#oh wow my hand almost doesn’t hurt if drawing on iPad

[somerandomcockroach]

I took a break from catching up all the plots wheeeeeeezeeee

[frostedfaves]

Repercussions (12)

Masterlist

Pairing: dark!Natasha Romanoff x dark!Wanda Maximoff x fem!reader

Summary: Your girlfriends meet your cousin before they leave, and you explain everything to him over a game of Go Fish.

Warnings: dark themes, manipulation

A/N: I truly hope this was worth the long ass wait! although, I’m glad I didn’t rush it, because it turned out exactly the way I wanted it to. please feel free to share your thoughts, and I hope to have the next part out in the next couple days!

Previous part

-

“He’s here!”

You were on your feet and dragging your girlfriends to the door before the security gate bell even finished going off, letting go for a moment to open the front door and pulling them with you onto the porch.

“Printsessa, slow down!” Wanda slightly scolded with a laugh. “He can only drive so fast.”

The car approached the house quickly as it passed through the gate, and it was barely in park for two seconds before your cousin Wesley was climbing out and running to you. Running to meet him halfway, you jumped into his waiting arms and laughed when he lifted you as high as he could.

“I can’t believe you’re really here!”

“I know, me either!” Wesley agreed as he put you down. “I was starting to think you were too busy for widdle ol’ me.”

“Oh, whatever.” You hit his arm with a playful roll of your eyes. “Come meet my two reasons for being busy.”

Natasha and Wanda greeted your cousin with outstretched hands and surprised smiles when he hugged them instead. You watched with an appreciative grin as the three exchanged names and pleasantries before Wesley went back to the car to get his things, and Wanda pulled you back before you could move to help.

“Let Tash handle it, okay?” she instructed gently as Natasha stepped off the porch. “We don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

You nodded and laced your fingers through hers, following the pair as Natasha led Wesley to his room on the main level.

“Wow. This room is bigger than my first apartment after college,” he commented as he placed his suitcase by the bed, observing every inch of the space.

“I’m glad you like it,” Wanda replied sweetly, still holding your hand. “We were just about to serve lunch, so feel free to join us once you’re settled.”

“Oh, and there’s a bathroom just next door,” Natasha added as she grabbed your other hand, the two pulling you out of the room and closing the door behind you.

“So...what do you think?” you asked once the three of you made it to the kitchen table.

“I think…” Wanda began, and you raised your eyebrows hopefully. “I see why you like him.”

-

For the rest of the day, you were careful to keep Natasha and Wanda with you under the guise that you wanted them to get to know Wesley, as well as your increasing need to cling to them before they left. Really, you knew they were planning to bug the two bedrooms that you and your cousin would be occupying because the cameras they planted around the house after your ‘suicide attempt’ didn’t record audio. They were far too sneaky to do it in your presence.

Leaving Wesley in the backyard, you followed your girlfriends to your shared room, working hard on building tears as you watched them grab their bags for the mission.

“Okay, printsessa,” Natasha started as she faced you, sighing at the sight of your watery eyes and pouting lips. “Baby, please don’t cry. I promise that we’ll be back before you even have time to miss us.”

“It doesn’t feel like it,” you whined as you hugged yourself, averting your gaze to your feet.

“I know, sweet baby, I know.” Wanda hummed comfortingly as she wrapped her arms around you, Natasha joining on the other side. “But your cousin is here, and you’re going to have a really fun week! And I promise we will make it up to you when we get back.”

She pecked your cheek once, then twice, and suddenly the two of them were attacking you with cheek kisses until you playfully begged for mercy between giggles. You then took the time to give each of them a real kiss, once that hopefully conveyed how much you’d miss them in the upcoming days.

“Alright, printsessa, we really do have to go now.”

“Okay,” you sighed and grabbed their free hands in yours, walking them downstairs and to the front door in silence. You gave each of them one more prolonged hug before pulling away completely. “Get outta here before I cry again. And don’t forget to call me when you land.”

“Of course, and don’t forget your rules. We love you,” Wanda told you after a prolonged look with Natasha, and you took a shaky, deep breath.

“I love you, too.”

They squeezed your hands with tears in their eyes before grabbing their bags, and you watched from the porch as they got in the car, waving until they were past the gate. Once you were back inside, you went to the camera blind spot in the hallway and pulled the device from your pocket, turning it on to listen in from the bugs in their bags.

“Were you at least able to get a bug on his suitcase?”

“I thought you were going to!”

“I couldn’t. Printsessa’s eyes got all teary if I even stood too far away from her, and it broke my heart.”

“Well hopefully the cameras will be enough. I want to trust her more.”

“Me too...Can you believe she finally said it? I almost didn’t leave.”

You turned the device off after that, tucking it away again as you went toward the back door just as Wesley came back in.

“Are they gone?”

“Yeah.” You nodded toward the kitchen table. “Sit on the side facing the window so you can block my lips from the camera.”

He moved to take a seat while you grabbed a deck of cards, sitting on the opposite side of him with a wide smile. You shuffled the cards quickly and met his eyes again as you began to deal them out.

“I know you get into some wild situations, but I never expected that the next time I saw you would be to help you escape two Avengers.”

“Trust me, I didn’t see it coming either.” You sighed as you looked at the cards in your hand. “I appreciate you so much for coming though.”

“Of course...but how did you manage to get me here without them knowing it was your idea? They seem pretty detail oriented.”

“Pure observation, Wes.” The two of you played a silent game of Go Fish as you explained. “The plan kind of came together the day Wanda gave me the iPad. I’d taken some money in case I had a small chance to escape at any point and didn’t have a car to use, but I decided to use it for a cab ride when I got the message from Brittani.”

“But why meet with her if you knew you’d get caught with the tracker? You said so yourself that they found you pretty fast the first time.”

“I wanted to get caught, because I knew meeting with my ex-girlfriend would--at the very least--piss Natasha off enough to want to punish me. With the two of them knowing my mental health history, I knew I could use that as a tipping point for a downward spiral, leave little hints as the days passed that my mood was really dropping.”

“Okay…” Wesley paused to take the card you handed him and pair it off with the one in his hand. “So how did you know that Brittani would be at the store and have a phone for you?”

“She has an incredible memory, which is why I made it a point to drop a hint that I was only working with an iPad at the moment, and that I needed to run to the bodega across the street from the cafe to get a burner when I left.”

The two of you counted your pairs when you ran out of cards and you made sure to cheer with exaggeration when you realized you won. Wesley slid all of his cards toward you as you gathered them all to shuffle and deal again.

“I also told her the grocery store we go to is the best one in the city, and may have mentioned the day and time the three of us usually shop because it’s the least busiest time.”

“So when you got caught in front of her, she knew exactly how to help you!” he realized and you nodded. “Guess it only took one gun to the head to guilt them into letting you have a visitor. How are you feeling after that, by the way?”

“It was...nerve-wracking at first, but I was quick to remind myself that it was to help, not hurt.” You took the card from him and added it to yours. “You brought the tools, right?”

“Yeah. You want to do it tonight?” he asked, and you quickly shook your head.

“Absolutely not. They’re going to call in the morning when they get to the safe house, and then I’m going to listen in on the bug until they fall asleep. There’s a camera in the game room downstairs that can also see part of the TV room, but only the part of the couch near the doorway. We’re gonna sneak the tools down there and I’ll sit on that side while you remove the tracker from my ankle on the other side.”

“Good thing I paid attention in those surgical courses,” he joked and you laughed, drawing a card as your smile dropped.

“Listen, Wes...I know you agreed to this and already came out here, but I just want to give you one more chance to back out. If this whole plan works, we’re going to have to work hard to hide from them, and the consequences will be even more dire if we fail.”

“Despite how much time we spend apart, you’re always going to be my favorite person in the world. You have been since the day you were born, when your tiny middle finger flipped up at the doctor. I’m here until the finish line, no matter what that looks like.”

You offered him a grateful smile in return as the two of you moved to count your cards again, playfully rolling his eyes when he celebrated his win. As you gathered the pile for a tie-breaking game, you squeezed his hand across the table, grinning when he shifted into your childhood handshake. Every fiber of your being hoped everything went according to plan, for his sake more than anything. You refused to let him fall when he’d been catching you all your life.

-

Tags: @littlegasps @imnotasuperhero @natasha-danvers @nat-km-mh @xxxtwilightaxelxxx @creepingwolfberry @emilyprentisswife @cherrieloco @fayhar @bebe404 @becka107 @muted-stoneheart @its-a-long-way-to-ba-sing-se @seventeen0 @trikruismybitch @cosmicbrownies7 @sxphiaswitch @mjaudrey @messuhp @wannabe-fic-reader @buckmesidewaysandcallmesteve @beforeoursecrets @want-to-watch-it-burn @just-a-normalpersons @multi-images @witchxaf @darkangelxoxo @natashadeservedmore @haiiiloeee2 @sakurat123

[2-cute-4-school]

NCT Dream reaction : you give them a handmade gift

M.list

Genre : fluff fluff fluff

Word count : 2.5K words

Mark Lee

*sigh* my overworked baby, SM pls let him rest

he probably forgets to eat from time to time or just doesn’t time to

which breaks your poor little heart :<

so when Mark stays in the recording room until late in the night once again, you don’t go to him empty handed

you go to him with a handful of homemade cookies!!! ヽ(^◇^*)/

when you enter the studio, Mark’s slumped figure immediately straightens up, tired eyes lighting up at the sight of you

he turns in his chair and stretched out his arms to you with a puppy face and your heart :((( just :((((( melts :(((((((((( wow mark no need to kill us all with your babie culture

but who are you to say no to this angel with somewhat less appropriate thoughts but you didn’t hear this from me so you don’t hesitate to walk into his open arms

he lays his head on your stomach, nuzzling into you and cuddling up to you like a clingy koala bear as you run your fingers comfortingly through his hair, lightly massaging his head 

with the serene atmosphere you almost forgot why you came so you pulled away from Mark, your heart clenching at his whine and bring the bag with the cookies out of your backpack and thrust it in his hands

he looks from you to the bag and back with eyes so wide and innocent your brain almost short circuited at the utter cuteness

he digs into it once you prompt him to, a soft ‘woah’ coming out from him once he was hit with the sight of freshly baked cookies

“daaamn these are so good, babe” your eyes shine with pride

as he sticks one in his mouth, munching delighted at it (◠‿◠✿) , he grabs you with an arm, sitting you on his lap like a baby that you are and prodding your lips with another cookie he grabbed out of the bag

“oh no, I made these for you, I don’t-”

he doesn’t let you finish your sentence as he pushes the cookie in your mouth, watching you fondly as you start munching on it and patting your head with a gentle hand

“you’re so much cuter when you’re not nagging”

*GASP*

the Disrespect

Huang Renjun

this baby probably also showers you in his own gifts such as paintings or drawing of you sooo

it’s only proper that you also gist him something made by you (°∀°)

you work your cute ass off to perfect the most adorable Moomin key-chain you can come up with *huff* 

the day you finally deem it good enough to be shown to the top artist Huang Renjun you sweat buckets as you approach him

Renjun is busy on his iPad as you paddle over to him and stick the key-chain in his face with a dumb but proud smile “here”

Renjun turns to you with a blank face “what is this?”

●‿●

when I tell you the blood drained from your face and you died 50 times internally, your soul just left your body and you saw your life flash before your eyes ‘well life was good, time to say goodbye eyy’

you manage a loud and definitely not artificial laugh

“HAHAHA JUST AN UGLY THING I made I MEAN FOUND HAha ʰᵃ!!! Hey doesn’t it look like you in the morning?!” 

that’s when you knew you gotta bolt the scene

but Renjun of course couldn’t let your embarrassment end there the grumpy little gremlin

he snatched the keychain from you and curled his other hand around you, gluing you to his side and you froze as you looked into his sparkly wide eyes ( Renjun’s eyes are galaxies fite me )

“you made this for me?”

“uh yeah” 

warning : you were strangled to death by Renjun who deemed that a simple ‘thank you’ just couldn’t suffice, you had to die asphyxiated by his bear hug

“thank u thank u thank it’s so cute, I love it so much! I love you so much!!!”

“do you love me more than Moomin?”

warning 2 : he threw you away faster than he captured you in his deathly cute hug

“know your place, no. 2″

(¤﹏¤)

Lee Jeno

so Jeno is just a biiiiit upset at you maybe

okay maybe a bit more than just a bit

because you might or might have not broken his favorite cup which, mind you, was also a gift from you, when you were at the dorms

so now this overgrown baby gives you THE stinky eye and makes sarcastic and grumpy remarks with any chance he gets

and honesty as much as you love him, you’re ABSOLUTELY DONE with his pettiness :’)

that’s how you find yourself seated at your desk with a blank cup, acrylic watercolors and brushes spread everywhere as you squeeze every ounce of willpower to finish what you started

so after 2 mental breakdown, painted fingers and a veryyy dirty desk, you finished painting a cute design on Jeno’s new cup

you let it dry and didn’t waste another second to bring it to Jeno who still sulked at the dorms

once you were let inside, you trudged over to Jeno who was sat at the couch, refusing to get up and greet you with kisses as he usually did and slammed the cup on the coffee table in front of him

his frown turned into a confused puppy face so fast his duality amazed you once again, he lifted the cup gently, running the tips of his fingers gently over the paintings you worked so hard to complete for him

“are you still mad, nono?”

his silence was quite unnerving as you started to tire yourself out, your voice weakened by worry, but he lifted his head, looking at you with eyes so soft your heart fluttered wildly in your chest

“mad? you-you did this for me and you think I’m mad?”

he put the cup down much gentler than you and stood up from his seat, engulfing you in his arms, one of his hands squeezing you impossibly close to him and the other one cradling your head to his chest

“I think I just fell in love with you once again”

“if you fall in love just from a painted cup I should be more careful when I leave you alone”

he chuckled at your witty remark, kissing the side of his neck

once you broke apart, he placed his new favorite cup on the highest shelf and turned to you with a shit-eating grin

“i’ll put this here so maybe you won’t break this one too”

“sleep with an eye open tonight, lee” (☉‿☉✿)

Lee Donghyuck

so another overworked baby of mine bless his soul

his schedule is so packed so even though he’d cuddle with you until the end of times you actually didn’t get to do that as often as you’d like

and we all know how whiny lil cutie baby Haechanie can get when he doesn’t get what he wants :’))))

and since unfortunately you can’t be beside him all of the time like he wants you to, you decide the next best thing : you knit him a scarf !! you even stuck a tag made out of a soft material with a drawing of a smiley sun to one end of the scarf

he looks so shocked when you skip into his room and lovingly strangle him with the scarf

and you swear you could see his eyes glisten when you tell him you made it yourself and he remembers the bandaids that seemed to grow in number every day which you always shrugged of when he asked

although the tears may be from the lack of air  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

n e way, he looks so thankful as he wordlessly cradles your hands in his, bringing them up to his lips and taking the time to litter kisses over every single one of your small injuries, whispering a soft ‘i love you’ at the end

you swear your heart runs leaps through your rib cage

he just loves you so so much and would appreciate anything you give him 

you bring his face back up and press a huge *smooch* on his lips and you both giggle in between your kisses

why so cute you lovebirds?!?

he brings the scarf everywhere he goes, to the dorms, to every show, concert, whenever he travels somewhere, no matter the season

it becomes his lucky charm

once, Renjun sends you a picture of your Hyuckie sleeping cuddled up to the scarf, his nose nuzzled into it

“you know I won’t let him forget about this. EVER” you smirk at Renjun’s text, typing back a reply

“pls do” ( ಠ◡ಠ )

Na Jaemin

this sweet boi hold close to his heart anything you give him

so there’s literally no reason to stress over the bracelet you decided to craft for him

but you being you of course you want to rip your hair out every time something doesn’t go your way ah the levels of patience are definitely soaring through the roof

you even swallowed your pride and asked Jeno for help (read as used him as a puppet) so you were sure you’d get the right size

so after doubting the colors, patterns, material, your entire life choices, you asked Jaemin to close his eyes the next time you met up

with extra shaky fingers, you wrapped the bracelet around his wrist and fumbled to tie it properly

“I’m not getting any younger over here, y/n”

“shut up, mommy jaemie”

he managed to slap the back of your head even with his eyes closed (>‘o’)>

so when you finally tied a sturdy knot with your chicken fingers, you let him open his eyes and beach let me tell you the way his entire face broke into a smile at the sight of the pretty bracelet around your wrist

the sun seemed to pale in comparison with his precious smile, jaemin lights up the world no question, there’s no way you can convince me otherwise

“oh my God, my baby spent time making me such a pretty gift, I must have saved a country in my previous life, come here, let me smooch you into next week (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ “

so that’s how you ended up trapped in Jaemin’s embrace FOREVER

he kept on complimenting you the entire day and made it his mission to boast to every member he could get is hands on about his pretty gift made by his even prettier baby, he’s such a sucker for you no joke whipped culture right here m’am

“Jaemin, the the threads are getting dirty, don’t you think it’s time to take it off-?”

“I’ll die wearing this ʘ‿ʘ“

Zhong Chenle

among all of his ultra expensive things he has, he is dead sure that you’re the most precious in his life

he often told you he’d give up every penny in his bank and all his fame as long as he got to keep you by his side

he regarded you as a ray of warm light when the world left him cold and he swore he’d fight off anything and anyone who dared to hurt you

so this is how he found himself a bit confused and extremely guilty over how he is supposed to fight himself, watch and learn baby

he never meant to upset you, especially over something you poured your blood, sweat and tears into perfecting it just for him

sure, you were aware the Chinese patters you sewed carefully into a pristine white material weren’t perfect, but the way he laughed in you face once you offered it to him toppled your negative emotions over

he wasn’t aware that you sewed it yourself when he made fun of it

“jeez, where did you get this from, Y/N, the clownery fair? even though you should report them for to costumer protection for its ugliness”

“maybe I should report you for being a bitchy prick” ʕ ಡ ﹏ ಡ ʔ

you glare at him and storm away, slamming the door

chenle, the most oblivious and babiest boyfriend : (Θ︹Θ)ს well shit

but of course you couldn’t stay mad at him for long when he sweet talked his way back into your good side basically every minute of the day after finding out from Renjun (this angry angel helped you bless his soul) how hard you worked to sew that

so even though you’re still sulking a lil bit

you accept to come over at his house and as soon as you enter his room you’re shook

where one of his posters once hung above his bed now stood your sewing project proudly

you stared in awe like （’◎’）

“but I though you said it’s ugly”

“that’s before I knew it’s made by you. Anything you did is directly promoted to gorgeous, admirable, incomparable-”

ヾ(＠⌒▽⌒＠)ﾉ

3 weeks later while cuddling 

you : *GASP* “I’m so sorry for calling you a bitchy prick, baby”

Park Jisung

he is a giant as much as he is a baby and you agree with me even if you don’t 

babies are fascinated by almost anything, especially colorful things

which means Jisung is also fascinated by colorful things ʕ·ᴥ·ʔ

so when you met and you pulled out a few origami figures of different, lively colors, Jisung : (✪㉨✪)

“woah, how did you do these?”

“they’re like basic origami figurines”

if he wasn’t amazed enough already

when you picked up a purple frog and pressed on its bottom and it jumped, Jisung jumped up with it

“WOAH, how did you do THAT?”

you didn’t have the heart to break his innocent awe and tell him it didn’t take longer than 5 minutes to make that frog

so you just settled for a shrug and a simple

“magic, Jisung, magic”

at that, he straightens up in his seat, his awestruck expression fading into a serious one as he grips your shoulders tightly （´＿｀）

“you’ve been lying to me, haven’t you?” ~(｡☉︵ ಠ@)>

“what do you mean, sungie?”

“you’re a wizard!!!!!!!!!”

*facepalm* *internal sigh* *whale noises because cuteness levels are just too high* 

“uh, yeah sure, baby, whatever floats your boat”

you try to turn away to hide your growing smile, but jisung isn’t having it

“no, you can’t leave me like this!! teach me!!!1!”

he grips your sleeve and looks at you with such wide innocent eyes as if you’re another wonder of the world and you swear you melt on the spot

“well, you know, my services aren’t free” (¬‿¬)

“what do you want?”

“kisses?” ( jisung shutting down )

“k-kisses? kisses??!? i mean *clears throat and buffs up* yeah sure, that’s all? i can do kisses” ( this baby blushed after only mentioning it but okay boss baby go off I guess ) (*~▽~)

he could’t even be disappointed when he found out origami was nowhere near to magic when you spoiled him with kithes all evening *cue a red Jisungie*

[graymalkyn]

WOW DUDE, I LOVE YOUR WRITING!! You dont have to do it now or anything! Im more than happy with this resting in your inbox if requests arent open, but... How would V react to seeing Yoosung hurt? Like idk, if one of V's coworkers said something mean to the blonde boo, or someone else? And Yoosung just feels really bad. IdkaboutyoubutIreallywanttoseeanangryV I hope youre having a good time!

Aahahaha, thanks! ^^ I’m sitting here laughing because at first I was like, “What requests? *insert confused face*” So I’m afraid I’m going to disappoint you, because angry!V just doesn’t happen in my headcanon. Nope. V is a ball of sunshine. I guess. Maybe. Anyway, here it is, longer than I expected OTL (It takes place during the Christmas event.)

Drawing the curtain behind him, Yoosung tiredly rested hisback against the cold concrete wall and let out a sigh. He rubbed his sweatypalms over his stomach – he hated that bubbling sensation that he sometimesgot, starvation and satiation at the same time. But it had been a long week. Itwas chilly outside, his legs were tired, and he’d barely had anything to drink,and…

A tear rolled down Yoosung’s face. He quickly wiped it offwith the back of his sleeve.

“Yoosung?” Jihyuncalled from beyond the curtain.

Yoosung swallowed hard and pinched his cheeks. Smile, smile! “I’m here!” he saidmerrily. “Merry Christmas!”

Jihyun grinned. “Merry Christmas, love. Sorry I’m late, butthe traffic is terrible. I’m glad it was Driver Kim at the wheel, otherwise we’dstill be stuck there.” He closed the distance between them and kissed him onthe forehead. “It’s so cold here! Are you on a break? Let’s go and get yousomething warm.”

Yoosung shook his head. “It’s okay, I don’t think I can eatanything right now. Oh? Ah, you’re wearing the gloves? Jihyun!” he whined. “We were supposed to exchangepresents tomorrow morning, why did you open it today? It’s so unfair, now what are we going to do…?”

“I really wanted to wear them, sorry! Just as I was leavinghome this morning I thought it would be great if I could wear them, since I’dbe working on location…” Jihyun tilted his head. “Are you mad at me now?”

Yoosung looked down. “No,” he replied jadedly. “No, it’s okay.That’s why I got them, I guess. Sorry for snapping.”

With gloved fingers, Jihyun lifted his chin and gazed intohis eyes. “Yoosung?”

A frustrated sigh escaped the young man, but he bit his lipsand looked away.

“Awww, was that a pout?” Jihyun teased him. “Are you goingto start sulking? We cannot really get all lovey-dovey right now, thefundraiser’s still got a couple more hours before it’s over.” He was about tonuzzle him, but Yoosung pulled away. Jihyun’s smile faded away. “Love?”

“It’s nothing serious.”

“Just tell me.”

“There’s nothing you can do about it. Damn, there’s nothing I can do about it,” Yoosung snapped. Hecovered his eyes, his jaw clenched tightly.

Jihyun pressed his forehead against Yoosung’s and strokedhis shoulders in a comforting way. “Do tell me. It might make you feel better.”

The VIP area was at full capacity. Considering thedemand from the year before, Yoosung had prepared a plan to make the packagemore desirable, which had resulted in the tickets being sold out in recordtime. As he was passing by the area filled with glasses with warm cider andplates with exquisite delicacies that Jaehee had supplied them with, he overheard some of the people on the firstrow.

“Even if it’s an RFA event sponsored by C&R, I’m suremost of us are here for Zen, not for Jumin Han.”

“Either of them is more than fine, and it’d be especiallygood if they came together. Too bad they’re all slated to appear at the end,together with V.”

“The photographer? Tell me about it – I’ve been dying tomeet him for a year now! That’s why I got these tickets this time.”

“I know what you mean. Even if it’s a 30-secondmeet-and-greet, it could be totally worth it. He’s so handsome!”

“Ah, but nobody’s more handsome than Zen.”

“Excuse me? Have you seen Jumin Han’s back in those tightsuits? He’s the most perfect man - he and his millions.”

“They’re all perfect. This event is a blessing, truly.” Asthe woman turned around to get another glass of cider, she bumped into Yoosung,who had finally managed to get hold of some hot chocolate. “Ow!”

“I’m terribly sorry!” Yoosung bowed politely.

“You’d better be! You could have spilled that drink on me,sheesh!” The woman angrily snatched the glass of cider and turned her back onYoosung. “Can you believe that guy? He almost ruined my coat!”

“He did? Who is he?”

“That little guy? Just an employee.”

“How plain; he’s just probably lucky to be here.”

Yoosung left the mug on the table practically untouched ashe walked away, trying not to bump into anyone else.

“I know it’s stupid to feel this way,” he said softly, “butI can’t help feeling that they’re right. I mean, next to you guys, I’m still—”

“No.”

Yoosung looked up, surprised. If Jihyun’s warm hands weren’tstill touching him, he could have sworn that there was an ice statue standingbefore him. He was once again reminded that turquoises were stones, cold andhard. But that was not what the man before him had always shown him. “Jihyun…”he called gently. “It’s okay…”

“It is not okay.” He grabbed Yoosung by the back of his headand pulled him into an embrace. “You… Why is it always so easy for you toignore your own worth? Don’t listen to those people. They don’t know you. Whywould it matter?”

“It doesn’t!” Yoosung exclaimed. “I know it doesn’t matter!But I don’t know, it’s also true—”

“Yoosung!”

“But isn’t it? Everyone loves the catering Jaehee prepared.Since she left C&R, she’s made a name for herself. Zen is fully booked forthe next couple of years. Jumin is Jumin. And you…! I can’t be objective aboutyou anymore. Seven is invisible and he’s used to it, so then it’s just me beingonly me – a personal assistant who’s still in college. It’s easy to feel likeI don’t matter.”

“Oh, Yoosung,” Jihyun sighed, rocking him gently. “There’s alot I could say about you, and I will, once we get home.” A chime let them knowit was time to proceed with the introductions of the guests. “Will you stillpoint out the ladies for me when they come to greet me?”

“No way!” Yoosung said, taking a step back and grabbing hisearpiece and iPad. “I know you always have good intentions, but I didn’t tellyou about it so that you could find a solution. This is my problem,” he said,before he walked away briskly.

“May I have your attention, please?” Jihyun smiled as hegrabbed the microphone from the stand.

“What on earth…” Yoosung muttered. He turned to Jumin, whohad just arrived. “Forgive me, but Jihyun seems to have mistaken his turn to speak—”

“I allowed it,” Jumin replied. “He was visibly upset aboutwhat those ladies said about you.”

I’m going to kill him,Yoosung thought.

“Good evening, everyone. Thank you for coming to the annual RFAall-charity fundraiser sponsored by C&R. My name is V, and I’m glad towelcome you, especially in this time of the year and in this weather. As westand in this tent, surrounded by the warmth of friends and family, we takemany things for granted: those who have no home to go back to when the day isdone, or those who need a helping hand or a friendly ear but cannot have it.How lucky are those of us who have someone like that?” The silence was brokenby a general murmur of consent. “We the people at RFA are especially lucky, forwe have someone who is all of that and more, and his name is Yoosung Kim.”

Oh no.

“Oh. I didn’t realize this could become somewhat embarrassing,” Jumin said, folding hisarms across the chest and noticing that Yoosung had hidden behind him.

“What’s this all about?” Zen wondered, standing by them.

“Someone spoke ill of Yoosung,” Jaehee murmured.

“Eeeh? Who would? Yoosung’s the best of all of us,” Sevensaid.

“When this organization lost direction and we questioned itscontinuity, it was Yoosung who inspired us to continue with its legacy. When wewent through hard times, he was there to support us in any way he could around the clock.” Jihyun made a pause.

“Oh, he’s angry,” Jumin said, frowning.

“Huh? Excuse me? How can you tell?” Zen asked.

“How can you not?” Jumin wondered.

“Because people express emotions with their bodies andvoices, and I see no anger there, you jerk!” Zen exclaimed.

“Must you resort to name-calling?” Jumin sighed. “I supposeit can’t be helped if you don’t see it.”

“Shush, you two!” Seven said, slapping them on the back.

“He’s our youngest member, and in spite of having tomaintain a scholarship to finish his PhD, he works full time, and hevolunteered to organize this event.” V gripped the microphone a little tighter,his voice slightly trembling. “He inspires us to become better just by being himself.We are the ones that have to keep up with him on a daily basis. And to me…”

“Oh God, I can’t hear this!” Yoosung said, covering hiseyes.

“That’s not what you’re supposed to cover if you don’t wantto hear,” Jumin noted.

“Jumin Han, you idiot!” Zen hissed. “Can’t you see he’s embarrassed?”

“To me, he’s the reason I’m standing here. It is because ofhis encouragement that today I can share my view of the world with you, and letme tell you: the world is a most wondrous place because people like Yoosung Kimlive in it.” He took a step forward and looked at the crowd defiantly. “Thereare many Jumin Hans, and many more like me, and yet, without someone like him,we could have no idea of the daily struggles people go through. It is peoplelike him that we need so that in the future, useless things like VIPclassifications will no longer matter. We must learn who is worth gold, and whois only gold-plated.”

“Okay, I think it’s time to stop him now before he starts offending people,” Jaehee saidalarmed, trying to get Seven to stop cackling. “Yoosung, go out there rightnow!”

“What?! No!” Yoosung cried. “After all that, I’ll never beable to show my face in public again!”

“Just… Just get him to stop talking,” Jumin said, his voicetrembling.

Zen grabbed Yoosung by the wrist and dragged him out to thestage. “Hello everyone!” he shouted, flashing a smile. The crowd startedcheering, but they soon turned to wondering the identity of the young man withthe crimson face that was being towed. Zen took the microphone from V’s hand ratherunceremoniously and handed it to Yoosung. “Introduce yourself!” he hissed.

Yoosung’s eyes opened wide and turned to Jihyun, who wassmiling charmingly. He gave Yoosung a little wink that only the two of themcould see, which made Yoosung chuckle. He looked ahead and bowed. “He-Helloeveryone… My name is Yoosung Kim.”

For a moment the crowd remained silent, but then franticclapping and cheering erupted from all corners of the tent.

As he clapped, V moved closer to Yoosung and whispered inhis ear, “Never doubt yourself.” He stepped back for a few seconds but then heseemed to remember something. “Oh, and when the meet-and-greet comes, kindlypoint out the ladies that said those things about you.”

“Like hell I will,” Yoosung hissed under his breath.

“Shall I do something more embarrassing in front of allthese people, then?” Jihyun teased.

Yoosung shuddered as he replied, “The four ladies wearingfur on the first row.”

“Thank you, love,” Jihyun grinned, gently patting him on theback and waving to the crowd.