#oops things happened in second chance au

[south-sea]

shadow gets knocked out for three (3) days due to injury/exhaustion. metal has been at his bedside the entire time, sat on the floor, and has not moved once. and when he finally wakes up, metal waits exactly five minutes for the doctors to conclude their checkup before he's out of patience and decides it's his turn for shadow's attention.

he returns his emerald. then lays his head in shadow's lap and holds onto him from the side without leaving the floor. shadow lays a hand on his head and absently smooths over some of the dents and chipped paint spots metal's accumulated. he does this for fifteen solid minutes without even realizing it as he speaks with everyone else.

it's second nature. he's just woken up, but he's seen all the dents; he's worried, like he always is.

not love, but a secret third thing

metal, about shadow: that is my charge. my responsibility. if anything happened to him i would kill everyone in this room and then self-destruct. i am not even capable of self-destructing, but i would Learn. then i would have my caretaker repair me so i can track them down and do it all over again. he is everything. he is my purpose.

shadow, about metal: this is my prickly friend(?). i'm not sure if we're actually friends. he just decided one day that he lives here too. it's like having a very intimidating, very heavy cat.

[bonny-kookoo]

Jungkook

𝐄𝖝𝖊𝖈𝖚𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓𝖊𝖗 | Teaser

When second chances are wasted, there's only one thing left to do.

Tags/Warnings: Dystopian AU, Werewolf AU, Alpha!Jungkook, Omega!Reader, Angst, Some fluff, romance but he's a bit weird about it pls let him cook he's awkward okay, Violence, crime and.. bad stuff.

-> Masterlist

There is no taglist for this fic.

A/N: oh look another werewolf fic oops. BTW if you do not like any of the tags or the trailer doesnt vibe with you, don't read the story. I literally have tons of other content for you instead. Thanks.

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“Do you think that people can change?”

No. Jungkook does not believe that people have the ability to shed their dark desires once they've shown their ugly faces to the world. Once someone has lost control over themselves and their inner demons even just once, it’s over. A wolf's inner beast set free won’t be tamed again, by anyone. There is no coming back from that- and a crime committed has to be punished, especially when there’s not even any effort put into areas trying to redeem one’s self. second chances should always be valued highly if given-

Because everyone has to face judgement for their actions, and if those second chances are wasted, he is the man who will execute the fitting punishment.

Jungkook doesn't believe in second chances.

A man who’s laid his hand on his wife will never truly change his mind and put the shackles onto himself after the line has been crossed. A cheating spouse will not suddenly become loyal as a dog again just because they realize the hurt they’ve caused. A murderer can’t give back the life they’ve taken even if they desperately want to. A young wolf lost to a frenzy can’t gain back their sanity with the snap of a finger.

He is part of the new world’s law.

Violence is the punishment put on people who can’t seem to keep themselves in check even after second chances. Violence is the final answer to the worst of the worst, the people who will never change.

Violence is the thing that changes people- from being alive to no longer being a threat to anyone ever again.

To Jungkook, these people are like maggots, infesting the cities and homes of families who just want to exist and live. Jungkook is the pest control, he removes those insects, cleans out the infestations.

Saves potential victims.

“I didn’t do anything!” the man slurs a little, alcohol in his veins causing him to visibly struggle with his bodily functions, even if he wants to desperately be sober in this moment. You’re sitting in the corner still, watching, well aware not to interfere with a man sent by the people in charge of the wolf’s law to carry out the final judgement.

“Evasion. Armed robbery, twice. Domestic abuse, twice. Attempted kidnap of a child while intoxicated.” Jungkook lists, having memorized what this person is being accused of- or rather yet, has already been judged for in the past. “You’ve shown that you do not aim to change.” He says, not even looking at you once. Instead, he just walks closer, like a predator, staring down his prey. “And now, keeping an omega hostage? Not exactly the actions of a man innocent.”

“I-“ the man tries, but he doesn’t get far with his words. “-There’s- nothing happened- Tell him! Nothing happened, right-?” He asks you, who’s staring him down.

Jungkook looks at you as well now, awaiting your answer.

You’ve got a life in your hands.

Your lips part, but you can’t speak- when suddenly, the man moves again, lifts his hand as he steps towards you, ready to intimidate you into answering if needed- but Jungkook is faster, having seen enough. Even if nothing happened- yet- surely if he was to leave, you’d be another body found. “Where- where are you taking me?” the man begs to know, unable to really go against the hand that holds the back of his head by the hair, fingers tightly dug into the locks to have a secure hold on him as he drags him into a corner or the small, run down house.

In this moment, Jungkook looks like a different person to you. There’s no trace of the man who just wants to help others. The hands that force this stranger to his knees aren’t the same that helped you stand earlier that day, hold gentle and without any intention to hurt. Those eyes are dark as coal, like two black voids swallowing any reflection whole.

“I'll take you straight to hell, where you belong.” Jungkook simply answers the man, before he lets go-

And takes out his gun, to fire the first shot of many.

[sutashii]

Hoshina Soshiro x Doctor!Reader AU, pt. 6

setting: now you’re the one who needs treatment after kaiju’s attack

pairing: Hoshina Soshiro x Doctor!Reader (established relationship)

warnings: not applicable, i’ve tried to reduce descriptions of injuries

notes: lol look how tables have turned. as always, this part can be read separately from others! there will be just a few hints from previous parts. and oops, a little bit of angst again, but everything will be okay.

tag section: @moon-cakiie

another parts of this AU: part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5 part 6 (current one)

Sacrifice

You were doing another part of your routine as a doctor and you were about to get ready for lunch when a sudden siren deafened you. For a moment you froze in surprise, because it was a general alarm, not a private one for the officers. This meant only one thing: another kaiju attack on the Defense Forces’ base was coming.

You buttoned your medical gown with a familiar movement and headed straight for the medical wards. The clear instructions given to the staff every three months were imprinted in your head, and you knew exactly what you had to do in such a situation. Put on a gas mask to protect against excess dust - check. Put on protective helmets and goggles - check. Instruct the patients on the nearest shelter - in progress. Entering the ward, you loudly recited the order of actions, and then asked the patients to follow you in formation. Many of them, as usual, were indignant and claimed that they would be of greatest use in battle. No one wanted to sit in shelter while their comrades fought on the battlefield. You understood this feeling perfectly well, but the protocol strictly stated that no patient could engage in combat for the entire time they were under medical observation, unless absolutely necessary. This rule was designed specifically to minimize casualties, since wounded officers had a higher chance of receiving new, even more serious wounds. You couldn't allow this to happen, so you carefully ensured that even the most ardent fighters followed you.

All you could do was continue down the corridor and go down a few floors to reach a fortified shelter. However, a sudden loud explosion deafened you all for a few seconds. You didn’t expect this coming at all, knowing perfectly that the walls of the Medical Unit were especially thick for safety purposes. But kaiju’s attack, it seemed, was so strong it actually broke the nearest wall, leaving you utterly unprepared. You all reflexively pressed yourself to the floor, covering your heads with your hands, and then, as the concrete dust settled slightly, you finally looked at the gaping hole in the side of the building.

The disfigured face of a kaiju was displayed before you.

Your breath caught in your throat from fear, and the seconds seemed to stop ticking. The kaiju let out a deafening roar that made your ears pop, and you knew you had to act quickly. In a loud, commanding voice, you ordered your assistant to lead the column of patients further down the corridor, to a safe place. To all his objections, you sternly said that this was your order as a superior, to which the assistant only gritted his teeth and led the column of patients deeper into the building, which, naturally, attracted the attention of the kaiju.

Long time ago, when you were still one of the rookies of the Defense Forces, such situations hardly forced you to think. You simply went into battle, seeing a target and not seeing obstacles, and destroyed that target together with the other members of the team. You only worried about how to protect your allies, how to cover their weak spots and how to strike the kaiju correctly and accurately. However, the situation was completely different now. You had not picked up a weapon for a long time, and there was simply nowhere for one to come from nearby. And in this situation, you needed to protect the same unarmed patients. Although they were skilled fighters, now, vulnerable due to injuries, they were no more useful than recruits.

Every second counted. You knew perfectly well that you were of little use without a weapon, but this kaiju still needed to be distracted somehow, to give the patients enough time to escape to a safer and more fortified part of the building, which was even more difficult to breach.

“Hey,” you called out to the kaiju. It slowly turned its reptilian head towards you, focusing all four of its eyes on you. This allowed the patients and staff to move unnoticed. As soon as the last of them disappeared down the hallway, you breathed a sigh of relief. Then you frowned again, feeling how sticky your palms were with sweat. It was too late to retreat. Once you were sure that the kaiju had turned its full attention to you, you hurried to hide behind the nearest wall, hoping that everything would go exactly as planned.

This part of the hallway was pretty empty, so you decided to challenge the kaiju. The medical wards were only on this floor, so you were pretty sure that all the patients had been evacuated already, and the fate of the medical equipment on the other floors was the least of your worries right now. The kaiju definitely couldn't be allowed into the other part of the building, and you decided that the best option in this situation would be to distract the kaiju and make it strike at the already empty part of the floor. Yes, it wasn't the best idea, especially considering how long it would take to rebuild the destroyed wards, but at the moment it was the best solution that could possibly come to mind.

Standing behind the wall, you frantically recalled the movements you had honed during mandatory medical training. The same protocols stated that medical personnel had to undergo physical assessments in case of force majeure, and now, facing danger, you were more grateful than ever for these quarterly checks.

The next second, as you expected, kaiju’s another strike hit the wall fragment you were standing behind. Your reaction speed did not fail you, and you managed to jump to the side in time, away from the fragments and the metal pins that fell from the ceiling. Another ball of concrete dust rose into the air, and it suddenly became clear to you where you had miscalculated your plan. The next strike did not take long to come, and now another part of the wall was smashed to pieces. This time you were no longer able to dodge, and the concrete fragments forcefully pushed you towards the opposite wall.

"This is bad," you thought, feeling your body ache in the chest area. Broken ribs, no doubt. At least nothing pierced your heart, you thought and coughed up a bloody cough. After all, long-term planning wasn't your best skill, you thought sarcastically and covered your head with your hands, meeting another kaiju’s blow to the outer wall.

Already losing consciousness from the pain, you hoarsely exhaled, buried under concrete slabs. This whole situation was oddly familiar to you, you thought with a part of your fading consciousness. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw how the kaiju that attacked you was distracted by the officers of the Defense Forces who arrived in time. You smiled and, crossing your fingers, mentally prayed for the safety of the fighters.

And then there was nothing.

You always felt that “nothing” when you fell into a light sleep. Time seemed to slow down for you, and all you could see in front of you was emptiness. A viscous, heart-squeezing emptiness that left your mouth dry and your breath ragged. And only in the morning did time return to its usual rut, tearing you from the clutches of the abyss of your consciousness. This time, everything was a little different. You stood alone in the middle of emptiness, but you knew that there was someone else next to you. Someone who unobtrusively held your palm in theirs. Suddenly, a painfully familiar voice rang out, whispering “wake up.” Louder and louder, louder and louder, until finally this voice sounded in your head with a deafening ringing of ultrasound.

You opened your eyes with difficulty, and the bright light of a medical lamp hit them.

The heart monitor was beeping somewhere near you with a familiar intonation, and your nose immediately caught the smell of fresh bandages and liquid for sterilizing equipment. Apparently, you were in one of the spare medical wards. At least, you were alive.

"Oh my," you whispered and tried to take a deep breath, but coughed and squeezed something tightly in your hand.

Soshiro immediately jumped up from his chair and leaned towards you, still squeezing your hand tightly.

"Breathe with me," Soshiro took a short, shallow breath, and you followed his example. Then followed an equally shallow exhalation, and you felt the cough slowly recede. Only at this moment did you realize who was next to you, and you almost cried from the overwhelming emotions.

"It’s me who usually helps my patients," you quickly joked, so as not to actually shed a tear. At this, Soshiro looked at you with an extremely serious look, the pupils of his violet eyes dilated more than they should have been with fear.

"Were you even in your right mind when you decided to take such a risk?" he said in a stern voice, as if you were a naughty puppy. "Okonogi gave me the footage from the surveillance drones, and I saw your antics perfectly well. Why didn't you follow everyone else to the shelter?"

"Soshiro," you pressed your lips slightly, trying to cope with the approaching nausea. The memories of what happened would definitely become unforgettable for you in the near future. "I couldn't do otherwise, and you know it. Kaiju saw perfectly well where our guys were heading, and I couldn't let that monster even touch them."

"And so you decided that the best option was to voluntarily expose yourself to a collapse of concrete slabs?" Soshiro's voice was clearly shaking, either from indignation, or from excitement, or from both. Never before had you seen him so... scared.

"I was once an officer in the Defense Forces, too, if you remember," you said carefully, trying not to disturb the fractures in your ribcage with your rapid breathing. "I still remember what we were taught."

"That was a few years ago, [Y/N]," Soshiro said sternly, his gaze studying your face carefully. "A lot has changed since then."

You sighed heavily. As much as you didn't want to think about it, Soshiro was right. The days when you were one of the rookies were long gone, and it was time for you to stop being a hero. However, you couldn't do otherwise. You closed your eyes, counting your own pulse from the beeping of the heart monitor.

"Sorry," Soshiro sat back down in his chair and leaned his hands on your hospital bed. You opened your eyes again and for the first time, you seemed to see the dark circles under Soshiro's eyes. "I know you did everything you could. And even more: you’ve risked yourself to help others. You are a true hero."

"Says the one who literally risks himself on every mission," you smiled and touched Soshiro's cheek. With a gentle touch of your fingers, you traced a peculiar pattern on his skin, and he clung to you with tenderness and gratitude.

"You know, I think now I understand how you feel every time I go on a less than successful mission," Soshiro let out a small laugh that did not sound cheerful at all. You shook your head and chuckled.

"How long was I out?"

"Twenty-seven hours," Soshiro said clearly, not doubting his own calculations.

"And how many of those have you been here?" you asked sarcastically, actually feeling incredibly grateful that even at this moment, Soshiro was there.

"Twenty-five," Soshiro sighed, his voice weary. "And I'll spend the same amount more if it means you'll get better soon."

You smiled softly and brought Soshiro's hand to your lips, pressing a kiss to the back of his palm. You were happy that you survived. You were happy that Soshiro was there. The only thing that clouded your state was the realization that what happened was not without reason.

“I think it wasn’t a coincidence that the kaiju attacked our Medical Unit all of the sudden,” you said suddenly and thoughtfully, the details of that incident making a full picture now. “It’s located deep inside the base itself, and getting to us without going through all the other buildings is almost impossible. Unless they attack us deliberately.”

Soshiro’s look became serious in a second, and nodded, impressed by your observation.

“It looks like a planned scheme that would take everyone by surprise,” he noted and fell silent in thought. From Soshiro’s worried and thoughtful look, you understood that this incident would also go down in the piggy bank of sleepless nights filled with endless meetings of the higher ranks officers and planning of further actions.

“Soshiro, please take care of yourself,” you said with warmth and care in your voice. “I don’t know how much worse the situation on the battlefield will become, but it clearly won’t get any easier.”

"You're right," Soshiro said, carefully adjusting the blanket that had slipped off your chest. "I promise I'll be as careful as I can be given the circumstances."

You nodded in satisfaction and motioned for Soshiro to move closer. A small smile spread across his lips, and he did as you wished. You covered his lips with yours, and Soshiro's tiredness for a while seemed to fade into the background. He leaned towards you with a careful movement, stroking your hair tenderly. This kiss was somewhat crumpled due to the fact that you were having difficulties with breathing.

"How long have you been awake?"

"Since the start of the mission, the day before yesterday," Soshiro sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Captain Ashiro let me stay in your ward and temporarily took on more duties than usual."

"Ah, Captain Ashiro is the best," you sighed happily. Mina really was a miracle: in addition to her polished movements on the battlefield and her unbending character, she also possessed sensitivity and empathy. "You really should rest, Soshiro."

He looked at you and just shook his head. There was a playfulness in his gaze, despite his fatigue.

"Are you that eager to send me away?"

"Not at all," you huffed with a smile on your lips. You lightly patted your unwounded shoulder. "But if you don't want to leave, you can lean on me. You need to get some sleep anyways.*

Soshiro chuckled, but did not refuse the opportunity. He made sure that your shoulder really did not hurt, and carefully placed his head on it, closing his eyes. All the accumulated fatigue instantly fell on him, and sleep did not take long to come.

You treasured these moments deeply, feeling how valuable and important life is, especially when there is someone in it for whom you are ready to fight death again and again.

[suitkive]

✩ just swinging by — k.yh

pairing. yoohyeon (dreamcatcher) x fem reader

summary. ever since the mysterious web-swinging spider-woman first collapsed on your balcony by accident after a long night out fighting crime, she keeps coming back around with thank-you gifts and excuses to see you���and you slowly start to find yourself falling for the clumsy, kindhearted girl behind the mask.

info. college au, yoohyeon as spider-woman

warnings. swearing, blood/injury

word count. 4.6k (oops)

(a/n) insp. this moodboard i made a while ago :D

of all the things you were expecting to happen to you on a typical sunday night, the sudden appearance of a masked vigilante at your balcony was most certainly not one of them.

alright, rewind a bit. a CRASH jolts you awake in the middle of the night—though really it's morning, according to the glowing red digits on your alarm clock that read 3:49 AM—and you nearly fall out of your bed because that was loud, what the hell?

nerves running high and any remnants of sleep completely shaken out of your body, you get out of bed and slowly open your bedroom door only to be met with a blast of frigid night air. you blink a few times, just to make sure you're not seeing things.

"what the fuck," you say out loud.

your balcony door is gone.

no, wait—it's broken. shards of glass are everywhere, and there's a giant gaping hole where the sliding door used to be. and lying crumpled in a heap on the floor in front of it…

you fumble for the light switch, something you probably should've done as soon as you opened the door. the sight that greets you when the light turns on makes you wonder if you're still dreaming, because this can't actually be happening.

there is a superhero on your balcony.

and she's bleeding all over your carpet.

"oh my god—" you hurriedly rush over to get a better look. red-and-blue spandex that's torn in several places, a trail of spiderwebs clinging to her wrists, a large spider symbol printed on the front and back of her suit… it's spider-woman. spider-woman just crashed through your balcony door.

and she's bleeding. on your carpet.

"okay," you mumble, trying to think. at least the fresh night air coming from the massive hole in your balcony door does well to invigorate you. "okay, okay, i need to do something… oh god, my landlord is gonna be so pissed at me—"

the body on the floor lets out a weak groan, and you quickly kneel down next to her. "hello? are—are you okay?"

with great difficulty, the girl struggles to lift up her head. her mask obscures the entirety of her face, so you have a hard time telling whether or not she's fully conscious.

"…ow," she croaks out at last, and then her head falls back to the floor with a thunk. seconds later, her chest begins to slowly rise and fall. a soft snoring sound emits from her mask.

you take a deep breath. okay. you can deal with this.

so here you are almost three hours later, nursing a cup of much-needed coffee as you stare contemplatively at the now-bandaged but still-snoring superhero laid out on the couch in front of you. you had done your best to clean and treat her wounds with your limited medical knowledge (and the suspiciously well-stocked first aid kit that your weird roommate handong keeps in the cupboard), so now you're just waiting for her to wake up. which is taking way too long.

the clock on the coffee table reads 6:15 AM, and you glumly swish around the cold dregs of your morning coffee. it's almost time for you to leave for your 6:30 chemistry class, but it looks like spider-woman is still completely out of it.

after pacing around the kitchen of your tiny apartment for five more minutes, you impulsively grab a post-it note and scribble down a message for spider-woman to see when she wakes up. thankfully your roommate is literally never home, so there's no chance of anyone coming in here and discovering the superhero conked out on your couch.

you sign your name at the bottom of the note and stick it to spider-woman's forehead, hoping she'll be alright. as for your balcony door… thinking about how much it's going to cost to install a new one gives you a headache, so you just stick a large sheet of cardboard over the opening and resolve to take care of it as soon as you get home.

"this has been a very, very weird morning," you say out loud, because nothing about this feels real.

(then again, the tedious hours you spent cleaning up bits of glass from the floor and picking the webs off of spider-woman's suit definitely felt pretty real.)

you throw one last glance at the sleeping heap on your couch before you leave, only hoping that your life will get back to normal after today.

yoohyeon wakes up disoriented, aching all over, and with the horrifying realization that she has most definitely slept past all five of her monday morning alarms.

she blinks sleepily, slowly processing her surroundings. she's lying on a couch, someone has bandaged her wounds and swaddled her in blankets, yubin probably, she's an angel and the best guy in the chair yoohyeon could ever ask for and… whoa, wait a minute.

this isn't her apartment.

with that horrifying realization, yoohyeon sits straight up and whips her head around in a panic. her surroundings are entirely unfamiliar, and she's about to call yubin before remembering that yubin is unreachable right now—away on some sort of top-secret mission that's supposed to last, like, three months. yoohyeon groans. why am i actually the worst superhero ever?

then she realizes that there's something stuck to her forehead and reaches up to find a neon green sticky note with some writing on it, which she slowly reads through with a good deal of trepidation.

hey, you crashed into my apartment last night—you were unconscious but i didn't see your face, don't worry! i fixed up your injuries as best i could but now i need to leave for class, so i hope you'll be okay when you wake up. just remember to put the cardboard back over the balcony door so birds won't fly in or anything :)

phew. so yoohyeon's secret identity hasn't been leaked, that's a relief… but she essentially broke into an innocent civilian's apartment, which she doesn't exactly feel great about. i need to make this right.

"oh, wait—" yoohyeon realizes something and jumps to her feet, the blankets falling around her. "shit, i'm late for class!"

you're dutifully taking notes as the professor drones on about chemical equations, though you're struggling to stay focused—seriously, who decided that 6:30am classes on a monday was a good idea?—when suddenly the doors to the lecture hall burst open and a girl runs in, flushed and panting heavily.

"i am so sorry," she wheezes, bracing her hands on her knees to catch her breath. "i overslept…"

the professor sighs and waves off her apology. "don't let it happen again," he says sternly, then continues his lecture.

you cast the girl a curious glance as she shuffles shamefully to an empty seat and starts unpacking her things. she's tall and lanky, with long two-toned hair tied in a haphazard ponytail and glasses that she has to push back up when they start to slip down her face. you make eye contact for a brief moment, then you resume paying attention to the professor without giving the encounter too much thought.

after classes end, you go back to your apartment to find the place superhero-less. the blankets are folded messily on the couch and there's a small tear in the cardboard that's covering the opening in your balcony, as if someone was in a hurry to leave.

you shrug off your bags with a sigh and go to dial up your landlord.

almost a week passes without further incident. you get your balcony door replaced so it's like nothing ever happened, and your life is just starting to get back into the usual swing of things when spider-woman shows up at your balcony again.

a thump is what wakes you up prematurely this time—it's literally 5am which is way too early for a saturday morning of all days—and you groggily stumble out of your bedroom, fearing the worst. you know it can't be a burglar since you live on the seventh floor, so there's only one person it could be…

luckily, the glass door is fully intact when you pull back the curtains to check. however, there is currently a superhero lying curled in a ball on your balcony. a very familiar superhero wearing a red-and-blue suit with a spider symbol on it.

"oh… oh, no," groans spider-woman when she hears you slide open the door. she weakly tries to drag herself to her feet, but she slumps back to the ground and you notice, with concern, the bleeding scratches all over her body. "oh man, i did it again… i'm so sorry, i'm gonna leave, just… wow you're so pretty… sorry, i should really leave—"

"no, it's okay!" you rush to reassure her, kneeling down next to her and offering your hand. "you can't go back out there like that, let me help you."

she winces, though whether it's from pain or embarrassment you can't tell. "i am so sorry," she repeats, and something about her voice seems oddly familiar, but you're too preoccupied with getting her inside to dwell on that.

the superhero keeps rambling as you half-drag, half-carry her to the couch. "i didn't mean to come here again, it's just i usually go to my friend's place when i'm injured but she's away and i got lost and mistook your apartment for mine the last time and i'm really sorry about breaking your door, it was just so dark and i had a really long day and i wasn't thinking straight and i probably gave you so much trouble—ow!"

"sorry!" you flinch and let go of her. "is your arm okay? what happened?"

"i… um." spider-woman chuckles nervously. "i kind of swung into a building? i didn't break any windows or anything! i might've broken my arm though."

you can't help but laugh, finding her awkward manner strangely endearing. "let me take a look, it might be dislocated or something."

it turns out it's just bruised, so you get her some ice and busy yourself fixing up her injuries. she repeatedly tries to convince you that she can do it herself in between a steady stream of more apologies, but she looks like she's one step away from passing out, so you insist on helping her.

"how'd you get all these cuts and scratches, anyway?" you ask, opening the bottle of antiseptic and setting out some gauze. "if you don't mind me asking, that is."

"no, it's fine! um…" spider-woman tilts her head, as if trying to remember. "the ones on my ribs are from some muggers with knives, kids really but there were four of them and only one of me so yeah… and the ones on my arms are from the black cat, you know, my nemesis? she was robbing a jewelry store and i managed to stop her but she still escaped and also got me a few times with her claws… oh, and there's this cut on my forehead that i got when i accidentally tripped and hit my head on a wall corner a few hours ago… but i can fix that on my own! you know, cause i'd have to take the mask off for that, and like, i can't reveal my secret identity 'cause dami—that's my guy in the chair—dami would kill me, haha…"

by the time she's done talking, you've finished cleaning and wrapping all of her wounds. there's just the cut on her forehead that's left, which is still bleeding despite her flippant assurances that it doesn't even hurt.

"that looks pretty bad," you note, kneeling down beside the couch and leaning in closer to inspect it. you gently press a paper towel to the bleeding area, using your other hand to brush a stray drop of blood from her cheek. "are you able to swing like that?"

there's a beat of silence. you realize that spider-woman has gone perfectly still, and also that your faces are extremely close together.

"sorry—" you shift away apologetically, worried that you made her uncomfortable. "you probably don't like it when people touch your suit."

"it's okay!" spider-woman's voice comes out as a strangled squawk, and she quickly coughs to clear her throat. "um. i was just. surprised."

"oh… well then." you stand up and glance awkwardly around your apartment, at a loss for what to do next. "so uh… how are you feeling?"

she springs up from the couch, startling you. "a lot better, thank you so much! i've caused you way too much trouble so… i should probably get going now, huh."

"are you okay to swing with your injuries and all?" you ask as she half-walks, half-slides to the balcony in this self-consciously exaggerated way. "they looked really painful when you arrived here."

"this is nothing," she responds with a casual wave of her hand, hoisting herself up onto the balcony railing in a quick graceful movement. "i heal pretty fast, so they barely even hurt anymore."

"that's good, then." you lean against the doorframe, somewhat saddened to see her go. strangely enough, you've actually been enjoying her company despite the fact that she quite literally crashed into your apartment and woke you up in the middle of the night.

spider-woman clears her throat. "uhh—maybe i'll see you around sometime," she says, a hopeful lilt to her voice.

the sun is starting to rise, peeking over the tops of the city skyline and bathing your apartment in soft golden light. spider-woman tilts her head at you, and you're almost completely certain that she's smiling under her mask.

"yeah," you respond, smiling back and raising a hand to shade your face from the sun. "i'll see you around sometime, superhero."

spider-woman gives you a jaunty little two-fingered salute, and then she's launching herself backwards off the railing with a carefree whoop. she disappears from your view for a few heart-stopping moments, but then a web shoots up and she's swinging away in between the skyscrapers until she's out of sight.

the next day, you open the curtains to find a small bouquet of red and blue flowers sitting on your balcony. they look wind-blown and slightly frayed, and the thought of a certain superhero swinging through the city with the little pot tucked carefully under her arm makes you grin despite yourself.

you get the feeling you won't be seeing the last of her any time soon.

"um, is it okay if i sit here?"

you glance up from the chemical equations on your laptop screen, meeting the eyes of a tall girl who's fidgeting nervously with the ends of her long hair. vaguely, you recognize her as that clumsy student who ran into class late last week.

"oh, sure," you say after a confused beat, shifting over slightly to make more room for her. something about her voice rings a bell, but you're not sure why it sounds so familiar. i've probably just heard her talking to her friends before, you rationalize.

"thanks!" she sits down and starts taking out her stuff, smiling hesitantly at you. "i'm kim yoohyeon, it's nice to meet you."

she has a pretty smile, you note while you introduce yourself. "it's nice to meet you too."

yoohyeon seems shy around you and doesn't talk much, but there's something captivating about her that you can't quite figure out exactly. she pays close attention to the professor during the lecture, though occasionally you'll look over to catch her stealing glances at you—she always blushes and quickly looks away, piquing your curiosity. hmmm.

after an extremely long and boring hour, the class is over and everyone starts packing up and filtering out of the lecture hall. you're packing up as well when your arm brushes against yoohyeon's by accident, and her cheeks flush bright red as she stares at you wide-eyed.

"i—" yoohyeon clears her throat. "bye!" she squeaks, and then she's shooting out the doors before you can even open your mouth to reply.

huh, how strange.

you're studying at your kitchen table one afternoon, curtains open to let some sun into your apartment, when you hear a tap-tap-tap on your balcony door and look up to see spider-woman crouched outside.

"i hope this isn't creepy," she rushes to say as soon as you slide open the door. "i was just, er, in the area and i thought i'd swing by and say hello… um, i brought you a croissant! as thanks for, y'know, everything."

"wow, thank you," you say in surprise, taking the paper bakery bag that she's hopefully holding out to you. the chocolate croissant inside is a little flattened, but you're warmed by the gesture regardless.

"no problem!" spider-woman jumps back up onto the balcony railing, sitting and swinging her legs like a little kid. "so, uh, yeah. just wanted to do that. i hope it wasn't weird. was it weird?"

you can't help but laugh. "you're cute," you say sincerely, the words slipping out against your will—flustered, you quickly change the subject before she can notice. "um, i'm not really busy right now so… you can come in and hang out for a bit, if you want."

"really?" she tentatively slides off the railing and trots inside after you like a lost puppy. "i feel bad for intruding—ooh, were you doing homework?"

"yeah, just studying for a test," you respond, sitting down and gesturing for her to pull out a chair as well. "do you know anything about chemistry?"

"i love it!" she exclaims, perking up and scooting closer to get a better look at your notes. "i first made my web fluid in my high school chemistry lab actually, it was… well, it was a learning experience. what are you studying?"

"acid-base reactions, most of it went over my head when my professor was lecturing about it…"

before you know it, two hours have gone by in a flash. spider-woman just has this bright and likable aura around her, and as she chatters about chemistry with infectious enthusiasm and tells you funny stories about her experiences as the city's resident superhero, you find that you already feel even more at ease with her than you are with your own roommate.

"we should do this again soon," you tell her when she has to leave, standing on your balcony surrounded by the bustling sounds of the city. "and be careful, alright? don't go swinging into any more buildings."

"i promise!" she assures you with a laugh, giving you a cheerful wave before she jumps from your balcony and swings off.

after that, spider-woman starts swinging by to see you a lot more often. you can tell she still feels guilty about accidentally breaking into your apartment, because she always comes with gifts of flowers or random pastries from the bakery down the street.

"you really don't need to go to all this trouble for me," you tell her, amused, when she presents you with an entire cake.

"it's no trouble at all!" she insists cheerfully, then gasps. "unless you don't like it. do you not like it?"

"no! i really appreciate it, i promise. it's just, you don't have to get me stuff if you don't want to."

"i want to!"

it's after a few weeks of the dorky superhero swinging by your apartment that you begin to realize you might be developing a bit of a crush on her. which is ridiculous, really, considering you have no idea what she looks like under the mask and you don't know her real name either. you don't know anything about her.

but you do know her, in a way. you know that she likes to pretend she's this cool badass superhero when in reality she's just a science nerd who gets excited about mixing chemicals. you know that she loves rescuing kittens from trees even though she's scared of cats, just because it's worth it to see the relief on its owner's face. you know that she sometimes swings by elementary schools during recess because a wave or a thumbs-up from spider-woman always makes the kids' entire day. you know that she's smart, she's kind, she's clumsy, she loves helping people more than anything.

you know her well enough for your heart to flutter every time you hear her tap on your balcony door, no matter the time or reason. she usually comes by during the day now, just to bring you gifts and hang out, but every once in a while she'll still crash on your balcony in the middle of the night with injuries from fighting crime.

this is one of those nights, apparently. a forceful knock on your front door is what wakes you up at 11pm one sunday night, and you groan as you're violently dragged out of your peaceful sleep.

"coming," you mumble half to yourself, throwing a random hoodie over your pajamas and hauling yourself to the door. "i have class tomorrow, who even—"

it's spider-woman, leaning heavily against the doorframe. "hi," she croaks. the knocking must have tired her out, because she topples into your arms as soon as you open the door.

"what…" you blink groggily for a few seconds, slowly processing the girl draped all over you. your half-asleep brain notes that she's very warm. it's like a nice blanket.

then you realize that your apartment door is still wide open, and the city's most famous superhero is just standing right there in the hall where anyone could see. "what are you doing here?" you yelp, pulling her inside and hurrying to close the door. "you're in your suit and everything! did anyone see you come up?"

"dunno," she mumbles, tucking her face into the crook of your neck. "i hit my head really hard. didn't think swinging was a good idea…"

you maneuver the superhero onto your couch, and she whines when you pull away to go get the medical kit. "hurts."

"looks like there isn't any bleeding," you say, kneeling down next to the couch and examining her head. "do you think it might be a concussion?"

"probably," she rasps, squishing herself further into the couch and looking like a burrito with the blanket you put over her. "should heal in a few hours."

you furrow your brow, still not used to what she calls her spidey-healing. "okay, get some sleep. you can stay here as long as you want, alright?"

"gotta wake up early," she says drowsily. "chemistry lab tomorrow…"

you blink. you… also have a chemistry lab tomorrow. "is that so?"

"yeah." you think her eyes are closed behind her mask, but then she shifts her head slightly and giggles softly to herself. "you're sooo pretty… i was so scared to talk to you in class."

wait, what?

spider-woman keeps rambling as she drifts off to sleep. "wanted to ask you out… but i was too shy without the mask. ran away, so embarrassing…"

wait, what?

"you're really cool," she mumbles. "and nice… and pretty… i like you a lot… want to take care of you like… like you take care of me…"

a pause. "you should go out with me," she says, then falls silent. tiny snores start coming out of her mask.

you slowly stand up, head spinning with all these new revelations.

huh.

you decide to go back to sleep.

it's around three in the morning when you wake up again to the sounds of someone shuffling around in the living room. you reluctantly slide out of your nice warm bed, slipping a hoodie on and heading out of your bedroom to find the source of the commotion.

"sorry, did i wake you?" spider-woman hovers uncertainly by the open door, dressed in civilian clothes—a hoodie and sweatpants—though she still has her spider-woman mask on, which looks so ridiculous that you have to smile at the sight.

"yeah… you're leaving already?" you ask, rubbing your eyes and yawning.

"yep," she says, awkwardly shifting her bundled-up superhero suit from hand to hand. "um. you should go back to bed, i know you have an early class tomorrow…" and so do i, she thinks to herself ruefully.

"let me see you off first," you insist through another yawn, covering your mouth with one oversized hoodie sleeve. "be careful on your way down, okay?"

"i will," she mumbles shyly. you can't see it, but she's blushing so hard at the gentleness in your voice and the soft way you're looking at her that she's scared her mask might burn right off her face. i've got to leave before i do anything stupid, she thinks, embarrassed. why is she so nice… and pretty…

the superhero is halfway down the hall when you remember all of last night's events and suddenly get an idea.

"yoohyeon," you call out, leaning against your doorframe.

she stops and turns around. "yeah?"

a pause.

you see the exact moment she realizes. "i—oh fuck—i mean, um—" she flounders, wildly looking around and laughing nervously. "wh-who's yoohyeon? i'm just your friendly neighbourhood spider-kim—i mean—"

you smile teasingly. "next time you ask me on a date, do it when you're not suffering from a concussion."

you don't know what her facial expression is like under her mask, but spider-woman—yoohyeon—looks like she's about to pass out, if the way she's clutching her suit in a death grip is any indication.

your smile softens. "i like you too, just so you know. a lot." you step back inside your apartment, but then you poke your head out again (yoohyeon is still standing there, frozen in shock) and add, "come back and ask me again tomorrow, okay? properly."

you close the door and take a deep breath. you feel as if your heart had stopped beating momentarily, but now it resumes racing excitedly in your chest.

hopefully i didn't just make a huge mistake.

meanwhile, yoohyeon is practically having heart palpitations outside. she spends a while just gaping like a fish at your closed door, but then she comes to her senses and practically breaks her neck sprinting to the elevator.

oh god, i need to look nice tomorrow!

the next morning, you're sitting at the kitchen table doing some studying before class when you hear the distinct noise of feet landing lightly on your balcony outside. there's the sounds of someone pacing for a while. then a light knock sounds on the glass door, making you turn around.

it's yoohyeon. not spider-woman, but kim yoohyeon from your 6:30am chemistry class. she's wearing jeans and a turtleneck sweater, her long hair falling in soft waves past her shoulders and her dark brown eyes bravely staring into yours. in her hands is a small bouquet of red-and-blue flowers.

"did you swing up here?" you ask incredulously, tearing your eyes away from her and looking around. the sun is starting to rise, painting the sky in a soft rosy hue that matches the blush on yoohyeon's face. "did—"

"wait—please don't say anything," she interrupts, eyes squeezed shut. "before i chicken out."

she takes a deep breath and opens her eyes, meeting your gaze. "hi, i'm kim yoohyeon. um, i'm also spider-woman, and i… i'd really like to take you out on a date sometime."

she smiles hopefully at you. you step closer to her, taking the bouquet from her hands and leaning up to press a kiss to her cheek. yoohyeon's blush intensifies, and your heart soars.

"it's nice to meet you, kim yoohyeon," you tell her, matching her smile. "and i'd love to go out with you."

[otakubimbo]

You Don't Know Me

Gojo x F!Reader

Will this be Gojo's chance to make things up to you? To finally get close to you?

Context: Cussing. Typical Gojo Behavior. College AU. No curse.

previous | next

It had been almost a full month  since you, Suguru, and Shoko all started to hang out together. They respected your want to not see or speak to Satoru so he was never invited. You came to really enjoy the company of Suguru and with everything that’s happened, you and Shoko have grown so much closer.  You have successfully avoided speaking to or even acknowledging Gojo, his efforts to talk to you going by the wayside.

Now it was Halloween, and you were trying to get dressed for the night out, you had bet Shoko that if you could get her an A on anatomy midterm, she would dress up with you for Halloween. Of course, you did, your notes and your help were flawless. She was able to record the lectures for you and you gave her the perfect notes to study. So now the two of you were going as an era of Britney Spears. You were being Slave for You Britney from the live performance and she is going as Oops I did it Again Brittany from the music video. You had got a fake snake to wrap around you that you were going to latch onto you with bracelets it was a genius idea initially, but your nails were making it hard for it to latch on, so you went to ask for help.

“Sho, is Sugu here? I need help with these bracelets. I can’t get the clasps” You ask as you exit the bathroom not paying any attention to the absence of Shoko. When you don’t hear a response, you look up to see the one person you didn’t want to Gojo Satoru.  He was dressed as the Howl from Howls Moving Castle. You almost freeze before composing yourself.

“What are you doing here? Where’s Shoko and Suguru? “ You ask taking a step back towards the bathroom, your voice a bit shaky. He hesitates not meeting your gaze.

“They went to get some weed and booze; they thought you would take longer.”

That made sense to you, they know you like to take your time, you aren't one to rush any process. It wasn’t like it took long in total for you to get ready, but you often did other things when you should be getting yourself together, so easily distracted.

“And they left you here?” You ask even though you believe what he said, eyes darting around the room anywhere but his face.

“Like I said, they thought you would take longer.” He says with a shrug. You knew he was coming with y’all to the party, they both asked beforehand if it was okay and you said yes, you weren’t going to be that girl who hung up on something so silly especially since he did avoid speaking to you this whole time as you requested.

You exhale before responding, “Well can you help me then?”

He looks at you wearily before coming over to where you extended your arm, gently holding your wrist as he fumbled with the clasp. He got the first one on and you extended your other arm for the second which he got much easier this time.

“Thanks” you say before adjusting yourself. You go to look into the full body mirror that was set in the living room, you look HOT, the green really complimented your brown skin tone and your hair was down and out which was not usual for you. Stretching your arms out making sure you had enough movement to have a good time and giving your ass a good look making sure not too much was showing. After a bit of glancing, you decided you looked perfect.  Gojo seemed to be trying to talk to you as you were checking your outfit out.

“Sorry. What you say?” you asked, giving him your full attention.

“I’m sorry, for what I said to you. It was stupid and I knew nothing about you to make that judgment.” He said still not meeting your eyes. This felt like a bullshit apology to you since he couldn’t even look at you, but you let him have it.

“It’s whatever, it’s over now. Who cares” You try to sound as nonchalant as you could, a small fake smile on your face but what you didn’t know is that Suguru and Shoko told him everything about the event. He knows how hurt you were even if you try to play it off now. He just nods at your response, as you go into the kitchen to get yourself a little something to drink. You had made Jell-O shots for the night, so you pulled them out just to make sure they were firm or not.

“Here, come try this,” You say to Gojo picking up a shot, he’s surprised by your niceness, but he shouldn’t be, all Suguru talks about is how nice you are when he spends time with you. He took the shot from your hand, his fingers gently grazing you making you almost immediately pull back. You watch as he sucks back the shot once it’s down he starts coughing a bit.

“What the fuck” He says as he grabs something to drink. Perfect, it was strong.

“Oh, they must have come out perfect then.” You say as you grab one for yourself throwing it back like it was nothing. That took Gojo by surprise, yes, he had been stalking yours, Shokos, and Suguru IGs for info about you but he didn’t know that you were such a strong drinker.  All you usually posted was cute little drinks.

“Yeah, Suguru said you were practicing being a bartender, not a murderer.”

“Oh, they’re not that strong, don’t be a wuss” You giggle as you down another one.

“Didn’t know you drunk like a sailor” He comments with a chuckle.

“yeah, because you don’t know me,” You say before shooting back another.

“You’re right I don’t, but I would like to if you let me” he says taking more of a step forward grabbing a shot from the tray you were holding, shooting it back trying to be as stoic as you but failing. You give him a small smile at his poor attempt.

“I guess, sure”

You and Satoru start chatting, he asks you about yourself. First about the right hook you gave him, and you got to tell him that you were a black belt and had been taking kick boxing classes That made sense to him because his face was fucked for a whole week. You told him about your hobbies like how you were into archery and squishmellows, and just regular things that friends getting to know each other would say. The two of you were having a nice conversation when Shoko and Suguru got back.

“Oh great, you’re ready and you didn’t kill him” Suguru says as he enters with drinks in hand.

“Wow, you look hot” Shoko comments as she enters with Suguru. You blush doing a little spin.

“You think so? It’s not too much is it?” You say fiddling with bracelets on your wrist.

“No, you look absolutely smoking. You may even start a riot” Suguru joked as his eyes quickly looked at Gojo who was trying his best not to stare at you.

“Well thank you” You giggle. “Alright, it’s shot o clock. Me and Gojo are already ahead of the game, you two gotta catch up.”

You grab two shots and hand one to Shoko and you try to hand the other to Suguru but instead, he grabs your wrist and makes you feed him the shot. Suguru locks eyes with Gojo as he does it, he knows that his crush on you has gotten worse since the incident especially with as much new information he finds out about you from him and Shoko. Gojo grits his teeth as he hears you giggling at his friend.

“You’re not a baby, Sugu. Take your own shots!” You giggle pulling your wrist free from his grasp. Shoko was watching the scene knowing exactly what Suguru was doing. Boys, so childish. You go and take another shot before grabbing Shoko.

“Come on Shoko, we need pictures and I already have the best captions.” You take her to her room where the full body mirror is for a few mirror shots, leaving the boys to their own devices. Suguru opens a beer for himself and Gojo, handing it to him.

“Thanks ‘Sugu’” Gojo says mocking the nickname you used for the man.

“Jealously doesn’t suit you, Satoru,” Suguru smirks as he takes a sip of his beer, he can hear your giggles and Shokos whines as you’re making her take too many pictures for her liking.

“I’m not jealous” Gojo groans as he can’t take his gaze off the door you just went through hearing the sound of your giggles.

“Okay, okay time for more drinks” they hear your voice say from the room as you walk out with Shoko going through your phone. “Suguru” You call not even looking up from your phone. “You got everything on the list I sent to you, yeah?”

“Of course, princess,” Suguru says casually, calling you the nickname he chose from the first night y'all hung out which is why it didn’t phase you but it definitely phased Gojo. Maybe he was a bit jealous now that he actually sees how the two of you interact.

You grin, looking up from your phone, “Great. Time for Kamikaze shots!” You go into the kitchen and make shots for everyone, your tongue sticking out as you focus on making them which Gojo found adorable, Shoko and Suguru exchanging knowing glances at each other. You smiled proudly after you were done pouring. When you looked up, you caught Gojo staring.

“What's wrong? It’s not gonna be that strong I promise.” You reassure him with a smile, figuring that’s the reason he was staring. His heart almost stopped when you smiled at him, and he immediately tries to play it off.

“Well, you did almost try to kill me with that Jell-O shot” he laughs casually.

“Don’t be a baby” You giggle, picking up a shot, “Here” you hand him a shot glass, but before he puts it to his lips you stop him. “I gotta get a video first, come on.”

You make everyone grab their shots and stand in a circle, “Please don’t mess this up, guys.” You whine trying to hold your hand steady that has your phone in it.

“Yes, princess” Suguru says with an eye roll, “So whiny” you stick your tongue out at him.

“Okay so, we go in to clink and then back out. Yeah?” You say looking around and everyone nods. “So one, two” and on three everyone clinked and pulled away perfectly, which brought a huge grin to your face. “Perfect, thanks!” Everyone throws their shots back while you work on your IG post. “Oi, Gojo what’s your IG so I can tag you, yeah?” You say not even looking up from your phone which is good because you wouldn’t be able to see the panic in his eyes.

“It’s GojoTheeGreatest,” Suguru says quickly answering you with a smirk, looking at Gojo.

“Like Megan Thee Stallion? That’s cute.” You say as you go to his profile and notice that he is already following you. “OH, you’re already following me. Cool.” You say casually not knowing that Gojo was dying on the inside. You follow him back and tag everyone on the video.

“Princess, Don’t you want to get one of your shot drink videos for your IG?” Suguru asks as you finish your IG post, looking back up at him.

“You really should be my social media manager, sugu. You always have the best ideas of what I should post.” You say handing him your phone.

“Shot trick?” Gojo questions as you put the shot down on the counter.

“yeah, its just like a no-handed shot. Shoko, you are doing it with me?” You say putting on your best puppy dog face.

“Absolutely not. The last time you made me do that, I almost drowned.” She states adamantly. You pout and huff, like the princess you are.

“Fine.” You pout before lining up to do the shot. “We good?” You look up at Suguru, and he gives you a thumbs up before you lower your head down to the shot glass, wrapping your lips around the whole glass then standing straight before tipping your head back to swallow in one gulp. The scene was utterly pornographic to Gojo and he had to adjust himself from the arising strain of his pants. You take the shot glass out of your mouth with a pop, a trail of spit connecting to the glass and Gojo thought he was about to cum in his pants from the sight. You look so innocent as if you had no clue the effect you were having on him, and you really didn’t have a single clue.

“Alright group picture and then we go, yeah?” You say as you come from around the counter getting your phone back from Geto as he slings as arm over your shoulder, Shoko comes up on the other side of Geto leaning in. Gojo just stands there awkwardly, and you peek around your phone giving him a big smile. “Gojo come on, it’s a group photo silly.”

Gojo was taken aback by you inviting him into the picture, he just assumed you wouldn’t want him in it. You were too sweet for your own good. He comes to your side, and you pull him in by his arm so you can all fit into the frame.

“thank you, now one, two, three” You snap the photo, you had a huge grin on your face, while Gojo was awkwardly squeezed to your side, Suguru had his cocky grin on and Shoko gives her usual soft smile.

“Wait this is too cute.” You grin, now changing the photo into your new wallpaper. “Alright let's go!” You exclaim, grabbing onto Shoko and exiting the place. The party wasn’t far, it was being hosted at a frat house, so it was definitely within walking distance. You were arm and arm with Shoko while the boys trailed behind you all. There were plenty of men catcalling the two of you, a lot of ‘oh I would be a slave for you any day ‘I can fix your loneliness tonight baby!’ One guy even had the confidence to actually stop you.

“You should have dressed as an angel because I know you had to come from heaven.”  The random man in front of you says and it was so corny to you, but it made you giggle, Shoko rolled her eyes unimpressed.

‘Well thank you’ you say shyly as you already feel Shoko pulling you away.

“She’s not interested” and pulls you away around him so that you could get to the party, you weren’t interested but Shoko was always so mean when it came to people hitting on you.

“You’re going to have to get used to that by the way,” Geto says to Gojo. “She gets hit on everywhere we go.”

Gojo just shrugs, “I get it. Look at her.” He jesters towards your frame head of them, you were as gorgeous from the back as you were from the front. Your hips swayed while you walked and your lower back tattoo was ever so present with how low your shorts were that was set right about your fat ass attached to thick thighs. Gorgeous. Literal walking sex appeal.

Once yall entered the frat house, of course, several eyes shifted to you. You hugged Shoko a little closer to your side.

“Let’s go find some drinks,” you say into Shoko's ear, trying to make your way through the crowded party. You quickly find your way to the kitchen, which is exactly where the drinks are, they had a guy standing there pouring, must be a probate.

“Well, hello there,” He says smiling creepily at you, you chose to ignore that. After the Gojo incident, Shoko said you need to start using your looks for evil if people were going to judge them for it, she started taking you to parties and she’s been using you to get free shit by having you bat your eyes at the nearest person who looks attracted to you. At first, you didn’t really want to go along with it until you saw how some of these people really just treated you like an object and not a person.

“Hiya,” You say leaning on the counter batting your eyes at him. Did this make you uncomfortable sometimes? Yes, but it was always nice to get more for just being pretty. “You think you could pour me and my friend a drink, yeah? And two more for some of my other friends if it wouldn’t be too much” You voice honey sweet putting it on when your voice is already a lil high pitched.

“Anything for someone who looks at good as you” He says with a cheeky grin, pouring you up four cups and even topping them off with a lil more alcohol.

“Oh, you didn’t have to do all that extra but thank you” You say with a little giggle grabbing two of the cups while Shoko grabs the other two.

“Once the drinks run out, I’ll be free to party ya know.” He tried to suggest that he would see you later.

“Oh, don’t worry, I’ll see you way before then,” You say with a wink as you and Shoko Walk away. Once your back is turned you gag, give yourself a little shake. Luckily it was easy to find Gojo and Suguru, handing Gojo the cup you got for him.

“I’ve trained my girl good,” Shoko says throwing an arm over your shoulder as you take a sip of your drink, it was definitely some type of jungle juice. Gojo looked down at his drink seeing that not only was it full but it was close to spilling over.

“I just be feeling so icky about it Shoko” you whine taking another drink form your cup. Gojo raises an eyebrow at you in question. “Shes been teaching me how to flirt so that we can get free/extra stuff/“ you huff and Gojo almost spits out his drink. “See how ridiculous it is!” You exclaim.

“So whiny” Geto fake complains pushing a finger into your forehead, making you pout.

“I’m not whiny” You grumble as you take another drink from your cup.

“Yes you are princess/YN” Geto and Shoko say in unison.  You huffed and turned away to walk off, “Don’t get lost” they both call after you. Gojo enjoyed seeing his friends interact with you, it was funny.

“You made her mad,” Shoko says casually to Geto as she drinks her drink.

“I always make her mad” Geto says with a chuckle, “Someone should probably actually go after her before she actually get’s lost.” Both Geto and Shokos gaze at Gojo.

“She’s gonna be mad if it’s me” Gojo claims.

“She absolutely will not. And we do it all the time, it’s your turn. She’s the princess for a reason, go save her Mario.”

Gojo huffs before making his way in the direction you walked off to. He weaves in and out of the crowd, he has to really push his way past because girls keep trying to stop him and ask for a dance or a drink. His only responses to people are ‘nah I’m good.’ ‘Move it.’ ‘ get out my way’ . Eventually, he spots you, drink in hand, sitting on a couch looking uncomfortable as some idiot has their arm around you obviously ignoring the signs that you want them off of you. He doesn’t understand why you wouldn’t just hit them like you did him. Your eyes are looking around somewhat frantically as you lock eyes with Gojo and he can see the relief hit your face.

“I know you said you weren’t interested but you know it’s Halloween, and I have so many scary movies back at my place that I’m sure you would love to see.” The sleazy man next to you says as Gojo is walking up.

“Gojo.” You say in a voice that sounds way too small. The guy next to you, is dressed up as Ken from Barbie (stickynote: the worst man you know is gonna dress up as Ken from Barbie).

“Heh? This your boyfriend?” He asks you with a scoff.

“Yes, I am now move and stop touching my girl.” Gojo scowls down at the man, who quickly gets up from you putting his hands up in defensive.

“My bad, dude. Just when you see a girl dressed like this you don’t really figure she’s taken. You let her go out like this?”

You can see the tension in Gojos jaw as he grits his teeth, “She can wear whatever the fuck she wants. Come on” his hand extends down to you, and you take it, once up he throws his arm around you as starts walking back to your group.

“You should have just punched him.” He says into your ear.

“I know it may be hard to believe but I actually don’t like doing that.” You say embarrassed, a sniffle to your voice.

“You crying?” He asks in a joking tone (stickynote:yes in the same exact way from the anime)

“NO! It’s just so embarrassing” You huff. Gojos arm doesn’t move from your waist, instead pulling you closer.

“You really are a whiny princess, Suguru was right.”

You huff again at him and he just laughs, you are so stinking adorable. The same girl who almost knocked one of his teeth out was too embarrassed to tell a guy to fuck off, cute. You really made no sense to him at all.

“What happened this time” Shoko sighs looking at your face.

“Nothing let's go dance.” You move from under Gojos arm, grabbing Shokos hand and pulling her away. It kind of felt empty not having you there anymore.

“So what happened?” Geto smirks while taking a sip of his drink while watching you force Shoko to dance with you.

“Some dude wouldn’t leave her alone.” Gojo shrugs casually.

“And your arm was around her because?”

“To get her away from that loser, it’s not a big deal.”

Geto just hummed in response, “Well I’m going to find me someone to go home with tonight. You have fun pinning” before walking off to some girl who had been eyeing him from across the room. Gojo is now left standing there a bit awkwardly when you look up from dancing with Shoko and catch his eye. A wide smile starts to spread across your face as you move over to him.

“Come dance with us,” You say as you grab his hand and pull him to where you and Shoko were once dancing together. He pretends to put up a fight just to hear you giggle, ‘forcing’ him to dance with you and Shoko. It’s just the three of you dancing together until Shoko says she needs to go smoke. With her absence, you throw your arms around Gojos shoulders, laughing and swaying your hips as you try to dance and drink. The feel of your body grind against him, along with hearing your laugh so close to his ear he tenses, trying to hardest to control his body. You can feel the tension of his shoulders, tilting your head at him asking if he’s okay.

“Yeah I’m good” He replies as his hands ghost against your hips.

“We can chill for a second, get another drink, sit out in the back, yeah?” Your mouth was too close to his ear, he almost shoved you.

“Sure” He basically whimpers into your ear, which you don’t realize because you immediately down the rest of the drink your hand. You grab his hand and pull him through the crowd, trying to remember where you originally found the kitchen. Gojo, realizing you didn’t know where you were going, decided to take the lead in getting you two to the kitchen. You grab two more drinks for the both of you and he leads you outside. Once outside, you two sit around the bonfire as Gojo pulls out a joint from his pocket sparking up.

“Sorry they put you on babysitting duty” you say shyly with a small giggle as Gojo passes you the joint. You take a gentle hit, while he looks at you confused.

“What are you talking about?” He asks, taking the joint back from you.

“I mean I’m sure you probably wanted to enjoy the party and not get stuck with just hanging out with me.” You look down at your drink, enjoying the warmth of the fire.

“I don’t stay anywhere I don’t want to be” He nudges you to let you take a hit.

A smile appears on your face, “Well okay.”

The two of you talk casually, getting to know each other more. You learned that Gojo isn’t as arrogant as he portrayed himself to be and that he has a lot of weight on his shoulders from his parents to be successful. You really enjoyed talking to him, he was so easy to talk to. The conversation you two were having was interrupted when your phone started going off, it was Shoko.

“Hey Sho, what’s up?”

“You still with Satoru?”

You look up at him from your phone, “Yeah hes here, why?”

“Soooo I met this girl”

“Shoko, seriously! You know my roommate is having her boyfriend over tonight and you know how loud and obnoxious she is when they’re, ya know.”

“I’m sure Gojo and Suguru are fine with you staying over there tonight.”

“I can’t ask him that!” You quickly turn away from Gojo when you say that.

“Please, it’ll be no big deal. AND you owe me, for that last cock block at the café.”

“That wasn’t even my fault!”

“It doesn’t matter, you owe me.”

“Fine, hold on” You huff turning to Gojo, “So uhm Gojo.”

“Yeah.” He assumed what you were going to ask but seeing you flustered to ask him was too adorable to miss.

“You can definitely say no. Don’t think you have to say yes because you don’t but uhm do you think I could crash at you and Suguru place tonight? I was supposed to stay at Shokos but she’s trying to get laid. But like don’t feel pressured and if you already have plans like that’s cool too…. It’s just my roommate is having her boyfriend over tonight and she doesn’t really care about being quiet, but again don’t feel like you need to cause you don’t need to say yes.”

“It’s cool” he plays it off as if he wasn’t extremely nervous, especially after seeing how cute you were trying to ask. He knew Suguru was going to make his way into someone else’s bed tonight so it would just be the two of you, alone, together, alone.

You smile at him, “Thank you thank you thank you,” Lifting your phone back to your ear you tell Shoko that you’ll be staying over there, and you’ll just get your clothes tomorrow.

“We can go ahead and head back now if you want to” Gojo suggests, you nod at him standing up a little wobbly almost falling but luckily Gojo grabs you.

“yeah, maybe we should go” You giggle, straightening yourself. “Thanks for letting me stay over by the way.” You start as you two are walking back, your arm looped with his, he’s basically holding you up.

“It’s no big deal. We can watch a movie or something when we get back.” He suggests.

“Absolutely! Something horror, yeah?”  You smile at him. He looks down at you, quickly looking away and forward.

“Sure”

“Yay”. You pull him a little closer to you, “Don’t let what Shoko and Geto say about me fool you, I’m not a big baby like they say. Shoko’s the one who gets scared. I love horror movies, me and my dad used to watch them all the time when I was probably way too young to watch horror movies.  Like he had me watching Silence of the Lambs when I was 5 and I know that’s not the proper age to watch anything like that. I should have not known that cheek meat is the tastiest part of the human body, supposedly.”

He pokes your cheek, “you smile a lot so your cheeks are probably really gamy”

You roll your eyes with a huff, “I don’t smile that much”

“You’re right, you're either smiling or pouting. Really do fit the name princess.” He teases.

“I’m changing my IG name, this is bullying” you pout pulling out your phone. Gojo watches you get into your phone, seeing that you really did change your wallpaper to that picture of the four of you. It made his heart squeeze a bit, this crush on you may actually crush him.  He sees you frowning at your phone, hovering over the keyboard.

“Just keep it. You don’t want to change it anyways,”

“Yes I do! I just need to figure out what. I wish Suguru was here, he’s always good at coming up with stuff like this. Hmph. Ill just ask him later.” You pout and Gojo tenses a bit at your side from your mention of Suguru.

“Do you have a crush on Suguru?” the question left his lips before his brain could stop him. You looked up at him and burst out laughing almost taking the two of you down but it brought a sense of relief to him.

“Oh, that laugh sounded mean! I didn’t mean it like that but Suguru is definitely like an annoying older brother. He is a great guy, a wonderful guy, like if I had more friends, I would set them up with him but yeah not for me.” You say awkwardly.

“Hmmn okay.”

You try to stifle your giggle before asking, “Why do you have a crush on Suguru?”

“Oh, a comedian, are you?” He scoffs as he slips his arm out of yours and picks up his pace leaving you behind. “Hope you can find your way back to my place,” he says waving his hand back at you.

You shuffle after him, “I was just kidding. WAIT. I’ve only been there like twice I wouldn’t even know where I was going if I knew where I was going. Please!”

His pace slows down, allowing you to catch up as you slide your arm back through his holding on tightly.

“Rude” You huff, slightly out of breath, it was hard to run in those boots.

“I’m rude? You tried to say I had a crush on my best friend” He counters.

“Yes, BUT that’s like the best trope. Friends to lovers.” You smile up at him and he pokes your cheek.

“See, told ya. You smile a lot” He chuckles as you pout AGAIN.

[oddinary4bts]

The Forgotten Spaces | ch 6 (jjk)

☆summary: you've been dancing on the same dance crew since your teenage years, and you finally have an important role in it. It feels like life is taunting you when your rival comes back after disappearing for a year, ready to tease you every chance he gets. Will the teasing turn into more, or are you going to take him down with you?

☆pairing: photographer and dancer!Jungkook x dancer!female reader

☆rating: 18+ (minors DNI, there is mature content in previous/later chapters)

☆genre: slow (SLOW) burn enemies to lovers, college!au, slice of life!au, angst (oop), smut and fluff

☆warnings: mentions of sex/hot tub scene. hickey. angst (oops), might be a curse somewhere in there?

☆word count: 5.8k

☆series masterpost here

☆a/n: I am very sorry for all the angst that is to follow. Please don't hate me and please enjoy reading still haha! Thank you to @moonleeai for her beta reading on this fic, I won't ever thank you enough, you're the best <3

☆Read What Was Hidden here, the fic that inspired this whole story, written by @daechwitatamic, one of my fav human beings on this app <3 It follows the story of Jo and Taehyung before The Forgotten Spaces

☆☆☆☆☆

For this meeting of our end of the world

It's with you that I want to sing

On the threshold of the memories the dead of today

Them that breathe for us

The forgotten spaces

Je t'écris - Gaston Miron (rough translation by me)

☆☆☆☆☆

Sunday, July 8th

                Waking up next to Jungkook feels weird. You reckon it might be because you haven’t slept a lot, and people are already moving around the cottage. You’ve refused to open your eyes so far, just because you’ve heard Jiho and Hobi whispering about you and Jungkook and you feel too much of a coward to admit you probably fucked things up with him already.

You think Jiho has taken a picture. Knowing her, she definitely has, and you wish you could just disappear for a time. You eventually force yourself to get up though, before Jungkook who is still dead asleep when you move to the kitchen. You suffer through Jiho’s questioning, but she quickly notices that you’re shut off, lost in thought and maybe even dabbling in a little regret too.

From there she shuts down everyone that asks questions, and by the time Jungkook gets up, everyone is just pretending they haven’t noticed that something definitely happened between the two of you.

Jungkook doesn’t really look at you. He eats breakfast chatting with Taehyung and Jin, avoiding you like the plague. You can tell you’ve hurt him, but you don’t know how to fix it. After all, you’ve never really been acquainted with feelings yourself. Especially not after your parents’ divorce.

The day feels heavy. It’s still warm outside, far too much, and a veil of dark clouds is looming over the horizon by the time you have to leave the cottage. Your mood imitates the weather, and you find yourself brooding more than you usually do.

You haven’t been able to talk to Jungkook yet. Mostly because he’s been avoiding you, yes. But also because you don’t know what to tell him.

“Hey, I’m shit at relationships and feelings, yesterday felt too real” sounds like too much of a confession. Even though it is the truth, you’re a coward, through and through.

Jiho’s been trying to get your mind off things. Texting you random stupid things, sending you memes as Hobi drives the four of you home. Heather is riding with Chaeyeon, Lance and Bridget this time around, so there’s a space between you and Jungkook. This time, when he falls asleep, he falls asleep with his head resting against the window, and not on your shoulder.

It starts raining halfway home, and Hobi drives slower, windshield wiper going on full blast. Jiho sends you yet another meme – something absurd you can’t bring yourself to find funny. It earns you a frown from your best friend, and a second later your phone vibrates in your hand.

[1:23 pm] Jiho❣️: u’re supposed to laugh☹️ [1:23 pm] You: i want to talk to Jungkook but idk what to tell him🫠 [1:25 pm] Jiho❣️: what really happened yesterday? i wanna help but it’s hard if idk [1:26 pm] You: we made out in the hot tub then fucked when we were supposed to sleep🤡 [1:26 pm] Jiho❣️: bruh i wish i had a make-out session in the hot tub [1:27 pm] You: 🙄🙄 [1:27 pm] Jiho❣️: sorry [1:27 pm] Jiho❣️: pretty sure more than just fucking happened considering both of you are upset [1:30 pm] You: i told him we shouldn’t have fucked after and he got upset [1:31 pm] Jiho❣️: bitch he’s into u ofc he’ll be upset [1:31 pm] You: u’re not helping [1:32 pm] Jiho❣️: are u into him?

You don’t know the answer. You ask yourself that question for the rest of the day, and you reckon you really don’t know. A lot changed between you and Jungkook over the weekend, but it’s hard to ignore the fact you have never really liked him. Because he was a dick and a bully to you for years.

It’s not something you think you can just forget because you’ve had sex with him once. And you don’t even know if you’d be interested in a relationship with him anyway. You’ve never been in a relationship before at all, and the thought of it terrifies you.

The thought of Jungkook being upset with you terrifies you in equal measures, but you refuse to admit it to yourself. Maybe because you’re trying to protect yourself. It’s hard to tell. You feel like you won’t be able to go through your feelings by yourself – they’re overwhelming, all of them.

Thinking about Jungkook is overwhelming. Thinking about dancing under the stars, about his scar, about the way he held onto you after he finished. Everything is overwhelming, and it makes you anxious. Jumpy, even, as you’re sitting in your room in your mother’s empty house later at night.

You’re halfway through a Studio Ghibli movie that was supposed to help you relax when you decide to text your therapist to schedule an appointment this week. It feels like the right thing to do – you know Mary has always been able to help you sort through your thoughts, even though you haven’t seen her in months.

You don’t expect her to reply tonight considering it’s late in the evening, but you linger on your messaging app. You can’t resist but scroll down a little, down to where Jungkook’s name lies on the screen. You click on the conversation, rereading the last messages he sent you from when he was drunk a little over a week ago. It makes your heart squeeze in your chest a little, and you scroll all the way up to the first time he texted you in April. You haven’t talked much at all, so it’s not like there’s a lot, but you can’t help yourself. You reread everything, entirely ignoring the movie playing on your laptop.

When you’re done reading, you find yourself typing a text even though you don’t know what to say. It seems your fingers know, because a moment later you find yourself staring at a fully formed sentence. It looks as if it’s taunting you, and you reread it so many times the words start to lose their meaning.

[9:47 pm] You: hey, i really enjoyed the weekend with u and i’m genuinely really sorry about yesterday…

It takes you all the courage your body can conjure up to press send. You immediately turn off your phone to focus on your laptop and on the movie, though it doesn’t really work at all. The anxiety the message has brought up in you makes the story of Totoro way too hard to follow, and you’re merely watching the scenes, barely even blinking.

When the movie ends, you get ready for bed. You haven’t dared check your phone yet, but a little bit of anticipation has been steadily building inside of you. Because you hope he’ll answer. You hope you won’t have to explain why you are the way that you are for things to go back to normal with him. Maybe because offering him your vulnerability feels like too much of a commitment for someone that doesn’t do commitments at all.

You know you’ll hate yourself at your internship the next day, but you can’t really sleep after you’ve settled under the comforter in your bed. It’s way past midnight when you finally gather the courage to look at your phone, teeth worrying at your bottom lip.

Your empty notification screen stares back at you, as if to say ‘you really thought that would change anything?’

You sigh, putting your phone away on your night table before turning on your side, grabbing a pillow to hold. It’s still raining outside, and your brain focuses on the splattering of rain on the panes of the window. You think maybe Jungkook went to bed early, considering you didn’t get a lot of sleep in the last two days. Maybe he’s asleep and will reply tomorrow…

You cling onto that hope as the sound of the rain finally lulls you to a troubled sleep.

Tuesday, July 10th

                Jungkook has been in a shit mood. He knows why, and it’s strange to think that it’s not his leg for once. What makes it worse is that everyone around him knows too, thanks to the hickey on his neck.

And it’s only worse when you don’t show up to dance practice. Jiho mentions something about you being stuck at your internship, but Jungkook doesn’t ask. He feels like maybe he could text you to make sure you’re okay. His heart wants him to do it, but his mind is stronger.

And his mind has been winning the war against his heart so far. He won’t cave in now. But he’s still in a shit mood when he gets home after practice. It feels even worse when he sees Taehyung and Jo cuddled up on the couch, and Jimin sprawled up on the floor.

Jimin’s texting away on his phone, and Taehyung meets Jungkook’s gaze where he stopped by the door.

“Practice is already done?” Taehyung asks.

It brings Jimin and Jo’s attention to Jungkook. He just stands there for a time, not knowing what to say.

Not wanting to admit he wrapped dance practice earlier because he was pissed that you weren’t there.

“Yeah,” Jungkook lets out flatly. He finally starts moving again, aiming straight to the kitchen.

He misses the way Jo and Taehyung exchange a concerned look when he passes in front of them, or maybe he just ignores it. He’s been ignoring Jo since the weekend, because it feels like too much pressure to admit that her plan worked and failed in the same night.

Yes, he got to sleep with you, but he’d take it back if he could. Just so it wouldn’t lead to where you’re standing now. Because he’s never replied to your text on Sunday night. Maybe because it was too early, and seeing it just pissed him off more.

Or maybe he’s just trying to preserve himself because he’s realized being with you might be a lot more complicated than previously thought.

He’s pouring cereal in a bowl when he receives a text. He fears that he’s conjured you up for a few seconds, but then he reads the name at the head of the notification. Laura. He furrows his brows, reading her text a few times over to make sure he’s read well. On his fifth reading he reckons the words won’t change even if he keeps glaring at them.

And Laura doesn’t deserve him being upset with her too. Actually, he realizes she might be just what he needs – a distraction, perhaps. Because all he wants is to forget how it felt to be with you last Saturday. And it’s not even about the sex. No, the part that’s been sticking with him is the moment between the hot tub and the sex. When he laid his heart on the table for you.

Had he known you were going to step on it a little under an hour later, Jungkook knows he would have never asked you to dance. It was a stupid request, one that made everything too real.

He can’t really blame you for getting scared. Because he knows that’s what it is. You got scared when he told you you should have slept together before, and he’s been embarrassed since then. Because he said the words in the heat of the action, and even though he meant them – means them – he’d rather not have told you.

Because now when he thinks of you he’s embarrassed, upset, and of course he’s pissed. He’s been in a shit mood after all.

He sighs, pushing his hair back before moving to the fridge to grab the milk. He pours some in the bowl, before grabbing a spoon in the drawer and making his way to the table, where he sits to eat the cereals. He’s halfway through his bowl when he finally decides to open his phone and reply to Laura.

[9:01 pm] Laura: Hey, I gotta admit… I’d like to see you sometime this week? If you’re up for it ofc [9:08 pm] Jungkook: yes ofc! i’m free tmrw evening if u want😌

He doesn’t even know if he actually wants to see her. It makes him think of when he helped her with her camera last week. Laura is sweet. Cute and shy. She’s his type, he can’t deny it. But she’s nice, and he doesn’t think she deserves him using her as a distraction.

He reckons he’s a mess. You’ve been messing with his head far too much, and he doesn’t like that you have that power over him. He doesn’t want anyone to have that power over him.

Yet it’s relieving that for once his mind isn’t clouded with dark thoughts related to the accident. Because he can’t really think about the accident when you’re there whenever he closes his eyes. When he can almost feel your warmth lingering under his fingers, along his body. When he thinks he can still smell your shampoo, and feel your soft skin.

The way that he feels disgusts him. It makes him scoff, and he’s frowning as he finishes eating his cereals. The frown only relaxes when Laura texts him again.

[9:12 pm] Laura: I’m available too! There’s a restaurant I’ve been wanting to try? Is that something you’d like to do?

The way that she texts sounds formal. It makes him laugh, and he finds himself replying,

[9:13 pm] Jungkook: wait, so then it’s a date date uh? [9:16 pm] Laura: Maybe?☺️ [9:17 pm] Jungkook: is 7 o’clock good for u?

He doesn’t really know what he’s doing. He doesn’t usually do real dates, preferring hanging out at the girl’s place or inviting her over for one of the many parties they usually host. But he needs the distraction, right?

And when he’s texting Laura, he realizes he’s not thinking about you as much. It’s relieving after the last few days, and really, maybe he should just give her a chance.

Wednesday, July 11th

                Your therapist works in a building that’s surprisingly not too far from your internship. You were able to schedule an appointment for tonight, which is a relief.

You’ve been thinking about this weekend so much you haven’t been able to focus at the internship. So much so that you were stuck at the office later yesterday. You didn’t mind having to skip the dance practice though – you were glad you didn’t have to see Jungkook.

But now, it’s time for you to sort out your thoughts about the whole situation. As much as pretending that everything is fine can be fun, you also hate the way your mind wanders every night. Especially considering Jungkook never replied to your text last Sunday.

You feel like he’s slipping through your fingers. And maybe he is, and maybe all of this will be for nothing.

Well, not necessarily nothing, since it’s always good to get a grip of yourself.

You sigh, and you walk into the building right before a rain shower starts. You’re relieved you were able to avoid getting wet, and you walk to the front desk to give your name to the lady. She puts you in the computer and then tells you to sit in the waiting room. You thank her, and you’ve barely had time to sit when Mary comes to get you.

Mary’s office hasn’t changed one bit since the last time you sought her help in February. You sit on the same couch, and she offers you a glass of water as she greets you. And then she asks what brings you there.

At that you still. You freeze, like a deer in headlights, because for a moment you’re terrified of having to say the words aloud. Terrified to admit you felt something last Saturday, and you think you’ve already screwed it all up. She listens to you intently, and you watch her scribble on her pad as you do so. You’re tempted to read what she’s written; you’ve always wondered what it is that therapists write on that notebook of theirs.

Is she piecing out your soul the way that you feel like she is?

You tell her everything. You tell her about how Jungkook came back into your life, differently this time. You tell her about the dance practices, and about your internship too. You tell her about last weekend, and you reveal every little dirty thought your brain dared to think. Mary doesn’t judge, and when you’re done, the only thing she says is, “You’re really good at psycho-analyzing yourself”.

You reckon she’s right. Because you know exactly why you acted the way that you did – with the example your parents gave you of love growing up, it’s hard to actually love. It’s even harder to deconstruct it, to deconstruct the fear until you can build yourself back into someone that can love.

It’s not that you think you can’t. You love Jiho, Jisung and their family plenty. But it’s different when it’s love with a big L. It’s always been, and you’ve never once really wanted to change it.

But now you do. You’ve been using your fears to protect yourself from others for far too long.

Mary makes a plan with you. Nothing too big, but she does suggest scheduling another appointment next week. Because you knowing what you need to do is half of the work, yes, but you still need to put it into practice. You agree with her, and you leave her office feeling lighter than you’ve felt in days.

The plan is for you to ask Jungkook if you can talk. You have the option to wait until tomorrow at dance practice, or to text him tonight, just so he knows in advance that you want to talk to him. Mary favoured the latter, saying that it’d give him time to prepare if he has things to tell you too.

You have no idea if he does, but the moment on Saturday felt heavy. You doubt there’s been nothing on his mind since then… because you were there. You know how it felt like, under the stars and after that. And the whole weekend, if you’re honest to yourself. You doubt he was immune to it.

You decide to wait a little before you text him. Just to make sure you really are going to do this. Because it feels like you’re standing at the top of a cliff, and you’ve never been a cliff diver. No, you’re far too afraid of heights. But the fact that you haven’t been able to get Jungkook off your mind tells you enough: you’d jump off the highest cliff for him.

Because if you don’t risk it, what is there to win?

So it’s later that night, when you’re rewatching your favourite anime, that you find yourself pausing the show. You go to your messaging app, and heart beating out of your chest you type a message. Something simple, something straight to the point. Because the fact he ignored your last message says enough: Jungkook won’t cave in for apologies, especially not over text.

You settle on,

[9:31 pm] You: hey jk! can we talk tmrw after practice?😌

You press send before you can convince yourself that this is not a good idea, and anxiety blooms in every inch of you. It’s a foreign feeling: you’ve never been so anxious when it came to someone else before in your life.

Watching your favourite anime after that has never been so hard.

Thursday, July 12th

                You don’t want to go to practice. Everything feels like it’s going too fast and too slow at the same time: waiting for Jungkook to reply is excruciatingly long, and having to head to the dance studio is coming far too quickly.

Jungkook hasn’t replied. You texted Mary about it – she said to see in person if Jungkook wants to talk, but to also respect it if he doesn’t. It makes you far less hopeful than you were when you got out of her office yesterday, but you know she is right.

If this is his way of setting a boundary, you will have to respect. No matter how much it upsets you.

So it’s in an anxious state of mind that you make your way to the studio. You run into Jiho on the way, and you’re worrying at your bottom lip when she asks, “What’s wrong?”

Your steps falter a little, and you throw her a side glance. “Uh?”

“What’s wrong with you?” she asks.

She knows that you used to see a therapist. But telling her that you saw Mary again about Jungkook feels like too big of a confession. It gives him too much power, and you’re not sure you’re ready for that. But you can tell some parts of the truth, can you?

“I’m going to try and talk to Jungkook tonight.”

Jiho remains suspiciously silent for a time. “Are you sure you want to talk to him?”

“I guess,” you say, shrugging your shoulders. “I just feel bad about this weekend.” Jiho offers you a sad smile, as your eyes fall to the concrete in front of you. “It’s just like, I don’t know, I liked where last weekend was going and I don’t want it to go back to the way things were before.” You pause, already feeling a little lighter now that you’ve started talking to your best friend. “Like I know I got scared and all, but he’s actually pretty decent?”

Now, Jiho’s smile has turned knowing, and she nudges you with her elbow. “I think I saw that coming from miles away but I didn’t want you to kill me.”

“Uh?” you let out, feeling a little confused.

“Everyone always thought you two were into each other,” she admits, and she laughs loudly when you push her. “Exactly why I didn’t want to tell you,” she says when her laughter subsides as you offer her a fake glare, lips jutting out in a small pout.

“I mean, I don’t even know if that’s where things are going,” you say. Your fear returns, and you’re back to nibbling on your lower lip. “Like, maybe I just fucked up too bad?”

“Did you talk since then?” Jiho asks.

You refuse to look at her when you reply. “No. He ignored my texts.”

From the corner of your eyes you see Jiho wince. Because she knows just as well as you what it probably means, and you don’t want to hear her say it.

“What did you tell him?”

You shrug your shoulders, trying to act as indifferent as possible. “Sunday I said that I was sorry, and I asked him if we could talk after dance practice yesterday.”

“And he said nothing?”

It’s rhetorical, so you remain silent. You’re reaching the bridge, and you know the conversation will soon come to an obligated end anyway.

“Babe…”  Jiho lets out carefully. “Maybe you shouldn’t talk to him.”

It makes you scoff. “I’ll be chill, don’t worry.”

“I’m not saying you won’t be,” Jiho says. She grabs your arm to make you stop. “Maybe he just doesn’t want to talk.”

You free your arm from her grip, though she was already letting you go. “I’ll ask. We’ll see. I just want to clear the air.”

Jiho holds your defiant gaze for a while, before nodding once. “Alright. Sounds good. You let me know what he says.” She pauses for a few seconds, before adding, “And we’re still on for Thirsty Thursdays after that.”

Of course you are, and of course you’ll tell her. She’s your best friend after all, and you don’t remember a time when you really hid anything from her.

It doesn’t stop your heart from aching in your chest as you near the studio.

*****

                Dance practice feels weird. You can’t help your eyes from diverting to Jungkook where he’s standing, next to the mirrors. He’s good at pretending he doesn’t feel your gaze on him, yet more than once you catch him already looking.

He looks good. He’s in paler clothes than his usual today – light blue jeans with an oversized white t-shirt – and his hair is ruffled by the way he keeps running his hands through it. He looks like he doesn’t care, almost. Because you can tell he’s anxious about something whenever you catch him pulling at his piercing, eyebrows slightly furrowed over his eyes.

You don’t know when you started being able to read him so well, but you surely can now.

He calls dance practice off earlier than his usual, and he still hasn’t really looked at you. You’re pretty sure everyone has noticed by now, especially considering the fact Jiho hasn’t really been subtle about it. She’s glaring at Jungkook most of the time, and he just shrugs his shoulders to her.

It’s weird. Something is off, but if you’re going to do this, you’ll do it, right?

It’s in that anxious state of mind that you approach him as everyone filters out. His hands are buried in his pockets and he’s leaning against the mirror. It’s like he’s waiting for you, and you figure maybe he did read your message after all.

The first few seconds of standing in front of him are far more awkward than anything you’ve ever experienced in your entire life. You don’t know what to say, don’t know where to start, and Jungkook’s head is hanging too low for you to be able to catch his gaze without invading his personal space. So you stay rooted in your spot, and you wait for him to look at you. It takes a while, but he eventually looks up.

You’re taken aback by the bitter annoyance his features hold. “What?”

You’ve written in your notes app what you wanted to say. You’ve even practiced it, but now you don’t remember a single word.

His eyes are sad. It’s the only thing that feels different on his features. The rest is all annoyed: his eyebrows are furrowed, the corners of his lips are pointing downwards. His shoulders are low, defeated, and he seems to realize it because he straightens and folds his arms on his chest.

“Uh,” you choke out against the anxiety that’s building up inside of you. “I just…”

“If you want to apologize again, I received your message last Sunday.”

You brush a strand of your hair behind your ear, before folding your arms on your chest too. “Why did you ignore me?”

He shrugs, shaking his head a little as he looks away. “I have nothing to tell you.”

“Jungkook, can you please not? We’re adults.”

“Yeah, and I’m choosing to not be talking with you. I’m sure you can respect that?”

You can. You definitely can. But at the same time you can’t. Not when he says it like that, like it’s some sort of an insult.

“Why are you overreacting like that?”

“Because I’m fucking embarrassed about last weekend!” he bursts. “I wish it never happened.”

It hurts. It stings and burns, and you hold your arms tighter against you. “You’re embarrassed? Is that why you said you wished we did it earlier?”

His gaze turns vicious, like he’s a viper waiting to strike. “See, that’s exactly why I do not want to talk to you. I don’t think we can be friends either. We’ve never been friends, like you oh so kindly reminded me, and that won’t change.”

You close your eyes, taking a deep breath to relax, because this is not where you want this conversation to be going. “Listen,” you say after a few seconds of silence, “I really don’t want to be fighting with you. I just want to clear the air.”

“The air is cleared,” he says as you open your eyes to meet his fiery gaze again. “I don’t understand what you’re trying to do.”

You’re struck then. You feel like you either have the choice to confess or to stick to your anger. And you try to confess, you really do. It’s not like with Jiho – Jungkook was part of the moment Saturday, he was there with you under the stars. So it shouldn’t be too hard to tell him, to say you got scared.

You open your mouth to say the words, and shut it immediately as he scoffs.

“See, I don’t even think we should be speaking at all,” he says. There’s a fraction of a second when you’re convinced you can read pain in his gaze before he continues, “I’m actually seeing Laura, and I don’t want to fuck that up.”

Every word you’ve ever known vanishes from your mind. You just stand there for a moment, mouth hanging open, ears ringing as you look at him. You feel like you’re falling, or maybe you’re getting crushed. It’s hard to tell. It’s equally as hard to breathe, and your lungs burn as oxygen fills them.

“What?”

“I went on a date with Laura and I actually like the girl, I don’t want to fuck things up by talking to you,” he says, slowly, as if he needs to hammer every word into your head.

Laura? The girl from his class?

“Isn’t that the girl you told me you don’t care about?”

Your voice is somehow flat. Empty of the emotions it held just a few seconds ago.

“I went on a date with her and I like her,” he repeats as if you’re stupid and didn’t understand the first time around. As if your heart is not breaking in your chest, infinitely so.

You didn’t know how big your heart is until this moment, when every beat just breaks a little more, and all you can think to do is hold yourself tighter. As if it’ll stop the breaking.

“When?”

“Why do you want to know?” he asks, and his eyes fall shut as he pinches the bridge of his nose. You really do feel stupid then, stupid and foolish and everything in between. Like you’re a five-years-old that keeps messing her right from her left.

“I… how the fuck did you go on a date with her already, it’s been four days?”

“A lot can change in four days, Y/n,” he drawls.

You think your nails might be digging in your palms from how hard you’re clenching your fists. “Wow.”

The studio falls silent. It’s heavy, and maybe the silence is what’s been crushing you. Because you were expecting it – the moment you and Jungkook wouldn’t have anything else to tell each other. Because for everything you were willing to confess, now there’s just an empty spot inside of you.

You hold his gaze. He doesn’t look all that infuriated anymore. Defeated, yes, and maybe a little deflated. He looks like he didn’t expect the conversation to go there.

But you were right. Turns out you were right and you are too late. You can’t help but hate him for it.

“You don’t waste your time, do you?” you ask, and you scoff bitterly. “You fuck one girl and then another in just a few days. Suits you well.”

He rolls his eyes. “As I said, I wish we didn’t sleep together. If I could take last weekend back I would.” He shrugs then, shaking his head a little. “I’m sure you understand.”

You purse your lips, trying to keep them from trembling as you feel a lump form in your throat. “I can’t believe you’re already fucking some other girl.”

“Okay, Y/n, as if that’s going to change anything.”

You nod, and you find yourself fleeing his gaze. Because you don’t want him to see how you’re breaking inside. How every piece of you turns inside out, until you’re bleeding out standing there in front of him.

“Just…”

You think about the stars. You think about the way he led you in that dance, the way his eyes shone as he looked at you.

Jungkook is cataclysmic. He really is. And cataclysms are rarely good, are they? They can create, yes, the way the universe was once created, but they destroy. They destroy and destroy until nothing remains, until you just feel like you’re drowning and burning all at once.

“Save your breath,” he says. You think his gaze is shining again, and you don’t think it’s shining for the same reason that it was under the stars. “And I mean that in the most respectful way.”

“Right. As if that would ever sound respectful.”

He rolls his eyes again. “Yeah, whatever. I’m done here.”

It occurs to you that you’re about to watch someone you care about walk out of your life again. You want to reach out and hold him, to tell him how you feel, to say how everything has started to hurt, but you can’t. You can just look at him, hold his gaze until he makes the decision to go.

He’s gone before you’ve truly assimilated just how bad everything went. Just how far south things went, and how fiercely everything burns. And you stand there for a long time, holding yourself, waiting for the heartbreak to stop. But the thing with heartbreak is that it never fully stops, does it? You just learn to deal with it better.

It’s weird. You never thought you could be cold and burning at the same time. But if this is hell, then hell has frozen over because you’re shivering, just holding yourself.

You feel like you’re sixteen again, like you watched your dad walk out of your life again. Maybe because Jungkook really was the cataclysm to you, and now you’re stuck with the aftermath.

But you don’t cry. No, you hold the tears in. Force them to dry without having rolled on your cheeks, convince them that you don’t care. It’s something you’re good at. Pretending. Because maybe you’ve been pretending you hate Jungkook for a lot longer than you thought. Maybe that’s the reason why it hurts so bad.

But you won’t cry, no. You won’t cry for Jeon Jungkook.

You get home later that night, after having walked through a daze for the whole evening. You’re drunk, and you’re still aching from the inside out. Your phone is in your hand, and you’ve been on Jungkook’s conversation for so long without blinking that your eyes have fully gone dry.

You watch the text you’ve just sent, the only proof that you ever cared about Jungkook.

[2:31 am] You: i reall y wish things ddn’t go so bad

It takes you three days to realize it never delivered.

Friday, July 20th

                It takes Jungkook a little under two weeks to officialise things with Laura. It’s moving quickly, he’s aware of it, but he’s been trying to ignore the way he saw your heart break in your eyes. It seems the best way to do it is to watch feelings swell in someone else’s gaze, and so he asks Laura to be his girlfriend after their third date.

She says yes, beaming like she’s the sun personified.

Still, when Jungkook closes his eyes at night, all he sees is your heart breaking in your eyes.

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☆☆☆☆☆

yeahhhhhhhhhhhhh.. my bad. I really went far with this angst uh? What do we think? What's going to happen next?

All rights reserved to @/oddinary4bts 2023. Do not copy, repost or translate.

Taglist (strike-through means dumblr is not letting me tag you):

@chimchimmarierie | @pamzn | @sugaluvmyg | @tearyjjeonon | @jkclouds | @libra04 | @parkinglot-nights | @ggukieasy | @omnomnomtron | @jichimx | @synnfulqt | @leedoesntknaur | @pornichett | @melodiesforari | @oopscoop | @nadzzzblog | @amylouisecullen | @sunwooful | @parkethereal | @jeonhvvrs | @daisies-and-dandelionpuffs

[charcadett]

Indirect Kiss Headcanons (Gender neutral reader)

Characters: Rika, Larry, Hassel, and a certain endgame spoiler character I’ll put under cut

If there’s one thing I love more than casual intimacy, it’s the most agonizing mutual pining you can imagine. I also enjoy hyperbole. This was supposed to be a simple headcanons post until I get a better grasp on the characters, but I got kind of carried away, oops-

Side note: Don’t put too much thought into the AI Turo one, because I sure didn’t put in a lot of thought into whatever AU that happened with his scenario. I just think robot man is cool and I’d like to hold his hand.

Rika

- Rika isn’t one to get flustered by an indirect kiss, though she would absolutely take the opportunity to tease you. It’s her love language.

- The two of you enjoy spending your breaks together. Even if you aren’t talking, wandering side by side through the streets of Mesagoza as you enjoy a comfortable silence, is a wonderful way to relax and stretch your legs. With the sprawling city in front of you, with its beautiful architecture and blue skies, it’s easier to keep yourself focused on your surroundings, and not your unfairly attractive coworker. If only by a small margin.

- After finishing your lunch, Rika insisted on buying dessert. Twirling two lollipops between her fingers, she smiled as she let you take your pick. One was strawberry-flavored, while the other was green apple. You plucked your favorite before Rika had a chance to snatch it herself.

- “Seriously? That one’s my favorite.” Her tone was light and her smile was lopsided. You tried not to think about how much it made your heart race.

- She popped hers in her mouth in tandem with you, humming contentedly as you enjoyed the rest of your break. Checking your watch, your heart sinks just a little. Five more minutes and your time with Rika is over. Sure, you'd only be a few feet from each other, and there was always tomorrow, but that’s beside the point. Sometimes, you wished you could tease her as much as she teased you.

- “Can I try yours?” You asked, mouth moving faster than your brain. Rika’s eyebrows shot up for only a second – you can’t help but feel a swell of pride, your confidence boosting more than you’d like to admit – before her lips twitched into her usual grin.

- “Sure, as long as I can try yours.”

- You traded, and you purposefully brushed your hand against hers as her finger slid across the back of your hand. Trying to keep your breath steady, you stared into her eyes as you sucked on the candy. It was embarrassing how much your hands shook as she met your gaze.

- “Taste good?”

- “I think this one’s better than mine.”

- Rika blushed at that. You win.

Larry

- Like Rika, Larry isn’t someone who’d get flustered over an indirect kiss. Unlike Rika, he just wouldn’t notice in the first place.

- Starting a new job had always been a bit nerve-wracking. It was new people, a new building, a new region, everything was brand new and scary. Except for the work. The work was always the same, and that was the one and only thing you appreciated about it.

- You still hadn’t gotten to know your coworkers, through no fault of theirs. Everyone had been incredibly welcoming to you. It was your own awkwardness that had been your downfall. Each time someone approached, you could feel your palms sweat and your breath catch in your throat. Sentences tangled together in your mouth until all you could respond with was one or two words.

- It definitely was not the best recipe for a successful social life.

- One fateful day, you’d forgotten your lunch at home and had resigned yourself to spending the rest of the day hungry. That was, until, your coworker overheard a particularly loud (and embarrassing) growl from your stomach and offered to buy you lunch.

- You recalled seeing him around, though, for the life of you, you couldn’t remember his name. He wasn’t remarkable, and he certainly didn’t stand out among his coworkers, with his simple suit and plain expression. Even his voice was flat. But you weren’t one to judge, and you were rather hungry, so you agreed.

- It was a quiet lunch. He didn’t talk much, which you were thankful for because that meant you didn’t have to stumble your way through a conversation for an hour. The food was good. Very good even. You managed to get an almost unnoticeable smile after you told him. When you got back to work, you parted ways with a simple nod.

- That night was spent sleepless, of course, as all nights following a social interaction were spent. Were you weird? Did he notice when you accidentally dribbled food onto the front of your shirt? These were totally normal things to worry about. It wasn’t until the next day when he offered to buy you lunch again did you stop agonizing over any made-up faux pas you could have committed.

- That was where you found yourself now. One month later, sitting next to him at the Treasure Eatery in Medali, desperately trying to figure out what his name was. He’d invited you to lunch every day, and paid for it every time without fail. Even when you offered. You couldn’t ask for his name at this point. It'd been too long.

- Even after a month of eating together, the conversation between the two of you never got more lively. Sometimes he would recommend a particular dish and light up a bit (or as much as he could) when you took his suggestion. Otherwise, it was silent. And comfortable. Probably the most comfortable you’ve ever found yourself with someone. When you did manage to talk, he listened, and when you wanted to be silent, he never pushed. It was nice.

- “What, uh, what kind of drink is that?” You fidgeted with the napkin in your lap. “It looks good.”

- “It’s raspberry tea.” He slid the glass over to you. “Do you want to try?”

- You nodded and tried not to sweat as he watched you, waiting for your reaction. The fruity tang of raspberry mixed well with the bitterness of the tea, and you found yourself grinning.

- “Woah, it’s good!”

- “You should get it next time.”

- The lady behind the counter laughed loudly as she grinned at you. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Larry share his food with anyone. You must be a very special friend, huh?”

- You clapped your hands together in a silent cheer. “Oh! Larry! That’s your name!”

- Too caught up in your humiliation, you didn’t catch any more of the Treasure Eatery’s chef’s teasing remarks, nor Larry’s blush. Despite this, you found yourself more embarrassed upon realizing that you shared an indirect kiss with Larry rather than how far you managed to shove your foot in your mouth. That embarrassment was stored away for tomorrow night.

Hassel

- Hassel not only wears his heart on his sleeve but strikes me as a hopeless romantic. Of course, he’d get flustered over an indirect kiss.

- Working at Uva Academy was a gift you never wanted to give up. It wasn’t a job as respectable as a teacher or nurse, janitorial work was as gross as it was unforgiving. While at a few of your previous workplaces, you found your coworkers had a tendency to look down on you, things were very different at Uva Academy. Both teachers and students talked to you on level ground – even the director, Clavell, spoke to you personally a few times – and not just to ask you to clean up whatever horror show happened in the bathroom. It was a nice change

- Out of everyone, you found yourself drawn to Hassel the most. At first, you found him intimidating. Not only was he tall, with a deep voice that seemed to fill the room, but his eyes were a deep, piercing yellow. You hadn’t expected him to be an art teacher, nor did you expect how passionate he was, not just about art, but teaching in general.

- The way he choked back tears when a student showed him some of their artwork. How each piece, no matter the skill, was displayed equally and with lavish praise. You found yourself sitting in a few of his classes in between spills, to which he welcomed you readily, and you found yourself enraptured. Art had never been your forte, but maybe it would have been if you had a teacher like Hassel.

- Over time, you started to feel ridiculous for finding him intimidating in the first place. The man wore a mini-cape and his teaching assistant was the esteemed “Professor Gible.” How you could ever have been nervous around him in the first place was entirely lost on you.

- As time went on, you spoke to him more and more. You visited him between classes to see anything new the students had made, and he sought you out while you cleaned after hours to wax philosophical. Not that you minded. You enjoyed the company. Hassel was someone you admired. Not just for his passion, but his mind. He was someone who could talk for hours, and you’d find yourself listening intently every second.

- With the winter, came dry skin. You knew it was bad and didn't help at all, but you found yourself licking your lips every few seconds. Only for them to get more chapped. Great. The bell rang, and your smile widened as students poured into the hall. You knew exactly who would have chapstick and wouldn’t mind sharing.

- “Hey, Hassel!” You poked your head into his classroom with a wave. Hassel glanced up from his desk to hit you with a grin so bright, you almost had to squint.

- “Ah, [Name]! I was just about to find you.”

- Leaving your mop and bucket at the door, you jogged into his classroom. Hassel opened his mouth, likely to begin one of his rather endearing monologues, and you cut him off. You didn’t like to, but you’d be here for hours once he got started. “Before you tell me, do you have any chapstick I can borrow? I forgot mine at home.”

- Hassel froze, which you found odd. “Are you sure? You wouldn’t find it uncomfortable?”

- “Of course not. I mean, we’re friends, right,” You trailed off, and leaned against a nearby table to keep your feet from shuffling. “Does it bother you? I don’t want to overstep.”

- “No, no anything to help a friend.” You relaxed at his confirmation of your friendship. It was out of character to get insecure over something so small, what was wrong with you? Gratefully, you took the chapstick from him and relished in cool relief. Damn, winter and its tendency to dry you out like jerky.

- Hassel’s gaze jumped from your lips then to the ceiling, and then to the wall. He cleared his throat, adams's apple bobbing. “You should see this wonderful portrait one of the students did of Professor Gible while he was Terastillized today….”

- It took three months to discover the students had betting pool on how long it would take the two of you to date. Only two more days to discover the contributions of the other faculty members. Only Clavell wins.

AI Turo

- As much as the professor’s memories are a part of AI Turo, I feel like the more sentimental and emotional aspects were an afterthought. Would AI Turo know what an indirect kiss is? Probably. Would he be able to connect that that’s the cause of feeling flustered? Probably not.

- Professor Turo came out of the Great Crater, half Terastillized and oddly enough, glitching. Or at least that was what you knew. You suspected the real secret to his return would only be known to the quartet of kids that followed him out, Director Clavell, and himself. Even your knowledge was a bit greater than everyone else’s, no one else seemed to know about the Terastillized or glitchy part on the news. Being a night owl seemed to have perks in the most unexpected of places.

- You eventually found out one of the kids was his son, Arven, who seemed to make it his sole purpose to avoid Turo no matter the cost. Not that it was hard. Professor Turo kept mostly to himself despite the fascination and curiosity that surrounded him. When he wasn’t in the dorm he was provided, he was in Clavell’s office, and when he wasn’t there, you could find him looking miserably down at an aged violet book in his lap.

- Eventually, because one can’t mope forever, the Professor began doing guest lectures at the Academy. Though you suspected it was at Clavell’s request, as the days went on, he seemed to enjoy it. His steps were lighter, his expression easier, and he didn’t stare at that book as miserably as he used to. Although, there was a good bit of misery still there.

- You really thought you were being discreet while you watched him. He only caught you a few times, and being the assistant Battle Studies teacher with Dendra, you thought yourself pretty fast around corners. It wasn’t weird, you were only curious! Anyone would be. It wasn’t until Professor Turo showed up as a guest to one of the advanced classes that you were confronted by just how conspicuous you were.

- “You are the person who has been watching me.” He was blunt, and you wished your body’s instinctual reaction to being caught wasn’t to blush so red, it was almost like you glowed.

- “That wasn’t me,” You denied too fast, with your voice far too high to be believed.

- Before Turo could respond, Dendra started class with an exuberant ‘Osu!’ and his attention was pulled elsewhere. There was something strange about him, which you would usually chalk up to him being a professor or his time in the Great Crater. The science types always had a tendency to lean toward eccentricity. Turo, however, went a step beyond that. There was an almost robotic quality to the way he moved and talked. As soon as class began, he hyper-focused on the task at hand. He performed calculations of a move's power within seconds, which again, could simply be a ‘professor thing’ but all things considering you doubted it.

- After class, while Dendra was preoccupied answering some last-minute questions, Turo made his way over to you. Oh. That was why you found him so strange. He didn’t blink.

- “Now we can return to our previous conversation. I recognize you.”

- “I have no idea what you’re t-” You were cut off by a young student running in a full sprint from the schoolyard into the halls. Without thinking you grabbed the whistle around Turo’s neck, unintentionally yanking him closer to you, and blew out a loud warning trill. “No running in the hall! I saw that!”

- When you pulled away, he seemed a bit dazed. His eyes unfocused, blue light shining behind them. “That felt strange. What was that?”

- You steamrolled past his question into your own. “No clue. Are you a robot? You’re totally a robot.”

[emilyssky]

Chapter 7: In For It

PAIRING: Lee Know! X fem!reader

GENRE(S): college au, smut, angst

WARNINGS: Mentions of violence and abuse, depression, self harm, eating disorders etc.. mentions of blood, swearing, smoking, smut [ dirty talk, oral; giving and receiving, choking, spanking, praising, degradation, pet names, sometimes Minho is a dick :)

SUMMARY: "Do you remember what you told me the first time we met?"  

"What?"

"You said; Always leave people a little better than you found them" he looked at the floor with a small smile for a few seconds and then his eyes found mine. "You really annoyed me when we first met. I envied your optimism and excitement for life. But each time I saw you, I felt a certain thrill. You made me angry, you made me laugh., you made me feel everything. Something about you made me feel a little more alive each time. I know I fucked up and I know I'm an asshole but I'm also brutally in love with you."    

Things are starting to get out of control and the game has turned into something completely different. Changbin was gone by the time I came back from the bathroom cause apparently Lia was not feeling well, so he drove her home. Emma and Seungmin have given up on the game and are making out on the couch, completely ignoring us and the rest of us are utterly drunk at this point.  We continue to play nevertheless but the rules are probably none existent right now. Questions and dares are being asked around and everything is starting to become messy.

"Okay, no. That's not happening." Chan answers before I have the chance to.

"Chan-"

"Nope. You're drunk and you're not taking your shirt off." He throws Jisung a dirty look, who simply lifts his shoulders in defense.

"She dared me to go to the balcony and twerk for a whole minute in my underwear. It's only fair." Jeongin pouts.

I giggle at his expression. "I don't mind." I reach for the ends of my shirt, about to peel it off my body. Chris instantly moves to stop my hands but it's the low growl of my name from his lips that made me stop.

"You're not wearing a bra stupid," Chan whispers annoyed.

I slap my hand over my mouth. "Oops."

Jisung laughs, shaking his head. "I think it's time to call it a night."

I look around; Felix is sleeping beside him, well passed out probably, Emma and Seungmin are basically fucking in front of us, and Hyunjin-

"I think Hyunjin's going to be-" I didn't even finish my sentence before Hyunjin vomited all over the floor in front of him. "...sick"

"Fuck." Chris sighs, already on his feet.

Jisung gets up, not looking Hyunjin's way twice. "I'll bring the mop."

Chan pulls Hyunjin's head back, laying him down on his side. "Okay buddy, hold on."

"Great once again, we have no way to get home."  I groan.

Seungmin lifts himself off of the couch with Emma wrapped around his waist. They make their way up the stairs without breaking the kiss for a split second or even sparing a glance at us.

"Excellent." I groan again.

"You can stay here." Jeongin offers casually. "We have space."

"We don't," Minho says, his tone cold and sharp.

"Yeah, we do," Jeongin continues nevertheless, his gaze avoiding his friend, looking around almost nervously. "We all have double beds."

Minho's eyes stay fixated on him, narrowing slightly until he turns to Chan, who's trying to wake up Hyunjin with no luck. "Do you need help taking them home?"

Chan rubs his hands over his face, thinking. "I'll have to take Felix and Hyunjin back to the frat and then Y/n back to her place since I'll be staying here tonight."

"That's basically back and forth. Just take them back to the frat and I'll take the girls." He offers, with his face, expressionless.

Chan looks between me and Minho, and I can almost see all his thoughts clouding his head. "She's drunk, I don't feel okay about leaving her alone."

"I'm completely fine, thank you very much."I try to stand up, but I stumble over my own two feet. His arms come up around me for support as I reach him, but he doesn't even glance down at me, his eyes are on Minho.

"You don't have to worry. Plus you've been drinking as well." He points out with a natural face, unbothered by the way Chan's looking at him. "I've only had like 2 shots."

It takes him a few seconds but to my surprise he sighs, "Fine."

"But I don't wanna go yet," I quickly whine.

"Is Emma gonna stay here?" He asks Chan, both of them ignoring me.

"It looks like it."

"Come on." Minho's hand comes around my arm, pulling me away from Chan's comfort. His rough grip makes me stumble, losing my balance due to the dizziness of my mind and the numbness of my limbs, but I feel his palm on my back and my eyes shoot up to his, I sober up immediately.  

"Do you need any help?" Jeongin gets up from the couch.

Minho steels. "No, it's fine I got it."

"You sure?" He presses, taking a step towards us.

I feel his grip tightening on my arm, his sharp breath hitting the side of my head.

I clear my throat, noticing the sudden tension, and move away from his grip before he says anything back. "I'll be fine." I pull Jeongin into a quick hug. "I'll see you."

I grab my purse and jacket from the back of the couch, just when Jisung appears with a mop and a bucket in his hands.

"Are you leaving?" His face falls a bit.

"I don't want to." I pout back. "They're kicking me out."

"Let's go." Minho appears behind me, pushing me forward lightly and I send him a glare. "I don't have all night."

"Where are you going?" Jisung asks him.

He answers without looking at him, "I have to take her home."

"You don't 'have to' do anything, you offered actually. I can gladly call a cab." I turn around, not realizing just how close behind me he was.

"You're a child." He says with no emotion on his face.

"And you're an asshole." I fire back, getting annoyed. I never asked him to take me home. "I think I rather someone else take me!" I move past him, try to actually but his fingers wrap around my arm, sharply pulling me back.

"I said I'm taking you home. Now, get your ass out the door." He says, keeping his tone low.

"You don't tell me what I can and can't do." I take a few steps forward, tilting my head upwards to look at him. I take a look over his shoulder, noticing Jisung helping Chan with Hyunjin and Jeongin being nowhere to be found. "But I don't wanna cause yet another scene because of you and I'm tired. " I look back at him. "That's the only reason I'm walking out the door."

A smirk creeps into his lips. "Sure."

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His car is a black Jeep and it's surprisingly clean. No condoms or bags from fast food places are thrown on the ground.

"Seatbelt." His raspy voice echoes through the small space. I feel chills running down my arms partly from the cold yet I do as he says, and put my seatbelt on. It's hard not to let my eyes linger on his side profile as he starts the car and drives out of his parking spot, silently admiring how perfectly calm all of his features are yet how strong and sharp. It's rare to see any intense emotion painting his face, the only source that proves he is not a robot, is his eyes. The corners of his mouth lift slightly, letting me now that I've been caught. Fuck, I'm too drunk for this, and the more I stare at him the harder the realization that he's undeniably handsome hits me, so I focus my eyes on the road, instead.

"Just so you know I tend to talk a lot when I drink," I speak up, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"Oh, I know." A small smirk appears.

Heat rises to my cheeks as the memories of the first time we met come to my mind. I wonder how he remembers me? I wonder if he thought about that night just as much as I've thought about it. I shake my head and force the questions down my throat. He obviously doesn't care, but still for some reason my nerves grow just like the silence between us, and my leg starts to bounce up and down.

"Stop."

I turn to him confused but he keeps his eyes on the road. His right hand move from the wheel to my knee, forcing it to a stop and the action is so fast and smooth that makes me suck a breath. His hand doesn't move, it lingers over the top of my knee for a few more seconds until it starts sliding slowly down my thigh. I don't breath, I don't dare to, not until his fingers finish brushing their way to the top off my thigh like a feather, only a few inches away from where I'm now suddently craving them to be.

"Why are you nervous?" His smirk grows, probably sensing who tense I am.

'I'm not ' is what I should answer but my mind is a blurry mess, a shit tone of questions are about to slip out of my mouth before I can stop them and the confidence that the alcohol in my system offers me doesn't help.

"Cause there's so much I wanna say but I know I shouldn't." I say instead.

His features still for a split second and his eyes turn to me. It looks like he thinks about his answer as well but after a few seconds, he says. " Why shouldn't you?"

I chuckle. "Cause it's a waste of time."

His eyebrows come together. "Why?"

"Cause you don't wanna talk to me. For some reason, you decided to not like me." I say before I can't stop myself. "And normally I wouldn't care, but I have been nothing but nice to you. A lot of times I come off as rude or cold, cause I'm just a bit closed off, I guess you can say." I turn to him. "But I have been so nice to you," I say again, raising my tone but smiling a bit. I don't know why, but I'm smiling.

He stops at a red light and turns to face me, resting his head back on the seat. His eyes are glistening under the dim light of the headlights.

I tilt my head, almost hypnotized. "Do you know that your eyes sparkle?"

His face twitches with interest. A rare sight. "What?"

I giggle bringing my knee up and resting my head on it, my eyes not leaving his. He tilts his head as well, looking at me like his searching for something and I'm waiting for him to talk. He lets out a sigh and bites his lip, his eyes studying my face. I wanna save this moment in my memories exactly how it is but I'm afraid that my drunken mind won't remember it clearly. I like that he's looking at me. And I like that we're not talking. I feel comfortable and peaceful. I could stay like this for hours. My mind blurry, unable to think or worry about anything. No anxiety, no emotions making me physically sick, just silence. My body relaxed, not pressured to dance a certain way or look a certain way. My mouth close, not trying to keep up with conversations or entertain anyone. Simply staying still and being looked at by him without saying a single word.

"I like this moment," I whisper, my thoughts out loud. The light has turned green but he doesn't seem to care, we're alone on the road anyway.

He hesitantly raises his hand, the action so familiar in the most intense and unsettling way that  I close my eyes, mechanically.

"Open your eyes." He demands gently.

My eyes open, to meet his again but now with a different kind of light in them. Hard but soft, full of suppressed emotion. He brings his hand to the side of my head, tugging my hair behind my ear.

"You never have to close your eyes around me." He rubs his thumb over my cheek, my skin tingling underneath it. "I don't ever wanna see you flinch or cover your face when you're with me 'cause every time you do you push me closer to pulling up to that motherfucker's house and making sure he won't have fingers to lay on another female ever again." He says, his eyes darkening with each word and I can feel my heart warm. Warm by his words, warm by the way he's looking at me and touching me.

I nibble at my bottom lip, trying to cover up my smile unsuccessfully.  "Are you bipolar?"  At that, his face breaks into a smile, his perfect teeth on display.  "No really, I'm curious, 'cause man you're confusing me."

He shakes his head, his bright smile slowly fading until it turns into a sad one. "What am I gonna do with you?" He whispers and I feel like he's talking more to himself rather than me.

"You're gonna drive me home, " I answer either way. "And we're gonna forget that this happened. You're gonna go back to you either being a dick to me just to get my attention or ignoring my whole existence until we get drunk and can be real with each other again." I say, trying to keep my eyes from closing.

The wave of comfort that suddenly came with the softness of his words and overall presence hits me hard. I feel his tender touch slide from the side of my face and I swear he said something but my brain had shut off and sleep took over me before I had the chance to hear what.

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Tomorrow is the first official day of our winter break and normally, since it's Sunday night we would celebrate all together but somehow it's 9 p.m and I'm alone in my apartment, getting ready to binge-watch the Harry Potter movies for the 100th time. Hyunjin has made plans with Jisoo, Felix is hanging out with Changbin at the frat, probably watching some stupid basketball game and Emma has a date with Seungmin. And when I say date, I mean a fancy-ass dinner date, that I hope will make their relationship official. Chan's with Jisung at the studio but I'm not really in the mood to join them, so I decided to stay inside, which I've been craving actually. It's been a while since I've had a night to myself but 2 hours in and I've already regretted it. Being alone comes with having none but your own thoughts to keep you company and that is one thing I desperately wanna avoid. The thoughts about me, the thoughts about him. Thinking in general. Ever since we started hanging out with Chan's friends I've been constantly stepping out of my comfort zone. I went from staying inside every single day to going out every single weekend. I don't regret it though, I'm grateful for meeting them. I've really grown to like hanging out with them and I can see that Hyunjin, Emma, and Felix feel the same way, it's just that everything has been happening so fast, that I need to take a step back and collect myself a bit. I feel my head being all over the place, especially with everything that's happening with Minho. It's been definitely a while since I gave any man a single time of my day, let alone allow him to conquer my every thought the way that he does. I've been forcing myself not to think that much into anything about him but each time he will do something or say something that will just completely throw away all my logical thoughts and self-control. I have no idea how he sees me or what are his thoughts about us; if there's even an 'us' to begin with. I try to push the thoughts about him to the back of my head as I wrap my arms around my body tighter. I push the door of the convenience store, hearing the 'ring' sound echo throughout the store.

"Hey, Y/n." Nick greets me with a smile for his position behind the counter.

"Hi." I return the smile and walk further into the store, finding my way down the all-too-familiar hallway. I stand in front of the limited wine collection, searching for my favorite bottle of red wine but instead, I throw my head back and a small groan escapes me as I realize they're out.

"Great..." I mumble to myself.

"Y/n?"

My head snaps to the left, seeing Jeongin standing towards the end of the hall. A few beers, a bag of chips, and my favorite bottle of wine in his hands. With his face half-hidden inside his hood, he walks towards me.

I narrow my eyes a bit, focusing on the bottle in his hands. "You stole my favorite wine."

My words make him pause slightly and he looks down at his hands and then at the shelf.

"Sorry, but it's my favorite too." He half-smiles.

I take a deep breath. "Look it's been a long day and I really need to chill, watch a movie, and drink my comfort wine." My incredibly horrible mood begins to make an appearance, yet his smile doesn't falter.

"Well, someone's grumpy." He jokes.

"Yes, someone is."

"Well, it's been a long day for me as well. " He walks towards me. " And I wanna drink my wine and watch the game."

I groan in his face and he lets out a laugh. "Come on, Jeongin please."

My eyes must have really looked desperate cause his smile grew a little in the few minutes of silence.  "Fine let's make a deal then." He offers.

I cross my hands. "I'm listening."

"We'll share." He smirks.

"I'm not watching basketball." I shake my head.

He rolls his eyes, taking a few seconds to think. "You like movies?"

On any other occasion, I would completely avoid any offer by a guy to watch movies and drink in my apartment but tonight I don't let myself think too much. The truth is that I need company to distract me from my thoughts that are eating me alive and also a few glasses of my favorite wine. If these two options come in a package deal with Jeongin, then so be it.

I let my lips form a smile. "Obviously. "

"Your place or mine?" He smiles back.

There's no way I'm going over to that house, with all the guys there. It's not gonna end well and I really need to relax tonight. I don't want the tension that comes with seeing Minho right now.

"Mine."

"Cool." He walks past me.

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"It's not fair, I should have paid half," I whine for probably the 10th time, taking a seat next to him on the couch. It does feel a little bit weird to have a guy, besides my Hyunjin, Felix, and Chan, sitting comfortably in my living room, but nothing about Jeongin is or feels uncomfortable. In fact, our whole way back from the store was filled with easy-flowing conversation and the second he entered my apartment he acted as if he's been here many times before.

"It's whatever. " He brushes me off. "Just buy me coffee next time and we're even." He makes himself comfortable on my couch, spreading his arm at the back and letting his tall body lean backwards, fully relaxed.

I set the bowl of popcorn and the bottle of wine along with two glasses on the coffee table in front of us before taking a seat next to him. I keep a little amount of space between our bodies, my small couch not really helping, and grab a blanket, throwing it over my bottom half, trying to get comfortable as well.

"So what are we watching?" He pulls the blanket over to cover his legs as well. I can't help but giggle at how he tries to fit his tall body under the blanket, pulling it all to his side, leaving me completely bare.

"This is not gonna work." I shake my head.

His lips are in a loose smile, his eyes big, almost puppy-like looking back at me. He opens the side of the blanket, a silent offer for me to scoop a bit closer to him.

And so I do, without much thought. "You like Harry Potter?"

"Who doesn't?" He mumbles with his mouth already filled with popcorn.

I press play and grab my glass of wine.

. . . .

It was unexcepted honestly, how addictive his company was becoming each minute passing, or how fun. Even though I've never hung out with Jeongin one on one, it surprised me how comfortable and at ease I felt. His whole presence was like a light breeze, so easy going and smooth. Throughout the movie, he made jokes or comments, opening conversations effortlessly about the scenes or the movie in general, and the conversation continued to flow even after the movie ended. It felt easy getting to know him, from his upbringing to his first year of college, he talked to me like an open book. His dreams of becoming a singer and his passion for any form of art were no surprise to me but I didn't expect just how driven he is by his love for music. He talked about the rest of the guys and everything they're currently working on with stars in his eyes. I was a bit hesitant to offer him the same honesty he did to me but the hesitation didn't last very long and I found myself talking more than I've had in a long, long time. I purposely avoided sensitive topics and focused on my own journey with dance, what I really wanna do,my hopes and dreams along with a few small details about myself that I never really thought anyone would like to listen about yet he kept his eyes on me the whole time, listening patiently.

"Was it painful?"

He shakes his head with a small, sad smile. "Awfully painful, but worth it. She was my first love."

"My first love," I start already feeling heavy but the mention of him. "was awfully painful as well, but if I could go back, I would tell myself to run as far away from him as possible."

"Cheated?" He tries to guess.

"The cheating was the least painful part." The truth behind my words, so loud, that it made my chest tighten.

He nods lightly, his eyes moving all over my face, noticing the sudden sadness. "Love can be painful, but partly that's the beauty of it."

I look at him, my head tilting, intrigued. "What do you mean?"

"What's the point to be loved if not getting hurt as well?" He continues, with the same softness in his gaze. "Pain is a reminder that the love was real."

It's hard to not let the wave of emotions that came with his words take over me completely and It's hard not to break down in tears in front of him.

"But what if the pain never stops?" I whisper, my breath trembling.

His face softens even more. "It will. It will take time but it will go away, and you will heal. Maybe by yourself or maybe with the help of someone else."

I blink, feeling a tear rolling down my cheekbone but before I have time to catch it, his thumb comes up and gently slides across my face. My eyes shoot to his, facing nothing but pure understanding in his gaze.

"I think it's time to call it a night." He softy says, dropping his hand from my face. His body stays close to mine and I stay almost frozen. "I don't want you to get all emotional on me."

I smile at his attempt to joke the intensity of the conversation away, as he lifts himself off my couch.

"Thank you for the company." I lean against the doorway, as he adjusts his jacket.

"Anytime." He winks. "Come by the studio tomorrow, with that coffee you owe me."

A playful scoff escapes me, his flirty personality already growing on me.

"Maybe, I will."

My answer seems to satisfy him enough cause his face breaks into one last smile. "Goodnight, Y/n."

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I love cold weather. I love the rain, the snow, the wind. I love feeling cold and wearing layers and layers of clothes. Today is one of those days and I couldn't be happier about it. I'm wearing a pair of baggy black jeans and a black turtle neck with my leather jacket and a huge scarf on top as I make my way to the studio. I had completely forgotten that I made plans with Chan to meet at the studio at 11 am. It's now 1:14 pm and prepare myself mentally as I open the studio door.

"I'm so sorry" I apologize the minute I lock eyes with Chan, his face dead serious.

"I'm changing my best friend to Felix, that's it." He turns his back on me. He's sitting in his chair as usual, while Jeongin, jisung, and Changbin are sitting on the couches. I offer them a nod with a smile and find myself scanning the room for any sight of him but I find none.

"First of all. Felix is your best friend and second I slept late I'm sorry." I spin his chair around. He crosses his hands, keeping his face straight. "I'm here aren't I?" I pout.

He lets out a breath. "Fine, you're forgiven." He says and I grin at him, satisfied.

"I swear sometimes you guys act like a married couple." Jisung appears at my side passing Chan some papers.

I elbow him playfully at which he laughs. "What are you guys working on?" I ask, making eye contact with Jeongin, across the room. He offers me a small smile, and I can't help but smile back. I didn't want to admit it but when he left yesterday, my small apartment felt a tiny bit bigger and a little more empty. It's been a while since I enjoyed someone's company that much.

"We've finally finished the song." Changbin stretches his hands. "So 4 more to go."

"Oh my god, can I hear it?" I say getting excited.

"Sure. Hold on a sec" Chan nods. I turn around walking towards the couch to sit with the guys when the door opens.

"Hannie, I couldn't find apple juice anywhere, so I grabbed orange juice instead." Minho enters the studio, holding a bottle of orange juice. He stops in his tracks, as we stand almost face to face, my expression probably mirroring his. He seems a bit lost, definitely not prepared to see me but he recovers quickly, eyes blinking the shock away and face shifting into his usual bored-looking expression.

"Why are you here again?" He sighs.

I blink back at him, forcing myself to look away, and forcing the memories of the last time we saw each other that immediately rush into my mind with only a glance at his face, away. His tone was expected honestly, but I was kinda hoping that something would have changed between us. Nothing much, nothing major, but just a little something.

"Who's Hannie?" I clear my throat, looking at the guys.

"Oh, I'm Hannie." Jisung grabs the bottle from Minho. "My last name's Han."

"Oh." I nod a few times, focusing my eyes on him as I feel Minho staring at me, not moving. "That's cute. Can I call you Hannie too?"

"No, you can't,"  Minho mumbles and walks past me, taking a seat on the couch. Clearly, nothing has changed.

"Where's my coffee sunshine?" Jeongin grins at me, changing the subject, completely and I can't help but I get a feeling that he somehow sensed my discomfort.

"Shit." I slap my forehead. "I completely forgot, I'll go grab one right now."

"What coffee?" Changbin looks between us, confused. From the way everyone's looking at us I'm guessing that Jeongin didn't tell them that we hang out yesterday. I make eye contact with Minho, waiting for Jeongin to speak up. For some reason, I can't bring myself to say anything.

"Oh, Y/n and I hang out last night."

Minho's face immediately twitches.

"I met her when I went out to grab a few beers, and since we both had nothing to do we went back to her place and watch a movie."

The words make him inhale a deep breath through his nose. His tongue makes a circle on the inside of his cheek and the over his teeth, while he slowly leans forward, resting his hands on his knees. I can't help the small smirk that sneaks into my lips and the satisfaction that I feel seeing him trying to contain his annoyance. His eyes are completely still, focusing on me, not even blinking. And then, in a split second something shifts, as if a flame of anger passes through them, and then it's gone, leaving only a small smile on his dark pink lips. A dark smile that sends chills down my spine and makes my pulse raise in a fucking second. It's almost like something crossed his mind cause he drops my gaze and leans back taking his bottom lip between his thumb and index finger.

I clear my throat. "Yeah and h-he paid so, I offered to buy him coffee today." My face feels hot and Minho's eyes snap back to mine when he hears me shutter. I thought that I had the upper hand but right now I feel completely and utterly controlled by him. His eyes shine in the most challenging way.

Come on, Y/n focus.

"Chan, do you want a coffee?" I turn to him.

"Yes, please." He throws his head back.

"Great, I'll be right back." I move towards the door, but his voice stops me dead in my tracks.

"I'm coming, I want on too."

"I'll grab it for you, you don't have to come." I mumble, but he's already off the couch and walking towards me.  

"I'll help you carry them." He says and it's not until his back is fully facing the rest of the guys that he lets his expressionless face fall into a smirk.

Fuck me.

"Minho grab one for me too." Jisung smiles and Minho lifts his eyebrows at me, the smirk not leaving his face. I sigh and walk out the door, not waiting for him. I can already feel the sweat building on my palms, my stomach turning and my heart rate rising but I continue to walk down the hall. I hear the studio door close and Minho's footsteps approaching me. Fast, maybe too fast. And then the air is knocked out of my chest as he grips my jacket and pulls me backwards so hard that my back colliding with his front was almost audible.

His sharp laugh vibrates on my back. "A movie huh?" He says, his voice sounding almost careful. As if he's trying to control himself. And that gives me a little boost. I take a breath collecting myself and masking my face. I turn to look at him, not moving my body.

"And wine" I add, shaking his grip off, and continue to walk, acting unbothered when in reality my whole back is on fire. Burning, from his touch and his breath against my neck

It takes him a second but he catches up and appears right beside me. "You're really testing my patience," He says so low, that it sounds like a growl.

"How so?" I keep my voice, loud and steady. "Why do you care?"

"I don't." He sharply laughs, shaking his head.

I break into a chuckle. "Oh my god, you're so entertaining." His head snaps my way so hard, that I'm surprised it didn't break as we keep walking, exiting the building. It's pretty clear that there's something between us, but of course, we're gonna go into fucking circles.

"Watching you use Jeongin, to get my attention is what's entertaining. You're trying too hard."

"I'm not using anyone." I scoff. "I like Jeongin, that's why I hang out with him."

"Hang out all you want with him." His face turns dark. "Just make sure that I don't find out  if he laid a finger on you in a non-friendly way 'cause then I won't be that much entertaining angel." My heart does a little jump at the use of the nickname. It's the second time he calls me that and it tickles my ears in the most attractive way.  The boys always use nicknames for me and Emma. Babe, baby, princess. I've heard them all, but none of them really stick out to me.  

Angel. None's ever called me that before.

I stop in my tracks, his tone and words forcing anger out of me. He flashes me a devilish, satisfying grin.  "Dude you're-" His eyes flicker to something behind me, his whole expression shifts, and suddenly my words disappear down my throat as the wind gets knocked out of my chest. In a swift motion, his hand wraps around my waist, making me crash into his body. I see black, my face buried in his chest and all I hear is a car honking as it drives away alongside my own heartbeat. I look up, so hesitantly, still holding my breath.

"Fucking asshole." He curses, following the car with his eyes, and then looks down at me. Concern. It's concern written all over his slightly wide eyes.

"Are you okay?" He brings his hand to the side of my head, searching my face, eyes moving everywhere, all over my face and body. I let out the breath I was holding and finally inhaled again, the air in my lungs hitting me like a train, almost burning me from the inside. 'I'm fine' I want to say but the words won't leave my mouth. I keep staring at him, my body freezing in his hands completely. I go numb and all I can hear is the sound of my own heartbeat.

His grip on my waist tightens. "Y/n."

I try to take another breath but it's hard. My stomach tightens and I can feel the unsettling feeling of panic making its way through my body. My ears start ringing and I tear my eyes away from his face, looking around, trying to focus on something. Anything.

"Hey," He cups my face with both of his hands, forcing my eyes back on him. "Focus on me yeah? Look in my eyes." His whispers in a soft voice. I exhale and try to take breaths from my nose. But the lump in my throat grows and my eyes begin to water. No, I won't cry again. I'm sick of this, this feeling of pure panic and inability to control my own mind. But the memories come rushing back, and suddenly I'm 13 again, covered in blood, screaming my lungs out. And it hurts. It hurts my brain and my heart so much that I suck a breath and bury my face in his chest. I feel him freezing, going still but it takes him only a few seconds for his arms to wrap around me.

I let out a silent sob, almost inaudible but his arms tighten even more. His hand brushed my hair softly before sliding down to my back, comforting me silently. As though he understood. As though he cared.

It felt like minutes passed but we stayed like this, glued to each other as his vanilla scent consumed me the more I buried my face into his chest, and slowly I felt like I could breathe again. But I didn't pull away. And he didn't as well. His arms felt good around me. So good, that it made my heart beat faster for a completely different reason.

I slowly lift my head, his big eyes, softer than ever looked down at me.

"I'm sorry." I pull my arms away slowly, unwrapping myself from him as the realization of what happened hit me almost as hard as that car was about to. "I'm so sorry." I flinch further away.

"Stop apologizing. " He shakes his head and takes a large step forward, closing the gap between us. He tilts my face to him, his eyes searching mine.

I wanna freeze time and keep this moment. This moment, that he's not being a dick, that he's not ignoring me, that his face is not hard and his eyes are soft, and I slowly realize that I want more moments like this with him, I wanna keep the feeling of his hands on me and the weird sense of safety that comes with it.

"Yeah." I snap back to reality. "I'm-" I clear my voice. "I was in a car accident a few years ago." The words come out before I can stop them "I'm sorry. It just happened so fast." I add, laughing awkwardly.

"Oh," Something flashes in his eyes and his hands slowly drop from my body. "I understand." He nods his head to himself a couple of times, not saying anything else. He lifts his eyes to mine, no words come out of his mouth but I feel like his gaze is silently questioning me if I wanna talk about it. I chew on my bottom lip, shaking my head lightly and trying to look anywhere else. I'm grateful that he doesn't press the matter further, not that I was expecting him to start any sort of conversation for anything.

"Come on let's go." I turn around and begin to walk. His hand comes around my waist once again, pushing me to the inner side of the sidewalk.

"Sidewalk rule." He smiles.

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"Look who's back for his second coffee of the day already." A girl with long. blond hair and big round glasses say as we reach the counter of the coffee shop.

"Hey, Maddie." Minho smiles at her and she smiles back. I stand beside him awkwardly staring at the menu, in front of me, even though I know exactly what I'm getting. "I love your hair today." He complements her and I almost snorted out loud. I wanna laugh at the way he speaks to her, I've never heard him use this tone or words to anyone.

"What can I get you? " She tugs a piece of hair behind her ear and looks at him through her glasses. I try not to roll my eyes at her classic move. Her focus stays completely on him, not even acknowledging me, standing right next to him.

"Can I have 3 iced Americanos, an iced latte, and..." He turns to me, leaning closer, and puts his hand on the counter, on the other side of my hips, kind of trapping me between his hands.

"What do you want angel?" He says close to my ear, making the blood rush into my cheeks. The girl's face visibly drops and I feel a spark of satisfaction.

"Um," I try to find my voice. "I'll have an iced latte as well." I smile at the girl, nevertheless.

She looks between us and nods with a smile. "Coming right up." When she leaves to make our order, I push Minho away, glaring at him and he laughs under his breath.

"Jealousy doesn't look good on you."

I roll my eyes. "I'm not jealous stupid. I'm uncomfortable." I pull my credit card out of my pocket.

"I'm paying." He says.

"No way. I offered to get coffee."

"I don't care." He steps in front of me, placing both of his hands on the counter.

"Fine. Then I'll pay for Jeongin's and my coffee and you can pay for the rest." I offer, trying to squeeze my way back to the counter.

"There you go" The blonde girl comes back with our coffees.

"Thank you, Maddie." Minho nods with a smile. He grabs the 3 Americanos. "Y/n, can you grab the resto for me?"

"Yeah, sure." I grab the other two but before I have time to do anything he places his phone in front of the little machine and I hear the familiar 'blink' from apple pay. "See you, tomorrow." He smiles at her.

"You're not buying him a damn coffee." He says inches away from my face and then walks out of the coffee shop.

We made our way back to the studio in almost complete silence but I was too lost in my thoughts to realize. He seemed in his head as well, cause whenever I would steal glances at him as walked, he didn't look at me once. I would kill to know what he was thinking. Or what he thinks about me in general.

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" You have a beautiful voice." I turn to Jisung, with a genuine smile. Chan played me their song and I must say that I'm completely shocked. It's amazing how all of their voices blend in perfectly together.

His cheeks turn pink. "I sound okay."

"Oh my god," Minho rolls his eyes. "Take a compliment for once."

Jisung buries his face in his hands, blushing even more. I let out a giggle and try to take his hands off of his face. I hear Minho release a breathy laugh, drawing my attention. He's staring at Jisung with a small smile on his lips, his face is relaxed and his eyes hold a softness that I don't usually see in them. Their friendship is really interesting to me. Somehow I'm interested in anything that involves him. I have this urge to just unravel him and learn every little detail about him. Maybe cause he's been a mystery to me all this time or maybe because I'm simply drawn to him in a way that I can explain and absolutely hate.

"Seungmin, Jeongin, and Minho are the vocalists. I just help sometimes." He mumbles with a shy smile.

"I offered to change spots." Minho says.

"First of all, you can't rap to save your life."

"Bullshit" Minho scoffs.

"And second," Jisung continues "Your voice is too good to waste."

"Aww," I place a hand over my heart. "You're too sweet, I can't"

"What can I say?" He shrugs. " I am a pretty sweet guy."

I take a deep breath, getting myself ready. "So you're a vocalist? I haven't heard you sing yet." I turn to Minho. This is the first time I address him in a conversation, without trying to pick a fight, so this can go both ways.

His posture remains relaxed and his small smile from before grows into a smirk. "I haven't seen you dance yet."

Some tension rolls off of me. "That will not happen."

"Then you won't hear me sing."

I narrow my eyes on him. "You know I can just ask Chan to play me the song you recorded last time right? Your demo specifically."

His smirk grows more. "And you know that I know where you practice?" He shoots back. "Right?"

"Shut up." I shake my head.

He lets his lips turn into a smile. His teeth are exposed to me for the first time. His smile lights up his whole face and I let my eyes admire him a bit.

"Y/n?" Chans calls.

"Yeah?"

He keeps his eyes on Minho for a few seconds before speaking. "I think we need to talk to Hyunjin," he says in an unsure tone.

"What?" I straighten up. "What do you mean?"

"Check his insta story and the group chat." he says staring at his phone. I pull out my own phone and open Instagram to check his story.

"He's listening to that song..." Chan sighs, making eye contact with me.

"What song?" Jisung leans closer to me, trying to take a look.

"And he's spamming the group chat..." I mutter.

"And what about it?" Minho leans in as well, trying to hide his interest.

"It's his break-up song.." Chan sighs. "I'm going."

"No," I get up. "I think it's better if I go."

I grab my bag and my jacket. "Okay, but text me." Chan says.

"I will."

.

.

.

.

.

.

He buries his face further into my arms as he sobs uncontrollably. For as long as I know him, I have never seen Hyunjin cry like that, he's a mess. When I walked into his room, I found him curled into a ball, under layers of blankets, staring at the ceiling with bloodshot eyes.

I smooth his messy blonde hair, trying to calm him down. "I'm going to kill her." I say through my teeth.

He sniffs. "How can she be so fucking fake?"

"I don't know." I honestly answer, shaking my head. They'd been with each other for almost a year now, she looked head over heels for him. Hyunjin went over to her dorm to surprise her and he caught her fucking some other dude.

"Wait, who was the guy?" The question that I had totally forgotten to ask, suddenly pops up in my mind.

He lifts his head to look at me through his wet lashes. "One of Jackson's friends."

I tense up. "What?" My voice comes out louder than I intended.

He nods his head. "Yeah, I swear once I stop crying, I'll beat the shit out of him." He says through sniffs.

"I'll do it for you, don't worry." I clench my jaw. " God, I fucking hate him and his whole group." Even when Jackson and I were dating, I never really got along with his friends. They were all just a bunch of stupid fuckboys with absolutely zero respect towards anyone.

"Actually, I have to tell you something." He hesitantly says.

"I don't like the sound of that."

"Well," He thinks for a second and I feel myself already getting annoyed. "Remember when I told you that I'll ask around for the club we were talking about? For New years? The one that has live performances?"

"Yeah.." After a lot of fighting and back and forth, we decided that on New Year's Eve, we'll stay at the frat until midnight and then go to this super popular club that everyone is talking about around campus. It's going to have live performances by unknown artists. Many people say that Drake and Jack Harlow are 2 of them. The problem is that we don't know how we're getting in.

"Um," He pauses.

"Oh my god, Hyunjin just say it."

"Jackson's uncle owns the club." He finally says.

I groan, blurring my face into my hands. "That's just fucking great."

"So we can't beat them up just yet. " He jokes.

Jackson is incredibly famous around campus and his career is pretty much set already thanks to his father's connections to the music industry. To be honest, he is talented but everything has been handed to him, he never really tried for anything.

"Fuck" I sigh.

"Yeah, fuck."

[teacasket]

skz as contestants on the bachelorette

genre: unserious nonsense  au: non-idol au, reality tv au?, bachelorette au? warnings: swearing   word count: 1k   pairing: none but it could be f!reader x ot8 if reader is the bachelorette background info: the bachelorette is a reality tv show where a bunch of men compete to get engaged to the bachelorette. contestants are eliminated every week in a rose ceremony where the bachelorette will hand out roses to the men she wants to move forward with. there are group dates (a bunch of men and the bachelorette) and one-on-one dates (one guy with the bachelorette). the person on the one-on-one has a chance to receive a rose before the rose ceremony, and one contestant on a group date can receive an early rose. itm stands for “in the moment” and where the contestant being interviewed will go over their thoughts and the day in present tense. men tell all is a reunion episode where the men will discuss things that aired on the show with a little more depth and bring up grievances. bachelor in paradise, or paradise, is a spin-off show comprised of past contestants from the bachelor and the bachelorette. it’s another reality tv dating show, but this time it’s a free-for-all in regards to dating options.

bang chan - the bachelor edit

➵ if he doesn’t win, he’s going to be the next bachelor. the audience loves him and starts a petition in case the producers haven’t gotten the message already (they have) ➵ has an instant connection with the bachelorette, constantly reassures her during their conversations, is the first one the bachelorette says, “i’m starting to fall in love with you,” to ➵ tangentially related to the drama because he plays mediator (and loses like a year off his life because of it), unofficially the dad of the house because everyone keeps calling for him whenever shit goes down ➵ absolutely stuffs his face with shrimp at the cocktail party on the second night and has to lie down, almost misses the rose ceremony ➵ most memorable moment: disappointedchan.jpg

lee minho - sir, how are you still here??

➵ more reserved so he gets zero screen time but still manages to squeak by every rose ceremony before being eliminated before hometowns ➵ really didn’t think he was going to make it this far, and he didn’t pack that many suits with them, so he’s wearing borrowed suits in nearly every scene ➵ super close with jisung, they come in a pair and everyone refers to them as “minsung,” cutest friendship in the franchise ➵ is the mvp of the team on the football-themed group date, doesn’t know how it happened because he’s not usually this good at sports ➵ most memorable moment: talking about how much he misses his cats in his itm

seo changbin - here for the right reasons

➵ his sister nominated him to go on the show, and he’s super into the idea, actually willing to trust the process ➵ first one out of the limo, gives the bachelorette a construction paper heart because “you have my heart always” ➵ tries to stay out of the drama but really needs to his piece because they’re pissing him off and cutting into his time with the bachelorette ➵ accidentally breaks the ice cream parlor’s ice cream machine on his one-on-one date (production covered the repair costs, but he was so afraid he would have to fork out the money) ➵ most memorable moment: lip syncing and dancing to oops!... i did it again by britney spears during the swimsuit fashion show

hwang hyunjin - if hot, why villain?

➵ the source of all of the drama, overreacts when something doesn’t go his way (e.g. he didn’t get the one-on-one and complains about it all day) and brags when things do go his way (e.g. when he receives the group date rose, he reminds everyone that he got the rose and that they need to step it up) ➵ is the first person to tell the bachelorette that he’s falling in love with her, later reveals that he said it without thinking about it so he must be have real feelings about her ➵ falls into the pool after running from a bee ➵ cries when he gets eliminated and cries during the men tell all when he rewatches his elimination, audience actually feels bad for him ➵ most memorable moment: when seungmin asks him if he hates jisung, hyunjin says, “no, i don’t hate anyone.” cut to an itm where hyunjin explicitly says, “i hate jisung. fuck that guy.”

han jisung - snitches get stitches to go on paradise

➵ the other person involved in the drama, is not afraid to tell off hyunjin and almost ends up in a fist fight with him (the other contestants intervened before it could go too far) ➵ only lasts as long as he does because he tells the bachelorette everything that’s going on in the house, there's no romantic connection between them ➵ is on every single group date and is always hyped for the event, no matter what it is ➵ the producers mainly cast him so he could be on paradise, but he does try to campaign to be the bachelor for like a week before giving up ➵ most memorable moment: running into the ocean after getting the group date rose and immediately getting knocked over by the tide

lee felix - here to make friends

➵ the bachelorette is cool but the boys?? even cooler; getting eliminated is sad, not because he loves the bachelorette but because he’s going to miss hanging out with his new friends ➵ lowkey has no idea what’s going on with hyunjin and jisung, shit always goes down when he’s not in the room ➵ compliments the bachelorette’s eyes and when she replies that his own eyes are dreamy, he gets flustered ➵ eats during the food during the night portion of his one-on-one even though he’s not supposed to because he’s starving, cue the asmr ➵ most memorable moment: roundhouse kicking jeongin into a pile of plushies during a sleepover-themed group date

kim seungmin - here to make enemies

➵ planned to be villain of the season the minute he got cast, but hyunjin is doing too good of a job, so he settles for being a shit stirrer instead ➵ everyone tells him everything for some reason?? he comes off as a good listener when he’s really saving all of this knowledge for later ➵ serenades the bachelorette during his limo entrance, continues to sing throughout the season because he's trying to get instagram followers and then a record deal ➵ makes up the worst poem in the world during the shakespeare-themed date and wins the contest anyway because he sings his poem and adds unnecessary runs, everyone hates him for it ➵ most memorable moment: smiling and drinking champagne in the background while chan is visibly stressed by the drama

yang jeongin - clout is king

➵ is a well-known fashion influencer and aspiring model when he’s cast on the show, only here to increase his following and for future opportunities ➵ gets into a minor scuffle with some of the contestants on the first night because he jokes that everyone else dresses like garbage compared to him ➵ has a very playful relationship with the bachelorette, likes to egg her on to do stupid things (e.g. racing to see who can go down a hill the fastest on a bike [jeongin won]) ➵ tries to insert himself into the drama during the men tell all for more screen time, gets called out for it by seungmin of all people ➵ most memorable moment: hiding underneath a pile of pillows and blankets and scaring anyone who walks by

[killerlookz]

ok this is insane and you do not have to respond at all but I just want to put forth:

what if Joost knocked up heartbeat au reader the second they break up with Michael (I have a strong feeling Michael is cheating too) just to lock them down for good now that he has the chance. Obviously he cares about reader a lot as evidenced so many different times and he's definitely a good guy who probably wouldn't do that but what if he went insane, like, just for a moment 😳 just long enough to tamper with birth control

sorry that's crazy

the line in No Going Back where he's like “Don’t wanna be knocked up with another man’s baby” has me Thinking Thoughts

pls ignore if this is too gross or just not at all a vibe, I know it doesn't exactly fit their characterization anyway

hi anon! sorry i’ve taken so long to get back to ur ask <33

i’ve honestly played in my head with the idea of reader getting pregnant … and the DRAMAAAA- however it definitely wouldn’t be like a . .. happy family thing. i don’t picture them like … family FAMILY domestic … especially now since reader is like 22 so far in the story (not that there’s anything wrong with starting a family young, but reader is a waitress and joost is essentially a soundcloud rapper so yk) , so a pregnancy… oop dramaaa … angst … probably not a happy ending … however … some semblance of domesticity in their future …. well that’s a secret i must keep to myself 🤫

overall … would joost intentionally get her pregnant, probably not. perhaps he may become possessive … and slightly insane but … i think he carries a lot of guilt for how their “original” relationship played out and i don’t even know if he particularly wants to “lock her down” as much as try to get her to forgive him and trust him again… so; i think that’s kind of what im “working up” towards, joost and reader trying to build trust between them (does it happen… who knows?!)

but maybes he’d thought about it and then been like “yeah no we can’t raise a kid” (imagine that poor child … sigh LMAOO)

[hihopelessromantics]

Through the Wall Chapter 2.5

A nanatsu no taizai fanfiction

hehehe I forgot to post this here. I hope whoever was reading this back in March sees this and knows that oops I am totally invested in writing things for this fandom now.

This one gets dark. Trigger warning for child/ infant abuse (ft the Demon King) and suicidal ideation (poor Meliodas, there's no way that specific issue didn't come up sometime before the curse)

Without further ado, here's this au's take on Meliodas meeting his brother for the first time.

~~

150 years ago. 

“So, the Demon King will have a second son?”

“If he’s strong enough, yes.” 

“Don’t come out until I call for you. Or until your sense your father’s return.”

With his breathy whisper fading into the air, Chandler stepped back, and clicked the door shut. His young pupil slumped over the moment he was out of sight, relinquishing a facade of stoic, unwavering strength. The boy wept, grateful for his first moment of true solitude in what felt like his whole life, and the chance to maybe do something about this worthless state of existence. He scrambled further back into the dark crawlspace of the, literally, godforsaken tower in what was comically his least favorite patch of rocky cliffs in the entire Demon Realm, which Chandler promptly told him five minutes ago was Meliodas’s own birthplace. How fitting. 

Retrieving a small knife from his boot and trying to shake the numbness of his mind, Meliodas kept crawling until he felt the floor drop out from under him. He launched themself down there, landing softly on all fours. The stench of flesh blood told him this was the place Chandler indicated - and the more unsettling stench of old blood, which he hadn’t mentioned, sparked a hint of an emotion Meliodas thought was dead. Curiosity. Cursing in his mind, he breathed in more deeply and actually took in his surroundings, but couldn’t find either any hint as to what could have happened here or an actual reason to investigate. Just old stonework and scattered cloth blankets. It’s not like he had any energy left to care. He had just enough to thank that old tutor of his for those cryptic, vague suggestions that meant Chandler probably wouldn’t be surprised if this little adventure ended up killing Meliodas if he did something wrong. Typical Chandler, he thought. But for once it suited him. Meliodas was tired of being a puppet with no chance to grow a connection to anyone or anything besides killing. He doubted his father’s other pawns minded much when he wasn’t around, and frankly couldn’t care less if the Demon Realm’s government couldn’t pull it together without him. If they had to work themselves to exhaustion, well, serves them right for putting it all on the shoulders of one child who wasn’t even allowed to feel. Oh yeah, and for calling him weak when he told them sometimes he wished he could join the ranks of the dead already. Fuck em. Still, he didn’t want his death propaganda-ized to the Celestial Realm and back, so he’d put the thought off. 

This was good. 

He breathed deeply, the scent of nearby blood as familiar to him as his own reflection. Damnnit, he wasn’t sure just how long he’d have to be alone down here, had no reason to believe it would be more than fifteen minutes, even, but he still wasn’t eager to stick a knife into his neck. I hate my life, Meliodas thought, and sank onto his back. I don’t even want to sleep. 

A garbled sound answered him. Meliodas hit his head on the top of the crawlspace with how quickly he sat up. The blankets were making sounds. He berated himself as he crawled toward the sounds: stupid, stupid, please, please you CAN’T . . . honestly. . . if it just one little sound gets your hearts racing like this, you won’t die OR be able to survive. 

He couldn’t have foreseen what he would encounter there in that crawlspace. The gurgling sounds, and the fresh blood, belonged to a baby who was staring up at the ceiling with a reasonable amount of annoyance. The expression on its little face changed drastically as it took in Meliodas’s stunned face. He didn’t know what to say to the poor thing except, “Must have been scary here all alone here, huh? You okay? You scared?” 

It gaggled as a response and smiled an ecstatic, toothless grin. Without any more hesitation, Meliodas tore off his shirt and jacket, using the former to clean off the baby as best he could before holding the little one snugly against him. He didn’t understand how the infant hadn’t died of insanity or whatnot after being down here god knows how long. Well, as long as he was here, at least one of them would be happy - he could ensure that much, considering all the stolen moments he had spent in the capital’s nursery. 

He didn’t know how long he was down there.

“You’re a sweet little one, aren’t you?” He teased, as the baby happily chomped on one of his fingers. Judging by its body temperature and willingness to play and interact with him, it seemed to be in decent health. 

“Ah. We should burn this, huh?” Meliodas looked to his now blood-crusted shirt. “Hey. . . wanna see something cool? Hellblaze.” The prince summoned the faintest hint of the fire inherent to his kind, gently and gradually increasing it as his new friend stared and cooed with the utmost excitement at the dark purple flame. The delight in those sparkling green eyes was divine. Meliodas was sorely tempted to teach the little one how to make his own flame, but it was so clearly and stunningly younger than the children he was used to. He couldn’t remember anything the castle staff or nurses said about that which they called infants, the youngest demons. But he remembered the sting of hellfire well enough to withdraw the idea almost immediately. 

“Ah - no, don’t eat it! Ssh, no, I’m not upset, I’m sorry I raised my voice, I’m sorry. It’s just, magic isn’t the safest thing, okay? You’ll learn when you get your own. It should be… ah… I don’t know, a couple of years? Decades? I only know I’m an exception, being a god’s son and all. So I’m not sure.” 

The baby settled back down into Mel’s arms like it belonged there, grabbing firmly for his hands again. “Let me protect you, okay?” He murmured, pressing their foreheads together. The baby gave a deep, rumbling purr. Reassured, Meliodas mimicked the sound as best he could, having, usually, no reason to make such a sound. 

“I wonder why you appeared in such a place. You have any idea? Nah, of course not. Not like it matters right? Mooooore importantly, do you know what I’m saying?” 

The baby only smiled. 

Playing, occasionally whispering stories to amuse himself with the little one’s reactions. Told him how lonely he was. He forgot it probably couldn’t understand language yet. The part of his mind he was willing to spare toward THINKING with any level of strenuousness occupied itself with the aches and pains and restlessness that made themselves known now that he was truly relaxed.

Eventually, Meliodas gave into the urge and summoned his darkness. It radiated off his body from under his skin, burning away any chill and curling around his limbs in a comforting manner. For some reason, in this moment, it felt more like a living being, like a friend, than ever before, and he felt so earnestly compelled to acknowledge it as such - despite being ordered not to by his father - that he did so. It was a shock to feel some sort of sensory pleasure spike through his body as soon as he had the thought, and he felt his darkness spread through his body on a deep exhale, melting into his cells instead of returning back to the box he’d been accustomed to forcing it into. This didn’t feel unsafe. It felt safer, like a defense mechanism or a bone returning to its proper place. Keeping his magic strangled like that did more than tire him out, he realized. 

He allowed himself a couple of minutes to stretch and adjust before settling back down to check on the little one. It was less content in the pile of blankets than in his arms, so he scooped it up again and tried lacing their fingers together. Still too small. Giddy at a sudden idea, he extended a tendril of darkness forward and curled it around his little friend’s tiny wrist. It shouted in delight, then went about touching and manipulating�� Mel’s darkness however it could. Meliodas couldn’t stop smiling at how fascinated the baby was - and how gentle, too. As if the darkness was just another part of Mel’s body and it understood it could hurt him somehow. Not likely, but Mel had gone from being fascinated with what could be going on in the young demon’s mind, to being (oddly) certain of its feelings and intentions. Like it wasn’t difficult anymore. A couple of times it poked Mel’s hand or chest or cheek, even attempting to hold his wrist the way Meliodas always did to check his pulse. 

“I have seven hearts,” the demon prince informed an infant with no knowledge of what a heart was. “I think you have seven too. Oh, don’t be disappointed. You’re plenty special. Hm, see - your eyes are so much more lively and beautiful than mine, even though they’re the same green. ‘No two beings are entirely the same.’ Nurse Grequiene explained it to me once.” 

He went through about 90 or so names before finding one that felt right. He apologized for not knowing any proper infant names as, according to one of his nannies, it was traditional and had been a big deal when the crown prince himself wasn’t given one to begin with.  Meliodas relayed as much of that conversation as he could remember: ‘There wouldn’t have been any of this fuss had you been given the chance to pick one out like all the other kids,’ he’d said, dabbing away at a stain on his bedroom floor. ‘We haven’t respected your father much since, as you know. The castle staff is nonexistent to him. As long as we stay out of the upper floors of the castle we’re never fired, just shuffled around or - well I shou- I won’t burden you with the details now, just know that what you say to us we will keep in confidence. That controlling bastard can only go so far. Remember that. Might have had to go drastic with that nasty rumor to get your sire to let you pick your name like all the other demon kids, but we did it, didn’t we?’

“Naturally, I pestered them for ages about what the rumor was. And it was more wild than I could have hoped for. Turns out! There were demons who dedicated that the goddess queen must have helped to create me after my father refused to let me be community-raised or to pick my own name after I was old enough to understand what that involved. They said I must not be a full demon, because if I was, why would he need to exert so much control over me and discard generations of tradition? Yeah. My father wasn’t pleased with that rumor. He couldn’t find the source, though. By the time he noticed it was just “everywhere,” supposedly, and he opted to pretend the whole situation never happened.” 

The baby listened with interest. The fingers playing with Mel’s golden locks yanked, and he leaned down to accommodate the little one’s stimming. 

“You know what else is interesting?” Inquisitive green eyes stared back at his, and despite its young age the babe looked very much as if eager to share in some conspiracy Mel was about to engage in. Even though it was just words, it could not be more delighted with them, and that was a power Meliodas reveled in. 

“I like you. I like you a lot. Even though I barely know you - I feel like I’m learning, don’t get me wrong. But it’s not like I just trust - or like - people on sight. This is . . . a new thing for me. Oh, and, thank you. I’m a little sleepy right now and can’t recall why, but I feel like I should be thanking you.” 

Let’s go to sleep now, okay? Sweet dreams! 

He didn’t know how many times he’d said that -

Before the thump of a hurried landing reverberated throughout the crawlspace. 

Hm?

Ah. That voice sounded familiar but he didn’t want to hear it. Babe in his arms, he retreated backward, sensing the presence was right about him. Sensing him.

“Hm? No, you’re safe! Come out, come here to me, I -”

“No. Go. Go away.”

“What? No - curses - Young Master!”

Meliodas hissed threateningly and stabbed at the hand reaching out for him with his darkness.

“He’s gone delusional . . . here, here -” 

Suddenly there was air moving freely around him and then he was landing, hard, on the wooden floor of the tower - not occurring to him that there was a trapdoor, he stared dumbfounded up at the familiar face that was rather completely ruining his nice evening.

“Ah - Young Master, put that back.”

“Wha…?”

Pointing at the precious babe in his arms. 

“Put that back, we need to go.”

“No, no, I’m not going anywhere. And there’s no way I’m leaving “that” here!”

Chandler looked at him as if he hadn’t heard or understood. “Young Master, you have to come with me. We must leave shortly.”

“No.”

“You have to. Now,” he repeated, looking downright frightened, but Meliodas only looked down at the precious bundle in his arms and shook his head wildly. The older man’s darkness locked tighter, tighter around Meliodas’s arms, the firm grip reminding Mel of his own hold on the child he’d just met, and he looked up, taking in his tutor’s face for the first time. Pleading. With all of his heart. 

“Please. I like it here.”

“Now is not the time for jokes. Darkness below, you . . .” The older man measured Meliodas’s face once more and, seeming to come to a conclusion, sighed. “Alright.”

His face split apart into a smile. “Thank you, Ch -”

And his vison went black. 

When he woke up, he woke up alone in his bedroom.

Yes, the training was a massive success, he proved quite sturdy. 

He did not move or attempt to get up. He was alone once more, that he knew, and in that moment, that was all he needed to know. 

I promised to protect . . .

I promised. I promised.

You put your hands on me. It wasn’t even training and you hurt me.

He had been out for quite some time, attended to by some very concerned staff at all times. He couldn’t find it in himself to be grateful, though he smiled and thanked them all the same when he finally regained the strength to do so. 

After all,

We have doomed a life to death.

“Meliodas?” 

The voice was tentative. Chandler - no, the old man - had done well in giving him his space, as Meliodas did not know himself if Chandler’s blood would not have stained the floor, should he have come close. 

He missed the fact he was called by name.

“Meliodas, I have some good news I know you’ll love.”

No, I’ll never love anything, ever again. 

And I’ll soon be dead. I refuse to live.

“Come to the throne room. Your father has promised a lovely surprise. Yes, I know it makes you anxious, but you have to go now. And I’m sure you’ll love it.”

He didn’t answer. Just silently dressed himself and walked out, the perfect picture of the poised, proper prince, all the way to the throne room. This would be the first of his father’s surprises to truly surprise him. Which is exactly how his father expected it. Everything would be how his father expected it. 

Again.

“You have a brother,” announced the Demon King. 

That jolted Meliodas right out of his thoughts fast enough that he almost made a facial expression. The Demon King laughed heartily. 

“He has passed the test, as you have, and I am proud to welcome him into the royal family. He has no name and nothing to call his own yet. You shall look after him from this point forward.” 

“I will do as you will. The task - it pleases me.” The response was somehow spoken in a steady tone despite the whirlwind of emotions making him want to sink to his knees and melt into a puddle of blessedly free liquid. “I’ve never had a brother before,” he tacked on, not really knowing how his father knew his brother was a brother and oh yeah, he didn’t care much for being considerate, did he? Oh fucking well. 

“I imagine so!” laughed his father. “Come here, child.”

Meliodas did so, and his father with his great statue plucked up a small bundle of cloths from the ground and placed it with insufficient caution in his sons (not waiting) arms. To his own horror, Meliodas caught the babe swiftly and in but a moment had it secure . . . cradling gently . . . just as he had with his little friend who at this very moment was surely dead and quite heartbroken. Hearts protesting this state of existence, and probably the fact he had forgotten air as a necessity, he sucked in air and practically choked on it.

His father laughed, genuinely amused at his carefully crafted son’s loss of composure. “What is the matter, son? Is he not to your liking? Ah! You haven’t even seen him yet. Yes, yes, let me take - that - off and let you see.” 

He peeled the blankets away and revealed a very annoyed-looking infant with striking green eyes. “The audacity . . .” Those eyes seemed to say. “What the fuck are you trying to do, kill me?” 

Meliodas took another deep breath.

“Fantastic, isn’t it?”

He said nothing, very much preferring to say nothing to that man and not caring if he couldn’t get away with it this time. The babe - his brother, though he should laugh at the thought. How could THAT possibly be? - had reached up to pull a strand of golden hair into his mouth. 

“His name is Zeldoris.” 

Those were the first words he had willingly spoken since regaining consciousness. 

And it was the first time he dared to smile in front of his father. It was an angry kind of smile. Something the Demon King deserved well and good. It spoke every bit of both Meliodas’s and Zeldris’s wrath toward being put in their situation. And it was gone as quickly as it came.

“Very good,” replied his father, who for god knows what reason seemed pleased his firstborn child was furious, and was definitely - as Mel decided later - oblivious to the real cause. “The servants will show you the appropriate room to put him in.”

~~

“Why is Meliodas refusing to speak to you?”

“I do not know, Master, but I imagine he is irritated as of late. His temper is quite something, and he sure knows how to direct his frustration.”

“Well, that is no worry at all. It’s not as if Zeldoris is getting older any faster, ha. Still. I didn’t assign him to you for you to be meek and docile and his personal punching bag. You better keep him in line, you hear? Don’t let me catch you making a fool out of that boy.”

“Yes, I know, Master. And your boy is no fool. I’m quite proud of him, actually.  He takes no insult sitting down. The soldiers shall fear his wrath and crave his - and yours by natural extension - approval.”

“Good. That is how it should be. And, if he does continue to treat you with such disrespect - or refuse to talk to you for any extended period of time -  tell me at once.”

“As you will, Master.”

~~

Meliodas’s resolve to never speak warmly to Chandler held firm. And Chandler did not say a word about it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Special thanks to @7-ratsinatrenchcoat for helping me figure out how I want to approach writing the wacky old man that is canon Chandler and special thanks to @zorria for previewing this for me to make sure it makes sense and is fit for Reader Consumption.

Let me know if you want me to clarify any of the plot for this one!

[mrsbsmooth]

Looking for my chaptered fics? Click here Want to sort by character? Click here

Places we won't be found - Lucas / OC - Lucas is in the witness protection program, Lauren's masquerading as his wife while she guards him. They hate each others' guts, and Lucas's attitude isn't helping. (10k+)

Where everything stands still - Ciaran / OC - Ruby's the Prime Minister's daughter and she's just been assigned a new security detail. As furious as she is, she can't help the butterflies that happen whenever a certain Sergeant's on duty. (7.5k)

All I Want for Christmas is You - Tom / OC - Royal AU, Enemies to Lovers, Second chance love. (23k+)

Deck the Halls (with scowls of Holly) - Lucas / OC - Coworkers Lucas and Holly have to plan the Christmas Party together. They have very different opinions on the way it should be done. (5.7k+)

Employee of the Month - Gary / OC - Gary has a new Boss, and she's not what he expected. (5k+)

Yesterday - Tim / OC - Famous rapper/DJ Big T got everything he ever wanted. Record deal, supermodels, a huge group of friends. He's happy - really - he swears he is. (5.5k+)

A Sign. Any Sign - Bruno / MC - Bruno likes Lana, but she only sees him as a friend... he thinks. Cue the heartrate challenge, where she's going to show him exactly how she feels. (1k+)

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The Alps - Lucas / Henrik - Lucas and Henrik cross paths in the alps (5k+)

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Delicate - Angie / OC - Paramedic Catalina wants to set Angie up with Talia. But seeing them together is making her feel... weird. (3.6k+)

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See you soon - Tim / MC - Tim and Mia have to decide which one of them will leave the island for good. It sure is lucky they're just friends, and there are no feelings involved. (1.5k)

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The Boys go on a trip - Lucas / Noah, Gary / Bobby / Rocco / Tai / Henrik - Lucas, Noah & others go camping, and take drugs for a new experience. Wow, does this get gay fast. (5.5k+)

Dylan's Redemption - General- After Love Island, Dylan's reputation is shot. His family's being targeted, and he needs to clean up his image. Luckily, an anonymous helper has a solution - Love (and Respect) Island University. (5.5k+)

Hook, Line, and Sinker - Graham / Marisol - Scheming Graham's perspective of Casa Amor (2.5k+)

Part of Your World - General - Seb gets trapped in the Disneyverse (5k+)

Touch nothing but the lamp - Bobby / Lottie - Bobby & Lottie swap bodies and shit gets real weird. There's magic involved. Oh boy. (5k+)

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Four Seconds - Bobby / OC - Lucas is Bree's soulmate, or is he? (2.3k+)

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if you want one of us - Lewie / MC - Mistaken identity - it was an accident - God, what will Ally say? (6.7k+)

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Sex on the Beach - Bruno / OC - Bruno drinks in 'Never Have I Ever'. Here's that story. (2.5k+)

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*Note: Mostly angst. Always a happy ending.

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For a Minute - Oliver / MC - Oliver sticks up for Ellie after Dylangate. (2.5k+)

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The colour that you are - Rocco / OC - His aura is a mess. Luckily, Freya can see that. (3.1k+)

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Cabernet Sauvignon - Jake / Talia / MC - Jake comes for a visit. Talia and Zoe decide he needs a new experience. It backfires. (4.3k)

Customer Service - Marshall / MC - Marshall's dream car pulls into the garage. His dream girl is in it. (6.4k+)

Dasvid Anya- Finn / MC - Finn's exhibitionist kink that Anya's only too happy to indulge. (1.5k+)

Electromagnetic - Carl / OC - Carl's a Star Trek captain, and likes to experiment with the holodeck. (3k+)

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Filthy - Andy/Hamish/Marshall / MC - Alexis hasn’t found what she’s looking for in the villa. Maybe Casa will be… more her speed. (8.8k+)

Finn-ish- Finn / MC - Keira gets the shower scene we all deserved (2.4k)

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IGFBSGITMPAAIGWTFWAM - Finn / MC - Saoirse's got a front row spot and she'll do anything to keep it. (1.5k+)

if I get burned, at least we were electrified - Alfie / MC - Alfie's done with walking on eggshells. He wants her, and he's going to have her. (3k+)

I just wanna love you, baby - Alex/MC Every time they'd had the opportunity to 'do bits', Alex had… done the honours. Well, now, it was his turn. (4.7k+)

Jets- Roberto / MC - Sexy pilot has an interesting idea in the hot tub (3.2k+)

Lady Grifferley's Lover - Noah / OC - Noah & Bronte are audiobook narrators. The book gets spicy. (6.8k+)

Let me be your woman - Ozzy / OC - Ozzy's celebrity fling in the dance studio (5k+)

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Men of Particular Interests - Noah / Bobby / Lucas - Noah & Lucas meet Bobby in a BDSM bar. They've finally met their match. (3k+)

Mrs Robinson - Felix / Dylan's Mum - It's his lucky day. (4.5k+)

Repetition. - Jake / OC - Professor Wilson is trying to grade papers, but Adriana's got something else in mind (1.7k+)

Tom's Game - Tom / Priya - Nasty, privileged fuckboy Tom meets his match in the villa. (3.5k+)

[rachelsfav-queer]

Okg I feel like little Raven has been forgotten omg 😭

Really? Oops lol

We can never forget little Raven! We’ve done so much to flesh out her backstory and personality! So, why don’t we do a little refresher!

Before little Raven was haunting a raven plushie that Baby Wednesday carries around everywhere, she was a Sinclair, specifically an aunt of Enid’s. Though she died in a tragic accident before Enid was born and when she died, she possessed a raven plushie that belonged to her younger sister.

The younger sister loved that plushie more than anything, as it was a gift from her older sister. So she always carried it around and when her sister died, she couldn’t explain it and couldn’t prove it, but she swore there was something different about the plushie. It felt like her sister.

Now, werewolves aren’t the most spiritually inclined creatures and so just as much as the younger sister couldn’t prove that her sister was haunting the stuffed animal, the older sister didn’t know how to be a spirit haunting an object and so couldn’t tell her sister that she was there.

And so, the decades pass and the younger sister holds on to that raven plushie, taking care of it and keeping it safe from any damage.

Eventually, the younger sister has children, little pups of her own and they grow up too. Her other sister, the oldest and therefore the matriarch of the pack, has children of her own too once her own have already grown. She’d never liked her oldest sister, much closer to her sister now passed on.

One day though, the younger sister grows ill, a disease common amongst werewolves yet there is no cure. Her husband and children mourn her coming death, but she is content, thinking that she’ll see her older sister once again. So, wanting to be kind, she passes the possessed plushie to her oldest daughter, though she doesn’t feel worthy of it.

When the sister passes, her daughter struggles with what to do with the plushie. Until, her younger cousin comes to her, looking for help getting a gift for one of her girlfriends. Knowing then what to do, she gives her the plushie.

And so, we have the beginning of little Raven’s story with Baby Wednesday. Enid gives little Raven to her not long after Yoko joined their relationship and though Wednesday had begun to grow softer, she had yet to engage in age regression. Now Wednesday, being much more spiritually inclined, immediately figures out that something is possessing the stuffed animal.

And so, Wednesday goes on to try and communicate with the spirit. It takes a long time, especially because the spirit doesn’t know how to communicate yet. By the time they first make contact, Wednesday is already age regressing and the first time little Raven talks, Wednesday is in little space.

The two quickly form an incredibly strong bond and become best friends. Wednesday had already come up with the nickname little Raven so the spirit never finds a reason to tell her real name and therefore, never really explains her story. Wednesday never asks anyway.

And so, we have the power duo of the Baby Wednesday AU, little Raven and Baby Wednesday! BEST FRIENDS FOREVER!!!

Little Raven begins to see Baby Wednesday as a second chance. She may not be able to see her own sister again, but she can care for and support Wednesday as if she were her sister. And little Raven takes that role very seriously, too seriously sometimes. She has so much guilt about what happened with her younger sister and the fact that she wasn’t there to protect her like she should’ve and that translates to when she’s unable to help Wednesday with certain things.

She berates herself and spirals into self-hatred that she has no way of understanding or coping with since she was so young when she died.

All of this is why she’s still stuck inside the raven plushie. She can never move on unless she resolves all the guilt.

Will she ever be able to move on? We may never know but every day she spends with Wednesday and her girlfriends, the niece she never got to know and the vampire who completed the puzzle for the two, the closer little Raven gets to forgiving herself. Maybe, one day long into the future, when Wednesday is lying in her final days, they’ll talk one last time. And Wednesday will tell little Raven how much she means to her and how much she helped her.

And in that moment, little Raven can forgive herself.

And finally, two best friends will pass on together and when they reach that other side, they’ll go their separate ways. The seer to be with her wives and the raven to be with her sister.

And peace will come to them all.

Umm oops, I made it sad again… really don’t know how I keep doing that. Someone really needs to take away writing privileges from me lol. Um so sorry for how tear-jerking this was!

Happy Ending….. right?

[thatfinewine]

It took a moment before a look of realization trickled down over Rick’s face, followed quickly by a sudden rush of horror. His eyes widened and his mouth parted but no words came out.

As his arm tensed to slam the door, a booted foot planted itself in the way and stopped it with little effort. Rick’s other arm swung, hand aiming for the panic button next to the doorframe, encased in glass to keep Jerry from accidentally pressing it — as if glass had ever stopped Jerry before — but the newcomer’s hand shot out into his way and knocked him off course. Prime, looking exactly the same as the last day Rick had seen him, leaned forward through the doorway and let himself in, forcing Rick back one step, then two. His presence made him feel so much taller than he already was, like he’d grown half a foot since his absence, and fear that Rick hadn’t known in quite a long while gripped his heart like an ice-cold, metal vice.

The sound of glass shattering was Rick’s only warning before his perfectly crafted metal exoskeleton enclosed the house, locking them all inside with the intruder that the damn thing was built to keep out. Prime let his fist fall away from the panic button back to his side, and he took another two steps in, cowing Rick back even farther. He shut the door behind him with a dramatic slowness that looked fitting of a Hollywood set.

Everything happened in less than five seconds, from the moment Rick’s hand had touched the doorknob to now, but it felt damn near like ten agonizing minutes.

“C-137,” he said with a small, lopsided grin. His tone was casual but it had an underlying thread of tension that only otherwise showed through in his eyes. “It’s been a while.”

Rick had always fantasized that if they’d get another chance to meet face to face, that he’d be quick-thinking and ready, smart-mouthed and slick as he drew his weapon and incapacitated the other man.

Turned out thirty years of playing out scenes in your head just didn’t actually count for practice. Rick’s tongue felt glued to the floor of his mouth, and his head was pathetically empty of a single word to say, rehearsed or candid. It was like he’d forgotten every language he’d ever learned, like he’d never attempted to speak aloud before in his goddamn life.

“Rick?!” Came Morty’s voice, rightfully worried, as he rushed to the entryway. “Rick, who— wh-who was at the door? Why’d the se-security system—”

Rick watched as Prime’s eyes broke contact with his own and glanced just past his ear, and he knew, he just knew, that they were locking with Morty’s.

“—engage…” Morty’s words fell flat, no longer a question.

Just like the day he’d lost them, Rick felt like time had just… stopped. Like he was trapped in a hellish freeze-frame, tortured with being fully conscious the entire time but unable to move a finger on his own.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - ✂

idk I started writing an AU and I just really like dramatic tension, lmao eventually Prime and C-137 were gonna smooch. = 3=

been kinda MIA on here, oops

blame any and all prickcest on @potetosaradas, my eyes have been opened and can never be closed again

[neirmetes]

Welcome to another round of: Neirmetes’ Demonstrably Niche Fanfic Idea that they may or may not even write depending on public interest

Today we have a fairly simple one, and its a Macaque x Reader

So have you ever heard of the Count of Monte Cristo? Regardless of if you’ve read the book or watched a movie or whatever other form of media it's been reincarnated as, allow me to lay down the basics. Fair warning, I do not know how to summarize things quickly.

Basically its a story about a man (Edmund Dantes) framed by two close people in his life (three technically but the other guy barely really counts) and sent to prison for treason. He meets an incredibly intelligent man in prison. As they make efforts towards their prison escape, they become closer; like a father and son. The intelligent old man then bequeaths onto Edmund an island with an enormous amount of wealth, since he believed he would not survive to make the escape. Spoiler: he did not in fact survive to make the escape.

Now here’s where our protagonist overlaps with our favorite antagonist, Edmund uses this second chance at life and newly acquired power to exact his revenge onto those who had wronged him. The wording was deliberately written to be familiar, and draw parallels between Edmund and Macaque.

And here is where I move this towards the x Reader genre

What I left out is that Edmund had a fiancé- the beautiful Mercedes, and was set to marry her right before he was thrown in jail. When he escaped, he later learned that his beloved had married one of the very people responsible for his imprisonment. For the fic, the Reader takes the place of Mercedes; a lover who never found out what truly happened to her other half. When she dies, she reincarnates and ends up with SWK in present time (oops love triangle). And so the revenge ploy starts. 

Now in the book, Edmund handles this questionably; I personally have an interpretation that works better for the purposes of this fic. What’s important to take away right now is that Edmund never stopped loving Mercedes, and knows she’s innocent in this. But because of her connections with his enemy, she’s still heavily affected. Remember that for later

I do plan for this to be a full-on AU in order to include fun stuffs from the Count of Monte Cristo while incorporating stuffs from LMK. I might change some character’s roles, and others might completely undergo a makeover. (I’m looking at you LBD) And a part of me wants to also end it on a bittersweet/angsty note by leaning into the sun wukong x reader a bit more.

If you thought the love triangle trope can only be about tough choices and miscommunications, you are sorely lacking in imagination, my friend. Because I’m about to make it hurt

[coeluvr]

Incorrect Quotes

No one tagged me I just really wanted to do it and this way you guys get to kind of see what the relationship between the characters are like :D I guess it's modern au time.

Used this generator ✨️

•

Fadiya: *eating a cinnamon roll*

Helios: Cannibalism.

Fadiya: *confused chewing noises*

•

Hunter: I wanna sleep for 40 hours.

Fadiya: You know that's called a coma, right?

Hunter:

Hunter: That sounds so refreshing, I could totally go for a light coma right now.

•

Soarine: WHOEVER CAUSED THIS MESS IS GOING TO-

Fadiya: It was me...

Soarine: ...Is going to be forgiven because everyone deserves a second chance.

•

Vincent: Can I have some water?

Fadiya: *starts chugging their water bottle*

Fadiya: *chokes from drinking too fast*

Fadiya: *spills water all over themself*

Fadiya, coughing: I don't have any water.

•

Helios: This is horrible! This is the most humiliating thing to ever happen to me!

Hunter: Oh-? Even more humiliating than-

Helios: We are not doing this!

•

Soarine: I'm not mean. Name one mean thing I’ve ever done.

Helios: When we were younger, you convinced me eggs weren't real.

Soarine: They're not.

Helios: Haha, very funny.

Soarine: I'm serious. Didn't you hear?

Helios: No... what happened?

Soarine: ...Why would you fall for this again-

•

Vincent: Given the circumstances, I will let you hug me for four to five seconds.

Helios: Forty five seconds?!?

Vincent: No! I said four TO five seconds.

Helios, hugging Vincent: Too late.

•

Hunter: Do you think I’m ugly?

Soarine: It’s not about looks, Hunter. What’s valuable is on the inside...

Hunter: Soarine...

Soarine: For example, someone's heart.

Hunter: Aw... Stop it-

Soarine: It could be purchased for more than a million dollars, you know.

Hunter: Seriously, stop.

•

Hunter: Get your hand off my shield!

Vincent: There's like a million other shields.

Hunter: Take that one, it has a flower on it. Girls like flowers.

Vincent: *hits Hunter with the shield* Oops! Now this one has blood on it.

•

Soarine: Don’t go picking a fight with me. I could make your life difficult.

Vincent, sarcastically: Wow. I wonder what it’d be like to have a difficult life.

•

Luceris: You’ve got to learn to love yourself.

Lancelot: But don't you hate yourself.

Luceris: Yeah, but this is about you. Stay focused.

•

Lancelot: You saved me! Why?

Ikram: People would think I murdered you if I didn't.

•

Ikram: What do I get?

Luceris: A night of fashion, mischief, mayhem, and possible death.

Ikram: Ooh, check, check, and check; not sure about that last one.

Luceris: It won't be you.

Ikram: I'll get my coat.

•