juggling work responsibilities (if not joblessness) with caring for and educating their own children. Students themselves are faced with isolation, anxiety about a deadly virus, and uncertainty about the future. In so many ways, the current situation is unprecedented for most people alive today. Yet there are parallels between the current situation and other reasons students miss school that can give us insight into how COVID-19 may affect achievement. This includes research on the effects of out-of-school time on learning due to absenteeism, weather-related school closures (e.g., Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans), and summer vacation. Existing evidence can provide a rough sense of how time out of school due to COVID-19 will affect achievement. We relied heavily on past precedent when trying to understand how COVID-19 might impact achievement in the short and medium term. We used a national sample of over 5 million students in grades 3-8 who took MAP Growth assessments in 2017-2018. These assessments enable such estimates because MAP Growth is administered multiple times per year, which means test scores are available in fall, winter, and spring such that changes in achievement during the year can be understood and anticipated. We compared typical growth for students who completed a standard-length school year to projections under multiple scenarios. These scenarios were directly informed by out-of-school-time research. The results are deeply concerning. The two figures below show projected math and reading learning patterns from the beginning of the 2019-20 school year (before COVID-19 school closures) through the start of the 2020-21 school year. The solid lines represent average trajectories in a typical year with typical growth (estimated based on a prior year’s data) followed by normal patterns of learning loss over the summer (generally, student achievement/learning tends to decline during the summer, though this varies greatly by student). Next, we assume an extended summer loss would occur during the period since schools closed. We refer to this scenario as the “COVID Slide” (represented by the dotted lines). These projections give a sense of how much learning students could lose, though we hope they will be overestimations of loss, given the online instruction and home schooling occurring.

These preliminary COVID Slide estimates suggest students could begin fall 2020 with roughly 70% of the learning gains in reading from the prior year relative to a typical school year. In mathematics, students may show even smaller learning gains from the previous year, returning with less than 50% of the gains. In lower grades, students may be nearly a full year behind in math compared to what we would observe in normal conditions. Though not shown in the figures, we produced similar estimates of learning loss based on research showing the effect of being absent on achievement. That is, we simply assumed students’ learning during COVID-19 school closures would be akin to what occurs when students miss school, a large assumption given the online learning and homeschooling now occurring. Results for absenteeism-based projections were often more dire. We also examined how much more variable achievement might be in the fall—that is, how wide the range in achievement might be between very high and very low-performing students. This range has implications for whether teachers can provide similar content to all students in their classrooms, or if they might need to further differentiate instruction based on a broader range of needs.

The above figures show our estimate of that variability by subject for 4th and 6th grade. The shaded areas display the spread in potential outcomes between students who were in the 25th percentile of summer learning loss (who showed steep declines) and those in the 75th percentile (who showed flat lines or even small gains during the summer). In mathematics, we see a fair amount of variability in learning rates, though the majority of students show losses over the extended closure and summer period. However, in reading, there is an even wider spread of potential outcomes, with students who are in the 75th percentile and above showing sizable learning gains during the summer. Further, the figure below shows that extended time out of school may lead to more variability in achievement when students return in the fall relative to a typical year. A wider range of learning needs like the ones suggested by the figure could create greater challenges for teachers.

The New York Times warns that today’s students could be the “COVID generation.” As we think through our road to recovery, we hope education leaders consider our projections among many data points when preparing to support students returning in the fall. Specifically, our results indicate that:

Students may be substantially behind, especially in mathematics. Thus, teachers of different grade levels may wish to coordinate in order to determine where to start instruction. Educators will also need to find ways to assess students early, either formally or informally, to understand exactly where students are academically.

Students are likely to enter school with more variability in their academic skills than under normal circumstances. Therefore, educators may need to consider ways to further differentiate instruction or provide opportunities for individualized learning.

Students who lose the most during the summer tend to gain the most when back in school, but this may not hold for COVID-19. Regardless, the ground that students have to make up during the 2020-21 academic year will probably be greater due to COVID-19. Therefore, educators may want to work with students to determine growth rates needed to catch up and set learning goals for the year that are ambitious but obtainable.

Finally, the effects of COVID-19 our study cannot examine may be the ones most worthy of addressing. Prior research on students displaced by Hurricane Katrina indicated that they had difficulty concentrating and often manifested symptoms of depression in the months following the hurricane. Understanding these impacts and how best to support students’ social and emotional needs after the huge disruption of COVID-19 will be essential. Many students may face greater food insecurity, loss of family income, loss of family members to the coronavirus, and fear of catching the virus themselves. While the scale of the COVID-19 school closures is novel, the inequalities in our school systems are unfortunately anything but new. Our models cannot account for the reality that the crisis is having an unequal impact on our most underserved communities. Nonetheless, we hope these analyses, which synthesize what we know from existing bodies of research, will inform tomorrow’s decision-making.

[mozgoderina]

Study: Online classes really do work (MIT News Office)

Detailed quantitative study of learning online shows success, even among those with least preparation.

It’s been two years since a New York Times article declared the “year of the MOOC” —short for “massive open online courses.” Now, for the first time, researchers have carried out a detailed study that shows that these classes really can teach at least as effectively as traditional classroom courses — and they found that this is true regardless of how much preparation and knowledge students start out with.

The findings have just been published in the International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, in a paper by David Pritchard, MIT’s Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics, along with three other researchers at MIT and one each from Harvard University and China’s Tsinghua University.

“It’s an issue that has been very controversial,” Pritchard says. “A number of well-known educators have said there isn’t going to be much learning in MOOCs, or if there is, it will be for people who are already well-educated.”

But after thorough before-and-after testing of students taking the MITx physics class 8.MReVx (Mechanics Review) online, and similar testing of those taking the same class in its traditional form, Pritchard and his team found quite the contrary: The study showed that in the MITx course, “the amount learned is somewhat greater than in the traditional lecture-based course,” Pritchard says.

Even the least-prepared learn

A second, more surprising finding, he says, is that those who were least prepared, as shown by their scores on pretests, “learn as well as everybody else.” That is, the amount of improvement seen “is no different for skillful people in the class” — including experienced physics teachers — “or students who were badly prepared. They all showed the same level of increase,” the study found.

Even if a student with a lower initial score still ends the online class with a test score that would represent a failing grade, that person would nevertheless have made substantial gains in understanding, Pritchard says. “This actually is a case where a rising tide lifts all boats,” he says.

The study’s basic methodology has been widely used to study the effectiveness of conventional on-campus classes, Pritchard says. At least 65 traditional MIT classes have been studied using the same system of pre- and post-testing of basic concepts, he says, but this is the first time anyone has applied such detailed, systematic testing to the effectiveness of an online class. Pritchard says the results show improvement among online students that is equal to or better than in any of the previously studied traditional classes.

In addition to the before-and-after testing, the study also analyzed in detail the homework and weekly test questions from each student, using an established technique called item-response theory, similar to the methodology used to ensure that results from standardized tests such as the SAT are consistent from one year to the next. The method uses a statistical analysis of each item in the test, Pritchard says, and includes a few of the same questions from other tests being compared, to ensure consistency.

Consistent results

Both of these methods of analyzing the impact of the online class give consistent results, Pritchard says: “All cohorts learn equally,” he says, whether compared on the basis of level of education, degree of preparation in math and physics, or other measures.

The one type of class in which students learned even more effectively than in either online or traditional classes, the study found, was an approach called “interactive engagement pedagogy,” where students interact frequently in small groups to grapple with concepts and questions. Such “constructive engagement” in the classroom is something education reformers have long pushed for, Pritchard says, and is already used in many MIT classes.

While a similar analysis could be done for any of the other roughly 1,000 classes currently available as MOOCs, he says, it requires an upfront commitment from course instructors, who must prepare and administer extra tests, and evaluate the scoring of those tests. “It’s a lot of work,” Pritchard says.

Pritchard sees the new study as just the start of a process of mining the data that can be gained from these online classes, where every detail of students’ interactions — how long they spend watching lectures, how often they pause or repeat sections, how much of the textbook they read and when, and so on — is recorded and could be used for research aimed at finding what systems work best. “We can study what students do in a way that would otherwise require everyone to wear a headcam all the time,” Pritchard says.

Fiona Hollands, a senior researcher at Teachers College of Columbia University who was not involved in this study, says, “In my opinion, this study represents the most rigorous attempt to date to measure learning in a MOOC. This study provides an excellent demonstration of how learning in a MOOC, or in other types of courses, can be rigorously assessed. Applied to a broader population of students and a variety of educational settings, such investigations would provide valuable information about the relative effectiveness of different forms of educational delivery.”

In addition to Pritchard, the study was carried out by MIT postdocs Kimberly Colvin and John Champaign and physics undergraduate Alwina Liu; Qian Zhou of Tsinghua University; and Colin Fredericks of Harvard. The research was supported by Google, the National Science Foundation, and MIT.

  Source: MIT News Office / David L. Chandler. Link: Online classes really do work Illustration: Luke Ramsey. Moderator: ART HuNTER.

[noicon]

Affirmative Action Has Helped Whyte Women More Than Anyone.

Even where the Yurugu benefits more than anyone else, 'they/ their system ' will educate every simple person out there to the contrary while cursing everyone, slurring everyone, labelling everyone, acting all swoosh, stuck up, toffee nosed, bloated condescending faced, stoosh , haute like grand ol oprey work horses and psychologically / physically abusing everyone... ALL THE WAY TILL THE VERY END OF THEIR LIVES ON EARTH, TILL THEY DIE... added by NoicoN

By Sally Kohn @sallykohn

In the coming days, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule in a potentially landmark case on the constitutionality of affirmative action. The original lawsuit was filed on behalf of Abigail Fisher, a woman who claims that she was denied admission to the University of Texas because she is white. But study after study shows that affirmative action helps white women as much or even more than it helps men and women of color. Ironically, Fisher is exactly the kind of person affirmative action helps the most in America today.

Originally, women weren’t even included in legislation attempting to level the playing field in education and employment. The first affirmative-action measure in America was an executive order signed by President Kennedy in 1961 requiring that federal contractors “take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin.” In 1967, President Johnson amended this, and a subsequent measure included sex, recognizing that women also faced many discriminatory barriers and hurdles to equal opportunity. Meanwhile, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 only included sex in the list of prohibited forms of discrimination because conservative opponents of the legislation hoped that including it would sway moderate members of Congress to withdraw their support for the bill. Still, in a nation where white women and black people were once considered property — not allowed to own property themselves and not allowed to vote — it was clear to all those who were seeking fairness and opportunity that both groups faced monumental obstacles.

(MORE: Touré: Why We Still Need Affirmative Action)

While people of color, individually and as groups, have been helped by affirmative action in the subsequent years, data and studies suggest women — white women in particular — have benefited disproportionately. According to one study, in 1995, 6 million women, the majority of whom were white, had jobs they wouldn’t have otherwise held but for affirmative action.

Another study shows that women made greater gains in employment at companies that do business with the federal government, which are therefore subject to federal affirmative-action requirements, than in other companies — with female employment rising 15.2% at federal contractors but only 2.2% elsewhere. And the women working for federal-contractor companies also held higher positions and were paid better.

Even in the private sector, the advancements of white women eclipse those of people of color. After IBM establishedits own affirmative-action program, the numbers of women in management positions more than tripled in less than 10 years. Data from subsequent years show that the number of executives of color at IBM also grew, but not nearlyat the same rate.

(MORE: Eric Liu: What Asian Americans Reveal About Affirmative Action)

The successes of white women make a case not for abandoning affirmative action but for continuing it. As the numbers in the Senate and the Fortune 500 show, women still face barriers to equal participation in leadership roles. Of course, the case for continuing affirmative action for people of color is even greater. The median wealth of white households is 20 times that of black households. Researchers found that the same résumé for the same job application will get twice as many callbacks for interviews if the name on the résumé is Greg instead of Jamal. School districts spend more on predominantly white schools than predominantly black schools. The fact that black workers earn, on average, 35% less than white workers in the same job isn’t erased by the election of an African-American President — one who, by the way, openly praises the role of affirmative action in his life and accomplishments.

As for Fisher, there is ample evidence that she just wasn’t qualified to get into the University of Texas. After all, her grades weren’t that great, and the year she applied for the university, admissions there were actually more competitive than Harvard’s. In its court filings, the university has pointed out that even if Fisher received a point for race, she still wouldn’t have met the threshold for admissions. Yes, it is true that in the same year, the University of Texas made exceptions and admitted some students with lower grades and test scores than Fisher. Five of those students were black or Latino. Forty-two were white.

MORE: Heather Mac Donald: How Affirmative Action Backfires at Universities

Article credit Sally Khon via Time online

[traderspro]

The Next Round Of Trade Talks Are Officially Happening Early Next Month

Losing Trader Stops Doing This... Then Turned $10,000 Into $2.4 Million

Plus, the jobs report was mixed, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s bad week gets worse, Apple is taking advantage of cheap debt, and Facebook can now be used as a dating app.

Stocks surged higher to start Thursday, with the Dow 459 points, or 1.7%, higher at the opening bell. The S&P gained 1.5%, and the Nasdaq was up 1.8%.

“Escalating U.S.-China trade tensions have been the biggest equity headwind for months, so a relief rally on news high-level trade talks are planned for early October is no surprise,” said Alex Young, FTSE Russell’s managing director of global markets research. “The bottom line is that stocks need earnings growth to move forward, and you can get that without progress on U.S.-China trade.”

“Early October.” That’s when the thirteenth round of face-to-face talks between officials from the U.S. and China will happen in Washington. That’s according to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, who said the loose plans were made by phone between Vice Premier Liu He, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. “Both sides agreed they should work together and take practical actions to create favorable conditions for the negotiations,” He said in a statement issued Thursday. The Chinese commerce ministry said lower-level officials will have “serious” discussions in the meantime to prepare for the talks, and the USTR said in a statement that officials will seek “to lay the ground-work for meaningful progress.” “Neither China nor the U.S. want to be blamed by the rest of [the] world for escalating the trade war and damaging the world economy,” said Zhou Xiaoming, a former commerce ministry official and diplomat. “But the talks don’t mean the two sides will inch closer or that their stances [will] soften.”

U.S. companies added 195,000 workers in August, beating Wall Street estimates, while jobless claims rose slightly to 217,000 despite no sign of rising or widespread layoffs. While many economists are watching for companies to start laying off workers, two indicators—hiring for temporary help positions and weekly working hours—have declined so far this year even as unemployment has remained near a half-century low. Such softening could be the canary in the coal mine for the jobs market as weakness in these two indicators often precedes wider trouble. Businesses worried about falling demand often reduce hours and temporary staff first before laying off full time workers. “The concern is that companies have already cut back on hours and the next shoe to drop is headcount,” said Grant Thornton Advisors’ chief economist Diane Swonk.

In Brexit news, members of Parliament derailed Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s do-or-die approach to exiting the EU on October 31—a bill that the House of Lords said they will complete passage on by Friday—and rejected his plan for a general election yesterday. Johnson is set to appeal directly to the public in a speech this afternoon aimed at triggering a general election to break the Brexit impasse. Early Thursday, Johnson’s bad week got worse when his brother Jo resigned as MP and minister citing tension between “family loyalty” and the “national interest.”

Despite sitting on a $210.6 billion cash pile, Apple is still looking to get some of the ultra-cheap money that’s up for grabs in the bond market. According to a prospectus filed yesterday afternoon, the iPhone maker borrowed $7 billion in its first bond sale in nearly two years for “general corporate purposes,” including share buybacks, payment of dividends, funding for working capital, and acquisitions. Apple joins a slew of companies that rushed to borrow in investment-grade debt following the Labor Day holiday, taking advantage of near all-time low yields. Tuesday saw a record 21 bond sales from names like Disney, Caterpillar Financial, and Capital One Financial, totaling nearly $27 billion, while more than a dozen companies priced deals on Wednesday. While concerns are growing that government bonds might be in a bubble, there is little to suggest that central banks are going to do much to stop the debt party any time soon as traders predict upwards of 58 rate cuts around the globe over the next twelve months, totaling 16% in global reductions.

Match shares are down more than -6% Thursday after Facebook said this morning that its “Facebook Dating” feature would be launching today. In a blog post, the social media giant said it will be giving people the ability to “start meaningful relationships” through things like common interests, events, and groups. “It takes the work out of creating a dating profile and gives you a more authentic look at who someone is,” the Facebook post said. Instagram users will also be able to integrate their posts directly into their “Facebook Dating” profile, and will be able to add followers to “Secret Crush” lists in the Instagram app. “Right now it’s a really feel-good mission, it’s just connecting people,” said Nathan Sharp, the product executive leading Facebook’s dating feature. “There are no plans for ads and no plans for subscriptions.” Facebook’s effort could be significant competition for Match Group, which owns Tinder, currently the most popular dating app. SunTrust Robinson Humphrey issued an ill-timed upgrade for Match this morning, saying in a note that MTCH is seeing “sustained momentum” in the third quarter and that the company has “further room to grow.”

Lyft shares are a Buy according to Deutsche Bank. “We initiate coverage of Lyft with a  Buy rating and think the stock may be bottoming. The company reported robust 2Q results, and yet the stock has been weak,” Deutsche Bank research analyst Lloyd Walmsley said in a note to clients. “We think the recent sell-off in Lyft’s shares presents an attractive entry point, particularly for longer-term investors who can stomach a period of volatility given the uncertainty around when the market will start to give the company credit for an improving ramp towards profitability.” Meanwhile, Slack shares are down nearly -5% after the workplace messaging service reported an adjusted quarterly loss of $0.14 per share, less than the $0.18 loss expected by analysts, in its first report since its direct listing. It’s a signal that strong competition may be denting Slack’s rapid rise. And Mallinckrodt shares are down -42% after the company said it was weighing options including bankruptcy to help absorb the costs from opioid lawsuits where their potential liabilities could run into the tens of billions of dollars.

Stocks We’re Watching

Stereotaxis (OTC: STXS): It was reported earlier this week that shares of this St.Louis-based medical device maker will begin trading on the NYSE on September 6, less than a month after the company announced $25 million private placement equity financing. The STXS will continue trading OTC through the close of the market today. “This is another milestone in our effort to improve awareness of our differentiated technology, clinical value, and growth opportunity,” said Stereotaxis chairman and CEO David Fischel in a statement. “Listing on the NYSE American should support a more robust capital market for existing and new shareholders.”

Coupa Software (NASDAQ: COUP): Shares of Coupa Software are up 132% so far this year and jumped 9.7% in after-market trading yesterday after the company reported a revenue and billings beat in its second quarter yesterday. Coupa reported earnings of $0.07 per share, with revenue surging 54% to $95 million, while analysts expected the company to report a loss of $0.10 per share on revenue of $85.4 million. “These results demonstrate our continued momentum in delivering measurable and repeatable value to our customers,” said CEO Rob Bernshteyn. “By extending our leadership standing in Business Spend Management (BSM), we feel well positioned on our path to $1 billion in revenue.”

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Pu-erh Tea - Part One

Introduction - The Drinkable Antique

Although pu-erh is arguably one of the most influential tea types, few cared about its history until very recently. In fact, without the thirst for knowledge of a select group of tea lovers in the 1990s, the world of pu-erh as we know it today would not exist! Gaining insight and understanding is a theme throughout pu-erh’s history that has helped change the tea’s image, allowing it to grow from a simple bitter herb to a royal tribute, and onward today to a tea that is collected feverishly around the world. Born in Yunnan, China, pu-erh tea is part of a group of teas categorized as post-fermented. Simply put, this means that the tea is alive. No, the tea will not walk out of your cupboard, but it does contain incredible microorganisms that give the tea its unique taste, aroma, health, and aging properties. It is because of these microbes that pu-erh is known as a drinkable antique, as it is one of the few teas that gets better with age - just like a fine wine. So please join us, teadventurers, as we explore the unique and exciting world of pu-erh!

The History of Pu-erh - Image is Everything

Some contest that pu-erh may be one of the earliest teas to come out of China. However, this may be hard to confirm - as not only has the name for the tea that we now call pu-erh changed several times throughout history, but what qualified a tea as pu-erh changed as well. The name pu-erh comes from Pu-erh county, a once very active trading post in southern Yunnan. It is speculated that the locals of southern Yunnan have been drinking tea from their wild tea trees since before the common era. With that said, a tea of its age has an understandably long and convoluted history. Let’s explore some of the most pivotal moments in the tea’s history and save the rest for another narrative.

7th Century - 10th Century (Tang Dynasty)

To begin our tale, we must venture to the original wild tea trees of southern Yunnan, in a region called Ying-Shen. In the Tang Dynasty, tea from these local trees were traded at a trading post in Pu-erh to the people of Tibet. At the time, the tea that we now call pu-erh was simply called Ying-Shen tea; a term that solely meant tea comprised of big tea leaves hailing from Ying-Shen.

11th Century

It was not until the 11th century that records appeared of tea being traded from Pu-erh, Yunnan to additional regions like China, Vietnam, Burma, and Thailand, while still keeping Tibet as a major trade partner.

13th Century

Although tea exports from Yunnan to China were vast by the 13th century, pu-erh itself was looked down upon as a low quality product.

14th Century - 17th Century (Ming Dynasty)

The Tea Horse Road was officially created during the Ming Dynasty as a set of trade routes that had a main port in Pu-erh. Its main purpose was the trading of Pu-erh's tea for horses and other goods with neighboring and far away peoples. Although most subscribe to the official origins of the Tea Horse Road being based in the Ming Dynasty, it is likely that other trade along the same or nearby routes had already started between some of those areas in the Western Han Dynasty.

Mid 17th Century (Ming Dynasty or Early Qing Dynasty)

By the late Ming or early Qing dynasty, the definition of pu-erh changed a bit. Not only did the tea finally gain the name ‘pu-erh’, it was also then defined as tea from Yunnan that had traversed the Tea Horse Road. It is on Tea Horse Road that the tea takes a turn to the dark side. The journey that tea took along the trade routes provided ideal conditions to allow the growth of microorganisms within the leaves. These microbes changed the tea in a significant way - not only darkening the leaves, but also providing new aromas and flavors on top of what the tea had when it started its journey. It is possible that this change in the tea is what led to it finally being recognized by China. With that said, we do not know specifically when ageing became a part of pu-erh appreciation. Some link the popularity of aged pu-erh to the teas that travelled around the Tea Horse Road. Others claim that the benefits of aging pu-erh were discovered simply by storing some, and revelling in the improvement upon drinking them years later. However the aging process first came to be, it is clear that the flavor of aged pu-erh is what helped spark the tea’s popularity.

17th Century (Early - Mid Qing Dynasty)

Over time, pu-erh gained a reputation amongst those in China as an exotic commodity, leading to its gained acceptance and appreciation when before it had mostly been met with disinterest. By the Qing Dynasty, the production of pu-erh was rampant.

1729

In 1729, pu-erh became a tribute tea for the royal family. At the time, the rulers of China hailed from northern China nomads, where their diets were heavy with meat and required pu-erh to help aid with digestion.

1908

It was not until 1908 that pu-erh would lose its status as a tribute tea.

1950

The first state owned factories were created in 1950 with the specific purpose of creating pu-erh. From this point on, a large amount of tea plantation leaves were gathered for use in state owned factories instead of family-run businesses, as it was in the past. These factory made teas were sent to Tibet, Hong Kong, Macao, and other countries to help ensure good relations.

1963

In 1963, after the end of the Qing Dynasty, the tribute pu-erh that had remained was ground and blended into lower grade leaves to be sold during a tea shortage - some teas were more than 150 years old and priceless. This act helped to not only increase the rareness of old cakes, but it also helped spur interest in the collection of pu-erh.

Late 1960s

By the late 1960s, people began to see teas as a traditional art form and as such drinking and learning about tea became incredibly popular.

1970s

After a fifty year decline, the interest in pu-erh grew again in the 1970s. The 70s would see a noticeable increase of pu-erh collectors and enthusiasts in Hong Kong, setting the stage for the role that Hong Kong plays in the pu-erh world today. The downside of the growth of interest was that many of the great plantations were cut down to make way for plants that grew faster and yielded higher - and resulted in, arguably, inferior quality leaves.

So high was the demand for rare aged pu-erh, that in 1973, a factory set out to create a type of young pu-erh tea that mimicked the properties of aged pu-erh through an artificial aging process. (Thouh that some say that it was actually in 1950 that this process was first invented.) This type of pu-erh would be called shou cha, or ripe tea, and would serve as the counterpart to the typical raw pu-erh or sheng cha. And although shou was supposed to mimic the taste and feeling of aged raw pu-erh, due to the way the tea is processed it is not meant for aging itself. Shou's purpose was to allow for immediate drinking, and although shou would not deteriorate with proper aging, it would only minimally increase in greatness.

It was also around this time that those interested in tea as an art form began to seek out historical yixing teapots - teapots that to this day are almost synonymous with drinking pu-erh. As the demand for these pots grew larger and larger, the supply could not keep up and after a while the market collapsed. A lucrative fad for many tea and teaware sellers became an almost business ruining one when it ended.

When pu-erh was introduced to Taiwan after the fall of the yixing market, merchants did not want to sell the tea as they thought that it too would just be a fad that would end up to be detrimental. Others also proclaimed that it was not a good investment because the tea itself gave off an odd aroma and appeared to be riddled with mold.

1990s - onward

The 1990s saw a lot of important strides in pu-erh. Around this time, collectors in Hong Kong began to sell off their pu-erh at such low prices that those in Taiwan finally decided to buy it in incredibly large amounts.

In 1994, Taiwanese collectors started travelling to Yunnan in attempt to source some of the first pu-erh teas from that region. During their travels they stopped through Yiwu, a township known for being one of the starting points of the Tea Horse Road as well as one of the original pu-erh producing areas. While there, these Taiwanese tea enthusiasts were surprised to see how few aged cakes were around or even known about. Eager to share their own knowledge, the Taiwanese travellers expressed to those in Yiwu just how valuable their old teas were. This prompted the few in Yiwu that knew the old ways of making tea to teach what they knew to others, in an attempt to reinvigorate the market.

At the same time, the reputation of pu-erh was on the rise. Through word of mouth, personal experience, and the many books written on the subject, more and more people were learning about the healthful properties of the tea. Medicinal stores and traditional stores began to carry pu-erh, and China became interested in the tea again, greatly because of the large Taiwanese market. Due to all of these factors, the price, popularity, and lucrativeness of aged pu-erh skyrocketed, accompanied by a smaller surge in interest of young pu-erh. This shift in opinion in Taiwan and China was so great that even international markets began to purchase more pu-erh as well.

How Pu-erh is Made - Nature versus Nurture

Centuries ago,”pu-erh” meant any tea that hailed from Pu-erh, Yunnan. Today however, the definition is a lot more strict and refined. Pu-erh falls into a tea category called dark tea (also known as black tea, or hei cha), meaning that it has been stored specifically to allow the growth of microorganisms. Within the category of hei cha, tea types are named differently based on the region of China that they hail from. Pu-erh is hei cha from Yunnan, while liu bao is from Guangxi, liu an hails from Anhui, and liu bian ccha calls Sichuan home.

For pu-erh, the variety of tea plant that is used is called Camellia sinensis assamica (Masters) Hang T. Chang - it is a variety that, genetically, is incredibly close to that of wild tea trees. Typically, the tea leaves are picked from one of two types of trees - terrace plants or forest trees. Terrace plants are tea trees that are planted on flat plains and are tended to regularly by farmers, keeping them relatively short. Forest trees, on the other hand, are trees that are allowed to grow in the hills without much interference producing higher quality leaves. The best pu-erh is made from the leaves of trees that have at least a hundred years of age under their belts. And the most famous pu-erh comes from six famous tea mountains in the Xishuangbashan prefecture: Gedeng, Mangzhi, Mazhuan, Yiwu, Yibang, and Youle, as they are the ideal location for assamica growth.

The process for making pu-erh is as follows:

Pluck leaves (the leaves that are used vary in age and size and are graded into nine different grades depending on size)

Allow the leaves to wither by spreading them out in the sun or on racks in a heated room

Heat the leaves in a pan or wok for several minutes to remove most of the moisture to stop the leaves from oxidizing but still allow them the properties needed to allow internal fermentation via natural bacteria

Roll the leaves by hand on a bamboo mat or roll them via a roller

Heat the leaves again

Roll the leaves again

At this point, we have what is called mao cha (crude tea) and this mao cha can either be sold as is, or turned into either sheng cha (raw tea) or shou cha (ripe tea). As mentioned earlier, sheng is the tea that is meant for long term storage to enhance its characteristics while shou undergoes an artificial aging process meant to create a tea that has similar characteristics to a sheng that has ages for decades. The process of creating shou is a process typically done by government owned tea factories, while sheng is typically created by small, private owned tea companies. Let's explore how both shou and sheng are made.

Sheng - Nature

For making sheng cha, the leaves are sorted into different piles that will result in the weight that is desired for the final product. The leaves are then steamed until pliable and then placed into a cloth bag, after which they are ready to be pressed under a stone or by a hydraulic press *. This compression creates a cake-like (or as some say disk-like) shape and said tea cake is then laid out to dry until it returns to its original weight prior to steaming. The compression is also what helps allow for the fermentation of leaves over time. Once dried, the cake is wrapped in paper, then seven cakes are wrapped together in bamboo leaves to make what is called a tong.

* Though the most common shape for pu-erh to take is that of a cake, it can actually be sold in a variety of other manners once it is finished being processed. These other shapes include broken cakes, tuo (a half sphere with a large indentation in the middle that resembles a bird's nest), mushroom shapes, melon shapes, squares, bricks, and its original loose form.

Shou - Nurture

The leaves are placed in a room, covered with water, and then smothered in a large cloth. Once under the cloth, the leaves are submitted to high heat and humidity for 45 to 65 days. During this time, the leaves are turned and rotated to ensure that all of the leaves have undergone the same amount of fermentation. Any leaves that remain unfermented are taken out of the batch. Once this fermentation process is done, the leaves are compressed and wrapped up for shipping in the same manner than sheng is.

In addition to mao cha, sheng, and shou, many pu-erh enthusiasts break down the categorization even further - stating that there is a great difference between aged sheng (lao sheng cha) a.k.a. old tea and young sheng (sheng that is less than five-ten years old). Being post-fermented is what many feel is required for a tea to be called “pu-erh,” and there are many connoisseurs and scholars who argue that young sheng cha is not pu-erh at all, instead merely a precursor as it has not yet undergone any post-fermentation. In addition, many are hard-pressed to call shou true pu-erh, as they do not feel that shou’s artificial aging process adequately mimics the natural aging of sheng at all. We here at Yezi Tea like to be inclusive and consider mao cha, young sheng, lao sheng cha, and shou to all be pu-erh, despite each having differences that should be celebrated and appreciated.

To be continued...

Eager to find out more? In part two of our look at pu-erh, we will be exploring everything from historically famous cakes to pu-erh health properties, and much, much more. Stay tuned, and be sure to join us next time!