#only that it was deeply fucking unnerving and i could not be normal for the rest of the month lol

[itstimeforstarwars]

Taking a break from the old mutual's whumptober novella because my old friend is sososo good at whump and emotion and if the boy gets hurt I WILL cry about it.

[ficbrish]

Black Spot (aka Shenko Pirates) Chapter 2

"A dull ache settling into the bone" [AO3]

Rating: Explicit, 18+ only

Tags: Prompt Fic, Alternate Universe - Pirate, Enemies to Lovers, Pirate Captain Shepard, Navy Admiral Kaidan Alenko, Renegade Shepard (Mass Effect), Renegade Kaidan Alenko, Biotic Shepard (Mass Effect), Some Plot, POV Alternating, Eventual Smut, Shameless Smut, Oral Sex, Rough Sex

[[TW/CW: Migraine pain]]

[Previous Chapter]

[All Chapters]

What the fuck? How did this happen?

It all went so… wrong!

Admiral Alenko grabbed his head. The sun was blaring straight down into his bludgeoning migraine. There was a thick heat, and he was parched.

“Bring back Shepard, or don’t come back at all!” General Udina had practically exiled him.

“Turn around slow.”

That voice made his blood crawl.

Kaidan tried to clear his throat, but it was too dry. “Why?—” he tried to clear his throat again, “Why slowly?”

“Because I still have a knife.”

“Ah.”

The light stabbed though his skull. When he blinked, one of his eyes refused to open again. He turned around carefully with a grimace.

Across the sand was Pirate Captain Shepard holding a knife between them with a line of coconuts at her feet.

“I couldn’t even hold onto my boots, and you managed to keep a knife?”

“Never gonna find me without one.”

Kaidan threw his hands up, “Look, I’m happy to dance more later, but right now I just really need some shade and one or two of those coconuts.”

Shepard’s retort was supposed to be threatening, “Oh, now you want my coconuts?”

He smirked.

Shepard heard it, “Don’t smile! Shut up!”

He was fighting the full-bodied panic boiling in his nerves. He was going to die out here under the sun, in the middle of a migraine. He really needed water, “I won’t laugh.”

Shepard nodded and rolled one of the coconuts towards him with a kick.

Bending down to grab it was way harder than it should’ve been, “Now I need that knife.”

“Man! Fuck you!”

“I’m just thirsty.”

“You think I’m stupid!”

“How am I supposed to drink this?”

“Figure it out!”

Kaidan really wanted to smash it against his own head. The pain was starting to feel like a papercut occurring over and over above his eye. He was dizzy so he just sat down.

“Hey!”

He just couldn’t bring himself to speak anymore.

“HEY!”

He closed his eyes and put the coconut in his lap. Then he started rubbing his forehead with both hands.

“Hey! Are you stroking out or something?”

The only thing he could focus on was his breathing. In and out. His fingers pressed against his brow so hard he could only feel the bone underneath.

The next thing he knew, Shepard knelt near him. She took the coconut from his lap and stabbed a hole in it.

“Here,” she said, offering it to him, “Sip slowly and then get out of the fucking sun.”

He had to stop himself from drinking deeply. Kaidan normally wasn’t a fan of coconut, but this was the best thing he’d ever tasted.

“Thank you.”

Shepard just said, “Get up. There’s shade under the trees. Sun has you half-dead.”

She wasn’t going to drag him there, but that little bit of hydration was help enough. Kaidan licked his lips and stood up after she did. He thought he saw her hold her hand out and quickly pull it away, but he was too tired to analyze that or care. It was probably just a trick of his mind anyway.

*                       *                       *                       *                       *                       *

The temporary shelter they’d made under the trees was fine for now, but as fragile as their unspoken truce. It was like a bird’s nest on the ground, just palm leaves and dried grasses spread out under a few trees.

The Admiral had been lying still ever since they finished setting it up, a knitted brow his only sign of life. At least they didn’t have to worry about awkward conversation. Still, it was a little unnerving.

“Are you dying?” she asked.

He didn’t wake up.

“Hey!”

“Hey!”

“HEY!”

He groaned and stirred.

“Are you dying?” she asked again.

He opened one eye, “You woke me up.”

“Because you look like you’re dying.”

“It’s just a migraine.”

“A migraine?”

“Yeah,” he grimaced.

“Oh.”

The Admiral closed his eyes again.

“Hold on,” Shepard said, and then got up.

She took an empty coconut half and went down to the surf. Once it was filled with water, she walked back up the beach to their shelter and sat down by her enemy’s side.

“Give me your arm.”

“Why?”

Shepard roared, “Just do it, okay?!”

He gave her a pained look that seemed to say, “Whatever,” and held up his right arm.

Shepard gripped his wrist in one hand, holding it steady. Then she ripped off a strip of his sleeve.

Kaidan snatched his arm back, “What the hell?!”

“I said hold on, Jeeeeez.”

She dipped the strip of cloth into the coconut, soaking it with ice-cold seawater. Then she brought it over the Admiral’s forehead. She pretended not to hear his sigh of relief. Not for his sake, but for hers.

“Why are you doing this?” he asked, eyes closed.

“You want me to stop?”

“Please, no! I just—Why?”

Shepard took the cloth away to dip back into the water. His skin was so hot that it warmed the water-logged rag almost immediately.

She thought about her answer, “I was drowning. And then I woke up on a beach. You’re the only other person here so… I figure you might have had something to do with saving my life.”

He chuckled when she brought the cloth back down on his forehead, “I didn’t know who you were.”

“Still.”

He opened one of his eyes at her. They were a light whiskey color, or deep amber. The sun made them shine even though they were glazed over with physical pain.

“Is that a thank you?” he asked.

Shepard scoffed, “It’s a—It’s a… Sure, why not?”

“You’ve been eluding me for years, and you give up that easy?”

“I’m just exhausted, on some island god knows where, probably going to die a very slow, painful death—I can’t be fucked! Let’s just get you moving so you can be more than dead weight around here.”

“Hey, I helped make our shelter.”

“Yeah, well, we’re gonna need to do a lot more than spread plants on the ground if we’re gonna make it out of here. And we need to do it fast.”

Shepard took the cloth away and dipped it again. When she put it back to his forehead, there was another sigh of relief.

The following silence was almost nice, until he spoke again, “Guess I’m bringing us down, huh?”

“That’s why I’m helping. What’s your name, by the way? You know I’m Shepard.”

“Alenko. You didn’t know that?”

“I know your face. And your ship. That’s why you got us by surprise. That schooner was a nice touch.”

“I lost everyone…”

“Lost that ship too.”

She could feel him scowling under her fingers.

“That’s what you get for fucking with me,” she said and booped his nose.

Alenko sat right up, “Hey!”

“¿Que Pasa?”

“Did you just… poke my nose?”

“Thought it would be funny.”

He was bristling, “Don’t!—Ow!” He laid back down and started rubbing his head.

“Got up too fast, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, why do you care?”

“I don’t.”

She dipped the cloth into what was left of the cool water. He sighed again when she brought it back to his brow.

“Thank you,” he said.

“Let’s find drinkable water before you get all mushy on me. I can’t afford to get sick right now.”

She saw a little bit of a smirk. His lips looked very different when they weren’t scowling.

Shepard frowned, “Can I try something else? I don’t want to go deeper into trees alone, so we really need you on your feet.”

“Scared?”

“I just don’t want to be dead, and we don’t know what’s in there.”

“What do you mean, ‘try something else’?”

Shepard sighed and held out her palm. Something blue appeared and sat in it.

Both the Admiral’s eyes shot open, “You’re a—?!”

“As if you needed any more reasons to want me dead.”

“If I wanted you dead, I wouldn’t have saved you.”

“Thought you said you didn’t know who I was when you saved me?”

Alenko cleared his throat, “Look, if you’ve got a way that’ll stop me feeling like this, I’ll let you do anything.”

Shepard paused, “…Like not turn me into the authorities?”

“No. So not that. Anything but that.”

She raised her brow, “I’m flattered, really—”

“No! Not that either!”

“Saving yourself, my lady?”

He glowered at her so deliciously.

“I’m messing with you!” she laughed.

“Don’t mess with me, help me!”

“Okay! Okay! Relax!”

Shepard crawled over to position his head in her lap.

“Seriously! Relax. I don’t want to accidentally snap your neck. Not that I don’t ever want to snap your neck, but… different context! You know?”

“Sure.”

Shepard put her fingers up to his temples, “After we do this, we’ll need water fast. Okay? This takes a lot even when I’m not parched and stranded.”

She felt him nod and closed her eyes.

Liara taught her how to do this. You just reach into the nerve and tell it to calm down. It was their crew’s little trick for fighting through pain, and it made them a terror across the seas. That’s where that invincibility rumor came from; they stood up after blows that would silence a regular person. It also really came in handy for hangovers.

Alenko moaned, “God that feels so good.”

“Shut up!”

[Next Chapter]

[All Chapters]

[serenemy]

some monsters must be staked in the heart to die

in my worst moments of anger, i wouldn’t reference someone’s passed father to do a bit. i wouldn’t do it to an enemy

some of the hurt stuff has been about that person. the mean stuff never has

i remember the geographic origin story. those references had the opposite connotation on multiple levels (culture war*/left hand path paganism/different characters in the story**)

* right hand culture is a theme whether that’s been clear or not. i’m on a certain side of the culture wars and i don’t think there’s a person online who doesn’t know which. he did. and ~ unsolicited ~ he pretended in multiple ways not to be my mortal enemy in that war—a cause you know how deeply i hold—

until afterward

and i swear to you i know in my bones the secrets the women find out are part of why he turns on them. it’s why he definitionally has to hate them. it’s why he lays the groundwork to turn on them. it’s why women he wouldn’t be friends with—ones he wouldn’t want his father to know about—are actually his favorite kinds to fuck. not the reverse

i was safe only because we really did stay friends for quite awhile after. (i was highly motivated as the whole world now knows.) but that dynamic could explain why he made himself available basically any hour of every day while making everyone else think we barely knew each other. part of why “sarah is a disappointed suitor” so flummoxed me was because, while it stings not to be lusted after, up until the day i ended the relationship

i basically had a full time parasocial boyfriend. i wanted more physical contact—still do—but never at any moment with him specifically. and in every other way

i already had him

it was me souring that changed things—and i believe forced him back to his normal patterns. once he couldn’t trust me to like him enough to keep all the secrets, i had to go. and i was particularly dangerous compared to other women because i won’t keep shame based secrets on my own behalf

i actually thought it was going to be complicated for him to run me out of that chat. i thought i had plenty of friends. it unnerved me enough i still agreed to AND KEPT all his terms.

but it turned out even then it wasn’t complicated at all

anyway i learned which side of the culture war he actually fights for only after we liaised, in a long ugly series of escalating ways. he sure let me know in the ways he talked about women in the shows he watched with me basically upon demand. and in the stories he told me about all the other women past and present (because contra his various lies, i never felt emotions more than transiently passing for him at any time)

**grasping toward things on the right, both geographically and in multiple other ways, is a major part of the sea lion’s identity. and that part of his identity infused his character’s dynamics in my story. i could write stories about the grasping. but so far he just gets thrown in with people whose origin stories began there because this isn’t memoir and the symbolism works in the contexts

[willowwhispersspeakeasy]

poly zing. mc zining with everyone and having a mild melt down cause what the fuck XD

authors note (before writing): I wanna make this like a cute crack drabble buuuut im shit at writing comedy or crack of any kind so we shall see how this goes (spoiler allert: it didn't work.)

poly “zing” soulmate au w/ demon bros

“zing” au tag

warnings: gender neutral reader, reader is a bit of a skeptic, rowdy family violence and physical abuse (nothing beyond in game normality), some spoilers for lesson 16

words: 1.5k 

seven demons sat around the table. the eldest seated at the head, sighed deeply. 

“so we are all in agreement then.” he confirmed finally. 

“we ain’t agree on shit!” piped up the man to his right. Mammon was visibly annoyed, along with about half of the demons present. 

“this is so embarrassing.” grumbled the man to Lucifer’s left. his purple fringe falling in his eyes as he slumped onto the table. now resting in the same pose as the youngest brother. 

“what about MC?” Beel pipes up. 

“what about them?” replies Satan, hes not as visibly annoyed as the others but his shoulders as still taught with anger. 

“I think what Beel means is, how do they feel now having ‘zing’ed with all of us.” Asmo chimes. hes a little unnerved too. sharing his partners usually doesn’t bother him but this is a once in a life time thing! and now he has to share his soulmate’s attention and affection with his 6 brothers. 

a silence falls over the table. most of the men present had been to distracted by how this would change their dynamic with MC, not having worried about how the poor human might feel. 

“I'll go talk to ‘em.” Mammon begins to stand from his chair.

“why do you get to talk to them about this huh?” the youngest demon raised his head, glaring at his elder. 

“yah! cause I'm their first man that's why!” Mammon grinned. 

“if we’re talking about the ‘zing’, Lucifer was actually their first.” interrupted Asmo. six pairs of eyes turned to glare at the oldest brother, who simply sighed again. 

“I will call them, and ask them to join us here. then we can all talk to them together.” Lucifer stated, pulling his D.D.D out and proceeding with the phone call. 

~

what kind of sick joke had your life become. homework had never been your friend but trying to concentrate on deciphering the notes Solomon so kindly let you copy was extra difficult, given your present circumstance. 

there was seven of them, the seven lords of hell. you’d sneaked your old human world phone onto Levi’s wifi just to search them up, and good god in heaven what you’d found. the artwork alone left you shaking in your boots. 

normally you’d just brush it off as some weird twisted neo-christan mythology, but now you had all seven of them not only standing before your eyes, but each claiming to be your “soulmate”. 

if Jesus is real your life sounded wilder then one of his parables. you made a mental note to ask Simeon about that later. 

nearly jumping out of your skin at the sound of your D.D.D ringing, you were surprised to see it was Lucifer. pressing the call button you put the phone on speaker, to lazy to lift it to your ear. 

“hello?” 

“MC, please join us in the-”

“OI! we needa talk to ya!” Mammon’s voice quickly cut Lucifer off. there was a sound of a chair squeaking against the ground and a shout, presumably from Lucifer shoving Mammon over. 

“what Lucifer was trying to say was, please come see us in the dining room~ we’re all here waiting for you MC~” in the scuffle you assume the phone was passed to Asmo. 

“bring snacks.” the faint voice of Beel could be heard over more shouting. 

“talk to you in a minute~ byeeee~” and with that Asmo hung up the phone. 

you sighed, leaning over as your forehead hit the desk. you had barely been able to properly process everything, BEFORE all this soulmate shit. 

a part of you wanted to crawl out the window and sneak off to purgatory hall. Luke’s sweets and Solomon’s wit were a welcome distraction. and Simeon’s gentle and warm nature sounded like a great comfort right about now. 

speaking of sweets, you stood and stretched your back. wrapping yourself in a blanket for comfort, you took a deep breath, before beginning to make your way to the kitchen.

~

the large bag of chips was placed in Beel’s lap. your presents in the room firstly ignored by all but the twins. Belphie offered you a sleepy smile as you placed the blanket over your shoulders in your lap instead, taking your seat opposite Lucifer’s at the other end of the table. 

the shouting stopped when Asmo called your name in a cheery sing song voice. 

Mammon screamed as Lucifer let go of him, having the pale hared demon drop to the floor with a notable thud. 

“Lucifer, be nice to him. he’s your little brother.” you instinctively scolded the eldest. Lucifer huffed, shooting one last deadly glare at Mammon as he returned to his seat, smoothing his suit and straightening his shoulders. 

“ah, MC. glad to see you’ve joined us, taking your time.” there is a bite in the eldest’s words. 

“surprised you could tell time given you were distracted about to roll Mammon up in the carpet.” the monotone voice was muffled from where Levi was still laying on his arms. 

the third born yelped as a strong swing of Lucifer’s palm smacked the back of his head. 

“Lucifer!” you scolded him again, the whole table falling silent and staring at you. you knew this behavior was normal to them. the bickering, yelling, fighting, and very real threat of physical violence from the eldest.  

“your brothers don't like you because you’re physically abusive! stop it! and leave them alone.” you scolded once more, staring head on at the dark gaze of the first born. 

Lucifer growled, a deep animalistic sound you’d only heard a couple times before. the other demons at the table recoiled upon instinct, no one wishing to incur the wrath of the eldest. 

you stared the demon down, not breaking eye contact. if you were really here, and this was truly your situation at hand, you would not be pushed around like this. you refused to be threatened and beaten into submission like he had done to his brothers. 

“you have two options Lucifer. listen to me, or kill me. again.” the air hung heavy with the very real threat you just dropped at his feat. 

“...very well.” Lucifer broke eye contact. smoothing his suit again, the anxiety of watching him swallow his own pride buzzed like static in your ears. 

“well... we wanted to talk to you about the ‘zing’ situation.” Satan was unsurprisingly the calmest, speaking up. everyone else still held led on their tongues by the passing of power that just transpired. 

“yeah I think that's a good idea Satan.” you nodded, hands fidgeting with the blanket in your lap. “I know many of you have... rocky relationships with each other to say the least,” you began. “and I'm sorry to slide into your lives and complicate things further.”

“you don’t need to apologize.” the gentle voice of Beel pulled your eyes up from your lap. “having you around has been good for us, all of us.” he smiled. 

“...I agree.” all eyes turned back to Lucifer once more. 

“we all care about you a lot, and it’s probably overwhelming for you now being tied to each of us.” added Asmo, offering you a gentle smile and a wink. 

“you have no idea.” you sighed, blanket pulled up to your chest now. you felt something soft placed in your lap. looking over you saw Belphie had offered you his pillow. 

“yaknow we care aboutcha a lot. we want ya to be safe.” Mammon rubbed absentmindedly at the patch of rug burn on his elbow. 

“I care about each of you as well. I'm just... not sure how this is going to work out.” you sighed, arms shaking as you buried your face in Belphie’s pillow. gentle hands of the twin’s rubbed your back as the overwhelming nature of your predicament over came you. 

the smell of Asmo’s perfume registered in your mind as another pair of arms wrapped around you as you sobbed. you were pulled into someone’s lap, presumably Beel’s, and your blanket wrapped tighter around you. a gentle weight rested on your legs, what you could guess to be Belphie’s upper body, and a pair of hands brushed your hair and rubbed your back. the soft words of encouragement were Asmo’s as he pressed kisses to the top of your head. 

as your crying began to subside, a glass of water was placed in your hands by Satan, a thinly veiled look of worry on his face.

the three eldest brothers remained frozen in their seats. Mammon had been so worried something like this would happen, but he knew if he tried to steal you away it would only get worse. he had been so torn on what to do and now he sat, heart aching in his hands. 

Levi didn’t move beyond lifting his head to witness what was happening. he sat there is silence, watching, an outside observer. his eyes traced your form, watching his brothers wrap you in comfort. envy pooled in the pit of his stomach, but surely he’d just make everything worse. he always made everything worse. his head dropped back down, arms squeezing himself harshly. 

“I think that's enough for this evening.” Lucifer’s voice was strained. if you listened closely you might just hear his old age showing for the rare occasion. the eldest brother stood, not glancing back as he was the first one to leave the room. 

[nevertheless-moving]

au/episode where Obi-Wan and Anakin run-afoul of some Sith temple defensive measure and both completely lose their memory. Featuring:

wandering around a highly contested hell-scape planet fighting absolutely everyone because they both sense doom from both armies and instinctively trust only each other

it’s deeply embarrassing to be beat up by amnesia duo because they're flailing about really incompetently with makeshift staffs (sith temple stole their lightsabers and their muscle memory is adjusted for a weightless blade) while shouting at each other, “HEY SIR JUST REALIZED I CAN LEVITATE STUFF?!?! CAN EVERYONE LEVITATE STUFF?!?!”

(they think their names are sir and general because that’s what the clones keep calling them while chasing them down)

just the silliest fight scenes as the troopers are desperately trying to demonstrate they’re friendly while also attempting to subdue the Jedi before they die and obi-wan and anakin are really in tune with the force but barely capable at fighting so they mostly just dodge and do cartwheels while like 300 men try to tackle them. everyone looks stupid.

playful bickering over whose older because Sir looks older but maybe it’s just the beard (obi-wan refuses to shave in case General is right)

platonic cuddling because they both get cold and they don’t know they’re not supposed to 

they both sleep incredibly well, it’s honestly insane how much better they feel a week-in, even on the run they’re getting so much more sleep 

(this can most likely be attributed to a lack of crushing guilt and stress but the cuddling also probably helps)

Obi-Wan struggling to use the force and anakin trying to explain until Obi-Wan bursts into tears because “it’s not easy for him how are you making it look so easy”

“Maybe I’m just more experienced?” Anakin says in a panic. 

sparring with staffs like no- this is- this almost right but not at all...

Anakin being very gee whiz sweet a la episode one, like he sees some troopers are in trouble with the quicksand and insists that they go to the rescue.

the group of shinies are relieved but also very unnerved to be rescued by kind and gentle General Skywalker and scowling General Kenobi (Obi-Wan also wanted to help the troops but felt the need to be overly suspicious to balance things out)

alternating between being the risk taker and the cautious one (no change from canon there)

aaand Obi-Wan occasionally going: “What if we're married, or lovers? Maybe we should try and sleep together, just to see if it jogs any memories" because his default mode is slut 

Anakin: "I don't know man it feels wrong" 

Obi-Wan: "yes what does that have to do with anything"

(I’m not very into Obikin so the minor Obikin subplot would be a hilarious source of deep personal and physical distress to them once memories are regained)

Literally the entirety of what happens:

*make out for 30 seconds*

Obi-Wan: *breaks it off* “Yeah you were right that was super weird sorry”

Anakin: “uhhh” (it was super weird for him too but Obi-Wan’s a really good kisser so amnesia!Anakin now has uncomfortably mixed feelings)

Rex chasing them and growing increasingly stressed because everyone thinks they’re way more sexually involved then they actually are and just knows they’re going to freak out when they get back to normal

supporting evidence: cuddling, calling obi-wan ‘sir,’ the fact that the more time passes the more radiantly cheerful they seem- like we get that forgetting all their responsibilities is probably great but they keep getting more good-spirited (this is 95% because of the sleep), a lot of times when they find them they’re inexplicably shirtless and sweaty (meditating and sparring)...the list goes on

this is confirmed when they freak the fuck out upon regaining their memories. Histrionics, vomiting, avoiding each-other, crying. 

so much crying

SO uncomfortable to be around

they get back to coruscant and Anakin breaks down apologizing to Padme and she’s completely understanding, doesn’t consider it infidelity, completely natural given the circumstances, and then Anakin chokes out the explanation of sort-of enjoying his Master’s tongue in his mouth and how he almost even kissed him twice 

Padme: ”...That’s...it?”

Anakin: *sniffling* “I mean sometimes we woke up with boners but that kind-of just happens even when you’re in medbay or whatever...”

Padme: “I see so then you-”

Anakin: “Oh Force No! Oh wow, ugh. Yeah I guess things could have been worse, but still!”

Padme: “...A month and all you did was kiss once?”

Anakin: “I’m not explaining right”

[dudeshusband]

now that it's pretty late and less people are on here:

as we all know (if you've been here a minute), i prefer the 1971 adaptation of charlie and the chocolate factory to the 2005 one.

there are so many reasons for this i could write an essay. today, I'd like to focus on the characters themselves.

starting with charlie bucket, there isn't anything wrong with freddie highmore's portrayal. however, peter ostrum plays a charlie that connects better with the audience. he tends to make the audience want him to find a golden ticket, to win the prize. he comes off as a sweet kid who cares deeply for his family. he just wants something good to happen for himself and his family. i also think he and jack albertson (grandpa joe) do a grandfather-grandson in a very fun and believe way.

willy wonka: roald dahl wanted a brit for wonka. neither adaptation has that. I've never felt it was that big of a deal.

gene wilder's wonka is unnerving. however, he does it in a way that makes you question it, that makes the other characters question it. he seems outwardly to be fairly normal, if a bit eccentric. when he's really weird, it's a bit of a surprise. i will say, he's definitely a bit too sweet at the end perhaps.

depp's wonka is just weird. it's a wonder everyone didn't leave the minute they saw him. he talks like someone you should avoid like the plague. he doesn't lure anyone into a false sense of security at all. he might as well have a sign. also, his voice is uncomfortable to listen to and the dentist dad subplot is both really strange and really absurd. also, i think that there being a debate on whether charlie could take his family with him is equally strange and absurd. he's a kid. hello???

grandpa joe: i feel jack albertson does him better if only because he seems more grandfatherly to me. also, he does well with ostrum's charlie. 2005's grandpa joe is a bit forgettable. also, "I've got a golden ticket" is a lovely song and it has a slightly goofy but enjoyable scene to accompany it.

veruca salt: again, there's nothing wrong with 2005 here, as far as i can remember. however, i appreciate 1971 because while veruca is definitely bratty, she's somewhat good at faking a "sweet little girl" persona, which is highlighted in "i want it now." she loses her cool (because she is a kid) but is pretty quickly able to regain it. it explains why the salts act the way they do with her, in addition to being too spineless to discipline her. fave thing about 2005 though, the way that girl says "squirrel." I'll never forget that.

mr. salt: wh. why is 2005's like that? i don't like him. 1971's salt is at least a bit funny. "what business are you in, salt?" "nuts" is iconic. i only mentioned this parent because this one bugs me.

violet beauregarde: both are perfectly fine. i kinda dig 2005's peak 00s tracksuit. i will say, i think 1971's blueberry is better. it's more of a blueberry and less of a gigantic blue orange like 2005's. also i like practical effects.

augustus gloop: this character is a mess in general. however, i have some bones to pick with 2005 here. firstly, the fake red hair is ghastly. secondly, how come 1971 could get a real fat german kid and you couldn't? thirdly, what in the fuck is that intro scene? where are the gloops living? why does it look rat invested? jesus. i feel like he's more offensive. honestly 2005 is more offensive point blank.

mike teavee: so. this one's up to personal preference. both are good at what was being aimed for.

1971's mike is actually somewhat likable imo. he's not horrible. he's just a bit rambunctious and watches too much tv. he's very much a typical 11 year old boy. he should heed his mother but also, it's completely understandable that he'd see this cool contraption that could send people by television and want to use it. he's 11.

2005's is a very video game loving, destined to live and die in his mother's basement, calls you slurs on xbox live, little cunt. i would punt him into the sun. his vice isn't just that he watches to much tv, he's also a bigot and I'm upset because i had to hear the r slur while relooking these characters up. you know, this is the only 2000s media i ever heard that slur in. congrats burton, you've made a character that deserves the taffy puller.

oompa loompas: these characters are bad from the get go and I'm not the right person to speak on the race portion of it. the book is racist. whether this was better adapted by the 1971 one or 2005 one, if either, i have no right to say. as far as i can tell, 2005 leans more into the white savior narrative than 1971. feel free to weigh in on this portion if you'd like.

however, i think that it was better to have more than one person play the oompa loompas. 2005's one guy copypasted looks incredibly odd and takes away from the quality of the songs. it also takes away from the diversity that the 1971 oompa loompas have in height and body type and facial features. also, having more real people will always look better than editing one guy to be multiple guys.

[devildomdoofus]

Lemon Dreams: Part 1

[NSFW]

Lucifer, Mammon, Leviathan, Satan

a bit of spicey lil dreams the brothers have of MC. If requested, I’ll add the undateables (minus Luke) into a Part 3.

Gender-Neutral as always.

MINORS:

DO NOT INTERACT

DO NOT PROCEED

Be smart, have common sense.

I’m not responsible for your irresponsibility.

You see the warnings. I put them out plainly. Adhere.

‼️WARNINGS‼️

NSFW, mature theme, mature content, implied intercourse, nudity, swearing, light bondage, BDSM, tidbit of pet play, wet dreams,

IF I MISSED ANY, PLEASE INFORM ME

Author’s Note (Sorry, I’ll try to be brief):

Trying my hand at some “light” N S F W content to see how I do and see how it goes.

Thank you all, once again, for the love and support and positive responses!! You’re enjoyment is the reason I keep doing what I love to do✨ Please: stay healthy, stay safe, stay you, and stay ruling them all, MCs 💕

- DevildomDoofus

💙Lucifer:

Regrettably, it has been nearly a millennia since he’s had any amount of a decent shuteye due to his brothers’ antics, his oversight of R.A.D., and obligations to Diavolo so you can only imagine the amount of fatigue that he felt in his mind, body, and soul. But because of his image and his own personal desire to be nothing short of perfect, he couldn’t simply rest whenever or wherever he pleased. It was outlandish to even consider the idea. Unfortunately, the side effects of denying himself any form of rest were starting to show. It was causing him to make mistakes he wouldn’t normally make and Diavolo had to personally intervene, using his authority on behalf of his dear friend’s health or lack thereof and demanded that he take a day off. He was the only one in all of the realms that could try and convince this workaholic to put on the breaks. You, yourself, have tried before but Lucifer was as stubborn as the days of summer were long and you felt like you were talking to a brick wall. But because Lucifer could not deny his prince’s demands, he reluctantly obliged... but not without absolute confirmation that nothing would go wrong while he was absent and as soon as he felt rested enough, he would return immediately.

Locking himself away in his room while putting a soundproof spell on the outside of it, he finally sits down at his desk and leans back in his chair as he sluggishly closes his eyes. The silence was both mildly relaxing and extremely uncomfortable as it was so rare for the world around him to be so... quiet. so undisturbed. So peaceful.

It was a bit unnerving.

He sighs deeply. This whole resting thing was going to be a lot more difficult than he originally thought. He stands up to go grab a vinyl record, places it on the antique gramophone and turns the device on. The orchestra makes their way through the metal funnel and the melody of the instruments echo beautifully throughout his room. “Much better,” he hums to himself. He tosses his coat aside, unbuttons his vest and drops it to the floor, removes his button-up shirt, kicks off his shoes, and does away with his belt while his pants follow suit. He dons his nighttime robe and finally slides into his bed. As soon as he hits the mattress, his eyes shut and his mind turns off, allowing him to drift swiftly into a deep slumber.

The dream started out like any other dream he’s had in his life; it’s mundane and not much is going on. It’s practically the same as ‘bringing work home with him’ but in his dreams. He’s at his desk, crossing his t’s, dotting his i’s, finalizing some paperwork, and the like, while the stress from his waking hours begins to find its way back to him like a boomerang.

Then, as if by magic, all of his stress melted away as soon as he heard a knock on his door along with your voice calling for him softly on the other side. He smirks. “You may enter.” He kept his head low as you stepped in due to the fact that he was finishing signing a particular paper. “Just a moment,” he instructs, as the last cursive letter finds its place on the paper. He begins to lift his eyes to meet yours. “Now, what can I do for yo-...” He freezes.

There you were, standing before him, in nothing but one of his ties hanging loosely around your neck. His jaw clenches and his fist tighten into a ball so firmly that his knuckles turn white under his gloves.

‘Like a lamb to it’s slaughter,’ he quotes, internally.

Needless to say, the dream takes a more DRASTIC turn and he’s got you bent over the desk, hands tied up with his tie that you so graciously considered to bring with you, and his name pouring out of your lips like a faucet. He’s taking you all for himself, piece by divine piece, with every snap of his hips, bite of your skin, and claw of your flesh. What a sight you were beneath him.

The moment he wakes, his body is covered in a ‘morning’s dew’ of sweat and the sheets of his bed have become painfully heavy on his lower half. His heart is still thumping wildly in his chest and his eyes are darting everywhere in his room, ensuring that he’s alone and no one can see him in such a disheveled state. He uses part of his robe to dab away the sweat from his brow and then rubs his eyes as he collects himself.

Spends the next many few hours calming himself down and hoping that he is blessed by some unholy miracle where NOBODY walks in...

especially you...

with nothing but his tie hanging loosely around your neck and-...

Ah shit.

The following morning at breakfast, he is eyeing you rather heavily from across the table and his brothers take notice but never dare to say a word. They just assume that you’ve done something to piss him off again and want no part of it.

They are not entirely wrong, though. You had unknowingly irked him quite a bit.

You entered his dreams without permission, made such a delectable spectacle of yourself in front of him, and caused him to feel things that no other demon, angel, human, nor any other soul for that matter, has been able to make him feel. And now he has to deal with these explicit thoughts and feelings, especially when you’re around or in his vicinity, along with many other things that demand his attention and it’s all just so irritating. Delightfully irritating. The kind of irritating he secretly enjoys.

The next few days, you never really get the sense that anything is off with Lucifer for how well he carries himself, no matter his circumstances, and yet... he seems to be less physical with you. Normally, he would give you the occasional hand on the shoulder or upper back when you needed guidance, allow you to lean on his shoulder when your days had been particularly rough and you needed to rest, or pinch your cheek when he teased you but lately... he wouldn’t even keep eye contact with you for very long without turning away and- was that a hint of pink in his cheeks? No, surely you are imagining things. Lucifer, blushing? Has the devildom froze over?

💛Mammon:

This poor, sweet and a little bit sleazy man was just SO exhausted from having to get up early that morning when he’d normally sleep in, to go to a school he doesn’t ever really pay attention to, as well as constantly keep lower demons from getting anywhere near his precious MC, bribe Levi to do his homework in exchange for an exclusive Ruri-Chan figurine (which he went into further debt to obtain), keep his overbearing fanbase from his modeling jobs happy on social media... it all was simply too much for The Great Mammon to be doing when he could alternatively be doing something better. Like being lazy sleeping off this R.A.D lag.

He had skipped his last few remaining classes and told you he was headed to your room to crash before school let out and you two could hang out later. He plopped onto your bed, nuzzled his face into one of your pillows, and fell asleep shortly after to your sweet aroma surrounding him.

His dream began as they typically do, with him gambling his Grimm for higher payouts or watching the Devildom stock market fluctuate in his favor... or more often times than he’ll ever admit, it’s just the two of you spending some quality time together alone for a change.

Only this time, his dream didn’t end up the way it typically did.

In his dream, he was sitting next to you on the sofa with his arm resting behind your head wanting to wrap it around you so fucking badly and watching whatever you had put on when it was interrupted by the winning lottery ticket read out. He leapt from couch with a big yell and the winning ticket in hand, and rushed to hug the tv and to kiss the demon inside of it, thanking him, Lady Luck, and anyone else involved in his incredible fortune today. As he turned around to come squeeze you tight with excitement and have you share in his celebration, his whole body tensed and he stopped in his tracks. He had become a deer in the headlights.

You were now lewdly postured on the couch, bare and exposed, excluding how you were practically dripping in gold jewelry/accessories whilst surrounded by enormous piles of Grimm. With one finger, you beckoned him over.

To say that this is one of his all time favorite fantasies would be THE understatement of the millennia.

He was in front then over you in a matter of milliseconds, his demon form taking over his body and stealing noises from you that the entire House of Lamentation- no- the entire Devildom could hear and FUCK he loved that thought almost as much as he adored you he cared about you; the thought that the entire Devildom could hear that you were his and his alone, that no other soul could make you feel like this.

And just as it was about to get really good, he wakes up.

Red faced, breathing heavily, and a thick coat of sweat all over his body. Not to mention the newfound, painful tightness in his pants.

He’s jerking his head around the room to confirm hoping to deny that is was all simply a dream, and to be certain that you hadn’t come back from school early or something and found him like this.

“Unholy shit.” He wipes the sweat from his face and then takes his phone in his hand to check the time. “UNHOLY SHIT!!” You had texted that you were on your way back home 10 minutes ago! He had to be quick.

He replaced the sweaty sheets and pillow cases with new ones, adjusting them so that it looked as it had before he slept on them, tied his school uniform coat around his waist to disguise the ‘friendly neighborhood bachelor,’ and darted like a bat out of devildom to his room, avoiding major hallways and doors to ensure that no one could stop him or chase him down and see him in his predicament.

You can be sure that for the next few weeks, he’s avoiding you like the plague. He sends texts that he is “paying off a debt and can’t make it,” or “Sorry MC, I’m a little tied up at the moment. This Grimm won’t make itself.” and to you it was a little odd, but nothing he hasn’t exactly done before, so you go about your days as normal. Poor Mammon has once spent an entirety of four months working a few jobs to pay off one big loan.

If only you knew how often he was reliving that dream in his head, over and over and over again. For such a thing to become reality? Well... he feels he’d have better luck winning the lottery. But just as he gambled, he wouldn’t give up so easily.

🧡Leviathan:

It is not uncommon for Leviathan to have certain dreams about certain individuals he enjoys, be it anime characters, video game characters, idols that he fawns over, etc. It’s normal. Quite often, in fact, but he would rather LITERALLY DIE before he ever admits to such a thing, much less have anyone think he has a crush. With his brothers as they are known to be, he’d never live it down. Which is one of the reasons why he keeps himself locked away in his room and goes on binges of whatever it is he’s invested in at the time. He’s left alone to do and be as much of himself as he pleases without judgment. It is one particular episode of an anime he had been bingeing for several hours that has him with his head resting upon his keyboard and ever so slightly snoring away as the characters converse in the background. It wasn’t boring in the least, it’s just that his eyes refused to stay open any longer and his body decided for him that it was about time for a proper nap.

His dream began as normal, with him on a quest to save the renowned, royal heir from the ten-headed beast that guarded the tower in which they were kept. The journey to the tower was extensive and not without its obstacles, the battle was epic, in every sense of the word, and the reward for it’s heads would match the gratification of the victory that ensued it.

Little did he know that in that tower, it wasn’t just any royal heir lying in wait for their prince to come, as they had always been. It was you.

You, in all of your glory, draped across the bed and adorned with the finest of cloths that were barely covering your most intimate of skins.

As he entered your bedroom chambers, expecting to find a fictional character he adored in his waking hours, he stops dead in his tracks and his entire body turns red hot in matter of seconds. You could easily hear the thumping of his heart throwing heavy blows at his ribcage, and, if you looked close enough, you could see the steam trickling out of his ears. You could also hear the clinking of his amor, the metal plates shaking against one another as he trembles before you.

Leviathan.exe has stopped working.

Yes, he’s had plenty of dreams like this before but.. fuck.. they were never of you. Much less like this. Believe him, he’s tried on many occasions to at least see your face or hear your voice, ANYTHING. But inevitably, his anxiety and shyness won in the end and you never came passing through his dreams... until now.

You leant against one arm, your lips curling into a smile, and then beckoned him silently with one crook of a finger.

Anxiety and shyness who?

He quickly does away with the heavy armor, tossing them aside, and crawls across the bed to you, to your face, to those precious lips.

He takes a hold of them in his own and seemingly devours you as he strips you of what little cloth covered you and then pushes you back down against the bed. The dream continues with your bodies intertwining in every way that earned him the lewdest of noises from you.

Until he jerks awake with his face a deep shade of crimson, body covered from head to toe in a mist of sweat, and a heartbeat that could put a drum solo to shame. He quickly scans his surroundings as he’s coming back to reality, making sure he’s the only one within a mile’s radius. If anyone thought he was a hermit now, you can only imagine what it would be like if he was caught looking the way that he did. The anime that he had fallen asleep to was now on a screen that was asking for confirmation if he was still watching. He presses the power button on his computer and wipes away the sweat on his brow before leaning back in his chair, eyes glued to the ceiling as he’s recollecting the dream. He sees the faces you were making in pleasure pass through his mind once more and it makes his face turn 30 shades redder and increases the painful tightness in his snug sweatpants. He shakes his head, no longer wanting to continue digging this grave of overwhelming lust, and plants his head back onto the keyboard. Lord Diavolo, please, just kill him now.

The following months, Leviathan stays locked away in his room and avoids you as if you were the final boss of a game he never wants to stop playing. He knew that if he saw you, got near you, or even heard your name being mentioned, there would be no way of stopping his thoughts, his body’s reactions to those thoughts, nor his brother’s comments about how he’s “acting awfully strangely.”

As much as he wishes that he never had the dream in the first place because of all of the trouble it’s causing, he can’t help but relive it over and over again, putting it on repeat in his mind. But to admit to you these powerful feelings and attempt to bring it to reality? Only normies do such a thing... right?

💚Satan:

Line after line, chapter after chapter, book after book, he simply could not put the new series he had discovered down. He was so invested, he’d finish one book and immediately pick up the next. His mind was reeling far too fast for him to stop now and nothing in all of the three realms could do so. That is until his own body waved it’s white flag and begged for him to shut his eyes, even if for just moment. Satan bargained, internally, that he’d allow himself roughly thirty minutes of rest before he’d pick back up where he left off. He sets the book on a nearby desk, settles down onto his loveseat and closes his eyes.

As a man of many talents and faces, his dreams were known to be as heavily diverse as he was, and often times reflected whatever book he had been reading, philosophy he had been pondering, or stress he had been managing. No one particular type of dream frequented more than another.

That being said, in the past few weeks, you had been a bit more physical with him. Whether it was a simple brush of the hands as you two reached for the same novel, late night study sessions ending up in late night study and cuddling sessions, or the occasional linking of arms as the pair of you walked the length of a museum and studied its inhabitants. It goes without saying that you were making an impression on him and his mind, leaving little to no room for any other thoughts than the ones involving you. Naturally, you had found your way into his dreamworld and you were the one constant in the ever changing slumber visions.

The dreams that you were involved in, which were now a majority of them, were mostly sweet; the most intimate being the one time you had placed a chaste kiss upon his cheek. If you were to ask him about these dreams that had him chipper than usual, he would smile and tell you that “they were simply pleasant hallucinations but nothing more.” And he’d be lying through his teeth, desperately trying to keep his cheeks from reddening in front of you. If you were lucky enough that his gaze lingered, you’d catch the tint of pink making its way across his face. The poor inner romantic in him couldn’t help himself. He’s mastered the art of poker face in its entirety, but when it came to you, his willpower and calm demeanor waned into nothingness and he was like putty in your hands. Just don’t push it or there will be Devildom to pay.

This particular time around, though, his dream would take a more unforeseen turn.

In his dream, he had invited you to join him on an outing over to the Royal Library and you two were now making your way to your favorite lone table in the farthest back corner, hidden behind the many shelves of books. After claiming your usual spot, he went to gather the books he wanted to go through and planted himself in the chair to finally open them up and get started. Meanwhile, you had wandered off, presumably, to find and create your very own mountain of novels to conquer.

An hour or so passed and he had made his way through five of his books when he felt a tap against the cover of the one he was currently reading. “Forgive me, MC, but I’m almost done with this paragraph and I need just one more moment to do so.” Another tap against the cover. “May it wait, MC? I’m nearly finished.” This time, you gingerly grabbed the tip of his book and tilted it away from him (a pet peeve of his). Just as he was about to give you his trademark glare of warning, his eyes widen and his jaw clenches, with his fingers letting go of the book and tightening into a fist taut enough to turn his knuckles white.

There you stood before him in little to no clothing, fluffy little cat ears and a tail to match, with a leash and collar adorning your precious neck. You took his stiffened hand, ever so slowly opened it up, and delicately placed the end of the lead into his palm, flashing him your cheekiest grin.

Now you’ve gone and done it. He snaps.

He jerks the end of the lead so that you’re aggressively pulled forward, bending over the table and sending the piles of books to the floor with audible thuds, and your lips crash into his. He uses his free hand to trap cradle the other side of your face as he devours your lips, devours your taste. Impatient and hungry, he soon lets you go with a low growl before standing up and dragging you behind him, forcefully, by the lead, coming to the front of a shelf that leant against a wall and grabbed your waist, lifting you up to push you against it, having more books tumble to the floor with a sound thud, while once again, taking your lips with his. Something about the way you looked, the way you sounded because of his actions, drove him completely mad.

Before it could go any further, he jerks wakes to the sound of someone knocking on his door. He quickly scans his surroundings and when he finds it empty, he breathes a heavy sigh of relief. The knocks continue and from beyond the door, a familiar voice requests his audience. “Satan? It’s Solomon. My apologies, but I just wanted to return a borrowed book.”

He reaches for a nearby cloth and dabs away the sweat that covered his face. He steadies his breathing and in the stablest voice he could muster, he answers back, “Alright. One moment please.”

“Take your time,” the sorcerer replies.

He gathers himself quickly, as the master of his own emotions does, hoisted up from the loveseat, straightens himself out and starts to head for the door but with a quick glance downwards, he pauses. There’s no way he could greet Solomon with such a visible... display...

He takes his coat from the coatrack, wraps it around his waist and finally opens the door with a welcoming smile.

“Thank you kindly for the recommendation. It was a pleasant read,” Solomon tittered in recollection then immediately shifted into a frown of concern. “Satan... are you alright? Forgive my intrusion, but you seem a bit disheveled.” The disheveled man in question nods, chuckling in hopes of deterring Solomon from pressing any further by lightening his aura. “Yes, I’m fine. Thank you for your concern. I simply had a bit of a nightmare.” Solomon raised a brow and Satan continued in his tall tale. “It had been so long since I’ve had one, so I’m sure you can imagine how unnerving it’s effects had on me.” Moments passed like molasses as Solomon pondered what Satan had said and the uncomfortable silence was wearing down on Satan’s last minute, makeshift composure. “Thank you for returning the book,” Satan’s voice firmly interjecting the fellow wise man’s thoughts as he received the book from his hands, “and I’m delighted that you enjoyed yourself.” He holds the book in front of where the coat covered his waist. “If you wish for more recommendations, I’ll be happy to share them with you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some tea to drink and a book to read to calm my nerves. Good day, Solomon.” Before Solomon could get a final word in, Satan slips back into his room and shuts the door. For good measure, he locks it and turns the deadbolt. He shuffles back over to the loveseat where it all began and dropped down, pinching the bridge of his nose and letting out a heavy sigh. The blush that wanted so desperately to creep it’s way into his complexion the moment he’d awoken was now set free and his entire face turned red. He knew how to keep a tight grip on every other emotion he’s ever had... but love? Lust? This was going to be a challenge.

Outside of the door, not having moved an inch, Solomon stood with his chin snug between the crook of his forefinger and thumb. “Can demons have nightmares...?” He audibly contemplated as he waited a moment, following his train of thought before asking himself aloud again, “If so... then why did Satan have an erection?”

A pair of delicate hands found their way to Solomon’s shoulders and he glanced over them to see Asmodeus leaning in close to his ear. “It’s called a kink, darling.” Solomon politely shoos away the embodiment of lust with a gentle wave of his hand before starting down the hall from which he came, with the demon practically skipping in tow. “Kinks, we both know, I’m aware of. I had just assumed that his.. situation.. would be more relative to Belphegor.”

“Well,” Asmodeus chirped, “that’s what you get for assuming.”

[anotheranimestan]

Heyooo I legit just found u bc of the bakugo series, and then I went on a spree reading your account- ugh I’m in love!!! Do you think you could tag me when part 3 comes out?

Ahhh! Thank you so much! ❤️ You guys have no idea how much a few words of encouragement means to writers 😭.

No need to tag tho because here it is!!!!! 😃

Sorry it took so long. I wanted to write it as best as I could! I don’t want disappoint anyone who’s been enjoying so far. ☺️

~~

All Bark No Bite (pt. 3)

(Final part)

Bakugo angst + ~sexual tensionnn~

Please, children avert your eyes. Things get a LITTLE inappropriate here 😳

Read part 1 and part 2

wc: 2.4k

He’s an asshole...but he’s a HOT asshole 🤤

You’d never seen his room before. It was much different than you’d imagined. You’d expected burn marks all over the walls or blown up debris of things scattered about. Maybe a bunch of mirrors so he could look at his self-confident, conceited ass all night. But actually it was kinda of nice. Pretty neat. He had some posters hung up and some books laying around. Black sheets and blankets. And it smelled oddly sweet in here, sort of pleasant believe it or not.

You’re so used to him yelling and exploding so it was weird seeing him so relaxed, in his natural habitat. Doing normal things. Like eating a snack, tapping his pencil in concentration, fidgeting with his hair. He even spun around in his rolling chair a few times mindlessly. He was acting sort of...cute? It was unnerving being attracted to him like this.

But as soon as he noticed you watching him it was all over. You were making him self conscious. He didn’t even realize he’d let his guard down like that.

“That makes absolutely no sense, dumbass.” His voice was bored and over it.

“What are you talking about!? I’ve explained it three times!” You retorted indignantly.

“Exactly. I thought you were smarter than this...” He jabbed before turning around and flipping his notebook shut.

You’d spent twenty minutes attempting to teach him what he’d missed in class earlier today but he was insufferable. Easily the worst student on the planet. Every time you explained something he’d tell you how to teach it better. Who does that!?

“Whatever moron. I didn’t come up here to try and teach your pea brain. I—“ The words were harder to say than you’d expected. Painful actually. They really didn’t want to come out. “I just wanted to say sorry for getting you—“

He whipped a pencil and it hit you directly in the forehead.

“Ouch, what the fuck?” You hissed, rubbing the sore spot. How’d he get so much damn power behind that thing?

“Don’t apologize. It’s weird.”

“What!?” You threw the pencil back but only managed to hit his shoulder.

“Anyways...” He ignored you, completely unfazed by your assault.

“You’re easily the most—“

“Anyways...” You swore if he cut you off one more time you were going to smack the shit out of him. “Aizawa thinks you’ve lost your mind.”

The unexpected information took you aback.

“He saw you try and get yourself blown up in class yesterday... No sane person is stupid enough to pull a move like you did.”

Ah yes... he meant the time you wrapped the man’s hand around your neck, tauntingly, in front of like 20 classmates and two teachers. You’d been trying to avoid asking yourself the question of why you did that. You claimed it was the best way to shut him up....but there were other ways to do that. More reasonable ones. You wouldn’t admit you’d daydreamed of doing it before and subconsciously took the opportunity. Red embarrassment flashed through your body again. God knows what they were all thinking when they witnessed that. You desperately wished people would stop reminding you.

Suddenly the need to defend yourself bubbled up. “I—I only did that because I knew you wouldn’t do anything.”

He scoffed. But didn’t deny it. “If you’re going to try something stupid. At least do it right.” He chastised.

Your body froze as he stood up and walked over, crouching down directly in front of you.

“If I wanted to choke you. I’d do it like this.”

He wrapped his hand around your neck. Demonstrating the best way to actually cut off someone’s air flow. But he did it so gently you barely even heard his explanation. You were just flashing back to last night. Instantly your entire body lit on fire. Replaying this scene in your head was strong enough. But reenacting had you completely out of sorts. Kissing him again but this time going full out. You wanted to bite him, just to hear him make that deep moan into your mouth again. Just imagining it was making you flutter. Aching to have him pressed up against you like that, relieving some of this pressure that was building up in your body. You felt yourself unraveling. About to pounce.

But he interjected with something that stunned you once again. “The way you did it would be better for...other forms of choking.”

Dear god. Surely he knew what he was doing to you. If he kept this up any longer your heart or your lungs were definitely going to give out.

But you mustered up your last two brain cells that weren’t absolutely losing their shit over him and carried on with your normal banter.

“Yea yea, I get it. You can stop now.”

He didn’t budge. His hand still snug around your throat. You obviously didn’t mind it there but it was incapacitating your brain function.

You gently pushed it away and he didn’t resist. But where he put it next was no better.

He traced the side of your cheek and along the outline of your lips. Just staring at them, eyes lost like he was thinking deeply about something. He wasn’t giving you a moment of a break. No room to breathe.

Your nerves were through the roof, your heart was beating so loud you could hear it in your ears. Desperately you tried to change the topic. “So is this your attempt at being nice? Advice on how to murder someone?” It’s amazing how your mouth just spewed shit out even though your brain was actually dead.

“Sure.” Now he was tugging at your bottom lip. Completely unbothered by you baiting him.

“Ah. A nice Bakugo? I must be having a dream. I guess now that you’ve lost to me your whole tough guy persona has been killed.”

That snapped him out of it. But now he was looking just as intensely, directly into your eyes.

“Don’t push it.”

“Or what?” Faking composure was coming so easily much to your relief.

“Do you want to find out?” He growled.

“You’re not scary.” You said rolling your eyes as hard as possible.

Something snapped in him. He couldn’t hold himself back anymore. Within a moment he had you on your back. Your body didn’t even have time to process. Even if it did, would you have stopped him? He trapped both your wrists on either side of your head and your feet under his ankles. His arms looked glorious as he held up is body weight.

“How about now?” His voice was deep and savory.

There he went. Invading your mind again. His scent. That lust-filled look in his eyes. The way he was thoroughly enjoying being on top of you. The adrenaline was coiling through your body. He had you right where he wanted you. He could do anything he wanted to you. But that “annoying little mouth of yours” wasn’t done quite yet.

“Whatever. You always do this. But you won’t actually try anything.”

“You think I wouldn’t hurt you at all? I literally want to kill you sometimes.” He had a smug little grin on his face. But his eyes couldn’t pull themselves from your lips. After experiencing them once he could barely stop thinking about them.

“You’re telling me? I fucking hate you.” You lied.

It made his smirk form into that wicked, shit-eating grin he always wore. The one that gets deep under your skin and makes you want to punch him in the throat and yank him onto you at the same time.

“Kissing someone is a weird way to tell them you hate them.” He was really cutting into you now.

You hissed. “Hey. You kissed me.”

“You kissed me back.” He raised an annoying little eyebrow.

Your brain wanted to choke him (the murder kind) but your body was screaming something completely different. The emotions swirling around in your chest was so overwhelming. Finally you burst.

You trapped one of his arms and corresponding leg and threw your weight to roll on top of him. One of your favorite moves from self-defense class that you knew would come in handy. Now you straddled him and using every ounce of your weight tried to pin his wrists down.

You expected him to fight you like the vicious little monster he is. But instead when you looked down he was just staring back at you. You were stunned at how good he looked at this angle. Did he have any bad angles?

“Finally. You made a move.” He said pretending to sound impressed. “I didn’t think you had it in you.”

“Yea well...” You scoffed proudly. “you think you’re so fucking tough. Now looo—“

The words flew out of your mouth and you were tumbling again. This time he just grabbed your waist and tugged you with brute force. No technique needed. He easily overpowered you.

“Yea, that wasn’t going to work out. It was a cute try though, Little Bite.”

He laid directly on top of you now. Your legs spread as he rested his hips between them. His full weight pressed into you making it flutter. Your arms had somehow wrapped themselves around his neck and rested on his back.

The tension in the air made it difficult to breathe. But you were fully unconcerned with getting oxygen right now.

Nose to nose now he said “We’ll just count this as my rematch. Clearly I won.”

“You suck at flirting.”

Flirting? Where’d that come from?

“Seems like it’s working pretty good to me.”

That smug fucking face again.

“You’re such an ass.”

He bit his lip.

“Fuck...I love when you insult me like that.”

A beat passed and that was all it took. You smashed his lips onto yours. Wrapping your legs around him and squeezing. Too close wasn’t close enough.

He kissed you like he wanted you bad. Like you were his favorite meal and he was absolutely famished. It was so intense and passionate that neither of you could catch any air. Every insult, all the bickering, every jab had built up to this moment and was fueling it like gas to a forest fire.

His warmth was overtaking you. His body was so heavy, crushing you just liked you’d been daydreaming about all this time.

Your mind shut down all functions except desperately trying to use all five senses to their max capacity and commit every bit of him to memory.

He felt you pawing at the edge of his shirt and sat up. He peeled it off slowly. Letting your eyes adjust to every inch of him.

Your hands were instantly stroking every one of his muscles starting at his shoulders and trailing down his soft skin slowly...slowly to the edge of his jeans. Your index finger sat teasingly on the front button as you admired his perfectly toned body.

But before you even had time to think about what you wanted to do next he took your wrist and secured it down above your head again.

He dipped down and went straight for your neck.

Greeting it with a warm wet kiss from his tongue, his lips wrapped around your skin and sucked gently. You felt the blood pooled with pleasure rushing to the area. His other hand started exploring your body. Finally he was getting to put his hands on you the way he really wanted all along.

After you started tugging on his hair, desperately trying to avoid any scandalous hickeys he rolled you around again.

Letting you on top to straddle his hips. Giving you only a little bit of freedom though, as he locked one arm around your waist and the other started caressing your thighs slowly working his way north.

After squeezing your ass until his heart was content he clamped down both hands on your hips. You couldn’t bare it anymore. Your hips started gently grinding against him and you bit down on his neck all at once. You felt the angle of his pelvis rubbing into you creating little rumbles of pleasure.

“Fuck y/n..” he muttered under his breath.

You both were getting more and more bothered and aroused. His hands never stopped grabbing and tugging at you. His moans growing more fervent as he whispered into your ear.

He was just toying with the idea of peeling off your shirt when...

“THIS IS THE POLICE! COME OUT!”

Your soul practically rose out of your body as a loud bang almost broke the door down. Bakugo’s hand slapped over your mouth. You’d screamed without realizing it.

Kaminari’s laugh sounded through the door. “Oh my god Bakugo! You scream like a girl!”

Mina shrieked. “No, stupid! Y/n are you in there!?”

Your life was ending.

“Get the fuck out of here before I come out there and break your skulls!” Bakugo barked at them.

They didn’t say anything but you heard their quick footsteps as they ran down the hall still shrieking like banshees.

“Oh god..” you groaned as you tried to roll away from him, using his bare chest to push off.

But he wouldn’t let you go. “Where are you going?”

“Aren’t you going to go hunt them down and threaten them or something.” Typical Bakugo behavior.

“No, I’m busy.”

You had to stop your mouth from falling open.

“They’re probably going to tell everyone.” You prodded. Expecting his temper any second now. Like he was a bomb about to go off. You pulled away again in preparation, sitting fully upright now.

“I’ll deal with them tomorrow. I’m dealing with you tonight. Now get back over here before I get mad.”

You shrieked as he muscled you back into his arms. He bent you back around him as snugly as he could. Moving your chin to the side, he kissed your neck, sweeter this time. Instinctively your hands ran through his hair. Fuck the rest of them. You could get lost in this hot head all night. And you were as he started gently sucking on your soft spots again.

But he pulled away abruptly. Like he’d just realized something. “How are you gonna become a pro hero if a moron like Denki can scare you like that?”

You smacked the back of your idiot’s head lightly. “Don’t fucking ruin it.” You groaned.

“Fine.” He grinned as he went in for the kiss that started the rest your next piping hot and sticky couple of hours together.

~💥💥

TADAAA! What did you guys think?? What was your favorite part overall?

I’d love hearing your thoughts and opinions 😃 makes me a better writer

Also special shout-out to @jennammaee ! Pt. 2 of this series has been my most successful post yet, so thanks for encouraging me to write it!!

Tags: @sweetsailor000 @yumxmii @fullsundear @frosted-flakes @marloalmore @aprilbouz01 @deneuves @softestparker @davidbowiehotashell-blog @mocha-focha @piii-chan @v0dkadaddy @xxjosiexx

[girlmeetsliv3]

Prince of Nothing IV

~ Part Four of Five ~

Release Date: December 19,2020 @ 12 p.m. (GMT-4)

Word Count: 18K

Jeon Jungkook was the prince of everything except for you…

Jeon Jungkook was the prince of everything: heaven, hell, and everything in between. His family was an enigma who came to power under mysterious circumstances and had managed to retain hold over the kingdom for centuries - even if no one knew how. There was one thing that Jungkook wanted though, something that could never be his: you. A nobody. A girl with no title. No land. Just money and a pure soul to your name. Jeon Jungkook would’ve never spared a look your way, had that incident not occurred. Now you find yourself the target of his affection and the most hated woman in all the land. Which will kill you first?

Trigger Warning: The following story contains mentions of manipulation, abuse, and vivid, as well as implied, descriptions of abusive acts. The behavior and mindset of the characters in this will be incredibly yandere and toxic. This is a work of fiction and doesn’t represent the character of bangtan sonyeondan. Enjoy ~~~

“No.”

           YN’s eyes widen in shock before she tries to cover it up. “No?” What do you mean no? YN was so certain that Jungkook wouldn’t hesitate to jump at the chance - proving her point.

           Jungkook’s hands trailed up the side of her body, fingers gently dancing across her torso until they reached her neck where they settled on either side of her neck. The tense skin was massaged with such efficacy that YN couldn’t help the way her eyes rolled back. He observed this reaction with a smile on his face, then tentatively his lips brushed hers. From where his hands were placed, he could feel the racing of her heart. He could feel how the blood rushed through the veins - his blood, what little of it she had swallowed making its way home. Their kiss, if it could count as that, lasted only a few moments. Yet it was enough for Jungkook.

           “No, I won’t sleep with you.”

           In a second all hope leaves YN, if she couldn’t distract Jungkook with sex if it wasn’t truly all he wanted then what? Seeing her downtrodden expression Jungkook chuckled then he pulled YN in closer, hands sliding down towards the back of her dress. “I won’t sleep with you darling, but I will make love to you and fuck you if that’s what you want.” Before his words could even sink in, Jungkook used his strength to rip her dress open. Exposing all but her chest which lay pressed against the prince’s.

           “Your wager?” YN asked again, unwilling to let him have the upper hand. Not when so much was on the line.

           Jungkook chuckled, “Oh darling, how you never fail to amaze me.” Seeing her stone cold expression he acquiesced. “If I win you’ll be the mother of my child.” Aware of what would follow, Jungkook crashed his lips onto YN’s soft plump ones, not giving her a chance to change her opinion. What followed suit would cement their unspoken future and cause great suffering to many.

           “The prince?” Soojin’s lips were puckered, chin wrinkling in the way a child’s might when tasting something sour. The maids around her stood perfectly still barely breathing, they were too familiar with the expression on the princess’ face. Having been by her side for longer than she could remember they could recognize the pouty lips, furrowed brows, hooded eyes, and the pulsing vein in her temple. It signified a tantrum was incoming - surely to be the worst they had suffered as of yet. “Well?!” Soojin’s voice raised almost into a shrill. The typically refined Soojin had lost all of her demeanor in the past couple of days. Though the bruising around her neck had faded, the one around her heart had not and the ugly scarring it would leave was sure to affect not only her but everyone around her.

           Finally one of the maids stepped forward, bowing deeply demonstrating her submissiveness to the lioness in front of her. As if that ever spared prey from being eaten. “My apologies, my lady. The prince is still not out.”

           The scream that tore out of Soojin was guttural in nature, More like a growl than anything else. Though the tantrum lasted quite a while very few of the staff were harmed, and at that very minimally, the same could not be said for the princess’ chambers which were left in such shambles the entirety of the furniture had to be discarded. Yet it was not the thousands of dollars lost, nor the raging Seo striding down the hall that was to be a concern but rather her destination: the prince’s chambers - YN YLN inside them.

           Nothing spreads quicker than gossip in the palace and no one moves faster than the help, so Soojin wasn’t surprised to arrive at Jungkook’s door and see the usually present guards absent. They too would’ve been informed she was heading there and likely wanted to avoid facing the lionesses wrath. The heavy african blackwood doors had the Jeon sigils engrained in it - making it obvious who resided inside. Normally it would’ve taken a lot of effort to even open the door, it took two extremely muscular men to open it. Though in her rage, it only took a slight push from Soojin for them to slam open.

           Soojin expected a lot upon entering: to find her lover and his mistress entangled in the sheets putting on a show for anyone. Clothes scattered all around, champagne bottles, and wicked smiles placed on both their faces to taunt her. Instead the room was pristinely clean, bed made, and Jungkook was buttoning his shirt. “Can I help you with anything?” He asked, voice with a hint of roughness to it. They way it typically did after he had sex. The only thing that gave away his infidelity was the unkemptness of his hair and the slightest hint of a bruise around his neck. Soojin scoffs, incredulously that he would do this to her after everything - after all his promises.

           “Four days...I haven’t seen you in four fucking days!” Soojin no longer cared for maintaining appearances in front of Jungkook. Clearly he held no care for them.

           Jungkook sighed, leaning on the bed to put on his boots and tie them. “Frankly I don’t see what you’re so upset about. What I do with my lover has nothing to do with you.”

           “Your lover,” Soojin couldn’t help the sardonic smile that broke out on her face. “Have you no shame?! Parading your whore around in front of everyone while I look like a fool.”

           “You looking like a fool has nothing to do with me.” He chuckled, the vase Soojin threw his way was easily caught by Jungkook. The prince gently placed it beside him on the soft bed.

           Soojin’s chest began to rise and fall rapidly, she could feel the rage growing inside her. If Jungkook was ice then she was fire. It was just like when she was younger - the fire would grow and spread consuming everything that stood in its path. In this instance, an insolent little girl who sought herself better than a princess queen. “I won’t be held responsible for the consequences that befall YN due to your reckless actions.” At that the prince stilled, the air in the room suddenly becoming frigid as goosebumps rose on Soojin’s skin.

           “And I won’t be held responsible for the consequences that befall you if anything were to happen to YN.”

             “So you see your majesty, it would be reckless to allow this liaison to continue. Though I understand the prince has needs and would never dare interfere in his private affairs, this isn’t just about him. It’s about the needs of the crown.” Soojin despised king Jeon the II, she found the old man unnerving. Everytime his coal black eyes met hers, she felt the king saw through every facade and deep inside her soul. She assumed that is what had allowed him to maintain power even when his commanders, alliances, and sanity slipped his hands. Jeon exuded power, but his was strong and sturdy like a stone. His son’s power though was like water: constant, changing, tranquil, and tempestuous. Even hard stone was no match for the power of the sea. Everyone was aware of it, even the king in his fleeting reason, knew the time for a shift was rapidly approaching. Soojin couldn’t wait to get rid of the old haggard. To get rid of his lingering glances. Still she knew when to play her cards right, the only person to force Jungkook to submit would be his dear old dad.

           “You are right my child. Jungkook is far too reckless to take a Kim for a whore. It's enough that I allow one Kim to remain in my court - but two and the people may believe I am beginning to slip.” His voice was harsh, the laugh sounding more like a croak. The kind an old toad might make.

Soojin had to resist the urge to grimace, “Nonsense your majesty. No one would ever believe that. Everyone is aware that your reign is far from its end.” Which is exactly why once YN was out of her way, Soojin would make sure to get rid of him. She could hardly be queen if her husband wasn’t on the throne. The king may be the head, but everyone knows the queen is the neck.

           “Oh my darling, I am well aware that you have always been on the side of the crown unlike many others that would use it for their own interests. Not to worry, I will make my son see reason. If he doesn’t well -”

           “I am sure he will sire. Jungkook cares for you very much and he would never disobey his father.” Soojin wondered how much venom she could spill into the world before she eventually poisoned herself. She consoled herself by remembering that she was surrounded by vipers ready to strike. No mamba can compare to the jaw of a lion. Unbeknownst to Seo Soojin, the Jeon’s were no ordinary snakes and unlike lions who massacred their preys before eating them snakes consumed their prey alive.

           “Very well.” King Jeon turned around waving over a guard, “Call my son, it is time we have a talk.” Before turning back to Soojin before him, “You are excused my child, take care of yourself.”

           “Of course your majesty, take care of yourself.”

           “Have you heard?”

           “It is the talk of the whole castle.”

           “Well do you think he’ll actually do it?”

           “He would be a fool not to, plus it isn’t like he has a choice.”

           “He’s the prince of the nation. Of course he has a choice.”

           “Not against the king he doesn’t.”

           Sana turned around, wet rag in her hand as she whipped it towards the two gossiping maids who screeched at the possibility of their garments being ruined by the dirty water. “What are the two of you yapping about?!” Sana had simply been trying to salvage what was left of YN’s garments that had been ripped to shreds by the prince. Not that it mattered, Jungkook would probably buy her even nicer dresses and it wasn’t like YN had asked her to. She had seemed so disgusted when she walked back into her rooms. Heading straight for the shower and barely even sparing Sana a glance. Not that she cared, the less she had to interact with the mistress, the better in Sana’s head. Still, appearances must be kept up for the sake of the prince. So she gritted her teeth and cheerfully declared that she would wash her clothes.

           “Wouldn’t you like to know Sana? Probably run back to your lady and tell her everything.” Irene sneered, smoothing down the front of her dress and fixing her strawberry blonde hair.

           “Please what good would that do me?” The bitch deserves everything that’s coming to her. YN had explained her side of the story to Sana long ago, but she saw through the innocent facade she played. Why would the prince ever be interested in a stupid commoner like her when he had every woman at his fingertips? No. She had seduced him, even if YN may never admit it. Sana knew she was a wolf in sheep's clothing - just like her.

           “Because without someone to report on, you’ll lose the prince’s favoritism. Or do you actually believe he cares for you?!” Irene laughed and the other maids around her began to laugh too. Sana rolled her eyes, returning to the soapy water in front of her.

           “I’m no fool. I use him just as he uses me.” But her tone wavered towards the end, which only caused others to chuckle beside her. It wasn’t until one of the girls beside her took pity and told her what was happening.

           “The prince and princess Soojin are to be wed in seven days' time.”

           YN had been pretty much left to her own devices after spending several days and nights locked up in Jungkook’s bedroom. YN wished she could say the whole experience had been unpleasant, but the disgust she felt was more towards herself than the prince. She had enjoyed it deeply - every single part of it - though she would never admit it to anyone. Not even herself. So YN bathed herself multiple times that day, scrubbing her skin until parts of it bled, then she nearly tore off her hair for every time she saw it all she could imagine was Jungkook’s hands tangled in it. Every time she viewed her hands, all she could remember was how they would entangle together. Her lips were dry and swollen from all the kissing and sucking the prince had imparted on them. YN had never felt more like a whore - never felt more like a toy. In a move that was meant to give her power over the prince, all she had done during their trysts was find herself thinking what if? What if we had met in another time? Different circumstances? Could I love him? Could he be different? What if he changed? Is he capable of change? Would I love him if he did?

           It was those thoughts that plagued YN deeply hours after she returned and she sat still in her bed. Vito curled resting on her decolletage as she envisioned a different world where Jungkook was kinder, where he hadn’t caused her so much pain. Where they had met the way one should. He would have met her brother, introduced himself and promised to care for her, Jungkook could have been perfect. YN found herself getting lost in that what if, until reality came tumbling through her door.

“I’ll fucking kill her!” The door to the bedroom had been slammed open so harshly, the entire room had shaken slightly. It had frightened Vito so much he raised defensively and even YN had been ripped away from her daydreams. Jungkook was livid pacing back and forth as Morte was coiled around his arm, perfectly still despite her master shaking violently. YN had only ever seen him like this once and even then, there hadn’t been a murderous gleam in his eyes. YN cautiously slipped down the bed, her bare feet landing on the carpet. The second she was on the ground, Jungkook swept her into his arms leaving barely any space among them. YN had no choice, but to push her palms against his chest trying to leave some space between them.

Jungkook’s arms tightened around her torso, as YN resisted, eventually Morte unwrapped herself from his arms and formed a link with Vito around both their necks. Tying them together in more ways then one. “Who are you going to kill?” YN knew, Sana had mentioned it when she had brought her clothes back up. YN hadn’t paid much attention, even in her dally she was aware the Jungkook of her dreams and the one in front of her were two distinct beings. Though a part of her longed for the other Jungkook - she wanted this one gone from her life. Jungkook leaned his head close to hers, their lips brushing and it took all of YN’s willpower not to grimace.

“My wife.”

“You can’t. You promised me you would marry her, you promised the king there’s no going back on your word.”

Jungkook chuckled, “I can’t very well marry a corpse can I? Plus, I already have a queen.”

YN shook her head, “You can’t get out of this. I only promised I’d carry your child, not that I would be your queen.”

“You don’t have a choice in this, my darling.” Jungkook smiled, his teeth snagging and softly pulling YN’s bottom one. In his eyes, YN could see the lust pooling and she found herself amazed at how quick his mood could shift.

“I would rather join my brother than wear the crown on my head.” YN whispered harshly, as her palms kept pushing against Jungkook’s torso.

“That’s funny considering your brother doesn’t have a head.” The prince’s cruel words cut straight through YN’s soul. Instantly she was brought back to the rain, her brother’s beaten body, the lifeless eyes that peered at her as his body hung from the gallows. “Oh didn’t you know. I had his head removed and stored in a box, it is my most prized possession. If it wasn’t for him, you and I would’ve never met.” All the fight left YN’s body instantly, if not for Jungkook’s arms around her, she would’ve crumbled to the ground. “I really should give him a proper burial as a thanks. Oh well, there isn’t really much left to bury anyway.” The king Jungkook faded from her memory, until all that remained was the cruel beast in front of her. He seemed to take glee in her soulless eyes for he kissed her with such frenzy that could only be imparted by the happiest of people. Meanwhile YN could feel herself fading, her last remnant of hope being extinguished.

After a while of no response the prince finally seemed to notice that state of his beloved. “YN?” His hands grabbed a hold of her cheeks and forced her to look at him, only she didn’t. Though their eyes met Jungkook knew that she wasn’t viewing him, her mind in a far away place. “YN.” His grip tightened on her, as he hoped the pain would cause any sort of reaction from her. Even if it meant she would recoil, scream, hit him, it was better than having her empty gaze pierce into him. “Answer me YN!” His fingers were digging deeply into her cheekbones, his nails leaving indents into her face. Jungkook knew he was hurting her, but he didn’t care. React damn it! Do something! Finally someone did. Vito uncoiled himself and struck Jungkook’s hand, digging his fangs deeply into the prince’s palm. It shocked him so much, he jumped away letting go of YN completely. YN fell to her feet and fell back onto the bed, she had yet to react but Vito had placed himself on his owner’s neck, hissing and ready to strike once more.

Jungkook was in such shock, he didn’t even consider the fact that the snake had attacked him. Didn’t even think about commanding Morte to reproach. Instead he cradled his hand and looked at YN in a mixture of shock and fear. The way a child would when they had just broken their favorite toy. “I-I’m -” but he couldn’t even bring himself to say the words. He wouldn’t mean them because he truly wasn’t sorry. Jungkook only regretted having gone too far and hurting YN in a way which might be irreparable. Instead of attempting to make amends, Jungkook took a deep breath and turned around leaving YN truly alone for the first time since they’d crossed paths. As he closed the bedroom doors, he waved the guards away stating the “lady needed some time alone to herself.” Certain that when he returned in the morning, YN would be back to her usual self. She had to be.

The sun would set and rise three times before YN spoke again.

On the dawn of Wednesday morning, Sana knocked on the bedroom door bringing with her a plate of food which would be left uneaten like the others before. She didn’t know what exactly had caused her mistress to regress to such a state, but figured the news of the wedding must have done so. Her heart filled with bitter jealousy at the thought, but she coaxed another perfect smile on her face. “My lady, pardon the intrusion but I have brought you food and news from the crown.” YN didn’t really acknowledge Sana’s presence, only Vito seemed to be aware of her. His red beady eyes glaring at her as his tongue sniffed the air, as if entirely sentient the snake moved its head towards the bedside table. Tentatively Sana placed the platter there before, smoothing over the front of her dress.

“The King has requested an audience in private with you, my lady.” Sana glanced over, YN had been bathed and dressed every day at the prince’s insistence much to the maid’s annoyance. Particularly because YN didn’t seem to react no matter what she was subjected to: on various occasions Sana had ‘accidentally’ placed the water too hot only to make it too cold in an attempt to find warmth. She had tugged her hair too harshly, pinched her skin whilst dressing her, and even stepped on her. Yet YN had not so much as flinched, the woman finding herself in a deep dissociative state. The only indication of reasoning Sana could see was Vito that in the past couple of days had become far more active. Hissing and bearing his fangs everytime Sana imposed any type of miniscule harm on his owner.

She must be a witch. Probably enchanted the prince as well. Sana casts a glance towards the book laying upon the vanity: the black and red book taunting her. Perhaps the book offered some insight into her, Sana had never seen such a book in her life but it looked too opulent to begin to someone as poor as YN. It could be a gift from the prince. That only infuriated her more, all Sana ever received was pats on the back and harsh love making only to be tossed aside the second he had satisfied himself.

“We must get you ready, my lady. The king must not be kept waiting.”

YN had only entered the throne room on two other instances, both signifying further entrapment, but they had been at the hands of Jungkook and Soojin. Perhaps this would go differently, though something deep inside warned her that this meeting with King Jeon wasn’t a cause for celebration. Not when he had been plotting on murdering his son and accusing her. Not when she was technically his son’s mistress and the cause of all the turmoil in court. When she entered, the King laid sitting on his throne. It stood out harshly compared to the rest of the room, being made from a rare gemstone that seemed to absorb all the light in the room. The crown perched upon his head was dark in nature too, making it all too obvious that he was the dominant one in this conversation.

“Welcome, I’ve heard a lot about you Kim YN.” King Jeon stared down at the girl before him, trying to assess who she was, what she wanted, and how he could best use her to his needs.

Bowing deeply YN spoke, her voice soft yet clear. “You summoned me, your majesty?” There was a slight tremble in her hands she tried to hide by gripping her skirt tightly.

“Ah I did. There is something I wished to speak to you about.” The King waved his hand, indicating she could rise and YN did, slowly, as to demonstrate she was no threat.

“Yes sire?” If speaking to the prince was like walking on eggshells, then speaking to Jeon was walking on the edge of an active volcano. One which could go off at any second.

“I want you to murder my son.” The King’s voice was clear, no stutter whatsoever as if he were commenting on the weather and not the assassination of his own kin.

YN struggled to speak, unsure of how to react. She was a cornered prey, with no possible way of escape. “I-I’m sorry your majesty. I d-don’t understand.” YN couldn’t bear to meet his eyes, all the stories she’d heard as a child coming back to her. How the King was cold and callous but his eyes were even colder. Dark black pools that would make the devil shiver, yet so clear they reflected whoever he was staring at - reflected their true intentions.

“Look at me Kim.”

YN obeyed, but he was too far away for her to make out the exact color of his eyes. Even then, it was quite difficult to see with the tears threatening to spill.

“You know what you must do, yes? Or what the consequences will be…”

As YN stared at him, all she could see was a cruel man that would do anything to remain in power, even spill the blood of his own son. The apple never falls far from the tree. The King’s hand tightened around the seat and YN was certain that in the next few moments he would force her to agree to     something she could never envision herself doing. Even if he was the object of her loathing and tormentor - YN could never kill Jungkook. She had to cling to the last bit of her soul that still remained.

Please someone save me.

A harsh knock was heard and the doors opened to Kim Namjoon. “Pardon the intrusion, your highness. You asked me to inform you if anything happened in the outer lands.” YN almost cried tears of joy upon being interrupted, it could have even been Jungkook and she would’ve thanked him. “Ah yes, you’re dismissed.” The King waved her away as of nothing and YN couldn’t be more glad to have his eyes off her. She bowed deeply once more before hurrying out the door, managing not to break down until the doors behind her were entirely closed.

YN didn’t know how long she spent there sat on the floor as tears streamed down her face. It wasn’t until the door creaked open once more that she wiped her face and stood up rapidly. In her haste, she stumbled somewhat but was steadied by a hand grabbing hers. “Pardon my lady.” Namjoon’s smile was soft, reassuring and YN couldn’t help reciprocating it. “Nonsense, my lord.”

           Namjoon’s other hand came to lay upon hers, encapsulating hers in a warmth YN hadn’t felt in a long time. “Have you had time to read the novel?” His brow raised inquisitively.

           “I must admit I haven’t. Things have been busy as of late.”

           His chestnut eyes were warm, “I can relate. The castle has been in such a hectic state the gardens have been left unattended.”

           Now YN was left to be confused, “Pardon?”

           Namjoon looked around as if to ensure no one was listening in, he looked so childlike at that moment YN couldn’t help but giggle. “Well, they’ve not taken care of their blossoming flower.”

           YN rolled her eyes though the smile, and the rosey dust that spread across her cheeks revealed her true feelings, “Do you have a tendency to be so brazen, my lord?”

           “Hm,” his fingers tapped gently on her hand. “Only when with an intriguing companion, my lady. Only then.”

           “I don’t see anyone like that around here.” YN stated as she casted a glance around, in the corner of her eye she caught sight of a figure lingering behind a column but they quickly vanished.

           “You must give yourself more credit my lady. Though you are right, you aren’t intriguing as of yet only queer.” It was the shift in his tone that brought YN’s attention back towards him.

           “Oh? When shall I be intriguing then?” She tilted her head coyly.

           “After you blossom of course.”  Namjoon seemed so serious, all humour vanishing from his tone. “Though whether you will be a lily or an ivy has yet to be determined.”

           “It is entirely possible I will be both.”

           “Ah, that is true.”

           The two of them simply stared at each other, before distant voices could be heard echoing through the halls. Namjoon raised her palm towards his lips, placing a tender kiss. “Excuse me, my lady. I must be going.” YN nodded before allowing Lord Kim to walk away as his words and warmth lingered with her far into the night.

           “What’s this?” Jungkook looked at the large book in Sana’s chipped hands, he never understood why she manicured them considering they would only get ruined. Still it was better than the old weathered hands most maids had, hers were soft yet bony. They lacked the thinness yet sharpness of Soojin’s but didn’t possess the roundness and frailty of YN’s. “It is lady YN’s.” Sana hated attaching the prefix. It put YN above her, yet the last time she hadn’t the prince had severely punished her. It was as Jungkook’s hands traced the letters in the front cover that he identified what was written: The Golden Ones. A sinister smile spread across his lips, perhaps I should give YN more credit. “And how exactly did lady YN come to possess such a book?” His mouth twisted, full of mirth. It was the exact same as Jungkook’s copy. Ironic that he had spent his entire life searching for it only to have been right under his nose the whole time. Perhaps assigning Sana to be a double-agent hadn’t been such a waste of time after all.

           “Lord Kim Namjoon gave it to her as a present.”

           “Did he?!” Jungkook tried to hide his disdain, though the imprint of his fingerprints was left on the wood of his desk from gripping it too harshly. Placating his growing vexation, the prince smiled. “Very well Sana. You’ve done well.” The pat he placed on her head was patronizing - it was meant to be. People like Sana only obeyed if they thought it would prove how useful they were. So long as Jungkook fed her scraps of affection and not a full course meal, she would keep coming back. “Is that all?” She asked, before quickly following it up with. “Have I not satisfied you, your highness?”

Jungkook nodded, “Oh yes. But a story book is hardly evidence.” He let his fingers tap against the wood rhythmically as if in deep thought. “I need something concrete that proves your theory.”

Sana’s smile was forced, but she nodded and bowed nonetheless head touching the ground. “Of course, I shall deliver you concrete evidence of lady YN’s betrayal.”

      “You’re being reckless Namjoon. There is no point in pursuing the girl.” Seokjin rested his head against the cherry desk. It was old yet prominent standing as the centerpiece in their strategy room. Namjoon casted a glance at the people beyond the manor walls, those rallying in clear protest against the Jeon’s and their rule. They remained both aware and unaware of his existence. Even if they were to peer at him directly, they wouldn’t be able to recognize him. Namjoon wasn’t entirely sure they could recognize Seokjin, and he was the entire face of their operation. “It would be reckless not to pursue the girl.” He refuted as he let the curtain fall back into its rightful place, walking towards Seokjin and massaging the back of his neck. Seokjin groaned, swatting Namjoon’s attempts to distract him away. This was not a matter Seokjin would simply be dissuaded on.

“There must be a reason why Jeon is so willing to risk everything for her.”

Seokjin laughed incredulously, “When has madness ever made sense?” Seokjin simply couldn’t see what the big deal was. “She is nothing but a poor child that got caught up with the Jeon’s. She’ll probably be made to bear an heir and be tossed aside like all the Jeon women are.”

Namjoon shook his head, “No, Jin. It isn’t like that. She isn’t a pawn, Jungkook is planning on making her his queen. A king is nothing without a powerful queen.” Everyone knew it. It was the reason why the Jeon empire was failing. It was the reason why Seokjin’s claim to the throne didn’t stand a chance. As Namjoon’s father had always said: men are trees but women are seeds. If Namjoon was correct about YN, then she was the final piece needed to guarantee them a checkmate. If not, win the whole game.

Namjoon had to be smart though, for if the prince caught wind of his plan it would all be over.

On the evening of Thursday, just three days until the wedding between Prince Jeon Jungkook and Princess Seo Soojin, YN laid sleeping peacefully in her bed. It was a calm evening, barely a breeze could be felt in the night sky. It was also unnaturally warm, so much so Sana had suggested to her mistress, cracking the balcony doors and windows open. But YN politely refused, afraid something would crawl in or she would grow cold. Her sleep was pleasant, it was the first time in a long time YN was not plagued by nightmares filled with her brother’s lifeless body or Jungkook’s mental games created just to  torture her. She was resting comfortably, until a slight creak caused Vito beside her to rise from his slumber and hiss suddenly. When YN’s eyes shot open, she saw two masked figures staring at her.

Her screams were quickly muffled as a cloth was forced into her throat and her body was grabbed by the two men. YN struggled against them, limbs flailing in an attempt to land any sort of blow on them. Vito too sprang to her aid, but was grabbed and thrown against the head board. Unwillingly YN was lifted and dragged off the bed. She managed to wretch an arm free and attempted  to grab onto the sheets - onto Vito - but the snake was too far away and the men were far too strong. Capturing her in their grip once again, they managed to pull her into the bathroom where YN saw that bathtub full of water, finally understanding what was happening. YN fought like never before: kicking, scratching, she even managed to get the gag out of her mouth and began biting them. If the grunts of the men were anything to go by - and the harsh way one of them yanked her hair - she had inflicted some pain on them.

“Please! Help! Someone! He -” As if she weighed nothing, YN was grabbed and dumped into the ceramic tub. Her head knocked harshly against the back and YN felt something warm trailing down her head, as she gazed up dizzily. “Please, y-you d-don’t have t-to d-do t-this.” YN begged and pleaded, tried to reason with them but they wouldn’t listen. After everything she had endured, it couldn’t end like this. After all her suffering as a child, the loss of her parents, her brother, everything she ever held true. It couldn’t possibly end like this. I don’t want to die.

Strong arms grabbed a hold on her head, pushing it under the water. YN tried to hold her breath for as long as she could, trying to get her body to calm down so as to not consume more oxygen than necessary. Even then the seconds ticked on, YN could feel her chest begin to tighten the pressure beginning to mount the second she was about to breathe in water. YN was wretched out of the water, allowed to breathe only to be shoved in once again. With little air now, YN began to panic. Eyes anxiously looking around for anything to grasp onto. Anything that would serve as a life jacket - there was nothing. Her captors moved the moonlight now reflecting their golden armor.

YN was retched upwards one final time before being plunged back in, held down there longer. YN’s vision began to become blurry, chest tightening and lungs burning as her body forced her to breathe, only instead of air water rushed in. She was burning. She could feel herself burning from the inside out. Her mouth opened as she choked on the pain, only for more water to rush in. YN felt the last pounds of her heart as her senses faded, all her memories flashed before her eyes. The last was unfamiliar to her: a lily entangled by a snake its color changing from black to white. Vito? Eventually that faded too, as YN felt herself slipping into nothingness...slipping into death.

           Baekhyung’s hands disentangled from YN’s head as he lifted her hand from the water and checked her pulse. “She’s dead.” He stated, looking at the Seo guardsman. The man raised an eyebrow before checking for himself, seemingly content. “Thank you for your help. I’m sure your aunt will compensate you greatly.” Baekhyung rolled his eyes, “Didn’t do it for her. She’s simply an eyesore.” It wasn’t necessarily true, but with YN out of the way it would certainly facilitate things. The men walked out of the bathroom and then the door, not sparing a glance towards their surroundings. For if they had, they would have found the most peculiar sight, a bloated ball python struggling for its life, water droplets escaping its mouth. It took several minutes for the ball python to give up the fight. The second Vito took his last breath, YN took her first heaving, herself out of the water and breathing in air for the first time in twenty minutes.

           YN cast a glance toward the bed where her pet snake now laid dead, before pulling herself out of the bathtub and running straight for Jeon Jungkook’s room.

             YN’s knuckles rasped harshly on the blackwood of the prince’s bedroom door. When the prince didn’t answer the first time, her knocks became more incessant until YN was pounding so harshly the wood was beginning to bend under her force. She should have cared more about drawing attention to herself, but YN had just survived an assassination attempt and knew murderers didn’t linger long enough to be caught. Finally, the door creaked open, barely a sliver but enough that YN knew Jungkook was acknowledging her, inviting her in. A part of her hesitated, unsure whether this was all another elaborate scheme done by the sadistic prince in order to have her bend to him. No, this doesn’t seem like him. The Jeon’s weren’t fond of hiding in the shadows and hiring assassins. All of their ploys were done recklessly and with an audience. Since YN hadn’t stepped in, it seems Jungkook had decided to come out. He was still in his evening wear - his eyes took in YN’s disheveled appearance and a tear streamed face. He crossed his ankles together, leaning against the door frame.

           “To what do I owe the pleasure of having you come banging on my door at this late hour?” His dark eyes met hers, “Have you finally decided to speak to me or are you going to continue this ridiculous charade?” It isn’t until he noticed the blood on her head that worry crosses over his features, raising his hand to caress her.

           YN ignored him, instead choosing to answer a different question. “Yes.”  

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, I’ll marry you.”

   Seo Soojin’s room, when cleaned up, was actually quite beautiful. The reds and velvets mixed nicely with the fine gold accents. Normally guests would be a cause for celebration, as very few visited Soojin these days. Soojin would have been elated to have the prince himself in her chambers any night - but not tonight. Tonight Soojin sat seated on her bed, hair laid over her shoulders in nice neat waves. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” She asked, voice hesitant as she looked around the room for anything that could serve as a weapon for Jungkook or herself. Jungkook stood in the center of the room, though he had never been in her room he held no interest in all the trinkets she had decided to adorn it with. That wasn’t why Jungkook had suddenly decided to visit, not after YN had barged into his own bedroom and clung onto him. Not after Jungkook had to persuade his beloved that she would be safe in his bed with Morte guarding her.

“Can’t a husband visit his wife in the middle of the night?”

“We are not yet wed.” Soojin was unsure of what game Jungkook was playing, her eyes sneakily stared at her door. She couldn’t see the shadow of her guard's feet.

“I would hardly think that matters when the ceremony is in a few days' time.”

Jungkook approached Soojin’s bed slowly, his footsteps careful and calculated each one of them measured to ensure the tamed lioness would see exactly where he was at any given time. As he reached the edge of her bed, Soojin leaned back to rest on the headboard allowing Jungkook to crawl onto the bed until the prince was mere inches from her. Soojin swallowed thickly, nerves eating her alive. “Plus you’ll get everything you have ever wanted…” His hand caressed Soojin’s cheek tenderly. “To be queen and bear my heir.” His soft touch turned harsh as he pulled her towards his lips. “I thought we’d get a head start.” With little hesitation their lips crashed against each other, full of hatred and passion.

In those moments of pure unadulterated lust, Soojin swore Jungkook had never looked more beautiful. His sweat caused his hair to curl towards the ends, framing his face perfectly. Despite how badly she clinged to him, his arms, his back, chest, legs, his every breath - Jungkook barely touches her. He kisses her, but it feels empty. Even when he finally does enter her, it lacked intimacy and felt robotic. The prince was harsh, demanding, and entirely selfish in his needs. Though Soojin did enjoy it thoroughly, it was clear to her that Jungkook was only searching for his own high rather than hers. Eventually the two reach their peaks, climaxing together as Jungkook fills Soojin to the brim.

Then as quickly and quietly as he arrived the prince untangled himself from Soojin. Redressing himself before leaving her room, not sparing the young princess a glance. Seo Soojin cried that night for the first time in years, memories of her youth plaguing her as she recalled the fateful day that set in motion the rest of her life.

 Thirteen year old Soojin was already a beauty to behold, even at such a young age. Despite being born a woman, she was exceptionally bright and cunning. Under different circumstances, she would’ve surely become a great inventor or even a great ruler. Sadly she was born a woman to a noble family who had long ago set their eyes on the prize of the land - a prize their only daughter could help them get. While Soojin had never met prince Jungkook, they had been engaged since she could remember. Having been raised with tales of the great Jeons and how Jungkook was the kindest and fairest prince in the land. Soojin could hardly contain her excitement at what her future might hold. The following week, she would embark to court and finally meet her beloved. Still, even at such a young age Soojin possessed little patience and great ambition. Seven days was far too long a wait.

“Come on Soojin, it is this way.” Kim Yoona yelled from far ahead, Soojin jumped over the rocks that were littered across the ravine, careful to watch her steps so as to not slip. They were deep in the forest, far from the watchful eyes of maids and guards, Soojin wasn’t afraid though. She knew the fate that would befall anyone who attempted to cause harm to a Seo. Much less the soon to be princess. Yoona had told her of a fortune teller that had apparently predicted the Jeons rise to power and the birth of the prince. She was notable throughout all the land and since hearing her tenacity for telling the future of those destined to be great, Soojin wanted hers read.

After crossing the water they trudged through more forest ground before finding a small clearing. The two girls abruptly stopped as they came face to face with an old cottage resembling something out of the fairy tales they'd read. “This must be it.” Soojin stated, marching forward once the shock wore off. There was nothing to be afraid of; she was certain of what her future would entail, she just needed the confirmation. Before Soojin could knock on the door, it was opened by a middle aged woman dressed in rags.

“Are you the witch?” Was the first thing out of Soojin’s mouth. She lay unimpressed as Yoona soon joined her side, stunned into silence.

“Are you the Seo girl?” The fortune-teller reproached, causing both young girls' eyes to widen, before the fortune-teller allowed them in. “It’s two hundred to have your fortunes read - each.”

“That’s ridiculous!” Yoona protested, but Soojin fisted the money out of her wallet before throwing it on the nearest table she found. “There, now tell me my future.”

“How about I tell you a story instead?”

Soojin rolled her eyes dramatically, “I don’t want a story. I want my future, tell it now.”

The fortune teller smiled, taking long steps before reaching a chair. She took her time sitting and making herself comfortable before finally turning towards Soojin. “Tell me child, have you ever seen a lion and snake play together?”

Soojin frowned, “What?”

“They are opposite beings in nature. Warm-blooded and cold-blooded. A union between them would never work.” The witch grabbed the pile of money and began to count it, “A lion takes several mates but always stays within his pride. A snake lives a solitary life, its only companions the flowers it lives alongside.”

“You’re making no sense!” Soojin’s hands balled into fists, as she began to raise her voice in frustration. “You’re speaking in riddles, talk clearly.”

“She means that the match won’t last.” Yoona, who had remained quiet until then, finally spoke up.

“That isn’t true!” Soojin screamed, head whipping back and forth between her friend and the witch. “Who will marry the prince if not me?! I am to be a queen. I will bear a son and become a Jeon. Our marriage will unite the kingdom and ensure prosperity for the kingdom.” The words were not her own, but those she had been raised hearing.

“Ah, a queen you will be and a son you will bear. A Jeon though is not a name that is given but granted. Read up on your history child, this union will only breed destruction.”

Soojin didn’t believe it. Couldn’t believe it. The witch was lying to her. She simply wanted to embarrass Soojin, that's why she was making up all those lies.

Yoona excitedly pounced on the opportunity, now that Soojin was out of the picture perhaps she had a shot. “If not her then who? Who will marry the prince?”

Soojin turns to glare at her supposed friend, furious at the hope that had filled the young Yoona now that she believed Soojin to be out of the picture.

The fortune-teller looked out the window at the trees that surrounded them, “This winter has been long, but spring will come again. When it does, the flowers are always the first to bloom.”

“Flowers?” Soojin asked, at the same time that her friend drew her conclusions.

“A Kim?! I’m a Kim. Does that mean I will marry the prince?” Yoona asked excitedly, unaware of the glare now being cast her way by Soojin. Poor Kim Yoona misunderstood, her family though they held the last name, held very little power and had only managed to amass their fortune through their loyalty to the Seo’s. Something the young child, unbeknownst to her, ruined that very afternoon. Still much like young Yoona, Soojin too did not know the difference between Kims - they were those who simply possessed the name while others who were blessed with it.  When they were walking back towards their homes and Yoona accidentally slipped on the rocks and dove head first into the ravine, Soojin couldn’t bring herself to care much. If fate wants her to be with the prince, then she will surely not drown. The princess thought as she walked away and headed home preparing for her upcoming trip.

           “This winter has been long but spring will come again. When it does, meet me where the flower’s bloom.” YN had awoken alone in her bed in the morning, surprised that neither Sana nor Jungkook were around. She supposed it was a blessing in disguise for the note left on her pillow would have surely been the subject of questioning. It had taken her a while to decipher what exactly Namjoon had meant by the note, but figured that overthinking would be exactly what would be expected of her to do. So, YN headed towards her vanity but stopped cold when she realized the book was not there. I could’ve sworn… YN searched high and low through her bedroom in a manner that was discrete yet thorough. She felt eyes on her and didn’t know if they were guarding or threatening.

           Sana must’ve placed it elsewhere. It would be strange considering the maid never moved any of her stuff without explicit permission, but it certainly was a possibility. YN sighed, looking at the note once again tracing it with her finger as she pondered on what the lord’s intentions might have been in sending her that message. If it had been something unimportant, he surely would have communicated through his staff. It was the way of the palace. If it was urgent, Kim Namjoon would have come himself. No, this was something different. YN’s eyes danced once more on the small piece of paper, observing carefully as if the paper would suddenly reveal a secret to her, that was for her eyes only.

           “Where the flowers bloom…” What flowers? YN’s eyes widened as she recalled something her late mother had taught her. YN had been too young to remember much of her parents, even the few memories she did have were obscured. She did remember her mother always plotting lilies though, it was the only thing that she had been able to cultivate while they lived in the harsh areas of the city. Their garden, if it could be called that, had been barely a meter long. Though their father insisted that she try to grow vegetables, because they were always so expensive at the market, she only grew lilies. Even if they always died. Lilies were delicate beings and required extreme care and stable environments - something YN hadn’t known much of growing up. There was another thing about YN’s mother’s garden: she always complained about the ivy weed that threatened to consume it.

Where flower’s bloom? Lilies required care, attention, and warmth. It needed round the clock observation. An ivy, on the contrary, could potentially grow in any type of environment even the most inhospitable ones. The passage ways!

 It seems Jungkook had kept his promise of locking up the passageway, but YN had figured it couldn’t be the only one. Certainly a castle this old and large must have various entries and exits privy only to those who reside in them. So YN looked in the most obvious place she could think of. It wasn’t difficult to gain access to Jungkook’s bedroom, and the palace had been fairly empty as of late so there weren’t many lingering around. It was rather difficult though to escape the eyes she felt. Jungkook had promised her a brand new security detail, though she had assumed he meant guards. Now she was uncertain. Everywhere YN went she felt eyes and as she peered around the prince’s room, it was no different. Morte was nowhere to be seen but YN couldn’t be sure the snake was hiding or if she was accompanying her master.

“Psst.”

It came from behind her. YN spun around only to face the wall behind the bed. Then she heard it again, “Psst.” This time louder, as she drew nearer her eyes focused on the pattern of the dark brick wall. It was perfectly layered and symmetrical, likely thousands of years old, as the stone had long faded yet somehow kept its state. One last time the “psst” rang out and YN finally noticed that one of the bricks was slightly more pushed in than the others. It was something only noticeable since she was barely a breath away from the wall. Hesitantly, YN reached out and pressed at a large section of the wall sliding back by a few feet. Then she walked forward into the corridors making sure to close it behind, her unaware of the viper observing.

 “I was afraid you might not join me.” Kim Namjoon was not dressed in his usual attire of extravagant clothes. In fact, the old wash of his bottoms and creases on his shirt made it seem like another person when YN had first laid eyes on him, after discovering him deep in the corridors. “I have walked long and have yet to see any Ivies growing. Your clue wasn’t easy to decipher. Had I misinterpreted it, I would have headed to the gardens.” YN answered, there was something off about the lord today but she couldn’t put her finger on it. He seemed desperate to YN. “Ah, but we are at the gardens.” Namjoon replied, finger taping the wall to his left. The passageway they found themselves did in fact run alongside the palace gardens. To his left grew lilies, once planted by the great Kim when the palace was first constructed. To his right, inside the castle, ivies: tall, wild, and lethal. All planted by Jeon the I without intent.

“What is it you want my lord?” Though YN normally enjoyed conversing with Namjoon, something inside her stomach warned her that being hidden away with him would have consequences.

“Have you read the book, my lady?”

“Ah,” YN didn’t exactly know how to break it to him without possibly upsetting him. “I seem to have misplaced it.”

“Someone took it you mean.”

“Why would someone steal a book?” It was a genuine question, as Namjoon had come to that conclusion far too quickly.

“Why would someone steal you?”

So that is what he was trying to get at. YN had long grown tired of having to explain her situation and felt a bit disappointed that Namjoon would even ask. He seemed different. She should have known better. “That is the question I’ve been asking myself since I arrived.” Her tone was apathetic, as she glanced around trying to figure out how to end the conversation.

           “Surely you are not that oblivious my lady. You hold value - a true value that is rare to come by these days.”

           Now she was confused, “You make no sense.”

           Namjoon stepped closer. Even though it was just two steps, YN felt he was trying to bridge the space between them. Either to get her attention or establish dominance, she wasn’t too sure. YN held her ground. “I’m afraid I never do.” Namjoon caresses her cheek, leaning in to whisper. “You smell divine, like flowers...a Sharon rose, perhaps?” YN eyes widened. Her mind traveled to Soojin’s confrontation. “It is simply a name my lord.” Namjoon chuckled, “Yes, I suppose so. That is why there are only two true Kim’s in court.” He turned sharply on his feet and walked away, but not before spinning back just as quickly. “The help is sorted into two fields - Seo’s and Jeon’s - Sana is a Jeon, not by name but it is where her alliances lie - besides the crown.”

           The phone rang inside Min Yoongi’s study and he ignored it. Fully aware of who it was and the consequences it may bring, but the Duke couldn’t bring himself to care. Jimin was in a good mood today, splendid even, and Yoongi didn’t want to do anything that would risk that. So the phone rang for hours upon hours, jiggling harshly upon his desk much to his annoyance. He had instructed the staff to ignore it - let the man think he was out of town. Though it was a dangerous game, now far from the castle Min Yoongi found the courage he so often lacked. He was prepared to play the long game and ignore the brat, demonstrating that Yoongi was not a puppet or a butler he could have at his beck and call. When the phone finally stopped, Yoongi assumed he had won. Until the phone started ringing elsewhere: the master bedroom - Jimin’s room. Yoongi bolted out the door leaving his chair turned over and a few papers scattered. The duke ran through the hallway and burst past the doors just as Jimin put the phone to his ear. Yoongi ripped it out of his hand as gently as he could, not missing the questioning gaze of his beloved. “Hello,” his gruff voice sounding slightly out of breath from the run.

           “Hello Yoongi, I’ve been trying to reach you but it seems you’ve been too busy to pick up the phone. So I figured I would ask your darling for a favor, it’s been so long since I’ve heard from him.”

Yoongi’s eyes widened and his hands balled into a fist. “There’s been some problems with the phone lines lately, it looks like there’s a storm coming.”

           “Oh a storm is coming all right, but that is not why I contacted you Yoongi. I’m sure you’ve received the invitation by now.” He meant the wedding invitation. Yoongi had in fact received the invitation earlier that morning, to say he was surprised when he saw ‘Jeon Jungkook and Seo Soojin’ on the piece of paper would be an understatement. What of the girl? “You see there is the matter of my bachelor party.” Oh no. “While my soon to be wife is busy readying herself, I see no point in not enjoying my last night of an unwed life. So my beloved and I are headed towards your estate as we speak. I hope it isn’t too late for a party.”

             Jungkook had yet to tell her where they were headed, but he seemed in a pleasant mood something which caused YN quite a lot of concern. She was aware that the wedding was tomorrow and hadn’t found it to be a good sign that the groom was effectively leaving a day before. Though Jungkook had sworn he would marry Soojin, there had to be something else at play. A hidden pawn or move that he hadn’t yet exposed - it wouldn’t be out of character for him to somehow weasel his way out of a promise. Then again… The King was involved in this affair and Jungkook had yet to disobey his father. At least in front of her.

           “What has you so entertained?” Jungkook reached over and delicately massaged the frown between her brows. His other hand entwined in hers, fingers gently tracing over her knuckles. “Penny for your thoughts.”

           YN forced a polite smile on her face, “Simply wondering where we are going.” There was nothing to gain from speaking the truth. If her time in the castle had taught her anything it was that.

           “Hm,” the prince nodded, clearly not entirely believing her but choosing not to press the matter. “We are headed to an old friend’s place. Duke Min has agreed to host us for the evening as a farewell gift to my bachelor status.”

           The name rang a bell and the longer she dwelled on it, the clearer the person he was speaking about became. “Duke Min? As in Lady Eun’s lover?” As in the man she had begged to spare her brother’s life? To be fair, all the charges against her brother had been dropped. It wasn't the Duke’s fault that Jungkook had manipulated everything to kill her brother regardless. You killed his lover.

Sensing the clear discomfort in her tone, Jungkook smiled. “Don’t worry my love.” He leaned in closer, his hot breath fanning her ear. “Yoongi engages in various liaisons, but only one truly holds his heart. He and I are a lot alike in that sense.”

     The Min estate was a sight to behold, though it did not compare to the grandiose nature of the palace, YN found herself enjoying it more. It was brighter, a light sky color that matched the lush greenery that surrounded it. It was much smaller than a duke’s home should be, but that was to be expected of a secondary residence - even if it was where Min mainly stayed. In front stood Min Yoongi, as well as multiple staff, all different levels of anxiousness. Most thoughts revolved around the prince and what a pleasure it would be to serve his royal highness when they were so used to serving the duke and his lover. All of Yoongi’s thoughts, though, were on the girl. He longed to see her, only if to ease his curiosity. It had been so long since they had last met and Yoongi wanted to know if she had changed, what she had become. if she remained the same desperate child begging to be saved - or had transformed herself into a vicious snake.

As the carrier arrived, the driver quickly exited to open the door. Jungkook exited first with a sly smile on his face that caused most of the staff to swoon, and right behind him, wearing a simple satin high collared blue dress with a grey coat, exited YN. Her eyes cast around before they immediately dropped down. It wasn’t until Jungkook took her hand in his that she looked up, sending a blank look to the prince - which upon further inspection by the duke was filled with a mixture of contempt yet reluctance. Jungkook whispered something to her that caused her eyes to widen and she quickly looked up at Yoongi with fear in her eyes. The look mirroring one Jimin had given him the first time they had met.

It was gone rather quickly, replaced with a gentle smile that didn’t reach her eyes. Yoongi wondered if that sort of training had been cemented by Jungkook or if much like his songbird YN had learned that adapting meant surviving.

      After a brief tour of the home, the three of them had lunch though YN did not miss the fourth table set that went unused, much to the Duke’s apartments annoyance, the three then spoke in the patio for hours about politics, music, art, philosophy. Though it was more like YN was an observer than an active participant, Jungkook seemed fine about her lack of enthusiasm so long as she was draped on his lap or holding his hand. It was like she was a prize to be admired, but not engaged with. Any time she did wish to join the conversation, she would look up and meet Min Yoongi’s dark feline eyes and immediately sink back into silence. There was something about the duke that holy unnerved her, he seemed fine enough at first glance but the prince’s words kept bouncing around her head. Dinner then came and went, followed by drinks and finally it was time to retire.

“We have prepared two rooms like you asked.” Yoongi states, after waving away an approaching maid. “We hope they are to your enjoyment.” YN can’t help but feel a sense of relief at not having to share a room with Jungkook. They both excuse themselves and are guided up the stairs. Once the maid leaves, YN goes to enter the room but a hold on her wrist stops her. She turns back to look at Jungkook quizzically.

“Oh come on now darling, the rooms are for show.” He says amused. “It’s best not to cause an uproar the night before the wedding.” Jungkook doesn’t even give her time to respond, before he pulls her into his room and shuts the door. It is when he goes in for the kiss that YN rushes out a question that has been plaguing her all day. “Are you actually going to marry Soojin?” Jungkook stops, tilting his head to the side as if thinking over what she says. “Why? Are you jealous?” His tone is teasing, as he goes in for another kiss only to be stopped by YN once more. “You promised her you would. Promised me as well. Do you intend to keep it?”

Jungkook sighed, walking towards the bed and stripping off his clothes layer by layer. “Soojin has been my fiancé since we were children. I was always meant to wed her.” This causes YN’s chest to swell with excitement, only for it to be shattered seconds afterwards. “Still it is you who will be my queen. You did promise to wed me too recall? In exchange for protection from any more assassination attempts. Everyone always knows that first marriages are for gains and the second is for love.” He beckoned her closer, for some reason YN obeyed. Standing nearly nude in the moonlight YN once again was blinded by his beauty. He looked so much like an angel, but she knew devils could shapeshift to enticing forms.

Once again she wondered if things had been different would Jungkook have wooed her too. In another life, would she have come to love him? Would he even be interested in her? No use in thinking of what ifs. Nothing would change who Jungkook was now, just like it appeared nothing would save YN. Not as long as the prince was alive.

When YN awoke the next morning the prince was gone, the spot beside her in bed now cold. Though she couldn’t be certain it had ever been warm. She dressed and headed down stairs, surprised to find barely any staff and the duke gone as well. It’s a royal wedding of course they would all be gone. YN eyed the door and approached it, seeking an opportunity for escape. The place couldn’t possibly be as heavily guarded as the castle. YN hadn’t seen any guards or anything of the sort the day before. Just as her hand was about to grip the handle, a butler appeared startling her.

“Pardon the interruption my lady, but breakfast has been served outside in the garden.” YN smiles politely nodding before heading out towards the gardens. The gardens aren’t likely to be guarded. She could always escape into the forestry surrounding the house. As she exited the house, she caught sight of a man sitting at the table where breakfast was served. He was stunning, that was the first thing she noticed. With soft yet angled features, large lips, and delicate eyes. She must’ve been staring a long time because the man finally turned to look at her and in his eyes, YN could see a deep melancholy not dissimilar to her own.

“So you’re the prince’s whore?”

YN was taken aback by his bluntness, but squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. She wouldn’t be disrespected by someone who seemed to be in the same boat as her. So that’s what Jungkook meant. “Are you the Duke’s?”

He smiled, she could tell it wasn’t fake as humor filled his eyes. Only to quickly be replaced with sadness yet again. “I am his lover, his songbird, his whore.” The man looked forward towards the violets, “It all depends on his mood.” Then filled with mirth, “It all depends on the sex.” It was once he turned back towards her, his smile a mix of innocence and seduction that he finally stated his name. “You can call me Jimin though.” YN couldn’t help the slight smile that spread across her face, for even though she did not know what Jimin had gone through he was still surviving and that inspired her a bit.

The two of them ate in silence and merely observed the garden, breathing in the fresh air and taking in nature. YN thought this might be the first time she has ever been at peace after meeting Jungkook. It isn’t until the sun is higher in the sky, past midday or a bit before, that Jimin speaks again.

“They’re both gone. Off to the wedding it seems.” He says it with such resentment, YN can’t help but wonder if it's because he isn’t with them or Jimin dislikes weddings in general. When YN questions him, he chuckles. “No, I’m not mad. A whore isn’t welcome in a church after all.” The sly wink he sends her lets her know that she too is included in the joke. Even then, she wonders if Jimin even gets to leave at all. Suddenly Jungkook’s words when they were approaching the house pop into her head, “The Duke is fond of keeping treasures too so be sure not to catch his attention.”

“Perhaps we should have our own fun.” She says suddenly, little thought given to the consequences said action may hold for both of them.

Jimin turns to YN, eyes widened before his lips pucker into a pout. “I’m not allowed to leave and no one can go against the Duke’s wishes.”

“I outrank the Duke.” A bit of silence followed before the two of them broke out into wicked grins.

 YN had never really been in the city, the area she used to reside in where the slums were, and even then she went out so little that her memories of it were vague. Jimin seemed to have a better idea of where they were going, dragging her from fashion boutique to cafes to bars and anywhere else he could think of. He seemed so jovial as if he were a bird able to fly after so long, when he looked it at YN it was with a mixture of glee and gratitude. Even if she didn’t enjoy all the attention garnered every time Jimin pulled out Yoongi’s money, she didn’t want to break what little happiness had returned to Jimin. Especially when he had seemed so starved of it.

“Here this is for you. If you’re forced and resigned to being the prince’s whore might as well dress the part.” Jimin often called her that instead of her name, but given the lack of malice in his voice whenever he did YN couldn’t bring herself to care. He handed her a velvet box, which upon opening it possessed a silver necklace with a black gemstone and matching ring. “Jimin I can’t take this.” It was certainly expensive judging by the look of it and she felt this was his way of saying thanks. “I appreciate it but -”

Jimin rolled his eyes and took the ring out of the box and forced it onto her finger. “Don’t make this a big deal. If you look like a victim people will treat you like one, but if you look like a queen...well no one goes against a queen.” He had maneuvered his way around her and placed the necklace on her neck tying it delicately on the back. “There now you look like a queen.” His fingers brushed comfortingly on the side of her neck. YN smiled and thanked him silently. They were towards the back of a store, it was a smaller boutique, likely only being able to contain no more than twenty people inside yet it was relatively empty. The stylist had stepped into the back after offering them beverages and hadn’t returned since.

As the two new friends continued their conversation, a car pulled up to the front of the store. It was a large suburban with thick windows that were blacked out. Since Jimin had his back to the front it was YN who first noticed it, finding it peculiar. It wasn’t until the car doors opened and she saw the sigil on the driver’s side that she recognized who it belonged to. Resistance. It didn’t take her too long to grasp at why they were there. Rather quickly she gripped Jimin’s arms, “Go to the back of the store and don’t come back out until it's safe.” Rather forcefully she shoved him towards the back and Jimin spared her a glance before running to the back of the store.

Please please please. YN didn’t know exactly what she was asking for, but it was the only thing that occurred to her. Five burly men entered the store all setting their sights on her immediately. “Hello, Kim YN. Our leader would like to speak with you.”

“I’m Kim Seokjin, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” The words couldn’t be any more of a farce, but Seokjin was nothing if not civil and polite. The smile forced onto his face was entirely charismatic and swayed anyone that looked it at. While being a good leader was important, good looks also aided Seokjin in staking his claim on the throne. Though people swore loyalty to the Kim’s and claimed to despise the Jeon’s, no one would rally behind an ugly person not when their prince looked like a fallen angel. “I’ve been told quite a lot about you. I am sorry that we have had to meet under these circumstances, but it isn’t very often the prince lets his most prized possession out of his sights.”

Truth was he could have waited, but Seokjin wanted to see her. Wanted to know what had captured not just the prince’s attention, but Namjoon’s as well. Now that YN was in front of him he saw nothing that could explain it. She’s rather plain looking. Not only that but she sat perfectly straight in her chair refusing to engage in any conversation at all. Her lips were pursed, face stoic, and eyes observed everything at a clinical distance. She acts like a Jeon that’s for sure. Well if she wasn’t going to reply might as well continue, “I am sure you have first hand experience of how cruel the Jeon’s can be. They are cold, cunning, and utilize dark arts to keep their power. They took what was once a great country, with wealth and happiness to go around and have hogged it all to the point were most of the population lives in extreme hunger and despair.”

“Have you ever gone hungry?” YN’s soft voice spoke out, barely above a whisper yet it captured all of Seokjin’s attention. “It seems strange to me to hear about hunger and despair from a man who has never experienced it in his life.”

Seokjin was taken aback, but kept his calm. “I have faced much despair in my life, but it would take too long to go into detail about it. Plus I am not fond of comparing traumas.”

“What dark arts do you speak of? I’ve never heard of the Jeon’s performing dark arts.” That was a lie, but YN was baiting him. Plus if Seokjin had useful information that could help her escape Jungkook then she was willing to do anything.

Seokjin smiled, “A group of less than a hundred men stormed a castle full of guards, nobility, and the royal family and within an hour had slaughtered them all and taken control. Of course, it was magic.”

So he knows nothing. YN remained quiet, she observed Kim Seokjin the way one might a potential threat. Even if he had yet to attack or make his intentions clear, the only person YN had met that hadn’t attempted to coerce her or hurt her had been Jimin. The odds weren’t in her favor. Even Namjoon whom she had thought of as a friend had acted strange the last time they met. “Unless there is something you know. Which may help us restore the imbalance of power and return things back to their harmonious state.”

It was clear neither were buying what the other was selling and it was only a matter of time before that truth became obvious to the two of them.

“What I am trying to get at my lady is, it would not only benefit the kingdom but you as well if you -” Before Seokjin could finish his pitch, the doors of his office slammed open and in strolled Kim Namjoon decked in a royal blue blazer with matching top and cream pants, he looked like a leader and with the way he regarded Seokjin it was clear which one of them truly called the shots. “I learned you kidnapped Lady Kim when I specifically asked you not to. Now we have both an angry prince and Duke on our hands.”

“The prince is getting married, he is far too concerned with his future bride to care where his mistress is.”

“Ah, well since you clearly know Jeon Jungkook so well explain to me then why fourteen of our allies had their families raided and imprisoned not ten minutes after you took her.”

Both Seokjin and YN froze in shock, unable to believe what they had just heard. Ten minutes? It took ten minutes for Jungkook to find out she was missing and exact his revenge when he was more than a hundred miles away. “Don’t play with me Namjoon.” Seokjin’s voice had lost all its charm and was not monotone, “This isn’t funny.” Namjoon scoffed, “They’re awaiting their sentencing and everyone knows it's the gallows for traitors.” An image of her brother’s dead body flashed before YN and she struggled to not heave. “Now go fix it.” Namjoon demanded, pointing his finger out the door. Seokjin marched out not sparing YN a look, but she could tell by the look on his face he would surely blame her for this. It’s always my fault.

YN sat stunned in silence as Namjoon ran a hand through his hair, pulling at the ends with frustration. She glanced towards her lap trying not to make eye contact, her hands were shaking and YN gripped her skirt in order to steady them. “I can talk him out of it.” YN wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince Namjoon or herself. “He wouldn’t -”

“Yes, he would YN. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re dead already.” He muttered, before sighing and gazing at her sympathetically. “Don’t blame yourself my lady. This isn’t your fault.”

YN chuckled humorlessly, “All of this is my fault. Every death that has occurred since the prince and I crossed paths has been my fault.” Or by my hand. Lady Eun and Vito flashed before her eyes.

“Well then I shall have to start referring to you as Lady Death or Lady D for short.”

YN smiled at his attempt to lighten the mood, “Very funny my lord.” The two stared into each other's eyes for a while before YN finally broke the calm silence that had settled between them. “Is Kim Seokjin an ivy or a lily?” The smile on the lord’s face melts away before he quickly replaces it with one that doesn’t reach his eyes. There is a mask on his face that YN has only seen him wear around others before and she smurmises what it must mean - Namjoon finally sees her as a threat.

“He is a Kim with a stake to the throne, one of the last remaining ones.” He walks towards a leather seat right across from where she is. Namjoon sits the way a gentleman would, reclining yet keeping his back straight and shoulders square. Head held high as his height caused him to look down at her ever so slightly. YN found herself imagining what he would look like with a crown on his head. “So what is your plan? To use Seokjin and let him die in his quest for the throne?” Her eyebrow raises as she questions whether Namjoon would be as cruel to use someone for their own personal gains, then again that seems to be the norm among the nobility.

“Seokjin won’t die.” Namjoon spoke as if this were a fact and not an optimistic delusion.

“Please don’t be foolish, my lord. The Jeons and Seo’s will wipe out any possible threat that exists to them.” YN had experienced it first hand.

“The Seo’s believe where all lunatics clinging to the past and the Jeons would never attack without solid reasoning.”

YN laughed, “The prince just executed four families without solid reasoning.”

“No,” Namjoon shook his head as disappointed she didn’t understand. “The prince executed conspirators that may have played a role in the kidnapping of a court lady and his lover.”

YN fixed him with a pointed stare, “You know the truth.”

Namjoon leans forward in his seat, “The truth doesn’t matter, tell a lie enough times it becomes the truth. People don’t want to believe the reality, they want to hear what is most convenient to them.”

“What is this truth that you are trying to tell? That Seokjin is the true heir when the Kim line has been so mixed that’s nearly impossible. Or is that little speech all you have?” YN was frustrated. Tired of being treated like a pawn in a larger game of thrones. “You seem to be under the illusion that I am completely unaware of what having a Kim king was like. I don’t like the Jeons nor the Kims, both patriarchy’s have set about ruining the kingdom each in their own way.”

“Good thing we aren’t going to have a patriarch on the throne.” He smirked.

YN’s words died on her tongue as the statement caused her to pause. It unsettled, then it all began to click. Jungkook’s intense desire to make her queen, Soojin questioning her family name, Namjoon’s insistence, even her brother’s untimely death. At that moment YN longed to be anywhere else but there to be far away: back in the store with her brother, back in their childhood home with her parents, even locked back inside the palace bedrooms. At least there she knew what to expect, what future awaited her. There her status as a sister, daughter, prisoner were clear. Inside the rebel grounds  they were not, she was about as certain of her fate as she had been that night in the dungeon. “What do you mean?” The look Namjoon gave her spoke for itself. You know what he means, don’t deny it any longer. “YN,” he rose from his chair cautiously, his eyes hesitant as if unsure how she would react. For a split second, YN could see what looked like trepidation in his eyes but what would the great Lord Kim have to be afraid of? “You were never merely a pawn and it was never nearly a name.”

Soojin sat restlessly on the marriage bed, waiting for Jungkook to arrive. She was certain there were ears glued to the chamber doors and could feel eyes on her figure, yet she couldn’t tell where they came from. The wedding had been a spectacle if a little small, but she supposed it would help cement her image as a humble princess. It wasn’t a good look to waste millions on a wedding when the country’s poor were starving. Her knees were tucked into her chamise as the cold air in the room nipped at her skin, the lit fire was too far away to offer anything besides light. Though she longed to go near it, she had been told it was bad luck for the bride to step foot off the bed before the marriage had been consummated. Even if it already had been days before.

She isn’t exactly sure how long passes, but knows that it must have been a while since the cold nipping at her had long seeped into her bones and was now causing her to shiver. The silk bedding offered little protection. More time passed and Soojin found herself dozing off, the new moon high in the sky before she was awoken by the ringing of a bell. It announced that someone wished to enter the room and Soojin gave her permission. A young maid entered, hair tucked tightly into a bun as she bowed deeply. She looked familiar to the princess and she racked her brain trying to find her name before finally recalling, Ah yes, Sana. The whore’s maid. Soojin didn’t think much of it, since YN was no longer in the castle and posed no threat to her. She regarded the maid civilly.

“What is it?”

“I apologize, your highness, the prince has left the castle for the city and it seems he will not be returning before tomorrow.”

Soojin laughed, to her it must have been a joke. Surely Jungkook would not leave on their wedding night to be with his mistress when his wife was right there. She lifted her hand to cover her mouth and realized she was not only laughing, but crying as well. Finally Sana looked up at her, eyes filled with pity and any sadness in Soojin turned to rage. I see. YN had sent her maid to taunt her, to show that even though Soojin was queen Jungkook still belonged to her. Soojin raised her hand to strike the maid, when a sudden sharp pain from her abdomen caused her to fall over.

“Princess?!” Sana rushed to her help, only to be pushed away by Soojin. “Leave! Lock the doors! I don’t want anyone to see me!” She roared like a lioness and Sana backed away, bowed in submission. It was once she heard the small ‘click’ of the locked door that Soojin allowed the sobs to wreck through her body as the pain in her stomach worsened. What is happening to me? She raises her hand and sees small drops of water that have stuck. Soojin could not remember the last time she had cried. Perhaps it had been her sixth birthday when her father had died or perhaps it had been when her mother scolded her for crying after his death.

Nonetheless she did not have time to dwell on it for the pain she felt forced her up and had her heaving. She could feel something crawling up her throat and she tried desperately not to choke on it. I won’t give up this fight. Not after everything I’ve sacrificed. The pain was harsher than ever and it burned so much that Soojin swore it would tear itself from the inside out. She had no choice but to open her mouth and let it out. Soojin expected a lot of things to exit her: bile, the wedding cake, even flowers if she were to be honest. What she did not expect was the small baby snake in the pool of blood; which upon closer inspection by the princess was dead.

           When YN arrived at the Min house it looked deserted as if not a soul resided in it, but she knew Jungkook was waiting inside. Even far away, YN could sense the danger radiating from inside - Jungkook was sure to be infuriated and she hoped it wasn’t too late to talk him down from his anger before more innocent people lost their lives. She pushed through the front doors, not surprised to find them open, and saw Jungkook waiting for her sat upon the stairs. What did come as a shock to her was that he was still wearing his wedding clothes. Did he really come straight after? His long hair is styled back to show off his undercut, the tight fit of his suit - a grey and white jacket with matching pants and the Jeon symbol embroidered on the left breast - show off his figure nicely. When the prince catches her staring he smirks, but it does little to subdue the fire present in his eyes.

           “Oh and did the rebellion help you find your way back darling? How nice of them. Not to worry, I’ve already sent them my thanks.” Sarcasm dripped from every word, but it stoked YN’s own fury how casually he spoke about killing people. How little he cared.

           “Haven’t you killed enough?! Those poor people have nothing to do with it and you know it. Stop murdering people as a show of power.” She was seething, not being able to bear the guilt of anymore blood on her hands.

           “A display of power?” Jungkook raised his eyebrow, “If I wanted to display my power, I would have murdered every single person in that little so called rebellion. No what I did was a display of my love for you.” Even through his insanity, she could see he was being honest and that terrified her even more.

           “How do you think it looks to your people that on your wedding day, you’re more concerned with your mistress's disappearance than your own wife?” Though Jungkook didn’t care about appearances, the crown still had an image to uphold.

           Jungkook opened his mouth, letting it form a small ‘o.’ “I see you’ve been under the impression this whole time that the public knows who you are.” He smiled at her confused expression, “You see while the public is aware that I have taken a mistress, all they know is that she is a lady of the court. But the murders that occurred tonight were due to the aiding of a wanted criminal.”

           “A what?” It was not the first time that day that YN had found herself as the centerpiece in a chessboard. Except that while she had just been told she was the strongest piece - this conversation would serve as a reminder of who truly controlled the game. “Your brother was an enemy of the state, one that conspired to overthrow the throne. While normally I allow Kim Seokjin to play diliances since everyone is aware his claim is less than weak, him reaching out to you demonstrates that he is a far more threatening player than I had originally anticipated.” He shrugs, “If you ever do manage to escape you will be persecuted for your crimes against the crown.” He would throw me in a cell and let me rot to prove a point. No, it’s more than that. Jungkook is not only cornering her, but the Kims in general. A criminal can’t be a ruler.

           YN walks toward Jungkook, her stride strong and determined as she crossed the space between them to come kneel in front of him. Once they were at eye level, she tenderly cupped his cheek. Whispering softly, “Are you afraid he sought me out to get to you? Is that what this is?” Jungkook leans into her embrace, trying to steal a kiss. YN avoids him by instead brushing her lips over the shell of his ear, “After everything you have done to me I do not need outside forces to compel me to hate you.” When she pulled back, she saw something unexpected. There were tears in Jungkook’s eyes, not dissimilar to the ones that had been there when she had told him of his father’s plan. For a split second, YN found herself wondering once again what might have happened if the two of them had met in a different time. If Jungkook were not the cruel prince that he is and had not hurt her, could she love him? Or were they doomed to repeat the same brutal love story for all of eternity.

           Jungkook’s hand snapped up to grab a hold of YN’s neck and he flipped them around, caging her between the marble stairs and his own body. “It is not his interest in me or my crown that fills me with bloodlust, but rather his interest in you.” The prince’s grip was so tight, she could feel the indents of his fingers being left behind.

           Perhaps she should have waited for a better time. Perhaps YN should not have taken the bait so clearly laid out by the prince, but it had been a long day and the only person who could truly give her answers stood right in front of her. “How long?” She questions in a broken whisper. “When did you know?” Had he known this whole time and that’s why he had been stringing her along? People in the kingdom longed to go back to a time before the Jeons, but their hatred did not extend towards the prince. In their eyes he was nothing like his cruel bloodline. Jungkook drew her closer, his lips trailing up her nose bridge until he planted a kiss on her forehead. “If you're afraid my interest in you is solely due to your bloodline, don’t be afraid. Something as measly as a name wouldn’t sway my affection.” He lowered his head, to make sure they were at eye level, “besides you’ll be a Jeon soon. Whether or not you are of royal bloodline will not matter once you are queen. If anything it will legitimize your place beside me.” The smile he gave her was saccharine, full of nothing but love and adoration. As if his words were meant to comfort her, when they were only a display of how carefully he had orchestrated everything.

           “When?” YN repeated, glaring at him with so much fury Jungkook swore he should be beneath the ground.

           “After our conversation in your cell. I had Yoongi and Jimin find information about you and deliver it to me.” He drew away, leaving space between them in case his words evoked a physical reaction. “I wanted to make sure I wasn’t being fooled. Then I read about your parents, what a strange accident that seemed to be.” His finger tapped his chin mockingly. “Especially so soon after your adoption had been finalized. Then I traced your lineage only to find it didn’t exist. Since my grandfather took the throne every single person born with the surname Kim has been documented, yet you don’t exist.” His pitch raised, dramatizing his words. “Seems like someone went a long way to make a little girl from nowhere completely disappear.” The prince shrugged, as if his words had not completely shattered everything YN once knew to be true.

“That is how I knew.”

           YN lunged at him, she didn’t exactly know what had compelled her to, but she did. The strength behind said attack seemed to surprise even Jungkook. Still he looked entirely serene when she straddled and wrapped her hands around his throat, deciding to repay him for what he had done seconds before. YN squeezed with all her might. Instead of being afraid Jungkook began to laugh, maniacally so, “Honestly darling, first stabbing and now choking. What’s next, are you going to try to poison me?”

           “Morte isn’t here.” YN spat out, “There’s nothing to ensure you survive.” The prince was beginning to turn red, face swelling at the constriction of air flow, yet he kept laughing. She had begun to understand the type of power Jungkook wielded, if Morte was his lifeline like Vito was hers. Then not having the snake around made him vulnerable.

           “I don’t need a snake to keep me alive because you won’t kill me.”

           “Who says I won’t?!”

           By now hints of purple had started to seep through, he was gasping for air. “B-because i-if you d-do I’ll k-kill i-it. I’ll k-kill s-Soojin’s unborn child.”

YN stilled, but did not relinquish her grip. “You’ll be dead. You won’t be able to hurt anyone.”

           “I’m the only thing keeping her alive,” he smiled sadistically. “The second I die, Seokjin will take power and he won’t hesitate to slaughter. Or maybe it’ll be your precious Namjoon. Perhaps even Sana, she’ll be so filled with envy and rage that I didn’t impregnate her that she will poison Soojin.” He leaned forward, licking his lips. “Then it will not only be my blood on your hands, but that of an innocent child.” As his words set in, YN’s fingers slacked and Jungkook took advantage, wrapping his arms around her torso. YN stared up at him, “How could you be so cruel?” It wasn’t until she tasted the salt on her lips that she even realized she was crying.

           “I will do anything to keep us together. Whether alive or dead, you cannot escape me.”

_6 Months Later_

           “Princess, are you ready? The prince and King are waiting for you.”

           Soojin sighed, standing up from the chair she had decided to rest on and allowed the maid to guide her towards the front of the palace. There was to be a tour today, charity work where the royal family went out and pretended to care about their people. The last tour, before Soojin had known about her pregnancy had been a success, even if it had been cut short by the King’s health suddenly declining once more. Still today’s trip towards the city’s slums was sure to not be too troublesome. Just smile and nod. Her hand brushed tenderly over her large bump, it was quite big for the stage she was at and had been the cause of much speculation and rumors. Still Jungkook played the role of doting husband and soon-to-be father so well, no one would ever suspect Soojin had only seen him a handful of times since the wedding. Even less since the engagements.

           Whom Soojin had not seen at all was YN. Though it caused her nothing but glee to think the wedding and pregnancy had hurt her in some way. The princess also knew that enemies should be kept closest of all, even more than her own son. “Did YN receive my gift?” She whispered lowly, so as not to be heard. The maid nodded, “Yes, princess. It was delivered at dawn by a neutral party.” Good, then she’ll be out of our hands soon. If YN was smart she would take the chance offered by Soojin, even if it was a trap that was sure to leave her permanently out of the picture. When she arrived at the main entrance, she noted all the guards and nobility lined up to bid them farewell yet - “My son will not be joining us. He has received word of the rebellion planning an attack and I have ordered him to stay.” King Jeon barely spared her a glance before adjusting his crown and entering the car.

           Soojin grimaced, but put on a smile when entering. It’ll be fine. Just smile, nod, and make them love their future queen. The King’s days were numbered, anyone could see, that is why the rebellion was getting bolder. Staging public protests, spreading propaganda, and small planned attacks. They were building to something. Rumor had it they had infiltrated the castle and though  Kim Seokjin had always been the face, Soojin had heard through the grapevine someone else truly pulled the strings. It's ridiculous. Just a little boy playing dress up. So the princess pushed it from her mind, cradling her stomach as the car drove away into the road to embark on the journey, unaware it would be the one that would lead her straight to death.

             YN didn’t know exactly how long she had been walking, but considering the sun had just risen when she had sneaked out of the castle and was now about to set she must’ve walked a significant distance. She hadn’t brought much with her, wanting to leave before Sana brought her breakfast or Jungkook stopped by. Only a jacket, a change of shoes, some money, a map, and Jimin’s gift tucked away in case the worst happened. The blisters on her feet were surely bleeding by now, but stopping to rest was a risk YN wasn’t willing to take. Cliche as it might be, YN heard the snapping of a branch before she realized she had company. “Lady YN.” When she turned around she was greeted with Park Jinyoung and Lee Baekhyung. “The King has requested you return to the palace as soon as possible.” The guard’s faces were as stoic as YN remembered considering she had not seen them in a long time.

           He sent his lap dogs after me...wait, the king? “I believe you’re mistaken, surely the King has greater concerns than me.”

           Baekhyung smiled, “Nonsense, nothing is more important to the King than you right now. And we’ve been sent to escort you back.”

           “Or retrieve you by force if necessary.” Jinyoung added.

           YN didn’t need to look to know she was surrounded by guards, still the trip had not been useless. She had gotten what she was after and the men were none the wiser.

           “The vehicle transporting the King and princess was attacked by the rebellion. Not all made it out alive.”

           YN gasped, No. That can’t be. Before YN could dwell on it any longer, the guards grabbed her and dragged her to the car. She didn’t put up a fight, too many thoughts running through her head, but one stood out above all. Soojin can’t be dead.

             “Get it out of me!” Soojin screamed, pain wrecking her body as she contorted every which way. Several maids held her down as they tried to save her son. “Get him out of me! He’s dying! He’s killing me!” Truth is with every contraction felt, Soojin found herself becoming weaker. Her muscles ached yet felt tender, bones brittle as if made of stone, every time she breathed it felt like she was inhaling smoke. What is this?! What is going on?! “Please princess. Just push. Breathe and push.” Soojin tried to do what she said, but instead of easing the pain it only made it worse. The knife had long been discarded and the maids were now attempting to help take the baby out, but it didn’t explain the pain. “Stop it hurts! It hurts!” She cried out, feeling like she was being torn from the inside out.

           The second she realized that, Soojin swore she felt claws trace the lining of her stomach from the inside. “Get that fucking thing out of me!” He isn’t human. It isn’t human. She had long been warned of the dangers of a Jeon pregnancy, but Soojin hadn’t listened. She never listened and it would finally cause her death. I should have killed it. By now the blood spilled all over the sheets, floors, and clothes was turning a dark red. I should have killed the girl before he met her. Soojin felt her heart begin to beat slower. I should have killed the witch. Her senses weakening  as spots filled her vision. I should have killed him when I had the chance. A flash of memory came to mind: the night she had told Jungkook of her pregnancy, how delighted he seemed to have been, yet when he spoke of ‘we’ she had somehow known it wasn’t about her. He knew, he knew all this time...and all to be with her.

           “Just one final push princess and that’s it.” Soojin's smile was filled with melancholy as she gave one final push, bringing the new prince into this earth. When the child took his first breath, she took her last.

             YN stood in front of the giant throne room, she hadn’t bothered changing knowing the King would look at her with disgust no matter what she wore. Tentatively she knocked, before the doors were slammed open and YN entered her eyes to the ground displaying submission. “You requested me, your highness.” Instead of a response, she heard a babble. When her eyes snapped up YN saw what to others might be the stuff of dreams, but to her, it was her worst nightmare come true. Jungkook sat upon the throne, a heavily jeweled crown resting on his head - the Kings crown. His entire focus was on the newborn in his arm. He gazed lovingly at the small boy and even cooed at it. Jungkook was so entranced a goofy grin adorned his face as he coddled his son.

           Eventually the prince King did look up and what you saw in his eyes was an amalgamation of pure love, obsession, and insanity. “Look Mommy’s here.”

[sunlessea]

he thinks the most he can hope for on a basis level is that he won't throw up while aboard his zubmarine. silas is a fucking mess, every bit as the doctor had warned him he would be, but he hadn't actually thought it would get this bad. a grown man near tears on the verge of hyperventilating in his arms... he would need more than a notebook and ribbon to keep him stable, that is for certain. he's going to have to play hawk watching over him, he just knows it. troublesome, but whatever. as long as he isn't put to permanent rest 'neath the waves, after the hundreds of years he has suffered. he would never stand to be brought down by one sewer rat in its natural habitat.

he watches him untangle the ribbon he'd left in the book's spine without much care, brows furrowing in a subtle show of ... something when he ties it around his wrist. what a strange gesture, he thinks, for one to cling to something belonging to someone he so oft loudly declared his hatred for. publicly, at that. what an idiot. but being honest doesn't mean he has to voice every single thought in his head, so he keeps that to himself.

"yes, focus on me." perhaps his request would seem quite emotionally charged, in most circumstances... and maybe it is, even now. his gaze is unwavering 'gainst silas's own unsure demeanor, where he narrows his eyes, and then sighs to once more approach him. he reaches up, fingers brushing the dampness of his cheeks right 'neath his eyes, where he'd almost let a little too much of his emotion show. silas is so... animated, compared to himself : so cold, calculated, almost emotionless in this habitat, where he cannot wear his mask proper. most found it unnerving or intimidating at best and scary at his worst. he could never imagine being with someone like this day in and day out. now he doesn't have a choice.

he dries the artisan's cheeks, clicking his tongue when he catches sight of some of the lines at the corners of his eyes. despite himself, he pauses, stares at them, lips parting in silent recognition of such a subtle show of silas's age. he doubts anyone normal would notice it, save for someone who had lived several centuries themselves. he's beautiful, after all, admittedly. flawless. almost. he doesn't think those lines had been there, forty years ago, when he was yet still kine... it makes him swallow where he needn't. it occurs to him, this close up to the other without them screaming at one-another... he looks... so much younger than silas, now. not a day over the moment the two had met. not a day over eighteen, when he'd died. "..." he clears his throat, blinks back to reality without realizing he'd fallen into quite the solemn reverie. not that it matters. his expression had hardly changed.

what had they been talking about?

his face.

his pretty face.

"my skin routine is fire," he comments dryly, letting his hands fall back to his side when he realizes he'd been holding his face just as long. turning his attention back to him proper. "figure out whatever works for you, just don't start crying on this zub. mr plagues has armed you with books aplenty, coloring books even, how wonderful, paints, and myself with watercolors if you wish to use them. of course, as i said, there's also me. seek me out in the event of trouble, or fear, or anxiety. i'd rather be annoyed than..." he almost says dead, but decides to swallow the pun. "my only rule for this trip — my rule, not the ship's or the crew's or the zee's or salt's, mine — is that you do not, under any circumstance," he pauses, raises his hand, and jams his finger into silas's chest, "fall in love with me. i do not care how deeply you moon or sigh or seek me for comfort. do not. fall. in love." there's practically a sneer in his voice, so serious is his tone, but he hardly lets the comment linger. "but you wouldn't, now would you? you're smarter than the flowery little aristocratic women i zail to and fro between ports, immune after all these years."

it is hard to tell whether he's being sarcastic, but on the tail of a snide remark, he turns on his heels and walks 'long the zub's large, sprawling halls. one almost could mistake it for a proper ship. "follow. i'll show you my room, and then take you to yours."

his head is pounding half as much as his heart threatens to burst free from his chest; the pressure that builds behind his ribs from a spot more than just anxiety—but it's easier to brush it off like that. like he's just afraid, which he assuredly is, trembling like he's caught cold and wheezing besides, and not ... struggling. fear is kinder than longing, but he isn't particularly fond of either. his cheeks are strewn wet with tears, and worse still : he doesn't even remember when he started sobbing to begin with. it's pathetic, he knows, a childish fear most every citizen proper passes in their youth, but he'd avoided the zee like a plague. nevermind how he'd catch sick whenever the gaslights beneath glowed either too faint or too bright in their noxious viric, his nightmares were the same inky peligin the zee's waters were rife with, and now he's here to be submerged in it. and all at once he isn't some god basking in the light of a false-sun, but a child that cannot burrow far enough in their blankets to run from the fabrications of monsters even seasoned hunters couldn't stomach. he's nauseous.

winter, comparatively, is a mercy. much as his own ego is bruised, clinging to him like this, he's comforting ... something to hold onto, secure in knowing despite all bitter tongues that he would not let him go plunging to the murky depths of the unterzee. he swallows, hard, the first step to collecting himself between wheezes ... but it's a start nonetheless, where he presses his head further 'gainst his chest, the same where his fists ball tighter, wrinkling a shirt once well-pressed. he isn't sorry ... but he is terribly embarrassed, suggested wholly by the flush-heat rushing to the tips of his ears, and how wheeze turns to whine, when he finally has the breath to spare.

" i'm ... fine. " he echoes, as much a lie as it is repeated reassurance for himself, desperate to find reprieve from his aching heart. his grip on his shirt loosens, then tightens, even when he shifts his head to press his cheek square to the center of his chest, lips pursed in a pout. he can't fight the lightheaded, dizzying fog that leaves him dazed, glaring at nothing and nowhere at all : all there is is the pounding of his heart and his head in equal time, and even when his pulse starts to settle, he doesn't get opportunity long to enjoy—or even recognize it—before he's off his feet again.

" what are you—! " his voice can't get any higher than his screeching the moment he's swept off his feet : kicking and screaming, every bit the petulant brat winter knew more intimately, but this reaction is hardly as endearing, stemming from fear so much as frustration, in how he all but clamors to wrap his arms around his neck, bury his head against his shoulder only to peek over it, for what little he can see. it's spacious, true, more than he imagines most zailors have the luxury of journeying in, but the choice of decor—notably, the window beneath that showed fish darting by to and fro—is enough to make anxiety coil back in the pits of his stomach again. for all his complaints, he spares few words for the comfort he finds nestled against his neck. " this is humiliating ... " even his lamenting is not wholly spirited. he wilts the second he starts, sullen expression returned, mumbling into his collar, " you're not trying to scare me, you're trying to embarrass me into an early grave, is that it? "

he's unsteady, at first, the moment he sets up down on solid ground. but that's expected, arms curled around himself for the short moments alone where he begrudgingly follows his lead, standing stone-still short of his trembling, because what else is he to do. he only unravels himself, raises his head wide-eyed and mouth agape before his words die too, reaching out to take the notebook from his grasp and clutch it to his chest, too, but not before untangling the ribbon first. from habit ... or from need to fidget, regardless, once twirled 'round his fingers he toys with it enough to tuck journal 'neath his arm long enough to tie it to his wrist, before his attention is called back to him again. he's starting to suspect he'll be permanently stuck pouting like this : brows knit and lips pursed, short of his own intrigue. " focus on ... you? " he feels so out of it. torn between heart and head, he knows in any other circumstance he'd put up greater fight. but here, like this, with lies barred from his tongue, he wills his features soften, however much they're able ... enough at least, so he's torn between sneer and smile, strikingly sincere. " there are worse things to fixate on, i suppose ... lucky that you have quite the pretty face. "

[thran-duils]

Lost In Zero Gravity (P.17)

Title: Lost In Zero Gravity (Part Seventeen) Summary:  Fem!Reader x Mob Boss!Tony Stark x Mob Boss!Steve Rogers.  Reader is a call girl who runs high end parties. She catches the attention of Tony Stark who invites her back to his room with his friend. She might have performed too well because she becomes their new favorite play toy and they don’t like to share. Words: 2,306 Warnings (for the fic in entirety): Smut, prostitution, infidelity, angst, domestic violence, stalking, possessive behavior, drug use

Part Sixteen || Part Eighteen || Masterpost (mobile) || Fanfic masterpost

Tony was waiting on the couch when you walked into the apartment. He looked up at you immediately when he heard you come in. The TV was on but it was plain as day he was not watching.

“Hey,” you greeted before gesturing at yourself, “I need to shower. Obviously.” You had just gone done working out.

He got up from the couch, acting flustered, tapping a box in his hand.

That stopped you in your tracks; Tony flustered was not normal. You turned back to face him fully. “What’s wrong?”

He looked reluctant as all hell, unease swimming in his eyes. He was close now, a foot away at best, and he held the box out to you. In a quiet voice, he said, “I need you to do this.”

Confused you too the box, immediately seeing it was a pregnancy test. You gave a little laugh and held it up, “Why? I’m on birth control.”

“I need you to do it,” Tony repeated with more force behind his voice now, not answering your question. You made no move to go do as he was asking, and Tony breathed out harshly. “There was a surprise pregnancy with one of the guys – an unwanted pregnancy – and it set me on edge. Please. Just do what I’m asking. I’m a little bit on edge, yeah?”

That he was so bothered by someone else getting accidentally pregnant was confusing, but you shrugged. “Alright, fine. If it’ll relax you.”

“Thank you,” Tony sighed.

You nodded, turning on your heel and going towards the bathroom. You went in, closing the door behind you. Might as well do the test as you let the water heat up, you liked the bathroom to get a little steamy before you got in anyway. After turning the water on, you went to the toilet and set to work.

As you waited, you got fully undressed, getting your towel set up to grab easily when you were going to get out of your shower.

Picking the test back up, you looked down and saw what you expected to see. You went to the door and opened it up. You startled seeing Tony was leaning against the wall.

“Jesus,” you muttered before showing him. “You’re fine. Can I shower now?”

You saw the wave of relief wash over his features before he nodded, pushing himself away from the wall. He rubbed the back of his neck and said, “Yeah, of course.”

Leaning against the doorframe towards him, you asked, “You don’t wanna join me? You look like you’re in a cold sweat. You’ve got a change of clothes here.” A small joke at his expense.

Tony’s smirk was fleeting. He dropped his hand to his side and said, “You don’t gotta twist my arm. Forgive me if I’m not too touchy feely. Still a little rattled.”

“Other people’s mistakes aren’t yours,” you said sincerely as you walked back into the bathroom. You tossed the pregnancy test into the garbage by the toilet as he closed the door and began undressing himself. “You want me to wash you down? Relax you a bit? And maybe you won’t even have to touch me? My mouth’s been pretty empty.”

“I won’t turn that down,” Tony responded, and you smiled in response, entering the shower.

<><><>

Steve was sitting in the living room, fuming when Cecile walked back in with her bodyguard. She could immediately tell something was wrong by his demeanor and she faltered in her step, furrowing her brow. Her bodyguard read the room and left, knowing he was no longer needed but also not wanting to be involved in whatever conversation was about to happen.

Cecile recovered, walking further into the room, Steve’s eyes glued to her, leaning on his elbow, fingers across his lips. She was unnerved by his silence and piercing stare.

“Hey,” she tried, pulling her purse down and putting it on the coffee table. When he said nothing, she asked, “What’s going on?”

“Just thinking,” he said in an eerily calm voice.

“About?” she asked, shrugging slightly. She could not hide her nervousness from him.

“Is this about her?”

“No, this is about us. She’s a byproduct of us. A symptom but not the problem,” Steve snapped. “Don’t get it confused.” Cecile went to talk again but Steve held up his hand and she fell silent. He was quiet for a few moments, staring at nothing. When he spoke again, he said, “When we first met, you were… nothing like I had ever met before. I was drawn in immediately. And I fell fast. Truly. I thought, ‘I would do anything for her’. And I did. For a really long time. I would do the absolute stupidest shit for you. Thankfully, it all panned out, right?”

“Steve…” Cecile said uneasily.

He ignored her, continuing, “I’d lie if I said it didn’t bother me when I became aware of him. You are my wife. You’re mine. But, then I thought, what the hell? I was also getting ass on the side.” He paused and then exhaled heavily. “But then it became regular for you. It wasn’t one night stands or a second hit it and quit it like I was doing. No, it was becoming real.” He tapped his fingers, looking lost in thought again.

Cecile was silent, standing there uncomfortably. Steve noticed and he simpered.

“I’m making you nervous.”

“Well, no shit,” she told him, an edge to her voice.

Steve stood up from the armchair and put his hands in his pockets. “I’ll be frank. When the baby is born, I am getting a DNA test set up.” Cecile’s mouth fell open slightly and she looked like she was about to protest but Steve cut her off, “No, I’m not making this a discussion, Cecile. I will not go into this without knowing. And I will not be leaving any money to a child that’s not mine. That’s not going to happen. I will leave money to you, but I will not leave any to another man’s child.”

Cecile found her voice then, demanding, “So, what? You’re going to divorce me if it’s not yours?”

“Divorce never left my lips. What are you talking about?” Steve said, agitated. “No, I’m not divorcing you. I fucking hate how much I love you. I fucking hate that I cannot let you go completely. But what I am saying is that I will get it legally done that no money will be going to his kid. I will delegate a percentage to you and then the rest, I don’t know, will go to charities or whatever else I feel is deemed worthy.”

“So, her,” Cecile spat.

“No, not her. Trust me, Tony has that all under control on his own. And again, stop trying to deflect the conversation away from where it needs to be: centered on us.”

Cecile said tearfully, “You started this mess yourself, Steve. You said it well enough yourself just now. All your sleeping around and nights away from me. I was lonely. Do you not understand that? I couldn’t stand just sitting around and waiting for you to come back and show me you cared, even in the slightest, for me.”

“Oh, don’t give me that. The only reason I looked elsewhere is because you pulled away from me. You never wanted to engage,” Steve said, his temper rising.

“That’s not fair—”

“No! It wasn’t!” Steve shouted, losing his temper. “You pulled away the moment we got married like you had just landed your prize! You didn’t have to do backflips anymore to prove you wanted to be here. You had me by the throat.” He closed the space and said, “Well, luckily, I was smart enough to put a prenup in our marriage, which you blindly signed that paperwork.” Cecile looked mortified. “Yeah, fuck you too.” Steve leaned in and sneered, “You don’t have me by the balls like you thought you did.”

He straightened up and straightened out his collar. “So, just keep that on your mind.” He exhaled deeply and said, “I am going to go to bed. If you choose to not sleep next to me, that’s fine. I won’t hold it against you. But don’t prolong the dramatics. I can’t even begin to explain how much I don’t have the patience for it.”

Without letting her respond, he turned and walked away from her into the hall.

<><><>

You stretched, getting out of bed. It had just started to get light recently, rousing you from your sleep. Tony had kept you awake with a nightmare he was having. He had been tossing and turning, muttering in his sleep. To comfort him, you had rolled over and cuddled up next to him, hoping to convey calm. He had startled awake suddenly after a few minutes, almost catching your chin with a fist. You had recoiled and stayed still while he blinked away the sleep. When it came to to him that he was awake and you were real, he sputtered an apology and wrapped you back up into his arms. You had gone in hesitantly, but he fell back asleep, cradling you. He had stayed asleep with the contact he fell asleep with and you eventually relaxed enough to fall into sleep again yourself.

He had not gone home in days. He was just staying here. It was not normal and as little control you had over your environment, any sense of not normal was a disturbance. Especially since he had acted mere days ago about the pregnancy test.

Pattering into the kitchen, you found him at the table. It was Monday, he should be heading out the door for work. Your robe was tied loose around you and you pulled it tighter against the temperature change in the new room.

“Aren’t you going to work?” you asked, eyeing the clock and seeing it was almost 8:30am.

Tony picked up his coffee mug, shaking his head. After he took a drink, he told you, “Working from home.”

That was new. Another change that hit.

Maybe he was stressed from his dream and still needed to be calmed down. Who better to do that than you? You plucked an apple from the fridge and turned around, staring at him. It took him a couple of moments before he looked over, seeing you chewing and looking at him.

“What?” he questioned.

You said nothing, pushing yourself away from the counter to come around the island. You took another bite; his eyes were on you now, fingers hovering over the keyboard. He looked confused. You had him on edge.

His eyes were still trained on you as you placed the apple down on the table next to him before sinking to your knees. You crawled underneath the dining table, not missing the small chuckle that left Tony when he realized what you were doing. You came up to him, your hands running up from the apex at his crotch up to his hips. Foiling your plan though, Tony’s hands came down, gripping your wrists and dragging you out from under the table, in between his legs. They clenched tight, holding you in place.

“Baby, you’re being naughty,” he chastised. “I’m trying to focus and work.”

“You seem tense,” you said, sticking your bottom lip out. “I was just trying to help.”

“I have a zoom call to make.”

“You can’t handle to stay straight faced? Weak.”

“Leave it be. For now,” he said in a warning voice, his hands relaxing and leaving your wrists.

You stayed still for a moment before you started back up.

Tony’s arm lashed out, his hand closing in on your throat now as you tried to pull away, back under the table. You stilled, eyes meeting his cold hard stare. You smiled innocently, knowing damn well you had gotten under his skin.

At that moment, you heard the chime of a zoom call coming in. His eyes went to his laptop before shooting back down to you. You gulped against his hand.

“You wanna test my resolve? Weak? That was your word right?” Tony asked, his voice low.

You smirked now, running your tongue across your bottom lip. You would make him flinch if it was the death of you.

<><><>

Tony eyed Y/N making him breakfast. He was still at the apartment two days later.

“Is there something wrong with the office?” she asked him, putting a plate of egg whites and turkey bacon in front of him.

“Sounds like you are not wanting me here,” he commented as he picked up the fork.

She shrugged, “I’m just confused.”

“Who wouldn’t want to spend time with you, love?” he asked as he chewed. She rolled her eyes back at him and he smirked in response. “I’m serious.”

“You can stop laying it on so thick,” she responded, dishing her own breakfast up.

Tony smiled at her response. He had finally fucked her proper again last night since she had been back on an actual pill for a half a week. He was more confident about it then.

His phone chimed and he looked down, pulling it to him. He scowled seeing it was from Steve.

You’re not coming in again?

No. I’m working perfectly fine from here.

You can’t stay there forever, Tony. Sometime you’re going to have to relinquish some control and trust me again.

Tony ground his teeth, staring at the text. It was a challenge.

He at least made sure to finish his breakfast and give Y/N a forehead kiss before going to the bedroom to change.

<><><>

Steve smirked seeing Tony leave the building. He slipped his phone back into his pocket and waited until Tony pulled away from the curb before moving to walk across the street.

~~~

Forever tags: @coconutqueen21 @undecidedsworld

Fic tags: @icant-hangout-imdrumming @oceaniamaddness @multifandom-superlover @imsonick @holl2712 @here4thefanfics @agustdowney @fanofalltheficsx @buttercandy16

[hellreads]

Hello, I just stumble on your blog. Seeing a comment from Wrienne which I also read on AO3, I wanted to ask if you also have AO3 recs..?

hi there darling, of course, I have some recs for you! since you didn’t ask for anything specific let me just share a few faves that you could only read/access on ao3 (I would also recommend you check my ficshelfs and use the ao3 filter to find stories exclusively posted there + i’ll still include wrienne’s works for other readers :3 ) | 🍒

OT7/MULTIPLE MEMBERS

❥ Right of Way by fringesofsanity ➴ Infidelity!AU | Jungkook x Reader x Jimin | Series ➴ In theory, things were simple: your best friend was Jungkook’s girlfriend while your boyfriend, Jimin, was Jungkook’s best friend. In reality, things weren’t always that simple. And mutually exclusive.

❥ The Hills by minlouvre ➴ Vacation/Exes!AU | Yoongi x Reader x Hoseok | Series ➴ A ski trip with old friends sounds like a fun time, right?

when your ex-boyfriend (who you hate but somehow always end up in bed with) and your stepbrother (who you are harboring not-so-secret feelings for) tag along at the last minute, you have a feeling it won’t be an uneventful weekend.

but fun? debatable. that remains to be seen. ❥ A Hundred Percent Human by Wrienne ➴ Hybrid!AU | OT7 x Reader | Series ➴ In which you (reader) are forced to take care of seven hybrids in a twist of fate.

After your estranged mother passes away, you're left with an unwanted will and the heavy burden of responsibility. Although you're desperate not to stray from the familiar path you thought was laid out in front of you with a fully human boyfriend who loves you more than anything, your life is thrown upside down once more after another unfortunate incident (that may or may not have to do with said boyfriend) occurs.

Drunk and down on life, you finally decide to deal with the house and the unsavory business your mother left behind. However, to your shock, you find that seven very different hybrids are included with both the house - and the business. Seven hybrids you never even met before - even less agreed to take care of.

❥ Dead Leaves by Wrienne ➴ Detective/Exes!AU | Yoongi x Reader x Jimin | Series ➴ In which you (reader) are a homicide detective about to face the biggest hurdle both of your career and life.

Married to probably the kindest but most boring man you’ve ever met and living in a town where nothing ever seems to happen means life for you is dull. Dull enough to drive you crazy with boredom and dissatisfaction. However, life changes abruptly when your old boss retires and a new man takes his place - a man you used to love (and sleep very regularly with) more than a decade ago. Especially when your husband comes home smelling of perfume, you’re unable to resist your more carnal urges and dead women start showing up across the city with unnerving frequency. ❥ See Both Sides Like Chanel by minlouvre ➴ FWB/Rich Kids!AU | Namjoon x Reader x Hoseok | One-Shot ➴ You, Namjoon, and Hoseok are inseparable. 

Three best friends that grew up together since you were all in diapers.But lately, Namjoon has been drifting away…

So on his birthday, you and Hoseok remind him just how inseparable the three of you really are.

⤷ or alternatively: a little less twenty-one candles, a little more “touch me”

❥ Love Is A Dog From Hell by yourlocalhoney ➴ FWB/Lovers!AU | Yoongi x Reader x Jungkook | Series ➴ You and Yoongi agreed on being good friends, co-workers, and friends who help each other out under the sheets. What you never agreed on was to catch feelings for each other.

Enter, accidental feelings.

Enter, Jeon Jungkook.

❥ The Uncanny by Sinsirella ➴ Arranged Marriage!AU | Jungkook x Reader x Seokjin x Jimin | Series ➴ (Y/N) is a young girl whose Life turns upside down. One day her mother surprises her with news of her arranged husband, forcing her into her new chaotic lifestyle. Join her journey and experience her new life through her eyes. Will she get along with her husband? Or someone else? What are they hiding? ❥ Seven Deadly Sins by mintedmango ➴ Hell!AU | OT7 x Reader | Series ➴ You stood suddenly, chair being pushed away by the backs of your legs, the rest of the sins standing with you as you looked around in panic. All except Sloth who was out cold in the corner.

“Oh, little pet, indeed, I am still hungry.”

❥ Walk Through The Fire by shellflower ➴ Supernatural!AU | Taehyung x Reader x Jungkook | Series ➴ In a world of supernatural beings, a normal human like yourself always found attraction and wonder towards these creatures. It was your kind heart that led you to become a doctor to treat such people. And it was your kind heart that led you into the arms of a young Alpha wolf who will accidentally force you down a path you were never meant to follow... ❥ Into Temptation by coconutty  ➴ Demon!AU | Taehyung x Reader x Jungkook | Two-Shot ➴ It was just a dare...

❥ Won’t Be Nice by coconutty ➴ Lovers/Poly!AU | Taehyung x Reader x Hoseok | One-Shot ➴ A night by the pool just got interesting...

KIM NAMJOON

❥ Covenant by fringesofsanity ➴ Arranged Marriage!AU | Namjoon x Reader | Series ➴ You are betrothed to Kim Namjoon, the heir of a real estate mogul. To say that it was a fairytale romance would be erroneous. You’re instead loped in the sad tale of the rich and melancholy.

❥ Read You Like A Book by coconutty ➴ University!AU | Namjoon x Reader | One-Shot ➴ Come get an attitude adjustment in the library, courtesy of Namjoon.

KIM SEOKJIN

❥ Éffleurer by @sugaurora / sugalights ➴ Office!AU | Seokjin x Reader | Series ➴ There were always whispers in your office about what secrets Seokjin hid behind his clean image. Now, you knew at least one of them. ❥ The City Comes Alive by minlouvre ➴ Musician/S2L!AU | Seokjin x Reader | Series ➴ Seokjin is a street performer who falls for a girl who is always passing him by. ❥ Seaside Sabbatical by dark_muse_iris ➴ Working Man!AU | Seokjin x Reader | One-Shot ➴ After an accountant in your firm is sent to prison, you are assigned to clean up the mess he left behind. Sorting out your clients’ disastrous business records proves beneficial when you meet the fisherman who teaches you the value of taking a break. ❥ Cake by yeyeniejjung ➴ Yandere/Killer!AU | Seokjin x Reader | Series ➴ "I was always hungry for your love. Just once, I wanted to know what is was like to get my fill of it. I wanted to be fed so much love that I couldn't take it anymore, just once." ❥ The Lord Taketh Away by dark_muse_iris ➴ Medieval/Werewolf!AU | Seokjin x Reader | One-Shot ➴ Every autumn, the dwindling harvest summons fears for the impending winter and its promise of scarcity. For Seokjin and his wife, faith lies in God and their local lord’s generosity to provide what their ailing son needs to survive another year. With each season, however, the lord grows cold-hearted and greedy, squeezing the young family to the brink of despair.

MIN YOONGI

❥ Zelus by SugaAconcept ➴ Lovers/Sugar Daddy!AU | Yoongi x Reader | One-Shot ➴ Yoongi becomes jealous when your close friend Jungkook puts his hands all over you right infront of his face. So, Yoongi decides to make sure you know who you really belong to. ❥ Carpe Diem by fringesofsanity ➴ Idol/Lovers!AU | Yoongi x Reader | Series ➴ Working for the UN, you are tasked to handle the poverty reduction campaign of a certain boy band. A certain rapper from the group however decides to mix business with pleasure.

JUNG HOSEOK

❥ Feel You From The Inside by coconutty  ➴ Idol/Staff!AU | Hoseok x Reader | One-Shot ➴ You've been watching him for months, little did you know, he's been watching you.

❥ As You Are by fringesofsanity ➴ Lovers!AU | Hoseok x Reader | One-Shot ➴ You're not the girl for Jung Hoseok. Him - who was sunshine and daisies and fireworks. You - who were back-alley darkness and used needles and burnt cigarettes. But he doesn't care. And you fucking hate yourself for it.

❥ The Thin Blue Line by bluesxde ➴ Pregnancy/E2L!AU | Hoseok x Reader | Series ➴ One badly-judged fling with Jung Hoseok, the son of a company-rival, leaves you with a little surprise.

PARK JIMIN

❥ His Throne by hseoks ➴ Royalty!AU | Jimin x Reader | Series ➴ You, a maid for the royal family, have sex with the irresistible Prince Park Jimin on his throne.

❥ Ineffable by fringesofsanity ➴ FWB!AU | Jimin x Reader | One-Shot ➴ You’ve only shared your body to Jimin, mostly silent after the act. The one time you decide to bare so much more, you find yourself baring your soul to him, far more than you bargained for.

❥ Blue Side by hoseokiehopie ➴ Ghost/Lovers!AU | Jimin x Reader | One-Shot ➴ You’re all too familiar with the legend that says the dead can walk freely on Halloween. It’s a secret you hold deeply within yourself. When a classmate starts to break down the walls you built so strongly after your boyfriend’s passing, you have to decide if you’re going to remain in the past with the dead, or live among the living.

KIM TAEHYUNG

❥ Effervescence by fringesofsanity ➴ Idol/Fling!AU | Taehyung x Reader | Series ➴ Just like the fizz of a cola on a hot summer’s day, your encounter with Taehyung is short but sparkly sweet.

OR Getting married in three months, you and your girls attend Ultra Miami to cap your single life, a final hurrah of some sort. What you didn’t expect is meeting a beguiling boy with a boxy smile who gives you a festival you’ll forever reminisce.

❥ Minutiae by coconutty ➴ Stalker!AU | Taehyung x Reader | Series ➴ Y/N meets a mysterious and alluring photographer and wants to interview him. Along the way things start getting a bit strange. What happens when you draw the attention of someone who always gets what they want?

❥ Flower Arrangements by iq_biased ➴ Pregnancy/Lovers!AU | Taehyung x Reader | One-Shot ➴ From the moment you met Taehyung, his flourish for life drew you in completely. It wasn’t long before you fell head over heals for the tattoo artist who was so wrong for you, it felt right. But your story hasn’t always been an easy one, and just recently it’s become a whole lot more complicated…

❥ Freaks Forever by yeyeniejjung ➴ Criminal/Psych!AU | Taehyung x Reader | Series ➴ "So tell me, Mister Kim, what's your ideal evening?"

"Ah..full moon, sex and drugs all night."

You are the psychologist to the world's most dangerous criminal, Kim Taehyung. Kim Taehyung is the man solely responsible for some of the most horrific crimes that the world has ever seen, from burglary, drug possession, sexual assaults, to brutal homicides of a total of 37 victims, though there are suspicions that there are more, that range from children to the elderly; both male and female. The two of you form an odd bond between your weekly sessions, causing you to somehow completely miss his blatant manipulation that soon controlled you in every aspect; resulting in his escape from prison and his bloodthirsty ways and eyes to be immediately turned onto you..but will he spare you in the end of the torturous time he keeps you or will your fate be the same as any other past victim of his?

❥ Slow Burn by fringesofsanity ➴ Idol/F2L!AU | Taehyung x Reader | Series  ➴ He was just supposed to be one of those clients. But then he gives you a night you’ll never forget. ❥ Noona by yuu14045 ➴ Neighbors/Lovers!AU | Taehyung x Reader | Series ➴ Taehyung, Jungkook, and Jimin lives in same apartment building. One day Taehyung received a mail for another Kim. She turned out to be Jimin's new neighbor.

❥ Snapped by Kpopyandere ➴ Yandere!AU | Taehyung x Reader | Series ➴ Your relationship with your boyfriend hasn't been going well lately. His twin, Kim Taehyung, decides to take advantage of this.

JEON JUNGKOOK

❥ If You’re Struggling Like I Am by @btssavedmylifeblr / bts_ruined_my_life ➴ Idol/Lovers!AU | Jungkook x Reader | Series ➴ You are hired as a makeup artist for BigHit working with BTS. You are older than all of them, yet, despite your best efforts, you find yourself slowing falling in love with the youngest member.

❥ My Cheating Amnesic Fiancé by Wrienne ➴ Idol/Arranged Marriage!AU | Jungkook x Reader | Series ➴ A series set in our world featuring Reader, the sole heiress of a multibillion-dollar company, and the Bangtan Boys' Golden Maknae - Jeon Jungkook. Mainly a romance, though doused with angst, drama and the twisted ways of fate. ❥ Return by Kpopyandere ➴ Yandere!AU | Jungkook x Reader | Series ➴ As Seokjin's girlfriend, you're off-limits, but Jungkook doesn't see it that way

[thefreakydeaky]

Can't Get Over You

Chapter Three

Kylo Organa-Solo x Reader

Ben Organa-Solo x Reader

Summary: A new home and declarations

Warnings: some angst and maybe some language (i like cuss words)

Six months passed and now their living space was yours too. The sizeable apartment was the nicest place you had ever lived. It’s faux wood floors and clean white walls decorated with a collage of Organa-Solo family pictures and abstract art – courtesy of Kylo - made you feel calm, less anxious somehow.

You got along easily enough with Matt. He seemed to be completely harmless if a little shy. You admired his ability to take good care of his many indoor plants and his peaceful nature.

Ben seemed to become even saltier. While you had known he was going to dislike you and Kylo being together you had assumed he would get over it eventually. From his childish behavior when you and Kylo showed the slightest sign of affection toward one another, you learned that wouldn't be happening any time soon.

Ben trapped you in the kitchen one day. His hands held either edge of the counter behind you blocking you in. You had to lean back to keep his pecs out of your face.

"Why?"

You frowned.

"Why Kylo?"

You didn't want to be mean. Really, you didn't ,but the way he crowded you with his body was unnerving. You would not allow yourself to be intimidated.

"Unlike you, he doesn't annoy the shit out of me."

He made a derisive sound.

"You didn't always feel that way about me. You adored me. You used to wanna spend every second with me."

"No, I didn’t. I was just bored and lonely."

His nostrils flared. He bared his teeth in a vicious imitation of a grin.

"Did you ever think you could be the problem? Maybe, you're too fucked up to be happy."

Despite your anger at his audacity, your eyes welled up with tears.

"Ben, what are you doing?"

You turned to find Matt gazing at you with suspicion in his eyes, but then he saw your expression.

"Get away from her."

Ben let go of the counter, but didn't move.

You pushed passed him, ducking your head to hide your tears as you left the kitchen.

That evening, You sobbed into the crook of Kylo's neck as he held you. His hands traveled along your back tenderly.

"Kitten, Why are you crying?" He asked when your sobbing had finally ceased.

"What if I'm too fucked up to be happy?" 

Kylo frowned.

"Who told you that?"

"Ben."

"Oh, because he's so normal?" He scoffed.  "Besides, I'm pretty fucked up and being with you makes me happy."

"Me too." You admitted. "But I’m afraid I’ll fuck it all up."

"What if every time you fuck up I forgive you and every time I fuck up, you forgive me? What then?" His eyes of dark amber looked deeply into yours.

You smiled.

“I’d like to try that.”

“You know, a wise person once told me,  'who gives a shit what Ben thinks.' and I try to live my life by that." He teased.

You chuckled and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"I love you."

He tried to hide his surprise, but you saw the widening of his eyes and heard the sharp intake of his breath.

"I...uhm...you too, Kitten."

It didn't bother you that he couldn't say it. You were half surprised you had expressed the sentiment yourself. You had known you loved him for some time, but you hadn't planned on professing it. However, in the moment you were overcome by the feeling and now it was out there. Now he knew. The song could not be unsung. You could only hope you wouldn't come to regret the admission.

Part 4

[dream-girls-evil]

Amalia True!

Favorite thing about them: Her heart! She would do literally anything to protect her girls, and she loves very deeply even if she rarely shows it—we see that in how devastated she is when Lucy betrays her, when she blames herself for Mary’s death, when she realizes who Maladie is...and of course, any time she looks at Penance.

Least favorite thing about them: She takes herself way too seriously and makes a lot of very bad choices to cope with her feelings of failure, and it’s painful to watch. I think Penance is right when she says Amalia hates herself, and her reckless drinking and fighting and fucking is going to destroy her someday.

Favorite line: God this show has such good dialogue. It’s so hard to choose, and honestly Amalia is more of an action person 😅 I think I have to go with “This isn’t my face.” It’s so ominous and unsettling and I’m STILL not sure if she only said it to unnerve the beggar king or if she’s literally changed faces before.

brOTP: Her and Annie! God I would love to see them actually fight side by side—or against each other, honestly. It would be something to see either way. I think they recognize each other as women who will do what it takes to survive and respect each other for it.

OTP: Her and Penance, obviously 😂

nOTP: Her and Horatio. He’s married.

Random headcanon: This really is random, but I bet she loves dark chocolate

Unpopular opinion: Once again I’m very bad at this and don’t know what opinions are actually popular, but I don’t think she actually wants to restart things with Horatio? Like the whole scene she was flirting with him in, it seemed very much just like a defense mechanism, because he was trying to seriously talk to her about her behavior—the behavior she knows is bad and knows will get her in trouble some day—and he was making her feel guilty for how it might affect the girls and Penance and him. And we know how she deals with those negative feelings about herself. The flirting I think was partially to try and deflect the conversation and part trying to get him to help her with her normal, reckless way of coping.

Song I associate with them: The lyrics don’t quite fit, but the whole vibe of Running up that Hill by Kate Bush. The desperation, the longing, it really strikes true to her feelings of abandonment and that she’s doing all this because she’s trying to reach this possibly untouchable goal of reuniting with the people who seem to have left her.

Favorite picture of them: Could this get any more “white knight”??

[daily-dose-of-imagines]

ꜰᴏʀɢᴇᴛ ᴍᴇ ɴᴏᴛ | ᴋᴀɪ ᴄʜɪꜱᴀᴋɪ x ꜰ!ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ | ᴏɴᴇ-ꜱʜᴏᴛ

Y’all thought it was oVER? lolol Blame Admin T--- I asked her who I should write for BNHA and she said this SO ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ As always, thank you all so much for the love and support for this blog~! I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did with writing it~!

I do apologize if I don’t capture his character the best ;;” 

I won’t lie, I was listening to Might U as I was writing this.

» » Admin Ko

Tedious. At least, that’s what it should’ve been. Yet instead of feeling the normal bouts of irritation at the lack of control he had over the situation at hand, he felt...unnerved. The imaginary seed that was implanted in his stomach all those months ago seemed to only gain in mass.

“...Who are you?”

He shouldn’t have allowed himself to grow these...feelings. Not only did he feel contaminated and utterly sick to his stomach, but the strange ache in his chest did nothing to help soothe his frazzled nerves as those curious yet dim (e/c) hues peered into his sorrowful golden ones.

“...My name is Chisaki Kai...”

“Oh! Hello Chisaki.”

A bout of coughing and another grimace as the pain in his chest amplified tenfold at the horrifying sound. It disgusted him. It truly did, yet instead of feeling the need to get away, he wanted to get closer to her. To comfort her-- hell to shake some common sense into her. Even if it meant he would break out, he just had to do something.

“I...apologize if this seems rude...”

“What is it?”

“...what happened to your arms?”

“...I lost them because I was careless. This...I suppose, is my punishment.”

Her curious stare continued to wash over him as he felt the prickle of goosebumps rise on his shoulders. Turning away, he kept his gaze on the vacant wall of the hospital ward. This was torturous. She was torturous. 

Yet still she managed to worm her way into his heart, and he didn’t know whether or not if he wanted to ask for cardiac surgery or to embrace this newfound emotion.

All he really knew was that if he had only been smarter-- hell maybe even faster at coming up with the quirk-destroying drug he could’ve prevented this. He could’ve gotten rid of the parasite that lurked in her veins.

➽───────────────❥

6 Months Ago

“Patient name: (y/n) (l/n). Quirk: Amnesiac.”

Trudging down the corridor, the man once known as Overhaul, walked in step alongside his parole officer / attending doctor. It hadn’t been too long since his arrest and...amputation. In all honesty, he wondered why he was being granted this rare privilege. 

An assistant for a patient. That’s all they had told him. Of course Kai had to scoff. How on earth was he supposed to help? With the lack of usable limbs and knowledge limited to that of basic medical needs he didn’t really find a real necessity in this patient’s apparent ‘recovery’.

“...Amnesiac?”

“As it’s name implies, it’s a quirk that deals the user amnesia--- yet in our patient’s case it not only forces her to lose her memories, but practically breaks down her body’s physical state.”

“...In simpler terms?”

“In short every time she loses her memory her body deteriorates along with it. It’s as if her body is, in a sense...rewinding itself forward to make up for the fact that she lost those memories.”

A grimace. If he could, he would’ve spat out that he had been right in his assumption that quirks were just an infestation to the world, this patient clearly being a poor victim of it.

“...And what is my purpose of ‘assisting’ you?”

“As far as I’m aware, you’re pretty damn heartless and selfish. So it should be easy for you to not catch feelings for her whilst being a constant in her life right?”

“A...constant.”

“Yeah, just someone who she sees everyday until well...”

“She passes.”

“I mean...yeah. Damn you really are heartless.”

“Tch. This is a waste of my time is what this is.”

“Hey, you’re helping me whether you want to or not man. It’s just a visit everyday for like, an hour or two at most.”

Another grimace was given as Kai felt a shiver run down his spine. Despite the place he would be in was a hospital, it still brought the ex-yakuza boss a sense of dread. Especially with the amount of infested bodies that littered the place.

“...how long?”

“Holy shit dude, I get that you don’t want to do this but seriously---”

“How long until she loses her memory you dumbass.”

“..Oh. Well, from what we gather they can last from a day, to a couple of months. Though the longer she stays in a...well, let’s call it a session, the more it harms her body.”

“So say she forgets me tomorrow.”

“Then her body moves forward a day.”

“....After a month?”

“She lurches forward a month.”

“Thus leading to a quick progression in her deteriorating health.”

“...Exactly.”

It was, to say the least, unsettling to hear. Never had he heard of such a sickening twist for a quirk. No matter, the deal was simple. If he was lucky, this would last a year-- as fucked up as it sounded, the sooner she passed the less she would suffer in the long run.

As they neared the door, the clear unease that settled on his features was one that his parole doctor could see from a mile away. 

“Chill dude, it’ll be fine.”

With that, the door cracked open, and there seated quietly whilst reading a book was a woman. By any standards she was normal, average, easy on the eyes with a slight fae-like feel. Though really it was most likely the early evening glow that cascaded into her room the moment they entered. 

All Kai really knew was that it was the moment when gold met glittering (e/c) hues that a seed lodged it’s way into his stomach.

➽───────────────❥

It had started off easy-- well in Kai’s opinion it had. Every other day seemed to be a new start to the ritual that was re-introducing himself to her and making small talk. 

In all honesty, he wouldn’t admit it, but the simplicity of being able to have a normal conversation with someone brought a sense of peace in him. Of course this didn’t mean his usual snark and calculating ways-- or so he says.

For Kai, this change in routine was oddly enough, welcomed. With everything he had gone and the collogues he had imprisoned god knows where, the opportunity to engage in small talk was to say the least, enlightening. It had surprised him. As someone who sought out tactical moves in reading his opponents, he found himself at ease with the simplicity of where he was at.

Granted it was albeit dull in comparison to the interrogations he goes through, it was still a part of his routine that he refused to change. Not when he’s been so invested in it.

That changes when the day he enters her room to find that instead of having to reintroduce himself to her, she remembers him. She flashes him a gentle smile with an endearing, “How are you?” and that in itself has the former yakuza leader lose his breath as he can only comically blink at her before forcing himself to adjust to this strange change.

No later did another change occur that brought a wave of new emotions in him. She had touched him. A caress to his cheek, and unsurprisingly in that moment he broke out in hives. His sight blurring as panic shot through his system at the abundance of thoughts that struck his head as the irritation from the hives had him reeling away from her.

He didn’t see her distressed face. Nor did he see the tears that streamed down her cheeks as she desperately sought out someone to help him. Instead, he awoke to his room laying down with his hives treated. 

He felt violated. Disgusted, yet still. Even with that he found himself at her door a week later. Prepared to start a new with her and a possible replay of what had happened a week prior. Instead, he found her bowed deeply at the waist as she tightly clutched at the thin fabric of her hospital gown.

“I’m so sorry Chisaki! I didn’t know...I deeply apologize for what had happened!”

“...You...remembered?”

“Of course! You’re someone I can never forget.”

The pit in his stomach grew tenfold as his feet began to walk towards the awaiting lounge chair. Golden hues met truthful (e/c) ones as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat before once again bowing.

“I really am sorry...I shouldn’t have reached out to you like that...”

“...just be more aware next time.”

And like that, the pit in his stomach continued to grow. With each passing day she retained her memories, the more the pit swelled in size, and the more she began to work her way into his heart.

➽───────────────❥

Present Day

He didn’t know why he felt an overwhelming pressure in his gut. The lack of food he ate was odd enough, but to actively avoid something out of his daily routine? It was unheard of. He even made that stupid request to ask his parole doctor to grab (y/n) that stupid drink she liked. 

Mentally shaking his head, Kai lightly tapped his shoe against the door before sliding it open. 

The sight bestowed upon him though was one that could’ve brought him to his knees as the pang in his chest seemed to duly ache as he dragged his feet into the room.

“...(y/n)?”

It was quiet. The warm beams of the spring sun settled on her pale features as dim (e/c) orbs glimmered at the sight of him. He should’ve seen this coming. Especially after she had remembered him the day it set everything out of pattern. Instead, he turned a blind eye. Out of pure ignorance? He wasn’t remotely sure anymore. All he knew was that she shouldn’t be like this.

She should be her stupid lively self, cracking jokes and sharing her stupid stories with him. Not laying there like a corpse.

“Ah...Chi-- Kai, sorry you caught me waking up from a nap. I’m sorry I don’t look more presentable...”

“Nonsense. Now, tell me what you’ve done today.”

“Straight to the point huh? Sometimes I wonder how you’d ever date anyone.”

Though weak, the teasing tone she held in her voice was one that added more weight to his chest as he seated himself in what she declared the ‘(y/n)’s best friend’s chair’. A stupid name if you asked him, but he wouldn’t tell her that.

And like that, she spoke of her day, simple tasks and duties she’s done during her stay at the hospital while Kai listened to her as the best friend she claimed he was. 

As for the new name basis, Kai couldn’t tell anyone when it picked up. All he knew was that it didn’t piss him off as much as it should’ve.

As the time neared for him to leave, she stopped him. A look of hesitance on her face as irritation seemed to grow on his own.

“What is it?”

“....Can I hold your face?”

“What?!”

“With gloves on!”

The statement caught him by surprise. Already he felt the disgusting voices in the back of his head whisper at him yet instead of acting on those voices he found himself mutely staring at her as she fumbled over her words.

All he could really pick out was the light blush that was on her cheeks. The spark of color that brought his feet towards her bedside as she stared up at him with shock in those (e/c) eyes. 

“Tch. What are you waiting for?”

Caught off guard, she could only stare at him for a moment before giddily shifting herself to get off the bed. A noise of distaste left his throat at her motion as she merely rolled her eyes and shushed him as she went to fervently clean her hands before snapping on the gloves.

Yet as she did this he couldn’t help but feel the ache in his chest grow even more at the sight of her frail hands and the subtle appearance of a bruise around her wrist at her careless motion of snapping the gloves on. This was immediately forgone as she walked up to him, mindful to keep a distance before she hesitantly held her hands out in a flower cup motion.

At first, Kai had no idea what she was doing, but as he grew to analyze the situation-- as well as remember the odd videos and photos she decided to show him as she sought a sort of relationship herself-- he carefully put his chin into her hands. The hesitancy of her fingers brushing his cheeks pulled a new sort of fondness in his chest as he finally relaxed his cheek against her shy hand.

Golden eyes peered deeply into glimmering (e/c) as he watched her face light up with the most color he had see on her that day. Satisfied, he waited until she finally let go.

“...Thank you, Kai.”

“No problem.”

“No really...thank you...for everything.”

Unease quickly overtook the fondness in his heart as he straightened himself out. Confusion was clearly matted onto his features as he stared down at her.

“...Why are you saying that?”

“What? I can’t say what I want for once? You let me all the time so just let me say this too!”

Finding the whole situation uncomfortable, Kai made his way to the door once more. Though before he left he motioned with his head for her to get back into bed. In response, he got her usual snark as she stuck her tongue out before carefully getting back into bed.

“If you’re on good behavior tomorrow, I’ll have your doctor bring you that drink of yours.”

The light in her eyes was enough to satisfy him and his worries as she nodded quickly before giving him a mock salute as she excitedly got herself comfy in the bed.

“Alright, you promised Kai~!”

➽───────────────❥

“Who are you?”

It should’ve have hurt him as much as it did, but after 6 fucking months. 6 months of her being a daily part of his life where she did not forget him for a single moment came crashing down. The tremble that clutched tightly to his words as he re-introduced himself went unnoticed as he slowly made his way towards the lounge chair that was once considered to be (y/n)’s best friend’s chair. 

“...My name is Chisaki Kai.”

“Oh! Hello Chisaki.”

He could tell she was straining with keeping up a happy front. Her appearance was frail. So delicate that he feared anyone who touched her would be the cause of her disappearing before his eyes. The drink he had requested for her sat innocently on the bedside table as she gave him a reassuring smile.

“It’s going to be okay...”

“...what?”

“You look...distressed, I wanted to just reassure you things will be okay.”

No they won’t. He wanted to scream it at her, that the rasp in her voice was punching holes into his gut. That the frail breathing she had was worse than his quirk being taken away from him.

And in that moment, they stayed in silence. Merely watching one another with mixed emotions before he broke back into the routine he once thought would be meaningless.

“...What did you do today?”

Her words, though slow, told him of a peaceful day. One with little adventures and many simple moments that he’s come to slowly appreciate in his own life. 

Though as the hour of his leave came, he found it hard to get up from the chair. His feet staying practically cemented to the floor as he watched her peer out the window as the warm rays of the early evening sun cascaded over her. Much like it had that day he first saw her.

Forcefully pushing himself up from the chair, he made his way towards the door. Yet each step he took towards it the more the aching feeling in his chest grew as the fear of his last day in that room came to it’s due date.

“...Kai? Can you turn around for me...just once?”

The words caught him completely off guard as he turned to face her. Those eyes no longer were filed with guarded walls. Instead he was met with the face of (y/n). The woman he came to slowly adore within the past 6 months.

He didn’t even think. Instead he surged forward, practically bruising his legs at the force he decided to stop himself with. Though he didn’t care. The bruises be damned, she remembered him. 

“...Can I hold your face? One more time? I promise I won’t ask again. I’ll even wear gloves!”

“...No need.”

The aching in his chest grew tenfold as he found it hard to speak. The overwhelming emotions that sat in his chest were ready to burst out of him. Though he wasn’t sure how. Instead he bent down slightly, finding her confused face even more endearing before he rolled his eyes.

“Well?”

“B-But...the hives---”

“I don’t care. Hurry the fuck up.”

Like that, the confusion vanished as she gently put her hands together in that familiar flower cup motion. Worry was clearly evident in her eyes as she looked at him, but before she could even question again he placed his chin into her awaiting hands. Already the prickly sensation of the hives began to pool as he could feel them form across his skin.

“K-Kai--”

“It’s fine. Shut up. You said you won’t ask again.”

“T-That’s true...”

“Tch. You can make it up to me by getting better so I can show you the world.”

“...when you’re not in prison anymore, right?”

“Right...”

It was hard to speak now. The lump that once was in his stomach had traveled to his throat as he watched her warm (e/c) glisten with unshed tears as she gently caressed his cheeks, ever so mindful of his hives as she tried to at least move her hands. Instead, the male pressed himself further into her touch as the tears began to fall. If anyone noticed the strain in his voice, they didn’t mention it.

“...If you’re gonna be greedy that do what you’ve been wanting to do you romantic obsessed moron.”

With that, she shifted forward before pressing a sweet kiss to his forehead as the tears came down harder. The lump in his throat making it almost unbearable to talk.

“...Thank you Kai...thank you so much for these six months...”

“.....”

“Don’t forget me...okay?”

“Idiot...as if I could even forget the one dumbass that made me breakout after my imprisonment.”

A weak laugh was given as she finally pulled away. With her eyes rimmed red, she shifted to make a call for a nurse, though that was cut short as Kai surprisingly climbed into her bed. No words were exchanged as she reluctantly shifted herself down into the bed-- though it did take time, she managed to curl herself in a way where she left distance between them. 

“...aren’t you supposed to go?”

Featherlike and faint, he strained to hear her as he shifted himself down to properly face her as he melted in her (e/c) gaze. The slow dimming of life in her eyes was enough to tell him that it was time. However, he refused to believe it. If anything he’d find her awake the next day with that silly smile on her face. Yet even as he thought about this, the tears that he once thought were impossible for him, slowly began to stream down his cheeks as he nestled himself closer to her.

“....one day won’t kill them.”

“...mmm...”

“....go to sleep angel, I’ll be right here...”

“...and...you’ll be next to me?”

“...always.”

➽───────────────❥

Patient Name: (y/n) (l/n) Chisaki Quirk: Amnesiac 

Time of Death: 6:05PM

[velvetsehun]

Born to Die| OSH | 07

pairing: Oh Sehun x Reader genre: Mafia!Sehun rating: 18+ warnings: violence, gun use, mature language, smut (in future chapters), slow burn. words: 14k summary: a collusions of worlds is supposed to kill, but what if it can do something else? A/N: omg chapter 7? we’ve made it this far? I’m so proud we’re on this journey together! I don’t have much to stay other than, thank you for sticking around and that i hope you enjoy the chapter, remember feedback is important so drop into my askbox once you’re done, lets chat ;)

TW// Warning this part contains some material that might be sensitive to readers as it depicts scenes of blood, mentions of medical procedures and violence, readers discretion is advised.

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The night was a swirling mixture of crisp air and the sharpness that came with living in the city; the residue of the day's smog coating the sky to the point the stars were blocked of their life and you were left with a fuzz of light on the horizon; buildings too far away to think about casting their lights onto the blank polluted canvas but regardless, he found himself standing there, shadowed by the darkness and the distance, watching the scene in front of him unfold. The scene of a tragic love story, the story of an ill-matched pair trying to survive in the grasp of the times.  

“If you want to get him shouldn’t you do it now?” One of his men behind him probed, watching his breath curl in the air next to his head, “I mean he’s right there…” And he was right, Sehun was right there, in the sleek car that was highly out of place with its surroundings.

“Where is the fun in that?” The silver-haired man asked amused, the soft wind fluttering his bangs across his forehead; he probably looked like an angel in the night to the right person but right now, he was only shrouded by the darkness, “All the cards aren’t in my hands yet,” He hummed.

“But boss…” The man in question merely raised his hand shushing his counterpart, their eyes watching the girl exit the car; eyes intently staring at the vehicle that began is descent from her.

“Speak when spoken to.” The silver-haired man snapped softly, passing a look over his shoulder to his comrade, “And remember your place.”

His eyes were intense like he was trying to rip you apart with his pupils, a small part of him smirked as he watched your feeble form stumble further into the empty parking lot; walking closer to him like you were drawn to whatever was lurking. It was like watching a deer in a headlight he mused to himself as your eyes flickered around the area, your eyes meeting his in the darkness for a second unknowingly.

“Hello…” Your voice softly fluttered through the empty lot, “Is anyone there?” He could feel a smirk crawl upon his mouth; his teeth making their appearance as he watched you jump at the ring of your phone screeching into the empty lot with you, filling the space he could have used to answer your call.

“O, little dove, I’m right here…”

“Don’t worry Yoora, I’ll be okay…”

A confused grunt passed your lips as Chanyeol’s full weight collapsed onto you, your body struggling to hold the man up from slipping off the counter as you smacked his arm. The fluttering of his breath hitting your neck and the situation causing shivers to slither down your spine. You had no time to think about whoever he was talking about at that moment, your heart clenching slightly as you tried to talk to the man.

“Chanyeol,” You snapped, eyebrows furrow as you heard no response from the man, “For god’s sake, Chanyeol!” You snapped louder, your voice cracking with the intensity of your words.

Silence.

“No no no no…” You panicked slightly before using your full strength to heave him back against the mirror at sat on the wall behind him; his body slamming against it with a dull thud. “Chanyeol come on…” Your voice cracked again, your hand vibrating softly as that reached for his neck, your other hand smacking his cheek slightly.

He looked abysmal, his normally soft tanned skin had blanched itself out into a sickly grey that was stained with the deep red of his blood and littered with already purpling bruises; his breathing shallow and the stab wound on his stomach trickling out said blood steadily. He looked completely worse for wear, and you felt the depth of the situation settle into your bones as your fingers connected with his neck, the slow thud of his pulse quivering against your fingers.

“What the fuck do I do.” You spoke to yourself, pressing the rag from before onto his stomach to try and clot his wound; your stomach turning slightly at the blood staining your hands. “Chanyeol.” You used your free hand to shake him again, in a last-ditch effort that he might respond.

“Fuck…” You breathed at his unyielding silence, your free hand dropping onto the counter to try and steady yourself as your put your best pressure wound; his pockets looked empty so your chance of being able to call one of his brothers was slim to none.

Looking at his face, your remembered Chanyeol’s past haste at being introduced to someone he didn’t know; the vision of him speeding out of your apartment last time filing your head, but as he bled out on your counter you found no choice in the matter, your free hand already fumbling to get your phone before shakily clicking onto your contacts; the tinny ring thrumming in your ear not too long after.

“Come on…” You whispered into the receiver, “Please pick up…” You begged to no one.

“Hello…” The person on the other end started but you quickly cut them off.

“Jeonghan!” You cried softly, your voice crackling with emotion, “Please tell me you’re not working.” You begged softly.

“No, I’m not working,” He sounded concerned, immediately jumping into that tone he used to use with you all the time, “Why is everything okay?” He added quickly, the sound of his mouth pulling down nearly hearable in the receiver.

“Listen Hannie…” Your voice was shaky as you breathed deeply looking at Chanyeol, “I need you to my place immediately, bring your medkit, and tell no one you’re coming” You whispered like someone who might be listening in could hear you.

“What’s going on? Are you alright?” He stuttered softly but you quickly cut him off again.

“Jeonghan, please.” You snapped at the man, your temper wearing thin, “Just do it.”

“Okay,” He shushed you softly in his usual tone of voice; trying to calm you down, “I’ll be there as soon as I can, okay?” You felt tears splinter your eyes at his words, you nose sniffling slightly.

“Please just hurry…”

With an aching body and a pounding headache, Baekhyun found himself stumbling through the dense heat of an old building, flames licking the walls as his jacket covered his mouth to filter some smoke out; the heaving of his lungs telling him that this was a mission gone wrong. At first, it seemed like a simple recon mission, a small tip-off that Jongin had got earlier in the week about a potential lead in their current predicament; a quick job like they were used to. But to Baekhyun and Chanyeol, the desolate old building held nothing more than empty rooms and dust, or so it seemed, about an hour into the search it all went wrong. Baekhyun was trying to catch his bearings, the smoke flowing through his airwaves and causing a haziness to blur out his vision.

They had agreed to split up the building’s 8 floors, Baekhyun top four and Chanyeol bottom four; the objective was to see what was lurking around and recon back in the foyer before they checked the basement, due to the ominous nature to Jongin’s tip-off they weren’t exactly sure what they were looking for but remembers Jongin’s words had another fire burning with  Baekhyun, beside the one he was already in.

“What the…” Baekhyun frowned slightly, while pushing open one of the ajar doors on the 6th floor, there as the briefest once of light filtering through the bottom of the old wood, the only sign so far that someone other than himself and Chanyeol was here.

The room was a ruin of what was probably once a nice apartment, the dense smell of mildew and rot in the air as Baekhyun took in the scenery; tattered furniture littered the room, the last tenants clearly in a rush to leave. It wasn’t much, an old couch in the centre of the decaying floor and an old dining table tucked in the corner; but what interested him was the blinking red light fluttering from under the couch, a small pain in his chest at what it could be. Baekhyun was still stationed at the door with a frown etched on his face when he decided to crouch on one knee to try to get a better look at what he was looking at, but when the light was just out of eye-line, Baekhyun decided to walk further into the apartment.

His gun was warm in his hand and tucked slightly down to allow him room to use his flashlight as he moved further into the apartment, his boots disrupting the dust that sheeted itself on the floor with each clicking step; he had to admit the place was unnerving, deathly silence coated every inch of the place and the idea of checking out the light wasn’t helping either.

Squaring his shoulder slightly, Baekhyun’s fluttered around the main room of the apartment one last time before he began to crouch again; the gentle thud of him placing down his flashlight on the ground filling his ears and one of his hands braced him to further lower himself down. The dust was a weird texture under his slightly clammy palms, his nose turning up already at the sticking sensation, but he shook himself out of it, opting to angle the flashlight on the floor under the couch instead.

It was still a bit hard to see under the couch but with a squint of his eyes, Baekhyun managed to see what was causing the soft red light; he eyes narrowing into slits before the dilated in size in shock.

The soft red light? Was the countdown on a small explosive, one which only had 3:40 left on the clock.

“Fuck.” Baekhyun swore loudly, pushing himself up quickly to get his phone out his pocket but he froze again when something thudded at the back of his head.

“Stay down.” A warped voice filled Baekhyun’s ears, the cold barrel of a gun pressing into his head, keeping him down. “Or I’ll shoot.” Baekhyun’s teeth ground together; he didn’t have time for this.

“Why don’t you face me then,” Baekhyun ground out, “We can settle this like adults.”

“Stay down.” The voice reiterated.

“Who are you.” Baekhyun tensed out.

“I think you know, don’t you Mr Byun?” Baekhyun frowned at that, the warped voice sounding like it was smirking, “Or can I call you Baekhyun.”

“I’ll ask you again.” Baekhyun spat softly, “Why don’t you face me.” The voice scoffed.

“Because I don’t have a death wish,” They answered.

“I think you do,” Baekhyun tutted softly, his grip tightening on his gun.

Baekhyun didn’t give the voice time to respond before he spun around, avoiding the gun pressed to his head and shoving the assailants hand up to the air; the boom of his shot going off, embedding itself in the ceiling. If felt like there wasn’t even time to take a breath in to react before Baekhyun was standing again; the sole of his boot planting in the stomach of what he could now see was a masked figure – watching them tumble to the ground winded.

He never stopped to survey the room as the beeping from the couch got louder – his hand instantly working to fire his shot off at another man he’d barely seen who was poised at the other end of the room. That didn’t stop anyone though, while the second man was recovering from the shot to his shoulder, the first one who was on the floor jumped up; barrelling towards Baekhyun at an impressive speed. Baekhyun had just enough time to dodge before a punch tumbled into his face; one of his arms coming up in defence to try to knock the man back quickly. The one he shot in the shoulder didn’t stay down too long either and before he knew it, he was fending off a barrage of attacks; the black blurs of their clothing moving with him.

They were sloppy fighters, but they did manage to land a few hits on Baekhyun; the butt of one of their gun’s slamming into his cheek painfully – normally Baekhyun would shoot them down but the way they were piling on him left his trigger hand unavailable to shoot; he spent most of the time deflecting their attacks. When he saw the glint of a blade, that’s when Baekhyun decided enough was enough – the explosive wasn’t going to hold off for him to finish up.

With a yell, Baekhyun managed to get the two men a far distance from him; getting a proper look at them while he did. They both wore black masks on the bottom halves of their face, a small decide attached that was modulating their voices, and what looked like a sheer scarf covering their eyes; this was a planned attack.

Baekhyun, as always, felt no remorse as he pulled his trigger; a violent hum pumping through his veins as he watched the head of the first man ricochet back with a sickening crack, splattering his partner with his brain matter in the process. The second shot was as swiftly as the first, no sarcastic remarks on Baekhyun’s end, just sheer violence as a small grin crept up his face at his carnage. There were no thoughts in Baekhyun’s head, other than a small sense of satisfaction over the killing of those two lackeys.

He couldn’t even find it in himself to ponder over the blood on his hands again, something most of his brothers did after the deed; the beeping in the room increasing with each breath. Taking off into a sprint, Baekhyun only managed to make it past the threshold before a circle of hell decided to open itself up in the place; his body getting flung like a rag doll into the wall opposite the door and with a disgusting thud - Baekhyun it the wall.  

The ringing in his ears didn’t privy him to not hearing the 7 other bang’s that resonated throughout the old building, but the aching of his body and the pounding of his head stopped his instinctual movement. He laid on a heap on the floor, the minutes feeling like hours and before he knew it the building around him was up in flames, only the brief mention of his partner's name gracing his lips and he tried to find himself again.

“Maybe we should have listened,” Baekhyun grunted softly to himself while stumbling down one of the higher floors of the building, everything was a mess; most of the floor was missing as it was and the constant fire that kissed the walls and his skin with the sheer heat of it all didn’t exactly help the situation, he needed to find Chanyeol and get out; fast.

It was an old apartment building tucked away near the docks, empty and unused since the inside had rotted beyond repair and teeming with hidden life. If Chanyeol and Baekhyun had been easy to scare, the sheer fact there were various messages written across the walls telling anyone who dare enter to run would have sent them with their tails between their legs, but they weren’t easy to scare, and the look that crossed Baekhyun’s face as he shone his flashlight on the writing was proof. Baekhyun wasn’t quite sure how this all started truthfully, both himself and Chanyeol had no issue getting into the building; the door practically falling off its hinges with rust, and from the get-go, it did seem like the building was truly empty.

Even though he was in imminent danger of the building collapsing in on himself and anyone that was left at any second, Baekhyun still found the energy to yell in a last attempt to find his comrade.

“CHANYEOL,” Baekhyun found himself screaming down one of the empty hallways, his words dissolving into a cough at the smoke that tickled his lungs, spluttering violently into the fabric of his jacket to hack it back up. “COME ON MAN, WHERE ARE YOU?” He hacked again.

The fire was louder than any life in the building, the crackling and whipping sounds of its destruction filling Baekhyun’s ears like hellish white noise, but not even the sound of a response cut through it; it was silence on Chanyeol’s end.

Beads of sweat from the heat hastily dripped down Baekhyun’s face soot and blood-covered face; stinging the cuts that were left on his face from his earlier scrummage. The need to take his jacket off growing more and more with every second he spent in the belly of this beast, but he kept going on, even if the smoke was kicking in, his legs barely stumbling to down the hall to one of the last places Chanyeol could have been.

“Nostromo apartments?” Baekhyun scrunched his nose up at the man standing at Sehun’s desk, “You want me to scope out that shithole? Why?”

“Because of this,” Jongin sighed, plucking a piece of paper from his pocket while their boss looked tensely at his computer screen, “One of our men was slipped it at Yixing’s casino,”

“And what does it say?” Baekhyun pressed with a slight glare, “And better yet, why am I going.”

“It’s just an address,” Jongin shrugged, “Nothing else, just an address.”

“You’re going because it’s your job,” Sehun cut in but not bothering to glance at the man while he typed, “And because nearly everyone else is busy.”

“But-,” Baekhyun began childishly, a scowl on his face.

“No buts.” Sehun refrained from snapping, “And Jesus, take Chanyeol with you, I’m tired of him moping around the damn place.” Sehun bothered to look at him this time, a glare etched into his eyes.

Baekhyun now wished that he’d argued for Sehun to let him go alone, his body barely able to stay upright as he stumbled down the hall to the main stairwell; his face pulling taught as the peaked down, the flames consuming most of the bottom floors and stairs, meaning the only way was up.

“CHANYEOL,” Baekhyun tried yelling again, but he felt his face harden when he was met with more silence; a dark look passing by his face as he remembered one of Sehun’s rules.

“You get separated?” Sehun stated, pointing at his men, “You leave them behind, two of you is more valuable than one to someone else, we can’t have that.”

He wanted to directly oppose Sehun’s rule at that moment, but with the smoke-belching into his lungs, Baekhyun was finding it harder and harder to breathe; his heart gripped in a way he wasn’t comfortable as he moved away from the stairs that led down, his eyes burning with more than the smoke as he stumbled to the stairs that lead up. Moments were blurring together as the smoke inhalation started playing with Baekhyun’s brain, his lungs burning with such an intensity that he thought that maybe he was gonna die on the stairs to the roof, the colours of the fire and the walls melding together, he had finally found himself in hell.

By the time he’d made it to the last stairway up, Baekhyun was grabbing his throat like he was ready to strangle himself – the fire in the building had him breathing in all sorts of nasty chemicals and the blow had knocked another concussion into his fragile skull, he was a mess and a bigger mess at the thought that he’d let one of his best friends go. When Baekhyun found himself shouldering open the roof door with the last of his energy, he wasn’t sure what to do; the soft caresses of clean air feeling like heaven on his heavy chest to the point he felt content with just laying there and waiting for the building to fully collapse, but he knew deep down that it wasn’t an option.

His dirty hands wiped the moisture and soot from his eyes as Baekhyun finally staggered to full height; the burning in his torso a distant thought as he looked around at what he could do. Limping towards the edge of the building, he grimaced slightly, he could make the jump to the next roof but probably barely, the building next to him was slightly smaller and a tad out of reach. But as the building gave a horrific grumble, it prompted Baekhyun to make up his mind quickly; the distant sounds of police and firemen on their way not helping either.

Stumbling back a few paces, Baekhyun tenses his shoulders slightly before he took off into a sprint towards the edge of the building; his boot planting firmly on the ledge to boost himself up before he was lifted up and over the side of the building – the world rushing past him in a haze, his body tipping forward slightly as he saw the other building nearing closer and closer. Baekhyun barely managed to roll to catch himself before he found himself sprawled out starfish on the ground, a wheeze pushing itself out his lungs at the impact of landing on the roof, his head still up in the clouds.

“I knew this was a bad idea.”

With every second that passed, you felt like your heart was about to burst out of your chest; Chanyeol’s body slumped against you was going a horrible cold temperature, your hands were stained with so much blood that you felt gagging in your throat that reminded you too much of your excursion to the compound to feel comfortable, and the fate of the man in your arms depended on if your ex-boyfriend could get here quick enough. A cardiac arrest might have sounded closer to how you were feeling right now.

At first, you had stood with your hands holding the rag to Chanyeol’s wound as tight as you could muster, but as the blood flow slowed down one of your hands strayed; that hand was tangled softly in Chanyeol’s vibrant red locks, your voice trying its best to stay calm as you tried to keep speaking to him softly in the hopes that he might wake up. It was an odd situation but you felt like you owed it to him, regardless of how the two of you met, Chanyeol had treated you fairly in a situation that called for him to be; he worth at least this amount of kindness, even if he wasn’t regarded as a saint.

The apartment was so quiet, the only thing filling your ears being Chanyeol’s gentle breath, that when you heard the sound of your front door being busted down, you almost felt yourself drop the man in your arms; the image of Jeonghan’s shocked face filling the doorway a few seconds later in what you could only describe as sheer horror.

“Y/n…” Jeonghan started confusedly, but you quickly interrupted him.

“He’s been stabbed, Jeonghan, can we save the questions for when he isn’t bleeding out over me?” You quickly snipped at him.

It was magical to watch Jeonghan’s switch from a normal person to a doctor, his face hardening slightly as he dropped the kit he was holding to rush over; His hand pushing Chanyeol back onto the counter and off you in seconds. It was like watching a wizard work and he produced a small flashlight from his pocket and quickly pried Chanyeol’s eyes open.

“How long has he been out,” Jeonghan asked quickly in a resilient voice, flicking the small light in and out of his eyes before pocketing it again, quickly checking his pulse.

“About 15 minutes,” You stuttered softly, “He was just out when I called, you were the only person I thought could-,” This time it was Jeonghan cutting you off.

“He’s not in shock, not yet anyway,” Jeonghan quickly said, rushing over to his kit to grab a pair of gloves, “We’ll discuss this after I do this okay?” His eyes quickly fluttered to you before he was back to work. With a meek nod, you watched him go.

It seemed all the years of schooling paid off for him, your eyes watching in slight amazement as Jeonghan jumped between jobs; after doing a check for breaks on his ribcage and checking his heart/breathing, the tended to the wound that was glaringly obvious on the bottom of his torso, his fingers gentle as he pried it open to get a proper look.

“Whoever did this wasn’t intending to kill,” Jeonghan mumbled, quickly grabbing a cotton pad stack and rubbing alcohol, “It’s deep not it’s not surgery deep, but he’s lost a lot of blood”

“But no signs of hypovolemic shock,” He hummed much to your confusion, “He’s lost enough to pass out but not enough to kill him,” He explained to you in simpler terms.

“Will he be okay?” You felt a small resemblance of relief.

“I’ll need to stitch his wound,” Jeonghan stated trying to clean as much of the blood up as he could, “You’re typically not supposed to take a knife out of a stab wound, that’s how you bleed out, but you did the right thing clotting the wound,” He glanced at you with a softness in his eyes, some wisps of his blond hair falling into his face from where it was tied back.

“Right now, we need to make sure he doesn’t go into shock, okay?” Jeonghan said gently to you, “That mean’s I need to suture his wound as fast as possible and you’re gonna have to help me move him so I can, can you do that?”

It was then you realised that Jeonghan was talking softer to you because he could see how tense you were and as a way not to freak you out, your heart-melting slightly at his attitude.

“I can try,” You nodded, “But he’s heavy.” Jeonghan hummed.

“Built like that you would be,” He nodded to the fact that Chanyeol was all smooth skin and hard muscle.

“On the count of three okay?” Jeonghan explained, “We’ll move him to the couch, I need him reclined to do his stitches.”

The two of you only glanced at each other once before you both grabbed one of Chanyeol’s arms; fitting them around both of your shoulders and with a deep breath you nodded again, even though he couldn’t see you. Jeonghan wasted no time in counted and before you knew it, the two of you were grunting as you lifted the man that was taller than the two of you.

The walk to your couch felt like a marathon as the two of you barely made it in time to drop the man on the sofa cushions of your couch; Jeonghan instantly taking over the work to lay his patient, lifting his legs onto the couch before making sure his head was properly supported on the other end. Jeonghan didn’t even need to ask before you were scuttling to the bathroom to grab his kit again, making sure you had everything before you ran and passed it to him; watching the doctor in training change his gloves and quickly sanitise his hands for the new pair.

“I need you to get some blankets and a hot water bottle,” He wasted no time in quickly set everything up to stitch the wound close, “His internal body tempt is down due to blood loss so we need to sustain it before his body starts panicking.” You were about to open your mouth to argue with him about something before he passed you a look that would make even a parent scared.

“You don’t need to watch me suture him, don’t do that to yourself; get the stuff please.” He asked you again, “He’s going to be okay.” You merely shook your head before you darted off to the kitchen, boiling the kettle quicker than light.

You felt like a terrified mother as you made haste around the kitchen and apartment, trying to avoid looking at Jeonghan working; the man only carrying a calm look, this was a normal part of his job. The respect you held for him was always unimaginable but at that moment you felt something akin to pride as you peaked at him working, the grace he held as a doctor proved to you that everything that had happened between the two of you might have been worth it to him. This was truly his calling.

Soon enough you were dumping the stuff he requested down next to him; your nose turning up as he finished bandaging around his wound, the smell of antibiotic cream hitting your senses unpleasantly.

“You owe me a lot of answers,” Jeonghan was tense as his eyes skirted to you, watching you gnaw on your anxiously, “So get talking.”

“Jeonghan…” You said softly while tucking the hot water bottle under one of Chanyeol’s arms, trying to avoid it for as long as possible, “Please, can’t it wait till morning.”

“No.” Jeonghan snapped at you, a first for him in a while, “It can’t wait till morning.” He stood up as you placed the blankets over Chanyeol, waiting for you before he grabbed your arm and dragged you back into the bathroom; away from the sleeping man.

The bathroom still had streaks of blood over the counter, with the rag you used thrown in the sink to be out of sight – there was a vague metallic smell in the place as well that was being fought by your air freshener; it looked like a crime scene in here, and maybe there was some truth in that. Mentally you acknowledged that you were observing the room to avoid talking to Jeonghan, but you couldn’t help yourself, the door clicked softly behind you reminding you of that.

“I don’t ask for much,” Jeonghan started with a puff of his chest, looking around the bathroom at the butchery as well, “But I at least ask for the barest amount of honesty from you.” His eyes were drilling into you as you refused to meet them.

“Listen Jeonghan, he’s…” You were slightly at a loss of words on what to call the man on your couch; was he a friend? Was he a foe? He hadn’t done more than lie to you, you knew that much, “He needed help.” You affirmed instead, glancing at him briefly.

“I could see that,” Jeonghan said sarcastically, “But explain to me why he didn’t go to, you know, a hospital?” He did say it so simply, that if you didn’t know Chanyeol like that you would have asked the same thing. “He couldn’t,” You tried to reason with him, but he cut you off.

“He couldn’t? You couldn’t call or?” Jeonghan was aggravated, his complexion had a ting of red to coat it.

“He just couldn’t,” You snapped back, your lip wobbling slightly, “He’s not like you or me,” Your voice took a juxtaposition, as you spoke quietly.

Upon seeing you were getting upset, Jeonghan placed his hands on your shoulders, looking you dead in the eyes with a soft look – one of his hands coming up to touch your face slightly with concern.

“Hey, it’s okay…” He frowned, swiping a small tear away from your face, “What’s going on…”

Pouting your mouth softly, your mind ran through the last week and a half; from the shooting to the compound and everything that following that – your life had been tipped upside down in unimaginable ways and it was no secret that you were keeping a tight lid on how you felt about things. No one sprung to mind when it came to talking about the things that you had seen and witnessed, your jaw starting to tremble as you remembered the start of it all – watching someone that in some way you could call a friend lying next to you on the ground, the only sign that he was there were his pooling blood and dead eyes. It had a snowball effect on you more than you realised; from the constant threats against your life, the guns, the warehouse, the fact that these men had swept into your life and taken over aspects of it like nothing was wrong.

It’s not that you weren’t fond of the Chanyeol, or at times even that slimy guy that Baekhyun could be, but the issue was it that you weren’t supposed to be even remotely fond of any of them. The two of them having a hand in the way that you can’t sleep well at night anymore, or why you constantly had to check behind you in the small case that someone was following – you were adapting to the life they had placed you in, but you knew that at the heart of it all, this was just another day on the job for them.

Standing in front of Jeonghan now, felt like a twisted reminder of what life was supposed to be like – you were supposed to feel angry at the fact that a known criminal had welcomed himself into your house with his destruction without a thought of the person on the other end, you were supposed to question things. But as of lately, you’ve been accepting everything that was handed to you.

“Comply, comply, comply…” You remember Chanyeol saying to you, a distant enough memory now.

Had you found comfort in compliancy? Were you no better than the men that Sehun commanded around? An ashen taste filling your mouth at the fact you worked at one of his clubs now.

“Were you as bad as them?” You thought, they were criminals after all, and you knew this… Glancing back at Jeonghan you registered the worry on his face, his eyes flickering around your face like the ever-concerned human he was.

Your companion jumped slightly when you flung yourself at him, wrapping around him desperately; he was a semblance of normality and how you craved that at that moment, he wasted no time wrapping his arms around you too, listening as you quietly sniffled at him

“I have so much I need to tell you about…”

Midnight; tucked away down a side-ally and hidden to the naked eye, dubbed to some as the pinnacle of indulgence and dulce company, but to most, it was known for its exotic nightlife and less than saintly company or at least that’s what Yixing thought as his feline eyes fluttered around the establishment. Yixing knew the owners spared on cost on the place, the modern take on baroque lining every part of the room; gold accents replaced silver and delicate beige and cream licked the walls in their demure but tasteful way. He was no inexpensive man, none of his brothers were, but even Yixing knew that most of the time he carried himself with a certain grace that made getting through crowds a lot easier; a modern Moses if the biblical man carried a loaded gun and a silver tongue.

Yixing wouldn’t have come here if it wasn’t of importance to himself or his brothers, with the gaudy smell of burning incense was enough reason to drive him home, but as he casually strolled through the place; he soon caught wind of the only reason he was there. Nestled at the grand bar, tucked away under the droplets of crystal that hung from above; Park Jeonghwa.

“Miss Park,” Yixing was ever the gentleman, approaching the bar with grace next to her, ��Long time no see.” But the woman in question didn’t look to have the same energy for him.

While Yixing was a few years older than her, he’d known her (like Sehun), for as long as he could remember; and to the trained eye there would be nothing wrong with the young woman, but Yixing – he could see the fraying of her character with one glance. There was an edge to her eye’s that wasn’t here before their last meeting.

“Yixing.” Jeonghwa grumbled back too occupied playing with the olive of her martini to give any energy back, “What brings you here.” She sighed slightly, glancing at him.

Jeonghwa always was the picture of perfection; right down to the last atom. She held a grace that most women could only dream of having, while at the same time having a mouth that could talk her way out of anything – she was all bark and no bite, but her skills did lie elsewhere.

“Felt like gambling my life away,” Yixing’s mouth tilted softly in a rare smirk, “Where better to do it then as the ever so grand Midnight Casino and Bar.” A playful tone edging into his voice, but regardless at his small form of a joke; the every stony Jeonghwa did not crack.

“Yes, well enjoy,” She scoffed softly, reaching to down her drink in one as Yixing’s brow raised.

“You’re a hard woman to track, you know?” He spoke carefully, watching closely at her reactions, her tired eyes flicking to his at his statement.

“Tell your boss, I don’t want to be found.” Her eye’s hardened slightly as she forwent mentioning his name.

“So, Sehun’s the one that rattled your cage,” He noted softly, watching a small village ending fire dance in her eyes, “I should have guessed as much.”

“I hate him, Yixing.” She mumbled almost childishly, turning back away from him, “I hate everything about that man, he’s decayed right down to his pathetic little core.”

“No, you don’t,” Yixing tsk-ed softly, “If you felt that way, you wouldn’t have such impassioned words to say about him.” She merely huffed.

“Did he send you here,” She changed the subject quickly.

“No,” Yixing hummed, tapping his fingers on the bar softly, “I’m here on my own accord,” Her eyes flicked to him in a glare.

“Don’t lie to me.” She snapped slightly, “I’m not in the mood.”

“Junmyeon called, you didn’t pick up and so I’m here,” Yixing explained, trying to keep her temper at bay, but Jeonghwa only shook her head with an eye-roll.

“Whatever he wants, you can tell him that I don’t care,” She scoffed, flagging down the bartender for another drink, “I’m tired of everyone in that stupid place,” Yixing looked at the woman before sighing internally, letting the bartender tend to her before he tried talking anymore.

“I’m not aware of what happened between you and Sehun,” Yixing said honestly, “But whatever is it, I can clearly see it’s affecting you.”

“Ever the observant,” Jeonghwa mumbled back, “Yes, I am upset and rightly so.” Yixing raised his brow at her.

“I always keep his best interests at heart, even if it doesn’t seem like it,” She griped, a distant look in her eye, “All I asked in return is that he considered one thing and he couldn’t even grant me that, Yixing,” She looked at him with pain in her eyes.

“I feel used, and I have done for a while.” Jeonghwa spat as her mouth pursed; Yixing held for a second before he decided to speak.

“I think we’re all aware of yours and Sehun’s relationship,” Yixing cleared his throat softly, “And I think you’re more aware of the truth behind it than you left on…” His brow raised softly, watching the women tense up.

“You can’t tie him down, Jeonghwa,” Yixing stated softly, “No one can.”

“I can try,” Jeonghwa said softly in a rare sign of vulnerability.

“Forcing him into marrying you won’t make him love you, Jeonghwa” Yixing told her gently.

She looked like she was having an inner battle with herself before she grumbled again, tensing back up into her shell before Yixing could fully pry it open.

“He could learn.” She huffed again, looking at bitter as before. Yixing knew that Sehun probably could learn how to love someone, but that someone wasn’t her.

“Is that why you agreed to help him,” Yixing asked plainly, “To soften him up?” But when Yixing was met with silence, he raised his brow.

“Jeonghwa,” Yixing demanded slightly, but the woman refused to face him.

“I told him what I knew, that was it.” She snapped softly, choosing to stare at her glass.

Pursing his lips slightly, Yixing knew he had to tread carefully – opting to reach into his jacket pocket instead of answering straight away. His fingers brushed a soft cream envelope, pulling it out gently to hold in front of Jeonghwa – the latter’s eyes glancing curiously at it.  

“What’s that?” She asked, confused at why he was holding it out to her – her perfectly manicured hand reaching out for it, but she jumped slightly with it was moved slightly out of reach, Yixing a lot closer than he was before.

“You know I will find out,” He said quietly while staring her down, “I’ll give you one shot to be truthful, Jeonghwa, it doesn’t have to be right now – but whatever you’re hiding, I will know.”

“You should save your interrogation skills for the real felons,” Her eyebrow raised slightly, “I’ve said it to your boss, and I’ll say it to you – I told you what I know, that’s it.”

“Jeonghwa,” Yixing’s voice was dangerous quietly, “This isn’t a game, you’re going to win – there’s no prize.”

“Bold of you to assume I’m playing any game,” Jeonghwa scoffed back, tilted her head ever so slightly to stare Yixing down.

Yixing merely hummed, his eyes flickering over her face for second before he presented the envelope to her again.

“Next Friday; 8:30pm, tell no one,” He explained quietly under his breath, “A party for members, assure you and your father turn up.” Jeonghwa stanched the paper out of his hands before he could retract it again.

“Haven’t been to one of these in a while,” She mused, “The occasion?”

“Something you’ll find out when you’re there,” Yixing kept a stony face, “You’re expected to be there, don’t let pettiness ruin that – we’re all on thin ice.”

“You could have delivered this to my father,” Jeonghwa noted with a raised brow.

“I could have,” Yixing admitted, “But I don’t think it would have the same effect.” He glanced at her with a look that she couldn’t read properly.

“Dress sharply Jeonghwa, Sehun will want to see you.”

There was an awful lurch in Chanyeol’s stomach as he started to come back to life, the acid gripping his oesophagus in a chokehold causing his throat to constrict was enough to stir him from his slumber, but barely. He had no recollection of where he was, the only feeling in his body aside the overwhelming want to vomit was the softness under his spine and a warm coating his body. It was concerning; not even the bed’s in the medical bay of the compound felt like welcoming. Chanyeol could feel the dryness coating his mouth and lips like someone had sucked any life that was left in him out, his lids like sandpaper across the skin; he hadn’t felt this rough in a while.

Chanyeol wanted to fully wake up, to sit up and wonder where the hell he was, but the best he could manage was the slow blinking of his eyes opening; the early morning hues of the day settling into a place that looked vaguely familiar to him.

“He was in an apartment,” He thought dully, his head giving a painful throb at the changing of lights – It was still winter in the city, so the streaking orange that covered the ceiling at least told the aching man that it was around 8am. He couldn’t place where he’d seen this place before, his blurry eyes racking around everywhere he could look to try and get a recollection, but it wasn’t coming to him instantly.

“I see you’re awake,” A voice sounded out to his left. If Chanyeol had the energy to be scared by him he was sure he would be, but he barely had the energy to turn his head the fraction it needs to see who it was.

Standing in the door of the kitchen was a blonde man, his body leaning against the door with a cup of what looked like coffee; he’d seen this man before in Y/N’s apartment, his mind suddenly clicking where he was. He hadn’t looked at the place much during his last visit.

“Any pain’s?” The man hummed as he walked into the living space, making his way to the armchair not far from Chanyeol. He barely had the energy to follow him with his eyes, but he managed, keeping an eye on his closely, he didn’t trust him.

Chanyeol couldn’t see he came into much contact with “normal people”, his job didn’t really require it; but looking at the blonde man who looked beyond tired irked him, something didn’t settle well with him. “Nothing to say?” The blonde raised an eyebrow while perched in his chair, “Shame, here was me thinking that you’d tell me more about yourself, Chanyeol…” There was a vague sense of amusement dancing in his eyes as Chanyeol’s widened slightly.

He remembered telling you not to tell the man in front of him his name; the words of the persons barely on his tongue as he tried to remember it.

“Don’t fret,” He smirked, “I’m no danger to you,” At that Chanyeol tried to sit up, but yelped slightly as he felt a slight pulling at the bottom of his stomach.

“Who are you,” Chanyeol finally managed to grit out, registering that he was bundled in blankets, but the man in question merely laughed.

“I was that forgettable, huh?” He laughed but it was with amusement, “If you must know, I’m Jeonghan, the man that helped stopped you from bleeding out.” That left a bad taste in Chanyeol’s mouth.

“What, do you want my thanks?” He lay back down with a grunt, his head starting to throb painfully.

“You’re up a lot earlier than I expected you to be,” Jeonghan ignored him, placing his coffee on a side table to stand up, he rather slender body making his way over to him.

But Chanyeol felt like biting the man when he grabbed his head, tilting it towards him to shine a light into his pupils; the sharpness of the white light burning his retina as it flicked in and out of them

“No concussion,” Jeonghan hummed furrowing his brow at the man, “Temperature seems fine.”

“Get away from me,” Chanyeol growled slightly, trying to push the man away but the aching in his body stopped him from moving, “What did you do to me?” He growled again.

“You were stabbed,” Jeonghan rolled his eyes, swatting the hand that attempted to move him, “I stitched you back up, are you following?” Jeonghan’s sarcasm had Chanyeol edging to hit him, more so than just being in his presence wanted that.

“You’ve got a sprained arm and swelling around the stomach as well,” He noted off, still looking down at him, “I suspect a cracked rib but only barely and some swelling around the jaw and neck – you did get yourself in quite the scuffle didn’t you?”

“Where’s Baekhyun?” Chanyeol opted to ignore him this time, gruntled softly as he rubbed a hand down his face, the exhaustion heavy in his body.

“Not here,” Jeonghan spoke to him plainly, “You came alone, and I’m hoping you could tell me how,” Chanyeol merely grumbled shutting his eyes so he didn’t have to look at him.

“What are you a cop or something,” He hissed softly trying to move again on the couch.

“A doctor,” Jeonghan corrected and frowned watching the man move, “A training one at least.”

“Will you stop that,” Jeonghan proceeded to snap at his patient, forcing his shoulder down back on the couch “Keep moving and you’re gonna tear your stitches, and I don’t feel as welcoming to stitch you back up this time.” He jeered at the man.

Opening his eyes back up to stare down the man, Chanyeol started taking a profile of him; he wasn’t a natural blonde, the small amount of brown peeking out of his skull telling him that, he was also a bit on the thinner side, Chanyeol having no doubt he could take the man even in his state. But there was a tiny bit of muscle to his form, probably from his line of work, the slight definition in his arms and shoulders told Chanyeol that he could probably throw a punch.

“It’s cute you’re trying to scare me,” Chanyeol said, “But it won’t work.” Jeonghan merely smiled at that.

“Scare you?” He repeated, “I have no reason to do that,” Chanyeol gave him a curious look.

“But I will tell you one thing,” His voice dropped as he crouched down to be closer to Chanyeol, “I may be a doctor, but I’m not a forgiving man.” Chanyeol frowned at that.

“She told me everything,” Jeonghan smirked slightly, “And you are very lucky she waited till after I fixed you up, because otherwise…” He said darkly

“I don’t think I would have bothered,” Chanyeol’s eyes hardened at that, but the doctor didn’t stop.

“You’re on thin ice with both me and her,” Jeonghan glowered at him, “Even a finger out of line and you’ll regret it, do I make myself clear?” Chanyeol scoffed at him.

“Am I supposed to be scared?” He spat out, but the man merely leered in response.

“I don’t think you have an idea of what I can do,” Jeonghan said simply standing back up as Chanyeol’s eyes trailed him.

The blonde merely took his seat back on the armchair, picking up a discarded book that was near his coffee while Chanyeol stared at him. Jeonghan played him no mind anymore, not even bothered to glance at him as he spoke.

“Get some more rest, Chanyeol – you’re going to need it.”

Going to bed was supposed to be the place you felt most comfortable, bathed in warm and welcoming – but for some reason, sleep had been evading you much like you had been evading the reason that was causing it. The process of coming to terms with things was never simple, you knew that; you had come to terms with many things in your short life, all them carrying their pain but how do you come to terms with things that were still going on? Can you move past the present? These were all thoughts that plagued your mind, more so after the night that you had.

After the fiasco in the bathroom, Jeonghan had gently coerced you into laying in your room; away from the problem on the couch and into something that you could find comfort in, or what you were supposed to find comfort in. With him being ever the gentleman as he made himself accustomed to your space and going out of his way to clean you up, he tried to make it as nice as an environment as possible so that when you did unleash the skeletons in your closet, you weren’t alone.

Jeonghan wasn’t a cruel guy, more often than not he was the loveliest person you’d meet; being a doctor bought out all the caring qualities in him, and while he never lost that sarcastic edge, he never used it in a way to hurt anyone – or more specifically, you. So, to see the way his face darkened as you told him everything that had happened had broken you slightly, he was someone you never wanted to see upset; and the way his body language changed was scary. You had spent what felt like hours explaining everything to him, his hesitance to the man on the couch outside the door growing with each word, to the point that you had to stop him several times from going out there. The two of you talked until you felt the exhaustion kissing your lids like a lover, your grasp on reality shrinking – you had assumed that Jeonghan would stay with you, but you couldn’t even fight him as he gave you a brief kiss on the forehead, telling you he’d watch over the guest while you slept, his mind too chaotic to do anything else.

It was hours later that you eventually found yourself in the most uncomfortable setting in your life; after starting your morning far earlier than you had hoped to, you hadn’t expected both Jeonghan and Chanyeol to be in the living room when you eventually decided to go out. The latter of which, still asleep on the couch – his face riddled with cuts and bruises.

“He’s got no phone on him,” Jeonghan whispered as he led you to the kitchen, “Checked his pockets, just a weapon and blood-stained keys.” You frowned softly.

“We’re gonna have to drive him back,” You whispered back, “I don’t have any way to contact them, but I have a rough idea of where they stay…”

“Are you crazy?” Jeonghan’s eyes were wide, “You want to go back there?”

“What choice do we have?” You quizzed back, “He can’t drive, and he can’t exactly get a cab back, can he?” You watched as Jeonghan’s chest expanded in stress.

“I’m not driving him back, no I refuse to go near that place,” Jeonghan’s eyes were hard, but you gave him a stressed look.

“Then give me your keys,” You held your hand out to him, “I’ll drive him.” His eye’s widening.

“You’re not going yourself,” He snapped softly, but you only made a frustrated noise at him.

“He can’t stay here, Jeonghan” You raised your voice an octave, “His boss is going to be looking for him.”

“Listen,” You tried to reason with him as a look crossed his face, “We take him back, we give him to Baekhyun or whoever and we leave – it’ll take 20 minutes tops, whatever he’s involved in has nothing to do with us.”

“I swear to god if he-,” Jeonghan started but was cut off when another voice cut into the conversation.

“He can hear you,” Chanyeol had managed to pull himself up and was now leaning against the door on the kitchen; grabbing his bare torso in pain, the blankets long forgotten, “The two of you need to work on whispering.”

“Chanyeol!” You yelped, as he winced, your voice too loud for his head, “You’re alive, thank god” You tried to smile but his eyes settled on you, it became strained.

“No thanks to you,” He hummed, limping further into the kitchen to sit at the table, his face pulling taught as he eased himself into a sitting position.

Jeonghan was glowering next you as the two of you looked at the man, he looked worse for wear, but he at least looked better than he did last night.

“You shouldn’t be up,” Jeonghan told him, leaning against the counter with his arms crossed, the two men staring each other down.

“I’ll survive, doc,” Chanyeol told him sarcastically, but his face softened up when you placed a glass of water in front of him – you hand warm, as it placed on the skin of his shoulder.

“Chanyeol, what happened?” Your face was pinched with worry, but he merely sighed – moving away from your warmth and taking a sip of his water.

“Nothing to worry yourself about,” He grumbled, shaking his head but you weren’t having that.

“You came to my home bleeding and disorientated, I think you owe me some explanation.” Your voice was hard, and the surprise at this registered on his face.  

“Mission went wrong,” He said simply, “That’s all you need to know and that’s all I can tell you.” You vaguely heard Jeonghan scoff from behind you.

“Chanyeol.” You warned, giving him a hard look.

“I don’t fancy getting shot,” Chanyeol snapped, staring you dead in the eye, “There are some things that you don’t need to know, even if you’re pushy about it.” You flinched slightly at that but took a step back with a look.

“Whatever,” You shook your head at him, jaw set, “We’re taking you home.” His brow furrowed.

“I’ll make my own way home, thanks.” He stated, not bothering to look at you.

This time Jeonghan cut into the conversation, and he didn’t look happy.

“Listen, take the help,” His voice was hard, “You’re in no fit condition to drive and wherever you and your “brothers” reside isn’t walking distance, so suck it up.” You flinched slightly at him.

“Jeonghan,” You warned but Chanyeol cut in.

“Get your boytoy on a leash,” Chanyeol retorted, sitting a bit straighter “I never asked for his help.”

“The two of you please,” You begged slightly, looking between the two of them before directing yourself at Chanyeol.

“You’re getting a shirt on and you’re getting in that car, Chanyeol.” You snapped softly giving him a tense look, “I don’t care if you don’t want the help, you’re stranded here otherwise.” His jaw was set into a hard line.

“I said…” Chanyeol tried to reason with you but you weren’t having it.

“I don’t give a shit what you said.” You raised your voice, he had a vague amount of surprise in his eyes, “You’ll do it and that’s final.”

Glaring at him one last time, you moved to get out of the kitchen, the stress and hurt radiating off you in waves at the situation but you tried to suck it up, tossing over your shoulder as you got out the room.

“Get ready to leave.”  

If you had to talk to someone about the world’s most horrific road trip, you imagined the look on someone’s face as you talked about the time you were stuck in a car with a trainee doctor and a wanted gang member; the spectacle on their face as their heard about how awkward the silence was and how badly you wished to throw yourself out the car door.

As much as you wanted someone to listen to you complain, you were far too busy living the awkward road trip, the three of you a sight for sore eyes as you sped down the highway. Chanyeol had been relegated to the back of Jeonghan’s car out of fear for the man’s safety and for the fact he could keep laying down on the seats – but it was a bit funny it to watch his long-form struggle to fit.

The trip to the compound was brief, Jeonghan basically speeding there and yourself too busy looking out the window to fully pay attention to what was going on; no one bothered to speak other than the brief directions you’d give every so often and the occasional grunt from Chanyeol as the car hurdled over a speed bump. It wasn’t peaceful in the slightest, you wanted nothing more to be at home since you were working tonight but you still found yourself there, a thread filling your stomach as the city melded from buildings to vast expanses of trees, you could practically taste the fear the closer you got.

Even though you had offered to drive, you don’t think you could have had the nerve to pull up to the massive house like Jeonghan did – speeding through the gates and into the courtyard that you hadn’t seen properly since that night.

You weren’t sure what reaction you expected pulling up through the open gates, but the three seconds it took for gunmen to fill the space had Jeonghan stopping the car with a screech; Chanyeol yelping as he was flung forward from where he was laying down. Vaguely you could see some familiar faces among the barrels of guns pointed towards you but a loud voice cutting through had the two of your tumbling out the car like you were on fire, someone appearing on your side of the car to tap on the window.

“Get out, hands where we can see them.” A face you didn’t recognise demanded, not seeing Chanyeol in the back, but you meekly nodded.

Glancing at Jeonghan the two of you nodded at each other before stepping out the car, a chill running through you as numerous guns clocked in case you tried to pull something.

“What’s your business here,” The man in front of you stated, his eyes hard as he looked you up and down; Jeonghan on the other side no doubt getting the same treatment.

“Well…” You stuttered, surprised no one recognised you but that didn’t last long, the car door beside the two-tumbling open as your third passenger tumbled to his feet with a grunt, surprising everyone in the area.

“Put the damn guns down, idiot,” Chanyeol swore at them as he stood to his full height, pushing the man in front of you out the way as you stared at him in shock.

“Chanyeol,” It was the man’s turn to stutter, jumping to help him as he limped away from the car to pass a glance at you, “We thought-,”

“Well you thought wrong,” He didn’t give him a chance to explain before he interrupted, looking around at the underlings holding guns up to the car before he focused on someone standing behind at the foot of the house, not that you bothered to turn around, “Do you mind calling them off, Jongin?” A chuckle met your ears faintly from the man in question.

“Only the warmest of welcomes for you, Yeol…” Jongin spoke, as Chanyeol began to limp around the car and away from you, their voices fading out; and your body deflating slightly, he was partly being carried by the man that tapped on your window, not that you bothered.

Glancing around to fully look, you noted how one of the men still stood next to Jeonghan – a hard look passing over his face as he stared at him but you merely caught Jeonghan’s slightly annoyed eyes with a soft smile, making your way over much to the digression of the man with him.  The two of you shared a look before something settled on Jeonghan’s face, a hand touching your shoulder a few seconds had you looking around; a familiar face filling your vision.

“Y/N, was it?” The man you registered as Minseok touched your shoulder with a slight smile as you meekly nodded in response, “Fantastic, do the two of you want to come with me?” You were about to answer when Jeonghan cut in.

“We have somewhere to be,” Jeonghan stated, giving Minseok a look which didn’t sit well with him, “We’re just ready to leave.”

“As nice as that is,” Minseok smiled tightly, “I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist, my boss would like to see the two of you.”

“That won’t be needed-,” Jeonghan tried to talk about you cut him off with a look, knowing the last thing to do was offended someone that could have you shot before you could blink.

“Ignore him,” You smiled apprehensively, “Lead the way,” You gestured for him to walk in front of you.

The two of you probably looked vaguely like show ponies as you were led in front of the large group and into the house; everyone’s eyes staring at you like you could revolt at any moment and decide to attack – a far cry from what it was like last time you were here. The compound was still the same as before, the winter morning giving it a glint that almost made the place look friendly but as you were led up the stairs to the familiar foyer; your heart dropped out of your ass as the prospect of where you were going. The two of you were only one step into the place before you heard a voice off the side make a side comment.

“We’ll you look terrible,” A sarcastic voice that held no bite sounded off, your eyes flicking to a familiar face.

Baekhyun.

“You’re one to talk,” You said softly, wincing slightly as you took him in – he was much in the same condition as Chanyeol if only a fraction better; his face cut and bruised, but he still looked good, “You look like you’ve seen better days.” He laughed at that, wincing softly as he walked closer.

“I suppose I owe you thanks,” He said honestly much to your surprise; his eyes flicking from you to Jeonghan who was posed slightly behind you, “The two of you.” “What for…” You frowned; a bit confused.  

“Well, he’s not going to say it is he,” Baekhyun rolled his eyes, “Whatever you did for Chanyeol, thank you – honestly.” He looked you in the eyes; a rare moment from the man that he looked someway normal.

“It’s okay…” You said softly, “Jeonghan did most of the work.” You nodded with a small smile.

“Regardless,” Baekhyun waved his hand, shooing the thought off, “I owe you my thanks, I’m not mentally prepared for a new partner just yet” He winked at you as Minseok scoffed.

“You’re keeping the boss waiting, Baekhyun.” He rolled his eyes, but there was no bite in the words.

“Merely giving my thanks, Min,” Baekhyun smirked, before he gestured to the stairs, “Be on your way.”

Baekhyun blended back into his place as Minseok continued to lead you both up the stairs in silence; only the sound of yours and Jeonghan’s breathing was heard as the stairs became less and less before your eyes. Jeonghan was staring at you intently, his eyes asking if you were okay but you merely shook your head; the last time you had seen the man in the office, the two of you shared a normal moment in his car as he drove you home, but now it seemed like that was a distant memory that wasn’t to be thought of again.

The double cream doors opened on-demand as the three of you neared, opening to show you the horror inside, sat at his desk casually with a raised eyebrow was the man of the hour: Sehun.

“If I knew you’d be back so soon I’d have thrown together a better welcome party,” Sehun wasted no time in making a sardonic remark, “But I see you brought a friend this time,” He noted as the two of you were led to stand in front of his desk so he could get a better look at you.

Every time you saw the man you were constantly annoyed at how put together he looked in every situation – this time his long hair was loosely slicked back from his face to reveal the smooth skin of his unmarred face, his all-black suit doing the most of giving off the appearance that he was, in fact, the powerful man he believed himself to be.

“Nothing to say?” His mouth jilted slightly, he was in a surprisingly good mood for someone who had a man MIA for nearly a day, “That’s a first.” You merely just turned your head away from him.

“Sehun,” You said quietly in a greeting - nodding at him, “Lovely to see you again,” He hummed at that, casting his eyes from you to Jeonghan as you winced, you could imagine his face.

“Problem?” Sehun’s voice lost its amusing edge at he spoke to the man, “Or would you like to introduce yourself?” When Jeonghan was silent at that, you elbowed him.

“Jeonghan.” The man in question said briefly, not paying him the reaction Sehun wanted from him.

“Jeonghan,” Sehun mused to himself, leaning back in his chair casually – one leg lifted gracefully over the over, “I suppose I owe the two of you thanks,” He hummed softly.

“I’m not sure what trouble Chanyeol found himself in, but I give my thanks that you at least returned him somewhat intact,” He continued with a fraction of amusement, “I’m not typically a man to repay kindness with anything other than that, but seeing the job you’ve done on him I suppose I can give you something.”

You imagined Sehun was a great actor when he wanted to be but now wasn’t the time, he was acting uncharacteristically childish – a far cry from the man you’d seen before.  

“A favour,” Sehun said plainly, “For saving one of my men, I’ll grant the two of you a favour.”

“A favour.” Jeonghan reiterated plainly, “You’ll owe us a favour?”

“Issue?” Sehun’s eyes glinted slightly, the deep pools flicking to the only person that had a problem with him.

“Yes, there’s an issue,” Jeonghan snapped.

“Jeonghan,” You sounded shocked at the voice that came from him, realising the danger he could put himself in but you watched in bigger horror as a dark look fluttered over Sehun’s face, taking that mask he had on with it. There’s were a few tense seconds of silence before Sehun stood up from his desk.

Sehun squared his shoulder as he rounded his desk, the tick in his jaw twitching with his displeasure; a dark looking coloured his igneous eyes, a dark look directed at the two of you. There was a thick silence in the room as Sehun walked up to the two of you, dismissing you in the conversation completely to talk to Jeonghan, the latter of which being equally as ticked off as the perilous man he was confined in a room with.

“You should keep in mind who you’re speaking to.” Sehun tutted sarcastically, his eyes filtering down to his opponent; whom of which was a decent amount shorter than him not that the latter cared, “Better yet, you should keep in mind where you are.” You practically sweat dropped next to the two of them.

“And if I don’t?” Jeonghan challenged back, the testosterone practically suffocating in the room; but Sehun merely smirked, looking him up and down.

“I don’t think you want to be in a position to find out what happens,” Sehun hummed as you caught sight of one of the smaller members of the gang from your peripheral touching the gun on his waist, “Not many have lived to tell the experience.”

Putting your hand between them, you eyed Jeonghan as you gave Sehun a small shove away; a very bold move on your part, but it didn’t stop their staredown.

“Stop it.” You hissed slightly at Jeonghan, eye’s hardening before you turned to the head man himself, “Stop it, we’ll take the favour.”

“Y/N” Jeonghan hissed, placing a hand on your arm to draw you back, but you merely pulled out of it; still facing Sehun, who only wore a smirk on his face.

“Enough,” You snapped softly as Sehun cut in.

“You heard the lady,” Sehun gestured to you, a darker amusement dancing in his eyes, “A favour for your good deeds.”

“A favour, I saved your-,” Jeonghan began before you snapped at him.

“Jeonghan, enough.” You tensed your jaw at him.

“Don’t be mistaken, kid” Sehun hummed, retreating to lean against the front of his desk, away from the brewing storm, “A favour is no easy way out, dare I say – even hard to come across”

“What do you mean,” Jeonghan frowned, the sound of a quiet sigh from Junmyeon the corner telling you that this probably wasn’t going to end well.

“You saved one of my men,” Sehun shrugged, “I owe you something, both of you” He glanced at the two of you.

“Such as…” Jeonghan glowered, not seeing the value in what he was offering; this time it was your turn to quietly sigh before you decided to answer.

“Probably whatever we want…” You grimaced slightly, the idea of asking them for anything tasting like ashes in your mouth.

“Within reason,” Sehun corrected with a chuckle, his arms very much crossed over his chest in a casual stance, as much as he enjoyed riling up Jeonghan; even knew that he was no threat.

“If I may,” Junmyeon piped up from his stance at the back of the room, “Sehun is right, a favour from us is nothing to be taken lightly…”

“It’s a tradition amongst us,” Junmyeon, ever the peacemaker continued, “One we normally reserve for our families but one we can pass on in moments of great exception.” Sehun rolled his eyes softly, your eyes catching his for a brief few seconds while Jeonghan locked with Junmyeon. “It’s a way of saying that we at Exodus are grateful for your efforts,” Sehun pipped in, looking slightly annoyed, “And in turn, we are indebted to you, the two of you.”

“You can bring it in yourself to be indebted to someone,” Jeonghan snapped slightly.

“Don’t push it,” Sehun snapped back, “I can easily decide to revoke it if you keep this up,”

“I’m not one of your men,” Jeonghan glared as you practically melted from stress beside them.

“If you were you would know to watch your tongue,” Sehun sneered in such a way, filled with such hate and authority, that you felt a chill run down your spine; even Jeonghan stopping to be quiet for a second, “Do not take my kindness for weakness, kid – If I wanted I could shoot you where you stand and no one would come looking.”

“Sehun,” Junmyeon warned, but he was ignored.

“You’re testing my composure,” Sehun spoke plainly as his eyes hardened, “And you are in no position to do so, so a word of advice? Bite your tongue before I decide that you don’t need it anymore.” Sehun’s words resonated a silence in the room that felt like winter had gotten through the front door.

Jeonghan was left a deadly look on his normally calm face, staring down the man who didn’t bother to look at him anymore; Sehun’s eyes set firmly on your form as he decided to speak again.

“Thank you,” He spoke honestly, “I’m aware you were in no position to help but myself and my men are glad you did” You merely just nodded at him, registering your thanks before you meekly smiled.

Glancing at the two of you again Sehun waved his hand, “Take your leave.”

His name died on your tongue slightly as you went to say something else, but you knew this wasn’t the time or place to ask anything – not with the ticking time bomb next to you. The two of you merely nodded as you turned around, Jeonghan wasting no effort to get out the room in a fuming mess, your own body trailing before him a few paces, Junmyeon at the door giving you a look as he spoke quietly.

“You have our thanks…”

This time he wasn’t cooped up in the compound, he was in the only place that he could feel at home – hundreds of floors above the world and nestled in the apartment than no one knew he owned. But regardless of this being home, Sehun found himself staring out the window of the apartment with an ache in his chest that didn’t feel like it belonged there – a dull throb in his chest as he looked out at the glinting lights, a reminder of all the things he owned in life.

He wasn’t a sentimental man, he nothing to be sentimental over; his life didn’t call for that, but as he sat on his floor staring out the window, he found himself reminded of his own loneliness. Sehun had so many secrets in life and no one to share that burden with, even now as he uncharacteristically sat on his floor; he longed for someone to share the moments of weakness he did feel with. It had been a messy week for him, from a botched mission that resulted in one of his best men being put out of commission to another break-in at his weapons depo; Sehun had a thoroughly terrible week. His life was still on the line wherever he seemed to go, mumblings of the new gang getting louder with each passing day to the point he knew his men would start questioning him soon; he was looking weak in their eyes, fragments of his business caving in on him and he was doing nothing to stop it – not like he could do much at the moment.

Sehun and his family were terrible people, everyone knew this, it was part of the job of being in the Oh family; to be a terrible person. And while he knew that some people would be rejoicing at the fact Exodus was taking an ego hit, Sehun could only feel the burdens of his failure and confusion.

“Father had it easy huh,” He spoke softly to himself, eyes glancing over to the small pooch that decided to join him, Vivi’s fur glowing in the nightlife as he nestled himself into Sehun’s outreached hand, “Where am I going wrong…”

Vivi only gave a small dog cry at his owner's apparent sadness, nuzzling into him to make it all go away but as cute as Sehun found the act; he was sobered by the fact that he could get no answers from the small dog.

“Junmyeon thinks I’m being reckless,” He spoke to Vivi, “Throwing a party while there’s a target on my life, but he’s missing the point.” He sighed softly.

“I can’t bring them out of their hole, so I have to bring them to me…” Sehun said quietly, “Even if it kills me, I can’t let what’s been built crumble to the ground, even if I don’t want it anymore.”

“I think that’s why I’ve connected with her,” Sehun screwed his face up, “That girl that Baekhyun as roped in.” Vivi tilted his head at that.

“I’ve always gone to people for escapes,” Sehun sighed, “Not to get help but to ignore the world for a while,” He wasn’t speaking to anyone at this point.

“First it was Jeonghwa, she’s been there for so long that she’s lost sight of what I was doing,” Sehun noted, “Now I’m being present with this new person, someone that hates me to my very core and I can’t help but feel like I want to chase her down.” Vivi let out a noise like he was trying to talk back.

“Goodnight Sehun…”

Sehun still felt his skin prickle at the thought of his name dropping from her lips days even after it happened; it had been a while since someone had so softly said his name – no ill intent or lust coating the words, just pure unaltered thanks coating the words like some sickly-sweet honey. He’d never admit he thought about her in a way that brought warmth to his chest, that he found the fondness she carried in her eyes tempting to him.

“It’s not about feelings,” Sehun tutted snapping himself out of it, “I don’t want that from her, I want an escape – someone who can remind me that my life isn’t all this.”

“I’m a selfish man,” Sehun frowned but it wasn’t a dig at himself, in his eyes; if he accepted it then it wasn’t a flaw.

“Should I feel this amused at the idea of using something up until there’s nothing left?” He asked nobody, “Should I find a pastime in turning people into nothing?”

“I am a horrible man,” Sehun sighed as he let silence envelope himself again.

His apartment was still, the only occupants were sat on the floor wondering why life had led them here, but Sehun could still find it in himself at least find amusement in his situation – life be dammed or not.

“Maybe I’ll do something I’ll regret, but maybe it might mean something more…”

No one was home when the envelope was slid carefully under her door, the off cream paper skidding across the wooden floor like butter and not even she had expected to see something so formal sitting at her feet when she returned home from work that night; a frown lacing onto her face as she plucked the thing from the ground like a flower.

With intricate handwriting and a wax seal, she found herself curious at who would leave her something to beautiful to read but as she opened what she thought was going to be a letter; her face paled slightly at the card instead.

“You are warmly invited to a night of festivities, courtesy of Exodus…”