#pretty kdrama weddings

[dramashii]

“And I’d choose you; in a hundred lifetimes, in a hundred worlds, in any version of reality, I’d find you and I’d choose you.”—The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White

Category: Kdrama Weddings

Guardian: The Lonely and Great God | Tale of the Nine Tailed | Alchemy of Souls

[noona-is-afk]

what’s with all the sexy corporate boss male leads always having rain related trauma

[mochacoda]

what is love? | chs

Pairing: Chwe Vernon x Fem!Reader

Synopsis: It’s been 2 days since you confessed to your best friend that you love him, and it’s been 2 days since you’ve talked to him. Now you're hiding in the bridal suite of your friend's wedding, avoiding him.

Content: Angst, Fluff, Comfort | Friends to Lovers

Tags: bridesmaid!reader, groomsman!vernon, insecure reader, jihyo appears, dino's getting married in this one lolz, intense pining, lots of internal spiraling, vernon's facial expressions get flamed, 2 kdrama fall moments, a little konglish w/ translations, a kiss, no "y/n"

Word Count: 6.4K

Masterlist

What is love? If you didn’t know any better, you’d say that it’s what you feel for Chwe Vernon. Unfortunately for you, though, you really didn’t know any better, and now you’re facing the consequences of your actions. 

It’s been two days since you confessed to your best friend that you love him, and it’s been two days since you’ve talked to the man. Honestly, you have no one to blame but yourself, but you’ve convinced yourself that it’s everyone else’s fault for encouraging you. Maybe, if they hadn’t kept pushing you to confess to him—insisting that he definitely was into you—then you wouldn’t be in this position. 

Said position involves taking turns hiding in the bridal suite and bathroom of this wedding venue. In fact, you’re so committed to your act that you’ve practically become one with the shadows.

If anything, Vernon should be grateful that you’re going out of your way to avoid him. That way, he wouldn’t get bombarded with the secondhand embarrassment from remembering that horrible day. 

The only reason you’re here right now is because both Chan and his bride are close friends of yours, and you wouldn’t want to miss their wedding for the world. Plus, you’re also a bridesmaid. 

It was on you for blurting a disastrous confession to Vernon a few hours after the wedding rehearsal. 

But the bride and groom don’t even know that things have changed between the two of you. Given the chaos of wedding preparations, you withheld the fact that you and Vernon are going through a rough patch right now—if not the end of the friendship entirely. You didn’t want to add to their stress, but now you feel like you’re on fire. 

After all, Vernon is one of the groomsmen. What’s worse is, the wedding plans involve bridesmaids and groomsmen walking down the aisle in pairs, and you’d been placed with Vernon without a second thought. 

In other words, you’re completely screwed. 

“T-minus 20,” your friend and fellow bridesmaid Jihyo says, nudging your side. “We should go now.”

You feel a faint pulsing at the forefront of your head, a headache creeping up on you. God, what if when he sees you, he shakes his head and makes an X or something with his hands, insisting that he won’t walk down with you? What if he finds you physically embarrassing to be around, and just walks away? You’ve been running away from him all day, so it might not be a stretch to consider that he might have been trying to get away from you, too. 

You groan, scrunching the root of your hair, somewhat messing up your carefully curled hair. No, he wouldn’t just leave, that would ruin the wedding. He has too much love for Chan to do that to him. If he protests, he’d either do it subtly right before or confront you after it’s all over. 

You shut your eyes and take a deep breath. No one knows about your falling out except for you. And, well, Vernon, of course, but that’s not who you have to keep this secret from. You have to do your best to act normal and not at all like your heart is on the verge of bursting. 

“Has anyone ever died of embarrassment?” you suddenly ask, fingers dancing to find something to channel your nervous energy into. You fist a bit of the dress you’re wearing, then release it when you realize you can’t wrinkle the pretty material. “Shit.” You smooth over the fabric with shaky, sweaty hands.

“What is going on with you?” Jihyo’s eyes narrow as she looks you over. 

“I’ll tell you later,” you manage, bouncing your leg up and down. 

“Later, as in when?” 

“After the wedding,” you grit. You want to bury your face in your hands, but the expensive makeup gives you pause. You settle for lowering your head, staring listlessly at the white tiles on the ground. 

“Is this about what happened with Vernon?” 

You whip your head up. “You know?”

Jihyo slowly blinks, then deadpans, “Uh, yeah? A, both of you have been weird. The last time I saw you two not together was like, five years ago. And B, you’re literally the least subtle person I’ve ever met.”

“Oh,” you squeak, then quickly ask, “Wait, what do you think happened with Vernon?”

She stares blankly at you, as if the answer is obvious. “You confessed. He said nothing. You ran away.”

Your eyebrows shoot up, eyes growing comically large. Then, a frown replaces your shock. You don’t need to ask her how she knows. If anything, it just adds to the notion that even your other friends knew that he would’ve rejected you.

Jihyo sighs, coming over to the loveseat to sit next to you. She gives you a warm side hug, rubbing your back. “He’s a massive idiot. It’s gonna be okay. Let’s just get it together for the wedding, hmm?”

You swallow roughly, then nod. 

She continues, “Seriously, though. I’ve known Vernon for almost as long as you have. He’s not great at talking when he’s caught off guard—you know that, too.”

You blink at her words, the tiniest spark of hope igniting in your chest. But you quickly stamp it out, remembering the face he had made when you blurted out that you loved him.

Brows furrowed, open-mouthed, eyes wide, dead silent—he had to have been looking at you with disgust. That was the only way any sane person could decipher that look, really! There was no way that that face was the look of a man who was in love with you, as your friends have claimed.

“It doesn’t matter,” you say, wrinkling your mouth into a smile that anyone could tell was faked. “I’ll get through it.”

“Yeah, it’s not that deep. Just walk down the aisle with him. It’ll take 10 seconds, tops.”

You’re very sure she’s exaggerating, but you wave it off. “I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine,” she says dryly.

You glare at her. “I’ll be fine.”

“Good, that’s the right mentality,” she says, clasping your shoulders, shaking your upper body. “파이팅! [Fighting!]”

“해야지, [gotta do it,]” you mutter. 

Jihyo’s right. You’ll have to see Vernon anyway, so you might as well do it with as much dignity as you can scrap together. 

Except, the little dignity you have left demands some more time to procrastinate and linger in your regret.

Jihyo stands up from the couch, but you don’t. Your limbs feel impossibly heavy, as if they’ve been held down by a massive boulder.

You groan, “Just go without me, I’ll leave soon. I wanna go as late as possible.” 

Jihyo looks at you with what you can only describe as immense pity. “Okay. I’ll see you in five?” 

You nod numbly, watching her walk away to open the doors of the bridal suite. 

Vaguely, you can hear some absentminded chatter across the room from the hair and makeup artists, mother of the bride, and maid of honor, all crowded over the bride. It’s all but a buzz in the back of your mind, though, since you’re preoccupied with trying to convince yourself that you have it in you to face Vernon. Knowing you only have five minutes before needing to walk down the aisle with him, your mouth feels dry—too dry. 

At that realization, you force your heavy limbs to get up, then walk over the fancy rug to the table where a myriad of miscellaneous objects have been strewn about. You reach for your bag to take out your water bottle, but your hands falter when you look at the little keychain attached to the bag. 

It’s a silver charm bracelet you’ve repurposed as a bag charm. It has a turtle and retriever puppy on it, representing the animals you’ve viewed each other as being. Seeing the charms causes a pang of longing to cut deep into you, reminding you of how much you’ve missed him in the last two days. 

Could you ever forgive yourself for ruining your precious friendship? For getting too greedy, for asking for too much? 

Your hands grip the edge of the table roughly, searching for something to stabilize your body, which is dangerously teetering in the high heels you had convinced yourself you’d be able to walk properly in. You’d bought it because the color of the shoe perfectly matches your dress, but the razor thin heel is proving to be an issue. 

Subconsciously, your hand reaches out from the table corner to your bag, gently rubbing the golden retriever charm Vernon always said looked like you, and you’re hit with a sudden intense wave of sadness—but not for the confession. 

No, instead, you turn your regret to the insecure internal ramblings that have ravaged you lately. 

The earnest, bright eyes of the little puppy charm makes you conscious of the hollow ache spreading throughout your body. How could you have been so mean to your poor, fragile heart? 

Alright, maybe you and Vernon wouldn’t be friends anymore. Maybe you would have to live without seeing him ever again. 

But you’d have to live with yourself, and it wasn’t right to treat yourself like this. 

Technically, Vernon didn’t even say anything to you. He didn’t outright reject you just yet, and he certainly didn’t say you weren’t someone worthy of love. So it was completely unfair for you to jump to those conclusions yourself, putting words in his mouth. 

And most of all, it would be even more unfair to you, represented by this adorable puppy charm, to lose yourself to heartbreak. 

Straightening your back, your other hand reaches into your bag for your water bottle. Upon chugging the remainder of the water, you close your eyes, concentrating on making your pulse slow down. It works, and you breathe a sigh of relief.

You might have to live with the fallout of this confession, but you could also live with the truth. Loving Vernon wasn't a mistake, and it wouldn't feel like one, no matter how he responded. He deserved honesty, and you deserved to stand by it. Even if this was the end, you wanted to leave this part of your story knowing you'd done right by both of you. 

You nod to no one in particular, having made your mind up. After the wedding, you’ll go to him and be upfront about it all, bearing your soul to his response. 

For now, though, you’ll help him enjoy the wedding by continuing to stay out of his sight. If he can’t see you, he can’t get reminded of his need to reject you—which is important, of course, because you don’t want his memories of this wedding to be of you crying after he lets you down. 

With this renewed clarity, you steady yourself. Vernon doesn’t love you, and that’s okay. You’d do enough loving for the both of you.

────୨ৎ────

Vernon steps into the bridal suite, a thrum of nerves coursing through his veins. He’s spent the past half-hour searching for you in every nook and cranny of the venue, dodging curious glances and knowing jokes from the other groomsmen about his obvious distraction. Jihyo’s the one who finally pointed him in the right direction, murmuring something about how it’s been over five minutes, and how he’s the only one who can get you to show up.

When he sees you standing by the table, shoulders tense, your hands gripping the edge like it’s the only thing keeping you upright, his breath catches. There you are, beautiful and strong and fragile all at once, lost in your thoughts. His chest constricts. How did it come to this? How did the best thing in his life become the one thing he feels he’s on the verge of losing?

“Hey,” he says softly, taking a step forward, calling your name softly.

Your head snaps up at the sound of his voice, and the sudden movement sends you teetering in your high heels. Eyes wide, you twist toward him, your balance faltering. “Vernon?”

It happens in a split second. One of your heels trips on the edge of the rug, and you stumble forward. Vernon darts forward instinctively, grabbing you just before you hit the ground. His arms wrap around you tightly, steadying you.

For a moment, everything stops. Leaning against his chest, you can hear his heartbeat, a frantic rhythm that matches your own. God, your near face plant must have scared him a lot?

But just as you start to regain your footing, your heel accidentally digs into his foot, and he lets out a yelp of pain. 

The abrupt shift in weight sends him off balance, and the two of you tumble onto the floor in a tangled heap.

There’s a beat of silence, and then Vernon’s crazy seagull call of a laugh cuts through the tension. 

It’s infectious, and before you know it, you’re both laughing, the sound filling the room. It’s ridiculous, it’s messy, and it’s the most alive you’ve felt in days.

When your body relaxes all of its tension, you realize that you’ve missed him with every fiber of your being. That something in you has been waiting for him, like you’ve been in withdrawal without hearing his laughter in the last two days. 

You’d planned on continuing to avoid him until the end of the wedding, so that he could enjoy his night without you, but that idea is crumbling right before your eyes. You might not be able to bring yourself to stay away from him any longer. 

And then, oh, then—the laughter fades, and you realize how close you are. 

Vernon’s face is inches from yours, his warm breath fanning across your skin. His eyes, dark and soft, hold a depth of emotion that makes your stomach twist. And for a fleeting moment, you think you see something raw and unguarded in his gaze—something you’ve seen before. 

It’s how he looked when you confessed to him.

Your chest tightens, and your thoughts spiral. Is he mad, reminded of your confession? 

You scramble to put distance between you, pushing yourself off him and stepping back hastily. Too hastily, really.

“I’m so sorry,” you stammer, smoothing down the fabric of your dress as if that will somehow restore your composure. “I didn’t mean to, I swear—”

“It’s okay,” Vernon says gently, sitting up. 

He reaches an arm out for you, but you’ve already retreated several steps, an apologetic smile plastered on your face.

“We should get going,” you say, your tone overly formal. “It’s almost time.” Without waiting for his response, you turn on your heel and stride toward the door, your movements stiff and hurried.

Vernon watches you go, his hand dropping to his side. He flexes it, then exhales sharply, frustration bubbling beneath the surface of his calm exterior. 

You’re running again, and he’s running out of time to fix this. 

Pushing himself to his feet, he follows you out of the suite, his long strides easily catching up to you.

The two of you arrive at the line of bridesmaids and groomsmen just as the coordinator starts organizing everyone into pairs. You avoid Vernon’s gaze, your hands clasped tightly in front of you. 

But when it’s your turn to step forward, he’s there, holding out his hand to you. 

It shakes a little, and your breath hitches when you notice a flash of silver on his wrist. It’s a charm bracelet, and it’s unmistakably the same one you’ve kept on your bag for years, the little turtle and retriever puppy charms glinting under the soft light. 

Surely not? 

Surely, he doesn’t?

Tentatively, you place your hand in his, your fingers trembling. His grip is familiar, warm, and steady, grounding you even as your emotions threaten to overwhelm you. 

As you walk toward the aisle together, you don't look at whoever you're supposed to be looking at, whether it's the officiant or the people clapping in the crowd. Instead, your eyes are trained on the jewelry peeking out of his sleeve, and how his hand feels so soft and warm and dependable against yours. 

Then, it suddenly occurs to you that maybe, just maybe, you saw it wrong that day. Maybe he wasn’t looking at you like he was appalled by your audacity to tell him your feelings. He might have actually really been confused, allowing for you to misinterpret his surprise for rejection. 

But as soon as the thought enters your mind, you dismiss it. False hope definitely wouldn’t do anything for your precious feelings. Especially when the hope was that Vernon, of all people, would love you as much as you love him.

Desperately avoiding eye contact with the man in question, you stare straight at the bridesmaid-groomsman pair in front of you. 

If Vernon loved you back, then he’d say it. He’d show it somehow, some day. Today wasn’t that day, and that’s okay. 

You’d be alright without him, eventually. Probably. Hopefully?

With that rationale, you do your best to ignore your trembling legs, burning ears, and constricting chest. The bride and groom deserve a perfect procession, and you would play your role well. 

────୨ৎ────

It was a beautiful ceremony. And, three hours into the reception, you’re proud to say that you’ve survived. Promptly after the procession, you separated from Vernon, finding refuge within the bridesmaid group. Ever since, you’ve flitted around different tables, dancing with random people, all in the name of protecting him from seeing you. 

You’re actually incredible at avoiding people, if you do say so yourself. Every time you’ve seen Vernon within 50 feet of your vicinity, you’ve grabbed someone new to dance with or talk to. And for especially close calls, you’ve dragged Jihyo into the bathroom. 

This time, though, you’re hiding in the bathroom without her. She’d finally refused to go with you for the nth time. The brat had thrown you to the wolves, essentially. No girl code—the nerve of her!

Patting down the roots and length of your hair, which had gotten a bit frizzy, you stare at yourself blankly in the mirror, watching a shiver run down your spine from the cold air-conditioning blasting in the small space. 

Despite your efforts to calm down, a sigh escapes your mouth, your shoulders feeling far too heavy. What are you doing, hiding?

God, you love him so much. So much that you’re willing to dance around him so he doesn’t get reminded of you, so that he doesn’t worry about how to reject you all night, so that he can just enjoy the wedding. 

What even is love? 

You’ve heard that love is sacrifice, and if what you feel is really love, then, well. You’ll have to try not to love anyone but yourself from now on, because unrequited love is somewhat horrible. 

You’ll get over him someday, right? 

Right?

Before you can psych yourself out of leaving the freezing but rather safe haven that is the restroom, you march over to the door with a new mantra. You shake your shoulders and roll your neck, cracking the joints in your fingers. 

“I’ll get over it,” you murmur. “I’m over it. I’m over it! Over, over, over.” 

Pushing the door open, you continue rambling to yourself. “I’ll get over it. Over, over, over, over...”

“Over what?” comes a familiar voice.

Oh, shit.

Wide-eyed, you look up to see Vernon blocking your way past the bathroom and back into the hallway leading to the reception. 

“Oh,” you gasp, limbs frozen. your eyes flit back to the door to the women’s restroom again, contemplating ditching him cheaply (again). 

Vernon steps closer, his gaze softening as he notices your hesitation. His voice is low and gentle—too gentle—when he speaks, almost as if he’s unsure how to break the silence.

"Hey," he says softly, his hand reaching out, fingers brushing against your arm. "You don't have to hide from me, y’know."

You glance up at him, your adrenaline flowing through your veins. You want to back away, to keep putting distance between you, but something about his insistent stare makes your legs freeze.

"I know it's been awkward," Vernon continues, his words more measured now. "But I’m not trying to make you uncomfortable. I just—I just want to talk." He brings his right hand up to his chest, like he’s swearing that he speaks the truth. 

You shake your head, your voice trembling. "You don’t have to. I don’t want to make things worse."

Vernon furrows his brows, stepping closer, as if he can’t bear to see you pull away from him again. "You think that running away will fix it? You think I want you to hide from me?"

You swallow hard, avoiding his eyes. "I don't know. This is all new to me."

"Then let me say it.” Vernon’s voice is strangled. "I don’t want to lose you, okay? I didn’t want it to happen like this, I…” His voice trails off as he clenches his fists, shutting his eyes tightly before opening them again. “Please don’t think I shut you down, I just—I needed some time to process everything. I care about you a lot—so much more than I know how to show, sometimes. Or,” he huffs with red-rimmed eyes, “a lot of the time."

A silence settles between you, thick and heavy, but Vernon doesn’t seem to notice. He looks at you with downturned, shining eyes, and you feel your defenses slowly start to crumble. 

You’ve never seen him so devastated. 

"Come here," Vernon says softly, his arm reaching out to tug you closer, now fully clinging to your side. "Please don’t keep running. Please?” He says the last word like it’s a prayer—and, oh, is it a powerful one.

Every part of your body stiffens, caught off guard by how warm he is, then immediately relaxes at how gently he’s holding you, as if you would break if he held on any tighter.

"Please don’t run from me anymore," he whispers, his breath hot against your ear, sending a shiver down your spine. 

You think you could melt into his arms, and it takes everything within you to trust him, to not back away like you have for the past two days. With each passing second, you feel your spine relaxing and leaning into his touch. Then, in the midst of your relaxation, it occurs to you that he’s awaiting your reply.

But before you can answer his pleas, the sound of hurried footsteps echoes through the hallway. Jumping apart like fugitives before the law, you both turn to see Jihyo skidding around the corner, her face flushed with panic.

��There you are!” she exclaims, eyes wide. “The bouquet toss is about to happen! Get over here!” 

Before you can even blink, Jihyo grabs your wrist, pulling you away from the delicate warmth of Vernon’s embrace. 

“Now!” she shouts. 

You twist your back around to send him a helpless look, and all he gives you is an encouraging nod and the cutest, awkward little wave. You see the sincerity in his boyish smile, which makes your chest feel tight, as if all the air had been sucked from the room. It’s bad enough for your delicate heart. 

But then, most wickedly, you catch the adorable, anxious eagerness in his crinkled, watery eyes—and, oh. 

It really is all over for you, isn’t it?

You really won’t be able to love anyone else, will you? 

There is no “getting over” Chwe Vernon.

The last threads of your resolve crumble as you follow Jihyo. You barely register the steps that lead you back into the grand reception hall. She has a vice grip on your wrist, tugging you along with such urgency that your shoes almost trip you on the way inside. The room hums with energy, and you can’t help but feel out of place in the frenzy of people excitedly whispering and glancing toward the front.

Everyone has gathered in a semi-circle, eager faces all pointed at the bride, who is holding the bouquet high above her head. Your pulse is speeding up by the second, but it’s not for the reason the other single women are likely nervous for. All you can think about is how you’ve been dragged here with nothing but the love you have for Vernon—a deep, endless kind that threatens to burst out of you in a wildly embarrassing public display of affection.

"You're gonna be fine," Jihyo says with a grin, though it’s a little too wide, too bright. You’re not sure if she’s referring to the Vernon fiasco or the bouquet toss, but you force a smile back at her anyway.

"Sure I am," you mumble under your breath. 

She doesn’t hear you, or if she does, she doesn’t acknowledge that she heard it. She’s already turned her attention back to the bride, her arm brushing yours as she steps forward, positioning herself with the other women who are trying to catch the bouquet.

You stand awkwardly behind her at the edge of the crowd of single women, feet shuffling, heart still pounding from your conversation with Vernon.

Then, the live orchestral music shifts, and you feel a slight weight in your stomach, despite knowing the chances of the bouquet toss heading your way is slim to none. Still, it’s happening now, and you’re now on the single ladies floor, so there’s no backing out.

When you shift your back to brush away some of the hair obscuring your vision, you make eye contact with the very man who has been occupying your every thought this evening. Vernon had probably followed you and Jihyo as she pulled you away, since he’s now standing near you. And, oh, he’s close—only an arm’s distance or so away from you, standing at the front of the larger crowd. 

The closer the moment of the throw gets, the harder it is to ignore his burning presence. He’s standing with a group of other men who are watching the floor full of gorgeous, single women, but his attention is entirely on you. 

A subtle smile plays at the corners of his mouth, and the air between the two of you suddenly feels too thick. You have so much to say to him, and you don’t know how to get it all out in an eloquent way. 

But your deliberation of what to say to him is cut short by the screams announcing that the bouquet has launched into the air. 

You lift your chin up, squinting as the light of the chandeliers temporarily blinds you. By the time you blink away the flashing spots in your vision, you see the trajectory of the bouquet. 

It arcs high above the crowd of waiting women, catching the light as it spins toward the back—toward you! If you don’t move, the bouquet will crash into your face. 

Your arms instinctively reach for the flowers, reaching beyond what you’d thought was capable for yourself. But the second after your back stretches and feet jump to accommodate the move, your left heel completely gives out, sending your balance completely off-kilter.

Your arms flail uselessly as your ankle sharply twists, and the world tips sideways. The air rushes past your face, cold and sharp, and you brace yourself for impact—ready to collide utterly gracelessly with the hard floor. But before gravity can win, a pair of strong hands clamps around your waist, arresting your fall with a jarring yet steady pull.

The warmth of his touch spreads like wildfire through the thin fabric of your dress, grounding you in an instant. Vernon’s hands are firm, almost possessive, his grip both steady and urgent, like he’s afraid to let go.

Your chest presses against his, the faint thud of his heartbeat syncing with the chaotic rhythm of your own. His scent hits you next—a subtle mix of cedarwood and something distinctly him, crisp and comforting all at once. The tension in your body melts slightly as his arms secure you closer, your trembling legs finding balance in his hold.

“Hey,” he says shyly, his breath fanning across the shell of your ear. It sends a shiver down your spine, his words calming and electrifying in equal measure.

Your fingers instinctively clutch at the lapels of his jacket, the soft fabric brushing against your palms, anchoring you to reality. His thumb brushes lightly against your side, the touch barely noticeable yet searing, and the warmth from his body radiates into yours like a shield against the world.

Slowly, he adjusts his grip, one hand sliding to the small of your back, the other ghosting against your shoulder as he steadies you on your feet. The gentleness of his movements is stark against the adrenaline roaring in your ears.

When you finally look up, your breath catches. His face is so close—closer than you were when you fell in the bridal suite, closer than you’ve ever been before. Close enough to see the individual strands of his long lashes, to see the beautiful shimmer in his brown eyes. His eyes, wide and searching, lock onto yours, the emotions swirling in their dark depths rendering you speechless.

“I’ve got you,” Vernon says, his voice barely more than a whisper, but the words reverberate through you like an earthquake. “다친 데 없어? [You’re not hurt, are you?]”

You shake your head without much thought, the back of your neck and your ears burning up at how tender his touch is. 

His fingers linger at your waist, the subtle pressure of his touch still burning against your skin. Even as he pulls away just enough to give you space, the absence of his warmth feels like a loss you’re not ready to accept. Without thinking, your hand darts out, fingertips brushing against the sleeve covering the charm bracelet you saw during the procession.

And that’s when you notice the bouquet—clutched awkwardly in your other hand, its delicate petals trembling just as much as you are. The flowers are slightly askew from the near disaster, and it all comes crashing down on you. 

You wince at the ridiculous public scene you’ve made, but the smile that spreads across Vernon’s face is enough to make you forget about everything, humiliation be damned.

“Perfect,” he says softly, though you can hear the teasing edge in his voice. “You got it, princess.” 

Princess, the joke he started calling you after Disney movie marathons in which you mocked the main characters always needing men to save them—you were definitely having a princess moment right now.

Vernon reaches to brush a strand of hair out of your face, and you feel your cheeks heat from the decidedly intimate nature of his touch. 

And that’s when the room erupts. 

Cheers fill the space as the guests begin clapping, laughing, and shouting in celebration. You see Chan whistle, while his newlywed wife shouts, “Finally!” The noise surges around you, but you can’t focus on anything except the way Vernon is looking at you.

You don’t know how on earth you could have misinterpreted it before—his wide eyes, slightly furrowed brows, half-open mouth. His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows thickly, and it’s suddenly clear he’s just as affected as you are. 

He’s looking at you like you’re the only one in the room, like you’re the only one he can see.

He’s looking at you in the same way you look at him.

Your breath catches in your throat as you stare past his shoulders to see the waiting eyes of the entire room. It’s as though they’ve known all along, most having been there to see the constant teasing, the not-so-secret glances exchanged, and the tension that’s been building for what feels like ages. Everyone knew before you two did, really.

The realization hits you all at once, and a nervous laugh escapes you. You’re caught in the act—the act of love—and there’s no denying it. 

You exchange an uncertain look with Vernon, and something flickers in his eyes. It’s something deeper, like the three words you told him two days ago, only to be met with silence.

“Looks like it’s fate, huh?” you joke weakly, shaking the bouquet, trying to regain some control over the situation. 

But Vernon doesn’t laugh. His expression just softens, and his voice is so, so deep when he speaks, it’s barely audible over the noise of the guests. “Y’know, you don’t have to joke your way out of this.”

You swallow hard, but before you can respond, he steps closer to you, his gaze unwavering, presence overwhelming. He reaches for your hand, gently pulling it into his, where it fits just so, and the warmth of his touch sends a wave of electricity through you.

“You know I’ve been looking for you, right?” Vernon continues, his voice slightly choked, making your chest tighten. “All day. All day, yesterday and today. I’m so sorry I didn’t say anything that day. It wasn’t because I didn’t care, I do,” he pauses, tightening his grasp on you. “It’s because I care too much, really.”

Your breath hitches. What is he saying? Your brain is practically numb from the excessive overthinking you’ve been doing for the past two days. He needs to just spell it out.

“What?”

Vernon exhales a short laugh, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. His hands, buried deep in his coat pockets, tense visibly as his shoulders lift slightly. “I feel like you don’t get it,” he says softly, the words teetering on the edge of vulnerability.

Your heart skips a beat. “Get what?”

He looks at you—really looks at you, staring intensely into your eyes, weighing whether or not to say the next part. His jaw tightens for a brief second, the muscle flexing as he shifts his weight from one foot to the other. He pulls a hand out of his pocket, raking it through his hair. His fingers linger at the nape of his neck before dropping back to his side, curling loosely as though they’re bracing for impact.

“That I’m here for you,” Vernon says, his voice barely above a whisper. He steps closer, not quite closing the distance but close enough that you can feel the addictive heat radiating off of him. “That I’ve always been here for you. And not…” He clenches and unclenches his fists. “Not just as a friend.”

Your breath hitches, and you feel his gaze flicker to your lips for the briefest moment before darting back to your eyes. His own are wide, filled with uncertainty but also a quiet kind of determination.

He shifts again, this time slipping his other hand out of his pocket and holding it out, palm up, like an offering. His fingers twitch slightly, betraying his nerves, and you notice a faint redness creeping up his neck, the telltale signs of his composure cracking.

“I didn’t say anything sooner because…” His voice trails as he bites the inside of his cheek, eyes dropping to the ground. When he looks up again, his expression is raw and completely unguarded. “Because I didn’t want to mess things up. But I can’t keep telling myself I don’t feel this way. I’m sorry I’m so late.”  

Your chest tightens as his words settle over you, finally registering the weight of them.

“Please don’t get over me,” he says all at once, breathlessly. His eyes are shining, his gaze ever so hopeful.

His hand lingers in the space between you, waiting, hoping.

“Please?”

You stare at his outstretched hand in disbelief, limbs locked by pure shock. Is this real? 

You can feel the effort it’s taking for him to stay still, his thumb twitching every few seconds like he’s fighting the urge to pull away and retreat.

When you don’t immediately respond, Vernon exhales shakily and starts to pull his hand back, his lips parting as if to apologize. 

But before he can, your fingers move instinctively, brushing against his.

The contact is brief, but it’s enough to make him freeze. His eyes snap to yours, widening as if he doesn’t quite believe what just happened. Slowly, hesitantly, his fingers curl around yours, the warmth of his touch steadying you as much as it does him.

“I mean it. I don’t want you to move on, because I love you,” he says shakily. “I’m in love with you, and I don’t know if you still feel that way for me, but… I need you to know how I feel.”

In the depths of his eyes, you see the vulnerability he’s always tried to hide, the intensity of the emotions he’s been holding back for so long.

And it’s as if the whole room vanishes, leaving just the two of you standing there. The bouquet is forgotten, and so are the guests, their cheers having long faded into the background.

Your heart feels as though it’s about to explode from your chest, but the words spill out before you can think. “I love you, too.”

Vernon brightens, eyes lighting up his, his grin stretching from ear to ear, and you fold. He’s handsome and sweet and a little awkward and brilliant—and yours.

Before your next breath, he’s leaning forward, closing the distance between you. 

His lips meet yours in a kiss so soft, so gentle, that you barely feel it at all. Impatient, you eagerly lift your chin up for more of him. Wrapping your arms around his neck, deepening the kiss—oh, is it something to live for. You never want to let go. He tastes like chocolate and feels like a dream come true—he’s your very own prince, if you’re the princess. 

It feels like the world has finally clicked into place. You and Vernon are on the same page, and it’s indescribable, really.

When the roaring in your ears subsides, you hear some wolf whistles, and you suddenly realize where you are. You barely bring yourself to pull a few inches away from him, laughing softly, and he smiles, his eyes sparkling with so, so much warmth and love. It’s all for you. And you realize that here, in his arms, you feel full. You feel so warm, so cared for.

This, this is love. 

Masterlist

Author's Note: he's a bit of a loser in this, but i think he made up for it

Disclaimer: nothing i write is representative of how svt acts off camera, take their names as stand-ins for oc's!!

Taglist: @syluslittlecrows - @junplusone

[crsssie]

in sickness, in health - tim drake x reader (pretty bird countdown #10)

"You know, Damian, calling me out into the middle of Gotham U is sketchy asf." You hold your phone to your ear, raising a brow at the series of arrows on the ground. "Is this your way of getting Tim to propose to me?"

"I have no idea what nonsense you're sprouting."

"Watch." You turn around, Tim falling right into your arms, and you suddenly get the vibe that you're in some sort of Kdrama. "Caught ya."

Tim stares up at you, eyes wide as he laughs. "You caught me, pretty bird."

"See? Now, what is the nonsense you were telling me about? If you guys are planning a wedding in the middle of our university, I highly advise you to do it in the Wayne backyard or summer home instead."

You blink as Damian hangs up.

"We're flying out. They just wanted us to host a small wedding where they get to watch us exchange vows. Remember the letters you used to write to your future husband? Your mom mailed them all to me." Tim hums, fingers brushing over your wedding ring.

"WHAT THE FUCK???" Your eye twitches, horror written all over your face as you wince. "How did she even find them??"

"Apparently she dug them out when you told her that you got married."

"Mm." You grimace. "Do I have to read them in front of your family?"

"No. Just the two of us. I asked them for private vows. It's the least they can do for us"

"And it's a gala?"

"The party after is at the gala. No worries, Bruce didn't tell anyone why there's a fourth gala this year."

"Are you sure?" You raise a brow.

"I promise. We can stay in my old room the entire time if you want it that bad."

"Can we play Hades?"

"You and your fifty seven hours on a game because you want to fuck the main character." Tim rolls his eyes.

"Okay?? And?? Listen, my husband is hot, but fictional characters are still fine as fuck." You huff. "Besides, my vows are to you, no? I hope you them since I didn't get to tell you at the courthouse."

"Hey, how about reading them to me after the wedding so I can pick it apart?"

"What is this? Literary analysis?"

"Yes." Tim laughs. "To show my love for you."

"Then shall I frame your vows?"

"No need. You can keep the original draft on a USB."

"Yeah?"

Tim laughs. "Yes. That way, each time you wonder if I still love you, you have proof that the choice I made was to love you until I return to the dust of the earth."

"That's absolutely insane to say to me."

"Oh, hey. There's the helicopter." Tim looks up, leading you back as it lands in the quad.

"Is this... legal?"

"Nothing a little money can't handle."

"Great day to be marrying rich, I guess?" You raise a brow. "Where are we even having vows?"

"In private." He holds out his hand for you, helping you onto the helicopter.

"Did you plan this?"

"Just the vows part." Tim hands you the headphones as you pop them on. "We'll land at home."

"And then?"

"And then, we'll read our vows as we help each other get dressed for the gala."

"My wedding dress is nowhere near appropriate for the gala after all that sand got on it."

"I have another white one that we ordered. It's more casual." Tim grins, taking your hands again. "Everything I have is for you."

"You sound so sappy it hurts."

"Love you too." Tim snickers.

You find it strange. Tim finds it strange. You wonder just what kind of a life you led in your past life that had led you to end up with him. He is flawed, but you find that it's fine or whatnot. The world could stop spinning for him, and you would still stay by his side — until the earring rusts and your ring finger is worn down by the on and off before and after bed, he would be engrained into a part of your soul, hums gentle against your skin as the rain splatters against the window. There would be a fixing, until the two of you are withered and frail with age, until you can no longer fix each other and return to dust as one.

"Ehem." You make the dramatics of dropping the rest of the paper as Tim helps you lace your back, laughing. "To my dearest, sweetest, loveliest, future husband. At the time I am first starting this page, I am twelve and have a thrashing obsession with Robin. As with all of my hyperfixations, I expect this to last no longer than two months. Even if it continues, I hope this is whatever the hell my classmates won't shut up about... the invisible string theory? I wonder if that means I'm gonna marry Robin's girlfriend or something. Oh, maybe even another hardcore fan of his—"

Tim holds back a laugh, back shaking as he finishes with the bow. "My girlfriend?"

"You weren't bi at that point in time. At least not to us." You snort, continuing. "Regardless of whoever I end up with, I'm fine if I never end up married too. I keep hearing all of this nonsense about how women are having less kids and shit and I think it's a good time to never have to deal with it. Hopefully you don't want kids either. Or, maybe you're down bad like those men in all of that fanfiction I've been reading. Regardless, if I end up marrying a man who can't respect my boundaries, I want a divorce. Fuck this, man."

You move down the paper, and Tim runs his hand through your hair.

"You're doing my hair this time?" You raise a brow. "What's next, my makeup?"

"I will be attempting to do your makeup today." Tim purses his lips. "If you'll let me?"

"Sure." You hum, moving your head to make sure he gets all of your hair. "Dear future husband, here's a few things you need to know if you want to be my one and only all my life."

Tim holds back a laugh, but you feel him shaking behind you anyway.

"I have a Robin addiction. I know he technically assaulted me or whatever on the rooftop the other day, but oh my god he's got such a feminine-shaped face that I think I am never going to reach that level of pretty. Even if I do, somehow, I don't think I could ever have a figure that nice. Do I look better now? Maybe I do. I don't know. Hopefully I'm the prettiest girl in the world to you even when I'm old and wrinkly. I got scolded by mom because of... nearly losing my camera but.. boo. I hope you're Robin. I really hope I end up marrying that guy because my friends may not be able to marry Jungkook but I at least have a chance of marrying him. Are you Robin? The one that has pants? It sounds so romantic... please take me out on midnight swings." You pause, blinking at your next words.

"I bet it's something about how you'd let me fuck you six ways from sunday." Tim reaches for a brush.

"Wow, you're like, psychic." You snort. "I also hope whenever I look at you like I'd let you hit fourteen different ways, you catch the cue. Or, maybe the idea of sex grosses me out now. I don't know. I wouldn't know. I can only keep hoping and praying that you're Robin. Oh, also, please let me grate cheese on your abs if you have— I CAN'T."

"No, keep going." Tim stops, hair still in his hand as you shake from laughter. "KEEP GOING."

"Please let me grate cheese on your abs if you have abs. Oh, also, is it possible to cut my finger on your jawline? Maybe you'll let me bite into your collarbone until I draw blood. Okay, that was oddly kinky and weird. I am sorry if future me has to read this to you. I might be insane or something. I wouldn't know." You close your eyes for the next part. "Regardless, I want a big fancy wedding that costs a billion dollars where you'll fly all of my friends in and we'll party until sunrise. That was sarcasm, by the way. I want a small wedding where it's just family and friends. Maybe a second one to host more people if you're a socialite or something. I hope my future in laws love me more than they love you. Mom's been teaching me how to cook lately, and I might have a talent for it. I hope you enjoy every single Chinese dish on the planet, because I can not live with white people food for extended periods of time. Kisses! Xoxo."

"Yeah, I think that last part is apparent." Tim finishes with your hair, reaching for accessories. "The ironic part is that you DID manage to marry that Robin."

"Yeah, I bet she'd be having a crazy ass moment." You hum. "Ehem, dear future husband. my parents are divorced now. I'm in high school at this point in time. Robin seems rather chummy with me now, but I still don't think he sees me as a potential romantic partner. I think he only recognizes me if I have my all black clothes on. Regardless, I think he's a funny guy. Also, I caught him kissing Spoiler a couple days ago so I don't think I have a chance."

"Makes me nostalgic, almost." Tim hums, looking through your jewelry. "What colors for accent?"

"Red." You hum. "For good luck for the bride and groom."

Tim laughs.

"You know, maybe you're one of the other Robins. Maybe you're the second one.. that like. died. or something. I heard there's a new vigilante running around. Red Hood? I think he's more of a crime lord, but his build... I MEAN. I MEAN IM NOT LIKE UNFAITHFUL OR ANYTHING. I JUST THINK HE'S HOT. Yeah. Anyways. I still run a twitter for Robin, but I think he's rebranded as Red Robin. His fit is kinda fire. Don't tell him I said that, though. I don't think people pay me enough for this nonsense, honestly. My current friends are alright. I don't think I find them particularly entertaining, but it's not like I'll see any of them when I move away for college. Is it wrong to dislike your friends? Probably. They drain too much energy whenever I hang out with them. How are your friends? I hope you have a great relationship with your family, or else I am royally fucked."

"Tilt." Tim hums, and you raise your ear, letting Tim pop your studs off for the rubies. "I should get you a new pair."

"Maybe." You laugh. "I have two more pages. The two of them are addressed to you."

"Both?"

"Dearest Tim Drake." You hum, straightening your back as Tim helps you put on your necklace. "I really fucking hope you're the guy I marry, cuz I will burn this letter if not."

"I'm so glad this lived to see the light of day." Tim mumbles, starting with your makeup. "Is this alright?"

"Yes, birdie." You hum. "I remember most of it."

"Good." He grins. "Because I have a letter for you too."

You beam at him, eye closed as he pats your foundation on. "I genuinely can not believe you had sex with me. I do not radiate sex appeal, have an addiction to a Japanese green tea brand, and probably do not study half as much as I should. I have a crippling addition to Red Robin, nearly kissed him at a Halloween party, and once on the rooftop of my dorm. I do not understand why you brought me to a place that I felt I did not belong in, and I wonder if you had just picked me because I seemed like an easy target."

Tim frowns at the words.

"Regardless, I think you're the one. I think it's becoming more apparent just through the assignments I've been writing. Do you love me? Do I love you? Is this called love? I don't know. I haven't loved someone in a long time. I think my best friend calls it a delusionship. A one sided, delusionship. Hopefully they'll be there at our wedding or whatever. Will you buy me an apartment building for our wedding gift? A reverse dowry of twenty billion dollars? I don't even know how much money you have, tch. I just want a nice apartment to live in. The bar is actually in hell. Yet, I find myself catching up with interviews and news about you, desperate to learn more about you and understand just what about you draws me in. You know, I really wonder if you genuinely loved me when you said good morning to me. Maybe you did. Maybe you don't anymore. Human emotions are fickle, after all."

"Lips." He hums.

You open your mouth, jutting out your lip as he helps you apply lipstick.

"Any more?"

"Human emotions are fickle, yet I find myself clawing at my heart when I think of you. Maybe I do love you. Maybe I am nothing in myself, and I need someone to love me. Maybe you showed me love. Maybe, just maybe, you are the one. Yet, I dare not promise it. So, I go back to where I began in this letter, wondering if you would receive it. No kisses this time. May you be the one to send me those instead."

"I think I'm done." Tim takes a step back, lips curled upwards.

You turn to look in the mirror, grinning. "Yeah, birdie?"

"Yeah." Tim hums. "I'll read you my vows next, I promise."

"This one's my vows." You hum, folding the paper back up and cutting open an envelope. "Ready?"

"You wanna sit on the couch before the car gets here?"

"Not gonna say no to that." You stand up, Tim leading you as you get used to walking in the dress. "Wow, I keep forgetting how annoying it is to walk in these dresses."

"You're the star of the show tonight." Tim hums. "Depending on whether or not you want to give the paparazzi a show, I can carry you for the whole night too."

"I'll be fine in the heels, I promise." You sit down as Tim lets go of your hand. "Ready for my vows?"

"Of course."

"To beloved birdie, Timothy Jackson Drake Wayne." You hum, smoothing out the paper. "We did not get to have proper wedding vows at the courthouse, so I am writing mine down knowing that you will definitely host something at the complaint of your family. I vow to love you until the sun rises from the west and the moon is eradicated — until the moon becomes the sun and the sun becomes the moon, I vow to cherish you even unto death. I vow that when you are sick and dying, when you are struck with illnesses I have never heard of, I will be by your side. I vow that even if the paparazzi decide to tear their claws into my skin to ruin my life, I will stay. I vow that when you are struck by pollen and in need of release, I will be there for you. Until the world collapses and you are no longer red but old, and even when one of us leave, I promise I will be by your side and follow you until there is nothing left in this world but us. I vow that even on the days where we can not stand the presence of each other, we will find each other again. In this universe, the next, and in every universe out there, I vow that I will find you. I vow that even in the worlds that we are not together, I am nearby. I vow that in sickness and health, in richer or poorer, for better or worse, to love and cherish you even unto death. Love you lots, your pretty bird."

Tim holds a napkin to the corner of his eye, blinking to get the tears out of his eyes and onto the napkin, careful to not ruin his makeup.

"Birdie?"

"I can't read my vows without crying right now. Give me a second."

"I'll touch up your makeup if you do." You laugh. "I vow to be by your side through every gala we attend, your makeup forever next to mine, my heart forever yours to hold."

"You're awful." Tim sniffs, laughing as he manages to calm down, unfolding his own letter to you. "To the prettiest bird in every universe. To my beloved wife, I, Timothy Jackson Drake Wayne vow to protect you until crime is no longer in existence, to hold you until we both return to the dust of the earth, to love you even after death. I vow to hold only you when I am in need of help, and to seek you out first amongst a crowd of people I have known all my life. I vow that my love for you will not fade, and that I will be infatuated with you for all the days of my life and death, and that on both good and bad days, I will be the person by your side. I vow that even when we are old and wrinkly, I will bring you items that remind me of you, flowers that bring a smile to your face, my whole self for you alone. When you ask of something, I vow to do my best to grant it, and when the end of the world comes, I will shield your body with my own, and in every other universe that I accidentally end up in during missions, to every other version of myself that is not me, I will stand as proof of love to them. May we be tangled in each others' lives throughout all our days."

"I don't know, birdie." A smirk makes its way onto your face. "I'm starting to think I was a lot more dedicated than you were."

"Psh." He rolls his eyes. "I'll read you my letter from the morning after we started going out eventually. "

"WHAT."

"Come on. The ride is here." He holds his hand out for you, and you raise a brow.

"And when will I be reading that letter?"

"One day." He laughs.

You click your tongue as he kneels down to help you put the heels on.

"And that day is?"

"I promise, pretty bird," he hums, sliding your shoe on with a kiss to your hand. "You will read it."

"If you say so." You mumble, yelping as he carries you.

"Ready to scare Gotham shitless?"

"Oh, I've been ready."

[ppeonppeonhan]

Korean GLs I'd Watch...

Let's try to manifest a world where some of the biggest Korean actresses were cast in major full-length GL kdramas.

COP + CRIMINAL

Esom (Because This Is My First Life) and Lee Da-hee (Search: WWW) play partners and besties, who both fall for their respective suspects for a crime spree against the patriarchy. (Think: Evening the pay gap at a major company; exposing scandals of sexist politicians; and chemically castrating sex offenders). Esom's love interest is Park Eun-bin (Extraordinary Attorney Woo), and Da-hee's love interest is Seo Yea-ji (It's Okay to Not Be Okay). It's a romantic crime thriller.

FRIENDS to LOVERS

Seol In-ah (Business Proposal) plays a new-money rich girl who hires a former old-money rich girl, played by Yoo In-na (Touch Your Heart), to be her personal assistant out of pity, but pretends she doesn't know her backstory. And Yoo helps Seol navigate rich society. Their conflict is that Seol's family bankrupted Yoo's family, and is getting the life Yoo was supposed to have, including the fiancee, the job, and the house. It's a sweet romantic comedy.

BOSS + EMPLOYEE

Kim Ji-won (Fight My Way) starts a job at a family law firm and works hard to get one of the partners, played by Son Ye-jin (Crash Landing on You), to be her mentor, but only because she wants her job. She starts off as a frenemie before Ye-Jin's hard edges rub off, and Ji-won develops a crush. Their obstacles are that Ye-Jin is married and in the closet, and Ji-won might be too ambitious to let go of her goals. It's a slow-burn romantic legal drama.

COOL GIRL + DORK

Park Shin-hye (Heirs & Pinocchio) plays a cold fashion house designer who hires an unlikely candidate to be her muse, played by Moon Ga-young (True Beauty). And what starts off as a toxic relationship blooms into a supportive one. Park Bo-young (Strong Girl Bong-soon) plays her head of design, who befriends Ga-young's bestie-turned-manager, played by Kim Seul-gi (Oh My Ghostess). They're the softer side couple. It's a romantic workplace dramedy.

FRIENDS to ENEMIES to LOVERS

Seo Hyun-jin (Why Her?) and Gong Hyo-jin (When the Camellia Blooms) were friends in college, but they had a falling out after a misunderstanding about a guy. They have a tense reunion as adults when Hyo-jin is setting up her nuptials at the wedding hall Hyun-jin manages. It's a slowburn romantic drama.

ONE-SIDED OBSESSION

Shin Min-a (Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha) plays the wife of a very powerful and abusive man and Hwang Jung-eum (She Was Pretty) plays the maid who is secretly in love with her and helps her escape. They go to Jung-eum's hometown where everyone assumes she's bringing her girlfriend home for the first time, because she didn't have the heart to tell them she got dumped after running away to be with her. Min-a decides to pretend to be the woman to pay her back, and they fall in love. The conflict being when Jung-eum's ex, played by Park Min-young (What's Wrong with Secretary Kim), returns to get her back.

💜 Your move Kdrama world! 💜

[jowrites]

Red string of Fate - Lee Heeseung Drabble

Heeseung examined the ring in his hand. How the small diamond laid so perfectly in its place between the beautiful silver, surrounded by smaller crystals. He knew he chose a perfect ring. She always told him when she got married she wanted a blue sapphire ring so he made sure to keep that in mind and wait for the wedding. This engagement ring was enough to solidify his loyalty and dedication to her.

He quickly placed the ring in his pocket and grabbed his string before walking down the hallway where he saw her sitting there in her nook reading. The sunlight was perfectly illuminating her as if she was glowing from its essence. She was too grossed into her book and didn’t even notice him come up and sit across from her. He cleared his throat and she snapped out of her imaginary world and looked up at him, smiling at him and placing her bookmark in her book and closing it. One thing he always loved was how attentive she was and how she always gave him her absolute attention. He always made sure to be just as detailed and give her just the amount of attention she deserves.

“So, I was reading up on something the other day and I’d like to share it with you,” He began to say, suddenly nervous with her eyes on him.

“What is it? I’m all ears,” She said, placing her book down and getting more comfortable in her chair by the window.

“You’ve heard of the red string of fate, right?” He asked.

“Yeah, it’s a pretty known belief,” she nodded. “Plus, I watch a lot of kdramas about it. What about it?”

“Well, I was really reading up on it the other day and how people are connected by these red strings, by their fingers or sometimes even chests like their hearts,” He explained and she nodded, listening. “Sometimes though, the string can get cut causing the people to fall out of love or stray from each other…”

He noticed the tears starting to form in her eyes and panic overcame him as he quickly leaned down on his knees in front of her. He grabbed her face gently in his hands as she began to let out quiet cries, her eyes opening and closing trying to blink away the tears.

“Is this your way of breaking up with me?” she asked, a small sob leaving her lips.

“No, no, baby,” He quickly denied. “Not at all. I’m just telling you something I found interesting, please don’t cry. Oh, my baby!”

He pulled her down to his neck, holding her close and giving her head a gentle kiss.

“I would never, so please don't think that. I’m sorry that’s where your mind went,” He said. 

She pulled away and nodded, her tears were now calming and she sniffled and gave him a small smile.

“Can I continue?” He asked and she nodded. “Okay, close your eyes and hold out your hands.”

She did as she was told, her lips trembling a little but obeying. Both her hands were slightly shaking and he grabbed his red string and began to wrap it around her ring finger.

“Now, when someone’s love is so strong, deep down the string has always been there connected to their loved one like fate,” he began to say. “And when their love blossoms into more, it gets deeper and deeper to where they take the next steps in life, together.”

Heeseung took out the ring and quickly placed it through the thread, letting it fall down between the middle of where he was holding it. He quickly did his best to tie the string around his finger so the two of them were connected through the thread with the ring dangling in the middle. 

“Do you know what that next step is in life? The one they take together?” He asked and she frowned a bit, shaking her head completely unaware of what he was getting at. “Open your eyes.”

She did as she was told, her eyes adjusting and staring at Heeseung in front of her. His gentle eyes and kind smile, filled with so much love and adoration towards her. It took her a while to realize, but as she looked at the thread she saw it. And her heart skipped a million beats and she gasped and covered her mouth. He knelt down in front of her again, his hand still in place to not disturb the placement of the ring. 

“We’ve been tied by this red string of fate forever. You are my best friend, my companion, my love, my whole world…you are my fate. I love you and will forever love you until the end of time, even in our next lives I will always find you because you are destined for me until the age of time. Please, do me the honor of being my wife?” He asked, holding the ring now as offering. 

Tears filled her eyes again and she nodded. Of course she would say yes. Heeseung was very confident, he knew how strong their love was and how much she loved him. He loved her just as much. He gently placed the ring on her finger, the string still tied between them and he didn’t care. She leaned down and captured his face in her hands and lips on his. She couldn’t describe her happiness.

“You scared me,” she said when she pulled away.

“It didn’t even cross my mind that’s where your mind would have gone, I wouldn’t have explained it that way if I knew. You always keep me on my toes,” He teased and she giggled in his arms.

“I love you, I love you!” She kissed his lips again, then again. “Heeseung, the ring is so pretty!”

She began to admire the jewel on her finger now, as he removed the strings and let them admire it together.

“You’ll get your blue sapphire too, just wait until we say ‘I do’” He said, kissing the top of her head. 

She jumped on him, wrapping her arms around his neck and giggling in happiness.

“This is so exciting! That was the perfect proposal!” She exclaimed.

“Yeah? You liked that?” He asked.

“Heeseung, that was so thoughtful and intimate, it was perfect,” She said. “Oh my God! I have to tell my parents! AHHH! We’re getting married!”

“Yes, baby. And we’ll always be connected through our string of fate, for forever, and ever.”

[bitchlessdino]

Get to Know Me!

technically tagged by @gyubakeries <3 (tiya ily you're so sweet always)

what's the origin of your blog title? 💘I was originally known as underratedlovedone and wanted a brand change so i did a whole fuckass poll on google forms (pre-tumblr polls btw) and that was so fun. I believe a mutual suggested this name and im sorry but rn their name escapes me. I was almost dildodino....

favorite fandoms: 💘I ult seventeen, that's obvious, got7, and recently yall have seen i've been getting into l0ve and d3ep spac3 (its a fucking problem and I’m not ready to be found yet), but otherwise what else hmmm, I'm a pretty causal listener to most of the rest kpop/krnb. smosh is fun, i love a good laugh, i think half my humor is svt other half from them or smth like that. i get so addicted to things and move on so quicky i'm trying hard to remember rn.

OTP(s)/shipname: 💘These are ship dynamics i absolutely love. Not romantic for obvious reasons. Wonchan, Boochan, Boogyu. it's hard bc i really love group dynamics, like 2+. SVT is so perfect for that actually. and really my ships are usually whatever is my current obsession at the time

favorite color: 💘light blue but specifically, #8AA7CC. it's called polo blue for some reason idk. but this was actually very close to the blue i had for my wedding and its so pretty.

favorite game: 💘I played persona 3:overload for MONTHS, my husband would literally see my gremlin ass at the tv with my controller grinding tf in those dungeons. I'm also a sims enjoyer, l0ve and d3epspac3 again lol, gta6 when it finally fucking comes out gdi rockstar

song stuck in your head: 💘the love and deepspace intro.....its hauntingly beautiful it actually scares me a little. And "if you leave me" by svt is my comfort song rn

weirdest habit/trait? 💘uhhhhh. I pick up on people's speech patterns all the time. Its how i was able to semi-learn some languages or accents. One time i was on a work call with a client that was from Alabama and maybe bc i'm from the south but i started to actually mimic her subconsciously. to this day i hope i didnt offend her or anything. you'll also learn that i'll yap alot reading this. and 'lol' or 'like' and unhealthy amount and i hate that.

hobbies: 💘I write a lot on my own time, i just sometimes don't post it bc its often incomplete or not fully-fledged. I also read, which i need to get back into bc my tbr is long asf. I sing but not as much as i used to. I also cook. sometimes game. Kdramas, anime whatever it’s ongoing at that moment anyways. I enjoy my free time.

if you work, what's your profession? 💘bro when i was working, it was at a bank as a business analyst, sounds impressive, it wasn't. but i miss the steady income

if you could have any job you wish, what would it be? 💘 honest to god, i'd love to go back at tell my younger self to seriously try to get into acting. or film and its production/writing. It wasn't until adulthood that i realized i wanted to work in a creative environment but forgoed for 'realistic careers.' this may be your 4th, 5th, 36th life guys take a chance. there's an AU me out there there that pursued everything I wished for and I wish I was them.

something you're good at: 💘I would also love to know. but i think I'm funny sometimes and a little witty. sometimes i have to stop myself before i say some dumb shit tho, so i spit all that nonsense into my writing.

something you're bad at: 💘most things, especially pushing myself to my full potential. i know i hold myself back a lot. like i keep saying i'll write a book and publish will always have an excuse not to. not deep answer: i cant ride a bike and i refuse to. i just have no balance and i can barely stand straight ngl. and most physical games bc i am feeble i would not survive a zombie apocalypse

something you love: 💘food god i love food. and milk tea or boba tea drinks in general, call me a basic asian idc 💘human interactions but not including me but like people watching, i enjoy seeing a relationship grow and flourish overtime idk such a cute human things. i like to see the humanity in people. 💘the cats in my parents' neighborhood that have made ours and the neighbors across from us lawns pretty much their territory. a whole kitty gang. 💘and days that give me a good reason to put on a cute outfit, and do my hair and makeup. i'm at home a lot so those days are kinda special to me. I'm bare face 98% of the time.

something you could talk about for hours off the cuff: 💘seventeen or in general the 2nd-3rd gen kpop lore, that was my shit. I loved those days with the exception of some things. Oh, and the plots i have going on in my head and the characters i have in mind, building them is so fun to me.

something you hate: 💘 things that don't make sense. ok, i hate on a lot of things and a lot of things don't make sense or they are just an entity they cant help it, but how people let history repeat themselves or events occur knowing fully what's going on. it's just insane. things that don't make sense, i cant help but be frustrated. Also like all of twitter/x and its existence and what it’s brought out in people

something you collect: 💘svt albums but not sm recently, stuffed animals from a couple claw machine places in my area's chinatown, my old peoples meds bc im deteriorating at an accelerated pace, things on my tbr or to watchlist

something you forget: 💘most things like errands, which is why i gotta write in my little iphone notes. where i place my phone bc i don't look where i throw and im screaming for siri in my room to find it. sometimes things i enjoy until i rediscover it one day and that's kinda the best feeling ever like "wow i remember i loved you welcome back"

what's your love language?: 💘word of affirmation and good banter, but not just straight up teasing that gets so old, i want real tension that's just like. "yeah, I thought about you. is that a problem?" OR "So you think I'm hot? "Yeah, but you're still annoying."

favorite movie/show: 💘 I dont know if i have a favorite movie i am always changing my mind about what's good out there, but my favorite show ever is this Kdrama called "Moving" It's beautiful and i loved every side story even the adults like it was so beautifully curated. i still think about it a lot and am waiting for a second season.

favorite food: 💘banh mi, korean fried chicken, and sashimiiiii omg i could just go ham on either one right about now.

favorite animal: 💘cats and dogs <3, basic ass answer but i havent felt super drawn to a specific animal. Maybe a panda bc they're such a mood. ykw a panda they are something else everytime i hear about a report of them

are you musical? 💘I've sang since i could breathe. i vividly remember my younger self getting my parents to call the viet radio so i could sing on there live (this theatric bitch). I was in choir in my teens, and i for a moment learned viola but not so much anymore.

what were you like as a child? 💘annoying no doubt, and so much more carefree than adult me. like she did not give a single fuck and people liked that about her. i miss her.

favorite subject at school? 💘debate! it got me into public speaking and interpretive performance. I really enjoyed growing a voice from learning how to not only build and refute arguments, but it got me to practice my acting chops a little like i wanted to when i was little

least favorite subject? 💘math, unfortunately i was awful and did not pay attention so i kept messing up formulas. that was my fault tho

what's your best character trait? 💘i don't like saying it but my empathy? I've been told that that's how often i respond to most situations and often give people benefit of the doubt. i just never want to assume whatever is going in someone's life bc we really have no fucking clue.

what's your worst character trait? 💘honestly too much of a people pleaser or rule follower sometimes. i let my moral compass rule over most of my decisions and that's not particularly bad but that's how i'm often holding myself back i fear

if you could change any detail of your day right now what would it be? 💘 i should have not eaten that pack of buldak ramen bc that was not good for my stomach. i need a real balanced meal especially after what i was told at my doctor's apt.

if you could travel in time who would you like to meet? 💘idk if i want to change any big part of history, that is not something i could leave on my conscious if it blows up the world, but i'd like to visit my younger self that its okay to mess up and really go for things bc she can be so much more if she tried.

recommend one of your favorite fanfics (spread the love): 💘i reallu want to read more but this one is and always one my mind: between you and me by my bb @haologram. it's just so good like shut up and and put this my man in my mo-

Anyways tagging anyone that wants to play!

[honeyhotteoks]

hi!! happy holidays!! i just saw your post about fic recs and being in your winter romcom era, so i thought id pop by with three that i think kinda fit that. if youre not taking any anymore or if youve already read these, please disregard! i tried to pick ones i dont think ive seen you talk about, so eek! 😊

1) crash landed on you by atozfic [tumblr, mc/yeo] - interesting mc in a kdrama plot ! their masterlist is one of my fav in the fandom, and smut aside they write some pretty great emotional scenes. most famously they wrote splish splash, the swim team orgy lmaoo, but i do love their rainbow riots series and shenanigans. orange soda (single dad mg) is soooooo sweet !!

2) home for the holidays by highvern [tumblr, mc/woo] made me want to tear my hair out and bash my head against a wall. an angsty, slightly grittier romcom movie. she also writes for seventeen !! i dont exactly remember the name of her wedding seungcheol fic off the top of my head, but that was a close pick for #2 - woo won because of recency bias, alas.

3) perilune by kkulfm [ao3, mc/san] - one of the most well-executed historical fantasy aus ive seen for the fandom in recent memory - but ive stopped reading recently due to school so you can take this with a grain of whatever mineral you assign to my opinion lolol the running themes in the fic are refreshingly mc centric and im compelled not only by their romance but also by mc herself and her journey of self isolation.

😣 happy reading!

oooooh thank you! i don’t think i’ve read any of these so i’ll check them out! i appreciate you sending me such thoughtful recs!!

[ohifonlyx33]

So so so much to love about Love Next Door.

Its a story about a boy falling in love with his best friend, it's a story about a girl fighting her struggles and finding her path in life, it's about families coming to heal and support each other, its about friendship, its about finding your own family when you've lost your own... it's about being open and honest, about giving and receiving love, about overcoming pride or shame and just letting people see the parts of you you want to hide so you can share your burdens.

The entire cast had so much chemistry as friends, family, and romantic partners. The drama, with a few notable exceptions, felt natural. The episode 8 plot twist especially revealed a darker layer I honestly wasn't expecting, but it added so much. I liked the main couple and the secondary couple both. The parents were all mostly interesting and fun (although probably at least a little bit on the abusive side). Even these kids cracked me up and stole the show...

But I do take a few issues with it.

It's just a little annoying because I know with a few small tweaks here and there these issues could be resolved.

One being the fact that it didn't know how to end, which is a common problem with a simple romance and family drama. I literally went "what wait that's it?? That's the end?" Because I thought there had to be at least 15 minutes left for SOMETHING. But no, they actually decided to go for the fast-forward time jump... but for what?

We don't even see the main couple get married. Which, I WOULD BE TOTALLY FINE WITH.... trust me, the wedding episodes often make me cringe. Except, why have the flash forward at all, if nothing happens *after* the flash forward?

We could have set up another small dramatic hurdle for the main couple instead in the last 2 or 3 episodes... (I personally would have gone with the "do you want kids?"/"yeah, I think that'd be nice... do you?"/"yeah maybe...but what if I can't have them because cancer is high risk?"/"then that's ok too" route then to flash forward to them at Kang Dan-ho and Jung Mo-Eum's wedding 1.5 years later, with a little baby girl. 🥺

It definitely feels like the only reason we didn't see either of the main couples get married was because they wanted to be "different" by leaving it open... and AGAIN... I am fine with avoiding all the slow, sappy, overly-the-top clichés and pacing pitfalls of the wedding episode. but tbh, the last episode was just as slow and clichéd as any "wedding episode" just without the main couple getting married.

Don't get me wrong I liked seeing Choi Seung-hyo's parents renew their vows... but it was not something I NEEDED to see.

Another thing is the balance in the main couple... occasionally it felt off.

Now overall, I did feel like the main couple were a great fit, well-balanced and suited for each other... truly I loved them most of the time... but I just wish we had seen more of how Bae Seok Ryu came to terms with her feelings for Choi Seung-hyo or seen from her POV how she avoided developing them as a kid, the same way we clearly saw Choi Seung-hyo pushing his feelings away.

We saw poor Choi Syeung-hyo agonize over his feelings for about a dozen episodes and then struggle waiting for Bae Seok Ryu... but then we spent so long learning about how Bae Seok Ryu and her ex-fiance were actually a decent, happy couple... and the show refused to show more than 2 minutes of why they broke up or fell out of love. They easily could have had a QoT style Kdrama of their own about how they get back together, etc.

at least with Choi Seung-hyo's ex gf, we saw that they both moved on pretty easily without much attachment because really they were never that serious or special... it had been a while and they were both over it too. But with her ex-fiance, it was still a recent break up of an otherwise-strong relationship. So it seemed like they could have done more to convince us they had enough reasons to break up... like IDK when she stopped loving her ex and started loving Choi Seung-hyo because it's rushed and unclear what she is feeling... I also did not like that her ex pointed out that it looked like she'd already found someone when she herself had not come to that conclusion with any certainty.

I guess I just feel like all her thoughts and feelings about Choi Seung-Hyo were often hidden. Maybe to make the viewer feel suspense... but even after they got together, it felt like he told her how he felt and she avoided it. Then a few petty fights and a talk or two later she just agreed that she did like him after he convinced her... and when she ran to find him, even then—still—HE kissed her. And she's left to mutter about banana milk.

She does show her love for him later, and expresses it clearly. But even later, he proposes on a whim, before anyone even knows they're dating, and she rejects his proposal... and then immediately caves in after he convinces her... the whole timing does feel off. But it also just feels like we see the relationship more from his perspective than hers.

Like the romance is HIS plot line and the cancer is hers.

Then there's the brother... he didn't do much, his plot went nowhere, and I really only liked the scenes that brought out the contrast between his failures and Bae Seok Ryu's successes....

Then there's the way they set up Jung Mo-Eum and Kang Dan-Ho... it was a little forced, especially with her immediate (and a little bit creepy) interest in Yeon-Du and the whole "Mudflat Man" which was maybe taken a little too far. But I loved their family dynamic and their chemistry.. Just felt like their love story was a little underdeveloped... And really sending Jung Mo-Eum off to Antarctica for a year, right after they stared dating, and not even seeing her reunite with Dan Ho was not my favorite.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - Characters Voice Our Frustrations

March 2023 Wk 2

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Bed Friend (Sat YT, GaGa & iQIYI uncut) ep 4 of 8 - I love these two so much. King is so utterly in love with this boy. I like that this is one of the first BLs I’ve ever seen where sex is depicted as a coping mechanism. Is it healthy? No..ooo..? But it is different. It is phenomenal to see King depicted as sensitive enough to realize that something is wrong with Uea, despite his desire. (FYI all the triggers on this show forever, I’m gonna stop naming them now) 

A Boss and a Babe (Fri YouTube) ep 2 of 12 - The flirting is cute. The stalking is not. There’s a Kdrama tone to this pair’s dynamic. I don’t know why I feel that way, I just do. I mind it less this week than I did last week. Cher is a funny, kindly chatterbox and a FIERCE flirt. But not a tease, as it turns out. His poor boss does not stand a chance. Interesting pacing, this is awfully early for a kiss in a Thai BL. I like GMMTV doing these generational discussions around gayness and society, even if this version is more on the nose than Moonlight Chicken.  

The Promise (Thai WeTV & YT) ep 2 of 10 - I’m still enjoying it but I want there to be a good reason for parting with no contact for 10 YEARS, but I do not trust Thai narratives to satisfy in this regard. A drunk kiss is NOT a good enough reason. Oh HI BOSS! (What’s Zabb Man) you so pretty, I like the earrings. 

Tin Tam Jai (Tues Gaga & iQIYI) ep 2 of 12 - Oo. There’s only one bed trope. Also queer over achiever expectations. I’ve only seen DBK address this one. Well done little pulp. The tsundere seme admitting that baby boi was his security blanket was so flipping cute. But this show is leaning into taboo stepbrother stuff. So if that wigs you out, avoid. I, however, am enjoying it. Queer fam and local neighborhood kid dynamic is cute. This is more slice of life than drama, not much is happening, but I’m okay with it. 

Pastsenger (Thai Weds Gaga) 1 of 12 eps- Stars Marc (My Gear & Your Gown) and Cooper (My Engineer) in a time travel paranormal that smacks of HIStory 5. Sunshine 90s kid travels to 2022, goes to university, encounters grumpy nerd. I cannot STAND the music. Pratfall... into intentional kiss? That’s new. Of course it’s a dream. I like the 90s mentality and language rep, but I’m not sold on the show. 

Chains of Heart (Sat iQIYI) ep 4 of 10 - I guess we got the backstory? Did it explain stuff? Sort of. This is still a pretty incomprehensible show. And then a random cute (+ ALL the BL tropes) date, and then “but actually I am still in love with my dead lover.” I’m so confused by characters, plot, pacing... everything. 

Our Winter (Thai & Korea YT & TikTok under ThaiMiniSeries) eps 10-11 of 14 - they remain as TutorYimmy in the snow as they are out of it. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Our Dating Sim (Korea Thurs Viki) eps 1-2 of 8 - THIS SHOW IS GOING TO RUIN MY LIFE IT’S SO GOOD. Reunion romance featuring popular smart boy + shy art queer. It’s ridiculously adorable. What do I do? It’s SO CUTE. 

All the Liquors (Korea Thurs Gaga & Viki) eps 3-4 of 8 - I like the shy chef with the crush, but I wish we knew why he doesn’t want to sell booze. 

Jack o’Frost (Japan Fri GaGa) ep 4 of 6 - Jealousy + manic pixie dream boy + pregnant pauses + great acting = Japan doing its thing. 

It’s Airing But ...

Love Syndrome (Thai Sat WeTV) ep 2 of 10 - I’m just not into any aspect of it (except fucking Lee Long Shi and I can watch him in Tin Tem Jai) saving to binge if the ending is okay. 

Blue Sky Complex (Japan ???) 5 eps for VR - Kei Ichikawa's manga is getting a JBL adaptation. Weird distribution though, it started Feb 27 sequentially on 360 Channel (SHOCHIKUch) a VR video distribution service. Will inter-fans ever get to see this, and if it’s filmed for VR will it adapt without being overly dark and fuzzy? I have questions. But as usual, you do you Japan and we will wait (im)patiently to see if you remember the rest of the world exists. This is my preferred kind of live action yaoi, so fingers crossed:

Boyband (Thai) ep 2 of 10 - Stopped airing on YouTube, and only available in Thailand & Japan. Not sure if they’re working a distribution deal or just fucking with us.

Cafe In Love (Thai ???) 10 eps on Ch3+ - Thai pulp, about trying to save a coffee shop. FairyGodBLer came through for me, but I’m collecting to binge just in case. It’s my new policy with the grey stuff.

Destiny Seeker (Tues WeTV Thailand) 10 eps - it’s not on any WeTV I can get ahold of. Bad Buddy the pulp rebirth meets Japanese handsome host club action. Same as above.

Heesu In Class 2 (Korea Thurs unknown, I check Viki Gaga iQIYI & WeTV nada) - A gay(er) version of Sex Education. I’m still not sure this one is actually happening.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Tomorrow: Future (Thai Sun YouTube & Gaga?) 5 eps - Based on a y-novel by Faddest (En of Love - yeah I didn’t know that was based on a novel, either). About, you guessed it, an engineering student and a dentist. Maybe this will be the FOTS we were all hoping for? Fuse (the engineering student) is played by Boom from the En of Love and is kinda the same character (Field). I think we can expect this one to be soft, it’s from the 21 Day Theory people. (maybe March 19 international)

3/14 A Shoulder to Cry On (Korea Tues Viki & Gaga) 7 eps (?) - Adaptation of Dongmul's manwha, high school set, features a teasing confident gay, and a rich/poor pairing, about homophobia/gossip putting a scholarship in jeopardy. Star idols Jaehan & Yechan BOTH from OMEGA X, a first for the industry.

3/17 Unintentional Love Story (Korea Fri iQIYI) 8 eps? - Ji Won Young is intent on winning over the heart of Yoon Tae Joon as he's the boss's favorite artist. Stars idol Gongchan (maknae of B1A4).

Full list of upcoming in March 2023 is here.

2023 forthcoming BL master post. (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED)

The Department of You Said It For Us:

You speak for ALL OF US honey. (Am I the only who keeps seeing KarnNut in these roles?) The Promise 

I’d put in the gif but the giffmaking children of tumblr are sadly lacking in the unfettered genius that is Grosse Pointe Blank. 

Chains of Heart reviewing itself. 

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

GMMTV continues its 2023 Apology Tour. (Boss & Babe) 

King (Bed Friend) might be stealing Consent King title from Win. 

(last week)

Current Kpop earworm? Hidden Side from HWANG MIN HYUN (aka Minhyun of Nu’est & Wanna One RIP) - with few exceptions I’m not usually into the visual, but this is a terribly catchy song. And the poor thing has been awfully unlucky with his groups, maybe his solo and acting career will take off? 

[kdramaxoxo]

personally i tried wedding impossible but it just wasn’t for me! sure its cute but i was satisfied just watching in gifs … drama of the year? mmmm idk we have a LOT of good dramas lined up this year. queen of tears now?? now THAT is what i’d consider being drama of the year!

I must be in the biggest kdrama slump ever cause I ALSO am behind on Queen of Tears which is wild cause I LOOOOVE Kim Ji Won so much. What is wrong with meeee?

I AM watching Killer paradox which I have mixed feelings about but since another person is watching it with me I'll keep at it.

You 100% did not ask me anon, but:

I literally cannot WAIT for the time slip drama Lovely Runner featuring the incredible bestest girl Kim Hye Hoon (extraordinary you) and super pretty Byeon Woo Seok. I've been waiting so long for a drama that can be my new obsession!

[autisticempathydaemon]

Ohmygod I love matchups

What song are you fixated on at the moment? What lyric or verse, and why?

Too sweet by Hozier ofc ofcm I looove Hozier and the way he sings about relationships 😭 Im like not fixated on a specific lyric, I'm fixated on the wedding bells in the background of the chorus

What is your Enneagram type?

Okay it has been a FUCKTON of time since I looked at that stuff but iirc it was 2? Me being an infp is literally the only thing I can consistently remember bc ADHD brain

Do you love gargantuan Youtube video essays, and if so, which is your favorite and why?

YESS I listen to them whenever I'm playing Sims or working on something. Any of Jenny Nicholson or Li Speaks’ videos are common for that Nostalgic Essay Stuff. SPECIFICALLY Jenny Nicholson’s jeff the killer fanfiction book video because I OWNED THAT BOOK. I WROTE CREEPYPASTA FANFICTION AND I OWNED THAT BOOK

Tell me about your childhood imaginary friend.

I did not have one and I pretended to because everyone else did and I felt weird for not having one

What is your go-to way to fall asleep?

Imagining being loved and cared for 😭 or whumpy fanfiction scenarios no in-between. But they usually overlap

If you had to change your name, what would it be, and why? (In tandem, if you have changed your name, why did you pick that one?)

I named myself after a character cause I relate ofc but I also named myself echo because it was another birth name in consideration for me and it feels like… whimsical

What is your favorite of Redacted’s audios, and why?

ITS STILL “FLIRTY VAMPIRE LOSES CONTROL” BECAUSE IM OBSESSED WITH SCENES WHERE THE HUMAN PARTNER OF A “MONSTER” CHARACTER IS DIRECTLY CONFRONTED WITH THEIR MONSTROUS TRAITS AND LOVES THEM ANYWAY.

What Redacted boy holds no appeal to you, and why? Like, not the one you hate but the one who you don’t get the hype for. (I won’t judge, I promise.)

Gavin </3 I am simply not a sexual person and it puts me off a bit lol

Tell me about that one book/movie/tv show you know all the words to.

This spectacular show called dramaworld about a girl whos obsessed with kdramas and gets sucked into the world of them, but not in a “the events are real” way, in a “the entire world is a setup for the same characters to go through various plots, forgetting and falling in love over and over again” and it's hilarious and it's such a comfort show even though I can't watch it anywhere anymore I don't think. The main romance is top tier. It's so funny. And the stakes and plot twists are actually pretty good

Which Redacted boy are you platonically attracted to? Like- forget dating, which dude do you want to be your best friend?

Probably Sam? I want him to be my dad. I have issues.

Do you have a go-to thing you ramble about when you’re tired, and if so, what is it? (For example, my boyfriend knows I’m ready to sleep when I start talking about space.)

Apparently when I'm half asleep I start talking about horses? But when I'm still conscious, I mostly talk about like. Vampires mostly.

Tell me your go-to gas station and drink combo.

doritos dinamita and mountain dew yes I am basic

Tell me about your favorite playlist at the moment.

I don't have favorite playlists so much as I play 4-6 songs over and over on repeat until I'm sick of them. Currently, those songs are too sweet by Hozier, no more birthdays by sophie may, and Every Chappelle Roan Song.

What’s your guilty pleasure media, and why?

I love bad romance novels the more ridiculous and bad, the better. kresley cole's immortals after dark are fun to make fun of (no. Hate if you like them)

And whatever else you think tells me about who you are!

Uhhh my favorite form of interaction is parallel play. irl or digital, in a digital sense it means “we're liveblogging two separate things we're doing at the same time” lmao

- Asher-Echo/vampire-bite

Ooh, there’s a lot of good info to consider here. Initially, it was hard because I find Type Two’s easily compatible with most of the Redacted bois, but what said about “not being a sexual person” made it easy to choose Ollie for you.

Because he has never and will never get a BA, I love to headcanon Ollie as either asexual, low-libido, or both, so that’s one reason I think he’d be a good match for you. I also love that y’all would like so many of the same things like open-world games, bad/silly romance novels, and spending time with one another without the pressure to actively interact or engage with each other. (Also creepypastas. I love to headcanon Ollie as a horror, creepypasta fiend, given he grew up on the internet around when Jeff the Killer came to be.)

Every day with Ollie would be so comfortable and domestic, so sweet. Like, on a long weekend like this one if you’re American, I can see y’all spending it at home, a little staycation. He’d be in the other room or one end of the couch reading, and you’d be on the other reading one of your romance novels. Cattywumpus would be on your lap, because you’re his favorite. Your music is playing in the background, and you both stop what you’re doing to dance to “Hot to Go!”, because Ollie would totes love Chappell Roan.

Song:

Spillin' wine and homemade drinks/ We throw a cheers, the worries sink/ Damnit, it's so good to be alive/ We know that we don't got much/ But, then again, it's just enough/ To always find a way for a good time

Ollie strikes me as the type of guy who loves simple, feel-good, folk-esque music, someone being honest and emotional with a guitar. That’s one reason I like this song for y’all and can imagine it shuffled with yours as y’all hang out. The other is that this love song is sweet, catchy, simple just like Ollie~

Runner-ups:

Your love of the Sims and cheesy paranormal romance novels compels me to give you Elliott as a runner-up, because he could bring the things you read and create to life in your dreams, and that’d be so fun! In contrast, your Enneagram type and identifying yourself as nonsexual makes me want to pair you with Cam who gives me an asexual, easily affectionate vibe.

Read this post and send me an ask if you’d like a match-up of your own! 💌

[mochacoda]

[teaser] what is love? | chs

Pairing: Chwe Vernon x Fem!Reader

Synopsis: It’s been 2 days since you confessed to your best friend that you love him, and it’s been 2 days since you’ve talked to him. Now you're hiding in the bridal suite of your friend's wedding, avoiding him.

Content: Angst, Fluff, Comfort | Friends to Lovers

Tags: bridesmaid!reader, groomsman!vernon, insecure reader, jihyo appears, dino's getting married in this one lolz, intense pining, lots of internal spiraling, vernon's facial expressions get flamed, 2 kdrama fall moments, a little konglish w/ translations, a kiss, no "y/n"

Word Count: 6K (full)

Full Version: January 25 -> RELEASED HERE

Masterlist

What is love? If you didn’t know any better, you’d say that it’s what you feel for Chwe Vernon. Unfortunately for you, though, you really didn’t know any better, and now you’re facing the consequences of your actions. 

It’s been two days since you confessed to your best friend that you love him, and it’s been two days since you’ve talked to the man. Honestly, you have no one to blame but yourself, but you’ve convinced yourself that it’s everyone else’s fault for encouraging you. Maybe, if they hadn’t kept pushing you to confess to him—insisting that he definitely was into you—then you wouldn’t be in this position. 

Said position involves taking turns hiding in the bridal suite and bathroom of this wedding venue. In fact, you’re so committed to your act that you’ve practically become one with the shadows.

If anything, Vernon should be grateful that you’re going out of your way to avoid him. That way, he wouldn’t get bombarded with the secondhand embarrassment from remembering that horrible day. 

The only reason you’re here right now is because both Chan and his bride are close friends of yours, and you wouldn’t want to miss their wedding for the world. Plus, you’re also a bridesmaid. 

It was on you for blurting a disastrous confession to Vernon a few hours after the wedding rehearsal. 

But the bride and groom don’t even know that things have changed between the two of you. Given the chaos of wedding preparations, you withheld the fact that you and Vernon are going through a rough patch right now—if not the end of the friendship entirely. You didn’t want to add to their stress, but now you feel like you’re on fire. 

After all, Vernon is one of the groomsmen. What’s worse is, the wedding plans involve bridesmaids and groomsmen walking down the aisle in pairs, and you’d been placed with Vernon without a second thought. 

In other words, you’re completely screwed. 

“T-minus 20,” your friend and fellow bridesmaid Jihyo says, nudging your side. “We should go now.”

You feel a faint pulsing at the forefront of your head, a headache creeping up on you. God, what if when he sees you, he shakes his head and makes an X or something with his hands, insisting that he won’t walk down with you? What if he finds you physically embarrassing to be around, and just walks away? You’ve been running away from him all day, so it might not be a stretch to consider that he might have been trying to get away from you, too. 

You groan, scrunching the root of your hair, somewhat messing up your carefully curled hair. No, he wouldn’t just leave, that would ruin the wedding. He has too much love for Chan to do that to him. If he protests, he’d either do it subtly right before or confront you after it’s all over. 

You shut your eyes and take a deep breath. No one knows about your falling out except for you. And, well, Vernon, of course, but that’s not who you have to keep this secret from. You have to do your best to act normal and not at all like your heart is on the verge of bursting. 

“Has anyone ever died of embarrassment?” you suddenly ask, fingers dancing to find something to channel your nervous energy into. You fist a bit of the dress you’re wearing, then release it when you realize you can’t wrinkle the pretty material. “Shit.” You smooth over the fabric with shaky, sweaty hands.

“What is going on with you?” Jihyo’s eyes narrow as she looks you over. 

“I’ll tell you later,” you manage, bouncing your leg up and down. 

“Later, as in when?” 

“After the wedding,” you grit. You want to bury your face in your hands, but the expensive makeup gives you pause. You settle for lowering your head, staring listlessly at the white tiles on the ground. 

“Is this about what happened with Vernon?” 

You whip your head up. “You know?”

Jihyo slowly blinks, then deadpans, “Uh, yeah? A, both of you have been weird. The last time I saw you two not together was like, five years ago. And B, you’re literally the least subtle person I’ve ever met.”

“Oh,” you squeak, then quickly ask, “Wait, what do you think happened with Vernon?”

She stares blankly at you, as if the answer is obvious. “You confessed. He said nothing. You ran away.”

Your eyebrows shoot up, eyes growing comically large. Then, a frown replaces your shock. You don’t need to ask her how she knows. If anything, it just adds to the notion that even your other friends knew that he would’ve rejected you.

Jihyo sighs, coming over to the loveseat to sit next to you. She gives you a warm side hug, rubbing your back. “He’s a massive idiot. It’s gonna be okay. Let’s just get it together for the wedding, hmm?”

You swallow roughly, then nod. 

She continues, “Seriously, though. I’ve known Vernon for almost as long as you have. He’s not great at talking when he’s caught off guard—you know that, too.”

You blink at her words, the tiniest spark of hope igniting in your chest. But you quickly stamp it out, remembering the face he had made when you blurted out that you loved him.

Brows furrowed, open-mouthed, eyes wide, dead silent—he had to have been looking at you with disgust. That was the only way any sane person could decipher that look, really! There was no way that that face was the look of a man who was in love with you, as your friends have claimed.

“It doesn’t matter,” you say, wrinkling your mouth into a smile that anyone could tell was faked. “I’ll get through it.”

“Yeah, it’s not that deep. Just walk down the aisle with him. It’ll take 10 seconds, tops.”

You’re very sure she’s exaggerating, but you wave it off. “I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine,” she says dryly.

You glare at her. “I’ll be fine.”

“Good, that’s the right mentality,” she says, clasping your shoulders, shaking your upper body. “파이팅! [Fighting!]”

“해야지, [gotta do it,]” you mutter. 

Jihyo’s right. You’ll have to see Vernon anyway, so you might as well do it with as much dignity as you can scrap together. 

Except, the little dignity you have left demands some more time to procrastinate and linger in your regret.

Jihyo stands up from the couch, but you don’t. Your limbs feel impossibly heavy, as if they’ve been held down by a massive boulder.

You groan, “Just go without me, I’ll leave soon. I wanna go as late as possible.” 

Jihyo looks at you with what you can only describe as immense pity. “Okay. I’ll see you in five?” 

You nod numbly, watching her walk away to open the doors of the bridal suite. 

Vaguely, you can hear some absentminded chatter across the room from the hair and makeup artists, mother of the bride, and maid of honor, all crowded over the bride. It’s all but a buzz in the back of your mind, though, since you’re preoccupied with trying to convince yourself that you have it in you to face Vernon. Knowing you only have five minutes before needing to walk down the aisle with him, your mouth feels dry—too dry. 

At that realization, you force your heavy limbs to get up, then walk over the fancy rug to the table where a myriad of miscellaneous objects have been strewn about. You reach for your bag to take out your water bottle, but your hands falter when you look at the little keychain attached to the bag. 

It’s a silver charm bracelet you’ve repurposed as a bag charm. It has a turtle and retriever puppy on it, representing the animals you’ve viewed each other as being. Seeing the charms causes a pang of longing to cut deep into you, reminding you of how much you’ve missed him in the last two days. 

Could you ever forgive yourself for ruining your precious friendship? For getting too greedy, for asking for too much? 

Your hands grip the edge of the table roughly, searching for something to stabilize your body, which is dangerously teetering in the high heels you had convinced yourself you’d be able to walk properly in. You’d bought it because the color of the shoe perfectly matches your dress, but the razor thin heel is proving to be an issue. 

Subconsciously, your hand reaches out from the table corner to your bag, gently rubbing the golden retriever charm Vernon always said looked like you, and you’re hit with a sudden intense wave of sadness—but not for the confession. 

No, instead, you turn your regret to the insecure internal ramblings that have ravaged you lately. 

The earnest, bright eyes of the little puppy charm makes you conscious of the hollow ache spreading throughout your body. How could you have been so mean to your poor, fragile heart? 

Alright, maybe you and Vernon wouldn’t be friends anymore. Maybe you would have to live without seeing him ever again. 

But you’d have to live with yourself, and it wasn’t right to treat yourself like this. 

Technically, Vernon didn’t even say anything to you. He didn’t outright reject you just yet, and he certainly didn’t say you weren’t someone worthy of love. So it was completely unfair for you to jump to those conclusions yourself, putting words in his mouth. 

And most of all, it would be even more unfair to you, represented by this adorable puppy charm, to lose yourself to heartbreak. 

Straightening your back, your other hand reaches into your bag for your water bottle. Upon chugging the remainder of the water, you close your eyes, concentrating on making your pulse slow down. It works, and you breathe a sigh of relief.

You might have to live with the fallout of this confession, but you could also live with the truth. Loving Vernon wasn't a mistake, and it wouldn't feel like one, no matter how he responded. He deserved honesty, and you deserved to stand by it. Even if this was the end, you wanted to leave this part of your story knowing you'd done right by both of you. 

You nod to no one in particular, having made your mind up. After the wedding, you’ll go to him and be upfront about it all, bearing your soul to his response. 

For now, though, you’ll help him enjoy the wedding by continuing to stay out of his sight. If he can’t see you, he can’t get reminded of his need to reject you—which is important, of course, because you don’t want his memories of this wedding to be of you crying after he lets you down. 

With this renewed clarity, you steady yourself. Vernon doesn’t love you, and that’s okay. You’d do enough loving for the both of you.

────୨ৎ────

Vernon steps into the bridal suite, a thrum of nerves coursing through his veins. He’s spent the past half-hour searching for you in every nook and cranny of the venue, dodging curious glances and knowing jokes from the other groomsmen about his obvious distraction. Jihyo’s the one who finally pointed him in the right direction, murmuring something about how it’s been over five minutes, and how he’s the only one who can get you to show up.

When he sees you standing by the table, shoulders tense, your hands gripping the edge like it’s the only thing keeping you upright, his breath catches. There you are, beautiful and strong and fragile all at once, lost in your thoughts. His chest constricts. How did it come to this? How did the best thing in his life become the one thing he feels he’s on the verge of losing?

“Hey,” he says softly, taking a step forward, calling your name softly.

Your head snaps up at the sound of his voice, and the sudden movement sends you teetering in your high heels. Eyes wide, you twist toward him, your balance faltering. “Vernon?”

It happens in a split second. One of your heels trips on the edge of the rug, and you stumble forward. Vernon darts forward instinctively, grabbing you just before you hit the ground. His arms wrap around you tightly, steadying you.

For a moment, everything stops. Leaning against his chest, you can hear his heartbeat, a frantic rhythm that matches your own. God, your near face plant must have scared him a lot?

But just as you start to regain your footing, your heel accidentally digs into his foot, and he lets out a yelp of pain. 

The abrupt shift in weight sends him off balance, and the two of you tumble onto the floor in a tangled heap.

There’s a beat of silence, and then Vernon’s crazy seagull call of a laugh cuts through the tension. 

It’s infectious, and before you know it, you’re both laughing, the sound filling the room. It’s ridiculous, it’s messy, and it’s the most alive you’ve felt in days.

When your body relaxes all of its tension, you realize that you’ve missed him with every fiber of your being. That something in you has been waiting for him, like you’ve been in withdrawal without hearing his laughter in the last two days. 

You’d planned on continuing to avoid him until the end of the wedding, so that he could enjoy his night without you, but that idea is crumbling right before your eyes. You might not be able to bring yourself to stay away from him any longer. 

And then, oh, then—the laughter fades, and you realize how close you are.

Masterlist

Author's Note: hi it’s RELEASED HERE!

Tags: @syluslittlecrows - @junplusone

[he-is-lightning-in-a-bottle]

2023 Year in Review

In celebration of the coming New Year, I decided to do a re-watch of every drama I gave 3 or more stars in 2023. Only 15 made the cut, which given the number of dramas I watched (I started well over 200, although I dropped at least a third of those) is not that many.

(My rating system is pretty simple: 1 ⭐ = terrible/don't recommend/waste of time, 2 ⭐⭐ = pretty good/enjoyable/would recommend to others but probably never re-watch, 3 ⭐⭐⭐ = good/likely to re-watch, 4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ = practically perfect/would re-watch frequently. As you can see, it's more about what I personally enjoy than what's objectively great. So some objectively good shows aren't on this list, like La Pluie or Wedding Plan or Our Dating Sim or Doctor Cha or King the Land or Call it Love, because they got a lower score from me because I'm not that likely to ever re-watch them even though I'm glad I watched them and I'll happily recommend them to others. Of course, my ratings are subject to change over time too because I often surprise myself with what I re-watch. Some shows that I originally gave 2.5 stars have eeked out 3.5 stars over the following year or two just because they grew on me and I kept re-watching them.)

As such, my plan to ring in the New Year is to re-watch:

Lost/Human Disqualification - ⭐⭐⭐/⭐ - (IQIYI/Amazon Prime, kdrama, slice of life, healing journey, slight romance, a 42yo woman pushed to the breaking point by life crosses paths with a 27yo man who is mourning the loss of his friend, outstanding dialog, killer A+ acting, tw: infidelity, miscarriage, and suicide BUT DON'T LET THAT SCARE YOU AWAY)

Hit The Spot ⭐⭐⭐ (Viki, kdrama, romcom, 2 women begin hosting a sex advice podcast, funny, sex positive education, extraordinarily relatable, high heat, 8 30min eps)

The Glory ⭐⭐⭐/⭐ (Netflix, kdrama, 36yo woman patiently takes revenge on her childhood bullies, slight romance, incredible dialog, A+ acting, excellent pacing and powerful reveals, tw: the highschool bullies are evil little sociopaths who do some extremely horrific shit)

The Eighth Sense ⭐⭐⭐/⭐ (Viki, gay romance, kdrama, incoming freshman who is a rural-transplant to Seoul meets exiting senior and joins his surf club, gorgeous production, healing past trauma, A+ acting and insanely believable physical chemistry, good OST)

Love Tractor ⭐⭐⭐ (IQIYI, gay, short kbl, big city law student with musical ambitions hides from his responsibilities in the countryside and meets a younger himbo farmer with a heart of gold)

Sing My Crush ⭐⭐⭐/⭐ (IQIYI, kBL, a talented but heartbroken young man is about to give up on his musical dreams when he is adopted by an eager wannabe manager, best friends to lovers, cohabitation, pining, good plot and chemistry)

Moonlight Chicken ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (YouTube, Thai, gay romance + BL, one night stand between a struggling chicken diner owner and a recently promoted office worker turns into more, HS student and lonely deaf boy become the cutest couple to ever cute, A+ writing and acting, themes of: found family, making a home, love matters even when it doesn't end well, class inequality, queer generational divides, letting go of the past, a radically compassionate look at first love, last love, lost love, and unrequited love)

Bed Friend ⭐⭐⭐ (IQIYI, Thai, gay office romance, enemies to FWB to lovers, healing past trauma done right, ridiculously pretty leads, consent kings, high heat, A+ lead chemistry and acting, soft landing in the final 2 eps, tw: sexual assault)

My School President ⭐⭐⭐/⭐ (Viki, Thai, BL, high school boys singing their feelings [well!], wholesome, gentle, sweet and funny, A+ production values, peak low-heat BL with well-executed tropes)

Be My Favorite ⭐⭐⭐ (Youtube, Thai, BL, repressed and fearful boy travels back in time to his college days to woo his crush and falls in love with his supposed rival instead, themes: living each moment to the fullest so you won't have regrets, kindness as a catalyst for character growth and positive change, bravery in the face of uncertainty, telling people you love them can only be a good thing)

Laws of Attraction ⭐⭐⭐ (IQIYI, Thai, gay, mystery/romance lakorn, evil unhinged babygirl lawyer and the heroic idealistic taekwondo instructor who falls for him work together to solve the mystery of his niece's death, loveable granny, A+ lesbians, happy endings all around, great acting and lead chemistry)

Jack O'Frost ⭐⭐⭐ (Viki, Japan, gay, amnesiac young man and his co-habitating ex begin their relationship again, short 6 ep, A+ acting, excellent production values)

Hold my Hand at Twilight ⭐⭐⭐ (Viki, jdrama, twenty-something city mouse meets country mouse and they begin the journey towards making their dreams come true, cohabitation, warm-hearted, angsty 3rd act, A+ acting, excellent banter, post-credit epilogue)

Kiseki: Dear to Me ⭐⭐⭐ (Viki, Taiwan, gay, hardworking med student falls for the gang member he secretly treats, insane plot includes time skip and amnesia [2 tropes I usually hate, but actually done well in this case and not annoying], domesticity, cohabitation, hurt/comfort, friends to lovers, short total runtime)

Fake It Till You Make It ⭐⭐⭐/⭐ (Viki, China, romance, 🔥 lead chemistry, snappy banter, disarmingly honest and vulnerable leads, this couple wants to eat each other for dinner AND dessert but constantly chooses not to because of other life priorities and fears, friends with killer UST to lovers who communicate shockingly well, all the characters feel like real people instead of caricatures)

[lavandaea]

BEGONIA WARNING I REPEAT BEGONIA WARNING.

The flowers that Seok Hoon gave to Do Hee are Begonias and I have some shits to say about it. Adding the fact that flowers are not in kdramas just to look pretty.

Begonias can mean gratitude for something, uniqueness and individuality, and justice and peace. But among those beautiful meanings there are others that interest us.

Warning about misfortune: Begonia flowers can be used to warn someone about dangers that are about to occur.

What was what the lady said?

"Good time are always excruciatingly short" 😐

And whatever the crazy family is plotting against her. It can't be her death. That's already a knowing threat so it wouldn't have such an impact for both on viewers and her. It has to be something more nastier and evil like them. They were talking about it before and on the wedding table. I'm just sure it's a separate thing from the guy trying to kill her and his boss.

You can also give the Begonia flower to someone who has been injured or suffered some type of accident.

Like waking up hanging off your balcony.

Be cautious: Begonias can also be given to someone who is taking a trip or planning some type of potentially dangerous activity.

Like solving a murder, catching a culprit, casually existing while all your "family" wants you underground, you know, the usual.

Dark thoughts: Begonias are also related to dark thoughts. This symbolism comes from the fact that begonias are also linked to warning signs and caution. In any case, they are not surrounded by very positive energy, at least in some cultures.

👍.

That was all I needed to know. Seok Hoon, the language of flowers never lies, go to the police and do some confessions. You seem like you need it.

Why would he do it, tho?

Why would he be trying to kill Do Hee?

Did he really kill Miss Ju?

The family is already on something by themselves. And if he wants to kill her, it would only benefit the older of the family. Not him. And this kind of villain does not fit in the sidekick position.

•So, he is not looking after the president's position.

•He doesn't need money. He has a good financial position being so young as we see in the newspaper Gu won was reading.

BUT

If he did kill Miss Ju and she is looking after the culprit it would make sense he sent someone after her while at the same time he could be right beside her, with her trust on him, to know if she is getting closer or further.

Still that doesn't solve the main question.

Why would he kill his aunt?

As I said, he doesn't seem to need or want the power that would come with the president's position. And that's the main reason why all her family waited for her death.

To create caos? To distract everyone while he does his own thing?

I don't know.

I need to know.

And Fridays are suddenly so far away every week that is actually killing me.

[dangermousie]

Welcome to the Circle of Love ep 1, better titled as Warlord Amnesia BDSM aka thank you for the present, youku!

Youku once again proves that its short dramas are where it’s at. I will be very sad once the censors inevitably wake up to the craziness going on in short dramas but until that day, welcome to Republican warlords the way they should be done - violent and sex having! Ep 1 packs a lot in its short 11 minute runtime. And not an innocent ingenue or wholesome male lead in sight!

We open on a woman in a bridal outfit who is having a very hot wedding night but not the way she imagined.

Our poor heroine has just seen her whole family, including dad, massacred and flambeed. 

I especially appreciate the shot of the pocket watch she drops because nobody will convince me it’s not a little nod to Too Late to Say I Love You, the last time a proper length cdrama had an appropriately unhinged and murderous warlord ML.

Anyway, two years later, meet our scrumptious ML aka Warlord McWhorington. He is known for three things (a) murdering heroine’s family aka richest family in wherever and thus earning bigwig’s approbation (b) sleeping his way to the top by banging bigwig’s daughter (no, the gossipers make it explicit he earned his rank in bed. They are wrong, it’s clearly bed and murder) and (c ) being a violent sexy headcase.

He is there to chill with his girlfriend/sugar mama (who is rocking the possessive unhinged secondary girl vibe like a 2002 kdrama secondary girl, I am all for it!) but his attention is drawn by a pretty, masked singer. By his girlfriend’s reaction, not the first time either. Do they have oats in China? Because that man is clearly sowing his.

Anyway, everyone dances and the singer deliberately swaps partners to dance with sexy warlord. His gun IS big and very hard after all.

Bwahaha secondary girl, same!

Masked dancer lady makes small chitchat like asking him if he prefers to bury his enemies’ bodies whole or chopped into pieces and what he likes to do with his women. “If she is an enemy, make her submit” replies the hero in case we didn’t get before what kind of kink we are catering to here!

Then he gropes her in public! But it’s OK, everything nothing pervy, because he’s just disarming her from the gun and knife she somehow hid under her slinky clothes. Ooooh boy, pls censors, don’t come for short dramas for years, I need my unwholesome fun. 

There is clearly no covid social distancing in the 1930s.

It’s OK, she steals the gun back and prepares to end him with the cliche but pithy “go to hell.”

Unfortunately for her but fortunately for this not becoming the world’s shortest drama, he’s removed the bullets. Oops.

“Chivalry is dead,” quoth the warlord as he knocks her out.

The mask is removed and shocker!!! It’s the wedding dress lady from the opening/the surviving daughter of family warlord offed. How he could not tell it was her with the few little beads covering her face is beyond me. I know he’s around weapons a lot but gun noises damage hearing not eyesight.

We go back to the opening scene or shortly after, during which we see her confront him after the flaming hot wedding night and he informs her that yes he offed her fam but fair is fair, his fam murdered 10 people in his, made his father starve to death and made him watch his mother be raped and then commit suicide. I’d say “otherwise known as Thursday in cdramaland,” but let’s face it, this hasn’t been a thing in proper length cdramas in a decade and I feel like someone who’s been seeking the grail of dogblood melo for so long and finally found a whole store’s worth of said grails.

I used you to get close to your family explains the hero, and poor heroine, born too early for Goodbye My Princess to exist, is stunned. 

She attempts to murder him (as one does), misses him and falls into the water and as she’s getting soaked and rinsed, we get a flashback in a flashback (flashback squared?) to their happy times.

Now we are back in the present and she wakes up chained in his room. There are worse fates tbh.

And then, in a twist that surprises utterly nobody, she goes “who are you?” because the Lord is kind and good to me and has time-traveled this drama to 2005 and we have AMNESIA!!!!!

Anyway, ep ends and I am hooked hooked hooked! This is like someone putting every Fei Wo Si Cun novel into a blender, and I cannot resist. Take a bit of Goodbye My Princess, stir in a large portion of Too Late to Say I Love You and some Siege in Fog; from previews later even a touch of Sealed with a Kiss. And we are ready!

I approve of all these people being dark and unhinged and murderhappy and not wholesome role models proper dramas keep giving us. I approve of the hero looking hot AND like he eats. I approve of the heroine being all about slaughter. Etc. 

This is not as cracktastic as Maid’s Revenge - after all ML’s clothes stayed completely on the whole ep, and not as good as A Familiar Stranger or as atmospheric as Provoke but it further cements my feeling that short dramas are where it’s at for me.

PS ML of Too Late to Say I Love You says hi!