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jstarswrites · 2 years ago

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A Friend In Need

Chapter 3 is here!

I hope you all enjoy!

The Outcasts Masterlist

You were explaining everything to Eddie, having moved into the house so you’d be more comfortable after you’d done a perimeter check to make sure no one was around. You were fairly sure you and Eddie were safe here. No one would think to check here unless they knew Eddie. And the only people looking for him were the idiots that took one look at the way he looked and assumed he was some kind of devil worshiper because they couldn’t be bothered to use their brains and think.

And that said more about them than it did about Eddie, or even you.

You’d just finished explaining what really happened to Will when he went missing and ended up in the upside down.

‘So, El is a superhero, then?’ Eddie asked from his position on the floor, sprawled out on a blanket you’d laid down for the both of you since the couch was questionable. You were sprawled next to him, sharing a cigarette as you were waiting on the others for a restock. Your grab bag didn’t contain food to last for days, just snacks and drinks to stay hydrated. But at least you were more comfortable here than in the boathouse.

‘Yeah, kinda. She has mind powers,’ you explained. ‘She kinda lost them after the fight with the Mindflayer last summer, though. Used too much, or got hurt too much. We’re not sure yet. And it’s not like we can take her to the doctor or something.’

Eddie nodded, looking thoughtful. ‘And she and the Byers moved to California?’

‘Yeah, after Hopper died. ‘Cause he adopted El.’

‘So how did you meet, Max? Was it?’

‘That was when Dustin found Dart, thinking he was a newt or something,’ you said, rolling your eyes at your little brother’s antics. ‘Turns out he was a Demodog and he ate our cat.’

‘Your cat…’

‘Yeah. It was a lot,’ you said, sighing. Eddie passed you the cigarette, your fingers brushing, making your cheeks heat as you realised how close he was. You took it gratefully, taking a few drags and finishing it off. ‘Dustin, Steve, and I lured Dart to the junkyard, and then Lucas and Max turned up to help. And we accidentally lured like a whole herd of the things.’

Eddie’s eyes went wide. ‘How’d you get out?’

‘The Mindflayer called them back. He was taking up residence in Will at the time and the scientists were looking into the tunnels Hopper had found, so he called them back.’

‘Wow. This is insane,’ he said, letting loose a long breath.

‘Yeah, tell me about it. I lived it.’

‘How did no one know this was happening?’

‘The government covered it all up, since they were the ones who opened the gate in the first place.’

‘Figures. No need for the truth as long as the sheep are happy eating lies,’ Eddie scoffed.

You nodded. ‘And of course we were threatened with jail and other stuff to make sure we didn’t talk. Signed about a dozen NDA’s.’

‘Assholes.’

‘Yep. So El closed the gate, and we thought that was the end of it.’

‘How do you kill one of those things, anyway? I figure it’s good to know in case they come back,’ Eddie asked, humming softly as you reached out to play with his hair absentmindedly. His curls were soft against your fingers, and though your face heated when you realised what you were doing, you didn’t stop. Eddie’s eyes had closed, and he looked peaceful for the first time in hours.

‘Well, everything from the upside down is connected,’ you explained. ‘It’s like a hive mind.’

‘The Mindflayer controls them?’

‘Exactly,’ you said, smiling. ‘I knew you’d get it. Try explaining this to Steve, who is great at hitting things and I trust him with Dustin, but some concepts just won’t process in his mind.’

‘Well, we do play D and D. The Mindflayer is exactly like the one in there,’ Eddie said, grinning at you. His heart was racing as your fingers gently carded through his curls, careful not to pull too hard. He wasn’t entirely sure how he’d got here; laying beside you as you played with his hair, but he wasn’t going to question it. Your touch sent thrills through him, and he was halfway to believing he’d died and gone to heaven already.

‘That’s why the kids named it the Mindflayer,’ you told him.

‘So what hurts the Mindflayer hurts the Demodogs?’

‘Exactly. And he doesn’t like the heat. So fire works best against them.’

‘Noted. I will keep my lighter just in case.’

‘Good idea.’

You explained how the Mindflayer had taken others last summer, including Billy, and how Dustin had intercepted a Russian code, and he, Steve, Robin and Erica had infiltrated their base and discovered they’d opened another gate. Eddie chimed in once or twice with questions, but mostly he just listened, almost lulled to sleep by the soothing sound of your voice and your fingers in his hair. You were quite content laying there beside him and just talking. Eddie had a way of making you feel comfortable, almost safe somehow.

Maybe because you knew he’d fight with you if something happened, no matter that he thought he was a coward for running away. You knew he wasn’t. What had happened to Chrissy was so out of the realm of normal that it would freak even the toughest person out. Hell, it had freaked you out from just his description. And he’d been alone. You’d probably have done the same in his shoes. And you were terrified that the kids were in danger. You didn’t know where Lucas was, and you were here with Eddie instead of with Dustin.

‘You okay?’ Eddie asked softly, noticing you’d gone silent and becoming concerned. When he glanced over at you, he saw tears in your eyes.

You cleared your throat hurriedly. ‘Yeah, sorry.’

‘Nothing to be sorry for, sweetheart,’ he said gently, reaching for your hand and squeezing it. ‘I know this is probably hard to talk about.’

‘It’s- it’s not that,’ you murmured. ‘I mean, it is hard to talk about. But I’m worried about Dustin. And Max. And Lucas, I don’t even know where he is right now.’ You sighed.

‘You’re worried because you’re not with them?’

You nodded. ‘And that scares me. Objectively, I know they’ll be fine. Those kids are smart. And they have Steve and Robin, and I know they’ll protect them. But I just- god, it sounds so stupid…’

‘It’s not stupid. Dustin’s your brother. And the others, and Steve and Robin, they're family, right?’ Eddie said, wrapping an arm around you. You rested your head on his shoulder and closed your eyes for a moment.

‘Yeah. They’re my family, and I’m not with them and we don’t know what’s out there,’ you said, your voice cracking.

‘I’m sorry,’ Eddie murmured.

You sat up suddenly, making him jump and sit up too. You met his eyes and reached out tentatively to touch his cheek softly. His eyes closed and he let out a soft noise.

‘I didn’t mean that you were taking me away from them. You know that, right?’ He nodded. You nudged him. ‘I need you to say it, Eddie.’

Eddie’s eyes opened at the sound of his name. ‘I’m keeping you from protecting Dustin. I- I love that kid, he’s a great kid, and I know how much you love him and I’m the one that’s-’

You clamped a hand over his mouth. Eddie stared at you. ‘Stop. Just stop. We get through this together, Eddie. Dustin is safe, I know that. My worrying is just part of the job, of being his big sister, and Max’s, and Lucas’s. That’s what I do. Worry. I’m pretty good at it.’ Eddie let out a muffled chuckle, and you smiled. ‘But my place is here, with you. There’s no way I’m leaving you alone. And there’s no way I’m letting you go through this by yourself. You hear me?’

Eddie nodded. And then he licked your hand. You jumped and yanked your hand back, and he laughed. You giggled, shaking your head at him. ‘I got you,’ he crowed. You shoved him playfully, and he rolled away, coming up and making finger guns with his hands, making you laugh harder.

‘We’re in this together, Eddie. That’s how we get through this. By sticking together,’ you said, smiling at him as he sat next to you again.

‘And the others?’ He asked, knowing you were still worrying.

‘We’ll be back with them soon enough. And then you’ll have to put up with Dustin,’ you told him, snickering at the thought.

‘What, you think I can’t handle one freshman?’ Eddie asked, clutching his chest. ‘I’m wounded, truly, y/n. Wounded.’

You laughed at his dramatics. ‘It’s Dustin, Eddie. You know what he’s like. He’s a thousand times worse with this stuff.’

‘Noted. I will keep him humble. Don’t you worry, sweetheart,’ he said, winking at you and enjoying the way that you glowed and looked down at the term of endearment.

Around dinner time, the others showed up with more supplies. You and Eddie were playing poker for cigarettes, and neither of you was doing very well, making you both laugh. As soon as you heard the car, you both hid your game under a blanket and hurried to the windows. You let out a sigh of relief as you saw it was only Steve’s car. You and Eddie exchanged relieved glances, smiling at one another as you waited for the others. You opened the door as soon as Dustin gave the all clear on the radio.

‘Delivery!’ Dustin called, grinning widely at you both. You hugged Max and Robin, checking them both carefully, and pulled your little brother in for a hug. He squirmed, but accepted it.

‘Stop squirming, Squish! Let me love you,’ you told him, squeezing him tighter.

‘Y/N! Will you stop? I need to breathe!’

‘Nah, you’ll be fine.’

‘Seriously, can’t breathe…’

Laughing, you let him go, only to find Eddie watching you both. You raised an eyebrow at him.

‘Squish?’ He asked curiously, as he hugged Dustin.

The others laughed while Dustin scowled. You explained. ‘Dustin is squishy. He’s always been squishy. But when he was born, he was very squishy, and I wasn’t allowed to hold him.’

‘So you called him Squish?’

‘Yes, and she still calls me that, even though I hate it,’ Dustin complained.

‘You don’t pick your nickname, kid,’ Steve pointed out, making you stick your tongue out at Dustin as you hugged Steve and checked him over.

‘Anyway,’ Robin said, moving everyone along as Eddie laughed and ruffled Dustin’s hair. ‘We brought supplies.’

You took the bags and unpacked them. They’d remembered your cigarettes and even brought beer for Eddie. You discussed what they’d found while you and Eddie snacked on the cereal they’d brought. Dustin had picked up the shirt you’d borrowed from Eddie, so once they were gone, you took a shower and changed. The others promised to keep you updated, and after another round of hugs and promises to be careful, they were gone. Eddie said he’d fix dinner, since you’d insisted you needed something better than cereal.

When you reappeared after your shower, you found Eddie setting the table while something cooked on the hob. Smiling, you leaned against the doorframe and watched him for a moment. Tall and lean, covered in tattoos, with those beautiful curls and warm brown eyes, Eddie was nice to look at. And spending so much time with him in the last twenty-four hours had only cemented your respect and admiration for him. He was funny; he was always joking around and making you laugh. He was easy to talk to, and he made you feel comfortable. Sure, there were a few nervous butterflies, but you put that down to the sexual tension hanging around.

Not that you could do anything about it right now.

And there was another worry, though small. If you did something about that tension, would that be it? Because you weren’t sure you wanted that to be all there was. And that scared you, because you hadn’t wanted something like this in a very long time.

Eddie turned around and caught you watching him. He raised an eyebrow and danced over to you, making you laugh. He stood watching you for a moment, his eyes roving over your face. He reached out and gently ran his fingers across your cheek and down your jaw. His touch made you shiver, and he smiled.

‘You like watching me, sweetheart?’ He asked, as his hand moved to settle on your waist. His calloused fingers were warm and you could feel his body pressing against yours.

‘Maybe,’ you replied, shrugging. ‘Would it matter if I did?’

‘Of course it does,’ he said, grinning. ‘Means I can watch you.’

You smiled, shaking your head at him. ‘You can watch all you like, Munson. I don’t mind.’

‘Free pass to stare at you? Sold.’ Eddie chuckled, winking at you. He didn’t know when he’d got so bold. Maybe it was just that he’d turned around to find you watching him. And the way you looked at him as he touched your face, marvelling at how soft your skin was. You were still standing close to him, wearing his shirt, and that alone did things to him. But you were responding to his moves, and you seemed to have no intention of moving.

‘Mmhmm. You might want to check our dinner,’ you said, wrinkling your nose. ‘Something’s burning.’

‘Shit!’

Eddie dashed to the pot, giving it a quick stir as you giggled. He shot you a grin as you took a seat at the table, opening the beer he’d placed there earlier and lighting a cigarette. ‘It’s fine. Needs another few minutes.’

‘Nice save,’ you complimented him, grinning.

‘Well, you can hardly blame me for getting distracted, can you?’ Eddie said, taking a seat opposite you and opening his own beer.

‘Oh, I’m distracting?’

‘Very.’

You smiled, looking down at your beer almost shyly. You hadn’t expected him to just admit he liked looking at you, or that he got distracted by you. You felt much the same, but it had been a long time since a guy had made you feel like this and you could feel the nerves in your stomach. When you glanced back at Eddie, he was watching you, something close to desire in his eyes making your breath hitch. When you took a swig of your beer and broke eye contact, he turned back to your dinner.

‘It’s only some spaghettios, but I figured isn’t that just pasta?’ He dished out yours and then his, dumping the pot in the sink.

‘Sure is, plus I think there are enough tomatoes in here to count as a vegetable,’ you replied, picking up your spoon.

‘Seriously?’

‘That’s what I tell myself when I’m too lazy to cook.’ You grinned at him.

Eddie laughed.

You ate dinner, chatting about many things, from school to bands you liked and the Hellfire club and your plans for spring break - if you had any time once this was over. Talking with Eddie was easy, and you would swear you hadn’t laughed so much in weeks. After you’d cleaned up, you sat back down on your blanket and pulled out the cards for another round of poker. You and Eddie finished the beers and were giggling at your terrible ability, joking around and just goofing off.

‘Ok, so if I win the next hand,’ Eddie mused. ‘What do I get?’

‘You want a present for winning?’ You asked, amused. You lit another cigarette and tossed the pack to Eddie, who lit one for himself.

‘Well, sure. It’s not like either of us is any good at this. Maybe a little incentive will make us play better,’ he grinned.

You pouted in mock annoyance. ‘Are you saying I’m bad at poker?’

‘Yes.’

You laughed, throwing your head back as Eddie watched you, smiling. He loved your laugh.

‘I am terrible at poker,’ you conceded, still giggling. ‘Alright, if I win, I keep your shirt.’

Eddie let out a gasp. ‘My Hellfire shirt? I dunno. I do love that shirt.’

‘You have another one,’ you said, waving him away.

Eddie’s eyes roved over your form, his eyes darkening as he took you in. ‘It does look better on you. Alright, deal.’

‘And what do you want?’ You asked, nudging him.

Eddie took a second to think. Did he dare ask for what he really wanted? Or was that too forward? Would you even say yes? You’d flirted back with him, sure, but did that mean you were interested? He didn’t know. And if he was honest with himself, he did not want whatever this was between you to be just a one-night thing. You were kind, and funny, and smart, and way too good for him, but that didn’t stop him from wanting you. From wanting you to be his girl.

He summoned his courage, the little of it he had, and said what he wanted. ‘If I win, I get a kiss.’

Eddie’s words surprised you. Your eyes widened, and you looked down quickly, unable to look at him for a moment. But then you smiled. It was actually kind of hot for Eddie to just state what he wanted and not beat around the bush.

You looked up at him and met his eyes. ‘Okay.’

Eddie seemed surprised. ‘Really?’

‘Really.’

‘Well, I- okay, then,’ he said, grinning as he dealt another hand.

You were neck and neck for most of the next game, but then Eddie went quiet and you couldn’t tell anymore. Nervously, you set down your cards. You weren’t nervous about losing. If you won, great, if you lost, also great. But the uncertainty of how this was going to play out was eating at your stomach.

‘Full house,’ you said softly.

And then Eddie smiled. A big shit-eating grin that had you giggling because he looked so adorable. ‘Straight Flush.’

‘You won,’ you said, smiling at him.

‘I won!’ He clasped his hands to his head and laughed in sheer disbelief. He’d won. He got to his feet and did a victory lap, making finger guns and shooting them randomly. You almost fell over, you were laughing so hard. He stopped in front of you and held his hand out. You took it and let him pull you to your feet. You ended up standing close to him, and he reached out a hand to steady you. He slid it down to your waist as he stepped closer. You looked up at him, biting your lip.

Eddie’s brown eyes were locked on yours, flicking back and forth to your lips. Your breathing was shallow, and as he reached a hand out to your chin, tilting it up, a shiver ran down your spine. A good shiver. Eddie leaned down slowly.

A sudden noise had you both freezing.

‘What was that?’

‘I think it was a car.’

Taglist: @efvyqrs @gnnnne @smc777 @okilover02

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x henderson!reader #edddie munson #stranger things #stranger things fanfic

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imboycold · 2 years ago

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Procrastination: How to Overcome It Forever

How to overcome procrastination permanently? It's no surprise that we've discussed how to overcome procrastination several times - it's productivity's archenemy. We're constantly kicking procrastination to the curb on our path to success, and it often reappears a few steps further down the road. In the never-ending battle between procrastination and production, some of us fare better than others, but few of us have taken the time to fully understand what procrastination is, where it comes from, and how to combat it effectively. In fact, most of us only know two things about procrastination: a basic, iceberg-level definition and how not to do it. Knowing "not to procrastinate" is insufficient. How can we learn to overcome procrastination if we don't understand what it is? You wouldn't go into a battle without researching your opponent; perhaps it's time to get to "know your enemy."

Which tasks do we put off?

We all know - in a broad, hazy sense - when we procrastinate, but a closer look at our least favorite tasks can reveal exactly when we procrastinate. Most of us have certain behavioral patterns that we follow, such as delaying certain types of tasks with specific attributes. According to psychologist Edwin Van Hooft, three task traits cause "task aversiveness," which is the catalyst for procrastination: - Difficulty of the task When faced with "difficult" tasks, people tend to procrastinate. - Task significance. When a task is deemed "unimportant," people tend to procrastinate. - Task effectiveness. People are more likely to procrastinate when they do not consider themselves "good at" the task at hand. Also read : How to Work Less and Produce More

Procrastination with a Plan

Structured procrastination involves rearranging tasks in relation to their true importance. When faced with a particularly unpleasant (but necessary) task, such as filing your taxes, you may discover less important things to do, such as washing your car, completing your laundry, or exercising. You might even devise tasks that are almost superfluous, such as disinfecting your desk or checking the air pressure in your car tires. It's all about coming up with justifications to avoid doing the more important work. Structured procrastination appears to be harmless, even semi-productive, but it is a serious problem. Your "to do" list has been turned upside down, rearranging your tasks from least to most important. You're putting off important tasks in favor of minor details that aren't worth your time. Your productivity may be increasing, but it is only to conceal the fact that your priorities are completely backwards.

Waiting for the "Spirit of God to Strike You"

Instead of springing into action, as structured procrastinators do, some people become paralyzed by procrastination. Rather than avoiding the unpleasant work by focusing on minor, insignificant, or unimportant tasks, they stay on track, tackling the most important tasks first. However, this does not always imply that they are doing the work, and procrastinators frequently feel safe as long as they are "in position," even if they are not making progress. The classic case is the college student who has a large paper due the following day. The student's fingers are frozen on the keyboard. They aren't writing, but they believe that if they leave, they will miss an opportunity to write. Sitting at their desk, the student is relaxed and anxiety-free. They are not avoiding their work; rather, they are confronting it... quite literally. However, they are still not doing it. Also read : How to Complete Your To-Do List in 6 Simple Ways

Perfectionism

Perfectionism is frequently portrayed as a positive trait, but it is a common cause of procrastination. Work simply will not begin unless the conditions are ideal, and it will never be completed unless the results are flawless. This is the type of behavior that will prevent a gym-goer from starting their workout unless they are completely rested, perfectly hydrated, and optimally fueled through a pre-workout diet. Similarly, an author may never complete their book until every word is flawless.

How Can We Overcome Procrastination?

Recognize the various flavors of motivation. Internal motivation stems from your own values and goals. External motivation includes both rewards (such as a salary) and penalties (such as a poor performance review) for task completion. As much as we would like our strongest motivation to come from within, we have a tendency to prioritize externally motivated tasks over internally motivated ones. In other words, you may want to spend the evening with your family but feel obligated to complete that externally-motivated project report by midnight. Exercise your willpower. "Volitional skills" is simply the scientific term for "willpower," but there is an important distinction between the terms: Willpower is thought to be innate, something you are born with (or born without). It appears to be an easy way out; whenever you want to procrastinate, you can shrug and say, "I just don't have the willpower," as if there's no way to summon the initiative to get the job done. The excuse simply does not hold water: "Willpower" is not a natural ability. It is a skill that can be developed, improved, or neglected. Consider your volitional abilities to be like muscles; you can strengthen them but also exhaust them. They benefit from rest, so choose your willpower battles with caution. Stop referring to yourself as a procrastinator. If you become too comfortable with procrastination, you will eventually neglect your job, family, and personal health. Rather than labeling yourself as a procrastinator, declare your productive intentions and remind yourself of your objectives. As David Campbell put it, "Discipline is knowing what you want." Read the full article

#career advice #guides #self-help #procrastination #stop procrastination #productivity #good habit #wasting time #perfectionism

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neoculturetravesty · 4 years ago

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We met in online class - Part 6

Image adapted from here.

Pairing: Renjun x Reader Genre: College AU, romance, some fluff, lots of angst in this part Warnings: Strong language, descriptions of stress and anxiety, fist fight Word Count: 7.7k

A/N: Buckle up for some angst.

They say when it rains, it pours and Renjun was about to learn the true meaning of this expression.

Throughout his college life, Renjun had heard his share of praise from his professors who would tell him that he was gifted in a way not many artists were. But now that the career drives and job fairs had begun, Renjun learnt that at best, he was average. In the real world, he wasn’t ‘golden hands’ or gifted or anything like it--he was just one in a line of millions. Because in the bigger picture, Renjun’s competition was not just people in his school; he was competing with even better artists from even better universities that had even better skills and even better means. His design professor had very plainly told the class one day that out of all of them, maybe one or two would ‘make it’ in the real world, if they got lucky. So Renjun knew that if had to shut up anyone who ever doubted him, compete with the best and place anywhere solid by the time he graduated, he needed to land a stellar internship.

Not that his current internship was going any better. Renjun learnt that even small studios were a handful and that an internship basically meant being an errand boy. When he had taken on the job, he had fantasized about meeting exciting artists and maybe even helping the chief curate his best work yet. But more often than not, he found that he was sweeping the place down, and if he got lucky, he got to make a few calls to potential clients (who would yell at him before hanging up).

And of course, like any self-respecting college that thrived on the student body’s mental health deterioration, the professors weren’t going any easier on the projects, even with the impending exams.

On top of everything that was happening, Renjun had developed a constant tension in his neck and shoulders. Jaemin reckoned it was because Renjun was hunched over his paintings all the time as he followed the perfect lighting all over the apartment. You, on the other hand, reckoned it was because of all the stress.

“You’re just carrying a lot of anxiety on these gangster shoulders, Huang Renjun.” you had said as you kneaded your knuckles into his hurt one day as you brought him food. Lately, you had taken it upon yourself to make sure that Renjun was eating and staying hydrated through these pressure cooker times. Because when he was left to his own devices, eating would be pretty low on his priority list, simply because he did not have the time for meals. So you’d bring him a snack any time you saw him on campus, and when you didn’t see him, you’d get something delivered to him and if you couldn’t, you’d text him a reminder to eat. But as one would have it during end-of-semester madness, Renjun had received your food more than your company. Because truth be told, you were just as occupied.

Renjun hadn’t seen enough of you in what he was sure was now going to be a good two weeks running because you had way too much on your plate as well. Like Renjun, you too were swarmed by assignments and exams. But other than that, any time he did see you, you were ‘interview dressed’ for all the on-campus drives that were happening in your department. Renjun had come to wish you good luck on one of them and had seen how distracted you looked because apparently, you had pulled some all-nighters to prepare for this. Donghyuck had been the one to tell Renjun about this little bit.

Because when you weren’t studying or giving interviews or working on projects, you were preparing to throw an end-of-semester party with Donghyuck. He had to admit, there had been moments where Renjun had been irritated that Donghyuck would know more about what was happening in your life than did he. But then again, who was to blame for that?

Renjun knew it was no one’s fault but his own. Because that’s the dumb precedent he had set from the very beginning--that he wouldn’t get too close. He was paying that price for it because somewhere along the way, you had begun to confide in Donghyuck more than in Renjun, though this development was gradual and subconscious. He supposed that since you had met him, some part of you had learnt that she was walking into a wall anytime things got deep with Renjun. And there are only so many times that people were willing to walk into walls before they learnt their lesson.

Renjun knew that you were always ready to provide emotional support. But he also saw that when you were the one that needed it, you were subconsciously turning to Donghyuck rather than to him.

And because you weren’t doing so consciously, Renjun couldn’t even be upset with you. Who was he to be upset with you over it in the first place? He had spent all those weeks skillfully blocking you. So, just because he had changed his mind now didn’t mean that he could earn your vents right away. It would take some effort on his part and he acknowledged that.

But it wasn’t you hanging out with Donghyuck that bothered him. It was someone else.

Wong Hendery, it appeared, was always around you these days and for some reason, that really bothered Renjun. You had a lot of friends. You were just the kind of person who made friends wherever you went. His own friends were an example. Lately, any time he ran into his roommates in the living room or kitchen (since all of them were buried in work otherwise), they would inquire about you instead of him. You just made a lot of friends and that was a fact of life that Renjun lived with. And whilst so far, Renjun had been okay with all of them, he had no idea why seeing Wong Hendery around you made him feel some type of way.

And in the strangest turn of events, he had even found himself subtly voicing this to you a couple of times. It had bothered him even more that you had never taken him seriously any time he brought it up. You had either been distracted or disinterested whenever this came up. Or perhaps you had very tactfully been avoiding the subject. You weren’t exactly the scheming type, so Renjun was sure it wasn’t that. All he knew was that at the end of it, he would just end up feeling stupid, because, well… it was a stupid, baseless feeling to have, whatever this was.

All in all, Renjun couldn’t tell what matter it was from the pillage that kept his mood sour these days. His failure in the job fairs, his increasing workload, the impending exams, his lackluster internship, or something else. He recognized that a big part of it had to do with not seeing you enough. He wasn’t going to be the idiot that denied that anymore. Since the party at your parent’s house, he hadn’t had a moment with you where it was just the two of you and you could talk about… well, the two of you. Not seeing you enough was making him sour, he knew that. However, not seeing you enough combined with the fact that Wong Hendery was around you all the time was probably pretty up there as a reason for his bad moods.

The only upside in the end-of-semester times was that the damn virus seemed to be under control. Students could now more freely move about and a lot more cafes and parks had reopened. So, at the very least, Renjun could get a change of scenery whilst he painted or studied because he was getting tired of his apartment and the library and the damn studio.

Today, he had just grabbed his things and sent you a very persuasive text, because really, enough was enough. Yes, you were both very busy. Yes, you didn’t have any time today. But you could at least give him one study date out in the sun, and finally, for the first time in two weeks, he had felt that happiness in his chest when you told him you’d come.

The two of you sat by the river as Renjun sketched and made notes and you typed away on your laptop. Your hair was done up in a bun and you wore the campus hoodie and you didn’t even look up from your work when Renjun leaned over to feed you some rice. It had made Renjun smile. You looked like every boy’s fantasy of a college girlfriend but thinking about it also made his heart a tiny bit heavy. Because after all this time, the two of you still hadn’t had that conversation. Come to think of it, the two of you hadn’t even kissed ever since that afternoon in the strawberry fields. And maybe it was the fact that he hadn’t sat with you like this in a couple of weeks, or maybe it was seeing you share your time with other people. But Renjun felt that he had to address the some elephant in the room sooner rather than later. Because he didn’t want a some relationship any longer. He wanted more.

“No one’s going to be happier than me when this semester is over.” you mutter as you chew onto whatever Renjun had fed you.

“You and me both. Let’s celebrate our freedom together when it ends.” Renjun suggests as he sits up to stretch his neck.

“Done deal.” You look up from your laptop to give him a fist bump.

“Hey, I was thinking…” Renjun hesitates. “Let’s go somewhere together. After the semester is over.” He feels butterflies in his stomach even as he asks you that. And he knows why. Because this is the first time he’s asking you for a real date, where he wants to take you out for your company, no opportunistic strings attached. But also, he wants to take you away from everyone else where he would have all of your attention and he could finally tell you how he really feels.

You smile as you shuffle your notes. “Where do you wanna go?”

“Anywhere. We could go to the beach and go mudflat fishing. If that’s not your thing, we could go camping instead.”

You finally look at him and smile an undistracted, attentive smile. “I’d like that.”

Renjun looks at you softly as he returns your smile. “My exams end before yours. Let’s go right after your last exam.”

“Oh, I can’t go then.” You say, shaking your head quickly.

“Why?”

“Haechan and I are hosting the end-of-semester, remember?” you remind him and Renjun holds himself back before he could exhale over ‘Haechan and I’.

“Okay, how about the day after?” Renjun asks.

“I can’t go then, either. Hendery and I have to go visit the tower.” you tell him.

This time, Renjun can’t hold back. Because ‘Hendery and I’ was way, way worse than ‘Haechan and I’. Before he could stop himself, he finds himself commenting

“You’ve been spending a lot of time with Wong Hendery, huh?” he hadn’t meant for that hint of accusation to lace his tone, but it had come out that way.

“Ughhhh, tell me about it. He says he’d basically be happy never seeing me again once all of this is over.” you say as you steal his bowl of rice and begin stuffing your face. Renjun feels that irritation again because as always, you seem to be blowing this topic off. But for some reason, he doesn’t want to let it go today.

“I just don’t trust him.” Renjun says and he finds himself clenching his jaw a little.

You look at him from above the rice and smile amusedly. “Why though? He’s a cool dude.”

“I don’t know. There’s just something about him. I just… I don’t know, I guess it’s a guy’s instinct.” he says, and like anytime he has brought up this subject before, he’s feeling incredibly dumb.

You raise an eyebrow and look away from him. You don’t seem very impressed by the comment. “Nah, he’s super cool and all of that. You can meet him if you like.” you say in a tone that is way too nonchalant for Renjun’s liking.

He had met him before, of course. But he didn’t know Wong Hendery even if he did know Wong Hendery. So how could he tell you that the man was bad news based on just a feeling? ‘He’s using you! Why don’t you see that he’s using you!’ Renjun wanted to yell at you. But he says something else.

“Just, like… I don’t know. He just seems mysterious and unsharing.” Renjun tries to explain.

“So are you.”

There is a moment of silence as Renjun feels a sting and you look at him with no expression.

You were right.

Renjun hadn’t shared anything about himself with you. The things you knew about him was information you had probably collected through his friends. The only time he had really opened up to you was that one night in his room. Suddenly, more than irritation, he feels angry with himself.

What a stupid, stupid, stupid idea it had been to set those dumbass rules with you. How had he expected it would pan out? How did he think he could use you as a means to an end, but not learn anything about you or give away anything about himself? He hadn’t thought this through at all. Then again, he hadn’t expected for it to go on this long; and he most certainly hadn’t expected that he would end up falling for you.

“I just… I don’t trust him around you.” Renjun admits and this time, he has the decency to sound a little ashamed.

“I know how to take care of myself, Renjun.�� you tell him quietly.

Renjun looks away because for the first time since he’s known you, you’ve spoken to him that way. He wants to scream and pull his hair because no. You don’t. You don’t know how to take care of yourself. How could he tell you that you weren’t the best judge of character? How could he tell you that you allowed people around you to take advantage of you?

‘It’s why you’re sitting here with me’ Renjun thinks with another sting. He knew Hendery was up to no good with you because he himself had been one of those people that used you for their own gain. He had used your kind heart and your willingness to see the good in people for his own stupid plan. The stupid, dumbass, flawed plan that he hadn’t thought through in the slightest. He had thought he had, because Renjun always assumed he was smarter than everyone in any room. That was probably his dumbest yet most defining trait; as kindheartedness was yours.

As if to add insult to injury, your phone rings and Wong Hendery’s name shines cockily onto your screen, mocking Renjun in all its glory.

“Hey, are you here?” you say as you pick up. You look around till you spot him and wave at him “Okay, coming!”

Renjun looks to where you had signaled and sees Hendery in his bigass car. He notices Renjun looking, waves at him and smiles.

Renjun’s eyes close and he takes in a deep breath as you begin collecting your things. He doesn’t know why he’s being this way. He had been jealous before; he was an openly bitter person, that much he knew about himself. He despised every other asshole that did better than him. But this was a kind of jealousy he had never really experienced before. He wanted to protect you, but he also wanted to keep you… because now, he could feel you slipping away from him.

“I’ll call you, okay? Make sure you eat dinner.” your voice sounds a little resigned and suddenly, Renjun feels his heart drop. It’s a strange feeling, but there it is in the pit of his stomach. Renjun realizes that the feeling really closely resembled fear. And it’s because you’re leaving like this.

Had this been your first fight? Maybe it had. It hadn’t felt like a fight, because Renjun has fought with a lot of people before, and this was nothing like that. There was no screaming, no gaslighting, no accusations. But it was the tone you had taken with him. Like you were disappointed. Like you expected better. You had never taken that tone with him before. So as you stand up to walk away, Renjun grabs your hand. He looks up from where he sits.

“Hey…” his heart is sinking, he has this awful feeling in his chest and now he no longer knows what to say to keep you. So he brings your knuckles to his lips and presses into them for a few moments before he looks back at you. “Are we good?” He wants to kiss you, he wants to take you in his arms and kiss you and know that nothing has changed. But he knows that Wong Hendery is sitting right there and he doesn’t want you to think that he’s putting on a show of jealous, testosterone fueled possession.

He watches as your face softens. You crouch so your face is levelled with his. You keep holding your bag that’s slung over your shoulder with one hand. With the other, you gently hold onto his cheek and lean in to press a soft kiss to his lips.

“We’re good.” you say and you smile and then you lift back up to turn around.

Renjun watches unmoving as you walk away from him and drive off with Wong Hendery. He keeps watching till the car makes a turn and disappears from view.

Though you had told him that you were good, that sinking feeling hasn’t left his chest. Because Renjun realizes that what you had done had felt a lot like a goodbye kiss.

Renjun doesn’t get time to dwell on his aching heart too much, because soon after, exams begin.

It is as if a lull had taken over the entire campus. Everyone around him had their heads down as they studied and slept and slept to study. Jeno and Jaemin had taken over the living room table as they crammed and kept each other awake through their all-nighters. Jisung would try to take some motivation from them but the boy had never been too fond of studying, so he’d end up asleep on the couch whilst Jeno and Jaemin took the floor. Even Donghyuck--who had insofar made it through college based on pure intelligence--could be seen bent over his notes in the library. For a week, each student on campus had a similar schedule; like someone had hit the pause button on everything else in life.

Perhaps it had been the exam stress. Perhaps it was everything that was happening culminating in Renjun’s mind, but that sinking feeling hadn’t completely dissipated from his chest. He had no way to explain what it was or why it was. But if Renjun had to describe it, it was as if a sixth sense was warning him. What the warning was about, he had no idea.

But as fate would have it, Renjun’s hardships were only beginning. Because right before his first exam, he had received a call from his mother.

He had picked up because this had been maybe her third phone call to him this entire year. But two minutes into the call, Renjun wished he hadn’t.

Questions were asked as if out of duty: if he was still in school, if he was still living with his friends, if he was looking for a job. And though Renjun hadn’t even asked for it--how she couldn’t send him money for the next couple of months because the Covid situation wasn’t doing any wonders for their restaurant. Although the conversation hadn’t even lasted a full 10 minutes, Renjun’s mind was fully fucked by the end of it. Why the fuck did she have to play with his head like this, just when he was about to go in for an exam?

He shouldn’t have been surprised. His mother had a way of sensing any time her son was emotionally strained, because she would always show up right on time to add to his burden. This is how it had been most of his life. She would appear usually when Renjun was at his lowest and remind him that he was a useless fucker that nobody cared about. And because she was his mother, she knew exactly what buttons to press to positively fuck him over.

Fuck this. None of it was fair. It wasn’t fair that she had called him after months and months. It wasn’t fair that she didn’t even want to know how he was doing. A global pandemic had turned the world upside down and she didn’t even want to know if her son was surviving through it. She just wanted to call to give him another reminder that she couldn’t take care of him. Fuck that. Fuck her. Fuck everything. Renjun didn’t need her or his father or anyone else ever again. Fuck all of it.

Renjun had hung up bitterly and that should’ve been the end of it. But for some reason, she had kept calling after that, which made Renjun throw his phone against a wall. Fuck that. She doesn’t get to call him to rub more salt to his wounds. He wasn’t going to give her that satisfaction.

It’s funny how when you’re truly feeling fucked, you tend to isolate yourself from the people who really care about you. And that’s what Renjun ended up doing following that phone call. Almost as if in self-sabotage, he started avoiding everyone and hid himself away. Because no way did anyone really need him, anyway. Renjun knew that even in his friend group, he was the one the others could do without.

Jeno and Jaemin had one another. They would babysit Jisung well enough, and when they didn’t, Jisung had Zhong Chenle. His housemates didn’t really need him, so hiding from them was easy. Lately, he had also stopped hanging out with Yangyang because he was afraid he’d run into Hendery. Lee Mark hadn’t really hung out with him ever since he joined the 127s. And Donghyuck… well, he had you.

So even you could do without him. You had been doing just fine without him these past couple of weeks. You had still been bringing him snacks, even after that study date. But Renjun wondered if that was because of your bad, kind habit rather than anything else. Truth be told, Renjun didn’t want your snacks anymore. Because each time he got them, it reminded him that he was nothing special to you. He wasn’t any different to you than Jaemin or Jeno or Donghyuck. He was just another guy that you were kind to out of habit. Fuck that. He didn’t need your kindness, or anyone else’s. He was fine on his own.

But on the night after his last exam, he finally picked up the phone he had thrown and read his messages through his cracked phone screen. Just to see if someone missed him. As expected, no one did. But there were some messages from you.

‘Hey shoulder gangster, remember to put on pain patches before you sleep!’

‘I ordered some chicken for you guys, eat well and study well.’

‘Hey, I tried calling you. I had gotten you coffee, but I couldn’t find you so now hyuckie is drinking it.’

‘Ayo. I hope your exam went well. Sending some Chinese food over, so eat before you study!’

‘Hey, Jaemin told me your phone is busted. Idk if you’re gonna see this message, but just wanted to know you’re doing well.’

‘I tried to see you before you went in for your exam but Jeno said you had already left.’

‘Hey… I hope you’re not still upset with me. I’m gonna stop bothering you so we can both study, but I’ll come see you soon.’

‘Okay, I guess i’ll see you after exam week? Meet soon.’

That was the last of it. After that, you hadn’t sent him anything at all. Even you had stopped reaching out to him.

It seemed that when it came down to it, no one would ever fight for Renjun. No one would want to find out why he was in hiding, or why he hadn’t replied. When worst came to worst, Renjun was always left to fend for himself. He was all alone in this world.

Jeno and Jaemin would always know what the other was feeling without having to use the words. Neither of them had to explain to the other what was on their mind. They just… knew. When one was in trouble, the other would come running. When one was down, the other would pick him up. Neither had to ask; the other would just sense it and be there. Jisung and Chenle had a similar connection.

But no one ever sensed Renjun’s heart. No one just knew when he was sad or upset or angry or in trouble. No one would pick him up because no one loved him enough to know his mind. No one had ever paid any real attention to him to know when he was struggling. No one had ever held his hand and taken him out of his despair. No one would even notice that he was in despair. Because he wasn’t anyone’s special anything.

He had been hiding away for an entire week and no one had even noticed his absence. No one had called in to check on him. Because no one really needed him. Not his friends, not his family. Not even you.

They say when it rains, it pours, and Renjun was about to learn the true meaning of this phrase. Because just when he is about to put his phone away, he receives a text from his mother.

‘Renjun, I didn’t want to tell you this way. But you’re not picking up my calls. Come see me. Your father and I are getting a divorce.’

Renjun had never really been a big drinker. He’d drink some with the boys every now and then. But that was it. But tonight was an exception. Tonight, it was okay to turn to the drink. Tonight, he wanted to forget.

After the kind of day he had had, he thought that even his demons could give him a break. He felt drained. Like his mind was slowly giving up and his body was doing all the heavy lifting. Putting one foot in front of the other. Making him breathe in and out. Keeping his heart beating. It would be doing his mind a favor, drinking. His mind needed numbing, then maybe his body could follow.

He walks into the bar a broken man. And he wonders if that’s how all men are when they walk into bars. Maybe that’s why men who walk into bars make such good punchlines for jokes. He certainly felt like one. Because the people that should love him seemed to treat him like one. Who was he to think any better of himself?

He had made peace with the fact that his parents never wanted him. He had accepted that they were happy to get rid of him. Then why did he still expect their love every single time? What was it that made him go running to them any time they asked? Why had he expected that somehow visiting them would fix everything?

Had he expected that they would sit him down and peacefully explain why they were parting ways? Of course, he hadn’t. Had he expected that his mother would cry and apologize for putting him through this? Of course, he hadn’t. Had he expected that his father would own up to his mistakes and call him his son? Of course, he hadn’t.

But he also hadn’t expected that neither of them would want anything to do with him after they parted ways. He hadn’t expected to be the collateral damage of a failed marriage that neither party was willing to own. He hadn’t expected to be summoned just so his parents could have a screaming match about whose son he’d be after they divorced. And that both would want to shift that burden to the other.

It suited them, Renjun thinks as he downs whatever the bartender had handed him. It would’ve been more unsettling to have made the trip to find something understanding and amiable. This was on-brand for them. This is how it had been since he was a child. They’d fight and Renjun would be collateral damage. This was the perfect ending to their twenty-one year old saga. Renjun had expected it.

So, why was he feeling like he had lost everything?

“Huang Renjun?” he hears a voice call out to him as if from miles away. Was he drowning? Then why did he feel like he couldn’t breathe? Why did the voices around him sound like they were coming from far away?

“Yoo Jimin.” Renjun finds himself automatically answering. He looks up and let’s his eyes focus and there he finds her. He smiles. Of course. Who else would’ve been the guest of honor in his pity party?

“What are you doing here?” she asks him and Renjun finds himself making a face.

“Drinking.” he says as he lifts up his shot glass.

“Did you follow me here?” she asks cryptically. Typical. Of course everything had to be about her.

“How would I know you’d be here?” Renjun says, looking away as he downs another shot.

“I told everyone at the party I was leaving to be here.” she says and her eyebrow is cocked as she comes closer.

“Party?”

“Haechan’s party? All your friends were there. Weren’t you there?” she asks cautiously.

Ah, yes, the party. The end-of-semester party. Here he was, drinking his pain away. And his friends, the people who should be concerned about him were partying. It was all very fitting he supposed. This perfectly fit into everything in his life at this moment. Including the fact the Yoo Jimin had been the one to find him when he was at his lowest.

“I didn’t feel like a party.” Renjun replies.

Jimin scoffs. “Typical. Of course Huang Renjun thinks he’s above a party everyone would enjoy.”

Renjun doesn’t answer. It’s an annoying remark and part of him wonders why it is irking him so. His heart was burdened by bigger things. Perhaps his mind thought that being annoyed at Yoo Jimin was an easier emotion to address. This was an emotion he understood. It was an emotion he could process right away. So he turns to her and finds her sitting on the stool next to him.

“What are you doing here?” he asks, because really. Why is she here, talking to him, sitting next to him?

“Oh, don’t worry, Renjun. I’m only waiting for someone.” she says, rolling her eyes and flipping her hair.

“You can wait for someone over there.” Renjun points to a place far away with his glass.

“Okay, you don’t have to be an asshole. I just came in to see why you were drinking alone while all your friends are at that party.” she says and now more than agitation, Renjun feels anger.

“Why do you care if I drink alone, anyway? You’re the one that broke up with me.” he spits out.

“Renjun, seriously, what is your problem? I’m only trying to be nice to you. You don’t have to come for me like that.” Jimin’s eyebrows are high on her forehead as she matches Renjun’s tone.

“Well, thanks a lot, Yoo Jimin. Thank you for your gift of empathy, but I don’t really need it. Not after everything you did to me.”

“Renjun! Seriously, what is it that I did to you? What did I do to you?” she raises her voice in agitation.

“Well, other than abandoning me? Pretending that you were happy with me then pulling the rug from under my feet and breaking up with me? Not even waiting a month before moving on?” Renjun spits venom right back. Who did she think she was, coming here and speaking to him like that?

“Jesus Christ, Renjun. Would you listen to yourself? Does it ever occur to you that you could’ve been the asshole in this relationship? That maybe I broke up with you because you were the jerk?” Jimin’s face is contoured as she yells at him. It’s good that the bar is relatively full, otherwise this could’ve been a scene.

“I was nothing but nice to you. I treated you so well and you treated me like dirt!” Renjun hisses.

“Renjun, that’s your problem! You only see the faults in others and never in yourself! But you’re not ready for that conversation, so let’s not have it!” she yells and turns away from him, crossing her arms over her chest.

“No, no, by all means, let’s talk about it. Let’s talk about all the times I mistreated you, please.” Renjun mocks. He was already too used to being gaslighted by his parents. Jimin could join that club. This was already the worst day of his life. It couldn’t possibly get any worse.

“Renjun, this! This right here. You never respected me. You never treated me like an equal. With you, I always felt like some stupid, airheaded trophy. I always felt like everything I wanted was superficial and shallow and not worth anything!”

“And whose fault is that.” Renjun laughs darkly.

“Renjun, you can’t even see what you’re doing! You just think you’re so much better than everyone else! You think everyone around you is a degenerate and that you’re the smartest person to ever walk this earth. I can’t believe I let you treat me that way for so long.” Jimin’s hands go from balling into fists to animatedly helping her point. “Renjun, I wanted to be a model for the longest time. But I didn’t, because of you! Because every time I’d post a picture on my Instagram, you’d tell me it was because I love getting validation from strangers. Every time an agent reached out to me, you’d tell me how showing off my looks wasn’t going to be a long lasting career. You just never respected me or my aspirations. Because all of them were so beneath Mr. Intellectual.”

Renjun turns away. He pours himself another shot and downs it. He didn’t want a lecture. Who was she to show up like this and give him a lecture unprovoked?

“If it weren’t for Jongin, I would’ve believed everything you ever said to me. That people would only like me for my looks. That what I wanted to do was superficial and shallow and that I would never amount to anything if I followed my heart.” she goes on and Renjun has had enough.

“Save it, Jimin. We’re broken up now, so what does it matter?” he doesn’t look at her. She could yell at him all she wanted. He wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of a reaction.

“I only came to you because I saw you drinking alone. And I know that’s not like you. I just wanted to see if you’re okay.” her voice has lowered significantly, but the agitation hasn’t left her tone. Renjun wonders if she has more to say, because he certainly doesn’t want to listen to any more.

“Well, that’s very kind of you, but I’m fine on my own.” he says coldly, still not looking at her.

Jimin sighs. “Renjun, when will you realize that the whole world isn’t out to get you? I know your family isn’t perfect. But you’ve got friends that care about you. You’ve got people around you that love you. If only you could stop being an asshole to them for one hot minute and see that.”

Renjun still doesn’t turn. Because she doesn’t know anything. She doesn’t know his life. She doesn’t know how alone he feels. She doesn’t know jackshit about what he goes through, what he has been going through. Who is she to comment on his life and stand there like that and lecture him? She didn’t know anything. Fuck her for making him feel like he was the asshole. The world was taking a giant dump on him, and she was making him feel like he was the asshole. Fuck that.

She grabs her purse and gets off the stool. “I’ve got to go now. I just hope you feel better. Whatever it is that you’re going through. Please don’t go through it alone, Renjun.” she says before she walks away.

Renjun feels a lump in his throat. How could he not go through it alone? Who was going to be by his side? No one. So what use were his tears? He wouldn’t let them fall. He swallows that lump away, and when it doesn’t work, he takes another shot. He didn’t want to be here anymore. He could just go home and sleep. Maybe that would work. The alcohol wasn’t numbing anything. It was just making him more bitter, but for more reasons than what he had come in with.

So he finds himself walking home. Putting one foot in front of the other. Breathing in and out. Keeping his heart beating.

He felt so alone. Was he the loneliest man in the world? He could bet money that he was. No one knew what he was going through. And that’s what made him feel most abandoned. But then again. Fuck that. He didn’t need anyone. What good were friends anyway? Friendships really meant nothing. Renjun finally realized that what he had were not friends, but connections. Because at the end of the day, that’s what this goddamn college life was all about. Making as many connections as you possibly could, so you could reap advantages from them later on life. All of his relationships were opportunistic. And realizing this was giving him the worst headache of his life. Like all the alcohol was thrumming in his head and blinding him.

He arrives at his doorstep, punches in his code, walks in and freezes at what he sees.

Jeno, Jaemin, Jisung, Donghyuck, Zhong Chenle and you were all in the living room, drinking and eating and laughing. None of them had even noticed that Renjun had walked in. Because they were all too busy bellowing together.

Suddenly, Renjun feels his blood boiling hot in his veins. How dare they. How dare they look like one big happy fucking family right in front of him. Renjun pushes back all emotions he’d been feeling and holds onto one: red hot burning anger. He heads in.

“Hey, hey! Look who’s finally back!” Donghyuck says mid-laughter as he finally notices him. “Come join us because Mark is passed out on your bed, by the way.” he laughs but his smile slowly fades as he watches Renjun’s expression.

“You okay, man?” Jeno asks slowly.

The others slowly start reading his energy as well because his demeanor has gotten everyone’s attention. Renjun wants to pick a fight. He wants to fight with all of them for not being there for him. But he looks around for an easy target. Someone he can direct all his ruthless anger towards. And his eyes zero in on you.

“What are you doing here?” Renjun asks you urgently. Like you’ve done something wrong.

“I just got you some food. We all thought we’d eat with you since you didn’t come to the party.” you say and you get up smiling and take Renjun’s wrist “Come, sit.”

But Renjun roughly snatches his hand away from your grip, making you look up suddenly. Your eyes are round, but you don’t look angry. You perhaps look shocked, but mostly concerned. And that makes Renjun want to hurt you more.

“You can’t just show up here unannounced. I didn’t invite you here.” Renjun spits at you.

“Hey man, easy. We invited her.” Donghyuck gets up and puts himself between the two of you.

“Well, this is not your house, either! You can’t just invite her without asking me.” Renjun scowls at the boy.

“Renjun, I just got you some food. I just wanted to make sure you had eaten.” you say gently, stepping up from behind Donghyuck to speak to him.

“Y/N, you are not my girlfriend. So stop acting like it.” Renjun snaps and he finally watches the hurt he wanted to see on your face. He also sees Jisung’s scared expression and Jaemin’s disappointed one.

“I…” you begin “... I know… I just… I came here with the guys… I…” you begin, but Renjun yells again.

“You need to leave. You can’t just show up whenever you want.” Renjun continues and takes a step forward but Donghyuck holds a protective arm in front of you. Whoop-dee fucking doo. Now his friends thought he was some sort of a savage.

“No, Y/N, you shouldn’t leave.” He says then turns to his friend. “Dude, what is your problem?” But Renjun keeps attacking you.

“These people are not your friends, okay? They are my friends. You’re crossing a line and you need to leave right now.” Renjun loves the reactions he’s getting. He loves that he has provoked every single person in the room. Because Jaemin has gotten up and taken your hand protectively whilst Jeno has joined Donghyuck in blocking you from his view.

“Hey, man. Easy.” Jeno warns. Jisung and Chenle watch this strange confrontation with worried looks on their faces, eyes darting between him and the others. Renjun can’t believe it. All his friends were protecting you. All of them. He was the fucking monster in this room, too.

“Renjun, I just… I just came here to see you.” you say, but there’s no accusation in your tone. Just annoying, tiresome understanding. He fucking hates it and all his friends can see that he does.

After everything he had been through, after all his life was putting him through, he was the asshole, he was the monster once again.

Well, then. If everyone thought him a monster, he should become it completely.

“Y/N.” Renjun laughs as he looks away. Then he looks at you with that sinister smile still on his face. “Y/N, the only reason I’ve kept you around for so long is because I wanted to get to your brother. So you can leave now.”

That did it.

Because Donghyuck’s eyes have closed as he stands in front of you and Jeno’s eyes have widened. Jaemin just looks shocked as he holds onto your hand. As do Jisung and Chenle. But you.

Your face has hardened. He doesn’t see shock or disappointment or the kind of reaction that would’ve given him full satisfaction. He sees your stone face as you finally say something with a hint of venom in your tone.

“Well, in that case, Renjun, you’ve been wasting your time. Because I got you a slot with my brother right after our first date.”

Renjun stands speechless.

He would’ve remained speechless if you hadn’t pushed past Jeno and him and headed straight for the door.

“Y/N!” Donghyuck calls out and goes after you. Renjun watches the others. Jaemin and Jisung have looked away and he sees nothing but pure disappointment on their faces. Jeno, on the other hand, is looking straight at him. Renjun looks back. Good. He wants everyone to hate him. This was exactly right.

He hears Donghyuck barge back into the apartment as the door bangs shut behind him.

“Dude what the fuck is wrong with you?!” He yells and Renjun finds himself shoving the boy, pushing him so he wasn’t in his space.

“What’s wrong with me? Please, Donghyuck. Don’t even pretend like you haven’t been using her the same way I’ve been. You’re not any better.” Renjun punctuates the last bit with another shove and Donghyuck grabs at his collar and roughly pulls him by it. Before it can escalate, Jeno and Jaemin rush forward to break the two of them apart. Jeno grabs onto Renjun, Jaemin onto Donghyuck, prying him off and creating some distance between the two. Jisung and Chenle look from the couch, mouths hanging open, visibly distressed.

“You didn’t have to do that, man. You didn’t have to be an asshole to her.” Donghyuck accuses as he tries to free himself from Jaemin’s grip and come face to face with Renjun again.

Renjun laughs bitterly. “Well, now that I have been, you can have her. Live your happy fucking life.” Renjun spits at him and he gets the reaction he was looking for because it makes Donghyuck lunge at him once again, making Jaemin tighten his grip and pull him back.

“What is wrong with you? You fucking asshole! Why do you think everyone’s out to get you? Stop acting like a little bitch and start acting like a man for once!” Donghyuck shouts and that does it.

Renjun feels his headache blinding him. And yet, he doesn’t know how he frees himself from Jeno’s grip. But before he knows it, he has balled his hand into a fist and aimed it straight for Donghyuck’s face.

#renjun fic #renjun angst #renjun fluff #ficscafe #kpopscape #neowritingsnet #dreamwritersnet #huang renjun #renjun #nct fic #nct fluff #nct angst #nct #nct dream #nct college au #renjun x reader #we met in online class

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beepboop358 · 3 years ago

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Who will die in s4?

Let's begin with the characters we have some evidence for, of their possible deaths in s4:

Steve - Last year the stranger writers twitter kept tweeting telling people to "stay hydrated", and make sure they were "drinking enough water"; here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. Water has an underlying significance in the show, it is usually depicted surrounding the upside down creatures/people's special powers. There’s definitely something going on with the water references in the show as well as in the tweets. Steve was shown underwater during the st4 sneak peek teaser. The stranger writers tweeted that Steve wasn’t drinking enough water. That tweet about Steve not drinking enough water could allude to his possible death/serious injury.

Dustin - In s3 ep.4 Dustin says to Steve, “If you die, I die.” I think whenever/if Steve dies, Dustin will die as well. Steve just shrugs and says "okay" after Dustin's comment.

Nancy - (based off of these comments from Natalia in interviews)

W mag interview:

The Last magazine interview:

is she...hinting towards Nancy's possible death??

Chrissy - Chrissy was officially revealed as a new character in s4 in the 2nd new cast member announcement on insta. Chrissy is described as "Hawkins’ High lead cheerleader and the most popular girl in school. But beneath the seemingly perfect surface lies a dark secret." In the 1st new cast member announcement, Jason Carver was described as "a handsome, rich athlete dating the most popular girl in school."

We know from those captions Chrissy and Jason are dating. Based on some *leaked info*, it appears as if Chrissy will die. I have a theory that this will be the event that sparks the party's attention, and causes Robin and Nancy to team up and investigate if the Upside down/the gov. is involved again, and it will also spark more hatred towards the hellfire club, because Eddie sells drugs to Chrissy, and and her death will be passed off as an overdose, which will cause Jason to blame Eddie for her death.

Eleven - Eleven was not originally intended to survive in s1. It was planned for her to make this big sacrifice for her new friends, and mainly for the person who took her in (just like Elliot does with E.T.) I think it's highly likely the Duffers will want to use this E.T. parallel for Eleven in the show again (but more permanently).

In the show's original pitch the Duffers wrote, "If Mike is the Elliot of our show, then Eleven is our "E.T."

from my byler proof master slides (145-147):

(*possible spoilers - There was also a video going around awhile ago that someone who snuck onto the set took, and claimed it was "Eleven" being wheeled out of a building by EMT's. It's very hard to tell from the video if it actually is Millie Bobby Brown or not. In the caption the person claims in one other scene he captured, it was her "photo double")

I kind of doubt they will kill her off until s5 if they do, but who knows.

Other characters who we don't have as much evidence for but could be contenders:

Likely:

Vickie - She will probably be Robin's love interest given that she is described as a "cool fast talking band nerd, who catches the eye of one of our hereos" - Robin is also in band. Since she will spend time with Robin probably, Vickie could be involved with the upside down stuff, or most likely at least some kind of battle with the rest of the Hawkins group as well (Nancy, Eddie, Robin, Steve, Dustin, Lucas, Erica, and Max).

Maybe? :

Max - I think Max will play a more key role this season in discovering how the upside down is involved this season, which puts her more at risk. During the st4 sneak peek, Max stands in the CENTER of the hawkins group formation, as if she led them over to see something:

Steve also looks like he is looking directly at Max, as if she was just talking or about to explain something to them. I doubt the show would kill off 2 kids in the group of 6 (Will, Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Max and El) before the final season, so I don't think Max will die if one of the other 6 does.

Other possible characters who might die this season that I have no concrete evidence for but are still possibilities because of their plot lines/descriptions:

Murray (dies trying to rescue Hopper)

Victor Creel?

Unlikely to die this season because they were signed as a new season regular/for a recurring role, meaning they were signed for s4 and s5:

Peter Ballard

Argyle

Eddie Munson

Dmitri

Lt. Colonel Sullivan

Jason Carver

Yuri

Source: indie wire

Because Argyle will be a new series regular, I don't think it's likely that Jonathan will die this season because they are described as "new best friends".

Very Unlikely to die this season:

Will or Mike - (I don't think either of them will even be contenders to die until POSSIBLY s5) I believe Byler is endgame because of all the evidence that they are endgame in the show, but there is always the possibility that the show will pull a 'reddie' parallel and kill off either Mike or Will. There is a decent amount of Stephen King/IT influence in the show, which is why I'm even mentioning this possibiltiy- and we all know how much they love using references to other things, especially 80's media. HOWEVER, just like fear street (directed by Leigh Janick, who is marrried to Ross Duffer, and also is set roughly in the 80’s where kids fight supernatural evil and is filmed in a lot of the same locations as ST like the mall, the town streets, etc.) I trust that the Duffers will break stereotypes and let the gay people live and be happy together.

Even though I think it's highly unlikely Mike or Will will die in s4, Mike wasn't seen in the recent st4 sneak peek teaser (but neither were Jonathan, Argyle, and Joyce -unknown if Will is the one in front of the burning car but I think it is), and Finn was the only person who posted a picture of the clock with the caption "In the upside down, meanwhile..." and not "Meanwhile, in the upside down...", like all the other cast members and official ST accounts. He never fixed the caption, which leads me to believe it wasn't a mistake, but rather a clue. I wonder what this means for Mike's storyline this season - does he get stuck in the upside down somehow?!?

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jackalopesao3 · 4 years ago

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Hi love your blog!! I was wondering if I could have headcannons for how the brothers (and the other characters) would act after having their wisdom teeth taken out (I don't even know if demons actually have wisdom teeth lmao but I'm just craving some chaotic hc's tbh) :))

Hiya Anon! Thank you so much for the kind words! I'll do all the characters! Fun fact: Yours truly opted for no sedation during wisdom teeth removal except for a local numbing agent. I was awake for the whole thing. 0/10 do not recommend. 🙃

🦷 Obey Me Cast Gets Their Wisdom Teeth Out 🦷

CW: Medical, tooth loss, mentions of gauze, mentions of sedation

Lucifer

💙 Would probably opt for no sedation. He likes to be in control.

💙 He'd be a little cranky after the procedure due to the pain and bleeding.

💙 Do NOT tease him unless you want to be strung upside down.

💙 Somehow manages not to drool when changing gauze.

💙 He may act independent but please help him and make him some tea and soup.

💙 If anyone managed to take a picture of him with his swollen cheeks, he'd make sure they'd delete the photos and use his powers to change everyone's memories so they can't remember his swollen face (like the beach event).

💙 Keep Satan and Belphegor away from him during recovery as they may still attempt a prank here or there. It's for their safety too as once Lucifer recovers, they'll be in a lot of trouble for pranking him.

Mammon

💛 Opts for anesthesia. Does not want to be awake for the procedure.

💛 Terrified and acts like he's going to die. May write a will prior to the procedure.

💛 Wakes up disoriented after the procedure. Would probably be like that girl who thought her tongue fell out and cried.

💛 Someone definitely has a video of him crying about his missing tongue. He is definitely not going to live that one down.

💛 He will definitely be needy during his recovery. Please give him milkshakes and soft foods.

💛 He looks adorable with swollen cheeks.

Leviathan

🧡 Is another that would request being put under.

🧡 Low-key terrified but hot as obvious as Mammon. He kisses all his Ruri-chan figurines goodbye before he leaves, as if it will be the last time he sees them.

🧡 Will probably try babbling to the medical staff about anime or video games when the sedation starts to kick in.

🧡 Is also very disoriented when he wakes up. Will try to talk about Ruri-Chan or TSL with his mouth full of gauze.

🧡 Leviathan gets so absorbed into his gaming that he will need to be reminded to change his gauze.

🧡 Make sure he stays hydrated and fed soft foods so he can recover faster.

Satan

💚 Does not opt for sedation - wants to be aware of what's happening to his body.

💚 Has read up on wisdom tooth removal prior to the surgery so he's prepared and not too worried.

💚 He knows what to do after surgery and what to eat but will appreciate being doted on during his recovery.

💚 Bring him some new books to read while he sips on a smoothie.

💚 He may also rest in the garden with his cats while he recovers. Cats are the purrfect company while recovering.

💚 Do not tease or take pictures of his swollen face. Even while he's recovering, he'll still retaliate.

Asmodeus

💗 Opts for sedation as he's heard horror stories of people who were awake during the procedure jerking and getting injured. He won't risk his face.

💗 He will act dramatic beforehand to garner sympathy and attention. He will definitely ask for a kiss from his s/o before he goes in for the procedure.

💗 Gets giggly under the sedative and gossips with the staff.

💗 Somehow manages to look good even with a swollen face.

💗 Does not drool at all or if he does, he's quick enough to clean up without anyone noticing it.

💗 It's hard for him to have the gauze in his mouth as he can't talk well so he'll be a bit pouty. Will text on his DDD instead of attempting to talk.

Beelzebub

❤️ Poor sweetheart is scared and will opt for sedation.

❤️ Needs reassurance before he goes in for the procedure - please hold his hand in the waiting room.

❤️ He has to be careful not to swallow his gauze and remember to take it out before eating.

❤️ Hates that he can't eat solid foods during recovery. It's torture for him. He will be pouty.

❤️ His brothers love him and enough not to eat solid food around him while he's recovering. They all love their cinnamon roll brother.

❤️ Is so happy when he can eat solid food again and goes to several buffets to celebrate.

Belphegor

💜 Sleepy boy is a little nervous and will opt for anesthesia though he could probably make himself fall asleep before the procedure.

💜 Will exaggerate on how nervous he is to get extra attention from his s/o. He will be leaning against them in the waiting room, demanding cuddles until he is called back.

💜 The doctors have trouble waking him up after the procedure but not because he had an adverse reaction, he's just that good at sleeping. They almost call a code team but then he opens his eyes and sits up like nothing happened.

💜 He will definitely milk it out, loving the attention and doting he receives.

💜 Has to have someone watching him so he doesn't fall asleep with gauze in his mouth.

Diavolo

🔥 Barbatos insist that he be sedated for it though Diavolo is curious about the procedure. He's also nervous but does his best to hide that so he doesn't appear weak.

🔥 He tries to stay calm in the days leading up to the procedure on the inside he's a nervous wreck though.

🔥 Definitely needs his s/o to hold his hand in the waiting room.

🔥 Is very responsible with his recovery and also has Barbatos to help him recover.

🔥 No one dares to comment on his swollen face though part of him wishes someone would tease him. If he has an s/o he will appreciate some innocent joking to lighten the mood.

Barbatos

⏳ Understands that this was a possibility. Is not worried and will only ask for the numbing agent.

⏳ The medical staff are impressed by how still and calm he is through the entire procedure.

⏳ Does take some time off to recover at Diavolo's insistence. He will even serve Barbatos tea and makes sure he's eating.

⏳ Seems to have the fastest recovery time out of everyone and is back to work quickly like nothing happened at all.

⏳ The least affected out of everyone.

Solomon

💫 Never expected to need his wisdom teeth out but here he is.

💫 Can't die so he isn't worried though he does opt for anesthesia as he feels being awake for the procedure would be unpleasant.

💫 Will milk it out if he can to get attention from his s/o and loves being doted on.

💫 Has to be persuaded not to use a spell to speed up the recovery as it could make things worse.

💫 He needs to be watched carefully as he may try to drink something foul like a tobasco sauce smoothie during recovery and further injure himself.

Simeon

🖋 He's a little nervous and a little shocked that he needs them taken out. Opts for anesthesia as he'd rather not be awake, has heard the drill can be loud.

🖋 He manages to stay calm and composed in the waiting room but appreciates when his s/o holds his hand.

🖋 He is very responsible during his recovery, only eating soft foods and good at changing his gauze.

🖋 Even with his face swollen, he remains beautiful. It almost gives him an even more innocent and pretty look.

🖋 Appreciates when others bring him drinks and soup.

Luke

🧁 Little angel is scared. Please comfort him. Simeon will advise him to be sedated.

🧁 Simeon and MC hold his hands in the waiting room to comfort him, promising him a tasty milkshake and when the procedure is over with.

🧁 He gets spoiled with his favorite soft foods and a teddy bear to cuddle with though he will blush at the bear and grumble about not being a child with a mouth full of gauze.

🧁 Barbatos even drops in to check up on him with some homemade soup and pudding.

🧁 Looks adorable with his extra chubby cheeks and will blush if teased.

#obey me swd #obey me shall we date #om! swd #obey me diavolo #obey me lucifer #mammon obey me #leviathan obey me #belphegor obey me #asmodeus obey me #beelzebub obey me #satan obey me #barbatos obey me #simeon obey me #luke obey me #solomon obey me #obey me requests #obey me headcanons #obey me hcs

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jae-canikeepyou · 4 years ago

Text

| kismet | j.jh | part two

pair: jaehyun x fem!reader

word count: 10k+

summary: his parents sends him for a month long vacation to the country side to meet his other half, which so happens to be you. and alternatively, your beloveds asks of you to be in your best behaviour while he’s around. disliking how things turn out, you both come up with a pact with each other before your two families gathers together for christmas eve dinner.

genre: arranged marriage + bad 1st impressions

a/n: this is not proofread and i apologise for any mistakes :p here’s the next one and i hope you look forward to the final soon! enjoy reading! ~j

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

| part one | part three (final) |

it was another morning johnny saw you and jaehyun arguing at a distance by the stables. be it inaudible yelling or actions that seemed exaggerated, this time it was a sight that was a little worth seeing. so he walked closer to hear this quarrel.

“you didn’t check the horses’ conditions yet? it’s been a few days and i told you to memorise the schedule!” you flipped through pages roughly that they nearly tore. “it’s your job! you’re the ‘vet’!”

“what? you never gave me any schedule to begin with!” jaehyun groaned then sat back on the hammock to rest and you were trying to get him back up on his toes. “and what if i just want to take a day off today? you can’t force me!”

“check the animals jaehyun. that’s an order.” you sighed, writing down notes to keep updated with the stocks and materials. “i have some things to do—”

“like what? practicing and riding?” he asked and you didn’t answer. “thought so. you rarely do things around here and you still brag about how accomplished you feel.” he scoffed and laid back down on the hammock. “i’m the one doing the work..” he mumbled until it was inaudible for you.

ouch that hit the mark. johnny could see your cheeks bubbling up and eyebrows narrowing at jaehyun’s comment. of course he wouldn’t know that because you usually do not deal with the hard work around the farm. the only job you work hard for was horse riding. you had a reputation to hold as you were the daughter of a renowned family.

jaehyun took a huge inhale as he swung himself like a mother did to lull a child. he sung to annoy you even more and with the ruffles from the papers in your hands, johnny could tell his friend was satisfied making you mad. you bit your hairtie between teeth, tying your hair up into a high ponytail and rolling up your sleeves until the elbows.

he was indeed a huge man, you grabbed the edge of the cloth and pulled him as high as you could. he fell miserably to the hard soil. “ow quit it y/n!” he stood up to dust the impossible dirt from his pants. “you’re just sensitive because what i said is actually true! i’ll get back to work if that’s what you’re worried about.”

he fixed his coat and head straight inside the stables.

you crossed your arms and tried your best to hold your changing expression. “talk about sensitive! you can’t even withstand heavy workload!”

“mentally i can but i’m not physically ready! i didn’t sign up to be your pawn so stop acting like a queen and actually help out!” he grabbed the hay and scattered them in the horses’ place.

the audacity- the fall from three days ago still had an impact on you. “didn’t you hear what i said? i have things to do! now continue that. i have to answer this call..” you sounded irritated and soon your voice sounding further away the more you spoke. jaehyun saw you answering the ringing phone, taking it from you.

before you could, you were draped on his shoulder as if you were a towel. “i won’t take that as an excuse, y/n! you’re coming with me!” he forcibly took the phone off your hands and threw it far.

defeated and exhausted to talk back, you tapped his back because fear was slowly consuming you due to your shoulder pain. “you’re buying me another phone! put me down jaehyun! my back still hurts!” you hit his hips and expected he wouldn’t listen but,

he did as you were told.

“you’re forgetting your condition number one!” jaehyun pointed his temples as anger became visibly seen on his face. “you said ‘you’ll do the work for me and with me’, and they go together!” he threw a small sack of hay to you.

“you’re being an ass because i invaded your day-off!” you stomped to the next horse.

“tsk, i don’t think i can continue this with you! you‘re ruining my well-being every single day!”

“the jeong jaehyun can’t stand arguments?” you tilted your head in frustration and nodded at his silence. “thought so. this is part of the pact you suggested and i’m just simply following it! so if there’s anything, you’re the weak one here!”

from afar, johnny was taken aback behind the fences.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

the kitchen was quiet, the grandfather clock ticking away time and as each second passed, so did your patience. daylight met its end. it was day 14 and your mother asked you to give jaehyun the lesson he wanted to have— bread making. you forgot about it, and jaehyun probably did too because despite staying over for ‘vacation’, every day you either saw him with his friends goofing around the barn or him superglued to his school work.

yet now you were close to smashing his face into the mountain of flour he carefully, and slowly built. mark did a better job despite being clumsy. you can handle clumsy, but you couldn’t handle people with top perfection in their ego, a.k.a., jaehyun.

his dimples were hollowing as he looked intently at the numbers on the scale, waiting for that specific and exact digit to appear with a spoonful of melted butter. “oh my g- you’re wasting time!” you grabbed the spoon and put everything into the bowl. “0.1 or 0.2 grams makes no difference! hurry up and mix the dry to the wet ingredients!”

“i was nearly done with the measurements but you had to dump everything in there!” still he stirred them in a bowl with a whisk anyway. “you’re the impatient one!” he carried the bowl and placed it between his arm and waist, subtly asking johnny to film him.

“uhm what do i do after they’re incorporated?” mark interrupted the heated conversation. so far he was careful and observant with your every move. “do i knead it?”

“after twenty minutes.” you smiled at him. this was great; mark actually made your day at least, a lot better than jaehyun did. “resting it will let the flour hydrate. the milk will be absorbed and the gluten will relax too.”

mark snapped his fingers as he tore a plastic wrap to place on the bowl. “that makes it easier to knead right?”

for a moment you felt like a proud mom. “mhm, you’re learning! you’re originally not my student today but you’re doing a better job than—”

the bowl jaehyun was using fell to the floor. to make it worse it was upside-down, that meant all work done had gone to waste. the dough wasn’t close to incorporated. “..him.”

“crap.” jaehyun swore under his breath. his lashes slowly lifted. “my bad. i don’t mind starting again. i can handle my next batch.”

and though they were pretty, your disappointment came through your sigh. “goodness jaehyun. things are never right with you. i’ll clean this up. we ran out of eggs and milk so you have to go to the farm and get some.” you pulled mark’s arm aside as you began to clean. “mark you can chill for a while.”

jaehyun untied his apron and went out with a bucket, mumbling and complaining to himself at exasperating you were so early in the morning.

johnny then followed him. the pact he heard lingered in his head and thought this would be the right time to ask. “i can do the milking myself john.” he opened the gate to the cattle.

“i know. but that’s not why i came along.” johnny put his camera aside. “you and y/n.. made a pact?” with that question out and jaehyun dropped the bucket, johnny figured that what he heard days ago could be true.

“what?” jaehyun turned on his heel, confused, trying not to sound or look surprised. “why would i make a pact with someone so ill-mannered as her? she’s not worth my time or even interests me.” he affirmed with subtle shaky eyes. “the only pact i know is this marriage our parents put us into.

johnny thought for a while, looking at jaehyun who grew clueless the minute passed. he guessed he was wrong. “n-nothing. i’m probably hearing things. or jumbling scenarios because i’ve been watching too many movies this holiday season. i’m sorry dude.”

deep inside jaehyun let out a sigh of relief, but anger was starting to boil at how careless you were for slipping out. he continued to milk the cows and retrieve a couple of eggs before hearing you call them from the house. “oh my g- she’s screaming again-” he scoffed and tried to walk faster. “i can’t just run i might spill the milk bucket!”

“there’s this thing called speedwalking!” you yelled. “try doing that!”

“you always argue with her. aren’t you both tired?” johnny took huge leaps to escape the cold.

“she isn’t, i am. imagine the amount of stress i get the moment i open my eyes in the morning.” jaehyun vouched and shivered at the thought of it.

johnny opened the door and the warmth met their skin. “sure but when you do bump heads, there’s always a smile on your face after you state your point. i never seen you in a good mood since you and sue broke up. i can take that smile of yours a sign.” johnny noted what he’d been seeing.

“it’s a victor’s smile. it means i win the argument.”

they both entered the house and to find you still teaching mark. jaehyun placed the bucket down and rested on the sofa after being told he could use the kitchen once you were finished. trying to keep warm, jaehyun gave small glimpses of you as he wondered when it would be the right time to tell you about what johnny told him. and because he felt johnny tailing him from behind, he wanted your lesson to be over quick.

“i’m thinking it’s a sign that you have feelings for y/n.”

jaehyun batted his lashes. “no no no. i don’t fall in love that easily. there’s nothing attractive about her and i told you i’m not marrying someone like her, with bad attitude and all—”

“and still you tease her for fun? that’s like a cover-up to hide how you actually feel. you may not see that but in another’s eyes, it means something.” johnny clicked the buttons on his camera, rewatching the videos he took.

“are you throwing the ‘i tease her because i like her’ kind of ego? you know i argue with her because i hate her.” he hissed, flipping his laptop open to double check his reports.

the blonde hair boy shook his head with a growing grin of disbelief. “i’m not. my point is, it wouldn’t hurt to try to know her for who she is.” johnny’s lips flatlined when his eyes trailed to your approaching figure. “who knows maybe she’s trying as well and never really got the chance to- yeah i know y/n he’s all yours now.”

unfolding your arms you playfully hit his back with pressed lips. “shut it johnny. just help the baby lion with the cleaning, he’s not really good at it.”

you sat on the sofa, circling your shoulder to ease the pain before leaning back. “ugh. kneading the bread made it worse.”

with the frequent complaints coming from you, he couldn’t concentrate proof-reading his work. it made jaehyun unzip his coat, fishing something from inside and handed a box to you. bothered with how you hesitated to get it, he grabbed your wrists and placed it on your palms. “take it. it helps me a lot too whenever i cram.” did he just.. smile? it was subtle but you were sure he did.

a swarm of guilt started to form at the pit of your stomach. it wasn’t that you thought he partially blamed himself for the fall at the barn house, but because he actually cared when the fall wasn’t even the ultimate reason why your shoulder suffered in the first place. he had no knowledge and still doesn’t. and it was kind of frustrating to think you couldn’t begin that topic.

your heart now was experiencing somersaults. you asked yourself: why? sure he’s handsome and got built, but at this moment why are you all flimsy and speechless? “so you do have a heart for people.” you opened the box of the patch’s packaging.

“i was expecting a ‘thank you’ but i guess with that you’re taking back your words.” he grinned as he typed on.

you snorted as you put your legs up. “hmpf, aren’t you assumi- ow.” you touched your forehead where the pain stung.

“shut up, i’m reading.” jaehyun stressed in a low voice.

“reading what?” you scooted in closer, and jaehyun surprisingly let you see what it was rather than snapping at you. you squinted at the screen and nodded. “equine studies..” you read out softly, that seemed to be a report he worked on in his early years. “isn’t it mandatory for you to study it?”

jaehyun’s scrutinizing gaze caught you off guard, making you clamp your lips to keep quiet. he sighed and continued to read as if you didn’t exist. “i thought you weren’t interested in my field of study.” his brows drew together at your curiosity despite remembering how you did say it clearly.

quickly you tear the patch’s plastic to break the awkward silence you brought upon and let out a soft chuckle of shame. “i’m asking because it’s equine related and i wanna learn. plus i’m too tired to pick up a fight with you so teach me everything you know.”

“i don’t even know if you’d get it in one night- fine. it’s mandatory but i only learnt the basics. i’m not specialising in it or anything so don’t expect much.” jaehyun stared at the screen yet feeling your presence so close kind of pressured him, and he didn’t know why.

“basics like checking the heart, respiratory rate, temperature and hydration status?” you hugged your legs together after placing the patch behind you. “hm.. that’s kinda simple.”

jaehyun clicked his tongue. “that’s the general checking for an animal’s condition, used for emergency access and such. we were given an understanding of veterinary anatomy—”

“which includes learning principles in developmental anatomy in gross, microscopical and ultrastructural levels. learn all these then you can focus on organs to give a physical and radiological diagnosis with the physiology and anatomy as bases—” you finished his sentence, soon shutting up as you got carried away.

his mouth agaped in shock and in strangeness of your interest. he checked your forehead to see if you were in the right mind. “did you read it out from a book or something? and what’s up with you and scientific terminology? you’re supposed to be hating on big words.”

you wondered why his comment hurt you. did he assume you were uneducated? at this point you thought deeply that secrets were meant to be kept. and they were only to be revealed by two ways; one was heard by others, and two was at your will.

“why are you so quiet now?” he laughed, scrolling down at endless of documented pages. “are you experiencing brain fart after that long sentence of sophisticated vocabulary?”

this was far from assumption. this was plain mockery. and it hurt. you hit him on the arm a little more violent and forceful than the usual, and bite back your lips. “it’s not because i’m dumb. i know these because i’ve been there.” you stood up and grabbed the box he gave you. “thanks for this anyway. good night.”

“hey you don’t have to hit me!” jaehyun paused for a second, he had difficulties processing your sudden outburst. he mumbled to himself, “why is she offended when i’m the one who got hit..”

mark happily came out of the kitchen with a freshly baked bread in his hands. “y/n! i’m done with the bread and it smells soooo good- jaehyun, where is she?” the younger one put down the tray.

he sighed and gestured confusingly. “i don’t know she probably went to sleep.”

“man i wanted her to try it.”

“she can try tomorrow. anyway i’m gonna take a shower.” jaehyun turned off his laptop and headed straight to the bathroom.

but before he could have his relaxation, hendery stood against the opposing wall with arms crossed. “can we talk?” he tilted his head, asking to sit at the veranda with him.

they sat at the table set with hendery pouring cups of hot tea. jaehyun took it in his hands, eyes meeting your childhood friend’s as he brushed his hair up. “i kind of wanna tell you something. it’s not my position but i feel like you deserve to know.” that made jaehyun’s mind questioning more. “i overheard you and y/n talking.”

jaehyun frowned at the very recent event, something he found rude from your action. “yeah? she reacted so much and hit me just because i teased her a little. might’ve taken it too seriously but she should know i was joking about her not knowing-”

hendery looked at the dusk distance. “m’lady loves animals more than anything, and for a long time veterinary science is something close to her heart too.”

jaehyun gulped in full on revelation. that was why you reacted. he realised the reason why you hated him in the first place wasn’t only because he was the one you were to marry, but because he was the person who was currently studying the course you’ve always wanted to take.

“she was supposed to take it in college but due to unfortunate circumstances she couldn’t continue. there’s family issue and she had an accident-”

what accident? jaehyun for the first time in other’s eyes, showed worry and curiosity. and his raise in brows cause hendery to realise he missed out an important detail.

“ah you haven’t met mr. y/l/n yet, right?” hendery asked as he sipped on his tea. “he’s busy right now because he’s always out of town but he’s the one y/n’s having issues with.”

“i’m guessing her father opposed to the idea of her becoming a vet?”

hendery shook his head. “he didn’t oppose. in fact he allowed y/n once we graduated high school. she got enrolled to the first semester and was doing well until she had little time to no practice for her semi-finals at cross country at all. mr. y/l/n is a horse riding coach so he’s especially strict with y/n. let’s say their arguments started from there.”

though he didn’t ask parts of your personal life, hearing all these news stunned jaehyun. there was only one thing he wanted to ask: what caused your accident? “how did she do with vet science?”

“she managed and had no fails.” hendery had a brief proud smile. “sadly mr. y/l/n didn’t find it impressive, because he really thought his daughter would be an equestrian like him. y/n hoped he’d be understanding but yeah anyway, you get the gist from there.”

“if it ever crosses her mind, we’ll see if she does. i’ll head inside for a shower. thanks for letting me know.” jaehyun had his palms on the knob, turning around one last time to confirm something. “was the accident, bad?”

“not as life threatening, but it was enough to traumatise her.” hendery picked up the plates and cups. “she.. still hasn’t recovered.”

he stared back at the young lad’s expression, and he could tell hendery has been looking after you ever since. maybe it was better if he hadn’t asked.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

you still shook your legs after hendery warned you of your decency and image, saying that that action was his pet peeve. but really, it was just an excuse to save himself from you due to the fact he said that shaking legs while thinking wasn’t ladylike at all. you couldn’t keep yourself in one place, pacing back and forth in the barn with marg eyeing you since it already been long you did so. “sis.” she cleared her throat and you stopped being jittery with biting your fingers. “what’s up with you?”

“nothing.” you lied, an uneasy feeling began to build up in your chest as the man you despise gently held the horses’ manes. “i’m fine, just thinking.”

jaehyun did the final checks for your horses’ health conditions and to be brutally honest not only did you find him surprisingly quiet, he was rather kind and collected for four days now. he even taught you some veterinary related topics in which you were surprised he was willing to teach. maybe he took your subtle request when you wanted to learn anything he knew about equine medicine. perhaps he wanted a break from all negativity when it came to you. in fact he did mention he couldn’t continue arguing anymore.

and in those four days it got you thinking about the pact. you had a week left and you weren’t sure if you convinced your family or jaehyun’s friends enough to call off the marriage. yes you’ve been at each other’s nerves for small arguments and there were times you forget about it too because the way you both fought was so natural. however today was just too quiet, like he was stopping the fights on purpose and for what reason exactly?

marg slid next to you when you went out for fresh air, nudging you by the waist with hers. “obvious again.”

“w-what?” you widened your eyes, earning a sly grin from your sister. “obvious about what?”

“your heart is on your sleeves. i can see it. the others might do too. so tell me, do you like jaehyun?” she crossed her arms, her grin widening when you began to be jittery again.

“ha?! no!” you stuttered and lied, and you knew marg’s claims hit the nail.

because not only did the past four days of not talking with jaehyun had a toll on your pact, but it definitely had on your heart. there were a total of four things you discovered about him.

1. jaehyun was a fast learner. he learned to clean horse hooves, saddle them and even did carpentry in one day.

2. he had humour but no one really acknowledged it, and appeared a little dorky to you.

3. his dimples were actually cute and has a vampire smile.

4. he really did have a heart for people too. you saw how he helped out your family whenever you were absent.

sometimes these traits softened you, and sometimes you wanted to at least be his friend. but you weren’t close to being one because the pact clearly prevents you to and in the end, it was better off that way. marg held your shoulder. “i know you fight a lot but that’s when the developing starts.” she paused, looking back at the barn. “jaehyun seems alright but you’re really being too obvious.”

“again, obvious about what? i hate it when you’re so vague stating your point.”

“if you wanna talk with him just do it.” she turned around a little to see the said man removing his gloves. “i noticed you’re both distant. it’s been four days so i’m guessing you’re not used to not fighting him. you tend to miss whatever you both stopped doing.”

you pinched her cheek. “do you even know how mentally draining it is to reason out with him?” you darted a gaze at her before a weight was put upon your head. it wasn’t that long for you to realise it was jaehyun. gosh how irritating. you even recognised the perfume he wore.

“i know exactly how that feels, marg.” jaehyun winked at her. “can’t mess with this one,” he messed your hairdo. “she’s feistier than most animals i’ve encountered.”

his giggle of pride echoed in your ears and you thought you were able to tolerate his reply but no. whether he was doing his part for the pact or not, whether he was enjoying this or not, he became more of a jerk the longer he stayed here.

“i’ll leave you two to talk. the light in y/n’s eyes changed when you arrived- ah!” she held her arm as you pushed her aside, and she was proudly walking away with what she had done.

jaehyun shoved his hands in pockets as he gestured you to follow him into the barn. it was only the two of you now while the rest surveyed other parts of the land with hendery. he held jet’s reins, usually your horse would react whenever strangers would. not to jaehyun, shockingly. you bit your lips in wonders what this man had in his mind.

“i just checked him like you taught me. he’s dehydrated.” he pinched a part of its skin close to the mane. “you practiced this morning right? didn’t give him water?”

“i gave him enough.” you unlocked the gate to jet, soon petting him. you couldn’t help but feel immense awkwardness. “did his skin snap back?”

“not as fast as i expected but he needs a little more fluids to keep the levels normal.” jaehyun wrote down numbers before handing your notebook to you, and you thought today was going to pass again without progress for the pact. “i’m gonna walk around for a bit. later.”

“hey.” you called out perhaps a little too rudely and instead of talking things through. he stopped in his tracks. “setting the vet thing aside, aren’t you being too quiet right when we have a week left? it’s been four days and by now some of them might notice the sudden silence. did you forget about the pact?” you asked, not knowing why you were fuming all of a sudden.

maybe it was because he was only staring at you. or that marg’s obversation was slowly getting to you and convincing that her hunch about you was right. “you’re a jerk when i met you but you’re even more so nowadays.”

jaehyun turned around with pursed lips, he didn’t like how you always assumed, especially giving him nicknames in which his friends also have gotten used to calling him those. “me? a jerk? i’m doing all i can to stop this marriage because we both know how it feels to be controlled.”

his answer only made you laugh. “ha you don’t know anything about me, jaehyun. if you’re actually doing something why haven’t you done anything then? you’re being careless-”

he brushed his hair & wore his cap backwards. “it’s not about if i’ve done something! y/n it’s about what you did!” jaehyun pulled you to a corner in caution if anyone heard him. “you were loud and careless! last week johnny asked me if we made a pact because he heard you mentioning it! i assure you he has a mind i still couldn’t understand and he’s probably trying to connect the dots now-”

“wai- you’re saying he knows about it and you’re only telling me now?!” you slammed jet’s gate, your eyes fixed him. “you could’ve told me right then and we could’ve solved this as soon as possible! how much do you think he knows?”

jaehyun slowly rubbed his face, shook his head and shrugged shoulders. “i don’t know! but you know what happens when he figures out we’re arguing for show? he’ll tell everyone we did that because we’re against this marriage! and in the end? we’ll be stuck with each other for life-”

“ugh don’t even tell me about it i couldn’t even stand the sight of you!” you wrapped yourself more in your coat, stomping straight outside and ignoring his reactions towards you.

“why are you like this when it’s clearly your fault?!” he quickly grabbed your shoulders to forcibly turn you around. “i’m telling you and you’re so reactive about it?”

you pointed at his chest. “no! it’s your fault for not telling me sooner!”

“oh so now it’s my fault? y/n look at yourself! can’t you see that someone impudent like you can cause troubles even for a slightest bit! you’re at fault!”

impudent?.. this was all too familiar and nostalgic.

jaehyun then closed his eyes at the stinging pain in the groin. “ugh what the hel-”

“you deserve that-”

right when that felt good and you wanted to hit him more, you were yanked backwards by a force. you fought back the arms restraining you. “y/n stop!”

“let me go wong kunhang! this jerk needs a lesson!” you growled in his arms, shimmying your body through them.

hendery reminded you of your shoulder and soon you stopped. “i’m sure that kick was enough for a lesson and calm down, will you?”

“jae you alright?” johnny helped him up. “hope it’s not too injured because you still need that for reproduction-”

“seriously? now’s not the time.” jaehyun glared at him then to you, you were now like deer in the headlights with his stare. “this is why i can’t stand you.”

mark, hendery and johnny looked at each other trying to figure what had happened. “what were you two arguing about?” hearing hendery ask, you tugged on your coat once he let go of you. “we heard her yelling that she couldn’t stand the sight of you and then you’re both blaming each other.”

you hesitatingly looked down to your boots, avoiding their curious gazes. fidgety as you knew you were, you tried not to respond. they heard from that far of our conversation.. oh my go-

as if jaehyun could read your mind, he cleared his throat. “it’s nothing. y/n’s just stubborn as usual. she doesn’t want to admit her fault when i told her jet’s dehydrated. guess she didn’t want to look irresponsible.”

“classic y/n.” your cheeks suffered from hendery’s squeezing palms. “how many times do i have to tell you to behave? c’mon you’re better than this.”

jaehyun sighed in relief that they were convinced with his reasoning.

jet’s snout poked your arm and exhaled, you cursed under your breath for not locking the gate. “then you should know why i’m like this.” you reiterated with a flat smile. “i’m gonna go to the bar for a drink. don’t bother me.”

“oh then we’re coming with! mark! you’re driving!” johnny pulled the boys into jaehyun’s car. “this hurt dude needs cheering up after you nearly ended his career for having kids.”

“maybe it’s better off that way?” you grinned with a tattling tone.

“i hate you so-” jaehyun barked before his voice was shut off by the car door. his expression became funnier with how the vehicle muted his voice.

jet and cash trotted slowly to let the car go first, hendery rode ahead of you as you followed him. beside the roadside was fields of green, laying flat with new flowers that have yet to bloom. by now the horses were galloping alongside the car, you could feel jaehyun shooting daggers at you. the joy to horse ride diminished when you took a glimpse of him pointing at you, sliding his clenched fist from left to right and pointing at his chest.

you’re dead to me. he spoke with his eyes. and you could hear his annoying voice in your head.

you flicked the reins to ride faster, passing hendery and cash. reaching the bar first would make you feel better and it would at least let the neighbourhood know you weren’t hanging out with boys like him. you soon unmounted yourself from jet and led him to an area where he could stay.

the bell chimed and you raised your hand for a simple mocktail. funny how you told the boys you’d be here for a drink yet didn’t plan to get drunk. you sat by the bartender’s while you saw them entering and sat at one table by the window. honestly you could’ve went elsewhere instead but this bar was the closest from home. and right now you really needed to clear your mind.

to clear your mind from jaehyun because you knew he’d be the death of you.

—

and how you ended up on the same table with them was too hazy for you to recall.

“i was like, singing my heart out at one karaoke place after i was rejected from the coffee shop i applied to. then the girl of my dreams had appear while i was all sweaty and sloppy and i was shirtless! it was really-” johnny spoke too fast for you to hear and curled his fingers remembering it.

“second hand embarrassment was too much at that point.” jaehyun chuckled and sipped on his glass.

“but john, you got her to say yes even though you’re high and wild.” mark raised his palm for a fistbump.

mark turned to you. “y/n what’s something you couldn’t forget?”

you smiled slyly towards your childhood friend and hendery’s panicked face resurfaced with begging hands. you feel yourself going tipsy but went for storytelling anyway. “this previous halloween i forced hendery to dress as rapunzel because i wanted to dress as pascal.”

mark let out a contagious laugh which had everyone giggling too. you brought out your cracked screen phone which jaehyun broke and showed a picture of you on a piggyback ride with hendery. the said man cowered himself from the compliments and while you continue to keep him in the spotlight. jaehyun found it unbelievable that you were quickly switched from cranky to giggly when drunk.

“here’s the awesome part,” you slurred your words with hiccuped breaths. “around nine guys asked me to ask for his number and i gave it to them! he was that hot! i could never compete!”

jaehyun oddly cackled out loud and you all turned heads to him. “of course you could never! i mean look at you!”

his friends raised brows as jaehyun was enjoying this a little too much. perhaps taking advantage of your drunken self. “you dress weird and your hair’s a mess. you’re always rude and sometimes smelling like a horse. by the way that’s such a turn off to guys like us. like do you even bathe-”

you were definitely tipsy but you understood his words clear enough to feel a wave of emotions blanket over you. forgotten memories began play in your head and began to sulk.

“yeah i know i’m like this and so what if i’m plain and ordinary?” you whined and the boys held their breaths.

“my parents think i couldn’t take care of myself after i dislocated my shoulder at cross-country.” jaehyun heard you.

“because of that they started to pair me with accomplished men they think could give me a better life. so i misbehave every time they bring a suitor over.” you propped elbows on the table and glared at jaehyun. “you’re the fifth and before you arrived i lied to mom and dad that i recovered, hoping they’d stop and leave me alone but nope! they think you’re the one-”

hendery managed to catch your collapsed body from falling. he let out a soft laugh. “mhm, she spills a little too much when she’s drunk-”

you covered his lips and did several clicks of your tongue. “i’m tipsy! not drunk but tipsy! are you spilling tea about my life to that jerk?”

he scoffed lightly. “of course not! i didn’t tell him anything.” he lied.

you pinched his cheek. “i doubt it. you’re a talkative donkey! they should cast you to be part of shrek musical next fall!” you giggled and tried to keep yourself awake from all that drowsiness. your eyes dropping to slumber.

“m’lady.” he fixed you on his side and you were now carried on his back. “jaehyun doesn’t know a thing.” he cooed, giving jaehyun a wink to zip his mouth shut regarding the topic.

small sobs began to bubble out from you, you clung onto hendery. “ah jaehyun? you know that jerk called me impudent? he said i always cause troubles but what choice to i have? i don’t want to be betrothed!” you wailed and mark and johnny raised brows at jaehyun as soon as you said it. “hendery he called me impudent! he’s just like dad and i hate them both!” you leaned on his shoulders.

“but do you really hate jaehyun?” johnny smirked as he enjoyed how open you were compared to being sober. jaehyun noticed where this was going and tried to stop him but the tall lad shushed him when you spoke.

“yes!” you slurred with a lopsided smile and narrow brows, which looked strange as they couldn’t tell if it was a good or bad thing.

“i hate him because he’s so prideful! ‘jeong jaehyun, veterinary medicine student’ my butt. i should’ve been one too but daddy said no.” you pout, soon knocking out. “i hate how.. handsome that jerk looks-”

your friend hopped slightly and quickly got out of the bar so you wouldn’t cause a scene any further. “i’ll bring her to my place, it’s just a block from here. you guys can go ahead.” he told the guys to call it a night. “i’ll take jet and cash to my stables at home. see y’all tomorrow.”

they got on the car and started the engine. jaehyun read the atmosphere among them, he fixed the front mirror and saw mark and johnny with questioning looks. “what?”

“did you really call y/n impudent?” mark played with the buttons of the window.

jaehyun stepped on the pedal to head to your place. his friends bombarded him with what if’s and was too tired to respond. but just to shut them up, he replied.

“i was angry when i said that. i didn’t really mean-”

“do you think she meant it when she said you’re handsome?” johnny asked to cut off the weird vibe lingering while mark propped his fists to rest.

“she’s drunk. not like she can remember it anyway.” jaehyun clenched on the wheel.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

you woke up in hendery’s bed with a tray of breakfast on his desk table. you slid it towards yourself to eat when a folded paper fell from underneath.

i saw jaehyun at the grocery store earlier, he asked me to pass this breakfast to you. also! he said he’ll be at the barn’s loft. now go meet him. ~hendery

great, he pissed you off yesterday and he was the last person you wanted to see today. what was his plan now? he prepared breakfast and yet what was the use of eating the meal when it has gone cold? you tied your hair to a top bun and wore your glasses, quickly grabbing your coat, onto to jet’s back and went to the barn.

the sun’s heat was enough to make you warm on the way there. jaehyun swung his legs while he waited. he stared at the ground when a shadow appeared, you stood at the entrance asking him to come down.

he did that, but there was a different air around him. it was the same air as those four days of silence between the two of you. “at least you’re not late.” he slid his palms into his back pockets.

“did you want to talk to me about something?” you asked with a slice of bread in your mouth. he nodded with intense eyes. “then make it quick. i have to make my rounds-”

“i’ll go with you.” jaehyun suggested and you choked on your bread.

“what?” you gulped on the huge piece stuck in your throat and stopped him from walking. “why not tell me now?”

he pulled you to jet’s stall and pushed your back to mount on the saddle. “‘cause it’s better if they don’t see us talking normally when we’re supposed to be at each other’s throats.”

he’s definitely up to something..

jaehyun rode a bike, leading you and jet through woods and up on a hill where its summit towers part of your family’s lands. from here you could see your house and tiny figures you assumed were his friends. you haven’t gotten a clue why jaehyun was being nice again. and if he was, why today? why bring you all the way here to have this conversation? you couldn’t think of anything at all and maybe you should’ve eaten the meal he prepared for you.

when the winds blew, jaehyun spoke in a soft voice. he was awkward, you could tell that, but what he did was something you didn’t expect. he leaned back with his palms on the grass. “i’m sorry i called you names.”

hm.. you better be.

that apology alone pierced your heart, in a good way. if he was tired from all the negativity and endless banters, so were you. it had been fifteen days after all. maybe this was a cool break before continuing with the pact. “which ones?” you copied his position and counted your fingers one by one. “there’s ugly.. shorty.. lazy ass.. a no brainer-”

“i didn’t call you tha-” he paused, his lips forming an ‘o’ until he pursed them together seeing you mimic him on his laptop. “right. i implied it when you wanted me to teach you equine studies. anyway the bottom point is, i’m sorry for calling you impudent.”

you chuckled, but to him it sounded more of a scoff. “haven’t heard that in ages. never expected i’d hear that again.” you looked at him, he did too, there was a stare down before you spoke again.

“but yeah. i guessed you did that to fulfill your part for the pact. the guys were probably nearby and you thought of that to spark up the conversation. are we done?”

jaehyun rested his arm on his knees. “no that’s not what i meant- i’m being sincere here.”

“okay? then tell me what’s on your mind. you brought me up here. it’s gotta be something worth my time.”

“i feel like the pact just brings the worse out. and whenever it does, i don’t feel myself anymore. like this is not me.”

he picked up a dandelion, letting the wind take its soft pieces. he wished his feelings weren’t easily swayed like the flower’s petals. he knew he was easily hotheaded, stubborn and mr. perfect, but should he always be like these?

“then who is the real you?” you caught some flying pieces of the flower before looking back at him for answers.

“a studious douche who got his heart broken by his ex.” he shrugged and waited for your bicker, but you sat there with shocked eyes and struggled to find what to say. “yeah, in case you’re still surprised, i do have a heart for people.”

“i heard you.” you flicked his temple.

he held back fists from hitting back. “hey why’d you hit me?”

“it’s my way of being affectionate.” you laid on the grass and while he copied, you thought that jaehyun had a point, how the pact seemed a good approach yet with deteriorating results.

“by being violent?” jaehyun moaned as he asked. “ever thought that a pat in the back would be better?”

you glared at him. “let’s continue what we’re doing with another condition.. no personal or evil intentions whatsoever, or maybe a slight hint that we’d start dissing. we’re doing this for ourselves and..” you cleared your throat. “..helping out a friend.”

it made total sense, because he knew how much of an effect it did when the purpose of the pact was done unconsciously and naturally. he let out a tight and breathless sigh between his lips. “i’m your friend? after calling you all that?”

“i just needed something to describe you. would calling you a douche make you feel better after you apologised?” you stood up and headed downhill.

“well you did call me ‘handsome’ last night.” jaehyun singsonged and carefully walked down the stoned steps.

you froze at how stupid and blabbermouth you could be whenever you went to the bar. “i don’t remember, since i’ve been studying the things you taught me.”

“you can ask the others if you think i’m lying.”

“y’know what? i take back the condition i said.” you quickly hopped on jet to head back. “don’t bother me!”

“what do you mean studying? you’re planning to pursue vet sci? hey!”

“yeah.” you made jet walk in circles around the confused man, and your one-word response had jaehyun confirming you already decided to tell your father about it.

and it’d be on christmas eve too.

—

for almost half an hour marg couldn’t contain her feelings after you told her what had happened. marg squealed and you quickly covered her mouth since the door wasn’t entirely closed. she squeezed the pillow and hid herself behind it.

“he apologised?! such a gentleman! i mean mark didn’t really tell me the details but jaehyun really felt guilty?” she put the pillow down and crawled next to you on your bed.

as to why she reacted this way remained unclear to you, you figured it was probably she watched too many rom-coms with johnny in the past few days. “i admit, it was considerate of him to do that. but it doesn’t prove he’s already a good man.” you fixed your files and past researches of veterinary science. “sometimes an apology isn’t enough.”

your sister nudged you in a force causing you to stumble in your stance. “ey you’re too mean. him apologising is already enough of a sign that he’s a good one, and raised well.”

“i don’t know marg.” you slumped on your bed. “my head’s hurting because of him.”

she raised a brow and gave you a teasing look. “by thinking of him or he just couldn’t get out of your head?” she kicked her feet to escape your balling fists.

“why are you reacting if it’s not true?!” her giggles grew in volume as she brought out her phone record your reaction.

“get out of my room!”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

jaehyun walked around the mart in response to yet another order from you. it had to be a day before christmas eve too. he should be feeling the very essence of christmas and because of you, he didn’t. people who happened to pass by him swore they saw a walking corpse, while some sensed a spreading dark cloud hovering above him.

his demeanour quickly shifting and changing as if the clouds blocked his rays of sunshine. he was mumbling to himself and those who stood close by took careful small steps away from jaehyun, for he sounded like he was enchanting a spell.

he thought about it a lot— whether it there’d be a difference between the two of you if you hadn’t taken back that condition. because now that he was controlled like a pawn again, he wasn’t going to back down or lose to you. at least for the past few days since then he saw an improvement. you weren’t as violent, not a single word of hate from you nor were they intentional. it was obvious you were helping out. a small smile managed its way to resurface until he saw a reflection of himself looking like an idiot. jaehyun, you’re a fool. you shouldn’t be feeling this.

ignoring his subconscious, he turned a heel at the next grocery aisle when a voice attracted attention, at least to him it sounded like hendery. hearing your name from an unfamiliar man’s lips had him peeking secretly at a distance. “i suppose y/n’s behaving well with jaehyun?”

“better than everyone expected.” hendery followed him with hands deep in pockets. “aside their petty arguments, she gets along with him, mr. y/l/n.”

“that’s good to hear. i knew the jeong’s would never fail my expectations. their son is in vet school, yes?”

the mentioned name chilled him to the bone. he wasn’t to supposed to be feeling in this manner yet the very presence of your father already had gotten his shoes glued to the ground. hendery nodded and continued to walk along with him. “i hope he doesn’t encourage her about it too much. having y/n marry him would keep her quiet about ever continuing vet school.”

jaehyun’s back grazed the products he lightly leaning upon and stood still in his thoughts. he wasn’t the type to eavesdrop on others, let alone your family issues. although he was briefly told about your rocky relationship with your father and couldn’t hear much of the conversation, he shouldn’t care or meddle with it but.. did mr. y/l/n really think that?

and he remembered how you told him you’d pursue veterinary.

he fished for his phone with certainty that he would tell you what he had heard. he nearly dropped his phone when it rang and your name appeared as the caller. staring at it for a while, never in his life had he ever hesitated before— given that he was a straight forward person, he wanted to tell you.

and he didn’t know why he decided to keep his mouth shut and stayed behind, instead of doing the opposite. hendery noticed him beside the hundreds of chocolate chip buckets. “oh jaehyun!” he greeted, making your father turn his head around. “come here!”

jaehyun pressed his lips for being caught, steadily and unwilling to go them. he wished that now would be the appropriate time to be walking on super glue, he really didn’t have the mood to talk to your father. it wasn’t the right time as their conversation about you would probably escalate from there.

“hello mr. y/l/n, i’m-” he greeted, unknowingly staring at him longer because you were his carbon-copy.

“i know you’re jaehyun and i’ve been updated enough that i wouldn’t have to be physically at my residence to know your good qualities.”

“glad to know someone’s giving you the correct information.” jaehyun smiled, subtly gazing straight at hendery with more pressure on the tone of the name. hendery then clamped his lips to a close, regretting he should’ve minded his words carefully.

mr. y/l/n nodded with a chuckle— even hendery rarely saw him doing so, ever. and this only proved that there wouldn’t be a better groom fit for you other than the son of his childhood friends. “i like your personality. mind joining me for tea?”

jaehyun read the situation, and what your father was up to. he had to listen for another half hour even though he felt his phone continually vibrating then stopping. he knew it was you, but how could he answer when the person you grew to hate was with him at this moment? one word from him through a phone call would make you go berserk.

anyone could see that jaehyun was fighting a mental dilemma. for anyone it would be an easy question to answer; free food, you’re in. his future father-in-law asked for company, sure why not. jaehyun felt like he only one answer, and it had to be a correct one. he gulped and though he eyes wavered, he agreed anyway. “i don’t mind, but y/n would probably be moody if i don’t return immediately.”

“mhm, no worries. i won’t keep you long.” mr. y/l/n said, and jaehyun didn’t know why he had a small heart attack on what possibly could follow.

he lead him to a restaurant, hendery nudged the troubled-looking dimpled man. “sorry dude. he likes snacking on things but i’ll try to divert his attention so you can go to y/n asap.”

—

the relieved sigh didn’t last long when looked up from the ground. jaehyun spotted you crossing arms with a slight worrisome look. your fingers then pointed at the kitchen window and it looked like his soul left his body and his footsteps on the ankle-high snow. the curtains indoors brushed to one side with his parents facing back from the windowsill at the upper balcony.

his heart was beating his chest as if it wanted to go out. he planned to tell you what he and your father talked about, but in that previous hour he missed out your text messages and calls— not knowing they were that important. now he knew why they were.

you took his phone and clicked on the lock button, he didn’t check your means to reaching him. they were still in the lockscreen. “i know you’re a seenzoner but you shouldn’t ignore important calls! i was calling you an hour ago because your parents came so suddenly. did you know about their change of plans?”

he gave you other paper bag and made his way inside. “no they were supposed to arrive tomorrow.” to you jaehyun seemed grumpy for doing groceries, but it was obviously not the case when kept looking elsewhere. he bit his inner gums in question as to why he was venting out his irritation at you instead of the revelation that was told to him.

you followed him in and began bring out the items to set the remaining food on the kitchen island. something told you not to go overboard with the planned argument you had in mind, but you couldn’t handle the way he was acting now, as well as giving you the sudden silent treatment. behaving this way was such a wrong timing and you decided to cut the silence before it made you feel worse than you already were. “you good?”

“y-yeah.” he tilted down to take a quick look at you while realising lately how you hadn’t been sleeping well. the puffiness under your eyes was proof. he cleared his throat. “uh, i should be asking you but have you been studying.. lately? or have you been staying up all night?” he asked, changing the subject.

he twitched at your outburst excitement with your palms rested on his arm, shaking it vigorously. now that he reminded you, you gestured him for a whisper. “i found another way to stop this marriage without us hurting each other.”

what? his eyes grew big.

“aren’t you hurting me now?” he cleared his throat, referring to the reddening spot on his skin from your grip. he knew what you meant. he knew you’ve been sitting in your bed the whole day, reading e-books and going over past lectures documents.

“if i tell my dad that i’m pursuing vet school again, i think this time he’d let me. i’m confident because i do have a degree in equestrian sport science. imagine the benefit if have a degree in veterinary?” you opened a carton of milk to drink. “i wonder if my credits’ still applicable?”

“you sure you wanna do that?” jaehyun held the top your head, gripping it as if it were a basketball. “it’s gonna take you years to finish.”

“scared to have a competitor in the field, jaehyun?” your voice challenged him.

he wasn’t scared at all, he loved competitions as well as proving he could do things. but, he was scared for you. he knew the outcome of all this because it was already planned out. he was told by your father during tea break before he arrived here.

chills slowly went down your spine with that one, subtle, short silence from him.

“i’m not scared. it’s just that..” you shot up your head at his remark. he trailed off and shut his lips seeing your parents enter the living room with his beloveds.

“just what?” you stared at him with a long hum.

he had to lie and keep his opinions to himself. “are you able to take on hard words in that tiny brain of yours?” jaehyun scoffed, leaning in closer to provoke an argument with his hands patting your head.

“hey! you’re insulting my height, not my brain!” he heard your innocent whines as if they were precious— too precious that he wanted to protect you than to fight you; just for tonight.

and for the first time he was laughing sincerely at you.

week three had you imagining things, that he would look at you so differently. instead of horns they’d be halos, softer looks than tensed ones, and most of all you wonder what changed him within a day. it was confusing that he would show another side of him, then go back to what he was when you first met him.

but tonight? his possibility of change soon went void.

during dinner, whether or not it was right, that choice you made became one of the two things you regret to do and say. your father said his ultimatum in a low voice by the hallway, isolated from everyone enjoying the celebration.

“dad, please. i’ve done what you want. i think it’s time you’d allow me to do what i want.” you kept your head low in all hope this would be your final time to ask. “i’m successful as an equestrian, i hope to be more so as a veterinarian. please let me continue. i don’t want to get married yet-”

“still holding onto it, y/n?” he scoffed and took quick glances at his surroundings. “i’ve done everything for you to be known, raised you to be the best rider out there-”

and he too, held with the same stupid reason. “no dad! i raised myself to be the best because heavens knows how much damage it’ll cost me if i failed you-”

“this is the last time i saying it, you’re never going to be one.”

“but dad! you know how badly i want to be a vet-” you whined and hoping you wouldn’t cry because you promised yourself you wouldn’t.

“y/n you’re marrying jaehyun solely for that reason!” he whisper-yelled, making your heart squeeze tight because you could see how your complaints have pissed him off. “he seemed to be agreeing with me after i invited him for tea.” he fixed his hair.

w-what did he just say?..

he loosened the top button of his shirt; his gaze still scared you like it did that night. he held his temples to reason out with you. “discipline yourself tonight. i do not want hear anything from you about this matter ever again.” the impact of his tone shattered you. not only your mood but with how you perceived jaehyun as a whole.

you couldn’t remember much afterwards, anger roamed around your head and as much you kept your composure, jaehyun has a sharp eye. you’ve been quiet since coming from the hallway, hours have passed too since your father called you upstairs.

“are you alright?” jaehyun leaned on the refrigerator while you took some fruits from it. figured that you were completely ignoring him, he grabbed your favourite sweater to snap you out of your clouded feelings. “are we doing the pact now?”

it was getting suffocating being next to him. the audacity of what he did disgusted you. “hey tell me-”

you shut the fridge’s door with much force, held your breath and went to the sink to wash them. “i’m not doing it. and what’s there to tell you? just because i opened up to you that doesn’t mean we’re already close.” you coldly answered with a irritated look.

jaehyun was abruptly taken back, his hand let go of your clothes. “why are you’re suddenly like this?”

you began washing the apples as well as peeling their skin. “you’re not born yesterday, jaehyun. this is my usual self.”

“no y/n, i’m not talking about-”

“what the hell is your deal?” jaehyun could hear you mumble even with the loud blasting of holiday playlists.

“i just want to know if we’re starting the argument,. it seems like you’re doing your part-”

“you knew all along, didn’t you?” the sound of peeling almost excruciating to your ears but nothing more than his reaction to your question. ‘that my dad would refuse my plead.”

painful as it was, his expression changed. he was colder than the snow outside, heartless as a predator and unresponsive like a dead man. he just stared at you straight, acknowledging it with soft wavers of his brown orbs.

and that alone was enough to break you to pieces.

#jung jaehyun #jung yoonoh #nct jaehyun #nct 127 #jaehyun #jaehyun x reader #jaehyun au #jaehyun fluff #jaehyun imagines #jaehyun scenarios #jaehyun fanfic #jaehyun angsy

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roleplay-today · 2 years ago

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STRANGER THINGS. ah, heck. you know how it goes - I’ve fallen into the upside down, can’t get out, and now I’ve come seeking writing partners. I’ve never written Stranger Things before but, with the new season out, I’m looking to get into it. my interests especially lie in:

Eleven / Hopper; just some platonic, found family, father-daughter shenanigans. anything and everything. no real preference on who I’d play, that can be discussed. Steve / Eddie; c’mon, Steeb, get off Nancy and realize the possibility of what lay before you! preference on writing Eddie, but not too picky. Will / male OC; if writing Will through figuring himself out and meeting this super chaotic openly bisexual dude is your thing, you’ve got the right guy!

just looking for someone who's open to chatting OOC about headcanons whilst replying hopefully every few days to weeks. someone who knows proper grammar and is fluent in english. someone who is at least twenty and genuinely interested in writing and plotting both canon and AU things.

as for myself, I'm a 30yo trans dude. very friendly, relaxed about reply speed, I care more about quality and especially your well-being OOC than quick replies. got experience in writing since I was 15. I like multipara prose, third person, over discord. my english is fluent though it's not my first language. I love crossovers, AUs and multiple threads. smut isn’t my favorite thing, but I’m occasionally open to it assuming that we’re writing of age people. my favorite to write is character studies and studying different relationship dynamics, slow burn, angst in proper scale to fluff. the good and the bad in a nice balance, with hopefully a happy ending in the horizon. I reside in Europe so my time zone might be wonky in comparison to yours. writing samples are available per request!

drop a like if this sounds like you! pls only interact with this post if you're past twenty and seriously interested. other than that, everyone stay hydrated and be well! :>

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ratedbangtann · 5 years ago

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Firecracker | Park Jimin

Now that you had worked your way up to the advanced contemporary class, you had to face your most trying challenge yet; Park Jimin. The man was infuriating, always picking on you, giving you so many reasons to hate him including one very, very humiliating nickname...

Firecracker.

But when you have to dance with him one evening, the tension builds and builds and spills over. Perhaps you need to... reflect... on your behaviour?

Pairing: Jimin x Reader Word Count: 11k

WARNINGS: dom!Jimin, fem reader, angst and frustration, teasing, a lot of smirking, so much staring, oral sex (f receiving), fingering, some spanking, dirty talk, MAJOR mirror/reflection kink, multiple orgasms, cum tasting (f), hair pulling, brief choking, fish-hooking, forced selfcest, unprotected sex (assume birth control), creampie

A/N: Welcome to Jimin being a smug little shit and winding you up until you can’t tell if you wanna punch him or fuck him. We all know the damage that THAT stare can do...

You weren’t familiar with this building, and so – just as cliché as was to be expected in your life – you were late for your first advanced contemporary class. Wonderful.

These halls were so difficult to navigate. Your previous building was so much easier, but now that you’d transferred from the intermediate to the advanced class, you’d had to move on. Why on earth did your academy have to host all the advanced classes in a building across town from your regular studios? The inconvenience of the situation was aggravating, and now that you were late to your first lesson your mood was rather, shall we say, stormy.

You looked down at the schedule and map on you’d been given by your previous instructor that told you the room you were looking for was 4B, and instructor’s name was Park Jimin. You huffed in frustration at realising you had in fact passed the door to your class as soon as you had stepped in. The map was printed upside down on the page before your eyes. That would explain it…

When you finally found the studio you were looking for and barged in, the class of twenty students all stopped their stretches and turned to glare at you. You clutched onto the strap of your gym bag, averting their gaze and shuffling your feet with nerves and anxiety coursing through you.

“Ah, ____?” a young man’s voice called to you. You snapped your head up to see your instructor – Park Jimin, according to your useless schedule and map – turning to look at you too, his phone in hand and plugged into the sound system. His eyes trailed over your body and a smirk formed on his lips. “Late to your first class? Not the best impression…” he scolded.

“Sorry, I couldn’t find the room…”

“I didn’t ask for an excuse. Find a spot and start stretching, we have a lot to cover today. This won’t be anything like your intermediate classes…” His expression read as teasing; the smirk, the eyebrow lifting as he spoke, the bright eyes boring into yours.

Great. Your new instructor was a prick. Just what you needed.

You walked to the back of the room, dumping your gym bag and tugging your shoes, socks and hoodie off to leave you wearing your yoga pants and oversized tee. You joined the back row of dancers to start your stretches, limbering up for the rest of the class.

Looking around, you noticed the class was a pretty balanced mix of male and female students, all wearing similar attire to you, a couple of the other girls wearing leotards instead that hugged their figures and showed off every lean muscle as they stretched.

“Alright so, new student with us today. _____, give us a wave in the mirror,” Jimin was facing the large wall of mirrors at the front of the class, looking at you in the reflection. You raised your hand to wave sheepishly back at him, eyes darting across the class staring at you in the mirror. “I’ve heard some good things about you, little miss prodigy. Worked your way up here pretty fast, huh?” he smirked, eyes staring into yours as a flush rose to your cheeks.

True enough, you’d worked your way through the beginner and intermediate classes within just six months of joining the academy, whereas it took most people a minimum of six months to complete just one class. But you had managed to whiz through your preliminary exams, land the solos in the bi-annual showcases and generally be noticed by the academy’s leader, Mina Myoung. She’d been keeping an eye on your progress and asked to see you personally, wondering if you were ready to face the advanced classes.

And now, here you were, feeling more than a little humiliated at being called a “prodigy” in front of the entire class.

“Prodigy? Jeez, no pressure…” you muttered, annoyance clear on your features.

“Not a fan of that nickname, huh? Seems we’ve got quite the firecracker in our midst, class,” he smirked, still staring at you, challenging you. “That’s fine. Firecracker works too,” he winked.

He winked.

Oh god, as if you weren’t already humiliated enough, now he was giving you nicknames? First impressions are so important to you, and your first impression of Park Jimin was quite clear; asshole. No, not even just asshole. By the vibe he was giving off, he came across as ‘flirty-asshole ladies’ man cliché’.

“Alright class, we’re starting a new number today, I’m gonna need two groups; story we’re telling is of a rivalry. For the showcase we’ll have a number of group dances, a couple of solos and one or two duets. We’ll focus on the group numbers for now. From the first few sessions I’ll pick out those deserving of the solos and duets, then you’ll have focus sessions on top of group classes,” Jimin explained, eyes darting from each dancer in the mirror as he spoke.

You can’t lie, you wanted one of those solos, or at least a duet. You felt a need to be noticed, to prove that you deserved your place in the advanced class. Jimin had already made you feel so small, passing judgement on you and in some twisted way, forcing the others to pass the same judgement on you too. You’d work your ass off for one of those solo spots.

Jimin split the class into two, running through the choreography bit by bit, focussing mostly on the first minute of the track he’d chosen for the rivalry number. You had to admit, watching the way he moved made you realise exactly why he was such a coveted instructor at the academy. Every movement of his was so fluid, looking absolutely effortless. You caught yourself staring slack-jawed a few times, mesmerised by the way his body moved.

You told yourself it was just the dancing that had you mesmerised and slapped yourself mentally to bring yourself back down to earth.

But what you hadn’t noticed, was Jimin had caught on. In the mirror, he’d been able to see the way your eyes followed him, watching far more intently than the other students in the room. He revelled in it, his arrogance and ego visible in his smirk.

He lined everybody up, giving them their starting positions.

“Firecracker, front and centre. You’re gonna show me what you can do, stay where I can see you,” he clicked his fingers and pointed at the spot directly in front of him. You lowered your head and sulked your way to the front, standing not even a foot away from Jimin. He watched, amused at your shyness.

“Just call me by my name…” you muttered to him, eyes darting up to watch his smirk turn into a smile that forced his eyes to close. He chuckled and took a step back.

“No,” he said simply. “Alright, first section, here goes… 5, 6, 7,8…” You followed the moves he had instructed of the group perfectly, watching yourself in the mirror to make sure you didn’t make any mistakes. Jimin watched you too, not giving any of the other dancers a second glance at all. He wanted you to prove yourself just as much as you wanted to. You were a pretty little thing, and with a feisty bit of back talk to you; he could have a lot of fun with you.

By the end of the class you were a sweaty, run down mess. Yet still you made no mistakes, hitting every beat and moving so fluidly that Jimin had to admit to himself he was impressed.

“Alright, good start guys. I’m already getting a good idea of who I want for the solos and duets, but there’s still a couple of sessions to change my mind. Firecracker, not bad for your first class. I’ll expect good things from now on. That is, of course, if today wasn’t just a fluke…” he shrugged, turning to face the class now. “Grab your stuff, get hydrated, and head out. See you Thursday.”

The class turned to the back wall where bags and bottles of water littered the floor. You wondered over to yours, taking a seat and unscrewing the cap to your water bottle, guzzling the remainder of it down in a few short gulps.

“I don’t think she’s that good…” you heard someone mutter from the corner. “You saw the way she was looking at Jimin, right? Pathetic…” a girl giggled to her friend.

“She looks like she knows what she’s doing, Daeun. She only just started, be nice…” another girl whispered. Both of them were terrible at keeping their voices down, clearly.

“As if… She got so embarrassed too when he called her out. Hilarious,” Daeun scoffed, taking a sip of water. You turned your head away from the conversation, focusing instead on putting your socks and shoes back on, getting ready to leave. You expected to face people like this in the advanced class; entitled, bitchy girls and asshole jocks who thought they were the shit.

You could hear them behind you; Daeun making snide remarks and nasty comments and her friend, trying to shush her.

“Daeun, something you want to share with the class?” Jimin called to her, an eyebrow raised and a sassy hand on his hip.

“Huh?” she turned to him, caught off guard. The room fell silent.

“I said, something you wish to share?” he pressed.

“N-no, Jimin…” she shook her head, eyes wide. Her friend beside her cowered too, occupying herself with her gym bag.

“No? Well you were talking loud enough for me to hear you, I assumed you wanted the world to know. May I suggest keeping your mouth shut if you have nothing nice to say?” he tilted his head, staring at her, gaze never faltering.

“S-Sorry…” she lowered her head in a respectful bow, eyes flicking down to you sat on the floor. She turned and grabbed her stuff, leaving the room quickly with her friend and a few other students in tow. You sat there, tying your shoes with a blush on your face. You hated this, all the attention on you. As a dancer, of course, you wanted it on stage, when you’re dancing. But this was nothing but negative attention and it was flustering you.

The room cleared out as you stood up, draping your bag over your shoulder.

“Hey, firecracker!” Jimin called after you when you turned to leave. You span on your heels, chewing the inside of your cheek at the nickname. “You did good, today. I meant that. Ignore Daeun, she’s known for being a little…”

“Bitchy?” you scoffed, rolling your eyes. “I’ve dealt with worse.”

“I’m sure you have,” he smirked, staring at you again. He seemed to stare a lot. It was like he was challenging you, waiting for you to become uncomfortable and turn away. You fought it for as long as you could, returning the stare but eventually, you looked away, readjusting the strap on your shoulder awkwardly. “Just keep doing what you’re doing. If you do, I’m sure I can find a place for you in one of the solos.” You nodded and turned, heading back to the door, but not before catching a glimpse of Jimin in the mirror, watching you walk away and biting his lip with another signature smirk.

*****

After two weeks of classes, and another two group numbers started, you were beginning to get frustrated. After your first session, Jimin had become unbearably harsh on you. He picked up on every tiny little flaw, called you out for the smallest things in front of the class. And the worst part was he seemed to be enjoying it.

He would smile, or chuckle at your reactions every time he did so, referring to you only as your nickname that you had grown to absolutely loathe. You were working your ass off to be here, to get those parts you so desperately wanted in the showcase, to prove yourself to him and everyone else around you but he was doing his very best to aggravate you.

As he wrapped up another class, he turned from his reflection in the mirror to look at the group of students all taking a rest on the floor of the studio.

“Alright, solos and duets have been decided. Schedules have been printed for those lucky enough to get one. The rest of you, it’s business as usual, but don’t be discouraged.” He turned to the folder he’d rested up against the mirror wall and pulled out a small stack of papers to reel off to their prospective owners.

“Okay, Junghyun… Yejoon… Yoojin… Eunsuh…” he wondered through people on the floor, handing them their schedules as they each muttered excitedly about what they had been given. “Firecracker…” he called your nickname, and you groaned audibly. Immediately you saw him smirk and shake his head in amusement. “What’s wrong, Firecracker? Don’t want this?” he held the paper away from you, teasing the part you’d worked for.

“Of course I do…” you grumbled, snatching the paper as he handed it over and wondered to the front again.

“We’re done for today, get your stuff and head out.” The class stood and headed to the back wall as had become routine, but you sat in place, looking over your new schedule and the description of the part you had been handed.

‘_____, Duet with Junghyun.

Song: ‘Woman’ by Harry Styles.

Theme: Lust & attraction

Schedule: Duet classes Tuesday and Friday evening slots. 7:30pm – 9:30pm’

But… you’d worked so hard for a solo? And he’d said that… You hadn’t been slacking, so why had he decided against a solo for you?

As the room cleared out you stood to challenge him, walking over to the corner with the stereo in where Jimin now stood.

“Jimin…” you called to him assertively.

“What’s up, firecracker?” he gleamed, smiling brightly at you.

“You said if I kept it up, you’d give me a solo… What did I do wrong?” you slapped your hands against your sides in exasperation, clearly pissed at the final call.

“____, if you had done something wrong, you’d have got nothing at all. I just thought you and Junghyun had great chemistry, you look good together in the group numbers. And I know you could nail the choreography for this,” he shrugged. “Take this as a life lesson. Sometimes no matter how hard you work, you don’t quite get everything you want.” He winked at you and turned back to the stereo to unplug his phone from the cables.

“I’ve barely danced with Junghyun, how could we have good chemistry?” you argued.

“I just see it. If you don’t want the duet, I’ll give it to someone who does,” he threatened, not turning to look at you now.

“Ugh… fine,” you span on your heels and stomped toward your bag at the back of the room, realising now that you were the last to leave. You grabbed the strap and threw it over your shoulder, barely slipping your shoes on to storm out.

“Oh, and firecracker!” Jimin called after you. You stopped dead, looking over your shoulder at him. “Watch that attitude, sweetie. You could get yourself in a lot of trouble,” he smiled coyly, chuckling to himself as you slammed the studio door behind you.

*****

A few weeks into your duet sessions, you started to relax into the routine a little more. It was quite sultry, but given the song you were dancing to, it made sense. Junghyun remained professional about it, able to slip into actor-mode much like you for the dance.

The storyline of your piece was simple; the two of you clearly attracted to each other but teasing each other. The choreography showed this perfectly. Hands would roam your body, hips would roll to the music, your faces would come close together as if you were about to kiss. It was incredibly sexy, but of course, you remained professional also.

It wasn’t that Junghyun was unattractive; far from it. He was tall, around 6’2, a good jawline, pretty almond eyes, well defined muscles like almost all the dancers in the class and bless him, he had a heart of gold. But the chemistry Jimin had told you he saw between you was merely in dance.

“Alright, that looks nice guys. Firecracker, try and work on your eyes a little more, make yourself look him up and down when he pulls you close on the eighth beat,” Jimin instructed. You nodded, no longer reacting to each and every time he used that damn nickname. You figured if you didn’t, he’d get bored of it. “Great, run it again.”

He dragged the playback on his phone to the start of the verse and let it play. You re-enacted the steps as advised, letting your eyes wonder over Junghyun’s body as he pulled you close to him. As the harsh off-beats of the chorus came through the speakers, you pushed him off, as the choreography dictated, only for him to grab your wrist and spin you until the next off-beat, stopping dead with your leg hitched up to his hip. It really was an incredibly sexy choreo, and perhaps you could see a glimmer of something in Junghyun’s eyes that wasn’t necessarily anything to do with the ‘acting’ side of the dance.

“Much better,” Jimin clapped, pausing the track. “This is going to look great, guys. I can really feel a sexual tension between the two of you.” You wrinkled your nose at the idea, Junghyun rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly at the comment. “I think that’s it for this session. Feel free to head out.”

The two of you went to grab your bags, dabbing your forehead with a paper towel and slipping into your shoes. Junghyun came to stand over you as you did, bag slung over his shoulder.

“Hey so, um… I know we’re just dance partners and all, but I was thinking… If you’d like to get a drink sometime, outside of class… well, I’d like that,” he smiled at the floor, shuffling his feet with nerves. Oh, god. This is what you had been worried about. This is what you had been noticing. There was an attraction there that you didn’t reciprocate… But would turning him down make the dance stiffen? The chemistry dissipate?

“Oh, uh… M-maybe after the showcase? I’m kind of busy with um… stuff.” Smooth, _____.

“It’s cool, you can just say no if you’re not interested. Like I said, we’re just dance partners…” he smiled sweetly, but you could see the disappointment in his face.

“Sorry… I’m not saying no, I’m just… saying maybe not now.” What a cop out. Junghyun nodded.

“Well, if you change your mind... Great work today,” he smiled, before heading out the door as quickly as the poor boy could, his deflated ego dragging along the floor behind him.

A silence settled on the room as you shuffled into your shoes, collecting your stuff to pack into your bag.

“Why’d you turn him down?” Jimin asked from the other side of the studio. Damn, you’d forgotten he was still in the room. And listening in, apparently…

“Is it any of your business?” you snapped, looking up at him with crossed brows and angry eyes. He held his hands up in defence, a chuckle raising his chest.

“Sorry, firecracker. Just doesn’t make sense. He’s an attractive guy, smart, good dude. What’s not to like? Other girls are falling over their feet to get him to notice them.”

“And I’m not one of them. Yes, he’s nice. I’m just not interested. I’m allowed to not be interested,” you remained guarded, annoyed that he felt the need to comment at all.

“Alright, alright… just don’t make the dance awkward…” he turned back to whatever he was doing, letting you escape the room unscathed, hopefully with a modicum of dignity still intact.

*****

The session after the awkward encounter with Junghyun, he didn’t show. You and Jimin waited for a further ten minutes after you were due to begin, and nothing. Only when Jimin rang him to find out if he was going to come in at all, did he find out that he had – apparently – come down with some kind of stomach bug. But you had your suspicions that of course, he was distancing himself from you, feeling too awkward to face you after you denied him.

“Damnit, I suppose I’ll just grab my stuff and-“

“Where do you think you’re going?” Jimin stopped you from hoisting your stuff onto your shoulder and heading home with a strong look and a very affirmative tone.

“Well, if he’s not gonna show, we can’t exactly practise…” you started.

“Of course, you can. I know the choreography. You’ll dance with me. Put your stuff down, take your shoes off. You’re not getting off that lightly, firecracker.”

Oh, wonderful. You were going to dance with your instructor; the same instructor you loathed because he just couldn’t seem to leave you the fuck alone. The same instructor who winks at you whenever he says something to deliberately infuriate you. The same instructor who challenges you constantly with staring contests to intimidate you that you just can’t seem to win, no matter how hard you try.

Why not just take off your clothes and have a juvenile humiliation nightmare? That would just top it all off, wouldn’t it?

You sulked your way to the back corner of the studio, dumping your bag and taking your shoes and socks off, readying yourself to dance. You stripped yourself of your sweater, smoothing out your yoga pants and sports bra and took a long drink of water, before stepping back to the middle of the dancefloor.

When you looked up, Jimin was stood with his arms folded over his chest, that same infuriating smirk on his face as per usual, but his eyes were dragging themselves over your body in your dancewear. You coughed obnoxiously.

“Do you have the whole routine down yet?” he asked when his eyes finally fell on yours.

“Yes,” you deadpanned, starting your stretches in the mirror.

“Good, we’ll give it a run through and see what you need to work on,” he nodded to himself, watching you stretch from the corner of his eye as he fiddled with the stereo. A few beats of silence passed as you took some deep breaths and bent to touch your toes, wrapping your wrists around your ankles. “I think you must have frightened him off,” Jimin chuckled.

“What?” you bit back.

“Junghyun. Stomach bug is a very… vague ailment, don’t you think?” Jimin laughed, scrolling through his phone to get to the song in question.

“I don’t really think it’s any of your business,” you grumbled. “Besides, if I can remain professional then I don’t see why he can’t. I’m sure he’ll be back for the next practise.” You straightened up, stretching your elbows behind your back. Jimin sets the song on repeat and begins the track, stepping into the centre of the room.

“If not, you’re stuck with me,” he wiggled his eyebrows at you as he took up position behind you. “We’ll start at the chorus. Hard to press play when you’re all the way over here.” You took up your position for the start of the chorus, and Jimin took Junghyun’s; stood on your left-hand side, with his one hand on your waist, one on your chin making you look into his eyes.

You told yourself to remain professional, to just get through the practise and Junghyun would be back soon, because if you let yourself realise the gravity of the situation you had found yourself in, you may have thought that maybe – just maybe – you liked being in Jimin’s arms this way.

The first beat of the chorus came, and you pushed Jimin away from you as the choreography suggested, only for him to grab your wrist and spin you, pulling you to him and lifting your thigh to sit on his hip. The two of you swayed for another beat, foreheads pressed together as if you were completely besotted before he spun you again, so he was leaning over you.

The entire choreography was a back and forth display like this, a battle of sexual dominance to music. He’d pull you close, you’d push him away. You’d look like you were about to kiss, you’d turn your head with a smirk. Your hips would roll together, and then you’d leave him standing alone and reaching out for you.

By the end of the song the pair of you were out of breath, ending in each other’s arms. You were leaning back, neck exposed, and he was hovering just above your throat. His hot breath skimmed the surface of your skin and his arm wrapped around your waist; the other arm outstretched behind him. You had both danced beautifully, neither of you missing a single beat, or mis-stepping at all.

The pair of you lingered there just a beat too long to be deemed comfortable, out of breath and far too close for your liking. You lingered there just long enough for the track to start playing again, repeating itself like Jimin had programmed it to. You could feel the way he panted on your skin, and although you wanted to straighten up and push him away from you, you couldn’t move. In fact, it was him who moved first.

He straightened up with you still in his arms, pulling you with him to stand in front of you so close you could still feel his breath, now on your face.

“Good, very good. Even your facial expressions were decent. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you actually wanted me,” he jeered smugly. That was the wake-up call you needed, pushing him away from you.

“Don’t be a creep, Jimin. It’s a damn dance.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t get to see that first verse. Grab a drink, when it loops back, we’ll start it again,” he gestured to your bag in the corner, and wondered off to his own by the stereo. You did as he suggested, keeping your back to him to hide your reddening face. You were embarrassed. Of what, you weren’t too sure, but the still-cold bottle of water you’d bought from the vending machine on the way in did nothing to cool the heat in your face.

From the opposite corner, Jimin watched you with wary eyes. He had to tread very carefully here. He knew the way he was flirting was morally ambiguous… He knew the way he teased you was totally juvenile… He knew he was going too far, and yet he just couldn’t stop himself.

The way you scolded him, rolled your eyes at him, scoffed at him with everything he did just set his blood alight. He could feel an instant attraction to you the second you rocked up to your first class late, but when you answered him back in a way none of his other students ever had, god, did it turn him on.

You dropped the water bottle to the bag at your feet and made your way back to the centre, ready to start the dance over again when the start repeated itself once more. Jimin joined you, both taking up your starting positions.

You ran through the dance in full, again, never missing a step. However, this time you just couldn’t look him in the eye. You weren’t entirely sure why, but a fresh flush of heat would rise over your cheeks every time your eyes did actually meet, to the point where it was unbearable to look at him or bother acting at all. Jimin picked up on this, and being the infuriating little shit, he was, called you out on it when you finished the run through.

“What was that?” he asked panting, running his hands through his hair that was beginning to dampen with sweat.

“What was what?” you asked, averting his gaze again in favour of pushing your own hair out of your face and stretching your toes as if it made the blind bit of difference.

“In order for the chemistry to actually work, _____, you have to look at me,” he scorned.

“I was focussing on the moves, this time. It’s no big deal!” you defended, more for your sake than his. There was no way you were ready to admit to yourself that you couldn’t look him in the eye because you were shy.

“It is a big deal! You need to immerse yourself in the story, firecracker, otherwise the moves don’t flow the way they’re supposed to!” he dropped his hands to his sides with a huff, his patience seeming to wear thin.

“Alright fine, I just wanted to perfect my posture and stuff. Lay off!” you bit back at him, perhaps a little too harsh.

“I’m your instructor, it’s not in my job description to ‘lay off’,” he soured, rolling his eyes.

“Well, maybe it should be. You’ve been on my ass ever since I stepped foot in this studio.” What on earth was possessing you to talk to another human with such venom in your tone was beyond you, but Jimin was so infuriating. And what was even more infuriating than Jimin? The fact that you were so attracted to him.

“Well when you walk into my studio with an attitude, I will be. Get in position, we’ll do it again,” he ordered, snapping his fingers at the floor in front of you. You groaned but did as you were told, the tension in the room now far too heightened to push any further.

You waited for the song to loop back, very aware of the way he was stood off to the side behind you, his lips so close to your ear and hooded, angry eyes watching you in your reflection in the mirror.

“At least if you’re gonna be pissy with me, channel it into the dance and really fight against me,” he whispered.

The song started up again, and just like Jimin had suggested, you channelled all your frustration, all your anger, all your negative energy into the storyline of the dance. Every time you pushed him away, you really pushed. But with the same ferocity, every time he grabbed you, it was with tighter, firmer grasps, which in turn only made you fight against him more.

The heat between you both was becoming an inferno, something neither of you would be able to ignore for much longer. The way his eyes bore into yours, staring deeper than just the surface layer every time you looked at him in the choreo, and every time you caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror. It almost felt like there wasn’t a single moment you weren’t both looking into each other’s souls, waiting for the other to break.

You were not backing down this time. The outcome of this dance was supposed to be on your terms. You were the one who kept pushing him away, until you decided to take him. That was the whole damn story. So, if he wanted you to act it up, then by god, you would act it the fuck up.

By the end of another run through, the pair of you were out of breath and sweaty, gripping onto each other.

“Again,” Jimin stood up quickly, giving both of you no time to recover before the song started up again, and you got into the starting positions almost immediately. Somehow, it became even more intense. Having had no time to recover, you were both putting your bodies through some rigorous training, testing your stamina. But neither of you backed down.

This particular run through somehow felt more intimate than before. The strain on both of your bodies had Jimin making… noises. Some of his more difficult moves forced a grunt out of his throat, each one seeming to smack you in the face harder. But as you were struggling with your own difficult moves, you were making much similar noises, and they were affecting Jimin just as much.

His grip on you was impossibly tight, his strength when he pushed and pulled you around enough to throw you across the room, had it not been for your counter-strength. And that stare… you noticed it even more so now, and it was sparking a feeling in you that frightened you.

Jimin span you into the second chorus the way he was supposed to, but as you caught his gaze in front of you and heard him grunt as he spun you once again, you lost all concentration. Your feet didn’t do as they were instructed, and you slipped, falling to the floor.

“Ah!” you cried out as you hit the ground with an indignant grunt. “Fuck!” you yelled at yourself, laying on your front and trying to get your breath back.

Jimin made no attempt to help you up, instead storming over to the stereo to switch the playback off.

“What the hell was that?” he scolded, eyes darkened and sweat dripping from the strands of hair that had clumped together in front of his eyes. He came to stand over you again, looking down at you as you rolled onto your back, raising an arm to rest on your forehead as you breathed rapidly.

“L-lost my… footing,” you panted.

“Seriously? How could you fuck that up, it was a simple spin, firecracker!”

You sat bolt upright then, staring up at him with pure rage in your face.

“You practically fucking threw me, Jimin! God damn, it’s supposed to be somewhat tender, isn’t it?”

“Tender?! So, what’s this?” he yelled, lifting his shirt to show the red splotches on his skin you had created with your own grip. Frankly, you were horrified. Had you really made those marks? Perhaps you had just got a little too lost in… whatever you were feeling.

Jimin saw the look of shock on your face and his features instantly softened, just a touch, just enough to make him look slightly less terrifying.

“Look, I gave as good as I got,” he sighed.

“Huh?” you asked, and he raised his eyebrows, nodding at your waist and arms. You looked down to see very similar angry marks on your skin.

“Jesus…” You stood up and stepped up to the mirror wall to inspect the marks closer. You could literally see where he had held onto you, pushed you, pulled you. Vibrant shades of red scattered your waist and arms, one even around your neck… Jimin stepped up behind you, looking into the reflection to see his handiwork.

“Got a bit heated back there, huh?” he chuckled, the smugness returning to his face.

“You piss me off,” you deadpanned, “and you kept pushing.”

“I’m your dance teacher, it’s my job to push you.”

“Yeah well you need to learn when to back off, Jimin,” you scoffed, noticing the mark around your neck and stepping further towards the mirror to get a closer look. “Damn…”

The mark on your neck sent a little thrill running through you. It had been so long since anyone had-

Stop that, right now. You do not have a crush on your dance teacher. You do not have a crush on Park fucking Jimin. You do not want his hands wrapped around your throat. You do not want any part of him wrapped anywhere on you.

“Perhaps I was a bit harsh. Your form is actually, uh… quite impressive,” he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “And from what I could see in the mirror, you move beautifully. You have no problem with this choreo. Except when you dance it with me…”

You looked back up at him in the mirror, seeing him smiling down at the floor.

“Tell me, _____; why do I distract you so much?” his gaze lifted to your eyes in the mirror, another frustrating smirk on his demonically handsome face. “And don’t tell me it’s because you hate me, because the way you dance with me tells me otherwise.”

“And what does my dancing say about my hatred towards you, exactly?”

“You don’t hate me at all. And if you do, it’s not for the reason you seem to think…” He took a step closer to you, his eyes flicking between your reflection and the back of your head.

“I hate you because you’re a mouthy little gob-shite with an ego to rival Kanye West’s,” you spat, watching him carefully. He threw his head back in laughter, a hand flying to his stomach to contain himself.

“Please, firecracker… I’ve seen the way you look at me. Isn’t there just a hint of… arousal? Don’t you hate me because for some reason – and you don’t know why – you find yourself, just a little attracted to me?” he took another step closer, using his famous stare against you as a weapon. He chewed on his bottom lip, daring you to look away, but you wouldn’t. You were stubborn, and he was pissing you off.

“You wish, Park Jimin,” you laughed spitefully.

“Hmm, I think I do actually, yeah…” his stare momentarily flickered down your body before landing back onto your face. “I certainly wish a girl like you were attracted to me. Talented, sexy, feisty…”

Your heartbeat quickened in your chest as he stepped close enough to you that you could feel his breath on the back of your neck as he spoke. He placed both his hands on your waist and his chin on your shoulder, still staring into your eyes with amusement as he watched your expression turn into one of panic.

But you couldn’t look away.

“I know you think I’m a flirt and an asshole, but believe me… I wasn’t that bad, until you started talking back to me. You seem to get me all riled up, Firecracker.”

“D-don’t call me that…” you stuttered, frozen in place.

“Fine,” he chuckled. “I’ll have to find another nickname for you instead…”

“J-just ____, no nickname.”

“You sure about that… princess?” he watched your reaction carefully in the reflection in front of you both.

Your cheeks are what gave you away first; the redness that started to glow on the apples of your cheeks. He noticed the way you twiddled with your fingers, the way your thighs clenched together just a little tighter, the way your body tensed up.

“Oh? Princess; do you like that?” he smiled brightly, showing off his beautifully white teeth to you. You stayed quiet, refusing to admit to your mistake of showing him the kind of affect he had on you.

The hands on your waist tugged at you, spinning you until your back was facing the mirror and suddenly, he was pushing you against the cool surface, hovering dangerously close to your lips and watching your expression change to an innocent form of anxiety.

“J-Jimin…”

“Yes, princess?” his gaze dropped to your lips as his tongue swiped over his own. You had noticed those lips before, but seeing them up close was completely different… They looked so soft, so thick like plump little pillows and if you were honest, you were dying to know how they felt against your own.

“A-are you gonna kiss me?” you asked, your voice tiny and soft.

“Well, this is a very different _____ than I’m used to, hmm? So shy all of a sudden… Do you want me to kiss you, princess?” he teased. You nodded just a little, but it was the confirmation he needed.

He raised one of the hands from your waist to your chin, tilting your head up to angle you perfectly, and he leaned in to press his pillow-soft lips to yours.

Instinctively, your eyes fluttered shut, lips parting to allow him a much better angle to consume you completely. Your hands fisted the material of the t-shirt he was wearing, damp with sweat, in order to pull him closer. There was no hiding your attraction anymore; from him but most importantly, from yourself. You were completely bewitched.

He gently ran his tongue against your bottom lip, slipping past to sweetly dance with your own whilst the hand on your chin moved to stroke through your hair. The pair of you ended up impossibly close, bodies pushed together as he pressed you into the mirrors behind you.

“Princess, you’re killing me… We shouldn’t… I’ll lose control…” he panted as he pulled away from you, pressing his forehead to yours. But you didn’t want him to stop. You didn’t want him to control himself. You were aching for him already, just from the way he kissed you, the way he completely enveloped you.

“Then lose it…” you whispered. A moment passed between you, where Jimin looked into your eyes once again to try to find any hint of hesitation, any hint that you didn’t mean what you said. But of course, he found none.

Jimin smashed his lips back onto yours, enveloping you completely and earning a whine that was lost to the pressure of your kiss. The hand in your hair now steadied him against the mirror behind you, the one on your waist slipping down to your thigh to lift it against his hip. He pushed his pelvis against you, pressing his semi-hard length into your stomach. You whimpered as his tongue fluidly invaded your mouth, hands dropping to the hem of his shirt to touch the skin beneath it, to keep his hips pressed against you.

You bunched the material up, desperately pushing it further up his chest until he got the message and took over, lifting it over his head to expose his chest to you. You wished you had time to take in the heavenly sight before you, but frankly, you were too busy trying to reconnect your lips to offer even a second glance. But you could feel the abs under your fingertips, tensing at your featherlight touch.

Jimin wanted more of you, wanted to see as much of you as he could. He pulled the sports bra you were wearing up violently, exposing your breasts to him. Like a man possessed he ducked his head between them, placing sloppy, open mouthed kisses all over your chest, settling on your nipple. You gasped aloud, smacking your head against the glass behind you, hand weaving into his hair just because you needed something to hold onto.

He made out with your breast the way he would your lips, so much care and attention, occasional kitten licks and little nips with his teeth to get a reaction from you; of course, it worked a treat. You could hardly stay quiet at all, writhing as much as you could under his weight. While he worked on you, you pulled the top over your head and threw it away from you, giving him one less thing to worry about.

“Mm, Jimin…” you groaned, holding his head to your chest with both hands, your hips hovering inches from the mirror you leaned against as you writhed. He held you by your waist, his grip on you enough to leave bruises in the shape of little fingerprints.

Jimin suddenly dropped to his knees in front of you, hooking his hands in the waistband of your yoga pants and yanking them down your thighs with a force that sent shivers through your body. He exposed you completely to him, your underwear lost in his grip too as he pulled it all off quickly, barely giving you the chance to step out of them before he was throwing them away.

He lifted your thigh over his shoulder and didn’t bother with pleasantries, opting to instead bury his face in your heat with immediate effect. You would have thought Jimin had been starved, the way he ate you; his tongue worked incredible magic on your clit, as if he were reciting pure poetry, writing scriptures with the muscle against you. You could do nothing but watch in amazement at the man between your legs, high pitched whines and moans filtering through your lips.

“J-Jimin… fuck,” you wailed pathetically, hands gripping his hair and body rolling as if you were dancing right now, but you were just completely out of control of your movements.

Jimin growled against your cunt at the sound of his name leaving your lips so prettily, his hunger for you growing beyond animalistic. He shoved two fingers inside you with no preparation, knowing that you were already wet enough to take them. Of course, you were ready; you were sure you’d been aroused from the first time you danced with him this evening.

“Taste… so sweet,” he mumbled against your folds, thrusting his fingers inside you and curling them perfectly. He didn’t have particularly long digits, but boy, did he know what he was doing with them. He knew exactly where to reach for, exactly where you would be the most sensitive. “Cum,” he demanded. “Want you to cum on my fingers, princess.”

His tone was so controlling, growling against you as he pumped his hand, forcing you closer and closer to an undoing. The foot holding you up started to slip against the laminate, your back sliding down the mirror. Without a second thought, he lifted your other thigh over his shoulder, sitting you comfortably against the mirror and continuing to assault your poor throbbing pussy.

“Jimin I’m g-gonna... oh, fuck…” you screamed, slamming your head against the mirror behind you. The grip you had on his hair loosened, arms flopping to your sides as your body went limp, wave after wave of pleasure throbbing from your core like ripples in a duckpond.

Jimin let out another growl against you, lapping up the extra juices you spilled just for him, holding your hips steady with one hand and himself steady with his other against the mirror. He lifted his head to look up at you, to watch as you came down from your high. He smiled to himself, proud of reducing you to a writhing mess. He didn’t think he had ever seen something so pretty, so stunningly beautiful.

“God, you’re fucking unbelievable…” he chuckled, watching you regain composure. You looked down to see his cheeky grin, the one you would have done whatever you could to slap off his beautiful face not fifteen minutes ago. But there’s a very fine line between love and hate, isn’t there?

You ran your hands down your face, wiping the sheen of sweat that had gathered in the heat of the studio. Giggles erupted from your chest, and you could barely look him in the eye for the smug smile you hated so much.

“Shy now, huh? Trying to hide from me?” he slapped the outside of your thigh, hard enough to jolt you with a shriek and leave a red print on the flesh. “I’m not done with you yet, princess. Stand up,” he commanded, shuffling to put your feet back on the floor. You did as you were told, leaning your weak body against the coolness of the mirror, probably leaving a smear of sweat across it but that wasn’t your concern. It was Jimin’s studio, after all…

Jimin stood too, towering over you and getting closer, his hips pushing against you again. The semi you felt before? Rock solid now, protruding through his sweatpants and pressing into your bare stomach. Theory meant nothing; quite clearly, hand size did not correlate to penis size, because you could feel just how big he was. And your mouth watered at the thought of him inside you.

His fingers tilted your chin up to force your gaze on his again. You noticed the gleam on his lips, the slick from between your thighs shining like a lip gloss on pudgy lips. The thought of kissing him right now didn’t faze you at all, in fact it only excited you, igniting a spark in your abdomen so soon after such an intense orgasm. He was about to speak – probably something disgustingly smug – but you didn’t want to hear it, instead grabbing him by the back of his head and forcing your lips on his.

He was right; you did taste sweet. It didn’t bother you at all to know that that sweetness was your own arousal, but Jimin knew you could taste it. And good lord, it flipped a switch in him. If he thought he’d lost control before, he was wrong. He was about to really lose it.

“Do you have a safe word, princess?” he asked suddenly, rushing the conversation because he needed to know – he needed you to know – that there was a way to stop this if either of you needed it.

“N-no…” you admitted against his lips. You’d never needed one before, your previous lovers having been somewhat… tame?

“Tell me ‘yellow’ to slow me down, ‘red’ to stop me. Understand?” he said as clearly as possible between sloppy kisses to your jaw and neck, leaving wet trails against your skin. You nodded frantically, brain a little frazzled and clouded with lust. “Need to hear you say it, princess. Do you understand?”

“I understand, yellow to slow down, red to stop.”

“Good, and hit your hand three times if you can’t talk,” he explained. ‘Wait, why won’t I be able to talk?’ you thought to yourself, but Jimin gave you no time to think on it any further, instead gripping your hips and flipping you to lean against the mirror on your front, breasts pressed against the glass. You barely had time to gasp, your cheek hitting the cold surface.

Jimin pulled your hips out a little, keeping you leaning against the mirror but bending you a little for better access to your dripping core. He ran his fingers through your folds, grinning at the soft moan that slipped from your mouth, fogging up the glass beneath your face.

“Pretty girl… You want me inside you, princess?” he asked sweetly, hovering close to your ear. Goosebumps flooded your skin, chills running down your spine at the intimacy of his words.

“Yes, please…” you whined. Jimin grinned, pushing his sweats down along with the briefs underneath, letting his length spring free. You could see from the corner of your eye, and oh boy, you were in for a damn treat. He kicked the garments away from him, stepping close to you with a hand on your hip, holding you steady as he rubbed the tip of his cock through your slick.

“Step back a little, princess,” he guided you backwards, taking a step himself; you were no longer pressed up against the glass. “Look up.”

You did as he instructed, looking up into the reflection in the mirror to see his hungry, hooded eyes looking directly into yours. As you made eye contact, he pushed his hips forward, slowly but surely sheathing his length into your tightness. He never looked away, biting down on his lips and growling when he felt your wet heat envelope him.

“Sh-shit…” you moaned, too scared to look away from him. You loved the look on his face too much to miss it even for a second, the absolutely feral expression etched into his usually soft features.

“You’re gonna watch me, Princess. You’re gonna watch me fuck you in the mirror, gonna see yourself when you cum on my cock.” His voice had deepened considerably, leaning over to speak directly into your ear with his dick fully inside you. But he never stopped staring into your eyes. He had wanted you like this for so long, waited for you to admit how attracted you were to him. He knew; of course, he knew. He knew before you did, and just continued to taunt you, to rile you up until you snapped.

And now that you had, he wanted to make sure you could see yourself. He wanted you to see just how desperate you were for him, just how good he could make you feel, how hard he could make you fall apart.

Jimin stood up straighter, his hands gripping onto your hips and his length pulling out agonisingly slowly only for him to rut his hips against your backside again, the tip of his cock hitting your g-spot with so much force you jolted forward, hands flying up to steady yourself on the mirror in front of you. Neither of you looked away from each other though, not even when you cried out at the overwhelming pleasure of the first hit.

With almost no warning at all, Jimin started to thrust into you rhythmically, his pelvis slapping lewdly into your ass cheeks each time. He needed to bury himself as deep into you as he possibly could, needed to feel you completely envelope him.

His hands slid up your bare back, stopping at your shoulders to hold you still as he fucked into you. But it wasn’t enough, he wanted more control of you. He gathered your hair into a ponytail, wrapping it around his fist and pulling your head back, exposing your throat to him in the reflection. God, it looked so pretty… so bare and ready to be marked up. Jimin looked forward to that; getting to leave angry purple blotches wherever he pleased. But not right now.

Right now he needed to fuck you, needed to be balls deep inside you and for you to watch every single thrust.

Jimin’s hand pulling on your hair had you groaning wantonly, feeling like the dirtiest slut on the planet but you loved every second of it. No one before him had treated you like this, no one had ever roughed you up and frankly you needed it. You wanted more from him, but you were in no position to ask for it right now.

“Shit, look at you. Taking me so well, huh? How bad did you want this, _____? Tell me…” he asked, all pleasantries long since forgotten.

“S-so bad…” you managed to stutter out. You weren’t used to talking at all during sex, but you wanted to please him so desperately.

“But I thought you hated me, firecracker?” he jeered, thrusting extra hard for added effect. You cried out, watching the smugness return to his face. It fuelled a surge of resistance in you, wanting nothing more than to answer back as anger dwelled in you again. Of course, you weren’t really angry. You couldn’t be. You wanted him, you knew that.

“Just shut up and fuck me, Jimin!” you snapped. That was probably a bad move, but Jimin just laughed in the reflection, the hand that wasn’t wrapped in your hair coming down hard on your ass with another extra hard thrust into your sodden cunt.

“You wanna talk back now, huh? With my dick buried this far in your pussy and your hair wrapped in my fist?” he warned. “That mouth of yours always runs on and on, huh?”

His free hand slid up your back again, his thrusts turning into rolls of his hips and slowing down considerably. He wasn’t just mindlessly fucking you anymore, there was strategy to each roll, a reason for him to move this way; he was making sure every pressure point inside you was hit.

He wrapped his hand around your throat, squeezing a little before sliding it up to your jaw and forcing it open. He was going to make a damn spectacle of you and force you to watch it. The thought excited you far more than you were ever willing to admit.

He slipped two fingers past your lips and instinctively you began to suck on them, showing him that your mouth was in fact good for more than spewing words of venom at him.

“See, princess? You just wanna please me, huh?” he commented smugly, an eyebrow arching as he watched. But he wasn’t satisfied with having you just suck on his fingers. Instead, he prized your jaw open, fish-hooking his fingers in your cheek and holding you like that, mouth agape and unable to move at all. You couldn’t even moan properly, all of them coming out as breathy groans while his hips rolled into yours.

You wanted to tell him you were close, but no way were you able to with your mouth occupied like this. It was utterly degrading and totally dehumanizing, but you’d be a fool to protest against it when it stirred such incredible pleasure in your abdomen.

“Mm, fuck… you look so pretty like this, baby. So pliant, taking my cock like this. Are you watching yourself? Do you like seeing your own face when you’re being railed?” he laughed. You tried to hum in affirmation, a muffled “mmhmm” coming out as more of a howl of appreciation seeing as you couldn’t press your lips together to make a humming sound right now.

“Look at you, huh? Such a perfect little slut for me. You gonna cum, princess?”

Your eyes were watering, tears starting to force their way down your cheeks. You knew that if you wanted him to stop, you could hit the mirror three times and he would; you trusted him enough to do that. But you didn’t want him to. You’d never felt like this, never felt so damn good. Come to think of it, no one had ever made you cum from penetration alone; you were sure you always needed some kind of clitoral stimulation. But Jimin was going to be that guy.

You nodded as much as you could with how he was holding onto you, the hairs on the back of your head pulling with a sting, reminding you he still had a firm grip on it. That’s when Jimin really lost it.

You could see him in the mirror lose his eye contact with you, instead looking down to where his cock was rolling with his hips in a fluid motion, disappearing inside of you over and over. The sight drove him wild, the whimpers coming from deep in your throat hitting him like a charge of electricity. The roll of his hips turned to fast, lewd slaps of his pelvis to yours once again. You could hear the way his cock slipped through the wetness, the slaps ringing and ricocheting off the mirror in front of you.

You cried out, your head drooping just a little as the pleasure started to become too much, completely overwhelming you. Your body was so tired, so overworked from the dancing and holding yourself up this way but Jimin wasn’t done, and how dare you disobey a direct command he had given you from the start. He yanked your hair, tightening his grip on your jaw and pressing his fingers into the inside of your cheek harder. The whimper that came from you was pitiful, but you knew you’d reach that all important climax soon and that was all that you wanted, desperately.

“No, no princess… I told you to watch yourself, and you’re going to. You’re going to watch the way you cum on my cock, gonna watch me when I fill you up. Just a little more, baby. Almost there, hmm?” he reassured, his dominating tone never seeming to slip but somehow you felt comforted.

With another few thrusts, you were coming undone. His words were enough to bring you to the precipice of your pleasure, your abused little pussy throbbing and clenching around Jimin’s length. He stopped his animalistic thrusts and opted again for rolling his hips into you slower, helping you through your final orgasm. He dropped his hand from your jaw but kept a firm grip on your hair so you could watch the way you drooled; the way your eyes could barely stay open. The glass in front of you fogged up with the outward breath you let go, a long drawn out moan tumbling out.

“Fuck, that’s it princess. Good girl… You look so pretty, huh? Don’t you look pretty?” he asked you, losing himself. You hummed, strangely delighted by how you looked in your reflection right now.

Ripples of pleasure pulsed through you, your pussy producing more slick than you think you ever had before as you just let go. Jimin watched in fascination, eyes glued to your pussy as he now could slip in through your tightness even easier than before. Your own cum was already dripping down the inside of your thigh, warm and sticky and looking like a beautiful glaze that Jimin wanted to taste again so badly.

As you were coming back down from such an intense high, he used his free hand to do just that, scooping the excess up onto two fingers and raising them to his lips, sucking on them to clean them off.

“So sweet,” he chimed, his hips rolling a little faster, desperate for his own undoing. He didn’t start to pound into you again, knowing your battered cunt couldn’t take much more of that. He was so close he’d cum no matter what.

“Oh, shit… I’m gonna cum, princess. Can I-?”

“I-Inside me, please…” you interrupted him, totally breathless but already knowing what he wanted to ask. That was enough to tip him over the edge.

You felt the warmth spreading through you as hot spurts of cum filled you from the inside. His hips stopped rolling, stilling completely with his pelvis pressed against your ass. He threw his head back, his Adam’s apple becoming so prominent when the animalistic groan rumbled from deep in his throat. The grip on your hair loosened, his hands clutched your waist.

You watched his reflection in fascination, and you couldn’t help but think just how incredibly gorgeous he looked right now; his chiselled body was dripping in sweat, chest heaving with deep and heavy breaths.

A moment of silence passed between the both of you, and it wasn’t until Jimin felt himself softening that he pulled out and straightened up, chuckling to himself. You’d just about gathered enough strength in your legs to stand upright and turn around, leaning your back against the smeared mirror. He stepped towards you, one hand on the mirror and the other on your waist, looking down at you with a smile.

This smile was different; it wasn’t the smug kind you were used to from him. It wasn’t the smirk he seemed to have permanently etched onto his infuriatingly stunning face. It was sweet, genuine as he looked over you with a kind of adoration in his eyes.

You hid your face from him, suddenly shy as you giggled like an infatuated teenager. Jimin found it so cute, glad to finally see the sweeter side of you. He’d wanted to since the start, but he’d had far too much fun with the feisty side up until now.

“Don’t hide from me, princess…” he pulled your hands away from your face, seeing the red in your cheeks and finding it oh, so endearing. “You don’t have much to hide from me, anymore.”

“Shut up,” you objected with a smile, slapping your hand to his shoulder while he laughed. A beat of silence passed between the two of you again, a comfortable one, in which both of you shared a look of contentment and satisfaction. But Jimin wasn’t sure what to say now, no clever remarks to use as comebacks to your frustrations.

So instead, he planted a kiss to your lips. A sweet kiss; the kind that should be the first kiss of a couple saying goodnight after the first date. You wrapped your arms around his neck to keep him in place, just loving the way his lips moulded to yours.

He pressed his forehead to yours when he broke away, sighing happily.

“Well, this was uh…. Fun,” he chuckled. “Perhaps next time, I’ll be a little more romantic.”

“Who said there was going to be a next time, Park Jimin?” you teased, acting genuinely appalled at the idea.

His eyes widened and he tried to step away from you, feeling awkward and a little horrified that he’d just assumed like that, but you held him in place, letting the façade down with a hearty laugh.

“Relax, I’m kidding. But maybe we could go on some kind of date first, hmm?”

“You brat, I really thought…” he shook his head, amused.

“Buy me dinner, then maybe we’ll see if you get that second time,” you arched your eyebrow, smug smile on your face now.

“So demanding, firecracker…” he chuckled, pressing another sort kiss to your lips. “But that’s reasonable.”

“Oh, and drop the nickname, otherwise this most definitely won’t be happening again!” you warned, only half serious of course.

“No chance, firecracker,” he insisted, slapping his hand to your ass cheek lightly and turning to find your clothes that were long since discarded. You stepped off from the mirror and helped, dressing yourself and making yourself look a little more presentable. Lucky for you both, the sweat and ruffled hair could be explained away with the excuse ‘we were practicing’, but the smear on the mirror needed taking care of, pronto.

Jimin saw it too, of course, heading over to the utilities cupboard in the back corner of the studio and pulling out two cloths and a bottle of glass cleaner, tossing the bottle at you.

“You’re helping with that!” he declared, walking past you and handing you a cloth. You rolled your eyes and giggled. Suppose that was the least you could do, after the beautiful man in front of you had given you two rather powerful orgasms…

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