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joyfulhopelox · 3 years ago

Text

Goodness?? 😭🥺 i hope it was comforting ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Rosy Carnation

Pairing: painter!Min Yoongi x skater!reader (non-idol! au)

Genre: fluff, tiny bit of angst

Warnings: some talk about social anxiety, Yoongi is a bit harsh in the beginning but rest is just pure fluff

Word count: 6k

rating: pg

Summary: There was nothing in this world that Yoongi hated more than busybodies. Unfortunately for him one particular ditzy skater decides to break the peace by crashing into his life and offering him a rosy carnation

Copyrights @joyfulhopelox for both the work and the banner (thank you @mochi-molala for giving me the artistic approval for this think you didn’t realise how much it helped)

This is part 3 of my Love Blossom series and quite unedited, i tried but some mistakes may have escaped my notice

As always please leave feedback and/or talk to me as i love to hear from you! Enjoy <3

There was nothing more peaceful than being able to sit by the river in the early hours of the morning. Every day without fail, Yoongi would take advantage of the sleeping city and set camp by the riverside situated just on the outskirts.

The place was far from being secluded, its location sign-posted by the popular park that housed it. But he knew that during those hours no one bothered to visit, everyone was busy with their office jobs. It wasn’t that he was unemployed, it just so happened that his job allowed him to work from wherever and at whatever time. In fact, the more scenic the location the better for him. As a painter he had the freedom to choose his office, and his most prefered location happened to be by the riverside. The stillness of the morning, the sun just about to peek out from under the city skyline and the sound of the birds conversing amongst each other relaxed him. And if there was one thing that permitted Yoongi to paint without restrictions, was the tranquility of everything around him.

His normal spot, under a beech tree, was rarely used, the pathway that passed by it not being used by the general population. Sometimes he would spot the occasional cyclist passing by on their way to work, sometimes he would hear the scraping of the skateboards doing tricks in the skate park located behind the wall of trees that surrounded him. But no one ever bothered him, or was bothered by him. And it suited him and his needs just fine.

Yoongi disliked it when his flow was interrupted. Luckily for him, it rarely happened. No one threw him more than a glance as no one found the scene to be out of place. Sometimes he would be pulled out of his thoughts by the yap of a dog that got too excited at the prospect of a new human. Other times he would be questioned by the curious child that has never seen a painter at work. Those did not inconvenience him, the innocence and sincerity of the interference was enough to not disturb him.

However, what he miscalculated that day was the early start of the fishing season. One bad trait of being a painter working under your own schedule was losing track of time. And so when that one morning he trudged along with his canvas and his tools to his sacred spot only to find it occupied by fishermen he almost had a panic attack. He forgot all about that, and so unprepared, he did not know what to do or where to relocate. Pausing for a couple of minutes, his eyes scrutinising the men sitting on the riverbank in complete stillness, he contemplated on setting up his stool next to them. But when one of them yelled in glee at having caught a fish, he decided he’d rather not. Fishermen needed to be still because of the nature of their activity, that did not mean they were quiet people overall.

Disappointed and a bit frazzled, Yoongi picked up his canvas from where he set it next to his foot and left the area to scout for a substitute.

After what felt like a good few minutes of walking in circles, he found himself passing by a small public garden right in the middle of the greenery encompassing the riverside. He inspected it quietly, his eyes taking in the flower arrangements and the neatly cut grass. Has that always been there? Probably, it is not like he ventured out of his safe spot. But now, when forced to he realised that maybe there were other places where he could sit and paint in peace. Determinately, he walked into the small gated garden familiarising himself with the layout. There were some benches strewn across the space, all of them framed by vibrant rose bushes, some young oak trees judging by their height but what caught his eye most importantly was the small gazebo tucked away at the back of the garden gated by rows of variously coloured carnations. He decided that it would be the perfect spot, it would have to do for now. Not like he had any other choice. The morning was almost gone, the heat of the midday sun bleeding its way into the breeze. Soon the park will get busier and busier.

Dumping his belongings on the ground he sets off to unpack everything so he could get started. He felt strangely excited about this new spot he had found. Somehow, the novelty of the environment has given him the inspiration that he needed for today’s session. He normally shied away from new experiences, new people and most importantly unexpected circumstances, but this circumstance was more than welcome.

As he sat on his stool, paint brush in hand, the blank canvas staring at him, daring him to fill it with his vision he bit his lip. Suddenly so many ideas zoomed through his mind that he had a hard time deciphering which one sounded the best.

However, none of them made it on the actual canvas.

A skateboard zoomed straight past his feet,out of control, knocking into his carefully placed tools; acrylics and brushes scattered all over the ground in various corners of the gazebo. An exasperated yell and some harsh pants followed said abomination. Yoongi, who was too stunned to even form a sentence or comprehend what was happening around him, stared as you ran towards him at full speed.

“I’m so sorry, sorry sorry sorry” you repeated zooming towards him at breakneck speed. Still in shock Yoongi still couldn’t process what was happening around him. You were going to barrel straight into him but all he could do was blink, his brain still trying to catch up with the situation. One moment you were running towards the skateboard and the next moment found you laying sprawled at his feet.

“Ouch” Yoongi blinked once, twice, three times, and reality finally caught up with him.

He stared at the mess around him. His canvas was lying on the ground a few good feet away from him, its white clean surface now completely smudged with dirt and his acrylics and brushes were all scattered at his feet. The sight of his paints not only disorganised in such a fashion but also crushed and spilled all over the ground caused his stomach to drop. They were not the cheapest and they were also the only ones he had left. It was clear there was nothing to salvage, he had to go once more to the art store and buy more.

“Ohmygod i am so sorry!” The frantic voice was loud enough to make Yoongi wince.

You were not having a good day, and it showed. You started the morning by burning your toast. Then you forgot to grab your keys, which resulted in you having to beg your landlord for the spare in the early hours of the morning. To say they were not pleased was an understatement. You spilled coffee on your white top on your way to the park. And to top it all off you ended up hurtling towards an extremely handsome man.

You decided in the morning that you would try to learn that late kickflip your friends have been trying to teach you, but as a new skater you decided to practice in the garden just off the side of the skate park. One foot placement went wrong and your skate ran from under your feet flying towards the unsuspecting victim.

Luckily it did not hit him, however it scattered all of his belongings all over the dirty ground. It felt as if you were watching all of that happen in slow motion, when in reality it probably only took you a second to react. Trying to help and get a hold of your skate, you rushed to catch it in time before it disappeared into the row of carnations. But you miscalculated entirely the distance between you and the stranger, his foot halting your run.

And that is how you ended up there, on the floor, at his feet, covered in his paints.

You sprung up as fast as you could ignoring the tingling in your leg and started apologising profusely. However, the harshness at which you crashed on the floor combined with the speed at which you got up were a fatal combination. The blood rushed to your feet quicker than you could process and your knees gave out from under you. In an attempt to not crash onto the floor again you grabbed onto the closest stable object you could. Only, it happened to not be an object but a person. So with a clammy hand you latched onto the man in front of you.

Yoongi did not know what to do. You had grabbed onto him with such conviction that his brain malfunctioned. He hated to be touched, especially by strangers. And so when the fight or flight instinct kicked in he shrugged you off violently causing you to crumple on the floor once again.

“Ouch.” Your butt hurt and you wanted to be annoyed at him, but when you looked up to let your feelings known and your eyes locked onto his panicked ones, you paused. He looked ready to run off on you. “I- uh, am sorry” You tried once more to get up, this time as slowly as you could. You knew there would be a bruise later but it was not something you were unfamiliar with.

Yoongi did not respond to you. He couldn’t, his brain was still ready to shut down. He normally ran away from any human interaction, the nature of his job enough to facilitate such behaviour. Being faced with it and in such an unexpected way caused his anxiety to be at an all time high. And so he did what he normally does best; he retreated within himself completely ignoring your apology.

Silently he stepped away from you and crouched down to start picking up his belongings. With an anguished sigh he took in the mess that his acrylics had become. It was going to cost him a lot to be able to replace them but what other choice did he have?

Taking his silence as a sign of anger, you panicked. If there was one thing you could not stand was to see someone angry. Especially when it was directed at you. In an attempt to amend yourself to him you crouched down next to him and started picking up his stuff. “I am really sorry. I didn't mean to. It was just a new trick that i wanted to learn, and i am a newbie at all this and so i was scared to go to the skate park and try them. And I am a clutz and I knew this was going to happen at some point! The day has already started on such a bad note-”

You knew you were rambling, you were nervous. But Yoongi did not care about that. He just wanted you gone. He wanted his peace back, he wanted to get his work done and retreat back to his home and most importantly, he wanted you to get your hands off of his possessions.

Without looking at you, he harshly grabbed for the brushes that you had gathered in your hand. “Leave” he surprised himself at how resolute he managed to sound despite the slight waver in his voice.

“Are you angry? Oh my god you are! I am so sorry again, let me make it up to you! I really did not mean to destroy your work!” you get up once more rushing towards the canvas that lay a few feet away from the two of you. Picking it up you stare at the blank piece of material.

“Oh, are you an artist?” you turn to him, your eyes sparkling with excitement. Completely forgetting the incident from earlier you giddily walk over, the canvas extended towards him.

Yoongi could not believe his eyes, your brash behaviour in front of a complete stranger that has made it clear he wanted nothing to do with you was baffling to him. He contemplated for a second the thought of you being deaf, but then no because you had clearly heard him the first time. His anxiety quickly morphed into annoyance, if you weren’t going to leave he decided he would.

Taking a hold of the canvas you were handing over to him he pulled it out of your hands and stuffed it under his arm. Crouching down again he hurriedly stuffs his brushes and acrylics in his bag. He wanted to get out of there as quickly as he could before you had the chance to touch any of his belongings again.

“Hey, i-uh. Please don’t be angry. I really am sorry. Look you don’t have to leave, i will go” Yoongi paused, his hand hovering above his palette. Chancing a glance at you, his eyes widened a fraction. You looked completely frazzled. Not even looking at him, your eyes focused on your fretting hands. He could just about see a snippet of your face and the way your bottom lip was trembling slightly made his anger melt a little. Maybe he has been a bit too harsh on you.

“Yes” he offers offhandedly whilst placing his canvas back to where it was before.

At his change in tone your head snaps up and you gape at him. “What?” you breathe out in surprise. His soft but deep voice took you by surprise. It was extremely smooth and you had not expected it to come out of his mouth.

He did not offer you anything else, leaving you gawking at him, watching as he set up his canvas onto the easel. You were silent for a couple of minutes trying to understand what he had meant when it finally hit you.

“Ah! You are an artist! That is amazing, what type of paintings do you do? Is it nature?” you clapped your hands excitedly. “Of course it is nature Y/N, he is in the middle of the gazebo how dumb can you be” you muttered to yourself whilst shaking your head.

Yoongi glanced at you from his periphery. He wasn’t feeling as threatened by your presence as he had before, but that did not mean he was comfortable with you being there. He observed you for a couple of seconds watching as you muttered to yourself for the time being. He took it as a chance to set his palette down and tried to squeeze whatever was left of his acrylics onto it.

You realised a bit too late that you had started daydreaming whilst muttering to yourself and so with rosy cheeks you mutter another apology.

“You apologise too much.” Yoongi did not know where his courage had come from but he couldn’t stop the words spilling from his mouth. “I asked you to leave.” His harsh words caused you to flinch, but your eagerness to see him paint rooted you on the spot.

“Is-uh,” you took a deep breath in trying to calm your beating heart, “is it ok if i stay here and watch you?” You cringed at how voyeuristic that sounded. But you had to admit to yourself, the honey haired guy, with soft plump cheeks and pouty lips has caught your interest and you were not ready to part with him just yet.

Yoongi didn’t respond, he’s made it clear he wanted you gone, but he finally understood that the clumsy human that managed to wreck his set up was a stubborn one. He chose instead to ignore your presence and settle on his painting, giving you unspoken permission to do as you pleased.

Catching onto the meaning of his silence you beamed and sat yourself down.

Trying your hardest to be silent you bit your lip. You knew he wouldn’t appreciate you disturbing him any longer. Soon enough, you slipped into a daydream your eyes focused on the flowers behind the hunched form of the intriguing artist.

Yoongi sighed in satisfaction, his painting was finally finished. He had opted to use greens this time, the nature around him inspiring the concept behind this. However, he could not help but add the dots of red here and there, its fiery tumultuous colour breaking the tranquility of the greens. Just like you had thundered into his life just earlier.

“Woah” broken out of the daydream by the sound of his sigh, your eyes focused on the painting before you. You knew you were easily impressed but this painting was stunning. “That is so cool” you whispered in awe.

Yoongi blushed, he had been complimented a lot on his work, but there was something about the sincerity shining through your statement that frazzled him. He nodded in acknowledgment. He had enough knowledge to be aware that he needed to thank you for the compliment.

“Oh!” you sprung up suddenly the transition making him jump. “I am late!” You quickly picked up your skateboard. “Ah,” stopping mid run you turn back. Rushing to the bushes of carnations you pick one up. With confident stride you head back.

Yoongi watched you, once again his mind completely discombobulated by your abruptness. When you halt in front of him and push the flower into his hands he doesn’t know how to react. Instead he just sits there waiting for your next move, his mind once again preparing him to flee.

“It was nice meeting you….uh?” You realised you did not ask for his name, so as you urge the flower into his grasp you wait patiently for him to offer it to you. When after a minute of silence he doesn’t you try again. “What is your name?”

“So can you like...teach me how to paint?” you eyes brightened at the thought.

“What?” Yoongi sputtered. A week has passed since the first time you decided to literally crash into his life. A week of your mindless chatter. Even so, he had tried his best to ignore you and your childish view of the world. He was ignoring you, but it was not like he couldn’t hear you.

He was not expecting that request, and yet, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise to him. Your randomness and innocence has been taking his breath away from the moment he saw you. You were all over the place, clumsy and random. He did not want to sit and ponder at that thought, feeling the shiver of anxiety creep back in. Schooling his expression to a neutral one he shook his head and went back to his canvas.

“No” the harsh tone of his voice made you flinch.

Not noticing the effect his words had on you he carried on, “You’d do a very poor job of it, and it hurts to think you’d waste all this material for some doodles.” Not giving you a chance to respond he sighed and put his brush down. “Finally finished.” He sat and observed his work for a couple of moments. He was satisfied, it was not his best work but he liked the outcome. The blue colour scheme gave him a sense of peace.

Realising the silence had gone on too long he turned around to face you. You were unnaturally quiet, your face scrunched up as if in deep thought. He would have thought you’d gone into one of your daydreams if not for the shiny gloss in your eyes. He could not understand why his heart did that flip, or why his mouth formed into a frown mirroring your own. Had he said something wrong? Mulling over his words he decided that maybe his tone was too harsh but you spoke up before he could try to remedy it.

“Ah, i see, you are right” you sniffed trying to mask the tears in your voice. “I am quite clumsy, there is no way i can make something as beautiful as this.” You gesture to his work, the canvas a swirl of blues, it reminded you of the ocean. You did not know why his words stung, it’s not like he didn’t have a point. You were probably incapable of creating something like that. Stick figures were all you could draw, and even those tended to be lopsided.

Yoongi’s heart clenched. “Uhh-” he did not know what to say, it wasn’t as if he could take it back. He did not want to take it back, he wasn’t a liar. But maybe he could have turned you down a bit softer than he has. He may have been awkward in social situations and missed a lot of cues, but the tears gathered in your eyes were hard to miss. Even he could sense the sadness that overpowered the atmosphere.

“It’s ok, i need to, uh go. I’ll see you next time. Here” you quickly drop something next to his brushes and without a second thought you turn away from him and leave as quickly as you’d arrived.

With your back turned towards him, your feet taking you further and further away you could finally release the sob that has been threatening to surface.His words hurt. But you were well aware it was not the words that caused the tear in your heart. It was the unfeeling and harsh way he threw them at you. You contemplated whether or not you should chance a glance behind you, but decided against it. You did not think you could stand the sight of him stepping on the last bit of dignity you had. A rosy carnation.

Yoongi knew he usually missed a lot of social cues. For example when the curator asked him out for a coffee and he told them he stopped drinking caffeine because it caused insomnia. Or when the gallery director had wanted to shake his hand in greeting and he simply just stared at it. It wasn’t as if he was unfamiliar with them, it was just that it took him a lot longer to process these cues than the average human being.

When you’d left him the carnation he simply threw a glance at it but did not give it a second thought as he carried on painting. He almost left it there when he packed up his tools- almost stepping on it. He saw it just in time, the rosy colour attracting his attention. He bent down and picked it up gently; the flower was almost wilted from the heat. Prepared to throw it away he thought of you and stopped. The sight of your flushed cheeks, your distressed eyes and the gleam of your tears weighing heavily on his mind. With a sigh he cradled the flower in his palm, he would put it in between the pages of a book and press it dry.

Yoongi had no clue why he kept visiting the gazebo to work on his paintings. His previous spot so rarely visited that he’s almost forgotten where it was. He tried to convince himself it was because fishing season has not ended and so he would have been bothered by the men setting up around him. He tried not to think of the fact that the thought of not having your voice there, or the noises of the skateboard you practiced with caused him distress. He told himself it was because after a month of having you there with him, you became part of his routine. Like the background noise of a radio in the morning.

He could not pinpoint when your mindless chatter and pleas to ask him to teach you how to paint had become comforting to him. Even at home when he would try to read, he would pick up a book and open it only to come across a rosy carnation drying in between its pages.

You had made it a habit to leave him a flower every time you came to see him. He did not ponder too long as to why, but he’s kept them all. He did not want to ponder too long on that thought either. So he ignored it, but deep down he knew why.

Your eagerness, your clumsiness, your childish view of the world were enough to melt the wall he has built around himself. Somehow, you chipped at that wall with determination just like you did on the first day you met. Ungraceful and uncoordinated.

He knew you’d wormed your way into his soul and just like the flowers he kept pressing for safekeeping, he’s ingrained the memory of you into his brain.

When you’d started to ask more personal questions he found himself answering without a second thought.

“So, uh, have you always wanted to be a painter?” You were sat next to him tinkering with the wheels of your skateboard, from time to time getting distracted at the way his long fingers were clutching the brush. You blushed, thankful he was distracted by his work.

“No,” Yoongi paused to bend down and pick his palette and you thought that was the extent of the information he was willing to provide. “My parents wanted me to be a lawyer.” With a new colour on his brush he squinted focusing on getting the lines just right, the tip of his tongue sticking out slightly in concentration.

The silence that ensued settled heavily around the two of you. “Oh,” your voice did not sound too surprised. Yoongi glanced at you, you were gazing at him with such understanding that he found it hard to tear his gaze away. “Are they happy you chose to do what you love instead?” You carried on, trying out your luck.

Yoongi looked away from you, he couldn’t say what he wanted to say whilst your eyes were digging deep into his soul. “I wouldn’t know.” He shrugged as if to make a point. “I left home to move here and haven’t spoken to them since.”

The words, heavy as lead, echoed in your brain. But they were not unfamiliar. “I am sure they would want to talk to you. My parents died when i was young and i was raised by my grandparents.” Your voice sounded casual, but the slight change of tone made Yoongi raise his eyes to look at you. You were smiling at him, your face not giving away any of the pain you were feeling inside.

Yoongi may have been socially anxious, but he was observant, he couldn’t help it, it was the nature of his job. His eyes picked up on the way your chin trembled and his ears caught the slight waver in your voice. He didn’t know how it happened until he felt the corners of his mouth raising up. And with an uncertain smile in your direction, he managed to erase the sadness that clouded over your face.

“Pick up that brush” his tone softer than you have ever heard it.

“Huh?” You didn’t know where the change in tone had come from, but it managed to take you by surprise.

“Pick up the brush,” he repeated his head nodding in the direction of said tools. “And come here.” He stood up from his stool gently grabbing your wrist and pulling you up. The contact of his cold hands on your warm ones made you shiver, but in the heat of the summer it felt comforting. You savoured the way his gentle hands pulled you into the chair and handed you the brush he had been holding. Softly he guided your hand onto the canvas and your breath stopped.

His hands, the hands you had been observing ever since you met him, were smooth. His long slender fingers imprinting themselves onto the back of your hand. You couldn’t tear your gaze away from the way the pale skin of his slender wrist peeked from under the long sleeve he was wearing. The skin on the inside of his wrist almost translucent enough to allow his veins to show.

“Like this” he steered the brush onto the canvas, his voice so close to your ear it made you your heart skip a beat. When the bristles made contact with the material of the canvas leaving the mark of the acrylic on it, you knew. Just like the doodle he’s made, his mark on your heart would be permanent.

Yoongi didn’t know when he started craving your touch. It just happened. He carried on giving you lessons, finding it ironic how adamant he was at the beginning to refuse you. Little by little he started looking forward to his morning ritual of setting up in the garden, your clumsy self stumbling in the gazebo just as he was about to set his easel down. He would not even sit himself first, he would grab your hand allowing himself to revel in the way your smaller rough hand would fit into his larger one and sit you on the stool. Handing you the brushes he would sit next to your skateboard and watch as you tried to create something on the canvas, your brows furrowed in concentration.

How ironic that you would switch places. He would sit for a couple of hours watching your uncertain movements and listen to the small sounds of glee when you’d manage to get the brush to do what you wanted it to. His heart would pound in his chest when your tongue would flit across your lips subconsciously and the small smile gracing his lips would be a permanent fixture on his face. He did not care that he hasn’t painted in a few weeks. He was more than satisfied watching you.

When your painting session would end you’d end up talking for hours under the shade of the gazebo, the smell of flowers wafting all around you.

And you would always leave with lighter hears and the crinkle of a smile indented in the corner of your eyes and him with a rosy carnation cradled to his chest waiting to join the rest of the others.

When one morning you didn’t arrive at your usual time under the gazebo Yoongi noticed. He decided to wait for you for hours, but when the sun bled under the city skyline and the night settled in he decided it was time to go home. With a heavy heart and an empty hand he returned home hoping that the next day you would arrive and tell him about your day.

But one day turned into two, which turned into a week, which then turned into two- and before he knew it a whole month had passed.

In the beginning Yoongi would wait for you patiently, hoping that he would hear your yelps or even your greeting from afar. When that did not happen, he decided he would use that time to continue painting, maybe you’d arrive halfway through and ask him about it. When that didn’t happen either he noticed that instead of a smile on his face he now wore a frown.

After a whole month of not seeing you he became numb to the feeling. He decided that he would not let his mind ponder too much on your absence. But he could not completely block the way his thoughts would return back to you, and he could not help the wistful gaze he would throw the carnations around the gazebo.

As the months of summer wilted into the chill of autumn, the day he decided to stop waiting for you was the day you once again stumbled into him.

Running as fast as your leg permitted you halted a meter away from him, your breath coming out in harsh pants. Yoongi faltered, the grasp he had on his brush slackening, the tool clattering to the ground. He didn’t say anything, he couldn’t. Instead his eyes took in the way your form trembled with exhaustion, stopping at the wrapped up parcel you had under your arm.

“I am so so so sorry” you rasped, the effort causing you to cough. Looking up at him, your gaze met his dark one. He did not look upset, or even disinterested. He looked concerned, then you realised the state you came to see him in.

Yoongi took notice immediately at the lack of skateboard, this time replaced by a crutch. The way you were favouring one leg over the other concerned him. Had you been in an accident?

“I am so sorry,” you repeated, taking him back to the first moment he’s met you. Your clumsy self apologising incessantly and rambling in nervousness. “I fell one day whilst on the way here, and i broke my leg. I did not mean to stop showing up i promise! I had wanted to come see you as soon as i left the doctor’s office but the injury was worse than i could have suspected and- and” your voice wavered, trembling in exhaustion, still not having caught your breath.

Yoongi got up without a word, his silent form approaching yours. When only a few inches were left between the two of you he places both of his hands on your shoulders halting your apology. Looking up at him your gaze softens, his eyes were glossy but his mouth curled up in a smile.

“You’re ok” he repeated over and over as if to reassure himself. Your eyes now mirroring his own watery ones you nod.

In a flash he hugs you tightly, your crutch clattering to the ground and the parcel under the other arm making a dull thud as it hit the dirty floor. You gasped in surprise, your arms not knowing where to settle themselves. After a couple of seconds your brain catches up and relaxes and you melt into his hug. Despite his hands being always cold, his hug is warm and inviting.

You think back to the first time you met, how his cold words told you to leave him be. The drastic change in his attitude and demeanour make you smile softly. You burrowed your head in his shoulder inhaling his scent. He smelt of oils and acetone with an undertone of something floral, and you gasp. Carnations.

As if remembering something important you pulled yourself away from his touch, the cold autumn air making you shiver at the loss of contact.

Yoongi is confused for a moment, his eyes widening in panic. Has he made the wrong move? Has he read your intentions wrong? His heart clenches at the thought of you not returning the feelings that bloomed in his chest. But when you offer him a reassuring smile and bend down, grabbing onto his arm for support his emotions settle.

“This is for you” your hands were shaking. Handing over the mysterious parcel, you waited patiently for him to take it.

He glances at it uncertainly, but when you push it towards him his hand wraps around it. With as much skill as he could he opened it with one hand. Tearing the paper away he gasped. The corner of a canvas is sticking through the whole.

Looking at you in surprise your nervous eyes urge him to carry on. So he does.

The paper now completely teared open, his eyes settle onto a familiar flower painted onto the canvas. A carnation.

You watched him open your gift. You had tried your hardest during the time you were stuck at home with a cast on to practice and after weeks of painful frustrated tears, you’d finally managed to get it right. You had wanted to convey your feelings in a way that he would understand without feeling the pressure to conform to societal norms. To show him how much his effort to accommodate you and include you in his secluded life meant to you.

“Did you know,” you were whispering, “that rosy carnations mean admiration?”

Yoongi finally got it, realisation dawning over his features. He looked up at you, overwhelmed by the emotions flooding his chest. You were still smiling at him a tear now running down your cheek. “I wanted to convey my admiration for you in a way that would be permanent.” The hand on his arm tightened as if you make a point. “So i tried my best to do that.”

Yoongi smiled, not the uncertain smile you were used to, a full smile, the gums of his teeth showing, his features softening.

“A painting is not eternal, but with the artist the painting it over and over again it can be.” His free hand cups your cheek gently. “So stay with me.”

Main Masterlist

#reblog #fic: rosy gardenia #mochi-molala #istg if it did not make you feel better #i give up writing

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youtifulhobi · 3 years ago

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Ask @mochi-molala how I look when I’m in full pouting mode

#mochi molala #mootuals

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jiminie-and-his-pinky-finger · 3 years ago

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a this or that thing lol, i saw this on my dash and thought id try

here’s the template if you wanna try! 🥰

tagging:

@softbobamilktae + @jinnie-forthe-winnie + @fly-you-dam-fools + @taehoneycheeks + @mochi-molala + @moon-write + @mooniyooni + @jimeanour + @galaxtea-writes

#pinky promise: games

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writtenwhalien · 3 years ago

Note

hi again! I was the anon that asked if you did requests, is that fluff list still on the table? I would love that, thank you! 💕💕

yessss, here we go! (sorry it takes me while to compile):

this is not a comprehensive list by any means, just a few I’ve enjoyed that came to mind :) it’s all fluff that may include some angst but always a happy ending <3 (some of them might be nsfw, please read the warnings, and they’re varying lengths)

kim seokjin:

one step by @cutechim

the ex not missed by @kithtaehyung

(I have no clue why I can’t find any of my fic recs for yoongi and I can’t remember any either 😭 so sorry).

kim namjoon:

yellow by @hobipost

mezzanine by @cutechim

feather kisses by @petiteyoon

good morning by @lavienjin

jung hoseok:

all I want for thanksgiving by @lamourche

not by the moon @hueseok

park jimin:

for you, I’d fight by @jiminmellow

ere by @yeoldontknow

5.17am by @honeytae

flirt buddies by @jimilter

a first kiss by @parkdatjimin

zero o’clock by @hueseok

end up here by @mochi-molala

kim taehyung:

sleep by @tearvantae

colours by @lovelytaes-blog

jeon jungkook:

day by day by @hansolmates

her bodyguard by @personasintro

wishing for you by @kookiestarlight

this mortal coil by @jinfizz

home by @still-with-koo

helping hands by @eternally-writing

#amelia recs 📚✨❤️#asks 💌#anon <3

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alpacaparkaseok · 3 years ago

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do you have any fanfic recommendations? like your favs? or writers!! 👀

*inhales deeply*

I've been waiting for this.

*cracks knuckles*

OK so first thing first, I would recommend going to my side blog where I reblog fics, it's Seokjin's Bookclub and you can search it up or click on the link in my bio.

bUT I HAVE WRITER/FIC RECS!

first, my entire masterlist. tbh "Mine" is my most underrated fic I think and it's also one of my favs to go back and reread soooo yeah

here you go!

@dreamcatcherjiah - ok so Jiah is a gem and she's also SFW (I think most of these writers will be) but they've got awesome Idol aus/soulmate aus (I'm trash for Tight Hearts) they have a super fun, easy to binge masterlist!!

@moon-write - also SFW and if you like deep & angsty, go here. seriously. but also super comforting? super good characters/development and cool aus. (loving their on-going dad!BTS stuff: BTS as Fathers)

@holdinbacksecrets - if you want literal art to grace your screen, check out their works! tbh I'm binging their stuff rn and I'm in love. awesome ongoing thing that I'm trash for is Boyfriend Things which is a cool twist on the typical Tumblr writing layout that forces you to transport yourself into the little moments captured in each post

@junghelioseok - ok, gimme a minute. this blog isn't really SFW but they are so good at what they do and they're one of the first writers I followed here. Their fic Polaris left an impression on me that I've never forgotten, and honestly helped me decide that writing on Tumblr was worth the effort if I could touch people like Polaris touched me. they have a little follow-up to it that was literal perfection, Novae. be aware that Polaris has some smut, however it's fairly easy to skip over if you're uncomfortable with it and it's by no means pwp

@writemywaytoyourheart - I'm currently reading their current series, Aim for the Heart! This blog is SFW and lots of fun content to binge! Super sweet author (lol we've never really interacted but I've always respected them a lot) and you'll feel right at home on their blog!

@homeofbangtan - this is just beginning, but there's a whole lot of Hogwarts!BTS about to come your way! all of the writers involved (@delacyrose224 @sunshinejunghoseokie @mochi-molala @joheunsaram @joyfulhopelox & @ggukcangetit) are all super talented and have their very own master lists to binge! the first fic was dropped today: The Weasel and the Serpent, so be sure to check it out!! I mean, who doesn't love Slytherin!Yoongi?? I'll be dropping mine early next week for the collab, as well!

ok. that's all for now. I'll probably think of more later, lol. but, special shoutout to these writers because they're super talented as well and I've binged their entire masterlists and would gladly do so again:

@hyungieyoongi (literal angel and writes super relatable oneshots)

@dulce-pjm (super cool au's and sweetheart)

@shadowofahope (also really interesting ideas)

@jiminiesmagicshop (love their stuff!! super underrated)

@wtf-yoongi (chill writer, hits hard. esp. w/ Yoongi stuff)

AH @sierra-fics THANK YOU FOR LIKING THIS I KNEW I WAS MISSING SOMEONE AND IT WAS DRIVING ME CRAZY (they're awesome!!)

nd yeah. If I forgot to mention someone, I'm sorry, I still love your stuff but my brain is mush now lol

#b:asks #anon asks #fic recs #bts fic recs #Seokjin's bookclub #moots #b:recs

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music-of-melody · 4 years ago

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annoying, insufferable, way too easy to @ and also unwilling to help those children...

I sTOppED fOLloWIng BTs YeARs AgO 🙃

woooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

i admitted to my mistakes lol

and the children will be helped once my dad gives me that £6,000

#asks #mochi-molala

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delacyrose224 · 3 years ago

Text

Chameleon Boy (Part 3)

Pairing: Gryffindor!Jin x Ravenclaw!reader

Words: 10.7k

Warnings/rating: SFW (but the spice is finally here), cursing, reader remains in denial of her feelings (but Jin is literally the most patient and sweet ever), all the floof, Beomgyu is a chaotic MESS (and may or may not have his own follow up fic tumbleweeding around in my brain...)

Author's Note: It's the final installment of my piece of the @homeofbangtan Hogwarts collab! Thanks to all the usual suspects: @ttaetae for the banner, @min-yoon-kween for beta reading, @hyungieyoongi for being a great bestie, @sunshinejunghoseokie for talking me through the spice, and @mochi-molala for the JinMin content!

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

The next few weeks go by quickly, and it feels like you have fallen into a comfortable routine. Breakfast in the Great Hall with Joon, classes, dinner with Sunny, and homework with Jin in your common rooms, switching off depending on the day. You’ve come to love the roaring fire and plush armchairs of the Gryffindor common room, it’s much cozier than drafty Ravenclaw Tower. You’ve spent so much time there, you’ve gotten to know Jungkook better, who likes to join you for homework sessions sometimes. You can tell he respects and admires Jin more than he would ever admit out loud, and it makes you smile every time you catch him trying to emulate him.

Jin has also gotten to hang out with Joon more because of being a semi-permanent fixture in the Ravenclaw common room. He’s even made good on his promise to include Yoongi, inviting him to your study sessions. It’s worked out rather nicely, since your common room is a more neutral space for the two of them. Ever since the showdown after the Hufflepuff game, Yoongi and Jin have dropped the pretense of their friendship being a secret, and started to hang out in the open. You know that if they met up in their respective common rooms, they would be inviting speculation and questions which they wanted to avoid (they would never tell you this, but you had a hunch). You found Yoongi a steady presence-he was quieter, much quieter than Jin, but he was kind and rational.

Your project has come along rather nicely with all your study sessions, in fact, you’ve found yourself ahead of your classmates. Which is how you currently find yourself being pulled by Jin out to the Quidditch pitch to watch the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw match. His fingers intertwined with yours, he laughs as you drag your feet and try to act like you aren’t excited.

This was now normal for you two...intertwined hands, always spending time together, falling asleep on each other’s shoulders when you stayed up too late working on homework. There had been no more almost-kisses, but you were comfortable like this. You weren’t sure what exactly all of it meant, but you were happy that you were back to feeling safe with Jin.

He laughs again as you protest. “If you’re making me go to this game, we’re sitting in the Ravenclaw section. You’re the one who’s benched for punching someone, so what I say goes,” you huff with a pout on your face.

“Oh fine, we can sit on your side. Only since I’m not playing...if I was, you’d have to sit on the Gryffindor side and cheer for your favorite player.” He shoots you a playful wink.

“You wish, Kim...it’s all over now that I know Jungkook, he’s my favorite. AND he’s funnier than you!” you exclaim, using his appalled silence to drag him over to the sea of blue and bronze on the Ravenclaw side of the stands.

The two of you climb up to the top of the seats, Jin insisting that the higher up you go, the more he can see of the game and make sure his players are following his game plan.

The game starts, the players mounting their brooms and taking off to the skies. The first half of the match goes smoothly, no sign of the Snitch from either Seeker. Every time there’s any kind of close call with any of his players, Jin tenses beside you, his hand jerking and grabbing your wrist. The third time a Chaser dodges a Bludger, you quietly slip your hand in his just before he goes to grab you. He looks over at you with a soft smile on his face and gently squeezes.

“Why are you so nervous? Don’t you trust them?” you ask.

“Implicitly, yes. I just want them to do well, that’s all-” he starts to reply, before rapid motion catches his eye. “JEON, WATCH OUT!” he suddenly bellows with no warning.

You turn your gaze to the pitch, only to see Jungkook narrowly miss a Bludger that had been aimed at a Chaser nearby.

Jin squeezes your hand again in apology. “Sorry I just yelled in your ear, I just don’t want him hurt.”

“You can’t yell for Gryffindor in the Ravenclaw section,” you tut, pulling out your wand with your free hand, “but I know an easy fix.” You wave your wand, and all of the red and gold on Jin’s robes morphs slowly into blue and bronze.

He looks down at himself in horror. “What did you do?! I’m the Gryffindor captain, I can’t wear Ravenclaw colors! Fix it, please?” He looks at you with big eyes, silently pleading with you.

You simply laugh and shake your head. “Nope. You dragged me to this game, you are sitting in the Ravenclaw section, and you will cheer for Ravenclaw, I don’t make the rules. Plus, you look cute in blue and bronze, maybe you should wear them more often.” You give him a cheeky wink to rival his own, and his cheeks go pink.

“I-you-,” he splutters. “You’re lucky I like you, you know that?”

“I know...you’re the best, Jinnie.” His cheeks go even darker upon hearing the new nickname, but he can’t help the enormous grin that spreads across his face.

“Ravenclaw it is, then.”

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

His choice to cheer for your team turns out to be wise, as Ravenclaw’s Seeker manages to nab the Snitch in a neck-and-neck race with Jungkook about an hour later, winning the game for your house.

“Aren’t you upset?”

“Nah...it’s just a game. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love Quidditch, but I don’t live or die by our stats. My players followed the plan, and played excellently, what’s there to be mad at?” Jin’s leading you out of the stands, his broad shoulders carving an easy path to follow through the crowd.

You smile at his response, though he’s too busy saying ‘excuse me’ to people to notice it. As the crowd starts to thin out, you see Jungkook exiting the locker room.

You wave to get his attention and he smiles in your direction. “Good game, Jeon!” You rush forward to give him a hug, which he eagerly reciprocates.

“Thanks...wish we would’ve won though,” he sighs. He then catches sight of Jin approaching the two of you. “Kim, what are you wearing?” As you pull away from Jungkook, you see the look of utter disbelief on his face, eyebrows furrowed and his nose scrunched.

“You like? They’re this one’s doing,” he motions at you. “She said since I made her come to the game, I had to sit on Ravenclaw’s side with her, and then she had the audacity to charm my robes to her house’s colors. The gall, honestly.” Though he’s pretending to be annoyed, his eyes are sparkling with mirth and something else you can’t place as he gazes at you.

“Oh, get a room,” Jungkook rolls his eyes watching Jin banter with you, but can’t help laughing. “Seriously though, how was execution? I thought we were a little sloppy towards the middle of the game, including me…” Jungkook’s face scrunches up in thought.

“Jeon? You were fine, I couldn’t have asked for better execution. You’ll make a great captain next year. Keep it up.”

The Seeker’s eyes go wide at Jin’s statement, a grin slowly spreading across his face. “Really? Captain?”

“We’ll talk about it later, I need to make sure Nerd here gets back to her common room safely without getting distracted by the library or something else academic.” Jin waves goodbye to Jungkook, then grabs your hand and the two of you set off toward the castle.

“Distracted by the library, really?” You raise an eyebrow at him with a glare.

“I’m kidding...I just wanted to hang out with you alone.” He wiggles his eyebrows at you.

Your face pales, your hand dropping out of his out of nerves.

“Relax, it’s okay!” he quickly blurts out. “I made you banana bread, that’s all. Didn’t think you’d want to share with Jeon.” He reaches for your hand again, and you allow him to take it. He starts tracing soothing circles onto it, and you feel like you can breathe again.

“No funny business, I promise. Unless you want there to be,” he smirks at you. When you respond with silence, his eyebrows raise in surprise, but he doesn’t say anything. He simply leads you up the staircase towards the Gryffindor common room so he can grab your banana bread (that he hopes you’ll share with him), before the two of you head up to Ravenclaw Tower. You’re lost in thought the entire time up, not realizing you’d arrived until you hear the eagle door knocker asking its riddle of the day.

“Which came first, the phoenix or the flame?” the eagle asks in a melodious tone.

Of all things, it had to ask this. You’re honestly not sure...just as you think you’ve landed on the answer, another thought pops in your brain to disprove it.

“Neither,” you hear Jin’s baritone beside you. “It’s a cyclical relationship, and circles have no end. Or beginning.”

His answer is acknowledged by the door swinging open and letting the two of you inside. You gape at him in surprise.

“What? I’ve heard that thing ask enough riddles to figure out what kind it likes, and I’ve been able to guess most of the answers in my head by the time you answer. This is one of the easier ones, I reckon. Figured I’d help you out.” He shrugs and plops down on a couch.

You suddenly have the overwhelming urge to fling yourself at him and kiss him silly for being so cavalierly intelligent, which alarms you. Instead, you decide to sit down beside him and curl into his side with the piece of banana bread he offers you.

“See, no funny business.” He smiles down at you, wrapping his arm around your shoulder to draw you further into him. You sigh contentedly at the deliciousness of the bread, but also at the fact that you’re warm and cozy despite the wind whistling outside the window.

No funny business.

But what if you wanted something more to happen? What then?

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

A few days after the Ravenclaw-Gryffindor game (the last of the season), it’s confirmed over dinner by the headmaster that the Triwizard Tournament will be occurring. You’d talked with Sunny about the rumors swirling around, but you’re in disbelief that it’s actually happening.

During your study session that night (burrowed deep into a comfy armchair in the Gryffindor common room), you notice Jin seems preoccupied more than usual.

“Bee in your bonnet, Kim?” He looks up at you and smiles.

“Just thinking about the Triwizard Tournament...it hasn’t happened in so long. Not since 1994, I think?” Jin muses aloud.

“Yes, and for good reason-someone DIED. You’re not thinking of putting your name in, are you?” You narrow your eyes at him.

“I mean, it would be kind of cool-”

“Kim Seokjin, absolutely NOT! You are not going to enter the Triwizard Tournament, it’s way too dangerous, and don’t you have enough to be getting on with anyway?” You’ve put your homework aside, standing up and starting to pace in agitation. “You’re Quidditch captain, Head Boy, studying for N.E.W.T.s, and you want to be TRIWIZARD CHAMPION on top of all that?!” You’ve worked yourself into a frenzy, starting to emphatically emphasize each point you’re making with large hand gestures, refusing to look at the boy you’re yelling at.

“Hey, hey, hey...look at me, please?” Jin’s quiet voice breaks your rant. You look over at him, hands falling to your sides in defeat. “Come here.” He pats the space next to him on the couch. You collapse beside him, head falling back onto the cushion behind you.

“I said, come here.” He picks an arm up and places it across the top of the couch, motioning with his head for you to come closer. You scoot in, placing your head on his chest, his arm enveloping you once you settle.

“I just can’t have you getting hurt...or dying on me,” you murmur into his chest, not sure you’re loud enough for him to hear.

There’s a moment of silence where the sound of the crackling fire is the only thing filling the room.

“I won’t do it if you don’t want me to, love. If it worries you that much.” Jin’s voice is muffled through your hair, as he places a kiss on top of your head. The term of endearment has your heart beating so loud in your chest you’re sure he must be able to feel it. If so, he doesn’t say a word.

Instead, the two of you sit there in comfortable silence until you both fall asleep late in the night, only leaving when Jungkook shakes you awake gently with a knowing smile on his face.

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

The next Defense Against the Dark Arts class is a review of boggarts, your professor correctly assuming that everyone’s minds are preoccupied with the Triwizard Tournament and the choosing of the champions.

You expect the class to go by quickly, but a minor hiccup occurs when Jimin goes first to face his boggart. Two cold, icy blondes step out of the cabinet your professor is using to house the creature, and you can only assume they are his parents. Sunny quickly intervenes in the situation when she senses Jimin losing control. Once the boggart is contained, Jimin storms out of the classroom in embarrassment, Yoongi following closely behind to check on him. The chaos and distraction take up most of class, though your professor asks Jin to stay behind since he was the only one who didn’t get a chance to face the boggart.

You linger behind as well once the professor gives you a kind nod, agreeing that you can watch. Jin reaches in his robes, grabbing his wand and readying himself. What happens next startles both of you.

A carbon copy of yourself strides out of the cabinet, looking way more confident than you’ve ever felt. She smirks at Jin as she draws closer to him, beckoning him forward with a crook of her finger. You see him stumble forward a few steps, forgetting that she’s not you. As he leans down toward her, you hear her quiet voice.

“Kim Seokjin…” the boggart sounds almost seductive, pulling him closer with her words. She lays a hand on his arm. “You know no one really likes you, right? All your effort, for nothing. We’re just pretending,” she sneers, her voice cold and venomous. You see his eyes go wide and your heart clenches.

“That’s enough,” you step forward, wand at the ready. Your clone turns to you, calculating its next move. “Riddik-”

Before you can get the full spell out of your mouth, your own cruel smirk is replaced by one belonging to someone much taller with broad shoulders.

An eerie copy of Jin steps closer to you, eyes void of any emotion. It’s your turn to be caught off guard, wand clattering to the floor.

“You really thought you were different, hmm?” Boggart Jin sneers in derision at you. “Gryffindor’s Head Boy and Quidditch captain and some nameless Ravenclaw nerd? I could do much better.” He raises an eyebrow, daring you to disagree.

“And that’s quite enough for this class!” Your professor steps in front of the two of you, banishing the boggart back to its cabinet. She waves you off as you both try to apologize profusely, shooing you out the door.

You look at each other once you’re out in the hallway. You’re sure that the shell-shocked look Jin is giving you is mirrored on your own face. “Can we-” you start.

“Was that-” he says at the same time. You both laugh a little, though it feels stilted.

“...I don’t really want to talk about it, if that’s okay,” you confess.

Jin looks surprisingly relieved. “Yeah, I don’t think I want to either. I need some time to wrap my head around it.”

You sigh in relief. There’s no way you want to tell Jin how much it would hurt you if you were just a waste of time to him.

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

The following days are a blur. Champions are announced for each school, with the stunning revelation that Sunny had secretly put her name in the Goblet of Fire as some sort of plan to make it less likely to choose Jimin. You were hazy on the details, but the fact that one of your best friends was competing, possibly to the death, made you feel sick to your stomach. You felt like you had no way to help her, but instead insisted upon Jin teaching her flying techniques once you found out the first task involved dragons.

“I don’t know how much help I’ll be, honestly. I don’t do agility flying, I’m there for the muscle,” Jin argues. “Besides, isn’t Park helping her? He’s a Seeker, much better equipped for that.”

You glare daggers at him.

“...but since it’s your best friend, of course I will help her,” he sighs in defeat and trudges away, going to find Sunny.

He reports back several hours later looking worse for wear, muddy and exhausted.

“Well, I helped. And that will be the last time I help.” He runs his hand exasperatedly through his hair. Before you start to protest, he cuts you off. “No, listen to me. Park was there helping too, and it was awkward. We were more of a distraction together than help, I promise you that. I apologized to him for punching him, by the way...I think we’re good now. As good as it’s going to get, anyway. But, as I was saying-Park’s got this. He’s got talent, he can help her, he cares about her. Let him do this. Can’t believe I’m saying that, but here we are.”

“...thank you,” you whisper.

“You’re welcome. Now, I’m going to go shower before this mud sticks to me permanently. I’ll see you later tonight.” He smiles at you before heading off to his common room.

Now you just hoped Park Jimin could figure out a way to make sure your best friend came out of this alive.

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

The day of the first task comes too soon for your liking. You can’t help but clutch Jin’s hand tightly on the way to the arena, worried sick for your friend (who for some reason did not seem as worried about herself as you were).

You’d agreed to sit with Jungkook, Namjoon, and one of Jin’s other friends, a Hufflepuff named Hoseok. You’re surprised when you arrive to see Yoongi, Jimin and another black haired Slytherin boy in the same area. Stranger things have happened, you suppose...you were all cheering for Sunny, since she was the Hogwarts champion.

The announcer states the order of the champions facing the task, with Hogwarts being named last. The first two champions’ face-offs with their dragons seem to fly by, as Jin and Yoongi make sure to keep you distracted with conversation. Just as Sunny’s about to be introduced, the black haired Slytherin boy you don’t know turns to you.

“Hi, I’m Taehyung, one of Jimin’s friends. You’re pretty, how come we’ve never met before?” He throws a boxy grin your way, and you feel your cheeks go pink.

“Yes, she is really pretty, isn’t she?” Jin inserts himself in the conversation, making a point to put his arm around you.

Taehyung simply nods, grin never leaving his face, and turns back to his friends, continuing his conversation with them.

You glance up at Jin, who still has his arm slung around your shoulders.

“Jinnie, are you jealous?” you hum in amusement.

Before he has the chance to answer, the announcer’s voice booms out over the arena, announcing the beginning of Sunny’s task. As soon as she takes off from the ground, you squeal in nervousness and bury your face in the sleeve of Jin’s robes. Every so often, you peek at the chaos occurring, enough to know there is a smaller copper red dragon chasing your best friend, who is attempting to pluck a golden egg from its nest.

Even though your face is hidden, Jimin’s reactions combined with Jin’s running commentary (who knew he knew so much about dragons??) help you piece together what’s happening during the task. At one point, Jin’s gasp drags your attention to the action, where you see Sunny get injured. “She’ll be okay,” he murmurs in your ear as your eyes go wide as saucers and you hide again.

Around 15 minutes later, Jin is pulling you off his side. “Look! She did it, she got the egg!”

You see Sunny triumphantly holding the egg in her hands. You whoop and cheer loudly with your fellow students-your best friend managed to have the fastest time, putting Hogwarts in the lead coming out of the first task.

You hug Jin tightly in excitement, and don’t miss the relief painted across Jimin’s face.

Maybe you didn’t need to be so worried about Sunny after all.

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

It’s a gray, cold day several weeks later when you feel like you’ve forgotten something major. You look through your belongings, and you have everything you need. You weren’t meeting up with Jin until later, and Joon had just left from having breakfast with you, saying something under his breath about worms? You can’t figure out what it is you’re forgetting, if anything at all.

You decide to go to the library to shake off the feeling. Surely working on homework will help focus your brain.

An hour deep into studying, you feel like you’re being watched. Just as you’re about to get up and search through the stacks to see where the feeling is coming from, a small ball of feathers crashes onto your open textbooks.

“HooDini?!” you exclaim, as the tiny owl rights himself. He’s got feathers sticking every which way, and you can see a little sliver of blue on him.

“What’s this, then?” He hops in your hand when you place it in front of him and you bring him up to eye level. There is a small blue bow tie around the owl’s neck, which leaves you confused. Owls have clothes? They make clothes for owls? Why is he wearing a bow tie?

HooDini sticks out his leg, which has a small velvet pouch attached to it. You untie it gently and shake its contents out onto your hand, a small folded note. You open it, and you see Jin’s handwriting, alongside a drawing of two stick figures dancing.

Yule Ball with me?

Ah, so that’s what you forgot about. The large, ever looming dance for all three schools participating in the Triwizard Tournament.

You smile at his drawing, which includes convenient labeling of ‘You’ and ‘Me’ over the two figures. Snow dusts your hand and the top of HooDini’s head as you continue to look over the note. Wait...snow? You look up and a little cloud has formed over your hand and the note, soft flakes collecting over the surface of your palm. Poor HooDini keeps having to shake the fluff off his wings and head, but at least the snow isn’t cold.

As you watch, the cloud slowly disintegrates as if it was never there. The last flakes form a small pile in your hand, and you notice it feels heavy. You breathe out slowly, sending the flakes flying to the ground, and underneath you see something that wasn’t there before. A dainty gold snowflake necklace. Your eyes go wide, and even HooDini cocks his head, attention drawn by the shiny object.

You look back at Jin’s note, and see that another sentence has appeared underneath the first.

A pretty necklace for an even prettier girl. Hope you’ll say yes.-Jinnie

You feel dazed as you place HooDini down on the table, fastening the gift around your neck.

Gathering yourself, you scrawl out a response in the affirmative, sending HooDini back to his owner with a grin you can’t seem to erase.

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

The days leading up to the Yule Ball are filled with excitement throughout the castle. Christmas decorations go up, even more extravagant than normal. Though you love the season anyway, it brings an extra wide smile to your face every time you see professors enchanting bits and baubles to hang from wreaths and trees scattered throughout the halls.

Though Sunny is a Triwizard champion, even they are given some time off to enjoy the excitement as well. The two of you plan a trip to Hogsmeade to catch up and to buy dresses for the upcoming dance. You’re not surprised when she tells you that she will be attending the ball with Jimin after all the time you’d noticed them spending time together. She even manages to pick a dress that will match his tie.

Sunny squeals when you tell her how Jin had asked you to the ball. “That’s so romantic,” she sighs. “Have you gone on a date yet?” You look at the floor in response. “Yah, what is wrong with you?! He’s clearly head over heels! I’ve been extra busy lately with the tournament, but even I’ve had time to notice the two of you being all snuggly on the couches in the common room, him feeding you his baked goods of the week. Is something wrong?”

You look at your best friend and sigh. “No? I mean, he’s good. Great. I think I’m what’s wrong…”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, remember how I told you about that night I snuck down to the kitchens to make cookies with him and we almost kissed?” Sunny nods, you had to tell someone about what had happened that night.

“Then the curse thing happened, and I thought he was mad that I didn’t kiss him, but he wasn’t, it was the watch...and then from there we just kind of fell into this routine of holding hands and hanging out and, and...I don’t know!” you exclaim, drawing stares from other customers of the shop you’re in.

“Do you like him?” Sunny’s question bounces around in your brain and makes your stomach queasy.

“I don’t know!” you repeat, quieter this time. “I like spending time with him...he’s kind, and he’s smart. Good at Quidditch, not that that matters in the long run, really. So funny. Is friends with everyone, and genuine about it. Obviously handsome.”

“Obviously?” Sunny snorts.

“You’ve seen him, haven’t you?” you glare at her. “You’re the one who pointed out his broad shoulders to me! Anyway, he’s all those things. Plus his baked goods are to die for.”

Your best friend hums in agreement, she’s been the recipient of some of your leftover treats.

“...and I kind of wanted to kiss him once when he answered the riddle to get into my common room?” you finish, your cheeks going bright red.

Sunny can’t help the wide grin that spreads across her face.

“I’ll ask you again then, since you didn’t actually answer. Do you like him?”

There’s a moment of silence as you wring your hands, looking anywhere but at your best friend.

“...yes?” you pitifully whisper, looking at the ceiling.

“What was that? I couldn’t hear you.” She leans in toward you with a hand cupped around her ear.

“I like Jin,” you manage to squeak out.

“Well now that you’ve finally admitted what we’ve all known for months, let’s find you a dress that will knock his socks off.”

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

You nervously smooth down the skirts of your dress, the movement causing the gold sparkles to catch the light in your room. This level of fanciness was entirely out of your comfort zone...you would much prefer to be in your robes or a simple top and pants.

Instead, you are in a deep red dress that has a sparkly gold overlay over the bottom half. Your hair is pulled back into a low bun, showing off the necklace Jin had gifted you alongside dangly gold earrings. Though you are nervous, you can’t help smiling at the fact that you had thought of dressing in his house colors. You figured it was only fair, seeing that you’d forced him to wear Ravenclaw colors during the last Quidditch game of the season.

You head down to the Great Hall with Sunny and one of your housemates, who you’re pleased to find out is meeting Jungkook as her date. As you arrive at the main landing of the Grand Staircase, you smile as Jungkook approaches the three of you and offers your housemate his arm. After waving them off, you and Sunny continue downstairs to the entrance hall in front of the Great Hall.

You’re nervous, fiddling with your necklace when you see Jin waiting with Jimin at the bottom of the staircase. He looks nervous as well, making sure his normally messy hair is smoothed back off his forehead with one hand, the other hand pulling at his tie to make sure it’s not too tight. As you get closer, you can’t help but laugh. He looks very dapper, almost like a prince has been ripped out of one of your childhood fairytale books and placed in front of you. What makes you laugh is that his dress robes are deep blue, his tie bronze. A Ravenclaw prince.

His eyes light up when he sees you, his long legs taking wide steps to get to you as fast as he can. He offers you his hand when he reaches you, and you gladly accept. He pulls you away from the wall, spinning you in the middle of the entrance hall, your dress flaring out around you.

“You look absolutely stunning,” he breathes as you feel his gaze travel down your body. He pulls you closer to him, his hand lightly trailing over your exposed collarbone until he lands on your necklace. His touch feels like it’s leaving fire in its wake. “You wore it,” he smiles, his eyes meeting yours again.

“You gave it to me, of course I did.” You grab his hand, intertwining your fingers and holding him at arm’s length. “Seokjin, you look so handsome.” Both of you flush at your comment.

“And you look like a princess...a Gryffindor princess, at that,” his lips quirk up into a smirk.

“Seems we both had the same idea then,” you smile, gesturing at his outfit.

“You said I looked cute in blue and bronze, I only dress to impress, my lady,” he says, offering you his arm. You take it, and he guides you into the Great Hall.

You gasp as you walk in. There are giant Christmas trees everywhere, a live band, and the ceiling is enchanted deep as the night sky, stars twinkling while snow falls, disappearing just above the crowd of students milling around.

The two of you watch as the champions begin the festivities with a ceremonial dance. As soon as it’s finished, Jin immediately pulls you out onto the dance floor. Dancing is not something you’re great at, but with Jin’s lead, the two of you manage to look like you’re floating. Is there anything he’s not good at?

After a few dances, you weave your way through the crowd to get drinks. As you approach the large punch bowl, a younger boy with shaggy long black hair walks up, clapping Jin on the shoulder.

“Kill ‘Em Kim, murdering the dance floor, too?” The younger boy laughs.

“Beomgyu, what are you doing here?” Jin matches his smile.

“Yule Ball’s for fourth years and up, remember? Plus I invited Adélie...and she said yes.” Beomgyu cackles with glee, pulling a flask out of the inside of his robes.

“The Beauxbatons champion?!” Jin splutters in disbelief. He just nods, as if it’s no big deal.

“What are you doing?” you ask, catching the younger student’s attention as he unscrews the lid of the flask.

“Making this ball more exciting, that’s what. I’m Beomgyu, by the way-since Kim’s too rude to introduce me. 4th year, Gryffindor’s star Keeper.” He reaches out with his free hand, grabs yours, and brings it to his lips.

“Hey, that’s no way to speak to your captain!” Jin has his eyes narrowed at Beomgyu, but they’re sparkling with mirth.

“Yeah, yeah...you gonna tell on me Head Boy, or look the other way?”

“What are you doing?” you ask again.

“Laughing Potion,” he shrugs, tipping the flask toward the punch.

Jin catches his wrist just as the liquid is about to pour out, and leans closer to Beomgyu, making sure his next words can’t be heard by anyone but the three of you.

“You’re sure you’ve brewed this right, and won’t be sending half the school to the hospital wing in hysterics?”

The younger Gryffindor scoffs. “I’m top of my year in Potions, or did you forget? As much as all the Slytherins hate it.”

Jin lets go of his wrist and smirks. “I didn’t see anything. Have fun with your date, Beom.”

The two of you walk away from the punch bowl. A few minutes later, you see Beomgyu walk over to a group of French students like nothing ever happened.

You join Sunny and Jimin at a table where they’re taking a break from dancing as well.

“I’m getting thirsty...you want anything?” Jimin goes to stand up, looking at Sunny to see if she needs a drink.

“I wouldn’t get the punch,” you giggle.

“Why?” Sunny raises an eyebrow at you.

“It just tastes...funny.” Jin makes eye contact with you, emphasis on his last word. You both burst into laughter, Jimin and Sunny utterly confused.

Just then, Jungkook and his date walk by your table, the former covering his mouth looking alarmed at the loud laughter that’s pouring out of him.

Your eyes find Beomgyu across the room, and he salutes you with a smirk.

All of a sudden, Jin grabs your hand and pulls you towards the door.

“Where are we going?” you ask.

“I wanted to escape before the ball breaks down into a cackle of hyenas...nothing can be traced back to us then,” he grins. “Plus, I wanted to show you something.”

Jin leads you to the Grand Staircase, up and up and up seemingly endless amounts of stairs.

“How...much...further?” you huff, breathless.

“We’re here.”

He opens a door to the top of the Astronomy Tower. You step through, him following behind you.

The night is crisp and chilly, the stars burning brightly in the sky. It’s even more beautiful than the Great Hall had been. When you turn back to Jin, he’s holding out his hand.

“May I have this dance?”

“You may.” You grab his hand, and he pulls you in close, his hands on your waist. Your hands snake around his neck as the two of you start to sway, no music necessary.

“I wanted to show my favorite person my favorite place in the castle. And maybe I’m selfish and wanted you to myself for a little bit.” Jin smiles softly down at you, his forehead leaning against yours.

You sway in silence for a little bit, his fingers tracing absentmindedly over your hips. His touch feels like fire again, even through your dress. You lean your head against his chest and close your eyes. This feels...right. You can’t explain it.

“You remember in class when we had to face our boggarts?”

You hum in acknowledgement of his question.

“I know we talked in the Owlery about how I feel a lot of pressure to do well, including in my relationships with friends and family. So I’m sure you understand why the boggart said what it said about people pretending to like me.”

There’s silence between the two of you. You can sense there’s more he wants to say, and you allow him the time he needs to say it.

“But I couldn’t figure out why it was you at first. Wouldn’t it make sense for it to be Yoongi, or my parents? Jungkook even. But then I realized...I would be heartbroken if the one person who really sees who I am was pretending.” Jin sighs.

You pull gently away from him, looking him in the eyes. He’s being completely truthful, you can tell. His emotions are written all over his face.

You reach out and wrap your hands around his.

“I would never pretend,” you breathe quietly, but it feels like you’re screaming. “Never.”

“I know.” Jin is looking at you with that same emotion you couldn’t place after the Ravenclaw-Gryffindor Quidditch game.

You take a deep breath. “My boggart…”

“You don’t have to talk about it just because I did.” Jin squeezes your hands in reassurance.

“No, I want to. My boggart caught me off guard because I didn’t expect to care so much about you so quickly.” You sigh. “I couldn’t stand the thought of you thinking I was a waste of your time.”

His face falls at your statement, his hands dropping from yours to cup your face instead.

“You could never be a waste of my time. Ever. I love spending time with you, I-,” he starts to stumble over his words.

“You what?”

He’s tapping his foot on the stone floor, looking seemingly everywhere but you. When he finally brings his gaze down from the heavens to you, it looks like some of the stars have been transplanted from the sky into his eyes. He’s looking at you with that same emotion you can’t name, the one that’s appeared more and more frequently lately.

“...I think I love you. And I think I have for a while.”

Your mouth drops open. The fire that was localized to his touch is now spreading through your entire body, contrasting with your brain that feels completely frozen.

Jin’s hand is now carding through your hair as your brain tries to play catch up.

“You don’t have to say anything right now, I know you, and I know you need time to process. I’ll wait for as long as you need. But for now, I’m just glad you said yes to me. To this moment.” He drops a kiss on top of your head.

Jin’s right. Your head is spinning, and you can’t completely figure out what’s happened. What you do know is you are very much in awe of the man standing in front of you.

“How in the world are you so brave?” you wonder out loud.

“I think you’re just as brave as I am, you just have to let your heart be courageous when it wants to be,” he smiles, interlocking your fingers once again. “Plus I’m a Gryffindor, remember?” You shove against his chest with your joined hands, laughing.

“Come on, Prince Charming...let’s go make sure our friends haven’t collapsed into a permanent fit of laughter, yeah?”

The two of you head back to the Great Hall hand in hand. You can’t help but notice the fire Jin had set burning inside you has settled into a warm, cozy feeling that only grows each time you see him look at you.

That’s what that feeling was that you kept noticing but couldn’t name...love.

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

The next morning you’re eating breakfast with Sunny when she casually mentions that Jimin kissed her at the Yule Ball.

“What?!” you squeal, bacon dropping off your fork back onto your plate.

She just grins back at you, nodding her head in affirmation.

“Well, are you dating now, or what?” You steal a glance over your shoulder to the Slytherin table and see the blond boy chatting with Taehyung and Yoongi.

“I don’t think so...we didn’t talk about it. The tournament is kind of my first priority.” Sunny looks slightly perturbed, but you don’t press the subject.

It’s her turn to be shocked when you tell her about your conversation with Jin on top of the Astronomy Tower. Her mouth forms a small o, gaping at you.

“Okay, but what did you say back?” she hisses, trying not to draw extra attention to the two of you.

“Nothing yet. He knows I don’t do well in the moment with feelings sometimes, so he just said what he wanted to say and that was the end of it.”

“Okay...so what are you gonna say back? You’re going to tell him you love him too, right?” Her eyebrow is raised expectantly.

“I mean...I think so? I’ve never been in love, so this all feels weird. I like him a lot, I know that much,” you shrug.

Sunny rolls her eyes and turns back to her breakfast.

“And I thought I made my life complicated.”

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

Things between you and Jin feel surprisingly normal after his confession. He knows he needs to give you time, and doesn’t push you to say anything. Instead, he devotes himself to showing how much he cares for you through his actions.

During your study sessions in the library, he brings your favorite baked goods (that just so happen to be his favorite to make).

Jungkook and Beomgyu become his personal delivery boys, bringing you freshly conjured flowers each week. Each week is something different, until he notices how much your eyes light up the day you receive purple roses. Every delivery from then on is full of the purple blooms.

His favorite moment, however, is the final night of working on your Defense Against the Dark Arts project. Despite the roar of the fireplace, he’d still noticed you shivering every so often. He gives you one of his sweatshirts, a deep gold with his last name and Quidditch number embroidered in maroon on the back. It absolutely swallows you whole, shoulder seams falling halfway down your arms and the length could almost pass for a dress.

It makes Jin’s heart beat double time to see you wearing his last name, and it takes everything in him not to just grab your face and kiss you. Instead, he sits next to you on the couch and continues talking with you about your final presentation on the Imperius Curse.

You feel surrounded by him. His voice, his warmth as you curl into his side, his scent that lingers on his sweatshirt you’re wearing. Nothing fancy, just a clean smell, always with a hint of cinnamon from his baking.

“Earth to Nerd, hello?” He squeezes your shoulder to grab your attention.

“H-huh? What?”

“I asked if this looked okay to you.” He points at the last paragraph of your presentation notes.

You spare a quick glance over what he’s motioning to, nodding your approval. Just then, a clock strikes eleven.

“I should get going, it’s late. I don’t want Jungkook to have to wake me up again.” You stand and stretch, beginning to remove Jin’s sweatshirt to return it to him.

He stops your motions by grabbing your wrist. “Keep it, it looks good on you,” he smiles softly.

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely positive.” He walks with you across the room. Just before you exit, he grabs you and pulls you into a long hug. “I’ll see you tomorrow in class. Try to get some sleep, please? Sweet dreams, love.” He gently kisses your forehead.

Once you return to Ravenclaw Tower, you can’t bring yourself to remove Jin’s sweatshirt, instead opting to sleep in it. You stare at the ceiling of your four-poster bed for a while, thinking back to what Sunny had asked you earlier-what are you going to say back? Because right now, you only have one thought continuously running through your head like a heartbeat.

I love you too.

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

A few days later, you’re still riding high on the Outstanding marks you’d achieved on your project, gushing to Namjoon over lunch about how excited you were that your hard work paid off, how proud you were of Jin for the compliments his work had received.

Suddenly, a large bouquet of purple roses moves toward you from across the room. As it gets closer, you see shaggy black hair peek around the sides.

“Hey Beom,” you greet the younger boy as he shoves the flowers toward you.

Instead of greeting you in return, he scowls. “If you don’t tell him how you feel, I will put love potion in your pumpkin juice and force you. I know he’s patient, but I’m not...and I am not a flower delivery service.”

“You wouldn’t…” You narrow your eyes at the Gryffindor Keeper.

He matches your stare as you take the roses into your arms. “Try me.” And with that, he walks back over to his table.

Joon laughs into his goblet of juice as you struggle to put the bouquet on the table.

“He’s right, you know. You should tell him.” Your friend smiles gently over at you, amusement dancing across his features as you finally get the roses to sit without toppling onto your plates.

“I know. I’m just...nervous.” You fiddle with the small snowflake around your neck.

“What about it makes you nervous? What you’re going to say? Or how he’ll react?” Joon has turned toward you, intent on making you feel heard and supported as best he can. After all, you’d helped him work out his own feelings towards a certain Hufflepuff.

“I think how to say it, or what to say exactly? I already know how he feels, so I know it will be a good reaction. Or I hope, anyway.”

Your friend lays his hand on your arm and squeezes gently in reassurance. “Hey...I know you think things need to be perfect, but love is...messy. Dirt included, in my case.” He chuckles. “What I’m trying to say, though, is there’s no perfect way to be in a relationship with a person. Whatever you decide to say, however you decide to say it, I’m sure Jin will love it.”

“But how do you know?” you plead, searching Joon’s gaze for the answer.

“I know because I know Jin. And Jin loves you more than I think even he realizes.” He gestures behind you to the Gryffindor table. As you look over, you see Jin animatedly telling a story to Jungkook, Beomgyu, and the rest of his Quidditch team, arms windmilling around in large circles. He looks over and sends you an equally over the top wink and blows you a kiss.

Even as your cheeks darken, you stand abruptly and start gathering your things.

“Where are you going?” Namjoon questions, curious if what he’s said has helped.

You glance over at your best friend, grinning.

“I’m going to make scones.”

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

Several hours later, you are covered in flour and dough residue as you make your way up to the Ravenclaw common room. It had taken three tries to get it right, but you have a tin of cinnamon chip scones tucked under your arm that you are planning on giving to Jin after class the next day...and then you would tell him you loved him too.

You smile to yourself as you set the tin on your nightstand and crawl into bed. You’re still nervous, but after talking to Namjoon, you’re mostly excited.

The next morning, you walk into Defense Against the Dark Arts just before class begins, only to see your tablemate suspiciously missing. This was not how this was supposed to go. Jin’s absence makes you nervous...did something happen? Was he sick? You nervously tap your foot against your chair for half the class, the professor asking you to stop several times because it’s so distracting.

As the clock strikes 30 past the hour, you can’t take it anymore. You hastily throw your books in your bag and sprint out of the classroom with a quick apology, Jimin, Sunny and Yoongi staring confusedly after you.

You barrel your way up to Gryffindor Tower, and arrive in front of the Fat Lady’s portrait out of breath.

“Are you okay, love?” You look up to see the portrait in question staring at you with concern. You give a barely perceptible nod, still trying to catch your breath.

“Oh, you’re that sweet Ravenclaw that our Captain and Head Boy is seeing...I always thought you’d be cute together!” she coos as you finally stand up straight. “Where is he?” She attempts to peer around you, as if Jin will magically appear.

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out...he didn’t show up in class this morning, so I thought I would check here first,” you explain.

“Well, I’m not supposed to let non-Gryffindors in without an escort…”

“Please, I-he told me he loved me, so I need to give him these scones and tell him I feel the same way-” You’re not sure why you’re telling the Fat Lady all about your life and feelings, but she cuts you off.

“Say no more! Password?” She smiles down at you.

“Fizzing Whizzbee?” You ask, hoping the password hasn’t changed since you were here last.

The Fat Lady’s portrait swings open, granting you access to the Gryffindor common room. You think you hear her murmur something about ‘young love’ as you enter.

You glance around the room, the boy you’re looking for nowhere to be seen. You decide you’ll wait for a little bit to see if he appears. Rounding the large armchairs, you’re surprised to see Jungkook half asleep in one. He jerks fully awake as you sit down beside him, his eyes widening when he realizes it’s you.

“How’d you…?” he starts.

“I knew the password. Jin didn’t show up in class and I don’t know where he is. So I figured this would be a good place to start.”

Jungkook nods. “Be my guest. I haven’t seen him today, so he may still be upstairs.” He watches as you start to nervously tap your fingers against your tin of scones. “You okay?”

“I think so...actually, you can help me.” The younger boy raises an eyebrow expectantly. “Try one of these scones for me and tell me how it is?” You lift the lid and push the tin towards him. Jungkook is so used to trying Jin’s baked goods, he doesn’t even question it, grabbing one from the top and taking a bite.

You watch nervously as he chews, looking deep in thought. “Well?”

“...pretty good. It’s a little dry though. Not as good as Jin’s.” Your shoulders sink in disappointment.

Just then, you hear steps on the staircase up to the boys’ dormitory. You look over to see Jin rubbing his eyes, hair mussed from sleep. His eyes widen as he catches sight of you.

“Nerd? What are you doing here? How did you get in?” You grab your tin from Jungkook and walk towards Jin, the Seeker using the opportunity to slink out of the room to give you privacy.

“I remembered the password from the other day. You weren’t in class and I got worried, so I figured this would be a good place to look first?” You answer shyly.

Jin gives you an embarrassed smile. “That’s sweet of you...I overslept, that’s all. Thus the hair.” He points to the unruly mess on his head and chuckles.

“I brought you scones.” You lift the tin towards him, and he takes one and bites into it, chewing thoughtfully.

“Did you make these yourself?”

“By hand,” you nod. “What do you think?”

“I think...” he starts, grabbing the tin from you and setting it on a table, “...it might be the best scone I’ve ever-”

His sentence is interrupted as your lips crash into his own. You’re not sure what exactly had come over you, but you don’t have time to figure it out because everything is suddenly Jin.

He smells like soap, he tastes like cinnamon, and he feels...he feels simultaneously safe and dangerous all at once. The kiss had surprised him, but once his body unfreezes from the shock, one hand wraps around your waist, the other finding its way into your hair. As his hand toys with the hem of your shirt, fingers tracing over your bare skin, you gasp into his mouth.

Your gasp elicits a low moan from the back of his throat as his tongue makes its way into your mouth. The fire you felt from his touch at the Yule Ball reappears, exploding into an inferno. As you explore each others’ mouths, you pull him backwards onto a couch, where you awkwardly fall into his lap. The two of you break apart momentarily, Jin breaking into a husky laugh. Then his mouth is attached to yours once again, your hands roaming over his chest and sneaking under his shirt to discover that feeling his abs for yourself was so much better than the sneak peek you had gotten all those months ago in the kitchens.

His grip tightens around your waist as if he’s afraid you may slip out of his grasp. You move your mouth from his down towards his neck, his breath growing ragged as you start to leave a wet trail of kisses from his jawline to his collarbone.

“If I would have known complimenting your baking was all it took, I would have asked for scones forever ago,” he growls in your ear, sending shivers down your spine.

You lean back to look at him, his dark eyes blown out with want. “I think it’s a little more than just the scones, don’t you think?” you ask, landing a kiss on his temple. He cocks his head to the side in response.

“I didn’t come up here to do this-”, you motion between the two of you, where you still sit on his lap, “-I came here to tell you I love you too. My heart decided it wanted to be brave.”

His eyes immediately soften and he leans in and kisses your forehead. “That scone really was the best I’ve ever had, then.”

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

Though the two of you hadn’t had a formal conversation about your relationship and where it stood after what you both starting referring to as the ‘infamous scone incident’ occurred, Jin quickly made his intentions known when he showed up to breakfast one morning with a large package of Fizzing Whizzbees from Honeydukes. He sat down beside you, placing the candy in front of you.

“Be my girlfriend,” he blurts unceremoniously. Namjoon can’t help but laugh from across the table. Jin glares at him and turns back to you.

“What I mean to say is, would you be my girlfriend? These are for you,” he pushes the Fizzing Whizzbees in your direction. You raise your eyebrow in question.

“The password to the Gryffindor common room the day of the infamous scone incident,” he smirks. You proceed to turn as red as his tie. Jin chuckles and leans in for a quick kiss, causing you to go even redder, if that was even possible. “What do you say, Nerd?”

“I say...I’d love to,” you bring yourself closer to him, “And I love you.” You tap your finger on the tip of his nose, causing him to go slightly cross eyed following the motion, nose scrunching at your touch.

“C’mon loverboy, we have things to do.” Jungkook pulls Jin up by the hood of his robes, laughing. The older boy starts to follow him reluctantly, but not before dashing back to give you another quick kiss on the lips.

“I’ll see you later!” you call out to his hastily retreating form, turning back to Namjoon.

“You two are gross, you know that, right?” he smiles, and you can’t help grinning in return.

“I know.”

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

Surprisingly, there isn’t that much that changes once Jin is your boyfriend. You still have meals with Joon and Sunny, classes go on as normal, and the two of you still switch common rooms each night to work on homework.

There are small changes that make you smile, though. Beomgyu and Jungkook are no longer flower delivery boys, Jin bringing you fresh blooms instead. Sometimes you make Jin baked goods, though nothing compares to that first batch of scones you brought to the Gryffindor common room. If he’s feeling cheeky, Jin will pull you into the restricted section of the library for a quick (sometimes not-so-quick) makeout session, whispering in your ear about how you’re his favorite nerd.

Sunny manages to survive the second task of the Triwizard Tournament, though it’s almost a close call for Jimin. She had to rescue him from the bottom of the Black Lake. After watching from the sidelines, you feel like you’re being extra clingy with Jin, getting lost in imagining what you would have done if it was him dragged to the bottom of the lake. However, he’s the one that surprises you that night, turning to you outside the Ravenclaw common room to say goodbye.

“Hey...I’m glad you talked me out of putting my name in the Goblet of Fire. I don’t think I could have survived you being taken from me like that.” He traces small circles on your skin where your hands are intertwined.

Tears suddenly form in your eyes as you bring your free hand to his face. “Me either. I love you. So much.” You lean forward to kiss him.

“I love you more, Nerd.” He squeezes your hand before letting it go, watching you reluctantly enter your common room.

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

Epilogue

The third task occurs towards the end of the year, a month before N.E.W.T.s. Sunny ends up passing out from an injury before she can find the Triwizard Cup in the Forbidden Forest, but you’re honestly just relieved everything is over and your friend hasn’t died like Cedric Diggory did all those years ago.

You and Jin are regular visitors at the hospital wing until she’s released, but it seems like Park Jimin never leaves her side. It makes you smile to see the normally cold Slytherin’s mask fall the more he’s around your best friend. Jin whispers conspiratorially to you that he thought they would be good together since the Gryffindor-Slytherin Quidditch game, and you just roll your eyes.

Once Sunny is back on her feet, Jin invites you, her, and Jimin on a double date to Hogsmeade to celebrate the end of the year. You and Sunny are wary of keeping the two boys in the same space for an extended amount of time, but there is a surprising lack of glares and snide remarks between them. They even offer to accompany each other to The Three Broomsticks for butterbeers while the two of you shop for clothes. It gives you a chance to catch Sunny up on everything she’s missed while she’s been in the hospital wing recovering, including all the juicy details of your relationship with Jin. You’ve missed her. Joon was great, but there was just no replacing your best friend.

On the way to meet up with the boys, you pass a small secondhand bookstore, which you drag Sunny into.

“What are we looking for, exactly?” she asks.

“We’re just looking, that’s the point...you don’t know what you’ll find,” you state, eyes growing wide with excitement as you look at the tall bookshelves surrounding the two of you.

30 minutes later, you’re exiting the shop with a large bag full of books. The Healer’s Helpmate and Healing at Home with Herbs, so you could take notes on your future career. An old copy of The Beaters’ Bible, so you could better understand your boyfriend’s Quidditch position. A Muggle cookbook that you’d found shoved on a back shelf that you were planning on surprising Jin with later. And A Magical Attraction, just for fun.

You’ve only walked a few steps when a pair of arms envelops you from behind. “I missed you,” Jin whispers in your ear as you giggle. He releases you and you turn towards him. “What’ve you got here?” He reaches into your bag and pulls out the romance novel that’s sitting on top. “A Magical Attraction? I didn’t know you were into centaurs…” He points at the male lead on the cover, a ridiculously muscular half man, half horse hybrid. You reach to grab the book from Jin, but he moves it out of your reach. “My abs are definitely better than this guy’s...or did you need an in-person reminder?” He smirks dangerously at you, reaching for the hem of his shirt. “I seem to remember you telling me that they were one of your favorite features of mine.” You burn scarlet as you quickly jump up and grab the book out of his grasp and shove it back in your bag.

“Remind me to never go shopping with you again.”

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

You’re sitting in the Ravenclaw common room a few days later, reading A Magical Attraction away from your boyfriend’s prying eyes, when you see HooDini tapping on the window.

Scurrying over to the window, you let in the tiny owl who looks like he’s about to be blown away by the wind. He lands on the arm of the chair you were just sitting in, sticking out his leg with a note attached. You pet his head as you untie the note, the owl tilting his head and looking at the writing as if he can understand his owner’s message.

Study date in the library tonight instead of Gryffindor common room? Meet me in the restricted section. ;) -Your favorite boyfriend

You stifle a laugh as you send HooDini back with your answer.

True to his word, you’ve barely set down your things that night and said hello before Jin is pulling you behind a bookcase, his lips finding your neck.

“J-Jin…” you stammer.

He hums in response. “Say my name again.”

“Jin…” you repeat, your thoughts starting to cloud with desire. He grabs your hands and guides them under his shirt, over his toned stomach.

“You’re so beautiful, you know that?” Jin pulls away from your neck to kiss both cheeks, finally landing on your lips.

You drag your fingers across his abs, and he shudders. “Is this your way of proving you’re more attractive than a fictional character?” you laugh.

“And what if it is?” he pouts, removing his backwards ballcap to run his fingers through his hair.

“It’s working.” You reach out and grab both sides of his face, pulling him down into a kiss that he smiles into.

“Good. Now, I believe I promised you studying?” He grabs your hand, intertwining your fingers and leads you back to your table.

By the end of the night, the two of you are exhausted, making each other yawn every ten minutes or so. During one particularly large yawn, you take advantage of his distracted state to slip the cookbook you’d bought a few days before into his bag without him noticing.

You smile to yourself as he walks you up to Ravenclaw Tower, knowing he’s none the wiser. He refuses to let you answer the door’s riddle, the door swinging open for his display of intelligence. You kiss him goodnight, and tell him you’ll see him in class the next day.

When he arrives back at his dormitory, he throws his bag on the bed and flops down beside it, causing his books to spill over the edge and onto the floor. He leans down to pick them up, and notices an unfamiliar text. He grabs the blue cover and turns it over. Simply Scones.

He flips through the pages, a piece of paper fluttering out onto the ground. When he picks it up, he notices your simple neat handwriting.

I picked this up for you the other day in that secondhand shop and wanted to surprise you. I’m sure we can use some of these recipes to fuel N.E.W.T. study dates, and I wouldn’t even mind a repeat of the infamous scone incident. ;) -Your favorite Nerd

P.S. I’d choose you over a centaur any day.

He smiles to himself as he places the cookbook on his bedside table, crawling under his covers and turning out the light.

He hopes you’ll be his favorite nerd forever.

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Taglist: @alpacaparkaseok @hyungieyoongi @derinxfam

Check out my other work here!

#bts fanfic #bts fluff #bts friends to lovers #bts x reader #seokjin fanfic #seokjin x reader #bts hogwarts au #jin x reader #gryffindor!jin #bts Hogwarts au #bts idiots to lovers #jin idiots to lovers #seokjin #jin #bts jin #ravenclaw!reader #homeofbangtan #bts #friends to lovers

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joyfulhopelox · 3 years ago

Text

Roller Cat | JHS

Summary: Getting a job at the roller skating rink was not something you would’ve expected- not when you’ve sworn to never skate again. But it’s the 50’s, you’re alone and you need money. With an old injury causing you trouble, things are about to get even more complicated when your new boss enters into the picture.

Pairing: Hoseok x Reader (ex military Hoseok, ex pro skater reader)

AU: 50s, slice of life, roller skating, s2l

Genre: fluff, with a tiny bit of angst

Rating: pg

Word count: 13.5k

Warnings: probably a lot of misogyny (it's the 50s), talk of war, injuries, 50s slang (I am sorry!)

Welcome to the BTS in the 50s collab hosted by @homeofbangtan!

A/N: I want to say a million thank yous and i will keep my promise @hobipaint for being a great beta you have been amazing and ily! Also to @notyouroppar for reading over this and the wonderful @ttaetae for making this amazing banner! I would also like to thank everyone in this collab @mochi-molala for being the brains behind this once again, @min-yoon-kween een for being an amazing admin, and to @bangtanhome , @delacyrose224 , @dinamitae , @hobiandsprite e, @joheunsaram for being such amazing people! Worked really hard on this and it was so fun to write!

I’m really sorry i had to upload this multiple times as tumblr decided it didn’t like me :c

Copyrights for the story @joyfulhopelox

As always please leave feedback and/or talk to me as i love to hear from you! I would also be forever grateful if you considered reblogging if you enjoy this, as it does help a content creator more than you think! Enjoy <3

Playlist: Maybe Baby- Buddy Holly and the Crickets, Broken Hearted Melody- Sarah Vaughan, Rip it up- Bill Haley& His Comets, Lonesome Town-Ricky Nelson, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes- The Platters, Cheek to Cheek- Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong

The sweltering heat of the summer sun radiated off the pavement, making the soles of your baby dolls stick to the grit as you trotted down the street. Sighing, you adjusted the strap of your shoulder bag, cursing yourself for the choice of white satin gloves you decided to wear. You were definitely not dressed as you would’ve liked for how hot the weather was, but the circumstances of you being out and about around town called for such a dress code. The navy pencil skirt paired with a white silk puffed sleeve blouse contrasted by your bright red babydoll pumps and shoulder bag screamed high class, yet, you were anything but. You weren’t poor, you weren’t rich either- what you were, was a single woman looking for a job.

If these circumstances didn’t call for your best dress and the only shoes and bag that matched in your wardrobe, you didn’t know what did. Feeling the weight of your typed resume in your hand your fingers tightened around the thin file. It cost you a fortune to get it typed, nevertheless, you hoped it would make you stand out and the price would be compensated by your first cheque. The click-clack of your shoes sounded sticky and you were certain the soles were already ruined by now, so mentally you added a new pair of shoes to your future expenses. The heat was ruthless today and as you came to a stop in front of your destination all you could hope was that you didn’t sweat through your blouse. Your eyes took in the building looming over you, it looked new- if the shiny red brick was any indication of its age. You assumed it was, as most of the buildings in the area suffered a lot in the past decade after the war ended.

Checking your hair once more to ensure no flyaway strands would try to sabotage your interview, you patted your skirt down and walked up towards the double doors. You struggled to open it, as the heavy door seemed to not budge, when it suddenly burst open making you squeal as you lost your footing and landed on your bum. Annoyed and upset you groaned. Ladylike behaviour be damned, you were going to give this person a piece of your mind.

“Oi!” you called out, “excuse you, have you lost your mind? Watch where you’re headed!” You squinted as you shouted at the person. The sun shone right in your eyes, making it difficult for you to see the culprit clearly. The dark outline of the person jolted as if they hadn’t realised you were there, and before you knew it, a strong grip grabbed your arm and pulled you up. Yelping, you tighten your grip on the strong arm trying to steady yourself.

“Oh, sorry!” The person’s voice sounded cheery, as if they hadn't just slammed the door into you and made you bruise your ass. You dreaded the thought of what your skirt looked like. The dark blue colour may have been able to mask any stains, but judging by the flecks of dust on your shoes, you knew that your skirt suffered the same dusty fate. Forcing down the words that were at the tip of your tongue, in fear of appearing too unlady like in front of a stranger, you painted a smile on your face as you dusted your skirt.

“No biggie, accidents happen.” You replied politely, straightening up. For the first few moments, neither you nor the man in front of you said anything, both of you too perplexed to utter a word. You could feel the strength of the grip the stranger still had on your hand as you took the time to observe him. The man was a head taller than you, his platinum blonde hair cut short and choppy. What had you frozen in your spot was not his appearance, though you were appreciative of those as well; it was his soft smile and warm, dark chocolate eyes that drew you in. His gaze fixed on yours, as you could feel a blush creeping up your cheeks; you prayed to God he’d brush it off as the heat. His soft shirt billowed in the soft warm breeze of the summer, and his hair was half covered by a golfer hat, a fashion quite audacious, in your opinion, but it seemed to suit him well.

You didn’t know how long you stared for, but when he cleared his throat you broke out of your daze. “Everything cool, ma’am?” His concerned voice sounded like honey to your ears, the soft tone suiting the rest of his countenance. You wanted to tell him off for being so careless, yet at the same time you wanted to fawn over him. Unfortunately for you, you had time to do none. The chime of the giant clock just outside made you remember the time.

“Oh, goodness, I will be late!” You exclaimed, pulling your hand out of his grip and giving yourself a final once over. Your skirt was creased, and your shoes left much to be desired, the soft white dust still clinging onto them no matter what. You berrated yourself for not carrying a handkerchief- it would have made it so much easier for you to clean yourself faster.

Without warning, the man in front of you suddenly bends down at your feet, his warm hands on your ankles making you jump. “Excuse me, what do you think you are doing?” You tried to pry your foot away from his hold. His grip on you was not strong, yet your attempts were futile. Scouring for something with his free hand he pulled out a cream coloured handkerchief. Your complaints stuck in your throat when you realised what he was doing. With seemingly utmost care, he was wiping the tip of your shoes clean.

Staring at him in shock, you could barely utter your appreciation and gratitude as he finished, the shiny red staring you straight in the face. He straightened himself up whilst folding the piece of fabric - with such elegance, you would’ve believed him if he told you he worked as a tailor. “No sweat. There you go ma’am. It should be all cool now.” You couldn’t pinpoint his accent, and as much as you wished to talk to him more to elucidate that mystery, you had no time. Muttering another round of grateful words to him, you prepared to leave.

“Oh, and ma’am, good luck!” His voice louder as you walked away from him. Stopping to look at him over your shoulder you voiced your confusion, “What for?” With the same warm smile on his face he replied cheerfully. “Getting the job. Good day!”

He tipped his golfer hat at you in greeting and quickly turned around. You stared in awe after his form, your brain trying to make sense of the situation, before you were once again reminded of the time. With one last glance at the man’s retreating back, his gait oddly straight, his movements fluid, you smiled to yourself and with a deep breath in you grabbed the door handle and pulled. Time to get the show on the road.

***

Rejected. The hopelessness you felt was transient; the words thrown at you could only be followed by anger. “We’re sorry, but the position was never to be opened to the female public. We have certain guidelines of appearance, and those were in the advertisement you responded to. Unfortunately, you do not meet the criteria we are looking for.” The man in front of you said, rather smugly. He was dressed in a suit too small for him and wearing glasses that had definitely seen better days. You wanted to retaliate, how dare he? Instead, you sighed and got up from your seat resignedly. Giving him a stony cold look, you extended your hand patiently waiting for your resume to be handed back to you.

“Thank you for your time, then.” You said impassively, struggling to keep your voice as neutral as possible. You could see the sweat running down the back of his neck as he tried to wipe it nervously with his handkerchief.

“Maybe,” a trembling hand scoured through the stack of papers on his desk, his haphazard movements causing some to fly off and land on the floor. “Aha!” Your eyebrow twitched in annoyance, you didn’t want to spend a minute more in that office. The smell of cheap cologne combined with the stale, musky scent of cigarettes made it difficult to breathe. “You said here in your resume that you were a roller skating competitor?” His beady eyes looked at you as he smiled. His grin reminded you of a shark’s, and you fought the urge to shudder.

“Yes, but that is all in the past now.” You tried to sound firm, yet the second hand smoke stuck in your throat making your voice hoarser than you would’ve liked. The man sighed, his movements exaggerated and slow, and took out the piece of paper he held in his hand down along with your resume.

“You would have been such a good fit for this, shame.” He shook his head, drops of his sweat landing on your expensive resume. You chewed on your bottom lip, the urge to gag in public too strong. Before you could explode though, you thought better of it. You were in dire need of a job, your money running low.

“What job is it?” You could see the hungry glint in his eyes as he picked up the paper with his stubby fingers and handed them to you.

“See for yourself.” He simply said, his self satisfied smirk not leaving his face as he leaned back into his chair. With one last glare in his direction you turned your attention towards the papers in your hands. Quickly skimming over the words on paper, you felt your world shift as the blood rushed to your feet.

“Roller skating instructor, part time cleaner?” Your voice sounded meek and your hands started to tremble. Your ankle started to throb and you resisted the urge to shift on your feet.

“Indeed.” The man hummed in acknowledgement, closing his eyes. The self satisfaction on his face made you nauseated. “I thought you’d be a good fit for the role since, well–“ He motioned towards your resume with his pudgy fingers. “You were a pro and all that.” He laughed out loud, the emotionless sound reverberating throughout the office.

“There is a reason I left that life.” Your eyes flitted towards your leg.

The man sniffed loudly before he coughed, the sound of his congested throat from too much nicotine made you flinch in disgust. “Well Doll, you either take it or not. It’s the best I can give you, especially with you being a woman,” he motioned towards your form, his eyes running up and down your body, making you shudder. “And all that, you know.”

You did know, and that made your blood boil in anger, but before you could say something that might ruin your chances later, you hurriedly made sure to have the papers. With a last goodbye, you left the office.

You would like to say that the day went by without a single thought about the contract lying on your kitchen table. But its presence seemed to loom over your head, like dark stormy clouds waiting to unleash their fury on you. Too many times you have walked by it, your eyes drawn to the innocent sheet of paper lying there waiting for you to address it. Too many times you’ve been compelled to throw it to the dogs, yet, you’ve sat down just as many times your trembling fingers reaching out for it. The situation proved to be a difficult one and you knew you didn’t have enough time to think about it. You needed to make a decision, soon- the sight of the stack of papers nailed to your kitchen door showed how many bills were left to pay.

As soon as you moved to the town, you knew things were about to get tougher for you. What you never expected was to have to think about the reason you’ve moved in the first place. The twinge in your ankle hadn’t stopped since you came back from the jobcentre but you knew nothing could be done about it. At least, not without risking being locked up in therapy, as the pain was only phantom pain from an old injury you’d experienced.

As the man had said earlier, there was no place for a single woman in this tiny, dingy town. Not if you didn’t have a job or a marriage prospect. If your parents had been alive you would have probably ended up working at their store with them, living a decent life. Would you have been happy? Probably not, as you had always strived for more. The sense of adventure and longing for something special pushed you to start roller skating in the first place.

Sighing, you glanced at your ankle, the faint throb always there to remind you why you’d given up on it. But you needed money. Your parents were no more, and the store had been destroyed in the last air raid before the war ended. Before you could question yourself, you grabbed the papers, put on your gloves and flats and readied yourself for a new life.

***

You couldn’t believe you were doing it. Papers in hand and heart in your throat, you watched as people lined up for the ticket box. Excited couples and children reminded you of your own elation at the prospect of putting on your skates, and for a moment you allowed yourself to reminisce. Bright eyed and rosy cheeked, your younger self couldn’t have been happier at the new entertainment that opened in town.

“Miss, you’ll have to queue to get in.” A stern voice interrupted your daydream and by God could you have kissed this person. You never wanted to go back to those memories, but by being here, a trigger was inevitable. Turning to face your saviour you offered them a tight lipped smile.

“Ah, no. I’m sorry. I’m here for the job.” You waved the papers as if to prove a point. The man, quite tall and stern- judging by the permanent creases on his forehead, gave you an unconvinced look. “I, uh, was told there is an opening as a part time cleaner?” You gulped, not daring to utter the other side of the agreement and hoping he wouldn’t prod. Resisting the urge to shift on your feet under his gaze, you glanced around hoping he wouldn’t kick you out. The amount of time and pep talk it took you to even urge yourself here made you almost beg him to let you in to apply. Almost.

“Tran, the queue is getting bigger, we should separate the slots again.” A cheery voice called out from behind. Tran, as you assumed the man was called, turned around to face whoever had spoken and without a word to you headed for the ticket box.

Dumbfounded and confused you stood there, mouth agape wondering what just happened. “Ma’am, is there anything I can help you with? If it’s for the school admissions–“ your head snapped in the direction of the voice, recognition dawning on you at the sight of the familiar blonde man. “School admissions are only on– oh, it’s you!” Too surprised to respond, you simply looked at him. Today he’d chosen a cream short sleeved shirt, and cropped dress pants. His short blonde hair was once again styled to be off his face and his cheery, sparkling eyes were wide in surprise.

“Uh.” What a good start. Not knowing what to say you nodded in acknowledgment. The heat of the sun beating down your back made you feel uncomfortable, or maybe it was just the man’s stare that caused the sheen of sweat to drip down your back.

“What brings you here?” Getting over his surprise at seeing a very unlikely face, he broke out into a grin. Giving you a once over he scratched his chin in contemplation. “Is it the job?” He motioned towards the papers that were hanging loosely in your grip.

You didn’t know what possessed you. Maybe it was the suddenness of seeing him again or the fact that you’d changed your mind, the prospect of working there no longer a viable one, in a split of a second your fingers tightened on the papers and you hid them behind your back. “What makes you think that?” You narrowed your eyes at him, “I could have very well gotten another job!”

The tone of your voice surprised him and he took a step back before he started chuckling to himself. “Of course, I apologise. What brings you here then?” He motioned behind him at the colourful building. “Is it for lessons?”

“Oh no, no. I came to–“ You paused not meeting his gaze. “Skate!” You exclaimed in his face, the insincere excitement almost making you wince. “I heard it’s the bee's knees nowadays, really!”

Hoseok glanced at you amusedly, the slight spark in his eyes as they met yours making you blush. “So–“ He cleared his throat, the sight of your bashful face suddenly a catalyst for his increasing heartbeat. “Do you come here often?” You pointed at yourself as you stared at him dumbfounded at the question. The second that passed between the two of you before you started laughing, was a tumultuous one for Hoseok. He couldn’t judge past your surprised expression and he wondered if he came on too strongly. At your laugh he felt himself relax as a lopsided grin made its way onto his face. Score.

“I, uh–“ You stopped realising he hadn't given you his name.

“Hoseok. Jung Hoseok.” He extended his hand out in greeting and you glanced at it nervously, the distress clear on your face. He wavered, nearly pulling his hand back. “You don’t have to–“

You didn’t give him a chance to continue, with a surge of confidence you stuck your hand out and gripped his tightly. “Y/N. I don’t come here often, no; I am new in town, if you couldn’t tell.” You motioned to yourself as you let his hand go, the feel of his grip still lingering on the palm of your hand making you bite your lip. You didn’t know why you were nervous, whether it was because you lied to him or his general presence around you. But the butterflies making your stomach flip were not a good sign in your books.

“There you go, Miss. Please read the rules carefully before putting these on and be mindful of the etiquette.” The girl at the front recited in a monotonous manner. You wondered if she even thought about what she was saying anymore, or if she’s said it so many times that now they tumbled out of her mouth automatically.

No matter how much mental preparation you’ve had in regards to putting on the skates, nothing could’ve readied you for the anxiety that froze you on your spot. With a trembling hand you reached for your ticket and skates. The weight of them hanging off your arm felt familiar, but before you could let your mind wander to unsavoury places the overhead announcement broke you out of your reverie. Rushed by the couple behind you, you had no choice but sit yourself on the chairs and start putting on your skates.

The familiar feeling of them on gave you goosebumps, your hands becoming clammier you struggled with the last of your laces, before a rude voice spoke from behind you. “Would you please hurry up? We got to be on the rink in a jiffy!” Turning to speak up your mind you locked eyes with a burly man, his arms twice the size of your body and you felt your words die in your throat.

“Yo, Jimmy, cool it man, it ain’t worth.” A man with a strong southern accent appeared from behind. “Leggo.”

“Nah,” the man shook off his friend’s hand and looked at you menacingly. “She needs to learn where her place is.”

At his words you felt anger bubble up in your veins but before you could say something an arm wrapped around your wrist pulling you back from the man. “Is there trouble here?” Hoseok’s calm voice radiated authority and you felt yourself shudder. His hand felt cool on your wrist and you concentrated on the feeling in hopes of calming yourself down. “Can you gentlemen please see that you line up over there?” Hoseok motioned towards the queue forming on the other side of the rink.

“That is for later entry with the kiddies!” Jimmy, as his friend had called him, bristled at the notion. “Listen here you, I don’t know who you are–“ he pointed a finger that you were certain was as thick as your arm towards Hoseok. “But you can’t tell me what to do!” He jabbed the finger into the blonde man’s chest and for a second you felt his hand on you tighten as the atmosphere seemed to sparkle with tension.

Hoseok took a deep breath in, voice menacing and rude. “Listen here you punk, I own this place and I can indeed tell you to beat it. So if you value your reputation, better see yourself out. I ain’t letting a beatnik talk like that to my customers, let alone a woman!”

Rolling your eyes at the display of testosterone between the two and choosing to ignore the way your heart skipped a beat at Hoseok’s reveal, you pulled your arm out of his hold. “Look, I’ll just go there myself.” And before any of them could utter another word you gently skated away, the thought of being back on skates pushed at the back of your mind.

***

Hoseok’s eyes followed your graceful form as you crossed towards the other side of the rink. By the way your legs moved and the stability you had on the wheels, he knew it was not your first time on skates. He would even go as far as to suspect you were a pro. Smiling softly to himself he turned around to glance at the two thugs.

“Please make your way towards the queue.” His voice spoke of finality and the two men didn’t have a chance to say anything else before he left, not deeming a conversation with them important.

Heading towards his office he made a mental note of the time and the slot you were meant to go into the rink. He wanted to have a chance to observe you, the knowledge that you were applying for the spare position weighing heavily on his mind.

Hoseok tried to convince himself that the only reason he was watching you skate with such enrapture was because of the call he had gotten earlier that day- from the job centre, telling him the new applicant was meant to arrive today. He had spotted you instantly amongst the crown outside the venue and remembered seeing you in front of the said jobcentre. It was not difficult to put two and two together, especially after the sleazy man on the phone made sure to warn him of the ‘female with nice body he was about to hire.’ Shuddering at the memory, Hoseok concentrated on you owning the rink. Your moves were fluid enough for him to be certain you were indeed a pro, however he could easily read the hesitation in your steps. There was something more to you and he strangely itched to find out.

Pulling out your resume he nodded to himself. He was right, you had been a pro, even going as far as to enter competitions. He wondered why you had stopped all of a sudden but decided that it was a story he was going to have to hear from you. First, he needed to convince you to take the job.

***

When your time slot ended, he went to approach you. Seeing you rosy cheeked from the effort, smiling as you discussed animatedly with Tran about one thing or another, then moving your attention towards a child who decided to latch onto your skirts he decided to wait. When a new slot went in, he made no move to stop you, his eyes finding Tran’s as he subtly shook his head. He would allow you to skate for as long as you wished, if it meant he got to see more of your smile.

When you finally came out of the rink, flustered at having broken the rules he approached you. Given the way you’d left, he was not expecting you to offer him a smile. But when you greeted him with your eyes crinkled and your infectious laugh echoing in the air around him, he couldn’t help but smile. Maybe this wouldn’t be as hard as he thought it would be.

“Miss. Y/N.” He greeted you with a nod of his head and you couldn’t help but blush. Not used to being shown this much courtesy from a male, you didn’t know what to do. Shifting on your feet you glanced away.

“How did you know it’s Miss and not Mrs?” You mumbled under your breath, trying to force the redness away from your face.

Seeing it as the perfect opportunity to admit he’s been hoarding your resume all this time, he came out clean about it. “I have been having a look at this.” Waving the documents in front of your face, you recognized the typed papers. With widened eyes, that melted away into a mumbled ‘oh’, you coughed subtly into your gloves.

“I, uhm, apologise for not minding when my slot ended.” You mumbled, the blush from the effort replaced with the flush from embarrassment. Glancing at Hoseok, you expected him to tut at you in annoyance, but when you locked eyes with his warm brown ones you faltered. Was he not angry with you?

“Oh, I am not, there is no reason to be.” He chuckled, the deep tone of his laugh making your heart skip a beat. “But-” He stopped abruptly, and with him, so did your heart. “I have a proposition.”

The excitement in his voice made you relax, the fear of being reprimanded by him washed away. Nodding at him to continue, he did so, “I would like you to be my assistant for the next class I am holding which should be just about-” The sound of gleeful laughter echoed through the venue as a pretty woman approached Tran, a hoard of children lined up behind her. “-Now.” Hoseok smiled at the perfect timing. Winking at you he offered you his hand. “What do you say?”

You hesitated, your heart shrinking in fear as you glanced between him and the children. You knew this was your opportunity. You could face your demons when you decided to put on the skates; now it was time to win the battle.

He wasn’t surprised at your determined nod, so before you could change your mind he grabbed your hand. Pulling you towards the now neatly arranged row of children he waved at them, grinning at the young faces. “Hello everyone, I am Hoseok, and I will be your instructor for the day.” The children, not older than a dozen years, smiled brightly at him, greeting him back.

“This,” he gestured towards you, “is going to be my aid. You can call her Miss Y/N.” Your eyes looked over every young, hopeful face that shined at the sight of the rink and you smiled brightly at them as you waved. “Today we are going to show you how fun roller skating can be! I hope you are all ready!” He hyped the audience up, before pausing, a comical expression on his face.

“But before that, I will need to put on my skates.” The children laughed at his silliness as he rushed away to put on the forgotten skates.

“Right!” His shout across the rink drew everyone’s attention, and you glanced his way just in time to witness him doing the smoothest round of the arena you have ever seen. Eyes wide in surprise you felt your jaw drop. Where was all this talent coming from? Admittedly, you knew nothing about him, but the way he glided across the shiny surface made you smile. But you sure as heck wanted to know more.

“It’s your turn to show us what you got, Roller Cat.” Eyes wide you looked at him, not expecting the nickname to come out of his mouth. Pointing at yourself in surprise you glanced at the group of children and mouthed ‘Roller Cat’ making them roar in laughter. Smirking at your success, you pirouetted on spot with a flourished bow at the end.

“As you wish.” Everyone clapped in awe at your display and Hoseok smiled softly at you, his heart already settled on having you as his employee. That is how the rest of the lesson went for you. Hoseok refused to show the children more of his tricks unless they begged, allowing you to not only display your skills but also get more confident in this position. After all, in his heart he already knew he was going to pick you, but he also wanted you to pick the job without being forced.

At the end of the workday, you helped him clean the area, humming along to the songs on the radio that Tran had left behind. “I see you are finding yourself happy doing this job.” Hoseok’s voice made you jump in surprise.

Turning around to face him, you smiled sheepishly at him. Yes, you had enjoyed yourself, that was not a secret. “Would you be able to do this from now on?” Hoseok’s tone mellowed, the excitement turning into seriousity. He needed to know if you were comfortable enough to take the job permanently, his whole being hoping you would say yes.

With a gleam in your eyes that took his breath away you answered, “I think I would like that, if you’d have me.”

“So what’s your tale, nightingale?” You weren’t expecting him to ask this of you weeks after you’ve started working there. The classes have been going well, the people booking your lessons more than accepting of a woman teaching them. You got along well with everyone, always finding time to chat with Tran before opening. What you mostly cherished were these late nights you spent with him, cleaning the venue from the day’s activities. A time to get to know each other and also wind down after long days.

You’ve always avoided talking about each other’s past. You’ve seen the pain sometimes flash across his face when he thought no one was looking; making it clear that just like you, he had a past. You stopped cleaning the floor, throwing him an uncertain glance as you felt his gaze on you.

“I uh, well, I’m not born and bred here, but in the town over. Nothing interesting really. Skating had been my life for a while before I moved away here.” You shrugged your shoulders trying your best not to make it look unnatural. Underneath your calm composure, anxiety was building up. You prayed he would not ask why you decided to give up skating, but you braced yourself for it, the question hanging heavily in the air.

“How did you find this first month?” Hoseok changed the subject, the way your shoulders slumped and your mumbles were a clear indication of not wanting to talk about your past. He glanced at his knee, a woeful smile on his face; if there was anyone who understood that, it would be him.

Glancing at him you beamed, “I loved it! It's been exciting and I love everyone I get to teach!” You started talking animatedly, the memories of this past month making you giddy. He grinned as you carried on, the obvious smile in your voice making his heart lighter. “Oh, I’m sorry.” You apologised as you realised you’ve been talking for a while about your experience without allowing Hoseok to say anything.

“No need to apologise, Roller Cat.” He gave you the widest smile he could muster, his heart threatening to burst with happiness at seeing the gleam in your eyes. “But,” He leaned in towards you to whisper in your ear, “I can show you something better.”

“What do you mean?” You glanced at Hoseok, not able to believe what you were hearing.

He chuckled, his hand extending towards yours, “Let me show you.”

***

The neon lights in the rink reflected Hoseok's platinum hair, giving it a colourful hue. He wore an encouraging smile as he stepped closer towards you with his hand extended. Glancing at it, you swallowed thickly. It looked warm and inviting and without a second thought you gingerly placed yours on top. If you hesitated joining him in the roller rink before, this time you needn’t think twice, and as he enclosed his slender fingers around your hand you knew you’d made the right choice. As if the stars had aligned, the first chords of Ricky Nelson’s Lonesome Town echoed through the empty venue.

It started slowly, unsure, both of you hesitating to get closer to each other. Your gaze was fixed on your feet, your insecurities stopping you from lifting your eyes to meet his. Hoseok’s hand tightened around yours and without a warning he pulled you towards him. Not having expected it, you squeaked as you stumbled straight into his arms. Your hands were clammy, your feet hesitantly stepping from side to side in an unsure sway. When you accepted to dance with Hoseok you weren’t expecting the rhythm of your heart to speed up like a drum. Nor were you expecting the warm feelings that washed over you when you felt his hand enclose over yours. You tried your hardest to keep your attention on your feet, fearing the odd chance you’d stumble and end up falling over.

“Roller cat, you gotta step it up.” His amused voice broke through Ricky’s lament. Lifting your head up your gaze locked onto his, his chocolate coloured eyes mesmerising. You exhaled softly, reminding yourself to breathe as the arm on your mid back slid down lower, encasing your waist in his strong arms.

Hoseok revelled in the feel of your softness underneath his hand, your body involuntarily leaning closer into him. You were close enough that he could feel your breaths brush across his neck- yet, you were still too far away for his liking. He stepped closer to you, so close that your baby hairs were tickling his chin - he had to hold back a smile as he noticed how your bodies fit together. The soft melody of the song masked your gasp and you prayed to God that he couldn’t feel how your heartbeat sped up or how clammy your hands had gotten.

“Much better.” His whisper brushed past the sensitive shell of your ear making you tremble. Subconsciously your eyes closed and your head inched closer and closer to the nape of his neck, a wave of tiredness suddenly washing over you. The slow rhythm of the song, along with the warmth of his body, surrounded you in calm serenity.

Swaying side to side to the rhythm of the song in his arms made you feel safe, made you feel secure, as if you were not alone anymore. The rhythm of his heartbeat in sync with the chords of the song, lulled you into a dreamlike state, your body relaxing into his. Hoseok closed his eyes, the feel of your warmth against him filling him with inexplicable joy. He was nervous, his lungs fighting to breathe normally as he felt you relax against him. He took a staggered breath trying to calm himself down before he slowly started humming along to the song. The vibrations from his chest as he hummed made you open your eyes, a faint smile on your face as you listened to his soft voice.

“You are always humming, why don’t you sing? You have a nice voice. I like it.” You mumbled absentmindedly, your mind in a daze. Hoseok stopped abruptly at your compliment, feeling his face heat up in embarrassment. He was so used to humming along to songs whenever he felt overwhelmed that it didn’t cross his mind that you would also be able to hear it. He glanced down at you, the sight of your relaxed posture and closed eyes warmed his heart. Without a second thought ,instead of humming he started singing along to the song, his clear voice echoing in your ears.

You weren’t wrong to assume he could sing, for as soon as he started singing, the timbre of his voice along with the low melody of the song set your mind at ease. Without thinking you sighed audibly, the euphoric feeling of the moment enveloping you.

You didn’t know how long had passed since you started dancing, one song turned into another and soon enough all blended into one. Hoseok hadn’t stopped singing along to any song that came over the speakers and you couldn’t have been more grateful. The pounding of your heart at his closeness made it difficult for you to concentrate on anything else but the heat emanating from him.

Suddenly his voice broke and a sharp inhale from him pulled you out of your reverie. “Hoseok?” You raised your head to glance at him in concern, your eyes searching his face for any sign of pain. Whatever you had been expecting to find was overridden at the sight of his scrunched up face, a lonesome tear making its way down his face. “Hey.” You gently pulled away from him, making some room between the two of you but not stepping out of his arms completely. The tight hold he still had on your waist told you he still needed you near.

Hoseok felt the soft pads of your fingers wipe away at the stray tear running down his cheek. The pain he was in didn’t allow for any embarrassment and he did his best to not pull you back up against him as the urge to hold you tight to his chest washed over him. Opening his eyes he met your glistening ones, and with a painful clench of his heart he realised the worry you carried in them.

You felt the coolness of metal underneath your hand as you slid your palm away from him. Glancing curiously at his chest, the familiar sight of dog tags caught your attention. Not daring to ask about them, your fingers traced the edges of it, until curiosity got the best of you. “Hoseok?” You glanced up at him surprised to find his eyes trained on you with a look on his face that you couldn’t decipher.

“As an ex-military, this is the only remainder of my service towards the country.” His voice was low, the pain evident in his voice. “Well that and–“ he chuckled humourlessly. “The nightmares I have every other night.”

Hearing his story, you felt your heart weep for him. You couldn’t imagine the horrors he must have faced. The war ended a decade ago, and for him to still have to relive those atrocities whilst he slept…

“It must be awful. I am so sorry.” You whispered, your hand covering the tags resting on his breastbone right above his heart. Doing a quick round of maths in your head you gasped. “You must have been so young too!” You almost recoiled from the force of your realisation. If Hoseok’s arm around your waist hadn’t tightened you would’ve fallen right on your bum.

“Careful, Doll.” He smiled at you, the gentle look that replaced the pain in his eyes waking up the butterflies in your stomach. You couldn’t imagine, this positive, joyful person having gone through so much from such a young age and still be the wonderful man that you’ve come to know.

“I was barely an adult.” He nodded, his hand coming up to cup your cheek, his thumb wiping away at a stray tear you hadn’t noticed rolled down your cheek. For a second everything stopped, his thumb froze against your cheek as you glanced at him beneath your lashes. Hoseok’s gaze searched yours for something, you didn’t know if you were prepared to give. His head lowered towards yours, his warm breath brushing against your eyelids and you resisted the urge to close them. You thought for a second he was going to kiss you, and for that split second you were more than willing to allow him to do so. Unexpectedly, he pulled back his arm letting go of your waist, the hand cupping your cheek dropping back to his side. Laughing, this time in amusement, he changed the subject. “Look at us, we were meant to clean up, instead we made more of a mess.”

Trying to not show your disappointment, you smiled at him and winked. “Well I have to earn my money around here somehow, don’t I?”

When you arrived at the rink the next day, you knew you were in for trouble when Hoseok’s excited voice greeted you before you could put your bag down. “Y/N! How are you today?” He sounded suspiciously happy, more so than on a normal day and you eyed him without a word. The office looked suspiciously clean to you today and as your gaze flitted throughout the space you noticed the stack of papers lying on his desk, the flashy colours of a printout catching your eye. Motioning towards the ever increasing pile you went to retrieve them, coming to accept that aside from being a part time instructor, filling out the paperwork was a full time job.

“I’ll tackle those.” The emotionless tone in your voice caught not only you by surprise but Hoseok recoiled back as if he’s been burnt. The complete contrast between today and the night before confused him. He didn’t have the time to dwell on it. Realising you were about to discover his well thought out plan, he jumped into action, grabbing your wrist gently as he got up, his chair hitting the wall behind him.

“No, no, Roller Cat, it’s all good. I got that one. You’ve been doing too much around here.” He smiled at you, eyes closing and teeth on full show. Even though it wasn’t your first time experiencing his broad smile, something about this one seemed disingenuous. Ignoring the way his hold burned your skin under his touch and resisting the urge to yank your wrist out of his hold you narrowed your eyes at him.

“I have barely done anything since last week.” You congratulated yourself for the calmness in your voice. The smile slowly dropped off his face, and he locked gazes with you. “And before you say I was ill–“ you raised your hand to stop him mid breath, “– I only had a mild stomach bug, I wasn’t an invalid.” At the mention of the word, Hoseok’s smile drops completely, the instant change in mood doesn’t escape your notice. Remembering the story he’s told you the night before your mood instantly sours. This is what you get for being insensitive. Offering him an apologetic smile, hoping that your eagerness to help him with the paperwork would clear the air between the two of you, you reach for the pile of papers once more.

“Come on, let me have them.” Hoseok acted quickly, the flash of pain he felt at your words instantly replaced with fear. He couldn’t let you see those documents yet, not until he’s made sure he buttered you up in preparation. Pushing aside his phantom pains, he wraps his free arm around your shoulders, his knee once again twinging in protest at his careless movement.

“Y/N, it would be better if we focus on opening today first,” The sudden change in demeanour gave you a whiplash. Too stunned to say anything, you let him drag you out into the main rink, the dim lights reminding you of the previous night. A flurry of butterflies rattled your stomach as his hold on you, strong and stable arms wrapped around your shoulders, reminded you of that night, the illusion of a faint musky scent enveloping you once again. “We have a school trip incoming today, and you know you deal the best with ‘em ankle biters.” His praise reminded you of where you were, the cold reality of having to start a new day bursting the comfortable bubble the two of you created the night before. It was one time and one time only. You side eyed him suspiciously.

“Stop feeding me apple butter, Hoseok.” Resisting the urge to cross your arms, the action too unladylike even for your taste you shook your head at him. “Just come out with it already. Is there anything you don’t want me to see in there?”

Hoseok huffs at you, his over dramatic expression of innocence worsening your suspicions. “What could it be, Roller Cat? There is nothing; if you don’t trust me to do my own paperwork and want to check over them later, you can do so.” He lets you go ushering you into the rink. “For now, we got curtain climbers to entertain.”

You stared at him incredulously, your mouth agape as he winked at you, and with a final energetic wave he rushed back to his office, the door slamming shut after him. It took you a moment to recollect yourself, and before you could even step foot in the rink, the guard made his way over towards you from the other side.

“Y/N, are we ready to start the day?” He smiles at you, his cheery disposition always a surprise to you. You hadn’t spoken much to him. The few times you had, weren’t outside of working hours where his merry self would be replaced by a tight lipped smile and fierce eyes scouring the rink for any misdemeanour. You offered him your own greeting, a small nod of your head as you rushed to get your skates on. The sight of the white shiny wheels made you smile, the dance you shared with Hoseok still fresh in your mind.

Your curiosity at what he could have been hiding was at its peak, when an idea popped into your mind. “Hey, Tran.” You called over your shoulder at him, your hands busy with your laces. The shout of acknowledgement he offered you spurred you on, “do you know what has gotten Hoseok so giddy?” Finishing with your laces, you turned around just in time to catch the worried glance he threw you. “Tran.” You warned him, knowing that he was also going to feed you bull.

“It’s–“ Before he could continue you interrupted him. “Out with it, and I want the truth.” You gave him the hardest stare you could muster, arms crossed over your chest.

Realising there was no way out Tran sighed defeated, he only hoped his boss would not kick him to the curb after this. “It’s a competition.” Your angry expression morphed into confusion as you let your arms drop to your side.

“Oh, ok, I don’t understand-” Relief coursed through you knowing that it wasn’t anything more serious. You have only known Hoseok for a few months but you were aware of his tendency to hide his own feelings from everyone, especially the negative ones.

“Look, there is no reason to beat around the bush anymore. He is hosting the competition this year.” Tran interrupted your train of thoughts and the brief relief you felt morphed into horror.

“No, Tran-” You rolled yourself back, the weight of your body almost too much for your weakened knees. “He couldn’t have! That means one of us has to participate!” Realisation dawned on you and you let yourself drop in a crouch. The weight of this announcement was too much for you to bear, the cold feeling of panic causing goosebumps on your skin. “He wants me to participate, doesn’t he?” Your voice came as a whisper, and you looked up at Tran, your desperate eyes causing him to flinch.

“Look Dolly, it’s something he has to tell you on his own, and something you have to discuss between the two of you.” Raising his hands up in defence he took a step back. “I gotta dash towards the front. Just–“ Pausing to look at you, his weary expression turning soft he continued “–don’t flip your lid, be mindful that he only wants what is best for you.” With that he didn’t allow for a response from you as he rushed back towards the doors. You wondered how his tall wide frame allowed such a speed, but you didn’t have time to dwell on your thoughts, you had your boss to deal with.

You didn’t bother to take off your skates. The need to release your anger and frustration at the blonde haired man was too great, so you stomped towards the office. The sounds of the doors opening and the first group of rambunctious children entering the venue did very little to deter you.

You offered him the courtesy of knocking, but that is where your goodwill ended. Not waiting for him, you burst into his office, the thought that he may fire you lurking somewhere at the back of your mind.

“Y/N.” Hoseok looked up at you in surprise from his seat behind the desk. “Are you ok?” He made a move to get up but you stopped him dead in his tracks. It may have worked for him to run away from his pain whilst managing this space, but there was no possible way for him to meddle in your own business.

“A competition?” You surprised yourself with the calmness of your voice, when all you could think of were ways of telling him off for meddling in your life. However, he was still your boss, and even if you didn’t want to admit it, you knew that you admired him- you would even go as far as saying that you liked him. You expected him to deny it, to defend himself, but when all he did was gaze at you with sadness you felt your heart crumble underneath his stare. “Really?” You whispered, the realisation of what he was about to do without telling you until the very last minute more painful than the act itself.

Hoseok glanced away from you, his shoulders slumped in defeat. He knew he had fucked up not having told you from the beginning what he was planning to do. But he was also aware of the fact that you would’ve shut him down immediately, not even willing to give him a chance to explain himself. “Y/N.” He sighed, rubbing his eyes.

You took a good look at him, suddenly realising how tired he looked. The fire was knocked out of you at his forlorn expression; you decided to not interrupt him. To ensure that he was aware of your willingness to hear his explanation, you leaned against the doorway, arms still crossed. At his questioning gaze, you nodded, waiting. .

“Look, Y/N, I-” Hoseok paused as he weighed the words carefully in his head. He knew he had to thread with caution otherwise he would risk everything he’s managed to build until now. “Yes, a competition.” He finally worded his answer, his mind battling with finding the right decision.

“I had to do it. You are not allowing yourself to live to your full potential.” He didn’t know what came over him, but the frustration at seeing you hold your own self back made the words tumble out of his mouth. “I think you should participate and show the world what you got!” He exclaimed.

“No, Hoseok! You–“ You jabbed your finger into his chest, a twinge of guilt cursing through you at his wince. However, you were too aggravated to stop yourself, “Don’t get to have a say in what I should do!”

Hoseok closed his eyes for a moment, the tone of your voice made his heart clench. After the previous night, he thought he had a chance to be the one to lift you up once more. What he hadn’t calculated was the extent of your own stubbornness. “You can do this, Y/N! Don’t hold yourself back anymore!” His voice came out stronger than he’d intended and for a second everything went silent. His breath hitched at the thought of having worsened the situation.

“I can’t.” Your voice came out as a whisper, the fight you were ready to put up knocked out of you. The belief on Hoseok’s face and the spark in his eyes when he voiced his encouragement had you almost crumple to the ground. The only thing keeping you together was the sheer fear of what could happen if you did decide to take a chance and listen to him. “I’ve lost so much that I don't want to go through this pain again.” Hoseok looked as if he was ready to say something only to stop himself at the last minute.

“Roller Cat.” He reached out for you, and you recoiled from him suddenly only for your wheels to get caught in a board and you hurtled to the floor with a yelp. You didn’t know whether it was the pain shooting up your back or the vines of hurt and anger that wrapped themselves around your heart, all you knew was that in that moment you couldn’t keep your tears at bay.

“You don’t get to tell me this belief bull.” You sniffed, the tears not willing to stop. Motioning around you as you carried on, “not when this is what you’ve hidden your pain under.” You knew your words would hurt him, the sharp inhale only confirmed it but you couldn’t stop now. Not when you gathered the courage to share your side of the story with him.

“I gave up skating because of a competition.” You looked up at him, the need to get the story off your chest too great. “I was in the run for the win.” You could recall vividly how elated you were to be amongst the favourites that season. How happy you were that all the hard work had paid off. “But when a misplaced foot and an overly waxed floor took it all away from me-” You felt the continuous stream of tears down your face. The thought of that day and the pain that you felt not only when you hit the ground, your ankle and knee at the wrong angle, but also the pain of having lost too fresh in your mind. You could barely see him through the drops of salty water, but you knew what expression he’d be wearing after hearing all this - pity. It was all you have been given since that day. The judges pitied you out loud in front of the crowd, making it unbearable for you to stay there any longer, your coaches pitied you behind your back as you were changing out of your skates, the public and the local press pitied you. Pity was all you’ve known, and you were sick of it.

“To top it all off, not only did I have to retreat from something that genuinely made me happy, but that year, I also had to face the loss of my parents.” You hadn’t thought about them in a while, the loss took a great toll on you. “Roller skating competitions are not what I want to do anymore, they are not my future, no matter how much I wish they would be. I lost too much because of them.” You finished, your voice breaking at the end as sobs wracked through your body.

Hoseok stood in silence, he was conflicted as to what he should do. On one hand, the need to comfort you and offer you encouraging words made him itch to reach out to you and offer you his whole strength. On the other hand, he wouldn’t allow himself to do so. He knew what it was like, to feel the weight of the pitiful stares that people threw your way. He went through that more than once, not only when he got deployed, but also when he returned. Even though a winner, not only of the war but also of his life, people decided that he’s lost too much to deserve congratulations. Or maybe it was their own loss that projected through in their words towards him. Regardless, he knew how harmful it could be, and he knew that you just like himself must’ve been sick of it. Even though his comfort would not come from a place of pity, but a place of love, he knew you would take it as such.

“Y/N, listen to me, you have all the right to be angry with me for not consulting you before I made this decision for the both of us. But I only did it because I believe in you.” Your complaints died on your lips at his words. “You are not weak, you are not strong either. But you are a fighter. And I have seen that in you.” His voice penetrated through your self doubt, your tears finally at bay, you couldn't break your gaze away from him.

“You are a fighter, you entered this rink even though you were scared of doing that. You put on those skates, even though your knees were shaking.” At your incredulous stare he laughed. “Yes, I did see you that first afternoon. I was watching you closely.” He declared, his gaze not breaking away from yours and you fought down a blush at his words. “I saw what you can do with that rink. Your passion for it still shines in the way you teach it, the way you want people to have the tools to master it. And I know that you can do this.” Your heart threatened to beat out of your chest at his stern voice, you haven’t seen Hoseok this serious about anything and the thought of it being directed towards you made you feel the guilt creep up your spine.

He had gone through a lot himself, more than you have probably, who were you to complain about these fears to him? Thinking about it, you had no right. Glancing away from him, the shame of your own brashness hitting you. “I am sorry.”

At the sound of your broken voice Hoseok panicked. Has he been too harsh on you? “Roller Cat.” He forced his feet to move from their frozen position, crouching down next to your huddled figure, the way your arms wrapped around your middle making it seem as if you were comforting yourself. “Hey, look at me.”

You shook your head at his request, you didn’t want to look at him. You knew your resolve would crack if you did. And so with the last bit of strength, both physical and emotional, you pushed yourself up and turned away from him. “Please, understand that I can't. I’m sorry.”

Hoseok watched your back, weighing his next words carefully. He knew he couldn’t push you more than that. But he could give you the choice, “Y/N, think about it. The entry has already been made, it’s yours to take if you so wish.” You didn’t know why his words felt like a ton of rubble had fallen onto you, but the feeling made you flee out of his office in an instant, not bothering to glance back.

You went back in the following days, aware of the fact that regardless of your avoidance of the owner, you still had a job to do. You kept to yourself, the weight of the approaching competition looming over your head like a rock tied to a string waiting to crash onto you making it impossible for anyone to get more than a few syllables out of you.

Hoseok tried to talk to you the following day after your argument. Only for you to brush him off under the pretense of having a lot of work to do; he left you to your own devices after receiving such a cold response. Tran had tried to talk to you, but your monotonous tone riled him up and so he decided to give you some space to sort your thoughts out.

You weren’t willing to sort anything out though, firmly believing that you were right to stand your ground. It was your choice and no one could sway you. Not even the man you’d come to fall in love with.

You did underestimate one detail, and that was the fact that if stubbornness had a name, it would be Tran. After a week of seeing you walk around like a zombie and Hoseok doing nothing but watching you from afar with pained eyes, he decided to take matters into his own hands.

One hot afternoon, the last one of the season you reckoned, he decided to corner you as you took the trash out. Coming up from behind you he gripped the bag you were struggling with and lifted it effortlessly .

“You need to learn to accept help Dolly.” He cut you off before you could start complaining. Silenced by his statement you blinked hard at him. Tran stared at you, taking in your drawn pale complexion and he sighed. Throwing the bag into the container he gently nudged you towards the steps of the building. Taking a seat he motioned for you to do the same.

You contemplated whether or not you should turn away and leave but when he grabbed your hand and pulled you down softly you complied, your feet unable to hold your own weight. The tiredness and stress you’d been feeling for the past few days was finally getting to you.

“Look Dolly, Hoseok wants what is best for you.” Tran decided to speak after a few moments of silence. Hearing Hoseok’s name you motioned to get up but Tran preempted that and his next words stopped you in your tracks. “He has told you about being drafted in the army as a teen right?”

Sitting back down you nodded silently, not trusting yourself to utter another word. “Good, well–“ Tran shifted his position to look at you and for the first time in a while you decided to speak.

“Why me? Why couldn’t he enter himself? He skates just as well, if not better than me.” Your voice was hoarse with emotions and you let out a shaky breath.

“Has he ever told you about the way he returned from the war?” Tran sighed, knowing he was about to breach his boss’ trust but it was a necessary evil. He couldn’t stand to see the two of you cause more harm towards each other. When you shook your head in response he continued. “Broken and injured.” You gasped, your head snapping up looking at Tran for any sign of mockery. At his somber expression you felt the familiar sting of tears.

“He didn’t see the end of the war, he got sent back with an injured knee – almost lost it.” Tran stopped reminiscing about the time he met Hoseok. “I met him as a nurse.” You bit your lip from mentioning something about it. You didn’t know why but the thought of this tall man being a nurse seemed impossible.

“He luckily survived, through infection and the loss of his family. Then he decided to open this place up. It took him years to get himself back together.” Tran looked at you, the mix of emotions crossing against your face told him he was right to tell you this. “I followed him as he became a good friend. Slowly he found the strength to carry on, and become the Hoseok that you know now.” Tran finished the story just as the tears started overflowing down your cheeks.

You never imagined that Hoseok would’ve lived such a life. How naive, he fought in a war. Of course his life has been hard. The silence that fell over you was only broken by the sounds of your sniffles and Tran gave you one last look before he patted your knee and got up.

“He doesn’t want pity.” You gasped as you looked up at the man. “He just wants understanding.” Tran threw you one last knowing look before he made his way back into the building leaving you to your own thoughts.

There was no doubt in your heart anymore- it suddenly felt as if days of torment had ended with a few words. Rushing back in, you desperately yelled out Hoseok’s name.

“He’s not here Dolly, he left for the day.” Tran spoke from his seat. “Maybe you should too.”

Your shoulders slumped, afraid that if you didn’t get what you needed off your chest you would never have the courage to do so. Turning around on your heels to leave you stopped as Tran shouted your name. “Maybe it’s worth having some fun tonight.” Looking at him over your shoulder you gave him a grin as he winked at you. “You never know what you can find at the drive thru?”

***

You didn’t know what possessed you to follow through with your mad plan, but you thanked your lucky stars for being able to spot Hoseok’s car quickly. Rushing towards it you knocked on the window and smiled unsurely at him as his surprised gaze met yours. Not wasting any time Hoseok stepped out of the car, his confused expression almost making you laugh. Almost.

“Y/N?” You nodded at him and raised your hand up knowing that if you didn’t get everything off your chest then and there you would never get the courage to.

“Look, I just-” The loud sounds of the movie starting made you jolt in surprise. Hoseok grabbed your hand and motioned for you to get into his car. Shutting the door behind you, the loud sounds of the roll muffled, you carried on. “I wanted to say I am sorry. I was selfish, and only thought of myself.” Hoseok’s face dropped as realisation dawned on him.

“Tran told you, didn't he?” He calmly said, and you nodded, swallowing hard. You didn’t know what his reaction to this would be but you weren’t expecting the warm gentle smile he offered you. “It’s alright, I should’ve mentioned it myself. But as you would know, I didn’t want to be pitied. I also didn’t want to be seen as weak.” You grabbed his hand before he could continue.

“You would never be weak in my eyes, no matter what.” You declared, sure of yourself. “You’ve built a life, despite everything that happened, and that is something that requires more strength than anything else. In fact-” You paused glancing up at him, feeling a blush threaten to take over your complexion. “It is I who should be feeling weak.” Hoseok opened his mouth to protest but you squeezed his hand in reassurance. “I have come to terms with it. I want to join the competition.” You declared, the fire in your heart bursting into a blaze.

“Y/N…” Hoseok searched your face for any sign of hesitance, when he found none he decided to carry on. “Are you sure?” At your nod he smiled. He had faith that you would come around and decide to fight your demons, and he would be right there beside you to help you through them.

“But…” you smiled sheepishly at him. “I’m out of practice, so I may need some help?”

“I will always be right there beside you.” His thumb traced delicate patterns on the inside of your wrist and the feeling of fireworks exploding in your heart went in line with the increasing sounds coming from the movie neither of you was paying attention to.

The applause and shouts from the audience echoed in your brain, your hands trembling as you fought to keep yourself upright. Your clammy hands clasped tightly onto your skirt and you took a deep inhale. The pep talk you had with yourself earlier seemed like it had been eons away. The only remains of it echoing through your head serving to fuel your anxiety rather than quench it. You can’t let Hoseok down.

You found it incredibly ironic how in the space of a couple of weeks you have grown to not only care about him but also go as far as to say you loved him. He may have been broken by his past, but he was doing his best to fix his future. His positivity and trust in your skills are what brought you here in the first place, the least you could do was to honour him by reaching the final stage. Thinking of him, you gazed around trying to find him in the crowd, in hopes that you would get to see him once more before you set your wheels onto that floor. However in the sea of heads you couldn’t spot his signature platinum blonde, and for a second you felt the tendrils of anxiety try to sneak past your defences. Knowing that a panic attack would hinder more than help you decided to not give up. He had to be somewhere around. He promised he would come and see you before the start.

With a deep breath in you tried once more, trying hard to stand on your tiptoes as you balanced yourself on the skates. The masses of people going past you minding their own business not caring if they slammed into another person were not making the job easier for you.

“Hoseok!” You didn’t know what possessed you, but his name tumbled out of your mouth before you could think about it. Your breath hitched, a glimmer of hope shining in your heart as you heard someone yell your name from a distance. Your eyes scanned the room once more, still unable to find the man you were looking for.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats as we are about to start the competition.” The familiar voice reverberated through the venue announcing the start of the competition. When the next announcement followed stating the need for the competitors to take their designated seats you deflated. There was no way you would find him now. You needed to go.

“Roller Cat!” A familiar hand landed on your shoulder but instead of alarming you, you felt your whole body relax as if it had been waiting for his touch. And maybe you had, the familiar butterflies you felt before when you were slow dancing in the middle of the rink stirred up again and your body felt warm.

“Hey, I thought I would miss you.” He stated as you turned around.

The sight of his warm brown eyes made you smile, it felt complete and as if he read your desperate gaze and the anxiety in your soul he spread his arms wide, a reassuring smile on his face. As you stepped into his embrace, your cheek resting above where his heart would be, you realised he was just as nervous as you were. The realisation that he was nervous for you made your eyes tear up. Tightening your grip around him, you grabbed at his jean jacket for that stability that you were missing earlier.

“It will be ok, Y/N. I promise.” You could swear you felt the brush of his lips against the crown of your hair but the feeling had been so flitting and your desire for something like that to happen was too great. You chucked it as your imagination and settled on burying your face into him.

“Thank you, Hoseok.” Glancing up at him one last time you answered the roll call not daring to break your gazes.

“Y/N, please make your way to the floor,” An employee gestured towards the line of contestants and you gulped. It was now or never.

“Roller Cat, you will do amazing, I know it!” Hoseok squeezed your hand one last time before he let go. With a deep breath you nodded at him and turned towards the crowd. You could do this.

***

It was during your last few moves that you felt your world crash around you. Once again as if your life had been cursed, you watched as if in slow motion as gravity worked its magic and you approached the ground at an alarming speed. The twinge in your ankle caused a wrong step at the right time to send you hurtling towards the floor. The pain in your side as you landed on the shiny surface didn't feel anywhere near as great as the thoughts of failure that invaded your mind.

For a second all you could hear in the dead silence- or maybe it was loud, was your own ragged breath. As you glanced around the area you tried to find something to ground you, something to bring you back towards the present, to pull you away from your past. You could see people mouthing something at you, why couldn’t you hear them? The room was hectic, people standing you, motioning towards you looking at something behind you. Then you heard it, the noise you needed to latch onto.

“Y/N! Roller Cat.” His voice sounded as if it was underwater yet the horror in it was not lost to your ears. With a cough you tried to get yourself to move, to reach him even if it was just a slight glimpse of him. With great effort you turned around, the weight of your legs suddenly resembling the one of lead. “Y/N, here.”

As you finally locked eyes with him, it felt as if time had started working again, and as if you’ve been pulled through a vortex- everything hit you at once. The loudness of the crowd, the pain radiating from your side where you landed on, the pulsating feeling in your ankle, and most importantly, you regained your breath. With the large inhale you took, you felt your lungs burning at the lack of oxygen they’ve suffered from, only to constrict as you started coughing.

“Y/N.” Through your hazy vision you could see Hoseok’s form approaching you, the closer he got, the better you could see the worry etched onto his face. The wave of shame that hit you, knowing that you have failed him, made you glance away from him.

“Hey.” He wrapped his arm around your shoulders in an attempt to support you. “Breathe.” He instructed you, his command reminding you of the burn in your lungs.

You nodded at him, your eyes filling up with tears. “I’m sorry.” Your voice was hoarse and broken, and Hoseok felt his heart clench in pain.

“You did amazing, Roller Cat.” He encouraged you, his hand squeezing your shoulder in reassurance.

“No I didn’t, I failed.” Your lungs hurt and your ankle throbbed, the shouts of the crown finally reaching your ears. Whereas you expected them to have been shouts of disappointment, your eyes widened in surprise when all you heard were encouragements. They were shouting for you to get back up and finish what you had started. Glancing at Hoseok, your eyes widened in surprise, a lonesome tear running down your face, you couldn’t believe your ears.

“Told you.” Hoseok smiled at you. With a strong grip on your shoulders he pulled you up in a standing position, making sure to support you in case your ankle decided to give up on you once more. “Are you ready to show them what you have?” He asked you, the confidence in his eyes almost making you weep.

“There is no way I can carry on, I can barely support my own weight.” You protested and he shook his head at you.

“No one said you need to carry this out on your own.” He motioned towards his feet and you wondered how you hadn't seen the skates on his feet. “We will be doing this together.” He didn’t allow you any room to back out before he motioned towards the judges. “Apologies, we will be carrying on as a duo.” He nodded at them before he turned around to look at you.

“Ready?” His warm gaze made our toes curl and you nodded at him. If you had him by your side you knew you’d get through it. Even if you didn’t win.

Slowly, with him supporting your weight, you tailored your routine towards a couple one, the twists you were meant to be doing aided by him as your second pair of feet, any jumps or turns he would pick you up and do them with you. You could care less about the win, your sole attention on him and his comforting gaze. Once again being transported back in time, when you shared your first dance together. Whereas then, the love between the two of you was just growing into a bud, now it was blossoming into a beautiful flower. A flower that you couldn’t wait to nurture.

Finishing the routine, both of you panting, the elated shouts of the crowd making your pulse race adding to the adrenaline coursing through you. Glancing at Hoseok, your cheeks hurting from grinning so widely, you caught his gaze flitting down towards your lips, and before you could stop yourself you decided to ride that high until the end. And so without a care in the world you threw your hands around his neck and lifted yourself up to place your lips on his. Hoseok wrapped his arms around your waist pulling you flush against him, his heart pounding against his chest as he revelled in the feel of your soft lips against his.

You smiled into the kiss, the happiness that washed over you too much to contain. Hoseok felt your smile and he pulled away laughing at your expression.

“What’s up Roller Cat?”

“I was just thinking that I may have not won the competition, but I got my prize.” You stated matter of factly before you pulled him into a kiss once more.

Main Masterlist

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