#or something like that. and so its been great background for baking

[castielafflicted]

using my fucking youtube music library instead of spotify because my roommate and I are halfway through my 8.5 hour long playlist on shuffle and I refuse to have to reshuffle the playlist.

[butchvampireheimerdinger]

can we get butchfemme sevika/reader hcs please :3

GAWD yes. Lord, I've been waiting for this day lessgo

ButchFemme Sevika/Reader Headcanons

⚢ In typical butch fashion, her love language is acts of service

⚢ Loves to be fawned over ! Like “Omfg babe you’re sooo strong helping me put together furniture” and trust she is melting even though her face is expressionless and immoveable

⚢ She likes when you graze your long nails over her skin for back scratches and its all nice and light and tingly

⚢ She’s not much of a prettyboy (prettybutch…?) so she doesn’t really have a skincare routine but you have an extensive regimen so she memorizes all ur million little bougie products and gets you an extra to keep at ur place so you don’t have to eff up your skincare routine in favor of spontaneous sleepovers

⚢ Yeah she’s not too particular about her grooming in general. She lets you cut her hair even if you’re not super experienced with clippers. She still hypes you up even if you nick her ear when doing up her side shave/undercut.

“Oops! Sorry babe I think I got your ear…”

“Didn’t even feel it. You’re doing great baby keep going.”

⚢ On that note, pet names: For Sevika, its baby alll dayyyyyy ! She calls you baby, my girl, my pretty girl, my woman, etc. And as for what you call her, she always loves a “omg babe” moment. And “settle down there, cowboy” but in like a jesting sorta way. Also: “my butch.”

⚢ Stone top/pillow princess anybody?

⚢ Also: she’s ur cash cow. She loves buying you expensive shit and showing you off and showing off the expensive shit. You breathed in the direction of a particularly nice perfume? Surprise! It’s in your bathroom the following day. Like. It’s a theme. Especially in ur pre-relationship courting era. “Baby anything you want I get for you. Say the word I’ll buy for you the moon, the stars, et cetera, no one can provide for you like I can” blah blah blah

⚢ But you can’t be interrupting her card games tho. She’s like a teenage boy on the xbox with those things. Probs something to be worried about tbh.

⚢ And I’ve written this into a fanfic already, but that bitch wears boyshorts. I was thinking boxers for a while but I think that would be too much bulk over them skinny little plants she wears. I am a Sevika boyshorts TRUTHER

⚢ And she works out. Matter of fact, forget the prettybutch comment because Sevika WORKS OUTTT and I think she has resistance bands. Like she goes to an actual gym but around the house you’ll find her repping with those damn resistance bands to relieve stress or just cause she sees them and remembers.

⚢ And she works out to like. Classical music. Cause she’s a classy mothafuckaaa just absolutely getting ripped and her face is in a scary ass sneer but there's like ode to joy in the background

⚢ You pack her lunch. She gets flamed at work cause her paper bag is covered in lil hearts and stickers and kissy lipstick marks and its filled with sugary baked goods like pink sparkly cupcakes and fruity pastries cause u can’t cook. But by gawd u can bake.

⚢ That being said, she’s the cook in the relationship. Especially when it comes to meat. It’s problematic. Sevika’s version of “girl dinner” is straight up protein. Her typical meal is like. A rotisserie chicken + hard boiled eggs. It made you gasp the first time you saw her pull out one of her meal prep tins and it was just that.

⚢ Oh yeah and she meal preps

⚢ Claims she “doesn’t get sick” because her “immune system is just built different.”

⚢ When she does get sick, she refuses to chill out and let herself be sick and she tries to speedrun her way to health by taking too much vitamin C and then working out and cranking the heat to “sweat it out quicker.”

⚢ She knits to relieve stress

⚢ Sleeps topless and in undies. And a wife pleaser tank if its chilly.

[atrirose]

⠀⠀⠀ ONLY FOR YOU ε🪴⁺ you making them flustered

synopsis : things you do that makes them flustered

ft . bf ! enha x f ! r cw. kissing, skinship .. sfw, fluff ✶ wc. 1k ◜ ◝ seiu : hope you enjoy ^^ its the enha pov of my pervious post that ik i did long back but its alright.

HEESEUNG

his hearts melt when you reassure him, tell him you are proud of him or compliment him, he is a sucker for it, could be any moment and he would just turn into a puddle for it.

he looked at you in disbelief as you emptied his portion of cake that he baked “yn, that was mine you already had yours” he pout, on the verge of tears “baby you baked so good it was so yummy i couldn’t control myself sorry but you are such a great cook” if he had a tail it would have been wagging right now “you think so? oh my okay you know what i will make more for you, im glad you liked it” he rubbed his cheeks on yours , while you celebrated escaping that.

“i’m proud of you hee” you plop yourself next to him as he put his head down on your lap “you did great out there” after a long day work these words are his favorite to hear, it makes it all worth it. he looks at you big eyed

“you make everything fade into the background”

JAY

pda and sweet or flirty messages always gets him smiling, though jay likes to keep it nonchalant and cool on the exterior but if you hold his hand or kiss his cheek in the public his ears will turn read despite his best efforts to stay cool “we are in public my love” he whispers “so what” you smile.

also giggles when you text him, tries his best to not show or answer your text in a fraction of a second and focus on his work but he fails miserably everytime “today was so tiring, i want to stay home with you always” collapses on you, hugging you tight “and you are a meanie too, teasing me like that” you giggled at his whiny voice “you can always come home jay”

“i could spend a lifetime just watching you.”

JAKE

being centre of attention by you, he loves attention but from you only, it makes him giddy “then this step was a little difficult but i worked hard on it, so i guess im good now, maybe?” you were doing your work but jake bust in to show his new dance to you so of course you had to give up everything and watch him “it’s really clean jake you did a great job” you got up from the sofa and pecked his cheek.

his whole face got red, not like you haven’t kissed his cheek before but nothing gets him like you sweet compliments and your dreamy eyes giving him 100 percent of your attention, even if he is trying to pull something stupid.

“i must be dreaming because there's no way you're real.”

SUNGHOON

wearing clothes he picked out, sunghoon takes pride in knowing his girl better than anyone, no surprise he picks up on your dislikes and likes, he tries his best to style something that makes you feel like the most beautiful “i was out yesterday and i thought this white dress would look great on but then i saw this necklace and then i thought its the prefect match so here” he smiles,“thank you so much i love these kind of dresses you know me so well” you hug him, inner him is jumping and rolling.

“i’m ready hoon let’s go” he turns back to see you wearing the dress he bought you “oh my goodness, how can you look so beautiful effortlessly” you giggle at his compliments, he is a gone case, a loser if you may, for you. totally smitten and starstruck.

“how am I supposed to look at anything else after seeing you like this?”

SUNOO

loves handmade gift, it gets his heart racing, he feels the most special when you sit to crochet after learning it online, even though the heart bag looks more like a square he would accept it lovingly, in fact he is the most happiest you would ever see him, he would be seen with that bag at every given moment “i love it no please” he said as you tried to take back the bag “but it’s embarrassing sunoo” , he is the type to have all your handmade cards and notes stacked in a box, polaroids of you and him, all your favorite memories to look back to.

“anything you make for me is never embarrassing, i will treasure everything with my whole heart”

JUNGWON

making direct eye contact or looking at him heart eyes when he is talking, nothing gets him all blushing mess, ears red, hiding his face like you do, you always look at him lovingly, humming and nodding, listening carefully. randomly touching his cheeks or tucking his hair behind his ears, gracing his ears “go on hun”

“no” he said burying his head in his hands, all flustered and red “why not” you giggled “because you are teasing me” he huffed glaring at you “stop playing yn”

“sorry won you just look so beautiful when you talk” you bite his cheeks “ow meanie” — “what were you going to say”

“you are so stunning i forgot what i was going to say”

RIKI

pulling him by his tie to kiss him , him being tall is extra fun when he can tease you when you try to kiss him “riki please” you tip toe to reach his lips only for him to smirk and not help you “please what yn?” you pout at his smug face boasting his height “bend down” you pulled on his tie which caught him off guard, your lips smacked on his.

his hands snaked around your waist to pull you closer him, your body flushed with his, your hands still gripping his tie “you can really make anything possible huh?” he giggled , cheeks red “you can let my tie go now” he tired to free his tie trying to hide the fact his heart is beating so fast “now you get how it feels to me teased” his hands still on your waist, he kissed your cheeks.

“how did i get so luck to be with someone like you”

[hoonieyun]

meet the potential and future lovebirds!

welcome to, "is he mr. right?", the dating game! where a lucky girl who is looking for love has the opportunity to go on a date with four handsome and eager bachelor's who are also looking for love.

this is an interactive dating show au where the readers can vote on "yn's" decisions, ultimately leading to who she will be with at the end... but more on that later!

heeseung 𐐪♡𐑂 jongseong 𐐪♡𐑂 jaeyun 𐐪♡𐑂 sunghoon

warnings: nothing really? maybe like judgemental glances and awkward tension? lmk if i miss something, 18+ not proofread lol!

wc: 2571

episode one: meet the potential and future lovebirds

“welcome! welcome! i’m your host, the love guru, and today we’ve got a great lineup of people who are looking to find the love of their lives!” the host of the dating show, “is he mr. right?” says to the audience, a roar of applause erupts within the room as she addresses the crowd. the host was beautiful, big bouncy hair and a bright smile as the spotlight found its way to her. waving and greeting some audience members. 

“let’s get right into it, shall we?” the love magician says as she further hypes up the crowd. “now let’s go over how this show works…

we bring in a lovely contestant who we call “the dove” and she will have the opportunity to get to know our bachelors before she chooses who she wants to go on a date first. once she’s able to go on a date with each bachelor; she’ll have the chance to make her final pick on who her mr. right will be! and with the help of you guys at home and in the live audience, you all will be able to vote on who you think she should choose as her mr. right! 

got it? good, because i’m not repeating myself.” 

the host jokingly says and a successful applause and laughter can be heard in response. 

“now, let’s bring in our dove! every one please give a warm welcome to YN!” the love guru says, waving her hand around as a wall rises, revealing you. 

you were fairly nervous, you weren’t entirely sure why you were going on a dating show so soon after your breakup but your friends pushed you to do it, having signed you up without your knowledge and by the time it came around you were too deep into it to back out. you had to do several background checks and interviews with the show's producers before you were even chosen but it seemed like you were the right pick for them because the producers loved your energy and smile. your friends had convinced you to go further with the interviews and before you knew it, you were willing to go along with all of it. 

even when you would tell your friends that maybe it’s too soon to get back into dating, they would all roll their eyes and remind you that it’s almost been a year since the breakup and that you need to put yourself out there. 

so here you are now, standing behind a levitating wall and waiting for the dating show host who calls herself “the love guru” to introduce you and begin the show. 

your nerves were through the roof because not only has it been a long time since you’ve dated but you never thought that it would be on a dating show of all things– your heart was beating in your ears when suddenly the wall in front of you was raised and you’re met with bright lights and and the sounds of applause drown out the sound of your own heartbeat. 

in almost an instant you snap into a different person, like your show mode just activates. 

a smile spreads across your face as you carefully walk down the stairs, waving at the audience and taking in all of the cheers and welcome from the audience. 

“you are so beautiful, yn! are you ready to find mr. right?” the love guru asks you and you nodded, your smile widening as your eyes squint just a bit as you adjust to the lighting.

"so, yn.. tell us a little bit about yourself?" the host asks you as you’re waving to everyone cheering you on.

"well.. i like to read books, baking, and taking long walks to the bank because my future man better have a hefty bank account." you joke with the audience and to your surprise they accept your humor just fine as you were a bit scared that it wouldn’t come out as a joke and you didn’t want to be seen as a gold digger. 

“perfect answer! now, tell us why you are on this show?” the host asks and you explain your somewhat long history of dating and what ultimately got you on the show. the crowd ooh’d and aww’d at your story of how your last relationship ended because the two of you just couldn’t see eye to eye on where your relationship was going. 

you wanted to have more freedom in your life and felt that you were too young to settle down but your ex was ready to do just that. he often would talk about your life in the future, having a family, buying your dream house, and raising your family until the two of you became old and wrinkly. 

and although it sounded nice, you weren’t ready for that and it seemed like it was all moving too fast. so you ended up breaking off your year and a half long relationship and fast forward 8 months; here you are now ready to find your mr. right. 

“what are you looking for in a man?” the love guru asks. 

“aside from a man that has a wallet that’s heavy–” you joke once again. 

“i want someone who understands me the way my best friends do, someone who is honest and smart, maybe a little shy? but he likes being outgoing with me.. 

oh! and a guy who knows how to communicate and has a good hold on his emotions. i’m not looking for someone perfect because i wanna grow with him but i’m also not here to look for someone who has no idea of who he is.” you confidently respond and you earn nods and smiles from the audience, indicating that they either agree or find your answer admirable. 

“love these answers, yn! we’ve got some really cute bachelor’s lined up for you so why don’t you put these sound proof headphones on as we introduce our bachelor’s to our audience!” the love guru instructs as you take the headphones from one of the assistants, sliding it onto your head carefully so you don’t ruin your hair. 

you were excited to get to know the bachelor’s because eventually they’d be someone you were going to go on a date with and potentially be your future boyfriend. the audience smiled and laughed at you as you slightly danced around to the music playing through the headphones. 

“isn’t she cute, guys?” the love guru asks the audiences and they all cheer. 

“alright! let’s get to know our bachelor’s and potentially, yn’s future mr. right!” she says and with tv magic, four guys suddenly appear, all of them sitting on stools and waving to the audience present in the studio. 

“ok! let’s go down the line! please introduce yourself, starting with you.” the love guru says, gesturing to the first guy sitting on the stool from the left. 

“um.. hi guys. my name is sunghoon.” he says timidly with a tightlipped smile and the love guru just knows the girls in the audience and at home are swooning at his shy demeanor. “tell us sunghoon, what are you looking for?” the love guru asks, trying to get more information out of the shy boy for television purposes. 

“um..” he begins, scratching his head slightly. “i’m not sure.. i want her to be sweet and nice.. i think?” sunghoon says and as the audience oohs and awws at his response, a shade of pink spreads across his cheeks as he gets shy from their reactions. 

“well, best of luck to you sunghoon! maybe our dove can bring you out of your shell.” she teases and he just nods with a small smile. sunghoon wasn’t completely sure why he ever decided to be on this show. he wasn’t the most outgoing person and truly he only had a few friends who have ever witnessed his true persona. he was shy, there was no hiding that, but he was looking for someone he can be himself around. 

someone who wouldn’t force him to be outgoing and would welcome his naturally timid demeanor to the point where he’d be comfortable enough around them so that he could slowly but surely, show more of his personality. a lot of sunghoon’s friends say that he’s funny and a sweet guy and that any girl would be lucky to have him as their boyfriend; but sunghoon thinks his shyness was a curse. sure, some girls found it cute at first but the longer they realized he was shy and not just putting on an act, they’d lose interest just as fast as they got it. 

he just wants someone to get him. 

“alright, your turn! tell us about yourself, fluffy hair!” the love guru once again gestures to the next guy and he chuckles at her nickname for him. his soft and slightly curly hair does make it look like he’s extra fluffy and the audience definitely agrees as they all cheer for the cute nickname. 

“hi everyone, my name is jake, im from australia and i’m here to not only be someone’s mr. right but to be their mr. forever.” jake announces and his thick australian accent instantly has all of the girls in the audience melting. his voice was like silk and everyone was instantly entranced. 

“love the accent! what brings you over here?” the love guru asks. 

“to find love. i want to settle down and start living my dream world with my dream girl.” jake explains and he’s slightly startled when the audience erupts in adoration for him. his head whips around from looking at the host to the audience and although he can barely see them because of the bright stage lights, he can make out a few smiles in the crowd. 

“well mr. aussie, let’s see if our dove is ready to live with you in your dream world as your dream girl!” she says enthusiastically before moving to the next bachelor. 

jake was ready. for all of it. he’s wanted to settle down and build a family for a while now but after his last failed relationship he had to reevaluate a lot of his decisions. was he ready to settle down? he was so young but that’s what he wanted. 

he wanted to live in his dream home with his dream girl and build the family of his dreams so they could all live happily. sure it may seem a bit immature to imagine such a fairytale life, but that’s what he wanted and hopefully this show will be the start of that. 

“you know the drill, tell us about yourself.” she says shortly as she arrived to the third bachelor. “what’s up, everyone. i’m heeseung and i know i’m going to be mr. right.- looking beautiful by the way miss love guru.” he says while flashing his smile and twinkling eyes. the audience absolutely falls in love with him. 

his charm was on a different love and heeseung just oozed a different type of confidence that the show hadn’t seen prior. “why, thank you.” she responds. 

“but flattery will get you nowhere, i’m not the dove.” she teases and the audience laughs at her joke while heeseung nods and chuckles, his laugh causing the audience to fall even deeper for him. they look at him adoring as the spotlight seems to shine so much brighter on him than the previous bachelors. 

“what are you looking for in a girl?” she asks and heeseung’s face slightly contorted with thought. 

“someone my parents would be proud of. i want them to look at my future wife and think about all the ways they can brag to the world about how i’ve got the best wife.” heeseung says and although the answer wasn’t traditional in the slightest, the love guru nods her head in response. 

was she impressed with the answer? sure. was it slightly strange? a bit!

the audience however, didn’t care. they were going to love anything that heeseung said because he was just so charming and alluring, he had the audience eating out of his palm. 

heeseung was somewhat known as a playboy within his friend circle. sure he’s only had 1 or 2 girlfriends but he was known to be a serial dater. it may seem like a bad thing but he doesn’t think. unashamed that he’s gone on several dates because he was looking for the right girl. he wanted to make sure that the girl he’d be marrying was the one his parents also wanted him to marry. 

it’s where his charm came from. his parents always boasted about how good of a son he was, bragging to his relatives about his intelligence, successes, and prowess. it was only fair that heeseung also found someone his parents would be proud of. 

“last in line, hello hello! tell us a bit about yourself.” she says once again and the last guy clears his throat before answering and the room is dead silent. his presence alone was so strong that the audience couldn’t help but have their mouths agape. he was handsome with sharp features paired with a mysterious aura that surrounded him. 

“hey, i’m jay.” he says, short and sweet. 

although he didn’t have much to say, the audience swooned at his cool demeanor and laid back vibe. incomparison to sunghoon who had received a few awkward glances for his short response because of his shyness, jay received heart eyes from the crowd because they found him to be mysterious, like he was a puzzle to be solved. 

“we’ve got a few shy ones in the cast this time huh?” she says, looking directly into the camera and as if on cue, the audience erupts in laughter. “nah, not shy. just saving myself for the dove.” jay speaks up and although he wasn’t necessarily addressed by the love guru; his confidence in answering her regardless of being referenced made the audience want to know even more about him. 

“well! there you have it! our four bachelors and one of them will be our dove’s mr. right! tune in next week for the question and answer portion and first rounds of voting on who you, at home, think she should go on a date first!” the love guru says and continues to go on about the show's logistics. the first episode is typically the shortest as it only includes introductions while the rest of the episodes would play out a lot longer. 

jay tunes her out once she steps away and does her job as a host to close out the show. he was slightly relieved that she didn’t ask any questions further and wasn’t a victim of the audiences judging glances like the first guy. he felt bad for him because he could tell that he was just shy and wasn’t deserving of the perception of the audience for one instance. 

jay wasn’t sure what he was looking for in a girl nor did he know what he was even doing here. he had a lot to go through in his head and he somehow found himself on a dating show. he was trying to understand who he was as a person and he assumed that what better way to get to know yourself than through the lense of someone who loves you right? 

surely, he’d find love one way or another. 

𐐪♡𐑂 next ep

hoonieyun notes: first ep is out wooo!! i wanted to keep what number each enha member would a mystery because moving forward, they will be referred to as bachelor's 1-4 instead of their names. only i will know which number they are so you guys will also be playing into the mystery of who yn will end up going on a date with when you guys vote! also updates will be every saturday at 6pm pst <3

copyright 2025 - present © hoonieyun all rights reserved all writing here is fiction & not in any association with characters mentioned. if you enjoyed reading this please consider reblogging and following <3

ᡣ•.•𐭩♡ @pagemiah @jiiyen @jnysaln @xh01bri @rairaiblog @laurradoesloveu @17ericas @manaah02 @heeseung64 @zorange13 @firstclassjaylee @leipforggy

@berries-n-blues @simsungsims @softpia @enhastolemyheart @ilovbeshotaro @zwithae

[nr1chaedickrider]

the love that had been simmering all summer.

Sana can't stop thinking about that cute customer - you can't stop thinking about that cute coffee shop owner.

happy late sana day <3, just some fluff, listen to this while reading!

men dni

Ring. Ring. Ring.

You wake up, your rather annoying and distracting alarm clock ringing in the background as you are slightly blinded by the morning sun. You rub your eyes with your hands, then slowly roll over and look at your phone to turn off your alarm.

'9 AM' is written large on your phone. You sit up and look around your room, unpacked boxes are in the corner, your sheets are half on the floor.

You sigh and get up to take a shower.

Your clothes fall to the floor as you take them off. You turn on the water and stand under it. It's cold first, but slowly turns to a pleasant warmth.

You look into your empty fridge as you dry your hair. Your plan was actually to make breakfast - but you couldn't do it without coffee or any food. So you scroll through your phone to look for a café near you.

'Café Milano', a rather new café just a few minutes away from you.

You get dressed and close the door behind you.

-

A small bell rings as you open the door of the café, after a few seconds you notice the pleasant and calm music coming from a record in the background. You look around and close the door behind you, its a rather small café, plants and vintage posters hanging on the walls, a corner with a bookshelf, many tables to sit together or alone.

"Good morning!" a woman greets you with a huge smile, her voice full of energy even though the morning has only just begun. She has a brown apron tied around her white shirt and is leaning against the counter, her brown, rather longer hair is tied back in a ponytail.

"Good morning" you reply, perhaps you took too much time answering - because she giggles like a little girl, but somehow it makes you smile as you walk up to her.

"Do I look so beautiful that you have to look at me like that?" she asks playfully. You laugh, "maybe?".

You look at the menu hanging above the counter.

"What can you recommend if you've just moved here and want to try something new?" you ask and she thinks about it.

"That's a good question. Well, I can recommend the marocchino, a rather sweet espresso with a little Nutella, and maybe one of our home-baked croissants?" she replies, you have no idea what a marocchino is, or what's inside of the home-baked croissants, but you agree anyway.

"Sounds great," she smiles.

"Sit down and I'll bring it to you" you nod and sit down at a single seat, after 5 minutes your coffee and croissant arrive, "Enjoy your meal" she says and goes back to the counter as a few other customers come in.

As you start to eat, you realize how good the coffee actually tastes, just like the croissant. A perfect breakfast for your first morning in Milano.

"It was really good," you say as you go to her to pay. "You should advertise this café a lot more," you add. She smiles again, that warm smile that makes you study her features even more.

"There are lots of other delicious things, maybe you should try the other things sometime" she replies with a wink as you pay for your food. "Maybe" you say, pocketing your money, but before you leave you turn back to her.

"What's your name?"

"Sana, Minatozaki Sana," you're the one with the big smile this time.

"Y/n." you say and walk out of the café, Sana looking after you as the door opens and closes with a ding.

-

"I didn't know you could fall in love so easily," Jihyo says as she leans against the wall and lights her cigarette and takes a drag.

Sana sighs, "I'm not in love! But..."

"But?" asks Jihyo, looking to Sana and offering her a puff, but she declines with a quick shake of her head and a smile. Her hands are in the pocket of her apron.

"She's just so pretty"

"She's so pretty," you say as you shape the clay in front of you.

"In love?" asks Chaeyoung and you start laughing.

"Like I'm falling in love that fast"

"Well from what I've heard, you definitely like her..." you look at Chaeyoung and playfully hit her shoulder with your hand full of clay residue, making her scream. You both continue to work silently on your pieces and you think about who you want to portray the face of with the clay.

Wait, this is your chance.

-

Weeks go by as you always make a daily visit to Sana's café, she always has your marocchino and croissant ready when you come in. You have her number, she knows that you always go to university after the café.

But one question was always in the back of her mind - "Can I use you as my muse for my project?"

"What?" she asks in shock as she cleans the floor with a broom after every customer has left.

"What?" you ask back, only then realizing how stupid it actually sounds to ask the woman you might be interested in to be your muse for your project.

"Just forget it..." you laugh a little and head for the exit.

But you don't get any further as she takes your wrist in her hand and stops you from going.

"I'd like to do it - I'll finish this and then we can go, okay?" you look at her and she smiles, you nod.

After 10 minutes Sana was done cleaning, she hangs up her apron and locks the door as you walk out. The walk to the university isn't far, so you don't even really talk. The darkness gives a pleasant feeling to the whole thing.

"This is the studio," you say as you tie an apron around your waist this time, Sana sits down on one of the stools as you get the clay.

"If you want to take a break just say so, but maybe try to keep a neutral face the whole time I'm working, okay?" she nods and looks at you as you start working on the clay with different tools. Every now and then you look at her and she always looks at you, which makes you blush.

After an hour, you've already done most of it.

"Okay, I think that's enough for today," you smile and take the clay face to a shelf to put it down, Sana gets up and walks over to you, as you turn around she stands right in front of you and you feel the warmth in your cheeks again.

Nobody says anything, you look into her eyes, she looks into yours, then her eyes wander to your lips and back to your eyes again.

She takes your hand, "Watch out, it's full of wet clay-," but she doesn't even let you finish as she pulls you closer to her, her lips landing on yours.

You're shocked at first, but then you start kissing her back. Her soft, slightly moist lips with a slightly artificial taste of her lip gloss only makes you want to kiss her more and more. You hold her by her waist and walk over to the table and push her against it, your hands touching her all over.

She slowly pulls back, your lips parting with a light thread of saliva, but it's only now that you realize the position you're in.

Your one leg is between her two legs, your knee pressing lightly against her core. Her shirt has ridden up dangerously high and her belly is partly full of clay - a dreamlike sight, actually. You look at her face again and she smiles.

"Maybe you can show me what your fingers can do?" she offers with a smile, which you return.

"Sounds great."

[hyunnows]

A LOVE SO BEAUTIFUL | YJI

In which Jeongin watches you chase after Seungmin over and over, waiting for his turn to have your heart.

PAIRING(S) | Jeongin x reader, Seungmin x reader

THEMES | angst, fluff, unrequited love (two of them), best friends to lovers, high school!au, best friend!Jeongin, lots of background characters, based on a love so beautiful (inspired by both versions), embarrassing and slightly humiliating scenes, crying, heartbreak

WORD COUNT | 10k+

RATING | pg

NOTE | I’ve been working on this for so long, I don’t even know why it’s taken so long. Literally like a third of Sugar Sugar written in 10x the amount of time. Anyway, I love the dramas this fic is based on (especially the k ver bc the main lead was more likable imo) and I really hope I did this au justice. Alos, its not meant to be a direct copy of the drama, more like inspired by a few episodes/scenes (you'll be able to tell which ones if you've seen either version of the drama). Anyway, I would like to thank my beta reader @that-crazy-five-foot-two-chick, thank you so much for your help, I really did find all your feedback useful <33333 i hope you all enjoy this! Love you all, ty for all the support <3 have a great day/night!!

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“Hey, Seungmin~!” you call in a singsong voice, cheeks tinted pink as the tall, quiet boy stares at you nervously. 

“Hey [Y/N]…”

Shuffling closer to his ear, you gesture for him to lean down so the other surrounding students wouldn't hear. When he does, you cup a hand around your mouth and whisper. "I like you,” you giggle softly as you back away from him. 

Seungmin scratches his neck awkwardly. "No offense, but I don't like you…sorry.” His face drops as he rejects you in the kindest, bluntest way. 

“O-oh,” you rub your arms as you giggle again. "It's fine!” This time, your bright smile dims, and nobody notices how it doesn't reach your eyes. 

Nobody other than Jeongin, that is. 

Jeongin can see how there's no crinkle beside your eyes or nose as you play your confession off, laughing with Seungmin in an oddly offbeat way. He notices how your shoulders are slumping more now than when he'd encouraged you to confess, and how your head hangs as you shuffle back over to him. 

“So…?”

You frown, biting your lip to hold back your tears. Jeongin doesn't need any more confirmation than that to pull you into a tight hug. He caresses your head as you blink away your tears, an artificial smile on your lips. "It’s fine, I just have to win him over!” 

He frowns but bites his tongue. You can’t help who you love…

And neither can he.

He sighs, "Okay then, but don't be upset when it doesn't work out,” eliciting a shove from you that makes you smile softly as the light fades back into your eyes. 

——

“…and one teaspoon of pure vanilla extract,” Jeongin finishes reading to you, swinging his legs lazily back and forth as they dangle off the counter. He watches you with adoring eyes as you rush to find the vanilla extract, hastily measuring it and mixing it into the cake batter with big eyes. He pretends you’re his girlfriend, scrambling to make him a treat for a date—but as the tangy citrus scent fills his nostrils, it's hard to stay in his trance. He doesn’t like oranges that much, but Seungmin does—and that’s who the orange upside-down cake is for. 

You spoon the batter in dollops onto the oranges in the cake pan, doing your best to evenly cover them without disturbing their positions too much. And once you’ve smoothed the top—as Jeongin had directed you—you’re baking the cake, pulling it out fifteen minutes later to check its consistency and rotate the pan, fully concentrated on your self-assigned task. 

Jeongin continues his loving gaze, taking in your messy flour-covered bun and shirt, butterflies filling his stomach at the view. Something about the dim, warm lights and your adorably focused pout was making his stomach do flips—although it always did that when he was with you. 

When the first cake burns, he offers to help, smiling dumbly to himself every time your hands accidentally graze each other’s and mixing badly on purpose so you’ll come and help him. It’s a wonder how you manage to miss the endless flat-out doting grins he gives you.

“If you keep putting the icing on my nose, we're going to run out of it for the cake,” you giggle every three words as you swipe it off.

He flashes you his braces, leaning closer to you as he dots another glob onto your nose. "Oops, I did it again,” he teases, not minding what he’s sure is a prominent blush on his cheeks every time you playfully push his chest. 

It's only when you're handing the cake to Seungmin that he wishes the whole scenario had never happened, because you two are blushing, and everyone around you is cooing (although he takes the wish back quickly because it was one of his favorite memories)...before being disappointed when he kindly rejects the cake after a quick spoonful, claiming to be full. 

“I know he just didn't want to embarrass me because I'm a horrible baker, but it still hurts,” you mumble against Jeongin’s shoulder, your thumb tracing the outline of the cake box you'd bought earlier. “It must taste awful…”

Jeongin takes the box from your hands gently, pulling a fork from his pocket—don't ask—and stuffing a large bite into his mouth. Truthfully, it wasn't the worst cake he’s ever tasted, and knowing you made it with your own two hands during that wonderful afternoon with him that ended in cuddling on the couch and watching baking shows… oh, he’s prepared to scarf the whole thing down. 

“It's not bad [Y/N], look,” he says, taking another bite and wiping a bit of the caramel onto your nose fondly like he'd done that afternoon, “If he doesn’t want it, it's his loss.”

You flush as he asks to have the entire cake, and of course, you say yes. Honestly, if Jeongin liked it, that was enough. At least it wasn't going to waste. 

“Hey! Stop putting the cake on my nose!”

——

Your tongue peeks out your mouth as you put all your attention on the beads and clear string in your fingers. “Innie, can you help me pick the bead colors?”

“Sure, but doesn't that take away from you making it?” he says bluntly as he taps his cheek and stares at the different hues of beads organized neatly in Hyunjin’s jewelry-making box. “Red and orange.” His newly freed pearly whites sparkle at you in the natural sunlight. 

You scrunch your nose. “I was thinking of a color palette with more purple tones, y’know, because Min likes purple,” you mumble, unaware of his downturned lips at the mention of the older boy's nickname. 

Nevertheless, he's your best friend, so he thinks hard on what would look good with purple, picking out a dull blue and a brighter one, along with a glittery and a glossy purple, deciding it's all worth it to see your dazzling smile. He carefully picks them out in even groups, holding your hand in his as he pours the beads with his other hand, noticing how your breathing gets caught in your throat for a second when your palms connect. 

“Thanks.”

“Anything for you,” he whispers, not daring to say it loud enough for you to hear. His eyes disappear in his gleeful expression, his mind in a delightful daze at the thought that maybe he had some effect on you. You wonder if he can see the blush in your cheeks, but shake the thought away when you realize his attention redirected to cutting his own piece of string, picking out pink, blue, and white beads that he laces quickly and strategically. By the time you've managed to thread barely half of your—Seungmin’s—bracelet, Jeongin’s already tying the knot on his. He stretches it gently to check durability, then tugs at your wrist gently to slip it on, a small sun charm dangling from it. 

In reality, he's just not the type to say such things and do such actions at the same time—he’d much rather tease you—so he puts on a fake serious face and shrugs. “It's nothing, I just didn't want you to pick something ugly.”

Your cheeks warm, smacking him as you whine for a moment. You bring your arm to your eyes to admire the pattern, smiling and hugging his neck happily. "You're the best friend I could ask for,” and he grins back, satisfied with the position. 

“You're the best,” he whispers under his breath, quickly making a matching necklace for you to wear. As he pulls the craft onto you, his cheeks warm at the feeling of your neck just grazing his fingertips. 

With a teasing smirk, you eye him happily. “Did you just say something nice to me willingly?” A giggle interrupting you with every other word as his cheeks tint brightly. 

“And it's never happening again.” His face in his hands as he tries to tame the blush on his face. 

The two of you stare at each other for a moment, before you both burst into laughter, you're hopping over to pull at his face-fat teasingly. “You're secretly a sweetheart, aren't you, Yang Jeongin? You probably say nice things in your head all the time,” drawing embarrassed groans and weak attempts at pushing off of him whilst he laughs, blissfully. 

He groans, “I don’t,” trying to sound serious while you pinch at his cheeks.

Your hair perfectly frames your face as it tickles his, an almost halo effect outlining your figure. He doesn't know if it's just him, but all he can see is you, everything else dimmed out into the background as his eyes rest on only you. 

Then you pull away, laughing, with a look he has grown tired of seeing in your eyes when you look at him.

Friendship.

——

You’re bright and bubbly when you slip your gift into Seungmin’s desk, excited to see him sport a [Y/N]-original accessory and hopefully fall for you. 

Unfortunately, fate had another plan.

“Sorry [Y/N], I’m not really a jewelry guy…” Seungmin trails off, handing you back the box you’d given him earlier that day, all the bracelets inside and bundled. He tries to ignore his friend’s snickers, rubbing his neck nervously whilst handing you the small cardboard box, cheeks red in embarrassment.

You take it with two hands, barely gripping it at all with your shaky hands and blurry vision. They were laughing at you, and he didn’t like the bracelets. A quiet, "Oh, o-okay,” is all you manage to get out, biting your lip harshly as you tuck your hard work away. "Sorry.”

Seungmin gives you a guilty smile, wiping his sweaty palms on his thighs, giving you an awkward wave, and running back to his group, who tease him loudly about you. He cringes at their jokes, hiding his face from you and walking away.

You think you should be crying by now, seeing as he rejected you, but you’re more ashamed because not only was Seungmin embarrassed by being around you, but his friends seemed to think you were a joke as well. How mortifying.

You hear a shuffling pair of feet approach you before you’re wrapped in the long, strong arms you call home. “They teased him and laughed. Laughed, Jeongin…” your voice shrinking in sadness. You turn to him, eyes watering. "Am I that unlikable?”

Of course, Jeongin tells you no. "You’re the most likable person I know,” in a reassuring, uncharacteristically sweet whisper. You sigh, causing him to hold you tighter to his chest. "They just… they need glasses,” evoking a light snort from you.

Turning into his chest, you wrap your arms around his waist, drawing an “Ew,” from Jeongin, although he had been the one to initiate the hug in the first place. You mutter a shut up at his faux disgust. After a tight squeeze, you release him, pulling out the now squished cardboard and handing it to him, a light tint in your cheeks as your hands brush against each other’s. “What’s this?”

“He, um, isn’t into jewelry, so I thought you could have them. They’re too big for my wrist, and I’d hate to waste Hyunjin’s nice beads,” beaming hopefully at him. You open the box, pulling out your favorite and sliding it on Jeongin’s wrist, blind to the pure puppy-love expression the brunet was giving you. Cringing slightly, you frown at the fact that you hadn’t even asked him if he wanted the bracelets. "You don’t have to wear it if you don’t want to—”

Before you can pull it off him, he yanks his hand back, holding around the bracelet tightly. There was no way he wasn’t going to wear a bracelet you gave him. Granted, you’d made it with the intention of Seungmin wearing it, but he’d take what he could get. "I-um, I’ll wear it. It’s a neat bracelet,” awkwardly releasing his wrist and dropping it to his side. 

“Neat?”

“Leave me alone. This is why I’m not nice to you,” he mutters, face flushed red.

You feel your heart flutter, but you assume it’s out of general happiness and not the fact that Jeongin wanted what you’d made. It wasn’t as if you wanted Jeongin’s approval or anything—you cared about Seungmin’s because you like him, and you definitely didn’t like Jeongin. 

Then why aren’t you able to stop the way your heart quickens around him these days?

——

Jeongin isn’t the most talkative, especially when it comes to girls. Despite that, here he is, spilling everything he feels about you to Chan and Hyunjin. He’d explained the bracelet when they’d originally asked, and somehow he’d ended up in a rant about how lucky Seungmin was to be the target of all your affection.

“Why don’t you just tell her?” Chan asks, confused. Crushes couldn’t be that difficult, it should be even easier when you’re their best friend, right?

Hyunjin stares at Chan dramatically, causing the elder to lift his hands in a sort of confused surrender. "Are you serious? You don’t just tell your best friend of four years—who’s already in love with someone you agreed to help them win over—that you’re in love with them!I swear, it’s like you’ve never read a book.” 

Shrugging in uncertainty, he elaborates his former opinion. "It’s just, this all seems way too serious for a high school crush. And anyway, don’t you tease [Y/N] all the time?” Making Hyunjin roll his eyes.

“It’s his first love, it’s very serious!” Hyunjin argues, sweeping his luscious blond locks to the side. "And he teases her because he likes her! Plus, it’s not like he can stop, and it wouldn’t be weird, he’s always teased her. I’m ninety-eight percent sure she likes it.”

“Okay, since Love Expert Hyunjin seems to have all your answers, I don’t think I’m needed for this anymore,” the shortest sighs, standing from his seat on the bleachers and onto the field for some soccer. Chan may love Jeongin like a brother, but he’s not the best option when it comes to love advice.

Jeongin stares at the field, watching you as you cheered for Seungmin in the street-style free for all soccer game, wishing you were half as enthusiastic when he was participating. “I don’t want to try to win her over or anything, being her friend is enough… I just wish she’d dedicate herself to someone who cares for her at least as much as she does for them. I bet Seungmin doesn’t even know her favorite color…”

Jutting out his bottom lip in a pity-filled pout, Hyunjin soothes his hand on Jeongin’s back, nodding in understanding. "Y’know, she’s really lucky to have someone like you to always be there for her,” and he genuinely means it. He’s seen how gentle Jeongin was with you, even if he used a teasing front because no matter what, Jeongin’s always at your beck and call. You two could have just argued, and Jeongin would be the first to apologize and make sure you were okay, not expecting anything in return. His love was admirable and pure, and you got it all. “I’m sure she’ll come around.”

Jeongin nods, frowning as you hug Seungmin, making the boy cringe and gently shove you off. He wonders how Seungmin could so easily brush off your love, jealous and wishing you would hug him like that. He might jokingly shout “Yuck!” but he knows he’d hug you back even tighter.

——

“[Y/N], I don’t like you back.” Seungmin didn’t mean to sound so mean, but you’d once again smothered him in front of everyone, flustering him for the last time. Even as you began to tremble and tear up in front of him and everyone else, he stood his ground, keeping a stern face. "I tried really hard to let you down gently, but you seem to have missed the hints. Please stop giving me gifts and hugs and asking me out. I don’t see you that way.”

Blinking back your tears, you nod, hiding your beet red cheeks behind your hair and staring at the ground. Taking back the scarf you’d crocheted with your own two hands, you hug it to your chest, pressing it against your thumping heart in the hopes it would calm down the erratic beating. When that fails, you try to block out the murmurs from bystanders, and run for your home, your safe place.

While your best friend was never keen on you trying to make someone love you back—not when he was waiting patiently in line—he’s never wished you listened to him more than he does now

Jeongin’s surprised to see you outside his door, knowing Seungmin had baseball practice today, and because it was beginning to sprinkle. Regardless of your damp attire, he pulls you inside, hurriedly running to get you a towel. "What are you doing here? It’s starting to rain, and it’s cold as heck out there!” His concern raw, too lazy to try to mask it with a joke. "Are you crying?”

You throw your arms around his neck, cheek pressing against his strong yet soft chest as you nod, your tears dripping into his shirt. “He… he rejected me in front of everyone. He said he didn’t like me that way, and then asked if I would leave him alone. I made a fool of myself,” your words becoming incoherent as you squeak through your snivels. 

He clenches his fist tighter with each weep, and he’s sure that if you weren’t holding him so tightly, Seungmin would be six feet under by now. But since comforting you is more important than whooping some scholar-soccer player—not that he could do much damage, the boy’s six centimeters taller than him and he plays sports—he cradles your head as gently as he can with one hand and pets your hair with the other. “He’s an idiot.”

“No, he’s not, I am. I don’t know why I thought I had a chance…” You sniffle, shaking your head against him.

Jeongin tilts your face up to look at him, frowning at your glistening cheeks and shushing the voice in his head that’s going on about how you somehow managed to look beautiful even though you’re heartbroken. “Don’t say that, you’re amazing,” uncaring about how he’s probably the color of that ugly sweater Seungmin’s older brother somehow managed to rock.

You can’t bring yourself to believe his words completely, but the fondness in his eyes makes you want to because you knew Jeongin wasn’t the type to throw words like that around. Still, you nod, hoping you could one day be worthy of those words. 

——

Jeongin jumps when you slam the papers on his desk in front of him, a bright smile on your lips as you eagerly wait for him to ask you what you’re so excited about. He raises a brow, and you point frantically at the papers. “The school play? What about it?”

“I want to sign up for auditions!” You cheer, making jazz hands at the announcement. “They’ll be doing a romance play based on a student’s submission. I heard it’s really good.” Your best friend gives you a concerned look, forehead creased and mouth pursed. Well, that’s not the reaction you were hoping for when you told him. “Why are you making that face?”

Sighing, the black-haired boy stares up at you. “It’s just… are you sure you want to audition?” When you nod happily, he has no choice but to play the role of supportive best friend. “Okay, I’ll cheer you on.”

Your teacher comes in before you have the chance to elaborate on your idea, scolding you for not being ready for his class and eliciting a bit of laughter from your classmates—minus Jeongin, of course. 

Your teacher seems to be on the same page as you, though, pulling out one of the fliers. “Today we’re holding auditions in the auditorium during lunch, drama period, and after school, as well as staff signups. Anyone who participates in the school play’s production gets extra credit. If you have any questions, see me or the drama teacher after class.”

You shoot Jeongin a knowing look that he returns with a confused pout. He doesn’t know what’s up your sleeve, but he’s sure it’ll end badly somehow. 

Well, he wasn’t entirely wrong. You definitely had a scheme up your sleeve, and this wasn’t the desired outcome of your plan, but Jeongin wouldn’t necessarily file it as a ‘fail’. 

Originally, you planned on auditioning for the lead female part, while Seungmin would take the lead male, a part that everyone wanted him to play. You two would play as lovers, and eventually Seungmin would fall for you too and everything would be sunshine and rainbows. That was the plan. 

You knew that you needed someone to audition with, since they were allowing pairs to audition, and you already knew Seungmin would most likely refuse to audition with you. That’s why you brought Jeongin along. You hoped they’d see your star talent and recruit you to the cast while telling Jeongin he just didn’t make the cut—which he’d be fine with, once he understood your plan. That’s how everything was supposed to go down. 

And somehow, everything is going according to plan. 

You auditioned with complete confidence, and you did well. Acting’s one of your talents—not that you had an abundance of them, you just had a knack for pretending to be different people and characters—at least, you thought so.

Mr. Kim—the drama teacher—reads the casting aloud, so far, Seungmin got the lead male, Jeongin was cast as a random villager, and now it was your turn. “[Y/N]... you’ll play villager three and be in charge of the music…”

He continues to read out everyone else’s parts, but you can’t hear him. You didn’t get the part? But you did so well, right? Why didn’t they pick you?

Jeongin watches your crestfallen face, sighing inwardly because he knows nothing would be worse for you than watching Seungmin pretend to be utterly in love with another girl. He knows why you didn’t get the part, but he also knows that you put your all into that audition because you wanted to be Seungmin’s partner, so he feels bad. After all, his feelings for you only made him wish for you to be happy, and being the lead would’ve made you happy. Still, he can’t help the tiny bit of relief he feels because you won’t be playing the part of Seungmin’s lover. 

Someone hands you a recorder, you don't know who, as well as a sheet with different sound effects and songs for you to gather listed. Great. Not only do you play an unimportant side character, you're also in charge of putting together the romantic soundtrack and sound effects. Why did these things always happen to you?

“Don't worry [Y/N], we can have fun getting the songs and music together.” Jeongin smiles comfortingly, just enough to ease your stress, but you’re still upset at today’s outcome. Sensing the irritation in your stature—the way you furrow your brows and chew your nails are dead giveaways—the boy sighs, pulli by you along with him to collect a script. “Besides, it’s not the end of the world, there will be another play in a few months anyway.”

You nod, but honestly, you’re too bummed to pay him any real attention right now. Jeongin, sighing inaudibly, picks up your backpacks and pulls your sulking figure along towards the school’s exit. 

Pouting, you lean your head on his shoulder. “I thought I did so well…” 

The brunet ruffles your hair affectionately, giving you a small smile. “You did, it’s their loss they didn’t pick you.” His words make your lips quirk up. 

Turning to face him, you lift a brow at him. “Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?”

He rolls his eyes, shaking his head. “Carry your own bag,” he mumbles, handing over your backpack with an amused grin dancing in his lips. 

You pout again, only this time there’s joy in your eyes instead of disappointment. 

Something about that smile makes you feel better.

——

“You must tread into the woods, find your true love, and ask for her hand. She’s who you belong with, your hearts destined to become one. Now forget about that other miller’s daughter and begin the journey!” You read, trying to put some sort of passion into your voice, but you can’t. The only lines you have pertain to Seungmin finding his love and marrying her, while forgetting about the poor second lead who you couldn’t help but relate to. And just to rub salt in your wound, you have the golden line. “Kiss her, and make her your wife. You have my blessing, to have a long, lovely marriage and life.”

Jeongin claps for you from your bed, his long limbs sprawled across the mattress. He doesn’t have any lines other than quiet repetitions of your words—for dramatic effect, but he doesn’t care too much for them anyway. Extra credit is extra credit, right? “That was great [Y/N], but you really should start recording the sounds and music. They’re going to want them for rehearsals.”

You slump, nodding. You needed to recreate horseshoes hitting the ground, birds chirping, water running and the crumpling of leaves, and then download the songs the production team had already chosen. How fun. 

“Jeongin, grab those rocks and that rug for me please.” He nods, reaching for the two large stones as you start muttering, upset. “Why do I have to bless their union though? Out of every part I could’ve gotten, I had to get the part where I encouraged Seungmin to marry another girl…” You groan more, shutting up only to record the rocks hitting the rug in an offbeat pattern to mimic horse hooves. 

Jeongin rolls his eyes, because you only have to encourage Seungmin’s character, while he has to support you every time you scheme to get the older boy to fall for you. It shouldn’t be a competition, but he can’t help but feel that his situation is a tad worse.

——

“[Y/N], where’s the audio recording? We need it now!” Hana, the girl in charge of putting the music and sound over the play, calls urgently. The play’s about to start, and because of your constant sulking, you only just finished recording everything. 

Luckily you still have about ten minutes before the play begins, so you’re safe from being scolded. “Sorry, here it is.”

She takes it from you happily, readying it in a way you don’t exactly understand—hence why you aren’t one of the techs—and sending you off to get into your costume. 

The play’s going smoothly, everything’s in order and running perfectly. You’ve said your lines, Jeongin’s said his and Seungmin is absolutely killing his role. And then your voice booms through the speakers. 

“Why do I have to bless their union though? Out of every part I could’ve gotten, I had to get the part where I encouraged Seungmin to marry another girl…” 

The familiar statement falls upon the crowds shocked ears, and you feel all color drain from your face. That…that recorded��?

Your drama teacher glares at you, murder bright in their eyes. You can almost see the steam coming out of his ears. 

The crowd erupts into laughter and boos when the echoes of your words finally fade from the auditorium. All the staff and students behind the curtains are staring at you, some pitying, others angry and some disappointed. But that isn’t the worst of it. 

Someone in the audience spots you hiding behind the curtain on the east wing, “Hey! [Y/N] that was you, wasn’t it? You must really be in love with Seungmin, huh?”

You loudly shush him, hoping he’ll stop and the play will continue peacefully, but the odds aren’t in your favor. Someone behind you shoves you onto the stage, and you’re suddenly in the spotlight, frozen in front of dozens of people laughing. Your friends and teachers stifflong their giggles at your pathetically embarrassed state. 

You want to stand up for yourself, tell them to shut up and put their pointing hands away but you’re too mortified to do anything as a stray tear escapes your eye and your lip trembles. You’re hardly able to scramble off stage, muttering dozens of apologies to everyone watching. 

It’s hard to even be upset when all your mind can think of is Seungmin’s face of embarrassment—shame, because of you. 

It’s not long after the fiasco Jeongin finds you crying in a storage closet, and he shoos off some students who are teasing you far too much for his liking. 

“[Y/N]? Are you okay?” He asks gently, kneeling in front of you to see your face that’s hidden in your knees. You nod, burying it further and wrapping your arms tighter around yourself. He can’t help but think you look adorable so small, but he’s more focused on comforting you. 

Pulling off his jacket—he remembers how much you always say you love his clothes—and taps you with it. You don’t notice at first, but after he pushes it against your shoulder a few more times, you slowly peel yourself out of your [Y/N]-cocoon. Your face instantly lights up, just a bit when you catch sight of his jacket and you don’t hesitate to wrap yourself in it and scoot over for him to seat himself beside you on the step stool. 

He takes the spot, and you immediately lean on his shoulder as his large, lanky arm wraps around you in a comforting embrace. “You wanna talk or just stay here quietly a bit longer?”

“Just stay quiet for a bit…” your shaky voice mutters, heavy eyelids struggling to stay open. 

The storage closet opens again, only this time Seungmin stands in the doorway, face blank and eyes void of anything other than disappointment. 

He lets out a deep sigh before mumbling quietly. “Why do you ruin everything? Couldn’t you put your feelings aside for once and get your job done once? You embarrassed us both, all because you have a stupid crush on me. I told you I’m not interested, get over it, please.”

Jeongin’s about to open his mouth, fed up with Seungmin’s ass of an attitude toward you when you kick the door closed, shoving Seungmin out so you can sob into the younger boy’s sleeves in peace. You don’t want to see him, not now. You don’t really want to see anyone.

Except Jeongin.

——

“You need to apologize to her,” the shorter male demands, feet making squishy sounds with every step from the wet grass he chased Seungmin through. Jeongin may not always be the most affectionate or sweet friend, but he’s your best friend for a reason and he’s determined to keep you happy at all costs. Which includes making Seungmin apologize for his harsh words after the play. 

The older boy rolls his eyes. “Why should I? I was giving honest, helpful criticism. Plus, she’ll get over me faster if she hates me.”

Jeongin has no clue why you like him so much. 

Seungmin seems just about done with this conversation, turning to walk away, when he hears Jeongin huff under his breath. “And here [Y/N] said she liked you for your kindness. I don’t know where she got that idea from, you’re obviously a jerk…”

Seungmin doesn’t care about people’s opinions of him, but something about Jeongin’s word choice (specifically the word jerk) strikes a chord in him. . 

Which is how he finds himself in front of your door, Jeongin beside him with a semi-smug look as the older boy knocks on your door. 

“Who—Seungmin…? What-what’re you doing here…?” You shrink slowly, not in the mood for more insults. Not to mention that you’re just a bit traumatized from last week’s fiasco and that you’ve been skipping school to avoid the mental and emotional torment you’re sure is to come. 

He feels genuinely bad when he notices the tremble in your lip whilst you slide the door closed just a bit more to hide behind it. Handing you an envelope, he bows. “I’m sorry about what I said [Y/N]. I didn’t mean to be so rude and insensitive. There’s a longer apology in the envelope, feel free to read it or throw it away. Have a good night and come back to school soon. All of your classmates miss you.”

You doubt that last statement a bit. As far as you know, the whole school hates you, but you appreciate the idea that someone missed your presence. You give Seungmin a small bow and mouthed thank you just before he leaves. For the first time, you think he genuinely smiles at you. It's small, but real.

Rushing Jeongin inside, you melt against the door, clutching the envelope to your chest. “Did Kim Seungmin just… apologize to me…?”

In all the years you’ve known Seungmin, he’s never been one to apologize. He’s usually not in the wrong, so most of the time there’s no need for him to. Still, on the rare occasion he is on the wrong side, he almost never takes the initiative to own up to his mistakes. He’d much rather let time do its thing and wait for the incident to blow over and be forgotten. 

So you can’t help but feel both shocked and even a bit special to have a written apology from the brown eyed golden boy. 

Jeongin nods triumphantly. “Yep.” He wants to tell you that he’s the reason behind this, but he can’t ruin the way you must be feeling. If thinking Seungmin apologized completely of his own accord made you happy, then he’d allow you to believe that. 

As long as you’re happy, Jeongin doesn’t really care about anything else. 

However there are times when he wishes he could put his own feelings first.  

Slowly since the play, Seungmin had accidentally begun to sneak into your friend group. Suddenly he hangs out with you and Jeongin during lunch. He’s in the library with the two of you, making sure you’re actually studying. He’s even invited the two of you out to eat and hang out a few times over the past three months. It should be odd—the way he wormed into your group, but it happened so gradually that by the time either of you had noticed, he’d become part of your duo-now-trio. 

So it’s only natural that when your annual trip to Chan’s lake house rolls around, you invite him. 

While Jeongin’s fine with Seungmin—there are times where they seem to have been best friends since birth—he can’t help but feel almost possessive of the time he’s supposed to have with you. As much as he hates it, he knows Seungmin will effortlessly steal that time from him. 

“So you’ll come?” You giddily ask the taller boy, bouncing on the heels of your feet. 

Please say no. Please, please, please say no. For once, Jeongin wants Seungmin to reject you, wholeheartedly too. You do it all the time, don’t make this different!

The older boy thinks for a moment, typing something into his phone a moment before it lights up again, and nods silently with a small, almost unnoticeable grin. Flashing his screen, Jeongin realizes he’d been asking permission—which unfortunately, he was given. 

Fantastic. 

Don’t be fooled, since the incident, Jeongin has come to find that Seungmin is actually a great guy and wonderful company that he thoroughly enjoys on most occasions. They’ve completely warmed up to each other. But he knows that you’re still utterly in love with Seungmin, maybe even more than before, and he doesn’t think he can stand being around you two in a casual setting for more than a few hours. 

Still, he bites his tongue. If you’re happy, he’s happy. 

At least that’s what he tells himself during the car ride whilst you stare in awe at the older boy for most of the ride, trying and managing to convince him to let you sleep on his broad shoulder. He repeats this in his head over and over during the board games you all play where you beg Seungmin to let you be in his team—which he grants you after a bit of friendly teasing. By dinner time Jeongin has a headache from the mantra, almost disgusted by just watching you feed the sophomore by spoonfuls. He’s ready for bed before nine-thirty. 

However, his plans for sleeping—and evading Seungmin and you—are halted when Minho—a mischievous friend of Chan’s—decides to play some party games. You all play twenty questions, an age-appropriate few rounds of never have I ever (Chan and Hyunjin would have your heads if you or Jeongin were exposed to any sort of adult materia) and now you’re playing a game of secrets. 

Everyone gets a strip of paper and a pencil for them to write their secret on. Once everyone’s done, the strips are put in a bowl, mixed around, and picked out at random. You can’t tell anyone what you wrote or picked from the bowl, regardless if it's your own secret. 

Somehow it’s simultaneously harmless and filled with potential drama. You give props to Jisung (Minho and Hyunjin’s friend) for bringing up the game, so long as you pick Seungmin’s secret. 

Though it’s not exactly a secret, you haven’t confessed to Seungmin since before the incident, and you think you’ve been subtle about your feelings since then, so you pick that as your secret. In your tidy handwriting, you spell out “I’m in love with Kim Seungmin.”

Beside you, Jeongin contemplates what he wants to write for a moment longer than you do. He can reveal anything he’d like. That he’s jealous of Hyunjin’s height, that he actually looks up to Changbin more than he’d like to admit, that he failed his last English quiz, or that…

He likes you as something way more than friends. 

He’s sure about half of his friends already know, and that Seungmin is probably suspicious of it, so it wouldn’t be much of a surprise. And plus, they’re anonymous… So what's the harm?

He ponders his decision a bit more, before essentially saying fuck it and professing his feelings for you with a short, “I have a crush on [Y/N].”

After about another minute or so, all the paper strips are stuffed into a glass bowl Jeongin thinks looks an awful lot like a fishbowl, and mixed around violently by Han. Then, everyone reaches in and pulls out one strip each. 

You can’t contain your curiosity, immediately unfolding the strip and reading its contents. Your eyes widen and you struggle to hold in your gasp of disbelief. 

Your cheeks burn as you reread the sentence. “I have a crush on [Y/N].” 

Too focused on the secret you picked, you fail to see how Jeongin’s soft smile of excitement falters into a slight frown. Your handwriting spells out: “I’m in love with Kim Seungmin '' on the slip of paper in his hand.

After he’s done reading his strip, Hyunjin reminds you of the rules. “Okay, nobody can say anything about the secret they got, okay?”

You all nod, but your eyes gravitate to Seungmin, who seems oddly calm compared to the rest of you. You don’t blame him, he probably got something boring—or your confession. The only reason you’re so excited is that you’re pretty sure you got his proclamation of love. 

Yet, in the back of your mind, I can't help but think that the handwriting doesn’t look like Seungmin’s.

——

“I got my own,” Seungmin pulls out the piece of paper from his backpack, handing it over to you with a shrug. “Why?”

As you read “I’m tired of school” in Seungmin’s handwriting, your brain strains to find an explanation as to why you just convinced Seungmin to break the game’s rules and show you his secret. I thought… “Oh, I was just curious!”

As always, he shrugs it off. 

If it wasn’t Seungmin… then who was it? It couldn’t be Chan, he’s too brotherly, and Hyunjin is always talking about who he’s in love with that week, you would know if it was him. Which leaves you with only one person you can think of. 

Jeongin. 

To be honest, you wouldn’t be mad if Jeongin had a crush on you. But if he did, you couldn’t return his feelings.

Right?

You think back to all those times your eyes have locked with his, when you’ve ignored the pounding in your heart at the slightest graze of his touch. You can’t deny he’s the one who can always make you feel better, no matter what. That you would rather sit and argue with him then go have fun with someone else. 

To be honest, you can’t exactly say you’re not in the same boat.

But, he’s your best friend, he couldn’t have a crush on you. You flush as you try to reason with yourself. There’s just no way. Plus he likes—

You stop. Come to think of it, you’ve never known Jeongin to have a crush on anyone. He’s never once confided in you about girls. “Maybe he just doesn’t like anyone…” you mumble, thinking of reasons why he can’t possibly have a crush on you. 

“Who doesn’t like anyone?”

You jump at the sound of Jeongin’s voice. “N-nobody!” you internally slap yourself at your stuttering. 

He doesn’t seem convinced, but opts for being concerned more than curious, “Why are you so jumpy?”

“I-I’m not,” you protest, trying to sound calmer. It seems to fail though, since he quirks his brow in confusion at you. 

With a shrug, he continues walking beside you towards your house. “You’re weird.”

“And you’re mean,” you scoff, immediately forgetting why you had–in fact–been so jumpy only moments before. However, it's not too long before you are reminded of your tiny predicament when his eyes sparkle in amusement and your heart stops momentarily. “Hey Jeongin, what secret did you pick from the game the other day?”

You notice him slump over a bit, “I got yours. Unless someone else in our group has a crush on Seungmin,” the glint in his eye diminishes. “Why?”

“It's just… I think I got your secret…” He freezes up besides you, a tinge of pink in his cheeks you fail to see as you stair at your toes. “Do you have a crush on me, Jeongin?”

Clenching his jaw a few times, he panics. Think brain, think. He stands there awkwardly for a moment. “I-”

Cutting him off, you start apologizing, “You don’t have to answer that, actually. I’m sorry for putting you on the spot–I get it if you’re mad at me too, since you know I like Seungmin–” Some quiet chuckles leave his lips, making you stop in the middle of your words, confused. “Why are you laughing?”

He ruffles your hair, pushing you playfully. “You think I would write a real secret there? No way. I just thought it would be funny if Hyunjin were to get that one and start some rumor or crazy quest to find out which one of us had a crush on you.” 

Your shoulders drop from their tensed position as you relax, beginning to giggle a bit at the thought of the gossiping teen losing his head in order to find out just who had a crush on you/ Even if you didn’t know him well, everyone knew Hyunjin was a huge drama queen who always needed to know everything about everyone. “Oh that makes so much more sense!”

Ignoring the pain in his chest that your apparent relief brings him, he keeps his small smile displayed for you. “So that's why you were all anxious. You’re so odd, [Y/N].”

You glare at him, pushing his shoulders jokingly. “You really are mean, you know that?” Eliciting a gentle laugh from the boy. He shrugs, continuing his path beside you to what he assumes is your home. 

He can’t help but wish he had written something different on that paper, though. Maybe then, his chest wouldn’t ache so much. 

And secretly, you wish it was a real secret. Maybe then, you wouldn’t feel like you’d been tricked.

—-

Jeongin finds it hard not to notice the way you’ve started retreating from Seungmin these days. As your best friend, the one who was always there to help you in your plans to win over the upperclassmen, it's impossible to not realize how you haven’t asked for his aid in such schemes. It's almost concerning at this point, the way you haven’t attempted in a month or so to woo the older boy in any way. 

He doesn’t mind though, not at all. In fact, he’s enjoying watching you spend your time on your hobbies and making new friends rather than pining over the boy who had broken your heart so many times.

“Hey, can you help me take these papers to Mr. Young’s classroom?” Seungmin stops at your desk, staring at you. 

Since finding out the paper wasn’t Seungmin’s, your feelings for him have slowly dimmed. Over the last few weeks, everything you felt for him just dissipated. He doesn’t like you back, and now, for some reason, you don’t seem to care too much about who or what he likes anymore. 

However, that doesn’t mean your attention hasn’t shifted somewhere else.

“I’ll help.” 

Your head shoots up to look at Jeongin, who’s already standing up and grabbing half the stack of papers, bringing the rest of Seugnmin’s face into view. “Can you watch my food for me?”

You nod at him as he walks out of the cafeteria with Seungmin. The silence between them is awkward, but not too awkward. They enjoy each other’s company enough to get along. However, with your odd behavior towards Seungmin, the two haven’t hung out much. 

The walk is quiet for a while, until Seungmin says, “Why did you stop [Y/N] from answering me?”

Jeongin shrugs, “She didn’t look like she wanted to. Why? Do you like her now?” he says less than playfully, failing to hide his disapproval if Seungmin did indeed like you now.

“No, I don’t like her like that. I was just wondering if you were trying to keep her away from me since you like her,” the older boy tells him nonchalantly. 

Jeongin almost drops his stack of papers at that, “What?”

With a slight eye roll, Seungmin continues. “You like [Y/N], don't you? Even if you say no, or don’t answer, I know you do. It's obvious. It is kind of weird you helped her ask me out so many times though.”

“I don’t know what you're talking about.”

“Right,” the older boy sighs, “We’re here.”

After dropping off the papers, the two have a silent walk back, both of them uncomfortable with the energy in the hall. Jeongin couldn’t stand the thought of Seungmin playing with your heart, not again. 

Before the two reenter the cafeteria, Seungmin places a hand on Jeongin’s shoulder, holding him to a stop. With a sigh, Seungmin starts, “I consider us friends, and as a friend, I’m rooting for you. [Y/N] was never right for me, and I was never right for her, but I think you two would be right for each other.”

The older boy releases him, pushing through the metal doors and joining your small circle, leaving Jeongin with his thoughts.

And his thoughts agree with Seungmin.

—-

“Did you hear? The school chose another romance novel to base the play off of!” You cheer in excitement as you set your school bag under your seat. “Maybe I can get the lead this time, I think I’ve improved a lot since last time.”

Jeongin looks at you as if you’ve grown a third head, plopping down into his own desk. “Why do you want the lead? Do you think Seungmin is going to play the male interest?”

He ignores the little green monster that rages at the thought. 

“What? No, I just want to be the lead, maybe redeem myself since last time I messed up so bad,” you flush. “Hey, you should audition too! It would be cool if we were both in the play!”

“I don’t think so, I’m not really into acting.”

You pout at him, shaking his arm as you plead, “Please Jeongin, please please please–”

“Fine! Stop whining like that,” he huffs, pulling his arm away from you. You gleam at him, making him roll his eyes with a gentle smile. “What a dork.”

You stop smiling at that, launching towards him, “You jerk!”

Just then, Ms. Lee walks in, a scowl on her face at your figure lurched over Jeongin’s desk. “[Y/N]! Sit down right now young lady!”

You hear your classmates–including Jeongin–snicker at you. He makes an L with his fingers under the desk at you, making you glare at him. Silently, you mouth, I’ll get you back for this.

He mouths back, Sure you will, like the menace he is.

Once again, reading your mind, your teacher begins the class announcements with the play. “We’re holding auditions later today in the gym during your lunch period and after school. Please feel free to audition, those who do will be exempt from the next pop quiz.”

Jeongin watches from the corner of his eye as you hunch over your desk, scribbling something down, then pop up again. Snapping, you get him to look over at you and see the message written messily on your notebook. “You could really use an exemption from a pop quiz…”

He sighs, grabbing a sticky note from his notepad, and writing back, “I already said yes, stop bugging me.” (He doesn’t actually want you to stop, he would prefer if you never stopped bugging him, actually.)

You stick your tongue out at him with a grin, turning back to face the teacher.

It's not long after that lunch time rolls around, meaning you’re dragging Jeongin away from his friends.

 “Where are you two going?” Hyunjin asks, a far too devious smile playing on his lips.

“We’re auditioning for the play!” You smile, to which the older boy’s eyes sparkle. 

“I wanna watch!”

Jeongin groans at the three voices, he really doesn’t need Hyunjin, Chan, and Changbin all watch him embarrass himself. “Too bad. If you guys come I won’t audition.” At that, they all groan, sitting back down on the lunch bench with frowns on their faces. 

——

“Jeongin, I got the part~!” You all but sing, looking at your lines highlighted in the script. “How about you?”

He purses his lips, ears slightly red. “They gave me the lead.”

You stop in your place, staring at him wide eyed. “You mean, we’re going to play lovers?” He nods. “Oh…”

“I can take back my audition if you want–”

“No!” You stop him, a bit too quickly even, “It's fine! It's just acting,” your face as red as his at the thought of playing his love interest. You’re just friends–best friends–and it's just a play, it shouldn’t be that weird. Right?

Wrong. So wrong.

You both can’t help but feel so stiff around each other as you rehearse your lines. Chan, Changbin, Seungmin, and Hyunjin can’t help but be oh so entertained by your awkwardness. Seeing the two of you bright red as you stumble over your lines to each other is just gold.

“Stop recording us!” You frown with red cheeks at Hyunjin, who’s phone is pretty much inches from your face. “Hyunjin c’mon.”

“No can do, you two are so cute,” he wipes a fake tear, putting a dramatic hand on his chest, “They grow up so fast.”

You all stare at him like a madman. Then, Changbin counts down backwards, yelling action for you and Jeongin to start the scene from where you messed up.

“I can be fun, if you want… pensive, uh, smart, superstitious, brave, and uh, I could be light on my feet,” he pauses, staring at you intensely, a nervous–but sweet–smile dancing on his lips, “I could be whatever you want. You just tell me what you want and I’ll be that for you.”

Jeongin tries not to think about how true that is.

With a lightly contemplative look on your face, you recite the next line. “You’re dumb.”

His smile grows as he nods, “I can be that.”

You mirror his expression as you turn around, skipping away and pretending to get into a car as he calls behind you. “C’mon, one date, what’s it gonna hurt?”

“I don’t think so,” you tease in an almost sing-song tone.

His smile falls a bit, as he stands there looking disappointed, “Well what can I do to change your mind?”

“Guess you’ll figure something out,” you grin, silence filling your ears for a moment before Changbin loudly yells cut!

They all praise you two’s acting skills, Seungmin included–though his praise is much less enthusiastic than that of the others. However, you don’t pay any of them much attention, your gaze fixed on Jeongin as your mind replays the way he’d looked at you just moments before.

You almost wished this wasn’t a play, but try not to think about it too much as you ready for the next scene.

——

You know your best friend is good looking–everyone does, it seems. Every rehearsal, there are students hiding in the back row of the school’s theater trying to catch a glimpse of his acting. You’re thankful for Hyunjin, who dramatically shoos them out of the room whenever he catches them. 

It's not that you don’t want people watching the rehearsal, it's just… 

Why are there so many girls with crushes on Jeongin?

It shouldn’t bother you, really. He’s just your best friend but even he is starting to feel the energy shift whenever someone comes up to talk to him. He doesn’t want to get any ideas, but he doesn’t deprive himself of enjoying your attention. 

He watches as you shuffle over to Hyunjin in exhaustion after thirty minutes of the same scene, laughing as the boy fawns over you theatrically, giving you water and a pillow to get comfortable with. It's comedic the way you two have grown closer recently, Hyunjin seeming to take the role of your mother almost. 

Needing to get away from the dark room and hot stage lights, Jeongin sees himself out, getting a drink from the water fountain. Straightening up, he leans against a post, silently reading over his favorite scene–not that he would ever admit that he had a favorite scene. He can’t help but imagine you telling him what you want in your home, saying you wanted to be a part of his life like that.

Doing this play, it's not good for his heart.

He heads back in for rehearsal not too much later, finding it too easy to get into character. 

Maybe it's the way you look into his eyes as you practice your lines, or how cute you look flustered saying these romantic words to him of all people. Whatever it is, it's really, really not good for his heart.

Or yours.

——

“Hey [Y/N]!” Jeongin calls after you, his jog slowing to a walk as you turn the corner too quickly for him to reach you. It seems this is how you two are now–Jeongin tries to talk to you, you run away from him before he can.

He wonders if it's because of the play–specifically, because of the kiss scenes he’s sure you're dreading. 

He didn’t think you would be so worked up about it–it wouldn’t be your first kiss, or your second, or even third for that matter. But you’ve been avoiding him like the plague since the last time you rehearsed the scene, the two of you staring at each other intently rather than kissing since it was just rehearsal.

Maybe doing this play was a mistake, he thinks, frowning to himself. A few moments later, a large, thin hand rests on his shoulder, and he meets the eyes of his personal cupid, “What do you want?”

“Well that's not how you should greet your big brother,” Hyunjin whines with a pout. He chooses to dismiss the younger boy’s you’re not my big brother, instead opting to talk about the real reason he sprinted after Jeongin. “So, how are you feeling? The play is next week, when you’ll finally kiss your true love.”

The shorter teen chokes on air at Hyunjin’s words, filled with embarrassment. “Be quiet!”

“Sorry! But really, how are you guys? I’ve noticed [Y/N] dodging you like she dodges her vegetables.”

Jeongin shrugs, “I don’t know. I think auditioning was a mistake, it's probably too weird for her, especially since she doesn’t like me like that.” He completely misses the look on Hyunjin’s face, continuing, “I’ll have to apologize after the play I guess.”

The taller boy facepalms, stepping in front of the freshman, “Don’t apologize–it's not your fault. Plus, that’s weird.”

Jeongin wants to argue, but decides against it ultimately, nodding in agreement with Hyunjin’s words. 

——

“What do you want?” Jeongin stares at you intensely, leaning against the cardboard car behind him. “What d’you want?”

You shake your head vigorously, tears in your eyes, “It's not that simple!”

He interrupts you, his voice more stern than the last time he uttered these words to you, “What. Do you. Want?” Lip quivering, you watch him ask you once more. “Damn it, what do you want?”

Eyes filled with emotions and tears, you finally get out a weak, “I have to go.”

The set workers are quick to cover the stage as they change the set to show you talking to your character’s fiance as Jeongin hides off in the wing, watching your incredible performance. He doesn’t know how, but you really did develop a talent for acting since the last play the school put on.

Soon enough, you’re by Jeongin’s side, the two of you watching as the teachers playing the older versions of your character play out their scenes beautifully, bringing everyone–especially Hyunjin–to tears with their performance.

“You did a great job, really,” Jeongin mutters, almost too quietly for you to hear him, but you do.

You grin at him, “Has nice Jeongin finally made a reappearance?” 

“Nevermind, this is why I don’t say nice things to people,” he scowls, turning away from you, only to be stopped by you turning him back to you. “What?”

“Do you want to get something to eat with me after this?”

He’s confused, flustered, and excited if he’s being honest. But he keeps up his nonchalant attitude and nods. “Sure,” fighting the tender expression ghosting his face at your happiness.

After a few minutes of watching the final scenes, everyone emerges from the stage wings, taking their places beside one another, Jeongin and you in the center as the leads. Joining hands, you all bow, taking in the praises from your parents, classmates, and anyone else who watched the play. Then you’re dragging him to your bikes, the two of you freshly out of costume, still sweating from the under-conditioned theater you had just stood in for hours.

 “Do you even know what you want to eat?”

You nod, beginning to pedal down the street towards the small food stand that always lingers by your school–a student favorite. You’ve already ordered two corn dogs, waiting by the stand as Jeongin pulls up. “What are you? Some secret speed cyclist?”

“Maybe,” you hand him his corn dog, “Can we go sit over there?”

He follows your finger to look at a lonely bench underneath a tree that's only a few meters away, a small, dim lightbulb just barely illuminating the area. “Are you sure? What if there are spiders?”

“Stop trying to scare me and move your butt,” you command, strutting forward to the bench. He follows with a sigh, dragging his feet and bike behind you. 

As the two of you eat in silence, Jeongin finds that he doesn’t agree with Hyunjin’s advice once again, speaking up awkwardly. “I’m really sorry if the kissing scenes were weird for you, I tried not to put a lot of pressure or anything into them, if that makes you feel better.”

You cough, laughing at his awkward apology. “It's fine. Don’t worry about it,” your words are muffled by the food in your mouth and your laughter–which triggers some sort of embarrassment in your best friend.

“Why are you laughing at me? I’m obviously nervous and apologizing because I thought that’s why you were avoiding me, and you’re laughing,” he can’t hide the bit of irritation in his voice, or the pink hue covering his face as your laughter grows, “And you’re still laughing. Why are you laughing at me?”

Taking a few deep breaths, you turn to him, “It's just, I was avoiding you because of the kiss scene, but that’s not the only reason why,” a weird grin on your face, “I spent so long, ranting to you about one guy who kept rejecting me, and there I was, unable to face you because we had to kiss for a play. And you’re apologizing for it, even though you didn’t even know if that was why. It’s just really funny seeing how this all turned out?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll tell you in a second, if you tell me something first,” you lean towards him, a strange glint in your eye, “Yang Jeongin, do you have a crush on me?”

He starts genuinely tweaking at that, choking on his food, chunks flying out of his mouth from the sheer and utter shock of your question. “What? Why are you asking me that?” He coughs again, his face becoming a shade of red that rivals that of a strawberry, “What the fuck why can’t I stop coughing?”

“I’m sorry! Are you okay? I didn’t think you would start dying if I asked you!” You apologize, rubbing his back and offering the half-drank bottle of water in your bag. “I just needed an answer!”

“Why?”

“Answer and I’ll tell you why!”

“Why do you need to know? You’re so weird sometimes!”

“Jeongin,” you pause, hands on his shoulders as you look him directly in the eye, “Do you like me?”

He avoids your gaze, closing his eyes and mumbling an inaudible yes.

“I can’t hear you~!” He mumbles it slightly louder.

“I still can’t hear you,” you tease, your hands still on his shoulders as you push them back so he has to look at you.

“I’m not doing this. You heard me and you still didn’t tell me,” he groans with a pout in his voice, “And you say I’m the jerk.”

You laugh at his aggravation, finding it hard to take him seriously when he looks like a red crayon threw up on his face. He gets up from the space beside you, sitting on his bike and getting ready to ride home when you come up beside him.

“Hey,” you say quietly, making him look at you. You hold in the urge to laugh at his annoyed expression. His eyebrows are furrowed, and he’s obviously fed up with being embarrassed for one night. With all your courage, you whisper, 

“I like you too.”

"I like your eyes, you look away when you pretend not to care  I like the dimples on the corners of the smile that you wear I like you more, the world may know but don't be scared  ‘Cause I'm falling deeper, baby be prepared" ― Translation from Ysabelle's English Cover of "I Like You So Much, You'll Know It"

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[crookedkryptonitebeliever]

Best and Worst of Both Worlds (Part 24)

Tw: Yves is fucking fuming, jealous n shit , mentions of cheating, Montgomery being touchy

VOTE BELOW GUYS ONY THE FIRST 20 VOTES COUNTS

part 25

Another day has gone by. You collapsed on your bed again, only to be woken up by Evangeline's incessant calling.

It's morning already? You groaned and kicked your legs in the air, throwing a tantrum that you couldn't sleep in.

You didn't even pick up the phone, you went straight to freshening yourself up. Not realizing that you received a missed call from Yves instead.

--

"Mx. (name), we are here!" You choked on your own snore. You must have fallen asleep in Mr. Jones's car.

You shook your head, muttering thanks as you got out of the car, all bleary and groggy. You skipped breakfast again. The extra meals Yves made all went to your housemate's bottomless pits they called stomachs. You're sure the breakfasts he prepared ahead of time were as delicious as his lunches or dinners, but you couldn't be bothered to eat them. It's not like you're starving in the morning anyway.

Mr. Jones drove off leaving you to yawn and scratch your back in peace.

But you let out a scream when a car blared its horns at you.

You turned around to see Montgomery sticking his head out of his car, holding something in his hands while the other was on his steering wheel.

"Mornin' sweetheart!" He greeted, beckoning you to come closer. "I got ya' breakfast!" He lifted up the paper bag with edible oil stains, and you stared at it.

"C'mon, baby. I ain't got all day." He waved it up and down. You took a couple steps forward and grabbed it with great hesitance.

"Have fun at school today, honey!" He reached out to pinch your cheek. Montgomery gently shook your head by the mass of flesh he was holding. You swatted his hand away, but before you could complain, Montgomery already drove off. Leaving you to eat his dust.

You noted that his car looked a lot better than it was. He had a new paint coat done and his bumper was fixed. How much did Mr. Jones give him?

You sniffed the item he gave you. It smells... greasy.

You opened it to see fried chicken and waffles, neatly wrapped in a piece of baking paper. You noted the lack of drinks, but there was $10 next to it and a note that said:

"4 ur drinks XOXO"

You grimaced, why did let the cash directly get into contact with the food? You picked it out using your thumb and your forefinger, flicking off any maple syrup before walking away.

You pulled your phone out to check the time. You're actually early for once! With half an hour to spare too.

Your eyes then widened at Yves's missed call. He didn't send any good morning texts today.

So you called back as fast as you could. It didn't take more than a few seconds before Yves picked it up. You began apologizing profusely, telling him how busy you were in the last three days.

"Of course you were." He replied, his tone was cold. "I am glad you are enjoying your time with your new... friend."

You scratched the back of your head. He's upset and you don't know what to say. You didn't have to, because Yves continued talking.

"...so much so, that you've been ignoring my texts, my calls... all in favor of Jones's daughter."

You stayed silent and so did he. There was no shuffling of papers, clinking of utensils, or busy chattering in the background. He must be standing or sitting completely still, alone in his hotel room.

That is true. You haven't seen all the pictures he sent from Monday. You remembered you promised to call back on Tuesday, but it's now Wednesday. Radio silence on your part.

You sighed and told him that you were sorry. A sense of deja vu washed over you when you asked how you could make up to him.

You heard something being poured into glassware. There were a few seconds of quietness between you two. You can hear liquid swishing around in a vessel.

You called out for Yves, asking if he's still there.

"I miss you, (name). How could you do this to me?" His voice was softer and slightly wavering.

Guilt stabbed through your chest as soon as his hurt reached your ears. You apologized once more, feeling as if the word had lost its meaning since you used it too much. You asked again, what you could do to make it okay, what could you do to make Yves forgive you.

Silence.

Then more pouring of this mysterious liquid could be heard.

You pulled it away from your ear to look at the time. Three whole minutes of no verbal exchange have elapsed.

You put it back to your ear and called his name.

"(Name), I want you to do something."

You told him, yes, you would do anything.

"Answer my calls, please." You agreed and promised him that you would do that. However, he cut you off mid-sentence.

"I loved hearing you speak about your thoughts. I was heartbroken and bitter beyond belief when you took that pleasure away from me and gave it to Jones's daughter." Yves's voice wasn't raised, but you could hear the venom dripping from it when he referred to Evangeline.

You gave into your reflex to defend yourself, saying that you have a life here, you're swamped by schoolwork, and numerous other changes in your life. So you didn't have enough time or energy to spare telling him all the details.

"Must I remind you that I do not take too kindly to disloyalty? I only have eyes for you, (name). But it seems like you have eyes for someone else."

You let out a gasp and panicked. You assured him that there wasn't anything going on between you and her. She's just your friend, well your only friend so far. You just didn't want to bore her away!

He hummed in response, ominously. You felt like you were in a block of ice, You have never heard Yves sounding this steely.

You were speechless. Yves has nothing to say, but he still wants to be on the phone with you.

"Hello, (Name)!" You inhaled sharply when you saw Evangeline cheerfully greeting you. Her voice is loud enough for Yves to pick up.

He did not say a word, instead, opting to wait and see what you would do for him.

You froze, alternating your gaze between her and the floor and the sky. She looked confused as to why you were freaking out right before her very eyes.

"Is that Sir Yves?" She asked loudly. You pressed your finger to your lips, gesturing her to be silent.

"Is he mad at you, (name)?" This girl cannot read the room! You mouthed at her to go away for a while, you need some privacy with Yves.

"I could talk to him if you want. I'd say I'm a good mediator myself." She smiled and tilted her head to the side.

You looked at the screen. It's deathly quiet, you thought maybe he hung up and you could deal with him later at home. But to your dismay, the call is still going.

"Hi, Sir Yves! This is Evangeline, how was your day?" She tried speaking into the phone, but you pushed her away and said that it wasn't an appropriate course of action.

You took a couple of steps away from her and pressed the phone back to your ear. Yves did not respond to Evangeline's polite yet strange behavior.

You gulped and asked him if he wanted to talk to Evangeline.

"(Name)." He finally spoke. You responded with a 'yes'?

"I want you to think about this from my perspective."

You waited for a few seconds for his next instruction or piece of wisdom.

"Reflect on all the things you did or did not do for me since Monday." Yves gave you a minute to let his words sink into your psyche.

You fidgeted in place uncomfortably, you were definitely neglecting him although he did everything he could to ensure your well-being was taken care of, even if he was a whole continent away from you.

"(name)." He demanded for your attention again. You ensured he knows that you're giving it to him now.

"Think about the reasons behind your recent behavior."

Evangeline. Mostly. You felt the need to please her as your only friend. But your exhaustion was due to Montgomery's antics.

"Think about how I must have felt." You felt the shame sear through your entire being. Yves must have felt betrayed by you. To the point that he thinks you're cheating on him with Evangeline.

You let an apology slip your lips once more. But Yves ignored it and proceeded with his lecture.

"Now, base your answer on what you have gathered." There was a beat of silence.

"Do you think I have any desire to speak to her?" Some hostile inflections within that sentence sent shudders throughout your body. You should choose your words very carefully.

You took a few moments to think over the facts before replying to Yves.

[sgiandubh]

The sound of silence

With the end of August already in sight - somebody, please, tell me where did this botched summer go, all of a sudden? -, a somewhat different landscape is slowly emerging, on the S&C front.

Dare we hope? The new normal seems to be a mix of latergrams, sibylline tweets, ultra-muted innuendo (most of it the result of a couple of pundits' sterile speculations on meagre hints dropped on purpose) and secondary (even third-circle) players being conveniently called to the rescue. A low budget, almost homemade solution to keep the prayer wheels of this fandom spinning. A fandom both of these two know, by now, like the back of their hands.

For months and months in a row, I tried to understand something that puzzled me constantly: not the messages being ventilated in here, but their circuit and lifespan, if you want. For what is worth, the rinse and repeat image is fine in my book, but in no way comprehensive, nor intellectually satisfying. And then, a couple of weeks ago, I started to suddenly figure it out.

I am not going to insult you with savant jargon or Venn diagrams, rest assured. However, I need some arrows. I called it the 4 R Circuit and here we go:

(an information is being) Released (via Anons or DMs exclusively: it's never sheer luck, that is a bloody lie and a poor one, at it) -> (it then prompts a couple different) Reactions -> (followed by an almost immediate) Retcon (by the other side of this very antagonistic fandom) -> (in response, an old information is being) Recycled (thus effectively keeping the chatter alive, but re-oriented until ) -> (a new or old/new information is being) Released

Historically, the lifespan of this news cycle was never shorter than 24, but seldom (if ever) longer than 72 hours. This summer is a resolute break off this pattern, but old habits die hard: the collective attention span has been also conditioned accordingly.

And how could it be otherwise? Because neither of them had any consistent A-list level gossip history, the emerging fandom had to resume itself to their social media accounts, for a start. And boy, were we copiously spoiled, with banter and innuendo and double-entendre galore, and then with voluble Anons being simultaneously directed to the main players of all the factions. I bet it was elating. I am sure it was also great fun: a merry, sunny age of innocence. Until it wasn't and the ugly manipulative streak began its inglorious march in here. The thirst grew, and so did the stakes. Pictures, pictures or it did not happen. And when we got them, we started to immediately diss and hiss and hum and drum. In the Real World (you know, out there, where we all go every morning and are civilized, amiable people), this kind of behavior would be more than uncanny: it would be uncalled for and drastically sanctioned as such. But, I digress.

The result of this disco inferno by design is a pattern of reactivity I have never seen in my entire life. Nano-inquisitors immediately spring out of their chairs once you dare write something: why did you say that? how dare you speak your mind, you are supposed to be a stupid, stupid shipper? In the meantime, almost nobody bothers connecting the dots, finding a solid background for arguments, placing facts or speculation in a logical context. It's frowned upon. Yet, the whole experience would be way more enjoyable, if instead on focusing on idiotic and obviously doctored details, we could bring some perspective to all this hubbub.

Last case in point, this freshly baked imbecility:

We all know who the fuck Brave Heart is: the kilt obsessed, once Mightiest Troll of Mordor. The one who invented by herself the grotesque story of the Hôtel Costes Rash sightings, last April, via Anons written in painful English. Also, the one who spun, based on a friendly snap at a sportive event, the Ellenwood Innuendo, promptly ditched - it didn't stick well enough- now reactivated. A sample:

Calling all stations: there is no side exit at the Hôtel Costes' restaurant, you fool, who's been to Paris as often as I went to Oahu, which is to say never. There is a back exit, through the kitchen, madam: next time, do your damn homework properly! Unlike you, I often went there (I preferred other, less nouveau riche playgrounds, that being said), back in 1996-2002, when it still was the boldest celeb' spotting venue in town. Not anymore. And who in their right mind would bring luggage or shopping bags in a very peculiarly laid-out French restaurant, without immediately taking the risk of being a conversation stopper, a bull (heh) in a china shop?

The "have seen it with my own eyes" gave you away, this time. A classical, by the book way to spin a cheap lie.

Also, C's witty latergram, via a tertiary player. I am sure (and I will film myself eating my socks live, if proven wrong) that back in Mordor someone already came with the agit-prop retcon: "it's irrelevant when the picture was taken".

It is very relevant. July 31. One day before August 1st: I always admired her humor. But who would take the time to tell 1+1= 2?

If I could gift this fandom anything, let it be this: context is always important. Manipulation starts exactly when you stop questioning and let your brain live the 72 hours news cycle.

The only real sound of this August, on the S&C front, is the sound of silence.

I rest my case.

[acuteobserv4tion]

I just watched Sonic 3 today.

Way too much punching, kicking, and squeeling on my part. I was in public and couldn't SCREAM.

I just have so much to say, but I'm gonna let it settle in my brain.

First and foremost, I LOVE how they handled Shadow.

Gonna be real, tho. I feel like that GUN director lady was a total waste of time. She didn't end up doing or being anything. Kinda like those two ex GUN agents in the Knuckles series. Utterly pointless.

They really gotta stop putting focus on characters in that agency when they don't matter. Looking at you, Randall.

I absolutely adored this movie. Didn't feel any wasting time beside that.

Gerald, Ivo, and Stone were extremely solid here on top of Shadow. A well-rounded opposition to our main trio.

I wanna know what Stone is gonna do now.

For some reason, I felt that Knuckles was lacking depth for a bit there, but then they pulled him right back in with the Tom stuff.

His saving grace is how he handles Sonic after what Shadow did. That was great. A great moment. Great characterization for all 3 of them in that scene. That was so real.

Tails was great throughout the entire thing. I could just feel how absolutely done he was with Eggman through the screen.

Our little buddy absolutely nailed his role.

Definitely can tell when character writing got focus. Both good and bad thing, but still, EXTREMELY happy with what we got.

I did get something spoiled for me, unfortunately, and I just kept thinking about it while in the theater, but I still had a fliptastic time.

Another thing I kept thinking about was comparisons to the story I already know, which, duh. Bound to happen, but it shouldn't impede anyone's enjoyment.

The way they handled Shadow's feelings was great. Like, actual cinema. No exaggerating that. Maria was an actual character, and this has gotta be the first time we Sonic fans were able to feel that.

That this little girl was taken. Shadow's only light.

A downside, though, is that we didn't actually get to see how Gerald was connected to either of them, which I found odd. We never even see him just pop in on the two having fun or reprimand them like the supposedly adoring grandpa he was.

There really should have been a couple of scenes of that to really drive in that they're both grieving family. Like, why did Gerald initially care about Shadow? Why was he and he alone comfortable enough with the powerful alien to the point where he lets Shadow and Maria become so close?

Literally, just have him watch in the background during that cute scene when Maria and Shadow first meet. Have him recognize Shadow as a person. Easy fix.

More spoilers:

I kinda wish they weren't afraid to allude to Maria getting shot. Or even maybe, Shadow in his burst of grief, creating a Chaos Blast that really killed other humans in the facility. They already gave us a half-baked story at the start that we would later be more informed on. Might as well hammer home that message of grief.

Speaking of which, Knuckles surprisingly didn't interact with Shadow at all. I thought they would at least reference the shared experience to help tighten the narrative.

Personally, I predicted that Knuckles and Shadow would have a short exchange, mostly via fists. But after the first fight, Knuckles wasn't used to that effect.

He kind of was just consistently used as the emergency muscle to bail us out. I think that's because the Chaos Emeralds didn't matter here. Like, at all. So, Knuckles wasn't given a specific thing to focus on, like Tails for technological aspects of the story.

A surprising change for the Emeralds after the setup of the last movie. But fair I guess, considering the wider general audience may not be ready for that.

They only have Gerald's empty weapon, but its power is fueled by a different chaotic source, which I found interesting, as well as Shadow's origin. With the way they framed Shadow's initial arrival to earth, I wonder...

Are they thinking of tackling Black Doom?

Anyway, I adored the direction they took this movie. It's a little questionable at times, but it's definitely worth the ride. Like any good movie.

Gotta say, that final Sonic and Shadow clash freaking HAD me. I'm still giddy about. Like, as I'm writing, it's been 4 hours later and I'm still jittering. I'm so happy that that part wasn't ruined for me.

The action is insane in this franchise it NEVER misses. They play into the abilities, and it is INCREDIBLE

And the inhibitor rings really came back into the fold. I wonder if the scientists made them for Shadow or if they came from his homeworld. It could be used to limit other characters' abilities. Wink.

I wonder what the next movie will be called.

I'm exploding on all this hype and narrative and turns out I'm only allowed 10 gifs per post. Stingy

So ends,

The Year of Shadow

[queervegancryptid]

I'm working on a book for people new to Linux. I've been using it since I was around 18, when I got my first laptop. This was 2007, and it was expensive for someone as poor as me to get a computer, which is why my parents didn't buy me one until I started college and moved out. I also got my first phone at this age, a $20 AT&T brick. Nothing like what we have today.

It shipped with Windows XP, which already wasn't great, but then came the Vista update, and I was a little peeved. I thought, "This can be done better." And I don't remember how, but I stumbled upon Linux and open source software in general. I'm poor, but I had some blank CDs and DVDs, so I started trying different distros to find one I liked. I played around with it and learned a lot, both about Linux as an OS and about hardware, software, and firmware more generally. How the parts fit together, what each one does and how, etc. I'm not an expert, but I learn best by doing. By playing, really.

I'm glad I developed this background knowledge, because a couple years later, my laptop was stolen. I was stuck living with my parents and had no prospects, but I did have some old computer parts.

Really old ones. Way too little storage and RAM for modern Windows or macOS, then called OS X. So I had to get creative with some obscure distros, like Damn Small Linux. It wasn't perfect, but it was also a machine cobbled together with spare parts that arguably should have been trashed but thankfully weren't.

Being in these situations sucks, but it's also cool to know that you can do stuff to survive if you absolutely must. And with the enshittification of tech lately, especially with Windows shoehorning in its AI bullshit and forcing you to upload shit to the cloud, a lot of people are going to be looking for an alternative. Since I've been there, I figured I could write a short guide for people in this position.

Linux appeals to me for a number of reasons. It's very customizable, so in practical terms, I do enjoy that. There are also a lot of different distros to choose from, and most of them work well out of the box. (That wasn't always the case.) But I'm mostly drawn to open source as a philosophical concept. It's like the opposite of the software-as-service and subscription models favored by a lot of companies today. I'm still really mad that I can't mod my Switch without risking my Nintendo account being kneecapped, as an example. They can do that in part because of the closed-source nature of their product.

On that note, gaming has also come a long way on Linux. I still dual-boot Windows alongside it, because once or twice a year, I run into something that I can't make work on Linux. It would probably be more accurate to say that I don't feel like making it work on Linux, because it probably can be done, but the effort is more than I feel like expending for the payoff.

My only real complaint about it is that the fingerprint scanner on my laptop doesn't work with Linux. But I also don't need it to, so it isn't a deal-breaker for me. It would be nice, but I'm already not super comfortable with anyone having my biometric data, so it isn't like I'm champing at the bit to make it work. Still, even if it did, it wouldn't be sent to anyone. Can't say I'm confident that the same is true of Microsoft and Apple and Google.

But when you get away from those companies, you realize how much of their shtick is about selling you things and collecting info about you. You want your computer to do basic computer stuff again without the unnecessary AI shit baked right into the cake? Use Linux. It will change your life.

Want to stick it to your capitalist overlords? Use Linux. I mean, do other things, too. But using Linux is a good start.

[coquettepotato]

My trip to Venice Mall

Desolate, that’s the word that comes to mind when you take in the chubby plain faced girl, trotting behind her parents in heels she hasn’t yet learnt to properly walk in, with a moody look the only makeup for her dulling skin. Her black and white kurta complimented her figure nicely. It wouldn’t be so bad to date her, one might think, with a hint of superiority, reflecting this author’s own sense of inferiority. She looked the serious, studious kind, this girl, but her coloured hair gave her the look of someone who indulged in things considered bad, say smoking.

Walking abreast were, in varying amounts of obesity, the mother and father. Is there some significance to positioning mother before father? Is my subconscious trying to tell me something? Ah, leave such matters for Freud! My readers moan. Very well, then. We shall continue. The mother clad in black, a busty middle aged woman whose bright pink lipstick wore her and a pot-bellied ageing man with hard work and diligence etched onto his face. Rather unassuming, plain folk wouldn’t you think? The hair on their heads didn’t turn grey for nothing haha.

We look at the daughter again. How she wishes to lie in the comfort of her blanket, reading that book that had become her latest obsession, had consumed her so largely that she’d begun to adopt its title into her meals. Butter, butter, everything butter. The exploration of same sex desire. It was no coincidence, she decided. And that brings us to thoughts of her greatest love, a former friend, someone she let consume her entirely. She missed her, as does this humble author. It’s a great loss, a pain that seeps into your very bones, making you so weary that you just want to curl up in your bed and cry and oh, how wonderful would it be if someone were to hold you then!

This mall that the family went to, it was…it was empty yet beautiful. Superficial, in a sense, with phony-looking people roaming the halls of the scattered showrooms. A towered, twisting staircase- pretty, a good place to make out, her university-trained brain muses. The artificial, blue shallow waters and the simple electric boats, the walls carved and painted to look just like Venetian homes- it all seemed such a bore to this thought daughter. Yes, that’s what she was, is. A new woman, utterly besotted with culture, the humanities and art. Pinterest, reddit, Instagram, tumblr, spotify, her journal and books, access to anime, movies and tv shows, writing poetry, learning from professors and students, researching, debating, spontaneous writings, all this gave her soul the fire that had been dangerously close to going out in recent times. A tragedy, indeed, for an eighteen-year-old, a fledgling, to have gone through so much. Even as I write, delicious music plays in the background haha!

At the floor just above, the aroma of baked goods wafted up to her, tingling her nostrils. Her mouth watered, anticipating salt, sugar, fat and carbohydrates in the most scrumptious combinations possible. And oh the joy when she finally had the taste of those Korean Soboro cream buns! Perfectly crispy, rich with butter, light and cool when settled in the throat and a steaming cup of coffee on top- heaven in the truest sense. That was precisely the moment that this young depresso became a happy espresso, even agreeing to have her pictures taken! Good food can do wonders for your mood, mind you. The people working there were so well- mannered and polite! And the girl that served the coffee and confectioneries was so cute that our protagonist yearned to be her age and a man. Again, the themes of the novel she’d been reading hit her like a maelstrom. Will her skin glow too? Shall she let go too of what society demands from her? What would happen?

[aroaceweirdos101]

Since Arz has been posting about her OC's, why dont I show one of mine!

"Need to know your way through the library? Just ask our lovely librarian assistant, Linda! She knows this building like the back of her hand(especially because its her favourite place in town!)."

(sorry if this looks rushed, I'm not that good at drawing)

In the show:

She was a background-turned-side character that would appear in a few episodes, acting as a guide for the Handeemen if they need to find a specific book.

They even have their own segment called 'Linda's storytime', where she reads popular fairytales(with the Handeemen interupting them from time to time as a li'l gag). She is mostly seen around the library.

Outside of the show:

They're based off Avery(Arz's OC)'s late close friend, who used to work at the town's local Library. Avery wanted to make something to remember them by, and thus, Linda Literature was created!

Relationships with the Handeemen(Show counterparts):

- Rosco: She was at first scared of the giant pup, due to him being larger then the average golden retriever. But they slowly warmed up to him after Riley showed how harmless Rosco is.

Rosco(like how he is with everyone else) is pretty friendly with Linda, he tried to be a lap dog while she was doing her storytime segment and almost sufficated her, Don't worry, Riley managed to help them in time(Rosco also gave her a lick in the face as an apology).

- Riley: She is close friends with the scientist, as Riley is a regular visitor there. Linda would often try and make small talk with her, they find her use of scientific words 'charming'(rumor has it that she has a small crush on the scientist). Riley is one of the few people who returns the library books in a clean state, Linda appreciates this alot.

Riley sees her as a good friend, Linda is one of the few people she doesn't mind having small talk with(they're dynamic is basically the "He asked for no pickles" meme).

- Nick: Linda looks up to Nick as she is inspired by his poetry skills, they hope to one day be as good as him in writing things(she also has a small crush on him too). Although, they do wish he returns the library books with less finger paints on them.

Nick thinks of her as a great friend, he's glad to finally have someone who wilingly listens to his poems, and properly listens to them(no offense Duke, but you might need to work on your focus more).

- Daisy: The two are good friends, Linda enjoys talking to her, but she also prefers the baker to return the library books withought any flour or other baking stains that somehow got stuck in the pages(atleast she gives them freshly baked pies as an apology).

Daisy invited Linda to join her book club as they needed more members, although, its more of a gossip group really(Daisy is also the only one who knows about Linda's small crush on both Riley and Nick).

- Mortimer: While the two aren't close, they do bond over their shared love for reading. Linda likes how expresive Mortimer is when he's telling a story, it makes storytime alot more entertaining. She's also thankful that he returns the library books withought any stains. Safe to say she has high respect for the old man.

Mortimer is pleased to have another reading buddy, as much as he enjoys Daisy's book club, there was just SO much tea that even he couldn't handle it.

More Info about them:

- She knew Riley back in Highschool, before they both moved to different colleges, they reunited after Linda's first few days of working at the library.

- They have an emotional support, Chilean Rose Tarantula named; Rosey. Fun fact: The show used an actual real life tarantula, due to Owen's huge obsession with accurancy and detail, tho this also led to the infamous missing spider incident(they still have no clue where it went).

- Originally, Linda's pronoun's were They/Them, but due to the fact that it was the 80s, it was changed to She/They to avoid censorship(unfortunetly the show could only used the 'She' pronoun to adress them, curse you transphobes!).

- She is constantly anxious due to her OCD(which explains why they're always seen reorganizing the books and checking if the backdoor is lock for the 28th time).

(P.S. Do tell me if my writing on her OCD is incorrect, I dont want to accidentally misinterpret/mischaracterized people who have the disorder)

Feel free to ask questions about her!

[sesillee]

Building Jean Grey in DnD 5e

All images featured are credited to the user that edited and posted them, not me.

The idea of a Character Forge is shamelessly taken from @raeynbowboi​, whose posts I love, and drew a ton of inspiration from.

Jean Grey has always been one of my favorite Marvel characters, ever since I saw her for the first time in the 2000 X-Men movie, portrayed by Famke Janssen. I hope I did her justice, haha.

I contemplated making her a Kalashtar for free telepathy, but Variant Human fits better, and with this build we end up getting telepathy from multiple sources anyway. I feel like something a lot of portrayals of Jean don't do is her original origin story.

At ten years old, her best friend died traumatically in front of her, and Jean's newly awakened powers gave her a front row seat to the emotions and thoughts of a dying girl. Professor Xavier then suppressed her telepathic abilities.

WTF??? That's a lot for anybody, let alone a ten year old.

So I think her background is 100% Haunted One.

"You are haunted by something so terrible that you dare not speak of it. You’ve tried to bury it and run away from it, to no avail. Whatever this thing is that haunts you can’t be slain with a sword or banished with a spell. It might come to you as a shadow on the wall, a bloodcurdling nightmare, a memory that refuses to die, or a demonic whisper in the dark. The burden has taken its toll, isolating you from most people and making you question your sanity. You must find a way to overcome it before it destroys you."

Unfortunately I think that's a great descriptor for Jean.

Through the Haunted One background, we're going to take Arcana and Religion proficiences, as well as two free languages. It really depends on the campaign which language would work best, but I took Dwarvish and Infernal.

Aberrant Mind Sorcerer

I immediately thought of Aberrant Mind Sorcerer for her base class. Sorcerer fits any mutant with spellcasting-like abilities, and Jean's main powers are her telepathy and telekinesis. Aberrant Mind sorcerers get telepathy at first level, but they don't have any inherent telekinesis baked in. As a Variant Human though we can pick a free feat, so we'll naturally go with Telekinetic.

This feat gives us access to the mage hand cantrip and a telekinetic shove ability that's perfect for Jean.

You could definitely go all 20 levels with Sorcerer, but I think it leaves out a very important part of Jean's character: the Phoenix Force. It was obvious to me the best way to represent the Phoenix Force was with the Warlock class.

Great Old One Warlock

I think it's also no question that the Great Old One patron is the best fit for the Phoenix Force. In its first appearance in 1976, its described as one of the oldest known cosmic entities in the universe. Its origin, capabilities, and motives are a mystery. Sure sounds like a "mysterious entity whose nature is utterly foreign to the fabric of reality" to me.

What level split you do is up to you, but I did 8 in Sorcerer and 12 in Warlock, just because Warlock gets more in the 9-12 levels than Sorcerer. Aberrant Mind Sorcerer's don't get any subclass features whatsoever between levels 6 and 14, whereas Great Old One Warlocks get Thought Shield at level 10.

Stats and Proficiences

Her highest stat should be Charisma, and from there it's really up to you. A high Constitution is always good and can represent that extra durability from the Phoenix Force. Her Dexterity should be kept in mind too, since she won't be wearing any armor. Technically she can wear light armor, but it isn't super necessary, since I took the eldritch invocation that gives unlimited mage armor.

Proficiencies: arcana, deception, insight, intimidation, perception, persuasion, religion, light armor, and simple weapons

Spellbook

You're obviously going to want as many psoinic style spells as possible for Jean. Her main source of damage is going to be her magic, since Jean is never really depicted using weapons. She's going to be relying mainly on her cantrips to do damage in this build, since I wanted to pick up as many "utility" spells as possible.

As an Aberrant Mind Sorcerer, she automatically learns several Psion Spells.

Mind Sliver (Cantrip) Arms of Hadar (1st) Dissonant Whispers (1st) Calm Emotions (2nd) Detect Thoughts (2nd) Hunger of Hadar (3rd) Sending (3rd) Evard’s Black Tentacles (4th) Summon Aberration (4th)

Through Warlock invocations, she can cast False Life, Jump, and Mage Armor on herself at will. She can also cast Confusion once per day via the Dreadful Word invocation.

Almost all of the invocations I chose were ones that give her more spells for less, since as a Sorcerer/Warlock she is more limited in spell slots than another spellcaster might be.

A few other spells that I would say are absolutely essential for Jean are Fly, Psychic Lance, Telekinesis, and Dream.

As her Mystic Arcanum, the Warlock feature that lets her have 1 use of a sixth level spell, I chose Investiture of Flame. It definitely feels like a Dark Phoenix moment to me.

See the rest of her statistics and spell list below the cut.

Name: Jean Elaine Grey-Summers, Marvel Girl/Phoenix

Race: Variant Human

Background: Haunted One

Alignment: Neutral Good

Class: Aberrant Mind Sorcerer 8

Great Old One Warlock 12

Base Stats:

Strength: 8 -1 Dexterity: 14 +2 Constitution: 16 +3 Intelligence: 10 +0 Wisdom: 15 +2 Charisma: 19 +4

Saving Throws:   

Strength: -1    Dexterity: +2 Constitution: +9   Intelligence: +0 Wisdom: +2 Charisma: +10

Combat Stats:

HP: 8d6 + 12d8 or 154 total AC: 12 (unarmored), 15 (mage armor) Speed: 30 Initiative: +2 Proficiency Bonus: +6    Passive Perception: 8  Dark Vision: 120 feet

Languages:

Common Elvish Infernal Dwarvish

Proficiencies: 

Arcana (Haunted One) Religion (Haunted One) Deception (Beguiling Influence Warlock Invocation) Insight (Sorcerer) Intimidation (Sorcerer) Perception (Sorcerer) Persuasion (Beguiling Influence Warlock Invocation)

Damage Resistances: 

Psychic

Damage Immunities:   

None

Feats

Telekinetic. (TCoE, pg. 81)

You learn to move things with your mind, granting you the following benefits:

Increase your Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma score by 1, to a maximum of 20.

You learn the mage hand cantrip. You can cast it without verbal or somatic components, and you can make the spectral hand invisible. If you already know this spell, its range increases by 30 feet when you cast it. Its spellcasting ability is the ability increased by this feat.

As a bonus action, you can try to telekinetically shove one creature you can see within 30 feet of you. When you do so, the target must succeed on a Strength saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + the ability modifier of the score increased by this feat) or be moved 5 feet toward you or away from you. A creature can willingly fail this save.

War Caster. (PHB, pg. 170) Prerequisite: The ability to cast at least one spell

You have practiced casting spells in the midst of combat, learning techniques that grant you the following benefits:

You have advantage on Constitution saving throws that you make to maintain your concentration on a spell when you take damage.

You can perform the somatic components of spells even when you have weapons or a shield in one or both hands.

When a hostile creature's movement provokes an opportunity attack from you, you can use your reaction to cast a spell at the creature, rather than making an opportunity attack. The spell must have a casting time of 1 action and must target only that creature.

Metamagic Adept. (TCoE, pg. 80) Prerequisite: Spellcasting or Pact Magic feature

You’ve learned how to exert your will on your spells to alter how they function:

You learn two Metamagic options of your choice from the sorcerer class. You can use only one Metamagic option on a spell when you cast it, unless the option says otherwise. Whenever you reach a level that grants the Ability Score Improvement feature, you can replace one of these Metamagic options with another one from the sorcerer class.

You gain 2 sorcery points to spend on Metamagic (these points are added to any sorcery points you have from another source but can be used only on Metamagic). You regain all spent sorcery points when you finish a long rest.

In all my campaigns I've played we've allowed a free feat at level 1. I would chose War Caster or Survivor for Jean in that case.

Survivor.

You are well-versed in surviving in hostile environments, even thriving where others are sure to perish. You gain the following benefits:

Increase your Constitution or Wisdom score by 1, to a maximum of 20.

You require only half of the food and water normally required for a creature of your size.

You can withstand extreme temperatures indefinitely, and you automatically pass saving throws made against extreme heat and cold for a number of days equal to your Constitution or Wisdom modifier, whichever is lower. After this time, you must make saving throws as normal until you spend 24 hours in a comfortable temperature.

Level Choices: 

Level 4: Ability Score Increase. +1 Charisma, +1 Wisdom

Level 8: War Caster Feat.

Level 12: Ability Score Increase. +1 Dexterity, +1 Charisma

Level 16: Ability Score Increase. +1 Charisma, +1 Constitution

Level 19: Metamagic Adept Feat.

Jean’s Spellbook

Cantrips: Dancing Lights, Eldritch Blast, Friends, Gust, Lightning Lure, Mage Hand, Mending, Message, Mind Sliver, Minor Illusion, Prestidigitation

1st level: Arms of Hadar, Dissonant Whispers, False Life (at will), Feather Fall, Hellish REbuke, Jump (at will), Mage Armor (at will), Magic Missile, Shield

2nd level: Calm Emotions, Detect Thoughts, Hold Person, Invisbility, Mind Spike, Shatter

3rd level: Clairvoyance, Counterspell, Dispel Magic, Fly, Hunger of Hadar, Lightning Bolt, Sending, Slow

4th level: Evard’s Black Tentacles, Hallucinatory Terrain, Raulothim's Psychic Lance, Shadow of Moil, Sickening Radiance, Summon Aberration

5th level: Telekinesis, Dream, Wall of Light

6th level: Investiture of Flame

Features:

I decided not to paste them all haha. But if you want to see all of the features she has an more, you can follow this link to her character sheet in DnD Beyond, which I used to facilitate this build.

[asspinkie]

Tav Character Worksheet

thank you for the tag @hybernating-bear <333

i'm doing my dark urge because she is my favorite! and also because i don't have a tav yet who has a developed enough background to share. i don't have a ton of photos bc i am lazy by nature but this is her:

Name: Finwe (because I am a fringe Tolkien fan and it sounded cool)

Sexuality: Bisexual

Pronouns: She/her

O T H E R

Family: She's a Bhaalspawn so her biological family is Orin the deranged as fuck and Bhaal. Not a great lineup, but she has strong familial companionship with her travelling companions.

Birthplace: Created by Bhaal!

Job: Pregame - murdering the innocent citizens of Baldur's Gate. During game - amnesiac ranger that's gonna save that stupid fucking city if it kills her.

Phobia: spiders. god, why are there so many of them in the underdark.

Guilty Pleasure: Uhm. Thinking about Raphael probably. But also, since leaving the Cult of Bhaal and forging her own identity, she's been trying out a lot of mundane things. Her favorites (which make her feel instinctually guilty because they're not murdery) are 1. saying out of pocket things to the other patrons of the rowdy mermaid to try to get astarion to laugh. he does not. and 2. eating so many baked goods

Hobbies: Doing something hilarious at every opportunity to piss off astarion. She's also trying to learn to play the lute but none of the criticism has been,,, constructive so far.

(sorry if the image quality is terrible! i am not tech smart)

M O R A L S

Alignment: Chaotic good I think? I spent the game picking the funniest (most likely to get her into fights) dialogue options and helping people. Shithead energy for real.

Sins: Death is a necessity and Finwe isn't afraid to be its arbiter if it accomplishes her goals. She takes things too personally and acts impulsively, but is often too stubborn to admit when she's wrong. She can also be on the manipulative side if it serves her purposes.

Virtues: She'll help anyone who asks (if their morals align with hers). She's also fiercely protective of her friends and will go to bat for them if they're threatened in any way.

(^the weed in baldur's gate just hits different apparently) (i just can't take good screenshots)

THIS OR THAT

Introverted / Extroverted

Organized / Disorganized (she spends hours on camp inventory with lae'zel. clipboard and everything)

Close Minded / Open Minded

Calm / Anxious / Restless

Disagreeable / Agreeable / In between

Patient / Impatient / In between

Outspoken / Reserved / In between

Leader / Follower / Flexible (she can and will drag everyone into danger. the only time she steps aside is when its their business - she won't make personal choices for anyone she cares about).

Empathetic / Unempathetic / In between

Optimist / Pessimist / Realist (has a lot of stupid hope that somehow pays off every time?)

Traditional / Modern / In between (this means gender roles i think?? the first person she encountered with amnesia was lae'zel. women are god to her.)

Hardworking / Lazy / In between (often accidentally hard-working because she doesn't ever think long enough to strategize and thus ends up doing everything the hard way)

R E L A T I O N S H I P S

OTP: Astarion, but she's also involved with Halsin.

Other ships: She is a little bit in love with everyone (someone new, Hozier vibes), but if she had to pair with someone else it would be Lae'zel.

Brotp: Her best friend, ride or die, is Lae'zel. they will fuck you up together.

Notp: She's not the best of friends with Gale or Shadowheart. Because she definitely led them both on and is incredibly evasive by nature, so things are a bit awkward now. She also absolutely hates mizora.

thanks again for the tag!! i had a lot of fun with this. i don't really tag, so if you want to do this, feel free!

[hunting-songs]

YOUR MUSES HOBBIES. reblog & bold whichever applies to your muse ! fishing | camping | sewing | singing | dancing | drawing | painting | baking | cooking | making music | gardening | mixology | playing sports | beekeeping | knitting | chess | video games | working out | doing yoga | playing an instrument | collecting things | hiking | parkour | kite flying | making bread | origami | wood carving | trivia | board games | jigsaw puzzles | juggling | swimming | creative writing | journaling | scrapbooking | thrifting | doing makeup | working on cars | cosplaying | wikipedia editing | genealogy | book club | table tennis | calligraphy | meteorology | astronomy | larping | geocaching | photography | reading | litter picking | scrolling through social media | watching movies / shows | witchcraft | pottery | lego building | ghost hunting | graffiti | poker | people watching | birdwatching .

Drawing: Senritsus drawingskills usully focus on technical drawings for her instrument building /restore work. Occaisonally she will draw flowers like her mother did in her herb-study-books. Camping+Hiking: Traveling is part fo Senritsus work, but she actually has a great love and enjoyment of grabbing her backpack and going hiking. For one it is part of her work, when she is payed to seek out distant groups far away fom bigger cities for documenting taditional songs or finding old instruments, but she likes the literal freedom of just going wherever she wants in those parts of her work. After she had been cursed, Senritsu had developted a great distaste for cities and their permanent noises and her love for just sleeping in a sleepingback while watching the stars and listening to the insects had grown proportionally. However, considering her backpain those nights outside are a lot of rougher on her than they used to be. Not that this would stop Senritsu (ones own health is usually not that important for Hunters. Its a occupational disease) but she might return from a trip bruised all over but also very happy.

Reading: Due to Senritsus never especially well worked with dyslexia she does not like reading. However, she is curious, she is eager to learn and she loves to learn new things fitting to her special interests. So while she would not read a book, she will at any time possible listen to a audiobook. Musicians bipgraphys, History on dances and certaine instruments, Travel-logs- Whenever she does not need to actively listen to someone/something, Senritsu will pluck in her headphones and "read" an audiobook.

Watching movies / show: Her keen hearing makes it impossible for Senritsu to indulge or get lost in series or movies. If the audioquality is bad, she will literally cringe at every sound and if the audioquality is too good, than she will actually hear the filmteam in the background of every scene that makes it impossible to actually attentive follow the plot of fall for the illusion. Naturally she will sit down with friends and loved ones to watch movies, but in that manner she will enjoy beeing with her friends more than the actual series or the movie.

Tagged By: A little bird! Tagging: @skarletchains @bewitchingbaker @gyofukuki @uzumakiuser @jxgi @thaneirstaer @rake-rake @distortedkilling @swxpped @muddsludge @curseisms @zealctry @saiakv @nephytale @huntcrpcdia ...and YOU!

[rabbitcruiser]

National Pretzel Day

Warm, soft, and oh-so-tasty, take this excuse to visit a pretzel  stand or shop and try a classic pretzel, or a new flavor like cinnamon  or honey-mustard.

Most people would agree that there is something extra special about a  pretzel! While, at first, it might seem like an average snack made of  bread dough, it is so much more than that. The rich bready smell, the  burst of salt in the mouth as the first bite is taken, and in some  situations, the delicious flavor of cheese or another sauce that it can  be dipped into.

Or, on the other end of the spectrum, there are those people who  prefer the crunch of the kind of pretzels that can be purchased in a bag  at the store. These crunchy little, salty snacks can be an amazing  addition to any snack mix. Some might even say that they are the very  foundation of sports gatherings everywhere.

Whatever the personal preference is, National Pretzel Day exemplifies this delicious treat in all of its forms.

So grab a favorite variety, sit back and munch down on one of the  most delightful of snack-based days! Get ready for National Pretzel Day!  

History of National Pretzel Day

Like all food-related holidays, starting with a little history of  where the food came from is a great way to get to know the background of  the day. The story of the pretzel is particularly fun, especially as it  shares a theme with candy canes, which is another well-known favorite!  (In fact, Candy Cane Pretzels, dusted with crushed candy canes–instead  of salt–and glazed with frosting, are a great wintertime treat!).

Legend has it that, at some time during the Middle Ages, Catholic  Monks were trying to figure out what to do with little bits of dough  they had that were leftover after baking their loaves of bread. They  didn’t want to be wasteful. So, clever as they were, they came up with  what is now known as the pretzel. The method included folding the dough  into the shape of praying hands, or a knot that represented the Holy  Trinity, depending on who happens to be telling the story at the moment.  

Since that time, the pretzel has evolved into a much-loved treat that  has seen many uses and varieties. Some of the more common ones include  representing marriage (where the term ‘tying the knot’ came into  prominence) and also into modern-day as a popular addition to concession  stands at carnivals and events of all kinds.

The origin of the hard pretzel is a bit more recent and is among the  ranks of other great accidental discoveries like the potato chip!  Apparently, when a pretzel is left in the oven for a longer period of  time, it will bake into a crisp and crunchy bit of deliciousness. The  story goes that, when this happened, a baker was so pleasantly surprised  with the result that he took the time to perfect the recipe. Now these  crispy little treats are an extremely popular snack!

Inspired and delicious, National Pretzel Day comes as the celebration of all things related to this delectable snack!

How to Celebrate National Pretzel Day

Celebrating pretzels can be a load of fun! Try these ideas:

Grab a Free or Discounted Pretzel  

In celebration of this important event, many companies and stores  celebrate this holiday by offering free or discounted pretzels to their  customers. After all, sometimes the best way to get someone started on a  delicious and addictive snack is to give them the first one free!

Check out these Pretzel shops to see what might be on offer this year:

Auntie Anne’s Pretzels. Considered to be the  “world’s largest hand-rolled soft pretzel franchise, this Lancaster, PA  chain has a lot to offer! In 2020, stores celebrated by giving away  25,000 free soft pretzels to frontline workers. In past years, people  who participate with the company’s Pretzel Perks app have been offered  Buy One Get One Free soft pretzels. Not only do they have almost 1800  stores in the US, they also reach at least 25 other countries such as  Russia, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Chile, Mexico, Egypt and the  Bahamas.

Pretzelmaker. In previous years,  customers who have the Pretzelmaker Rewards app qualify for a free  pretzel on National Pretzel Day! More than 280 stores throughout the US  as well as Guam, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Wetzel’s Pretzels.  Although this chain doesn’t seem to give out free pretzels, they in the  past offered a coupon good for a free beverage with the purchase of a  soft pretzel. Stores can be found in more than 300 locations around the  world, including 28 US states and five other countries.

Learn How to Make Pretzels at Home  

For those who may be feeling particularly adventurous, it’s always an  option to try making pretzels at home. You can use one of the hundreds  of recipes that can be found online. For an easier time of it, some  grocery stores sell the large version of frozen pretzels that can be  baked in the oven at home and then served warm.

Or, take the middle road and whip up a delicious snack mix using premade hard pretzels, seasonings, and other snack mixes.

Don’t forget to keep it interesting by testing out a variety of  sauces for dipping pretzels. Try out cheese, chocolate, caramel, honey  mustard, marinara sauce, cream cheese or even fruit sauces.

Start Snacking with Crunchy Pretzels

It only makes sense to spend National Pretzel Day buying up whatever  is the favorite variety of pretzel and enjoying it as a snack. Try  famous brands such as Rold Gold or Snyder’s of Hanover. Or grab a few  bags from a local producer.

Add small pretzel twists to Chex cereal with some nuts and spices,  then bake it into a superb snack mix. Or eat them straight out of the  bag, dipping into peanut butter, hummus, cream cheese or ranch dressing.  

However you do it, National Pretzel Day is a great time to celebrate this wonderful treat with a wonderful history!

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