#really is so unfortunate that i have Both of these due on thursday. so much work....

[orcelito]

Ok I have a plan. I'm going to download the sims 2. But I'm not allowed to play it until I finish the day's responsibilities. This will be true for... however long I have the urge to play sims, I guess.

For today, I've already started my laundry. If I want to play sims today, I will need to finish laundry, finish my readings, and do one part each for my essay exam and data governance midterm.

Which is... kind of a lot to get done in 7 hours. But who knows!!! Maybe I can!!!!

[azelmawrites]

FX-991 Love// CH. 5

Summary: While playing with your sister’s kids you suddenly remember you have an assignment due in less than 2 hours, and you’re in desperate need of a calculator so you borrow one from your sister’s hot neighbor. From there, unexpected romance blossoms.

Warnings: fem!reader, they/them pronouns for Hange, dirty talk, making out.

ch. 1 ch.2 ch.3 ch.4

Unfortunately you don’t see Hange on Thursday. So naturally your Friday doesn’t feel the best, besides the fact that you have a study group meeting as it was postponed at the start of the week. Annie and Historia both look like corpses by the time your two hour Physical Chemistry lecture 416 finishes. You know you look equally dead, if not more.

“Do we have time to get coffee before the meeting or no?” you ask, the running water from the faucet almost washing your voice out along with Historia loudly hustling her things inside her beige tote bag.

“Not really, Armin is already waiting there.” Annie answers, looking up from her phone then sighs exasperatedly at Historia. “What the hell are you looking for?”

“My phone!” Historia answers with a whine, “I completely forgot to tell Ymir we have a study group meeting, and very stupidly double booked myself.”

“It’s in your pocket.”

“Your pocket.”

You and Annie answer at the same time. Historia lets out a noise of recognition before she slips out her phone and unlocks it, the typing noise of her phone is louder when you turn off the faucet and snatch a few tissues to dry your hands.

“Oh right, any update with you and your hot neighbor?” Annie asks as you three leave the restroom. You sigh and shake your head, “I told them I can’t see them today, and I didn't see them yesterday either. But we’ve been texting a lot so that is good.”

Annie nods, “It’s okay, you will see them on the weekend.”

“I have to, I desperately need to. I miss them so much.” You say, holding tightly onto the strap of your black tote bag as you rush down the long stairs and finally exiting the chemistry department.

“I would say that you need to tone it down, and play some mind games and all. But, Hange seems like a nice person and their communication skills are top notch, so just tell them you miss them or something.” Annie advises, you grin at her as you link your arm with her.

“I agree with Annie, just let them know how you feel,” Historia says, “also can I just say your relationship is so refreshing? You and Hange are super cute.” she sing-songs the last two words as you feel your face turn hot.

“Wait, we’re meeting at the big library?” Historia suddenly asks, you and Annie hum in agreement at her question. “Let me tell Ymir so she can come, haven’t seen her all morning since I left.”

Once you three exit the science building, you look up at the setting sun and comment, “it’s the evening already? Jesus christ.”

Annie chuckles as Historia snorts. “We’ve been here since eight in the morning, and now in two hours it will officially be twelve hours we spent on campus.” Historia says, Annie opens her mouth to speak but your phone interrupts her, you unlink your arm from hers as you shuffle through your tote bag to find your phone.

When you take it out, both Historia and Annie look at the name flashing on your screen before they exchange looks and wiggle their eyebrows at you.

Your face heats up as you answer the call, and bring your phone to your ear.

“Hi baby,” you greet, feeling your lips stretch in a smile uncontrollably.

“Hi pretty, I missed you like crazy today.” Hange says. Historia leans her ear close to your phone so she can hear, while Annie is laughing and directing you two to the walk to the big library and making sure you don’t trip or bump into anyone.

“I missed you too, how was your day?”

“Like the usual, I’m just excited for tonight, I—”

“Hold on sweetie, the world’s noseiest girl is listening just let me—” then you stop talking to turn and push Historia that is laughing and giggling uncontrollably. You roll your eyes at her as you precede her and Annie to comfortably talk to Hange.

“You were saying?” you ask.

“My plans with Levi, I’m pretty excited about them. So far the plan is to go to a bar and meet up with a few old friends from college.”

“That seems fun, who’s going to be there?” you ask, knowing you are just going to stalk them all later when you go back home to make sure Hange doesn’t have any history with any of the women in the group, if there were to begin with.

“Levi, and his boyfriend Erwin, I told you about him,” you hum in agreement at Hange’s words, “yeah you did, who else?”

“A friend named Mike, he took most of Levi’s classes so that’s how I got to meet him. Moblit and Marlene, they were in my major. It’s been a while since I met them all.”

Your heart drops at the mention of a woman, and you try to play it casually despite your body temperature increasing despite walking into the main library's cold interior.

“Moblit and Marlene were in your major, tell me more about them.”

Annie gestures to the third floor, so you walk to the elevator and click on the button. Annie and Historia stare at your rigid features as you cross your arms over your chest.

“There really isn’t much to be said about them, we don’t even work in the same field. Moblit is a teacher and Marlene is a clinical physicist.” Hange says, when the elevator doors open you enter along with your friends as Annie clicks on the number three button.

“That seems pretty nice.” You answer.

Hange asks you a question, but it cuts as you’re in the elevator, though their voice comes back again when you reach the third floor, “-- so where are you right now and what are you planning to do later? I remember you told me you have a study group tonight.”

You hum in agreement, “well, me and the girls are in the big library to meet up with the rest of the group, it’s just two of our friends who study chemical engineering and we take almost the same subjects as them so…” you trail when you reach the booked meeting room. “It’s room three two five right?” you direct your question to Annie as you remove your phone away from your ear for a little.

“I feel like I should just go home, I’m seriously in desperate need of many things right now.”

Annie and Historia flash you smiles and enter first, you linger by the door to finish up your call with Hange.

“Okay, and what do you desperately need right now?” you laugh at Hange’s question as you look at the floor and stare at the untied shoelaces of your converse shoes.

“Coffee, with a triple shot of espresso and oat milk, oh and vanilla syrup oh and a jacket because I just know this library air conditioning is going to be the death of me, and food and you. I wanna see you so bad.”

“You will, sweetheart!”

“But seriously, don’t even think about me tonight, you enjoy your Friday to the fullest and then report back to me tomorrow morning how fun it was.”

“First I will not noth think about you tonight, it is literally impossible since I was thinking about you all day,” you feel your face growing hot at that, “and second, I will talk to you whenever I can, which is every hour or thirty minutes during the outing.”

When Jean angrily knocks on the glass of the door, you know you need to get inside the room. You wave at him to calm down, then tell Hange, “baby, I need to go, I will talk to you later.”

“Okay sweetie, see you later.”

You end the call and enter the meeting room, “hello Amin, hey Jean.” you greet, and place your things next to Annie.

“I hope I’m not the only one that completely felt like a dumbass in today’s physical chem lecture.” Jean says while Armin acknowledges you with a nod and a smile.

“No because me too, and the professor is so condescending too like when that girl asked him a question he keeps referring to physics one content—” she gets cut by Jean that slaps his palm on the table and complains, “I don’t fucking remember anything from physics one!”

“What about you Armin, did you think it was difficult?” you ask, taking out your laptop from your tote bag and pushing the screen open. The blond looks at Jean and Historia in worry before he answers with a mutter, “I actually quite enjoyed the lecture today—”

“Oh my god, there he goes!” Jean loudly interrupted. Historia only glared at Armin coldly then said, “you piss me off so much.”

“What did I do? The lecture was entertaining and the concepts were just things we learned in physics but are elevated.” Armin tries to defend himself. Jean and Historia just shake their heads at him.

“But when you think about it, Armin doesn’t really enjoy organic chem, he likes calculating and all that so.” You try to defend him back, Historia sighs and flips open her giant physical chemistry textbook.

“Thank you! Finally someone understands my dilemma!” Armin says while pointing at you.

“I actually don’t particularly understand you, what do you mean you don’t like organic? It’s literally the—”

“The easiest branch in chemistry.” Annie and Jean mock you as Historia giggles. You roll your eyes at them, and open your mouth to speak but you’re interrupted by the knocking on the door.

You are sat on a side that doesn’t allow you to see who’s behind the glass, neither is Annie but Historia can. Her face blanches as she turns to stare at you.

The questions you and Annie had for Historia are answered when Hitch walks into the meeting room. She doesn’t seem that much fazed by your presence as you are by hers, which truly bothers you.

“Hitch, you’re finally here.” Jean says, then he says to you all, “I’m sure you all already know who Hitch is, but she got a full mark on the last physical chem quiz so I invited her to teach us.”

“Us?” Annie repeats in surprise, “speak for yourself, sugar tits, I got a full mark too.”

“You and Armin piss me off, seriously.” Historia says as she frowns. Hitch grins and greets you all, “Hi everyone, I hope I’m not imposing.” Then her eyes land on you.

You’re broken out of your trance, and you truly have to remind yourself that you don’t care about her anymore or whatever happened between you two. It was ages ago, and before you met Hange who is truly the love of your life.

Now it may be quick to admit that, but Hange holds a special place in your life and heart.

“Hey Hitch, no you’re okay.” You tell as you smile, then you pull your black tote bag that managed to slip towards the middle and almost the far right of the table. She mutters a thank you, then starts taking out her things.

“So, it goes without a saying we’re gonna start with physical chem today.” Jean says, you and Annie exchange looks as you giggle.

With that, you all turn to stare at Hitch who walks to the rolling whiteboard and picks up a white board marker and turns to look at you all.

“Okay you idiots, first thing first we’re gonna go back to physics one basics and talk a little about the laws of thermodynamics.” As she says that you hear a sigh from Jean and Historia.

—

Not even an hour passes, but your brain is already fried from the amount of equations you had to solve. They humbled you truly, especially when you showed Annie your answer to a question and she had to sigh and point out that you forgot to put a few conversion factors in mind.

You’re not only tired, but you’re a little pissed at your lack of understanding physical chemistry.

Were you born stupid or did you not work hard enough for it? You had no idea, but a series of wrong answers got you holding your head and shivering in your seat despite wearing Annie’s thin cardigan.

“Can we please take a break? I cannot do this anymore, I seriously cannot.” Historia says, resting her head on the table then turning to hit her head on the wooden surface of the table.

“Hiso, don’t do this you’re just going to make yourself dumber than you are—”

“Jean I’m really not in the mood for your stupid jokes, I’m cold and I’m hungry and I need coffee and I want to see my girlfriend and I want to sleep for a million years, so, shut up!” she screams the last two words at Jean.

He raises his palms up defensively, “I was just saying!”

Annie leans across the table and slaps his head, “don’t piss her off, we’ve been here on campus since eight am.”

“Shit, and I just know you idiots were surviving on a cup of iced coffee and a croissant.” Jean says.

“How could you tell?” you ask, then pick up your phone and realize you have had it on Do Not Disturb for a while now.

Jean lays his head on his palm as he watches you. “Well, you three are easily irritable today. I could blame it on the fact that you’ve been here since eight in the morning but, I’ve seen you energetic when running on two hours of sleep.”

Completely ignoring the side conversations as you read the notifications on your phone. A few from your sister and brothers sharing pictures of the family gathering on the family group chat. Then to your sister privately texting you asking you if you took her new white shirt, as you were clad in said shirt.

Finally to a few missed calls of Hange. With a frown, you stand up and call them back as you leave the meeting room.

“Hi sweetie,” Hange greets.

“Hey, my phone was on silent but is everything okay? You called a few times.” You say, playing with the hem of Annie’s cardigan.

“Yeah baby everything is okay, I just wanted to ask you what room you are in the library.” Hange asked. You blinked in shock as you asked, “you’re here?”

“Well yes, I told you I was coming.” Hange answered like it was an obvious thing.

“You did?” you asked in shock, then headed to the metal railing as you stared down at the floors below hoping you would catch sight of Hange.

“Yes baby, I even asked you where you were and you told me the library.” Comes Hange’s answer.

Oh, right when their voices cut while you were in the elevator. “Am I coming at a bad time?” They ask again, unsure.

“No no no, absolutely not, I’m just surprised. That’s all. Oh right, where are you exactly?” you answer, feeling your heart fluttering with excitement at the thought of seeing Hange.

“Well, I remember you mentioned something about room three two five so I’m guessing it's the third floor.”

“Yeah, I’m actually right by the door of the room so—”

“Oh! I think I see you—” you turn around to your left at that, then to your right. Your heart soars with joy when you make eye contact with a smiling Hange. Without wasting a single second you run in their direction as you try your best to quieten your squeals.

You almost jump into their arms, but the sight of the coffee cups and bags they’re holding makes you slow down. Seeing you approaching, they set them on the floor so you run to their arms and embrace them tightly.

“I missed you so much!” you hiss into their ear, as Hange laughs.

Breaking the hug, and not really caring if there are students around, you press kisses all over their face.

“I missed you more, and you look so pretty, is that a new shirt?” Hange notes, holding into the fabric of your shirt. You giggle and admit, “it actually belongs to Fei, I stole it from her.”

“Well she should give it to you, it looks like it was made for you.” Hange says, leaning down and picking up the coffee cups they left on the floor, along with the plastic bags. Hange hands you a labeled coffee, “for you, pretty girl, exactly like how you like it.”

You take the warm coffee cup, then press another kiss to Hange’s cheek as you giggle, “thank you, baby, I appreciate it.”

“Is that your jacket? It’s pretty thin.” Hange comments. Shaking your head as you sip your coffee, “It’s Annie’s.”

“Well, I got you a hoodie because you said you were cold, and some food because you said you were hungry.” Hange says, then gives you the hoodie they were holding. You gladly take it, and kiss them again on their cheek. “You are perfect.” you whisper against their face, then pull away.

“Thanks baby, and just know that you are never going to see this hoodie ever again.” You say, giving Hange your cup to hold it as you take off Annie’s cardigan and slip on the thick black hoodie.

“You got extra coffee for who?” You ask, noting the extra cups.

“Your friends, food too.” They lift the plastic bags.

“Hange you are literally the best.” You say, wrapping your arm around their biceps and resting your head on their side arm. “Do I get a kiss for that too?” Hange asks.

You giggle, and lean to kiss Hange on their cheek once again. “Right, let’s drop off this coffee and food for them and then let’s take a walk together.” You say, then pull Hange to the designated room.

Historia, and Hitch are the first to notice you lingering with Hange by the glass panel on the door. Then you push the door open, “Hange got us coffee and food!”

Jean and Historia cheer in joy as Armin laughs. Annie grins and greets Hange, “Hi, Hange.”

“Hey Annie.” Hange greets back.

You quickly introduce everyone to Hange, and vice versa while distributing the coffee.

“This is Armin and Jean, they’re the ones who major in chemical engineering like I told you—”

Jean cuts you, “and also her friends.” You shrug your shoulders, “unfortunately we are friends.”

Then you hand Hitch her coffee, “this is Hitch, she was Annie’s roommate and she’s also in our major.” Hitch accepts the cup with a polite smile and a nod.

“Right, I think we deserve a break.” You tell everyone as Historia nods, “Yeah, and Ymir is coming in a few so we really do need a break.”

“Alright then, we continue studying after five minutes?” Jean asks, you roll your eyes as you scoff, “make it thirty, princess.”

Jean sighs and he opens his mouth to speak, possibly to argue but Armin motions for you to leave fast as he urges, “you go, we’ll regroup in thirty minutes—I want a break too, I’m sick and tired already.”

You giggle then pull Hange behind with you, but not without Historia shouting behind you, “and remember kids, the best make out spot is behind the dictionaries—” she is cut by a smack and you don’t have to look behind to know who it was, just knowing deep in your heart it is Annie.

When you exit the room, and walk down the hall, you tell Hange, “I’m sorry, they thrive on teasing me.”

“It’s fine,” Hange says with a chuckle, then intertwines their fingers with yours, “we should’ve stayed a bit longer to hear what spot she’s talking about.”

Unable to stop your giggle and your face turning hot, you glance at Hange to find them already looking at you. “That’s all you care about?”

“No, but it’s definitely something I want.”

“Whatever…” you say dragging your R’s and rolling your eyes, unable to find a witty response to Hange’s flirtation. They laugh, then bring your hand up to their lips to press a kiss on the back of your hand and wrist, a shiver runs down your spine as your heart accelerates.

“You are so cute, you know that?” is what they say.

Your heart can’t take it anymore, so you change the topic as your face grows unbearably hot. “Right, you told me you had plans with your friends—what happened to that?”

Hange allows you to steer the conversation, though their smirk at making you reach this stage of shyness exposes their giddiness.

“Levi is driving tonight—he doesn’t drink, so Erwin and I are meeting him up here because he finishes work pretty late. And I decided to just come here to see you, instead of waiting at home and having him pick me up.”

“Oh right, I think he has the general chemistry lab for first years, and it starts pretty late and that’s without counting the hour he has to stay after to help clean up and grade quizzes.” You say, bringing Hange outside to the third floor secret balcony.

Hange steps out after you, taking in the view and nodding appreciatively. “Wow, this is perfect. How did you find this place?”

“Boring story, but I was studying for my first midterm ever here and found it while I was walking around and looking for the vending machine.” You join them at the railing, and as the breeze rustles through your hair, you feel Hange’s arm slip around your waist. “You have no idea how much I missed you,” they murmur, turning their head to look at you.

You smile up at them, feeling the warmth of their body close to yours. “I missed you too.” Hange pulls you in a little closer, their knuckles brushing lightly over your cheek. “You know,” they begin, their voice soft and teasing, “I don’t think I’ll be able to focus on my plans tonight. I can’t stop thinking about you.”

You laugh lightly, leaning into their touch. “I don’t think I will be able to focus on studying either.” They grin, then pull you into a kiss, slow and gentle, the world fading away around you as the kiss deepens. The peaceful atmosphere of the balcony only makes the moment feel more intimate.

When the kiss breaks, Hange rests their forehead against yours and smiling softly.

“Right, when are you free for another date?” Hange asks, pulling you to sit on the metal bench, it’s cold against your thighs so you scoot impossibly close to Hange, while still holding onto their bicep and holding your coffee with your other hand and sipping on it, it does the job of warming you up perfectly.

“I definitely will make some time tomorrow, my sister is hosting lunch at her place in celebration of mom’s birthday,” you say and take another sip of your coffee, “so I can definitely sneak to you, or even tell them I have plans and just go to your place, or we can even go out,”

“Oh yeah, your nephew—the older one, told me about that.” Hange comments, you have to stop yourself from giggling as you shake your head, “Kai is really out here telling you things before I can, this is like the second time he did that.”

“Yeah,” Hange chuckles, bringing your free hand and kissing your wrist then resting it against their own to warm it. “He did tell me about you babysitting them last wednesday, and you not really being a good cook but still being a cool aunt.”

“Kai is out here to get me,” you say then sigh, you place your coffee on the bench and take out your phone from your pocket—refusing to let go of Hange’s hand. “Right, tonight they had a family dinner at my eldest brother’s home and they’re all sharing pictures.”

Hange leans close to see your phone clearer, it allows you to take whiffs of their delicious cologne along with their natural scent. The effect it has on you is visceral, and you embarrassingly find yourself growing wet.

“This is the oldest one right?” Hange points at someone on your screen, and it takes a second to load inside your head but you hum in agreement nonetheless. Too distracted by your desire to sit on their lap, rock your hips front and back as you kiss their neck and play with their hair.

When you look at who they’re pointing to, you are glad that the answer you gave wasn’t wrong despite your mind being too preoccupied. It doesn’t even help that flashbacks of that night with Hange keeps showing up in ultra quality at the front of your mind.

Hange is too busy swiping at the photos and commenting here and there, while you are basically eating them with your eyes. They look effortlessly good in a simple black on black outfit and a light unbuttoned denim flannel. You don’t know what it is, or if there’s even reasoning to this feral need you have for Hange but even the watch on their wrist, and their sitting position makes you unbelievably horny.

It’s not the time nor place for that, and you should feel ashamed but you don’t really find any care for now. Especially when you haven’t seen Hange in a while, and you know that it’s a secret place so not many people would stumble here.

Even if they did, you probably wouldn’t see them ever again.

Armored by bravery because of the last reasoning, you unlink your arm with hange and before they could protest you wrap your arms around their neck and bring them down to kiss you, as your legs dangle over their own.

Surprised, but not complaining they pull you to sit on their lap as your kisses travel down their neck, and their hands instinctively grip your waist, pulling you closer. You feel the warmth of their skin beneath your fingertips, and the faint scent of their cologne mixed with something uniquely them sends a shiver down your spine. Hange lets out a soft chuckle, a teasing edge in their voice.

“Well, aren’t you bold today?” they murmur, their breath warm against your ear, making your pulse race even faster. Their hands start to roam, fingers pressing into your sides, and you can feel their breath quickening as they respond to your touch.

You pull back slightly, enough to meet their gaze, eyes clouded with desire and mischief. “You can’t just show up looking like this and expect me to behave.” you say, your nails scratching their scalp and then pulling gently on their hair strands as your body temperature grows hotter.

“Oh yeah? I will look like this more then.”

Moving your hips against Hange’s as their right hand spreads out and travels down your back to take a handful of your ass against your flared jeans. They then pull your curls, making you let out a gasp as your head is pulled to the back and giving them good access to your neck.

Hange kisses your neck and whispers, “fuck I missed hearing you and tasting you.”

They kiss first, then suck and bite on the sensitive batches of your skin, and you can’t help but moan softly. The last thing on your mind is that the shirt you are wearing shows your neck, and you are doomed to get teased endlessly by your friends.

Nothing in this world could’ve pulled you away from each other, even when the distinctive creak of the balcony door opening you find your reactions slow and not really caring if anyone saw you two making out. Neither does Hange, seeing they’re still leaving strawberry kisses there.

You creak one eye open, then with all the strength and force you could muster you push Hange away as you look at who entered the balcony. Though by that time, the intruder had already left.

Knowing that the logical thing for now is to use the mild interruption as a way to stop making out, because if you don’t stop you are anxious that in the heat of your desire you might want to escalate things out in public. You pull away from Hange, as they whine in protest, “why?”

“We must, I have to study and you have plans and if we don’t stop now who knows what might happen,” you say with a sigh, also struggling hard to now continue back to what you started.

“You are a tease, you know that?”

“Baby, I don’t mean to be a tease,” you say, pressing a kiss to Hange’s lips and then standing up as you pull them up with you—and definitely not forgetting your coffee that is on the verge of turning lukewarm.

“I can cancel you know,” Hange suggests, but you shake your head. “No, honey. You haven’t seen your friends in a while, plus I gotta study anyways.”

Your ego is inflated as just a short make out session that you started has this effect on Hange. Willing to cancel a night out with their friends, and even wanting to come over to your place after a long day and a long night.

Pulling Hange towards the door, it creaks open again and you pull them inside to the brightly lit corridors of the library.

“But…I’ll see you tomorrow, right?” They ask, intertwining your fingers.

“Yeah baby, I’ll see you tomorrow, anything you feel like doing tomorrow?” you ask, walking down the many halls to reach the meeting room.

Hange’s voice is unwillingly loud in the middle of the quiet corridor, “besides fucking you? No, not really—” you turn to look at Hange with a scandalized stare, as their shoulders shake with a chuckle at your response.

You roll your eyes and shake your head, “whatever, you have fun on your night. Text me when you get home safe, okay?”

Hange obediently nods, “okay, sweetie.” Then cups your face with their free hand to kiss you just right when you reach the meeting room.

It’s a struggle to let go of their hand, and go back to studying. But when it happens you feel frustration growing in your chest, and just wished that you could spend the whole night with Hange instead of studying.

“See you tomorrow?” Hange affirms one last time, and you grin and nod, “see you tomorrow.” They wait for you to enter the meeting room, and when you do, you notice the eerie silence from all your friends.

Though the mischievous smiles from them kind of concern you. It was very easy to connect the dots, especially seeing Armin’s red ears and so you ask with a sigh, “so which one of you guys was the intruder?”

Ymir and Historia start, “(Y/N) and Hange sitting on a tree—” feeling your face growing unbearably hot, you don’t waste a second to toss Annie’s pencil case right at them to stop them.

[streetlight11]

Surf's Up

Summary: To have a hobby is fun but to turn that hobby into a passion? Not many people can do that. Yet, you managed to turn your hobby into your passion and this has been going on for years now. Every year leads to a new challenge. And every challenge consists of fighting for that first place against your one and only rival you can't seem to shake away from

Theme: surfers au, rivals to lovers

Genre: slowburn, slight angst, fluff

Warnings: mentions of rivalry, partial drowning, mild language, mentions of a deceased, slight harrassment (just a little touch), one-sided feelings (i'm sorry 😭)

W/C: 11.7k

Pairing: Surfer!Changbin x Surfer!FemReader

a/n: Hello Changbin lovers! I wanted to try something a little out of my comfort zone so I decided to write about surfing even though I have absolutely no indepth knowledge whatsoever about it. Do let me know if there's any mistakes in the details and what not, but otherwise, enjoy 🩵

Living in a beach house was probably in everyone’s dreams. Imagine waking up to hearing peaceful waves crashing against the sand, a spectacular view embraces you the moment you pull your curtains back. Except, you had the privilege of waking up to this everyday. This makes it easier for you to catch some waves be it for practice or for fun when you just need some fresh air.

You have been learning how to surf since you were at the age of 9. The reason why you took up surfing as a hobby then soon turned it into passion is because you grew up watching your dad surf. He was a professional surfer who won about 7 championship meets in a row.

That’s where you had the interest to learn from him. He, of course, was happy enough to teach you and eventually, got one of his best buddies to accept you into his surf classes. However, that was also the beginning of your journey with probably your one and only rival in every surf meet you took part in from then on.

His name?

Seo Changbin.

He was one year younger than you. His father is good friends with yours. Interestingly enough, Mr Seo who was not only your surf trainer but is also Changbin's father, and your own father used to be in a surf group back then where they surfed together and cheered for each other for every surf competition they took part in. Which is why you knew Changbin and his older sister but you were only never really friends with Changbin due to how competitive both of you were.

Your father didn’t blame you for being this way with Changbin because Mr Seo also knew about this rivalry and yet, all he and your dad could do was laugh. Your rivalry officially started when you were 13 and he was 12. You lost your first place to him when you landed a second too late on your last trick, making your land a bit unstable and choppy.

Changbin was personally a competitive person when it comes to competitions and games so in that sense, he wasn’t much different than you were. Which is why you both became the perfect rivals.

His family lives just two houses down from your beach house, making it easier for his family to come over to your place whenever the elders wanted to catch up.

This still happens up till this day where your father would just casually invite them over for dinner, meanwhile you would take this perfect chance to head to the beach either for a surf or just chill by the sands. Ever since your mother’s unfortunate passing, that has been the two things you did whenever you felt suffocated in the house or when you got into a serious fight with your dad.

This year, you would be celebrating your 25th birthday and also your 8th birthday without her around. It still hurts you just thinking about it but compared to years ago, you’ve already come to accept the fact that she’s in a better place now.

It was a bright Thursday morning, your classes won’t start until 10am and since it was only 7, you decided to head to the beach. The waves are too calm for you to surf so instead, you took the plastic bowl filled with diced mangoes from the fridge and soon left the house after brushing your teeth and washing your face. You walked down the wooden boardwalk, making your way down to the wooden platform at the bottom of the steps which links to the start of the beach.

It has been approximately 15 minutes since you sat there and basically ate your breakfast whilst watching the early risers taking a morning stroll on the beach, some were even exercising on the beach. You were just picking on your mangoes when a familiar voice spoke up ahead of you.

“What are you doing here? Too sad, you can’t catch a morning wave today?” You looked up from your bowl only to lock eyes with the devil himself.

“Even if I am, it’s none of your concern.” You said, rolling your eyes at him.

Only then did you actually realize that Changbin was glistening with sweat dripping down his neck, all the way down his shirtless toned torso. Toned abs to pair with his broad chest. His arms were probably bigger than your face now compared to a few years ago when he was still small and lanky.

When you realized you were staring, you quickly looked away hoping he didn’t catch on since he never made fun of you. Little did you know, he saw you openly staring at his body. He just chose to keep his mouth shut today.

When he finally left, you let out a breath you never realised you held in.

Hours passed and you had just finished your morning class which is also time for lunch. You began making your way to the lunch hall with your two best friends, Yeji and Ryujin. Right before you make the final turn to head to the lunch hall, a heavy arm suddenly drops on your shoulder followed by a soft ruffle to your hair. You flinched as you glanced up to look at the culprit only to see his toothy grin smiling down at you with his crescent moon eyes.

“Hey! How was class?” Minho asked, to which you couldn’t help but giggle softly and soon realising he wasn’t alone. Hyunjin, who was Yeji’s twin brother, was walking beside her whilst Felix was just talking to Ryujin beside you.

Minho was your friend.

You actually met him in high school and he has been your friend ever since. A little back story, Minho and you used to date for a few months in high school before you decided to break things off with him after you realised that neither of you were ready to seriously commit in the relationship. Nevertheless, both of you mutually agreed to remain as friends. Hence, the reason why he was here with you right now.

The only problem now lies within him. Along the way, he started to develop feelings for you again. Though he tries so hard to keep it from you, sometimes he would accidentally act on it without him realising until one of his friends acknowledges him about it.

To summarize, Minho still has a crush on you. The end.

You, on the other hand, had completely moved on from him. It was quite clear to you that Minho is now strictly in your friendzone. Of course you still love and care for him dearly but just as a friend.

Even so, you didn’t mind having occasional skinships with him because you trusted him. So you were completely fine with him slinging his arm on your shoulder.

“Class was a bore. Can you believe he actually taught us nothing related to Python? It’s ridiculous.” You complained, earning a little chuckle from him.

“But my little Y/N here is pretty smart on her own isn’t she?” He asked, making you giggle. Minho teases you by nuzzling his nose against yours, something he does often after he gives you a compliment. Just then, Hyunjin’s voice calling out to a series of names, piqued your interest as you glanced ahead to see five guys just standing in front of the lockers seeming to chat with each other.

The closer you got, the more you realized just who it was. Sometimes you completely forget that Hyunjin is not only Yeji’s twin brother, but he was also in Changbin’s circle of friends. You also forgot that Minho and Chan have been close friends since high school and while Minho is your friend, Chan is Changbin’s friend in college due to the same class and major they were taking together with Jisung.

So basically, your life was filled with Changbin both personally and publicly. It was useless to try and run away from him.

You watched as the guys greeted each other with handshakes and the manly hug. Meanwhile, you girls continued to walk off allowing the guys to have their moment. Right when you thought you could leave in peace, Changbin’s voice echoed around the semi empty hallway.

“Good luck for the surf meet this Saturday. You’re gonna need it.” All of your friends knew about the annual surf meet that you and Changbin take part in. That means they also know about your strong rivalry with Changbin and yet they always cheered for both of you equally. For that, you’re thankful to have them as your friends and sort of acquaintances.

“Not if I take home the trophy this year.”

“We’ll see about that.” Changbin smirks as you groan in annoyance whilst heading straight for the lunch hall, missing the way Changbin had his eyes fixed on your descending back while Minho watches you storm away with a little smile on his face.

Saturday comes faster than you hoped. You were nervous for the meet but it wasn’t something unusual. You always get nervous for every surf meet, it’s just your anxiety of being the centre of attention in a large crowd. However, it all goes away the minute you step foot in the ocean. Yeji and Ryujin promised to go over to your house before heading to the beach together despite it being right behind your house. You wore your swimsuit which was essentially just swimming shorts and a bikini top with an oversized shirt on.

The three of you began to make your way to the beach, only to see a huge crowd of people just gathered all along the beach where the main tents were. You found an empty spot to stick your surfboard upright in the sand, asking your friends to keep a lookout on your board whilst you went to register your name by the main booth.

Even before reaching the booth, you already spotted a familiar face waiting at the back of the line. It was as if on cue, he turned to his left, locking eyes with you before you saw the corner of his lips curl into a smirk.

“Ready to get your butt kicked?” Changbin asked as you rolled your eyes at him subtly before you answered him.

“I could ask you the same thing.”

“Let’s make a bet.” He suggests innocently as you join the line behind him.

“Enlighten me.”

“If I win first place, you have to treat me to dinner for a whole week.” Changbin smiles innocently at you as you try to ignore his shirtless figure standing before you.

“Fine. Then if I win first place, you have to teach me how to do a rodeo flip.” You said calmly. You noticed the way his eyes widened for a split second before going back to its natural hooded state.

“Deal.” He said as he held his fist out to you at chest level so you easily fist bump him to seal the deal.

Just then, you heard your father’s voice calling your name followed by Mr Seo’s voice calling Changbin’s name. You both turned to your right to see the two men walking over to you with bright smiles on their faces. You gave your dad a tight hug as Changbin simply let his dad give him a few strong pats to his shoulder.

“Hi kids. We just wanted to wish you good luck.” Your dad said, making you giggle before saying thank you. So did Changbin.

“Remember the lessons I taught you for the past few weeks. Put that into your surfing techniques later out there and I’m sure you will both make it to the top.” Mr Seo motivates you two with his words of wisdom.

“Noted.” Both you and Changbin said in unison as Mr Seo smiled and gently placed his large hand on top of your head in a fatherly manner. Right at that moment, a shove to your side made you crash against Changbin who instantly reached for your waist out of instinct. Needless to say, it felt so right having his hands rest on your waist.

Wait what.

You whipped your head to the side to see who just deliberately shoved you, only to see a woman standing there with her entire back facing you as she talked to your dad. The only problem that struck out to you was how she had one hand hover over your father’s chest while she barely caressed her fingertips down his clothed skin.

Your jaw dropped as you stared at your dad in disbelief. Your father has never mentioned to you about anybody he’s talking to or is contacting. He usually tells you if there is someone special in his life ever since your mother’s passing. So for this woman to touch your father like that, made you shocked.

“Who is she?” You mouthed to your dad the minute he locked eyes with you.

However, seeing how uncomfortable he was and the way he was clearly trying to move away from her, only made your blood boil even more. With that being said, you tapped on the woman’s shoulder eagerly. She let out a scoff before turning to you, a disapproving look prominent on her face but you couldn’t care less.

“Excuse me. Hi. What do you think you’re doing?” You asked with the most sarcastic smile on your face, hoping she’d take the hint.

“What I do is none of your business. Besides, aren’t you a little young to be interested in a full grown man?” She asked with clear disgust in her voice, to which you let out a chuckle to stress on how ridiculous her accusation sounds.

“Me? Interested in… Oh, no sweetheart. I’m not interested in my own father. But I am interested in knowing who you are and why you’re blatantly flirting with him right in front of me.” You said, as you slowly circled her until you were now standing in between your father and herself.

“I think it’s time your father has some fun, considering the years of an unworthy loss, don’t you think?” The woman smirked at you, she clearly has no idea what she’d just set on fire. Without further ado, you took two slow steps to close the gap between you and her, keeping your fiery gaze on her that made her knees go weak.

“Nobody… disrespects my mother like that. So I suggest you get lost before I make your life a living hell.” You said lowly to which you saw her smirk begin to disappear whilst her lips quivered slightly. Nevertheless, she stormed away angrily, earning a few beats of silence from those around you.

That’s when you whipped your head around to meet your dad’s, making you frown upon him.

“You were just gonna let her touch you like that? Weren’t you gonna say anything to her yourself?” You asked in disbelief, making him frown.

“I… I was stunned when she suddenly touched me. I’m really sorry sweetie…” Your father apologised to you, making you feel bad. So you easily wrapped your arms around his waist only to mumble a soft apology against his chest. Changbin, who had been silently watching the entire scene unravel in front of him, couldn’t help but feel touched by how you protected your dad from being harrassed. This somehow made him feel something in the pit of his stomach but he just didn’t want to admit it.

An hour and a half passed, it was time for the final scores to be revealed. You were standing near the sea with Yeji and Ryujin while Changbin and his friends were gathered right next to you girls since Hyunjin was just chatting with his twin sister beside you.

“And finally, the moment we’ve all been waiting for! I will announce the top 3 finalists for this year’s Annual Surf Meet! In third place, with a score of 80 points, we have… Choi Yeonjun! Congratulations!” The commentator announced into the microphone as the crowd began to cheer and clap for the boy who was standing not too far from you with his friends.

“And in second place, with a score of 85 points, we have… Yoon Sanha! Congratulations!” Upon hearing this, you frowned deeply as you instinctively turned to Changbin who turned to you at the same time. You obviously couldn’t read his mind but for some reason, it seemed like you both understood each other for once.

This never happened before.

Every surf meet, both you and Changbin would be in the top 3. Only that it’s either you or him taking the first place. So to hear the 3rd and 2nd place going to neither of you, made you curious.

“Wait a minute, if neither of you are in 3rd or 2nd… Then, who’s first?” Hyunjin asked as you and Changbin soon turned back to the commentator who seemed to look shocked at the winner’s list.

“And finally, in first place, with a hefty score of 95 points… Well, it has been 21 years since we had this kind of result and to be honest, I’m pretty sure none of us saw this coming… But, coming in first place for 2023’s Annual Surf Meet goes to… a tie between Seo Changbin and Y/F/N! Congratulations! Can the winners please come forward to receive your prizes.” The commentator announced, all to which your eyebrows rose in shock, your body stood frozen on the sand.

“Omg! It’s a tie!” Yeji, Ryujin, Felix and Jisung said in unison while the rest began to cheer excitedly for you and Changbin. You were still rooted to the ground, making Minho jog to you and soon tugging you forward. You glanced over to Changbin who was slowly walking forward but the minute he locked eyes with your shocked ones, he couldn’t help but smile as he reached out to grab your hand from Minho’s and soon dragged you to the prize booth.

You both took the first place trophy each before standing on the platforms for a photo. After the prize ceremony was done, you got down from the platform only to hear Changbin speak up, “Looks like both our deals would be happening huh?” This made you remember the bet you made earlier before the meet. Well, at least it’s nothing too extreme.

“Looks like I owe you dinner tonight then…” You teased, earning a cheeky little smirk from him. For once you didn’t feel like slapping the smirk off his face and you wondered why.

Your friends came over to you and Changbin as they congratulated you on winning the first place trophy together, making you thank them. Minho suggested having a mini celebratory beach bonfire tonight for you and Changbin. While everyone else seemed to agree, you looked over at Changbin and saw the smile on his face.

“We’ll come after dinner.” He informed the others, only to hear them all say okay. Looks like you’ll have to spend quite a lot of time with Changbin for the next few days.

Hours passed, you had just showered and was blow drying your hair when there was a knock on your bedroom door. So you turned the dryer off and made your way to the door, only to open it and find Changbin standing there. He was wearing a black shirt, a dark grey and white large flannel with denim ripped jeans on. You would be lying if you said he didn’t look good in this fit.

“What are you doing here? Can’t you just wait downstairs?” You asked, stepping aside to let him in despite this being his first time entering your bedroom.

“I wanted to but your dad insisted on making me go to your room since he was heading out to meet some friends which includes my dad.” He said. He walked in a little awkwardly before you closed the door and made your way back to the corner of your room which had a full length mirror and your blow dryer plugged to the socket on the wall.

Changbin leans against your desk as he quietly watches you dry your hair. “Have you decided where to eat?” You asked, trying to make small conversation with him. Today was probably the first time ever in years where you two could sit in the same room without bickering like Tom and Jerry.

“Have you tried that seafood place down the block? I heard it’s really good.”

“Are you planning to get me broke? Cause I can’t afford a whole buffet, just so you know.” You said as you glared at him through your mirror, only to see him smirk.

“Trust me, I’m not a gold digger plus, I don’t like people spending too much on me so you’re good.” Changbin said, giving you a playful wink. You rolled your eyes at him but his wink actually did something to you. You just chose to ignore it. After you finished drying your hair, you went to change out of your pajamas. Changbin begged you to let him choose your outfit, something you’ve never had anyone do before.

Unfortunately, to avoid getting into an unnecessary argument with him, you decided to just let him do what he wants. Within a seriously long 5 minutes of him disappearing into your walk-in closet, he finally came out with your outfit for the night. Which would be a white thin strap crop top, black and white oversized flannel, a denim black button down skirt and your favourite pair of white high top converse.

You stared at the outfit incredulously, only for you to question, “You want me to wear a skirt and shoes when we’re heading to the beach right after dinner?” Changbin shrugged innocently as he tossed the clothes to you, making you catch them swiftly in your arms but he didn’t miss the snarl coming out from your lips.

“Why not? I’m wearing shoes too.”

You let out a heavy sigh as you clicked your tongue in annoyance before asking him to leave your room so you could change.

About 4 minutes later, you came back out fully dressed in his chosen attire.

You found him leaning against the wall at the bottom of the stairs, eyes glued to his phone. When you gently tapped the back of his head, he turned around ready to say something snarky at you but instead, his curious eyes wandered down your body to inspect the outfit he chose for you.

He was clearly satisfied with his choices.

“I know I would never do this on a normal basis… but damn… I chose your outfit well.” Changbin smirked, meeting your eyes again only to see you staring at him softly.

“Don’t get used to it.” You joked, earning a chuckle from him.

“Don’t worry, I will.”

With that being said, both of you left your beach house and soon began to make your way to the seafood place he mentioned earlier.

An hour passed by, the food was pretty delicious but it was a little on the expensive side. Since it was part of the bet, you promised you would pay no matter the price. Of course Changbin didn’t pay for it at the restaurant since it was part of the bet. You managed to make it to the celebratory bonfire your friends were doing that night by the beach. You sat in between Minho and Ryujin as they played a round of truth or dare. Some of them were pretty intoxicated but still sober enough to know what was going on.

It was now Minho’s turn, to which he decided to choose a dare. You silently watched as some of them began to whisper amongst each other. Right when you took a sip of your soda, Chan’s words did not go unnoticed.

“I dare you to kiss your ex.”

Shit.

Sure Minho and you dated in the past but it’s over now. You two are now very good friends. You already moved on from him. Therefore, you shouldn’t kiss him right?

You turned to Minho who was just staring at you softly, his doe eyes sparkling in the moonlight.

“We don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. It’s up to you.” Minho said quietly to you, knowing what you were already thinking. As much as you didn’t want to do it, you knew it was just for a game. Nothing’s gonna come out of it. So it wouldn’t hurt if you kissed him for a silly dare, right?

Just then, for some reason, your eyes naturally travelled around the circle of friends. However, your gaze stopped the minute it landed on Changbin who was seated opposite you with a small frown on his face.

Why was he frowning?

You had to force yourself to break eye contact with him as you turned back to Minho and soon spoke up, “It’s just a dare right?”

“Yeah, of course… We’re just friends now.” Minho said but a small part of you says that he didn’t mean that 100%. Nevertheless, you gave him a slight nod as you reached up to cup his face while you gently pulled him in until you felt his soft lips on yours. You closed your eyes to distract yourself from the squeals around you, feeling Minho move his lips in sync with yours. Unfortunately, much to his dismay, you pulled away a lot quicker than he wanted you to.

Sure it felt nice to kiss someone again but at the same time, it felt wrong to kiss your ex. So you told them to continue the game. A few seconds later, Minho gently reaches for your hand only to whisper in your ear, “Sorry if that made you uncomfortable.” With that being said, you shook your head to tell him it’s okay and that it was just for a game.

You weren’t mad at him anyway so you simply brushed it off. However, it looks like someone found it a little difficult to let the visual and thought of you kissing Minho, out of their mind.

Oddly enough.

The next few days, you have been going for dinner with Changbin just like you promised for the bet. Except, you noticed that he had been less talkative ever since that bonfire night. Of course you didn’t think much as to why he was acting weird at times but it did make you wonder if he was somehow affected by the kiss. But why would he if he saw you as his rival, just like you see him?

Was something changing between you two?

Were you starting to see him as not a rival anymore?

Has he stopped seeing you as a rival?

It was a Saturday afternoon and you were just lazily lounging on the couch with your dad. Both of you were eating the salad you ordered since neither of you had the mood to cook that day. Just then, there was a knock on your front door. Your dad got up to see who it was since you told him you were lazy to go check. You had your eyes fixed on the tv screen until your dad’s voice caught your attention.

“Sweetie, someone’s here to see you.”

You turned around, ready to ask who it was but instead, you were met with a familiar face that leaves what felt like butterflies fluttering in your stomach these days.

“Changbin? Why are you here?” You asked him curiously since it was a little too early to have dinner.

“Get dressed, I’m gonna teach you the rodeo flip like I promised.” Changbin said, making you remember his part of the deal.

“Now?”

“The waves are at their strongest right now. It’s the perfect time to learn the trick.”

“Hmm… Fine.” You puffed your cheeks out in defeat as you got up to keep your salad in the fridge before heading upstairs to change. Once you were ready, you rejoined him downstairs, giving your dad a quick kiss to his cheek before leaving the house with Changbin. Both of you made it to the beach where there was pretty much a weekend crowd. You and Changbin managed to find a spot with not many people around so that you could practice sort of in private.

He explained to you the basics of the trick first and the proper way on how to execute the trick. Every step was briefly explained to you, making you nod. However, you do well by doing instead of listening. With that being said, both of you soon swam out into the ocean on your surfboards, seeing a few surfers catching some waves as well.

Once you made it out pretty far from shore, you waited for the perfect opportunity where the waves were exactly at the correct height and strength for the trick.

“Watch and learn.” Changbin said as he soon pushed himself forward to head further out and the minute he was aligned with the oncoming waves, he allowed his surfboard to rise up along the side of the waves before he stood up on both feet and soon surfed his way down to make his body parallel to the waves.

You watched as he skillfully surfs his way up the high waves and the minute he’s about to launch himself into the air, he bends down to grab his board and soon flips his entire body along with his board backwards. Flipping a complete 360° before he easily lands back on the wave. He balanced himself while he surfs to a gradual speed towards you. Once he made it back to you, Changbin looked at you with a small smirk on his face.

“Your turn.” He said.

With a heavy sigh, you stared into the distance, trying to gauge for the next best wave. When it finally came, you pushed your board forward, similarly to what he did earlier. Unfortunately, you failed to do the flip but since it’s your first try, it wasn’t a surprise that you couldn’t do it.

You tried again for another four times, yet the result was still the same. This was your fifth try, you were about to launch yourself up into the air so you prepared yourself to grab your board.

The minute half of your board was no longer touching the waves, you bent down to grab your board and soon, used all the strength you had to push your body backward.

You finally succeeded in doing a backward rodeo flip in the air. A sense of excitement rushed through your veins as you made a smooth land back on the waves. Your smile stretched from ear to ear, an adrenaline rush engulfing you in an instant.

“I did it… I can’t believe I did it…” You whispered to yourself as you surfed back to where Changbin was.

From where you were, you could see him smile while giving you applause for executing the trick well. The waves were starting to come in every 10 seconds, giving you the perfect opportunity to surf again. When you made it back to shore, he walked side by side with you. Both of you were having an empty conversation about random things when you realised he was walking you to your house.

“Aren’t you gonna head home?” You asked as he turned to you with an offended look on his face.

“I teached you how to do a rodeo flip and you’re asking me to leave already? I’m disappointed… truly.” Changbin fakes a pain in his chest, clutching his right hand over his heart. You rolled your eyes at him only to realise you were right outside your front door.

“Well, I was trying to be nice and spare you the trouble of having to walk all the way here when you could’ve just went straight from the boardwalk stairs right in front of your house but okay…” You said nonchalantly, to which you saw him let out a breathy chuckle at how ridiculously cute you were being.

Just then, Changbin glanced at his wristwatch and soon back to you, “Okay, I guess I’ll see you later for dinner?” You gave him a firm nod as he got quiet for a few seconds before he spoke up again.

“I’ll pick you up at 8?”

“Sure.”

With that being said, your eyes flickered down his face slightly but was quick to recover by looking back into his eyes. You wanted to say something else, not wanting him to leave just yet but you couldn’t bring yourself to say anything. As if luck was on your side, Changbin decides to say something, “Oh, and wear a swimsuit under your outfit later.” His words piqued your curiosity.

“Why?”

“You’ll see. Just do as I say.” He gave you a cheeky little wink, making you scoff but a smile managed to creep its way onto his face. At that moment, Changbin playfully tapped under your chin with his index finger to gain your attention. Once he got that, he smiled and said to you, “I’ll see you later.”

Changbin didn’t wait for you as he started to walk away with his back facing you. Despite knowing you’ll see him later, you still chose to turn your head to see his descending back. You stared at his back for a few long seconds, a whole bundle of thoughts just swimming around your brain before you finally entered your house.

A few hours later, you had just finished getting ready when you heard your father’s voice calling you from downstairs.

“Y/N sweetie, Changbin’s already here!”

“Okay dad! 2 minutes!” You yelled back as you tied your hair into a low messy bun, leaving a few stray hairs out to frame your face. You were wearing a pretty off shoulder blouse with a pair of denim skinny jeans. Once you think you’re ready to head out, you take your purse from your bed and soon leave the room.

It wasn’t until a compliment came your way, that you finally realized you were at the bottom of the stairs already. “Woah, you look pretty.” Changbin said, making you blush a little but was quick to hide it by scoffing.

“You’re just saying it because my dad is here.”

“What? No, I actually do mean it…” Changbin clarifies himself to you, earning a warm smile from your dad. After you bid him goodbye and kissed him on the cheek, you led Changbin out the house as he brought you to his car. The drive to the restaurant took about at least half an hour. Neither of you could get the topic of surfing out of the conversation but you didn’t mind it at all.

You finally made it to the restaurant as the waiter led you over to a secluded booth far from the main busy area of the restaurant. Once inside, the waiter handed you the menu and boy was the prices a shocker.

“What the hell? One dish is almost 20 bucks?! You’re kidding me right?” You asked as you desperately stared at him in disbelief.

“Oh come on… It’s the last day of your part of the deal. I think it’s only fair since I teached you one of the hardest tricks there is to know.” Changbin challenges you in which all you could do was stare at him until a hole burns through his head. You have been staring at the menu for about 5 minutes now so Changbin reaches over to tap the back of the menu you were holding, only for him to speak up softly.

“Just buy whatever you want. Don’t hesitate.”

“What do you mean ‘don’t hesitate’? Of course I will hesitate if the price adds up to more than 100 bucks! I’m almost broke, Changbin!” You whined at him, earning a loud laugh from him.

“Oh for god’s sake just get anything. Trust me. It’ll be fine.”

And yet, you still chose the cheapest meal and the cheapest drink there after nearly 15 minutes of you two just bickering and staring at the menu.

Minutes slowly ticked by and your meals had arrived long ago. Though you must admit, today’s dinner seemed slightly different than before. There’s something about the way he constantly looks at you whenever you were talking or the way he reached up to wipe off something that stuck to your lips or maybe even the way his eyes would casually flicker between your eyes and lips when you speak.

He was a lot quieter and maybe even calmer tonight as compared to the past week. Maybe it’s just you. Only time will tell. After you were both done with dinner and was about to leave, you stood up to take the bill when you realised the holder with your bill attached to it was missing.

“Where’s the bill?”

“Let’s go.” He said but you didn’t want to leave just yet.

“But I haven’t paid anything yet.”

“Come on, we should get going.” Changbin kept insisting on leaving but you wanted answers so you began storming your way to the cashier point.

“Hi, I would like to pay the bill for table 45?”

The lady checked her list on the computer, only for her to smile, “Oh, it’s already paid.”

What?

“Who did?”

“The gentleman outside.” With that being said, you whipped your head around to find Changbin standing there with his hands in his jeans pockets. You quickly thanked the lady before making your way outside, only for you to slap his arm as a payback.

“Ow! What was that for?” He scowled at you, rubbing the part where you slapped him.

“Why did you pay for it? I thought the deal was to treat you to dinner for a whole week? Today’s supposed to be the last day for that.”

“I know… I just felt like paying tonight.”

“You… just? Felt like paying tonight? Since when are you this nice?”

“Since the day I was born but apparently someone overlooked my kindness too much.” Changbin said with a straight face. You couldn’t help but punch his chest again, only this time, he swiftly grabbed your wrist and tugged you closer. Unfortunately, this made you accidentally crash against him to which your other hand instantly pressed onto his broad chest.

A soft gasp left your lips when you noticed your face was just inches away from his. You were so distracted by the close proximity that you didn’t feel his free arm snaking around your waist until he gently squeezed your waist.

“What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue?” Changbin whispered with a smirk on his face as his eyes were fixed on your lips.

“W-What?! N-No!” You denied firmly, pushing his chest slightly to put a space between you two. However, you instantly missed his warmth the minute he took a step back to give you some personal space.

“I’m kidding. Come on, I’ve got something cool to show you.” Changbin said as he noticed you weren’t going to move anytime soon so he simply laughed and softly slid his fingers down your wrist only to lock fingers with you. You stayed quiet the entire time, even in the car when he began to drive back to the beach near your house.

About 20 minutes later, both of you were just walking towards the other side of the beach in silence. You had already taken off your shoes so that you could walk in the sand as the waves crashed underneath your feet. After what felt like forever, Changbin suddenly turns to you and says, “Take your clothes off.” This was enough to make you yell ‘what?!’ out loud. With that, Changbin immediately held his hands out in a surrender whilst he explained himself.

“No! No! That’s not what I meant! Geez! Remember I told you to wear your swimsuit under your clothes? This is the reason why. We’re going for a swim.” Changbin said, making you relax slightly but still eyed him curiously.

“Is this your tactic to get me somewhere secluded so you can kill me?” You asked as he laughed at your ridiculous accusation.

“Trust me, you’re not worth killing. Now hurry up!” Changbin said as he began to pull his hoodie over his head swiftly, bringing his shirt up as well. Once he was standing there shirtless, you started to carefully take off your blouse while he took out his belt and unzipped his jeans, pulling his pants down.

“You know, this would seem so wrong to people who see us from a distance.” You huffed, knowing you had a crucial point.

“Which is exactly why I told you to hurry up.” Changbin said as he hid his clothes in between the rocks so that no one could steal them. After you were finally in just your swimsuit, you went ahead and hid your clothes as well before trailing behind him. You entered the water little by little until you were waist deep.

“Changbin, where are we going?”

“Just follow me.” He said as he began to swim out into the ocean.

You let out an annoyed sigh but nonetheless followed him. You swam around the side of the beach, surprised to find a hidden little island which instead of being surrounded by sand, was surrounded by big boulder rocks.

When you made it to the rock beside him, that’s when you decided to ask him how he chanced upon this place.

He explained to you that he was just surfing one day when he came across this hidden island. He was curious so he went to check it out himself one night. Changbin has also been coming here almost every night ever since because he claims it to be really calming and peaceful especially after midnight. After he finished explaining himself, you watched him quietly just splashing the water around with his legs. Changbin nodded his head towards the rocks to his left and so you swam over.

You were just carefully stepping on each boulder, gauging as best as you could considering the water was pitched black and you couldn’t see shit. You can’t even see past the water surface. With that being said, you tried your best not to slip but of course, luck wasn’t on your side today. A sharp gasp left your lips the minute your feet slipped on the boulder. You sunk at least half a meter deep up to your chest but then the firm grips to your waist stopped you from submerging completely.

Changbin then steps onto the same boulder behind you since you could feel his body so close to your back, not that you mind it per se.

“Be careful.” He said softly to you, feeling him squeeze your side a little. You didn’t know why but you just decided to turn your head thinking to reply to him. Except, your plan immediately went down the drain the moment you felt his lips graze over your cheek when you turned. You visibly gulped nervously in which he saw so he decided to tease you.

“Do I always make you nervous?” He asked, earning a soft scoff from you. To avoid looking weak, you bravely turned to face him completely despite feeling his arms snaking around your waist to prevent you from slipping again.

You held your head up high, challenging him even though you knew very well that you would lose.

“No, but you can be a serious pain in the ass sometimes.”

“Really? Fine then.” Changbin said as he easily let go of you and you immediately fell backwards due to the lack of balance. This caused you to splash into the water, knowing he was enjoying the shit out of this. When you finally resurfaced, Changbin was just laughing at you for falling.

So you splashed a good amount of it onto him out of sheer anger.

You struggled to stand on the boulder, but when you managed to do that, you took this opportunity to push him off as well. He fell back, submerging fully underwater just like you did earlier. The only problem is, he never resurfaced.

“Changbin? Changbin it’s not funny… Changbin?” Your voice gradually get softer as you began to panic. He was still not resurfacing and it was starting to worry you.

Did you push him too hard?

What if he hit his head underwater when you pushed him?

Did you accidentally kill him?

You didn’t realize there were tears forming in your eyes as you stared into the dark water. You dipped your hands underwater to try to feel for him. However, your heart nearly exploded out of your chest when a pair of hands grabbed onto your waist from behind. A short scream left your lips, your heart dropping at the thought of it being a sea monster or even worse, a sea ghost.

Just then, a familiar giggle echoes in the air to which you turned around to find him there just laughing at you. His wet hair sticking to his forehead messily, covering half of his eyes as well. You slapped his chest twice to emphasise your annoyance but all he did was giggle again and shook his head from side to side to get rid of the water droplets on his face and air ruffle his blonde brown locks.

When Changbin finally stops laughing to stare at your eyes, he realises they were watery and it was clearly not from the sea water.

“Wait… Are you… crying?” He asked quietly to which you sniffled and stubbornly replied to him with a firm ‘no��� but he knew it was a lie.

“You are crying. Were you that worried for me?” He asked but you never answered. Instead you just pushed yourself out of his grip to swim back to shore before he could even stop you. Once you made it back, you quickly grabbed your hidden clothes and started to speed walk back to your beach house. All while ignoring his calls. You were about to reach the boardwalk stairs when his firm grip on your wrist made you stop.

He came around to stand in front of you, seeing the way you desperately avoided his eyes by staring at the wooden boards behind him. And there, he too realises that on your way back here, your tears were finally falling freely down your cheeks.

“Y/N…” He whispered as you quickly pulled your arms out of his grip and sniffled.

“I’m fine. Goodnight.” You said as you walked past him. Changbin never said anything else but his heart shattered a little, feeling bad knowing that he was the reason for your tears.

Monday came rolling in, you remembered you had a netball tournament that day so you brought your attire in your backpack. You haven’t seen or talked to Changbin since that night so when you saw him in one of the tables at the lunch hall, you avoided his eyes right before he could turn to look at you. He wanted to talk to you, he wanted to ask if you were still upset with him, he wanted to make sure that you weren’t going to ignore him forever because he probably couldn’t live with that.

However, he could see that you didn’t want to be near him for now which is why he decided not to bombard your personal space. Sure you guys were rivals when it comes to surfing but sometimes, even he knows that it’s ridiculous for him to hate you entirely just for that reason alone.

Hours passed and you had already changed out of your casual clothes into your netball attire which was essentially just running shorts, your team jersey and your sports shoe.

The indoor sports hall slowly began to fill in with students from both your campus and the opposing school. You were just strapping on your knee guards when your curious eyes began to wander around the room. Your heart skips a beat the minute you see familiar faces in the crowd, more specifically two people.

Ignoring them, you soon started the game. So far, your school was winning by just two points ahead. It’s a close game that keeps everyone at the edge of their seats. You were just about to toss a high ball to your teammate over on the other side of the court when the captain of the opposing team deliberately crashes into you, making you lose the ball.

She smirked but you were angry. Suddenly, the referee blew her whistle and held a yellow card up with her left arm which has the blue wristband to indicate that it’s for your team.

This made you even more pissed.

With that being said, you stormed up to the referee to voice out your concerns.

“Yellow card? I didn’t even do anything!”

“I’m just doing my job. I saw what I saw. You get a yellow card.” She said nonchalantly to which you scoffed.

“I didn’t even touch her! She’s the one who pushed me! What? Did she bribe you? That’s why you’re being unfair to my team?” You argued back, only for your coach to come over with a frown on her face.

“Hey, hey? What’s going on here?” Your coach asked as you listened to the referee who explained that you were the one making the offense.

“I didn’t fucking touch her!” You said out loud, ignoring the fact that almost everyone in both teams were now gathered around you.

“My statement is final. Yellow card goes to the Konkuk team. If you repeat this again, you will be disqualified.” The referee said, making you let out a frustrated groan. You stormed off, pushing past the referee and the girl who crashed into you purposely. You were about to leave the hall when a grip to your wrist made you stop.

“Leave me alone!” You growled but the sweet voice made you instantly calm down.

“Y/N, stop. Please… I know it wasn’t your fault but you can’t just leave your teammates back there like this. They need you.” Minho said gently as he stood in front of you now with one hand holding your wrist while the other held onto your other forearm.

“What if I get disqualified? Leaving the game is better than getting kicked out halfway through…” You said firmly. You were about to walk away when Minho held you back again.

“Y/N…” Minho sternly called your name as he stared at you like how an adult scolds a child for being stubborn. You felt slightly intimidated by the way he was staring at you so eventually, you ended up avoiding his gaze by gently getting your arms out of his grip.

“I… I don’t know Min…”

Just then, he softly reaches for your waist with one hand before cupping your face with the other and caressing your cheek with his thumb. This was something he usually did to calm you down when he was still dating you.

“Please? Do it for your team? They need you…” He said to which you finally looked up at him. For a brief second, you could’ve sworn you saw him glance down to your lips.

“Okay… Fine…” You whispered to him, earning a relieved sigh from him. At that moment, Minho suddenly began to lean in until his face was so close to you. This made you panic so you flinched back slightly in shock.

“W-What are you doing?” You asked softly, earning a halt from him.

“H-Huh? Oh. S-Sorry… I um… It’s just a habit I guess…” Minho said, knowing it was just an excuse. When you’ve finally rejoined the team, you focus on the game but unfortunately, your team lost the tournament. Once everyone was dismissed, you noticed your friends still seated in the bleachers so you went up to them. That’s also when you accidentally locked eyes with Changbin who was just staring at you like you’ve just told him his pet died.

The closer you got, the more you felt the need to look away and so you did. The only problem is, your heart was yearning for him and you don’t understand why.

All of you left the hall as Yeji, Ryujin, Felix and Jisung were constantly trying to cheer you up.

When you reached the parking lot, you were going to leave the front gates but Changbin’s raspy voice spoke up to catch your attention, “Hey Y/N, I’ll send you home.” You didn’t know if it was due to your heart yearning for him or you just didn’t have the energy to reject his offer, but you simply nodded. You completely missed the way Minho was staring at you with nothing but pain in his eyes. Of course he knows you’ve moved on. He knows that he can never be with you again and yet, why did it hurt him to see you leave with Changbin?

Half an hour later, you finally made it in front of your house. The entire car ride was filled with silence but you didn’t really mind it. You were just glad that you were close to Changbin again. However, when the car finally came to a gradual stop, he puts the gear to park and soon turned the ignition off. Both of you sat there in silence before you quietly thanked him.

You wanted to just leave before it got even awkward but the minute you opened your side of the car door, you felt his fingers wrap around your wrist gently.

“Wait…” He said so you stopped. You kept your back to him but he continued talking, “If you’re still upset about that night, I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to make you worry… I just… I just thought I could loosen things up with you. But I get it if you’re still upset.” He soon let go of your wrist, leaning back into his seat properly. When he never spared you another glance, you simply kept quiet and left his car.

You mentally cursed yourself but nevertheless, entered your house without looking back.

The week went by, you still haven’t properly talked to Changbin. It was a Saturday late afternoon and your friends invited you to a little beach birthday party for Lia. Since you were going to the beach, you decided to just wear denim shorts, a sleeveless top and an oversized flannel. When you made it to the beach, most of them had already made it there. All except for Hyunjin, Yeji and Jeongin.

You sat beside Chan as far away from Minho and Changbin as possible. Minutes ticked by, you were just listening to Lia telling a story when you caught Changbin swirling his plastic cup filled about an inch with the grape soda, his hooded eyes softly staring at you but he was quick to look down when he realized he was caught staring.

A few minutes later, you noticed the waves were perfect for a surf. As much as you know you should stay and celebrate Lia’s birthday, you couldn’t ignore the urge to catch the wave.

With that being said, you got up from your seat and began to walk to Yeji to tell her what you wanted to do.

“Oh, okay! Just come back for dessert when I call for you okay?” She smiled, to which you gave her a firm nod. After you left, you decided to head to the lifeguard post since they have spare surfboards there and also, one of your close friends worked there too.

The minute you arrived, you saw his purple hair staring at you as his back was facing you completely.

“Hey Jungkook!”

The male turned to look over his shoulder, seeing the corner of his lips curve up into his usual toothy grin.

“Oh, hey princess. What are you doing here?” He asked as he pressed his forearms on top of the counter and leaned forward to let his face hover closely in front of your face. If passerbys saw this, they would definitely think Jungkook was trying to flirt with you.

“Can I borrow a surfboard? I promise I’ll bring it back in one piece.”

Jungkook eyed you skeptically with a raised brow.

“Please? I’ll treat you to ice cream after your shift.” You bat your eyelashes at him knowing he was always weak for this.

“Fine. You know how to tear me down don’t you?” Jungkook scoffs at you but the smile growing on his lips did not go unnoticed. Once he places the surfboard on the counter, you press your palms on top of it and push yourself up, swiftly giving him a peck on his left cheek near where his healed scar was.

Jungkook’s chuckle made you giggle as you took off your clothes, leaving only your swimsuit that you wore underneath. After placing your dry clothes on his countertop for him to keep guard, you thanked him once more and soon swiped the surfboard off the counter before jogging towards the beach.

The waves were strong but not too powerful to the point where you can’t surf. So when you finally entered the water, you plopped the surfboard down and began to walk further down until the water reached your thighs. Only then did you lay on top of the board and used your hands to paddle.

You had made it pretty far out into the sea, just gauging and waiting for the perfect wave to come strolling in.

Just then, you saw the perfect one coming so you smiled to yourself as you turned your surfboard around to get ready. The moment you were lifted at an angle by the waves, you easily balanced yourself and stood on your feet, gliding across the waves skillfully whilst executing some tricks.

You did this a couple of times, even managing to do a tube ride where you surf through the wave loop, stretching your hand out to let it glide through the waters.

Surfing has always calmed you down whenever you were stressed or just in need of fresh air. And sometimes, it was the best boredom reliever in your opinion. You were probably on your forth surf now, just enjoying the cutback when a baby seal suddenly launched out of the waves right in front of you. This made you squeak as you lost your balance on the board and soon crashed into the ocean.

You sank at least 8 feet under the surface, swallowing a large amount of salt water by accident. The raging waves were making it hard for you to resurface as it simply swallowed you back down when you were about to reach the surface.

You weren’t sure how many minutes had passed but every time you resurfaced, you barely got time to breathe in oxygen before the waves swallowed you whole again. Just when you were about to lose your consciousness, your blurry vision managed to catch a figure diving underwater and swimming their way to you.

From the person’s overall size and figure, you knew it was Changbin.

He soon wraps an arm around your waist while the other scoops up and back down his side to push himself upwards. After what felt like forever, you finally resurfaced, taking a huge gasp of fresh air. The waves were slightly calmer now but it was still quite choppy. You coughed out the water in your lungs as you held onto his shoulders for dear life.

Once you managed to cough out whatever salt water you swallowed and return your breathing to normal, you finally heard him ask from above you.

“Are you okay?”

You had your head down so essentially, your face was buried in his neck. He had one arm securely around your waist while the other wraps over the surfboard to keep you both afloat. When you didn’t reply to him, you felt him squeeze your waist gently and pushed the tip of his nose against your temple before he whispered softly into your ears, his voice sounding so light and concerned.

“Hey? You okay?”

With that being said, you finally brought your head up only to let your face meet his that was barely an inch away. You could literally feel his soft lips brush against the bridge of your nose very lightly.

You carefully glanced up to look at him but instead, you caught him staring a little down south from your eyes.

Nevertheless, you gave him a small nod to answer his question, making him let out a relieved sigh. Changbin tilts his head down, making his nose brush against the side of your nose, letting his lips hover right above yours as he closes his eyes.

“Thank god you’re okay.” He whispered very very quietly, making your heart pound rapidly in your chest. Neither of you dared to say anything so he opted to just get you back to safety before it got even awkward.

“Come on, get on the board. I’ll get you back to shore.” Changbin said as he uses his strength to push the board down underwater so that you could climb onto it. Once you were at the front of the board, he easily did the same for himself, swinging his leg over so that he was now sitting behind you. Both of you began to paddle back to shore and once you did, he got off the board first before helping you.

Immediately, your friends had gathered near the waters just patiently waiting for you and Changbin to come back safely. “Oh my god Y/N! Are you okay?!” Yeji asked as Jisung, Hyunjin and Felix asked you the same question in unison.

You nodded, drifting your gaze to the side where Jungkook was seen jogging towards you. Without a single word exchanged, he wrapped his arms around you to pull you into a tight but secure hug. “You scared the shit out of me! Don’t ever do that again, you twerp.” Jungkook said against your hair, making you smile.

“I’m sorry…” You apologized, earning a little sigh from him.

“You’re lucky he came fast to save you. I was just about to go when I saw him already running to the waters and I didn't have a surfboard with me.” Jungkook said as he nodded his head to someone behind you.

Without saying a thing, you already know who he was talking about. You apologized once again before Jungkook asked to walk with him so that he could help dry you off and change back into your dry clothes. On your way back to the lifeguard post, Jungkook had brought a towel with him as he wrapped it around your figure, not forgetting to pass Changbin one too.

“So… who is he? Your boyfriend?” Jungkook asked with a cheeky grin on his face.

“Who? Changbin?”

“Is he the one who saved you?”

“Yes.”

“Then yes, him. Is he your boyfriend?”

“N-No… Why do you ask?”

“Just curious… Since he ran in after you, I just figured he cares a lot about you.”

“He’s not my boyfriend…” You said in defeat as he entered the post to get your clothes.

“Really? But you two look so good together though…” Jungkook said when he came back with your dry clothes in his hands. You simply brushed him off despite your heart stammering in your chest. Just while you were putting your flannel on, Jungkook’s voice made you snap your head up to look at him.

“You know, it’s never too late to ask someone out on a date. Guys find it hot if a girl makes the first move.” Jungkook smiled as he gave you a cheeky wink before walking away to attend to a customer.

With that being said, you huffed but his words slowly circled your mind.

You left after waving goodbye to your close friend. When you made it back to the party, everyone had already made their way back to where the bonfire pit was. They began to shower you with questions about your wellbeing but all you said was ‘I’m okay’ and nothing more in detail. After a while, you realise that Changbin was nowhere to be seen. You went up to Minho who was the nearest to you at the moment.

You gently reached for his forearm, earning his attention as his lips curved into a smile upon seeing you.

“Hey Min, have you seen Changbin anywhere?” You asked as your eyes began to search around but still no luck. You didn’t notice the way his smile falters a little as he then looks down for a second before hesitantly answering you nonetheless.

“I saw him going up there. Probably he went home to get something?”

Once you’ve gotten the information you need, you begin to leave the bonfire not before telling Yeji you’re just going to grab something at home. When you reached the top of the boardwalk, you saw Changbin’s back making his way directly past his house.

Wait what?

You silently followed him, wanting to see where he was going.

After a few minutes of strolling, you found yourself at a much quieter part of the beach side where you were literally far from where society was. Changbin stops at a lookout point that hangs over the cliff right beside the open beach on your right. To the left is where the beach stops and is replaced by cliffs and dangerous rocks, blending and merging into the sea.

You watched as he stood at the edge of the railing, letting his hair flow with the wind. His loose tank top swaying with the sea breeze. He was so busy being distracted by the sea that he completely missed your creeping presence until you spoke up, “The sea is nice, isn’t it?”

Changbin jumped slightly but soon maintained his cool by turning back towards the sea.

“No one understands the sea like we do.” Changbin said, earning a smile from you.

“Because we’re the only ones who actually ride with the waves.” You said confidently, making him chuckle. Both of you fell silent for a few seconds but he was quick to break the ice.

“What are you doing here, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I just wanted to make sure you’re okay… I mean, afterall, you did save me from dying earlier.”

“That was just out of instinct. Especially since I’m the only one amongst our friends who could actually swim in the open sea.” Changbin smirked, letting out a cute giggle you’ve realised was his signature laugh. You were now standing next to him with your hands on the railing. Both of you were looking out at the sea while you let your body enjoy the breeze. You didn’t pay much attention to your surroundings at first until you felt a teasing touch on your pinky.

That’s when you looked down to find his hand inching closer and closer to yours until his pinky was playfully touching yours. Neither of you spoke up but actions for sure spoke louder than words. Changbin took a very light step closer to you while he stood straight and let his hands slide off the railing. You naturally got curious so you turned your body to face him slightly.

“Do you wanna head back?” He asked very softly.

“Not yet… I wanna stay here a while longer.” You said as your voice gradually gets softer with the way he gently slides one hand around your waist while the other reaches up to cup your neck. Changbin leans forward slightly until there was barely any space left between you two but you didn’t complain.

“Like this?” Changbin whispered while his eyes were now fixed on your lips despite knowing it was already obvious. So with that being said, you carefully cupped both of his soft full cheeks in your hands while you brushed the side of your nose against his and smiled, looking up to meet his eyes.

“Just like this.” That was all you managed to whisper before Changbin’s lips curve into a wide grin and soon kiss you like he’s been waiting for this moment for years.

You indulged the kiss as you wrapped your arms around his neck when you felt his hands press against your lower back. He holds you securely against him while his addictive lips kisses you passionately. Changbin slides his tongue over your bottom lip, making you giggle into his mouth. He deepened the kiss with you, feeling him squeeze your waist.

When he pulled away for a breath, he went back in for another two more pecs before he said against your lips, “This doesn’t mean we’re not rivals anymore for surf meets.” He teased you, earning a little tug of his hair from you but very gently not to hurt him.

“I’ll take it.” You smiled, to which Changbin chuckled as he kissed you longingly while still hugging you close.

When he pulled away from you, he stared at you for a bit before he reached up to caress your cheek with his thumb and swiftly tucked your fallen hairs behind your ear. Your hands rested on his firm broad chest, letting your fingers curl against his chest while you hang your head down for a brief second.

Changbin tucks his finger under your chin and once you make eye contact with him, that’s when he leans in to let his lips hover above yours for a second or two before he whispers his confession.

“I think I really like you… and I hope I can take you out on a date one day if you’d want to.”

With that being said, you gently wrapped your fingers around his wrist that was holding your chin, guiding his hand down before you cupped his face and smiled.

“I’d love that… because I think I like you too.”

Both of you began to laugh as he kissed you like he was actually addicted to your lips. Secret was, he really is addicted to your lips. After spending almost 15 minutes with him, you finally began to head back to the beach party where everyone was starting to bombard you with questions on where you were. You seemed to stay by Changbin’s side the entire evening yet still going around to mingle with everyone else.

Looks like the next time you go for a surf meet with Changbin, you can finally say “Surf’s Up” without having it to mean crushing the other for first place.

[daxite]

dude

i've been struggling on how to write this, but on saturday i lost one of my closest companions

i didn't post too often about dude on here just because i usually don't post things about my life on social media that much in general, it's something i tend to keep in friend circles on discord lol, but he was my rabbit who i had for about 8 years, since i was around 16/17, and i had an extremely close bond with him

dude was originally owned by my friend's family, he was brought from a small family-owned pet store and was the last of his siblings left, he didn't have any fur patterns so nobody wanted him despite him being such a beautiful and loving rabbit, he was there until he was 6 months old and put on a discount lol

for the first couple of years of his life dude didn't really get much attention, it wasn't until my friend and i took him into our own hands where he finally got the love, space and attention he deserved

i remember the day when he first moved into our room and how happy and excited he was, zooming around and binkying up in the air everywhere, i remember just spending pretty much that entire week sitting on the floor with him, playing with him and getting to know him

over the next few years dude bonded with both of us extremely quickly and closely, he'd spend most of his time cuddling with us and playing around the room when i moved back in with my family he was even more excited since now he basically had an entire house to run around which he absolutely loved, i really can't exaggerate just how happy and playful he was during the years he spent here especially

we didn't know his exact age, but dude was around 11 years old, he would've been 12 in november, which is already very old for a rabbit, but considering that he was a mixed giant breed (half-flemish giant, half-silver fox), he was insanely old and did incredibly well for his age, most giants and giant mixes don't live longer than 8 or 9 years due to their size

over the past year or so i had noticed he'd been slowing down a bit, not really running around as much, couldn't really jump up or down off the bed anymore, developing a bit of catarax, so i knew his age was catching up to him, especially over the past few months, he'd been struggling to groom himself and wasn't eating as much

on thursday we took him to the vet, he was given some painkillers and fibre supplements, but there wasn't really much else they could do as they weren't sure what was up with him other than he was just getting old

i won't go into too much details about what specifically happened when he passed because it was very upsetting, but i noticed he wasn't doing well at all around 5am, i stayed up with him until around 8am checking on him and just sitting with him tried to get some sleep but kept waking up at basically 30 minute intervals because i was too stressed out about him, he managed to hop right next to the bed besides me and sleep a little, which had always been one of his favourite spots to sleep in since we got him

i woke up again at around 11am, checking on him and stroking him, it was then where he made a little squeak and i picked him up out of concern, and unfortunately he passed there in my arms

we were considering taking him to the vet in the morning, but there wasn't anything that they could have done other than likely put him down, ultimately i'm very glad that we didn't and he was able to pass on his own terms, as peacefully as he could have given the circumstances, in one of his favourite places as i comforted him

i've always loved rabbits since i was a kid, but i never realised just how incredibly close, loyal and loving they can be until dude, it does break my heart to see people discount them so much because they write them off as less intelligent or that they won't love you like something like a dog can, despite them being extremely clever and being able to bond ridiculously closely with their owners, dude was the peak example of that

not only was dude an incredibly loving, sweet and friendly rabbit, he completely loved everybody who he met, but he was also an absolute freak lol, always lying down and squeezing himself into the most ridiculous places because he found them comfortable

precariously wedging himself against and under movable chairs was one of his favourites and it was terrifying every time lmao

because of his breed, dude also had a very weird coat, since he was a silver fox mix, his fur was layered very differently to other rabbit breeds, he was incredibly beautiful but an absolute pain with molting lol

you can see in this photo with how weirdly his fur was layered, since he was black it was pretty hard to see most of the time

dude was generally an extremely healthy rabbit, never had any issues whatsoever, the biggest scare he had was when he pulled out one of his claws by accident a few years ago, he was perfectly fine and we were able to just treat him with some anti-septic powder for a few days at home i still have that claw, i'm probably going to use it in a mini terrarium in memory for him

given he was so affectionate, dude really loved licking people, especially my friend and i, before him i actually had no idea that rabbits lick people out of affection like dogs do, it was incredibly sweet though for some reason he loved licking toes above all things like the freak he was lmfao

this is only scratching the surface about dude and how much we all loved him and the kinds of things he'd get up to, i really cannot truly put into words how special of a rabbit he was, i've never had a bond that strong with an animal before and i don't think i'll ever have something quite like that again, he was genuinely one of the best things that has ever happened in my life and i'll always hold him incredibly close in my heart and be forever greatful for being able to spend that time with him and how wonderful he was, rest in peace little man

[ajitated]

Giving Up Ghost Hunting by Ajility

DP one-shot, 1.2k words Written for @faedemon for Phic Phight 2023, Team Ghost!

What do you do when your nemesis makes a really good point about wasting time and how exhausted you are? What do you do when it turns out he's right, and you don't need to be putting yourself through this? Valerie doesn't know, but she'll figure it out.

(Read on ao3, or keep reading below!)

Valerie has three upcoming tests, two papers, and a never-ending list of homework and practice problems to get through. Despite being part-time, she’s been scheduled to work for five of seven days next week — definitely over 20 hours. And there’s been at least one ghost attack every. single. day. 

She’s running on fumes, but at least she’s doing a good job hiding it. 

…or at least. She thought she was doing a good job hiding it. 

“...what did you just say?” she demands through gritted teeth, her ecto-gun aimed and ready. 

Phantom holds his hands up in mock-surrender. “Nothing!” He says automatically, then pauses and sighs, letting his hands drop. His usual taunting demeanor drops with them. “...just. You look tired.”

She looks tired? Ha! What would he know about that? It’s none of his business, and she has a mask on, and-! 

…and she is tired. 

“Well if you’re worried about my beauty sleep, why don’t you start running?” She scoffs. “The quicker we get this over with, the quicker I can work on my paper and go to bed.” 

Phantom just sighs again. “Or you could skip chasing me and go work on your paper now.” 

Valerie growls and gives a warning shot just a few inches to the left of his head. He doesn’t even flinch. “Nice try, ghost. You’re lucky I’m even talking to you right now, I’m not gonna just let you go.” 

“Yes, you will. Because you always do. Because if you ever actually caught me, you’d have to deal with all the ghosts in this town, by yourself.” Phantom says flatly. “You’re barely keeping up right now. You have tests to study for, papers to write, and work. That’s a lot even without the ghost hunting.” 

What? “How do you-” she starts to say, but he cuts her off. 

“I handled the ectopus today. I handled Kitty and Johnny earlier in the week. I dealt with Boxy and there wasn’t even much property damage this time. You got there late every single time because you’re so tired, you’ve started falling asleep in class. Stop being stubborn and wasting both of our time, and take a break before you get yourself hurt. Your paper is due tomorrow, you’re already not getting sleep tonight.”  

He turns and flies off before she’s even finished processing all that… which unfortunately means he’s gone before she can shoot him for it. 

Who does he think he is, telling her off like that? She’s handling everything perfectly fine, thankyou-very-much! She has plenty of time to- to… tomorrow? 

Today is Tuesday, the paper isn’t due until… oh. Oh, no. Today is Thursday. The paper is due tomorrow. 

She lowers her gun and speeds home; she doesn’t have time to figure out where Phantom went tonight or how he knew all that. 

--- 

On the upside, Valerie does get her paper done and manages to turn it in on time… on the downside, Phantom was right: she doesn’t get any sleep. 

It grates on her nerves, but… without him right in front of her, it’s much easier for her to admit he has a point. She is exhausted. She does have too much work to get done. She has been arriving to ghost fights late, and she’s been making stupid mistakes. She’s going to get herself — or someone else — hurt. 

She can’t risk someone else getting hurt. 

…which is also why she can’t just leave the ghost fights to Phantom. He’s a ghost. He clearly doesn’t understand, and isn’t going to protect everyone properly! She can’t trust human lives to a ghost. 

Except… she kind of has been, unintentionally. By showing up late to fights. And no one’s gotten hurt yet. If she’s going to keep being late and keep risking people’s lives… maybe she should take a break. So she can be ready when she’s actually needed. 

Maybe- just for a week? 

Dammit. 

She hates that Phantom has a point. 

---

A week goes by. Then two. 

Valerie doesn’t hunt any ghosts, including Phantom. 

No one gets hurt. 

She gets her papers turned in, passes her tests, catches up on sleep… She feels good. 

Good, but empty. 

Phantom was right, she doesn’t have to exhaust herself chasing ghosts, she doesn’t have to exhaust herself chasing him, and the world keeps turning… Ha. That’s messed up, isn’t it? 

She kind of wishes someone got hurt. Not because she actually wants anyone hurt, of course, but- because it’d prove she’s needed. 

Instead, the exact opposite has been proven: she can put her hoverboard down, leave the ecto-guns hidden away, and Phantom will handle all the ghosts juuuust fine — if anything, things are going better now that she’s not hunting him. She isn’t needed. At all. 

What does she do with that info? 

Now that she doesn’t have a billion normal life things to worry about, now that she’s caught up with school and things have calmed down and she has free time — what does she do? 

Ignore the fact she’s not needed and go back to hunting anyway? 

The few patrols she’s gone on, she hasn’t seen more than a blob. Shooting blobs isn’t any fun, it just makes her feel mean. That’s why she’d been leaving them for Phantom even before this… 

And- she doesn’t think she can go back to just hunting Phantom. As much as she hates him, as much as she wants to… he was right. And he hasn’t let anyone get hurt. It doesn’t matter if she knows he’s awful, as long as he’s keeping people safe and doing just as good a job as she had been. 

But then- what does she do? 

Valerie grits her teeth. She’s not going to start crying in the school library over this. She’s not. 

She’ll find a hobby. Maybe she can start… painting. Or photography. Or something. 

The A-listers are at least neutral towards her again — maybe she can make new friends, now that she has the time and won’t be making excuses to get out of plans because she has to deal with another ghost-bear. 

This line of thought is not helping. She rubs at her eyes and groans, then looks around to make sure no one’s paying attention to her… and spots Danny Fenton hunched over a book, a few tables away. 

She bites her lip. She hasn’t properly talked to Danny in months, he’s one of the people she could potentially try befriending… and he looks exhausted. More than she did a few weeks ago, before she stopped hunting ghosts, which is as worrying as it is impressive. 

She knows he struggles in a lot of classes (everyone knows that) and the portal is in his basement… even if he’s not hunting ghosts, he probably has to deal with them a lot. Honestly, she’s surprised his parents haven’t made him get into ghost hunting yet. 

Maybe- maybe that’s what she can do: help Danny Fenton. It might end up getting her involved with ghosts again— but there’s no guarantee so it’s fine, it doesn’t count. 

Besides, she should pay it forward right? Phantom helped her when she was exhausted, so… she’ll help someone else now. And this could go towards a ‘make new friends’ goal too, so even if she does just end up helping him with studying and school work, it’ll be a success. 

Mind made up, Valerie stands up and makes her way over to Danny’s table. She’s got this, she doesn’t need ghost hunting, she can help friends with school instead.

(ao3)

[rosainta]

[Outdated! No longer applicable]

RQDL Announcement + Wednesday Art Dump!

Started December 13th, 2023 at 8:00AM, Home

Finished December 13th, 2023 at 10:45PM, Home

Announcement #1

Hello there, wonderful viewer!

(“Meet the Demoman” Art by me— more on that later!)

Firstly, the bad news.

I’d like to apologize for not posting these past couple of days. I realize that the whole point of these logs is that they are supposed to be daily… hence the name Rosain Quivan’s Daily Logs, LOL, and me breaking that purpose so soon after starting is a bit disappointing.

However, as I was attempting to continue King of Hearts (Part Three) over those two days, I came to realize that, unfortunately, I actually don’t have enough time to write as I initially thought I would. At least, during the weekdays. This is mostly in part due to classes, extracurriculars and just general life stuff, and as much as I want to urge myself to write and just wing the rest, that’s sadly not possible. And I don’t think that the only 3 hours I have free before sleeping is enough time to write anything substantial, much less of good quality that both of us could enjoy.

I’m sorry if you were looking forward to anything recently, like KoH3, only for it not to be there. I know I promised you that it would be the next log, but I believe I may have to push that farther out to this weekend, or worst case scenario next week.

I know it’s probably not such a big deal for you as I’m putting it here, since I am probably just another random TF2 person on the Internet for you (who, mind you, has only really been active for about 4 days), but it means a lot to me.

I made this vow of continuity and quality to both myself (to improve my writing skills and commitment) and you (to give back to the community whose inspiration never ceases to amaze me), and it pains me to know that I have already failed to follow through with it.

However, as much as this sucks, this does not give me the right to sulk over it, because sulking is for MAGGOTS!!! (Just kidding- sulk as much as you want, we still love you!)

Which is why in order to fix this, I propose….

A SOLUTION!!

(Now, the good news!)

(“Meet the Engineer” Also art by me— explanation coming in a bit, just a little more patience!)

Now, what I’m about to propose is a bit complicated, and I’m not entirely sure if this is going to work… but hey, at least it’s only after the 4th log right? Beginnings offer a lot of room for experimentation. And if it doesn’t work out, we’ll fix it when we get there.

So, because of real-life scheduling conflict, the best way for me to balance this out with writing (as well as all the other things I’d like to include here), I have decided to make a schedule for when and what these logs will look like and contain. Most of what will be on it will likely be considerably shorter works in comparison to say, King of Hearts, because of obvious time constraints, but they include a lot of different things to look forward to aside from the same old writing scheme, like say, artwork!

This way, it provides a bit more variety (so you’re not just stuck reading TF2 essays everyday LOL), and also the possibility for you to provide input, ask questions and make requests!

The first goals I had in mind when making these logs was for this to be fun and enjoyable for both of us, as well as sustainable. So, by having this schedule, hopefully that can fulfill both those goals. Now, enough of my babbling; here it is!

RQDL SCHEDULE

Weekdays (Mondays-Thursdays, possibly Fridays)

Posting time: around 10:30PM, Atlantic Time

Monday : short writings (poems, vignettes, opinions, other stuff like that.)

Tuesday : same as Monday

Wednesday : artwork &/ musical composition (such as shown above!)

Thursday : same as Wednesday

(Friday, possibly) : art requests, anything you’d like!!! (Within reason, of course. I have never attempted NSFW, so let’s maybe steer clear of that… for now)

Weekends (possibly Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays)

Posting time: earlier or later than 11:00PM, Atlantic Time

(Friday, possibly): writing requests, anything you’d like!!! (Again, within reason, of course. still steering clear of NSFW for the time being)

Saturday: long projects (multi-part stories, opinion essays, major art or music projects, publishing, etc.)

Sunday: same as Friday / Saturday

So, yeah, that’s the schedule for the logs! I hope you find it has more variety, and I’m really looking forward to being able to follow through with it, especially the requests part because it allows me to be able to interact with you all more and be able to hear your thoughts!

Again, I’d like to stress that the purpose of these logs is for them to be sustainable but most of all enjoyable for the both of us, so please let me know what I can improve over the course of these logs so those purposes can be realized! Your input is as important to me as booze is to Demo’s survival, so feel free to let me know what you’d like to see next.

Anyhow, that’s it for this announcement! I’m sure you’ve had enough of my rambling as much as my fingers are getting tired of typing, so I’ll just end this off with a final Spy art.

Have a great day, pally!

(“Meet the Spy” Art by me!)

(P.S. All of this artwork dates from around January from an old Daily Art challenge I made for myself, so it is quite old, but I thought it might be nice to share them anyway instead of them just sitting in my camera roll for the rest of its lifetime, LOL. I might post the rest tomorrow!)

Credits: Team Fortress 2 by Valve

Image source: Rosain Quivan

Written by Rosain Quivan Cross posted on Amino ( Rosain Quivan )

[theretirementstory]

24/11/24. Good morning all, as we hurtle through November let’s look at the topsy turvy week we have had. This photo was taken on Wednesday morning, it was a beautiful autumnal day with plenty of sunshine. We had had rain which was accompanied by flood warnings on both Monday and Tuesday. Then Thursday arrived with a warning of snow, it was my day at the hospital I must admit that the journey to and from said hospital was rather scary, especially coming home. The snow was laying, there were a number of blizzards and the snow was getting deeper. The driver helped me to my front door, as my legs always seem to have no power after being in the car. Friday was another surprising day not so cold and the snow had started to melt away with the sunshine that put in an appearance. Saturday the snow continued to melt and it would have been quite warm had it not been for the wind. However, that wind was appreciated when I hung my washing out. It was dried within 1.5 hours and although it felt cold it just needed to be aired off inside. What luck!

I had rather a long “To Do” list and I felt really good when I had done rather a lot of the tasks. Of course, the most difficult were left to the end! I had made telephone calls, finished writing Xmas cards, paid bills, sent emails and brought my diary completely up to date. All of that was extremely satisfying.

Along with the sunshine on Wednesday I had a walk to the supermarket, I saw my neighbour and asked if he could boost the pressure on my central heating boiler. He read the instructions and was as much in the dark as I was, so we rang the plumber who explained it all to him and that was me sorted.

I must say I had been feeling a bit nauseous last week but have managed to improve and I feel a whole lot better.

“The Photographer” had his six monthly review after only five months, he has received a promotion and increase in salary. That’s very good. With his photography business I have ordered an item to be posted to a friend. I hope she likes it (I am sure she will).

“The Jetsetter” hasn’t been away on an aeroplane but travelled to meet friends for a birthday “get together”, plus she has been on a training course. The two of them met her parents for breakfast on Saturday morning, it was a nice place but the “Full English was not as “FULL” as was expected and the side orders were not cheap, I don’t think they will visit that restaurant/cafe again.

“The Solicitor” has been busy, as usual, having to change his hat mid week from Solicitor to administrator due to staff sickness. You either love doing admin work or prefer what you are paid for and for him it’s doing what he is paid to do.

“The Recovery Coordinator” on the other hand goes to work, deals with her cases which can be a mix of admin work and face to face contact (best of both worlds) then comes home and prepares for the next day. Okay we know that work isn’t really that simple but you get the gist. She had a little bit of a “frightener” when along with the huge amount of snow that has been dumped on the UK. She was returning home from work on Wednesday only to find that she was stuck on the hill up to their house. Nothing she did would get her up that hill. She rang “The Solicitor” and he came out of work. Unfortunately he didn’t have any success first reversing down an icy road then skidding and ending up travelling sideways. They gave up and parked the car in a car park in the town. Very frightening!

The next couple of weeks are going to be a series of surprises for my loved ones the first of which was due to happen in Thursday. Unfortunately, due to the most humongous ERROR (can think a much better phrase but not where my grandchildren can read it) by the delivery people, the event did not happen! It has been rescheduled for next Wednesday and I hope that the delivery people received more than a flea in the ear.

Now it’s time for the music section, I am sorry that these songs are from so long ago but it’s about singers and songwriters putting their hearts into what they did best. The first song is from way back in 1970 (I still have this album) it’s Neil Diamond a track taken from his album Tap Root Manuscript, the track on the album is entitled Soolaimon. The second song is by Free, the singer, who , in my opinion is one of the greatest, not just because he comes from Middlesbrough. The song is Wishing Well released way back when I was a teenager, in 1972.

Saturday,I had a visit from Monique, she brought me a few bits of shopping and part way through our time together Anie messaged to say she would come around 4.30. As Monique was leaving at 5pm Anie was just arriving. What a day two visitors!

It had been the inauguration of the renovation works to the outside of Saint Maclou Church on Friday evening, I had seen some photos of Anie with the choir singing there. It looked to have been a lovely event.

Now it is time for my medicine, another bite to eat and then get ready for whatever the day has in store. My new cleaner starts on Tuesday so I will be preparing for her, plus preparing for my other big surprise at the end of the week.

To all of you, keep safe and warm in this weather. I hope I will be able to get out and about next week, well I know I will on Thursday as that is my day to visit hospital again.

Catch up with you next week!

[umichenginabroad]

[week 6] an eventful weekend with eurail

Ahoj everyone! 

Welcome back to my blog where we’ve had a very eventful week of traveling with a bunch of ups and downs. With that being said, let's jump right in!

Starting off the week in Prague, it was very chill where I just tried to recover my sleep schedule and continue working through my statistics course. I did end up finding a really great coffee shop called Venue where I had a cappuccino and a butterfly pea iced tea, both of which were amazing.

The original plan for the weekend was to take a 5:45 am train to Budapest on Thursday, stay for 2 days, then take a train to Vienna for 2 days, and come back on Sunday night to Prague. However, Thursday morning my three alarms did not go off which was very unfortunate and we ended up needing to get on the next train which was at 7:55 am. We also did not have any seat reservations anymore because it was a different train. We were very lucky because we found a cabin where a nice British man invited us to sit with him. I basically slept for the entire 7 hour train ride and finally arrived in Budapest. 

We did everything we could to see as much of the city as possible in the 2 days we were there. On day one, we visited the famous Parisi Udvar hotel, Buda Castle, the Fisherman’s Bastion, and a few other spots in the city with some amazing views. Unfortunately, it was almost 100 degrees the days we were in Budapest so we definitely could not do as much as we would have liked due to the insane heat. 

On day two, we had brunch at this restaurant which had a garden greenhouse vibe to it and it was very very good. We visited St. Stephen’s Basilica, Margaret Island, and the Hungarian Parliament building before we had our Prosecco river cruise, which is a staple activity for visiting the city. We unfortunately ran into a few issues that evening, but everyone ended up being okay but it definitely lowered Budapest in our rankings of places we’ve traveled to. 

The following morning we took a train to Vienna for 2 hours. Unfortunately, the train before the one we got on was canceled so our train was extremely overcrowded and we were forced to stand for the entire trip. Thankfully, when we got to Vienna things started to go a lot better for us. We met up with a bunch of other CEA friends and toured Belvedere Palace before we rested for a few hours before dinner. At dinner we tried the local delicacy of Wiener Schnitzel which was pretty good, but a bit overpriced in my opinion. 

On Sunday, we stored all of our bags in storage so we could explore for the entire day. We visited all of the major sites in the city center including the Opera, City Hall, Parliament, and a bunch of museums and palaces. We also took the train to Schonbrunn Palace which was absolutely beautiful. After all of that we made it onto the train and I once again slept for the 4 hours back to Prague. 

That is about it for this past week! Next week I will be heading to Croatia for my last weekend trip before finals and I can’t wait. Thank you so much for reading and I’ll see y’all next week!

Matt Sinanis :)

Aerospace Engineering

Engineering in Prague 

[dear-ao3]

silverstone, england. the british grand prix. home race to many. insane track with an even more insane crowd. sight of pivotal moments in this season and many others. an important weekend to many.

unless of course you are logan sargeant. then it is fourth of july weekend.

welcome back everyone. its silverstone, another highlight race of the year. in true silverstone fashion, it was raining and records were broken. today is july 19, 2024 and lets hop in.

theres a lot in here. lots to unpack. and unfortunately ive had a busy two weeks and now need to speed run this to still be on time for this weekend. so. my apologies. ill go into much detail as i can but alas. im positively strapped silly for time. due to that, there might be some stuff in here thats Technically supposed to be on next weeks post and not this one but consider that i am tired. i also hand write all my notes on everything while im watching and i have a record 8 pages front and back of notes this week so. with all that in mind. lets fucking go.

-so its silverstone. england. british gp.

-big fucking deal.

-its lewis, george and lando's home race

-and!!! alex albon's, technically. he races under the thai flag but he is half thai half british and his family lives 20 minutes from silverstone so. it is also his home gp as far as i am concerned.

-as far as teams. a few of them are based in england.

-mclaren, williams, aston martin and i think thats it...

-but! a whole lot of teams (7) have their head quarters in the uk, around in and around silverstone (ish? idk my uk geography is Really Really bad). mclaren, williams, aston, mercedes, red bull, alpine and i think haas??? maybe??? anyway. big fucking weekend for everyone pretty much

-AND it'll be an even bigger deal next year because haas announced that they signed ollie bearman for the 2025 season. we all knew it was coming but it is still exciting! which means we will have now 4 (technically 5) british drivers on the grid

-anyway we will come back to silly season

-both red bull and williams ran special liveries for the british gp

the williams one was kind of especially hilarious because well:

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-that's right!

-logan hunter sargeant, literally from fort lauderdale, florida, and the only american on the grid, had to drive the british car with the british flag on it with his (half) british teammate for a british team at the british gp on fourth of july weekend. later in the team torque video he says that he wanted to find a giant american flag to wrap around himself to walk into the paddock with. unfortunately i dont think he did.

-the only other funny thing to come out of that specific team torque episode was alex albon making fun of george by texting him "yabadabado" (which is what he said over the radio after his win the week before in austria). george's response was, very simply: "hahaha. paddle later?"

-george was able to aparently get his badge back form lando, who stole it the week before or maybe the week before that

-alex also stole lando's paddock pass because lando left it on the dash of his convertible

-and every interviewer ever tried to get the drivers to comment on the max/lando incident in austria

-they were incredibly uncsuccessful

-i wont include every response here for the sake of time and also my sanity but here were some of the good ones

-upon being asked if he and max had spoken since the incident, lando said in the press conference on thursday that "yeah, we did...honestly i dont think he needed to apologize. i think like some of the things i said in the pen after the are were more just cause i was frustrated at the time. a lot of adrenaline, a lot of emotions and i probably said some things i didnt necessarily believe in, especially later on in the week. its...you know its tough. it was a pretty pathetic incident. in terms of what ended both of our races. you know, it wasnt like a hit, it wasnt like an obvious bit of contact. it was probably one of the smallest bits of contact you could have but with a pretty terrible consequence for both of us especially for myself so so yeah...he doesnt need to, i dont expect an apology from him. i dont think he should apologize. i thought it was, as a review, good racing. at times, yeah maybe very close to the edge, but like we've said, we've spoken about it. we've talked about it and were both happy to go racing again.

-max also said "the only thing i care about is maintaining my relationship with lando because we are great friends. after the race, i said we have to let things calm down because emotions run high. we immediately spoke on monday and i think we came to the conclusion that we actually really enjoyed out battle."

-so the two of them were clearly over it. i think even max said in a different interview that he went to text lando about it but lando had already texted him. this however did not stop the media from trying to milk the fuck out of it

-"it was just racing. it was the slightest bit of contact" said nico hulkenberg

-"it was fighting for a win. youre not going to just wave someone by" said danny rics

-"max will push to the limit, as most top drivers do" george said.

-"that's part of racing" yuki said.

"I didnt think anything of it. i was more concerned about my race and enjoying the teams win" said lewis. and then upon also being asked what advice lewis had for lando racing against max he said "i dont really need to (give him any). they have been racing eachother for many years.....that has nothing to do with me."

-charles though had probably the funniest response. if i can find it.

-aha

-this was coupled with the fact that charles was seen running around the paddock on i think one of the free practice days (?) wearing an inchident friendship bracelet. you know as in the "nothing just an inchident" thing from when he and max were kids

-none of the pictures were abundantly clear, but this one was the clearest i could find

-anyway, one team was absolutely not having max's "antics" from Austria and surprise surprise it was mclaren, specifically zak brown

-how many times is this now that zak brown has had things to say about red bull? idk but its been a lot

-"were seen there be a lack of respect" he said about austria and other things. "whether its financial regs, sporting, on track issues with fathers, etc. i just dont think thats how we need to go racing. im also disappointed in such a great team like red bull that the leadership almost encourages it"

-max responded to this by saying, when asked what his thoughts were about it "who is zak brown?"

-and now we speed through the rest of the pre race shit because i am tired

-mclaren sent thank yous to the teams that helped them during their fire last weekend that i think were cookies in the shape of fire extinguishers

-lando and oscar went on a bunch of radio shows leading up to the british gp, and i think surprised a fan who missed her prom to be on the show

-oscar, who has said that about half the calendar was his home race this year and even got adopted by charles to keep this bit up loudly declared that the british gp was Not his home race, just the teams. yeah its probably cause Britain colonized australia, but it was still hilarious.

-lando also met a child that was dressed as him in the paddock, people lost their minds over it

-mercedes is loosing puma and tommy hilfiger as sponsors for next year (probably because lewis is leaving i think) and im pretty sure theyre getting replaced by adidas. this is bad news if you're george russell, who perpetually looks like a tommy hilfiger ad

-danica patrick is unfortunately not actually fired from sky sports for her lizard people video, but she is taking a break from commentating until i think coat to focus on something, i dont remember what. jenson button is probably upset about this

-speaking of jenson button, he was around this weekend, driving his first ever f1 car, the williams fw22. he was very excited about it. he also did the post race interviews but we'll get there

-alex albon got overtake of the month for his double overtake in canada.

-and the dogs!

-roscoe appeared in the paddock, as he usually does. roscoe being lewis hamiltons's dog. and he was right alongside lewis slaying in his fashion week outfits as usual

-leo was also present in the paddock

-charles was asked if leo and roscoe have met up yet. they have not. but charles wants them to because leo is still young and does not have many dog friends

-and arthur leclerc, charles's younger brother, got his own leo, probably to make fun of charles.

-alex albon also released merch that was themed for his pets and matched his helmet (he has a lot of pets) and he traded merch with roscoe

-and there was of course some weird ass pr

-some very interesting ferrari pr

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-and because it was the semi finals (?) of the euros, they had everyone try to score a goal in a soccer net and it was a right disaster for everyone, but especially pierre and Esteban who i think were the only two to miss the goal? actually no oscar missed too. crofty even said "even when you two try to work together you get it wrong"

-geroge and lewis sat on the fan stage and watched the ending of the semi finals, where england won

-max was asked his favorite british food. he said it didnt exist.

-and of course, stake continues to be stake.

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-so silverstone is home to some pretty damn iconic shit, but the year i want to highlight briefly is 2022

-this was carlos's first race win. and in the car on the way to the paddock, carlos and charles ran into a fan who said to carlos "i want to see p3" and carlos, after the guy left, said "why p3?" the two of them reminisced about this in the car on the way to the track this year as well

-and it was also during that race that we got possibly the best piece of commentary ever: though goes hamilton

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-of course if you have not seen this i beg, implore and beseech you to because it is insane, but ill also give the transcript. this is crofty talking btw.

-"perez is catching charles leclerc and he Takes Him Towards The Inside, pEREZ ON THE INSIDE! CHARLES LECLERC! GIVES HIM J U S T ENOUGH SPACE! cAn PEREZ SQUEEZE PAST THEYRE GOING WHEEL TO WHEEL! towards vale now! whos gonna be last on the brakes! leclerc has that inside line! pEREZ GOES OFF THE TRACK, HE CUTS THE CHICANE, OFF GOES LECLERC, THROUGH GOES HAMILTON!!! UNBELIEVABLE STUFF!!!"

-there is a bit more in this video, but yeah. through goes hamilton man.

-speaking of hamilton, he has won the british gp a record 8 times (tying with schumacher for most gps won at a single circuit) and has won his home race more than any other driver. just some of his impressive race stats, in case you all forgot about him :)

-anyway. thats enough of that. practice.

-so practice 1 saw 4 f2 drivers and reserve drivers. ollie bearman in the haas, freshly signed, jack doohan in the alpine, still battling for an f1 seat tho we will get to silly season later, franco colapinto in the williams and isack hadjar in the red bull.

-annnnnd i cant find my notes on this hold on

-aha here we go

-so we had jenson, karun and natalie commentating on practice 1, and they mostly yapped about silly season

-so it had been raining, but it was now finally dry, though maybe not dry enough because yuki got stuck in the gravel

-oh hold on, tangent

-because we're in england, the track has the absolute stupidest names for all the corners and the turns:

-anyway, yuki got stuck in the gravel 10 minutes in and red flagged the session

-"im stuck" he said over the radio.

-once his car was cleared, everything else continued as usual

-haas had 6 new upgrades for this weekend

-most of the yapping was about ollie, who they said was i a good team at haas, even though long term he will want to get to ferrari (they use the same engines, blah blah you already know the deal)

-jenson specifically said that it was good that he was starting out in a team thats "lower on the grid" because its less pressure. he said that if kimi antonelli were to get signed by mercedes for next year "it would be a lot of pressure on [his] shoulders" because mercedes is a high ranking team

-zak brown also came on the radio and continued his anti max and red bull campaign, talking about how "lando needs to make sure (an incident like austria) doesnt happen again" because "until someone tells (max) what he's doing is incorrect i dont expect him to drive any differently" and he also said that the "stewards and the pit wall need to enforce the rules better" because "I expect the drivers to race eachother as hard as they are allowed to" but he also thought that max should have been flagged for moving under the braking, which would have prevented the incident later on

-then there was the obligatory conversation about checo. they were confused as to why checo was signed so early, especially given his recent string of bad luck in races and qualifying and seemingly in general. jenson said that "with the title fight heating up, you need both drivers" and also pointed out that the car suits max, he will likely be happy with any teammate, as long as they are helping him in the championship and not stuck way down the grid somewhere.

-last year, max had enough points to pretty much win the drivers and the constructors on his own, but this year with the fight heating up, they need both drivers getting points conssistently. but again, we will come back to silly season.

-the session ended with oscar having a hydraulics issue and limping back to the pit lane

-i didnt watch practice 2 or 3 but i do know that at one point, lando and carlos were the only cars on the track. carlos asked if any other cars were on the track, his engineer said "lando only" and carlos responded with "car-lando"

-and sky sports posted this...interesting post about it

-thus concludes the practice sessions

-which takes us right to qualifying

-which started with pierre getting a 50 place grid penalty for replacing pretty much his whole engine. i think that this was because it wasnt working???

-q1 was a tad of a disaster.

-the practice sessions had been led by lando, lando, and george. red bull were aparently worried because they had aparently been going and standing outside of the mclaren garage and trying to peek in.

-but it was damp which meant the intermediate tires were out

-still, people were sliding. and someone. perhaps it was crofty, perhaps it was ted, idk, said "the difference is that youre sliding between an uh oh and a yeehaw"

-and checo was on the uh oh side because he ended up in the gravel. and he was stuck. which meant that he was out. in q1. again.

-checo really did not want to be out and over radio he said "all i need is to be pushed back, there's tarmac over there" which is is not allowed to do because that counts as outside assistance.

"can they pull me forwards?" checo asked over radio a minute later. "That would count as mechanical assistance, you wouldn't be able to rejoin qualifying"

-so they red flagged to get him out, and then it started raining

-max went off into the gravel in the same spot as checo, but he managed to get back on

-it was a very tight elimination round, but we ended up loosing pierre, checo, esteban, kevin and valtteri

-which MEANT that for the first time this year ZHOU WAS THROUGH TO Q2 IN A RACE QUALIFYING and he had OUTQUALIFIED HIS TEAMMATE!!

-AND!!! LOGAN WAS THROUGH TO Q2 FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A RACE QUALIFYING AS WELL!!

-esteban though was pissed. "the only lap i have to push was the lap it was wet!" he complained loudly over the radio.

-heading into q2, max had some floor damage from his trip into the gravel, but he managed to stay in

-and charles was having problems, as seems to be usual. he was fighting his tires. he was not doing well at all. he ended up getting out in q2.

-logan also got out, but he was in p12. an all time, record high for him this year.

-we also lost zhou, yuki and daniel

-q3 was where the real fun happened

-zak brown thought that it was going to come down to merc and mclaren for pole cause max had damage. zak brown was correct.

-lando started out on provisional pole with a 1:26.03

-then george went .006 faster than lando, taking provisional pole with a 1:26.024

-max tried to go faster than the both of them, but only ended up in fifth

-toto had aparently promised to be quiet on the radio until the whole of qualifying was over, lol

-lewis briefly went faster than george, taking provisional pole, but then george snapped it back with a 1:25.819, putting him on pole! with lewis p2 and lando p3! the three brits in the top 3 for the british gp! the last time there were three brits in the top 3 of qualifying was in 1968 in south africa.

-and. surprisingly. nico hulkenberg. was faster than carlos. he qualified 6 while carlos qualified 7, making nico the fastest driver with a ferrari engine. Interesting.

-but back to the brits

-lando was excited for some good battles in the rain tomorrow and said that lewis and george both put in good laps

-lewis said that the "car felt great" (whatever upgrades they've put in it clearly seem to be working) and he said that "there was still time left on the table, which george managed to find"

-george said that "the car at the moment is feeling so so good" but also that it was "going to be tight with lando and max will be fast well"

-and then the post show was well. interesting.

-toto was pleased with the front row lock out, the last time merc had one was in 2022 in brazil

-jolyon palmer said that it was a "really good effort" from logan, who absolutely needed a good qualifying this week (logan also has now out qualified checo seven times this season alone. out of 12 races)

-and the ferrari. oof. laura winter said it great. "the car hasn't looked or felt good for charles or carlos all weekend" the two of them managed to qualify 11 for charles and 7 for carlos. which is kinda abysmal.

-horner was also asked about checo. "to go out in q1 is not what we can afford" he said. and he was also asked about checos contract, but said pretty much nothing about it, as in, if they are thinking of replacing him mid season. he did say earlier though that at the moment they are a "one car team" and that checo is "nowhere."

-and well that is our cue

-our cue to talk about silly season

-as we know, ollie bearman got signed to haas. ollie is presently (or at least he was at the time of the race) 14th in the f2 standings. (f2 does have more drivers in it than f1, there are 22 drivers)

-one of the red bull mechanics, whose name i do not know, posted an instagram story after the ollie announcement saying that "im not knocking this kids abilities, we all saw how good he was when he stepped in the ferrari this year. but he is p14 in the f2 championship, 89 points off of the championship leader paul aron who has no f1 seat secured for next year. what more does paul from have to do? 😅"

-then he posted a follow up story saying "a few of you are missing my point. im not slandering barman singing, nor his talent. but what more does the championship leader have to do to secure a drive in f1?"

-and hes kinda right tbh. lets take a very very brief intermission for a second to talk about f2 with the disclaimer that i know very very little about f2

-théo pourchaire won the f2 championship in 2023. he did not get an f1 seat, tho i think it was close between him and logan (maybe?) at williams for 2024. he was briefly driving for the arrow mclaren indy car team this year and then kind of inexplicably got fired (idk what's going on there if you really wanna know do your own research but i know they've been through a bunch of drivers)

-felipe drugovich was the 2022 f2 champion, he is presently the test and reserve driver at aston martin f1, he never got an f1 seat

-oscar piastri was the 2021 f2 champion, he got a seat at mclaren f1 in 2023 and was the test and reserve driver at alpine f1 for 2022

-mick schumacher won the 2020 f1 championship, he got a seat at haas f1 for 2021 and 2022 before he got let go by gunther steiner (gunther didnt like him, i really dont know why) and then be became the test and reserve driver for mercedes f1 and he also competes in the world endurance championship in alpine hyper car

-nyck de vries was the 2019 f2 champion. he did not get an f1 seat in 2020. he subbed in for alex albon at williams in the italian gp when he had to have his appendix out back in ... 2022? and then got signed to alpha tauri f1 in 2023 but was replaced mid season by daniel ricciardo

-george russell was the 2018 f2 champion and he was signed by williams f1 for the 2019 year. he was later signed to mercedes in 2022.

-so of all those names, only two are presently still on the grid. and oscar had to still take a year before he got signed, george and mick were the only ones in recent history to get signed immediately after winning.

-but thats not to say that other drivers havent been brought up from f2 to f1 who havent won

-aside from ollie we have also had logan sargeant, who finished in 4th in 2022 (behind liam lawson (who is still waiting for his red bull seat), théo porchaire, and filipe drugovich), zhou guyanu, who finished in third in 2021, yuki tsunoda who finished in third in 2020, and nikita mazepin who finished in fifth in 2020 (he briefly drove for haas, long story), nicholas latifi who finished second in 2019 (he was a williams driver for 2 years before logan), and of course, lando norris who finished second in 2018 and alex albon who finished third in 2018

-theres probably others that i am forgetting but alas. the signing of ollie does really beg the question of what the hell do you need to do to get an f1 seat besides have an inordinate amount of luck. because also, as we have seen, despite doing well in f2 some of the time the same people dont do super great in f1

-aside from that tangent

-haas needs a second driver

-and right now it seems like they are not going to re sign kevin, they are going to sign esteban ocon

-i have no other information on that except that its a possibility.

-then theres also the checo problem

-as horner said, they need two red bulls fighting for podiums and checo is currently Not doing that

-red bull is pretty much Just Max right now

-but checo has already signed an extension

-however when red bull do contracts i remember reading somewhere that you get signed to the red bull entity or something, which allows them to legally do the swaps (idk just trust me) so they could still swap him with Someone (and they could axe him. they've done it before)

-aparently according to some gossip pages theres a clause in checo's contract that says that he cant be more than 100 points or 5 places behind max in the drivers championship by belgium. belgium is in 2 races from silverstone. unclear if this is for his present contract or the next one or if theres any truth in this at all.

-also. red bull are notoriously ruthless with their drivers and often have dropped and resigned and swapped people like snap. so i think if they were planning to do this they would have by now. also he has an extension, as we said

-that has not stopped speculation tho

-there is more speculation that it would be daniel getting checo's seat in a swap. why daniel over yuki, idk, especially because yuki is out performing daniel. it might have something to do with max's preference because max has had daniel as a teammate before from mid 2015 (?) - 18.

-it does seem that that was the original plan as well, to swap daniel and checo at the start of the season, based on pr and other things (see the red bull cans i mentioned like idk several updates ago), but daniel had a bad start to the season and checo did not

-aparently max also had a decent chunk of say in checo getting re signed

-tbh, idk what to ever believe about red bull. cause lets remember everyone thought that daniel was getting cut before silverstone and now theyre saying he could be up for a red bull seat so ! whos to say

-then as usual we have carlos. hes still jobless. tho pierre said that he wants carlos as a teammate. as we know, the alpine seat seems to be between mick, jack and carlos and mick had his test scheduled during the off week after silverstone (yes its already happened since this post is late, no im not talking about it here im making you wait until the next one tee hee)

-toto also aparently reopened the possibility of carlos getting the merc seat. who knows how true that it but apparently its possible. toto also said about kimi possibilities that "a champion needs to perform in cold water and needs to swim"

-kimi antonelli had a response to this, and it was to have his first f2 win this weekend in silverstone

-and james vowels is still talking about logan. specifically about replacing logan. "i want to give him every opportunity" mr alphabet said "but there will be a lone in the same where we have to make a decision for '25 and maybe for something this year"

-so with all that

-the race

-before the race started though, a quick word from everyone's favorite monaco based youtuber

-yes thats right

-nico rosberg was in the paddock

-well, kinda

-he was at the race with an electric bus of grad students that he was sponsoring to look at travel and biodiversity

-and of course, sky sports asked him who he thought was going to win

-and of course he said lewis hamilton

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-but we all know about the great nico rosberg curse. would he thwart lewis? only time will tell

-and its race time

-checo decided to replace his power unit so he was starting from the pit lane

-pierre had some kind of problem in the great box on the formation lap and had to retire his car pretty much before the race even started

-but the lights went out, away they went

-max got ahead of lando almost instantly and the top three all managed to get out of drs of eachother

-rain was expected around lap 6. because its silverstone. and its always raining around here.

-this was great news for mercedes because they really like cooler conditions

-it was bad news tho for anyone trying to stick to a tire strategy, because the lack of Precise news when the rain would hit made it hard to determine when and if intermediate tires would be needed at all

-lap 18 was when the pit stop window was set to open, but pretty much everyone stayed out, maintaining their pace to hold out for inters because the rain was supposed to hit at any moment

-the rain started on lap 14

-and lando was closing on max for third. he was .657 off

-he passed max on lap 15 on the straight, very clean and orderly and nothing like austria

-so it was raining

-we had george out in front, with lewis 1.546 seconds behind, lando 3.015 seconds behind him, and 1.062 seconds behind him and oscar 1.218 seconds behind him.

-drs was still active and oscar had drs on max

-he passed max on lap 17 for fourth

-and then lewis passed george on lap 18 for first

-at this point it was pretty damn wet on track

-and everyone was still on their slicks (tires meant for a dry track)

-so things were getting slippery

-so slippery that both mercedes manages to go off track, allowing lando to pass gorge for second on lap 19

-and drs was turned off because of the low grip

-this did not stop the mclarens, who were here with an absolute vengence

-lando passed lewis for p1 on lap 20 and then immediately oscar passed george for p2

-so we had a mclaren mercedes mclaren mercedes and then max. and it was raining.

-people started to box for intermediate tires, namely charles and checo. this would be a mistake.

-oscar passed george for p2

-the top four was running pretty close together, which would be vital later on

-lando was on p1, 1.389 seconds behind him was oscar in p2, then 1.047 seconds behind him was lewis in p3 and .927 seconds behind him was george in p4

-lewis was offered intermediate tires on lap 21. he said no. it was too early. he was correct.

-checo came on the radio on lap 22 and conformed this, saying that "its too dry man, its too fucking dry" for intermediate tires (this is because the intermediate and the wet tires look like normal car tires, with treads to push the water away and when youre going super fucking fast this just causes the car to slide around if you have no water to push out of the way)

-also having this problem were esteban, charles, and zhou who had all put on intermediate tires

-theyre "all living on a prayer at the moment" crofty said. and they were

-esteban pitted for medium tires. charles stayed out, in true baffling ferrari fashion

-charles went off the track on lap 25. and he was starting to get lapped.

-"its too early for inters" oscar said on lap 26. and as charles was proving, he was still correct

-but by lap 27 it was definitely time for inters

-first max and carlos pitted (yes, charles had been put on inters but carlos had not been. interesting), then lando pitted, but oscar was too close to him (only .304 behind him) so they couldnt double stack the cars because oscar would loose too much time in the pits, so they left him out an extra lap on the slicks (which turned out to be a bad call), mercedes did a flawless double stack

-max's pit got him a little closer back towards the front

-which meant only one thing

-it was hammer time

-aka when lewis absolutely fucking sends the shit out of it

-so after the pit stops on lap 30 we had

-lando, +3.115 lewis, +4.353 max, +3.012 george, +3.011 carlos, +4.983 oscar

-everyones tires were starting to degrade, oscars were not because he did one extra lap on them, but he was 19 seconds behind lando

-the rain was supposed to last until lap 40

-charles pitted for another set of inters

-on lap 34 george was told to retire the car, seemingly out of nowhere

-"shit, fuck" he said over the radio

-"amen to that, i'll see if i can figure out what happened" ted said

-aparently it was a water systems issue. the car wasnt cooling itself properly and would have exploded if it had kept going

-"george russell is the only person to be affected by a lack of water issue in silverstone today" crofty said. and he was right. but we didnt have time to think about that because things were happening

-things were that lewis was closing in on lando. he was 2.058 seconds off on lap 36

-lando was loosing time. but he had an extra set of mediums. mercedes only had softs and hards. this was good for lando. he could still hold first if he pitted for the right tire at the right time

-lewis boxed on lap 38 for softs

-max boxed on lap 39 for hards

-oscar pitted on lap 39 for mediums

-and lando pitted on lap 40 for softs

-why did he do this when the preferred tire was a medium? no one knows. he was given the choice and aparently he picked softs

-lando also had a slow stop. he spent 4.5 seconds in the pit box.

-lando came out in second, behind lewis

-"norris same tire" bono, lewis's race engineer said to him. "leave me to it mate" lewis said.

-so we had a three way battle. lewis was 2.520 seconds ahead of lando who was 3.273 seconds ahead of max. anyone could win it

-and it became very clear, very quickly, that lando had chosen the wrong tire to win the race on

-still, lewis was holding lando somehow around 2.5 seconds behind him on lap 46

-by lap 47 though max had gotten within drs range of lando

-there were five laps to go

-"if youve got any finger nails left i would be utterly amazed" crofty said

-but no one was listening to him because max managed to pass lando on lap 48

-by lap 49 max was 3.349 seconds behind lewis and closing, but it became clear that he didnt have quite enough time to pass lewis

-sainz and perez both pitted on lap 51 for softs to try and get the fastest lap

-but lewis was still holding out in front

-heading into the last lap max was 2.760 seconds behind him. he didnt have enough to pass

-it was "prime lewis hamilton in his prime real estate" (according to ted) as he zoomed towards the finish

-"DONT CALL IT A COMEBACK, HE'S BEEN HERE FOR YEARS" alex jaques yelled as lewis crossed the line

-he had done it!

-LEWIS HAMILTON WON THE 2024 SILVERSTONE GP!!!!!

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-now why was this a big deal?

-well

-*cracks knuckles*

-the last time lewis hamilton won was in saudi arabia in 2021, it was his 103rd victory (at that point he had already surpassed schumachers 91 win record)

-with this victory at silverstone lewis

-became the first driver to win after their 300th start in f1 (other drivers with over 300 starts for context here include rubens barrichello, michael schumacher, jenson button, fernando alonso and kimi raikkonen) (this was lewis's 344th start)

-became the oldest winner of the 21st century (39 years and 182 days)

-now held the longest gap between first and last wins (17 years and 1 month)

-held the record for most wins at a single circuit (9) (he previously shared this record with schumacher)

-became the driver to have the most podiums at a single circuit (15)

-became the driver to have the most consecutive podiums at a single circuit (12)

-extended his record for most podiums (199)

-and extended his record for most wins (104)

-it was also his 150th podium with mercedes

-and since mercedes also won in austria with george, they are now the first team other than red bull to win back to back in the last 3 seasons

-also we have now had six whole different race winners in one season, and it was the first time since 2022 that max has gone more than one race without a win

-in any case, it was a very important race for lewis, and he was very emotional over his win, as he should be, because it shows that he still had it. which was really important for him after getting essentially robbed of his 8th world title in abu dhabi 2021 cause of the safety car call and all of that

-he was incredibly emotional getting out of the car, hugging his dad and doing his immediate post interview

-jenson button hosted the post race interviews and he and lewis were actually teammates at mclaren years ago. jenson was also pretty much basically crying interviewing lewis while lewis was also crying.

-"ive never seen you this emotional after a race" jenson said. "yeah...i just cant stop crying...i wanted to win so much for them...forever grateful to everyone at mercedes," lewis said. "it's been 2.5 years since you've won a race, i need thought we'd say that about you" jenson said. "you gotta continue to dig deep even when youre at the bottom of the barrel" lewis said

-he elaborated on this later in the press conference

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-as an aside here, pretty much everyone in the world congratulated lewis on his win, but the one that i am going to highlight was sebastian vettel's instagram story

-people were pretty quick to point out that the capitalization and the periods make it very likely that seb himself posted this and not whoever runs his ig account

-and nico rosberg! who we know was there! was entirely silent on the whole ordeal! even though he predicted it! did he break the rosberg curse or is lewis just immune to it? we may never know

-anyway

-despite his emotions, he was still able to absolutely pick apart exactly what went wrong with lando's race in the cool down room

-"you stayed out too long" lewis said. "you could've gone on mediums...wouldve been faster probably"

-this only managed to fuel lando's epic sulk fest that was happening in the cool down too,

-and lewis was right, mclaren absolutely fucked up the call at the end there. they could have had probably a double podium if they had double stacked oscar and put lando on the mediums

-this didnt stop lando though from making oscar do a shoe post race with his own shoe, and then chucking oscars shoe into the crowd

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-max though, decided to shit on mclarens shit strategy it post race

-another team with abysmal calls this weekend was none other than ferrari

-"I am not feeling good, it's too much now. it's too many races, i dont know what to say anymore when i come here. we just have to reset as a team but yeah, there is always a different reason why it doesn't click" charles said post race

-he also filmed his post race ferrari video inside, out of his race gear and it was clearly scripted, which was Highly Unusual

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-fred, the team principal, claimed that both charles and carlos were given the same information about the rain and the tire choice. "we gave the drivers the same infos on track conditions, but charles and carlos were in different parts of the track. carlos was copying max's race while charles was behind stroll and 10 seconds behind. this made the team and charles make a decision."

-people who watched the driver view and listened to the team radios disagreed.

-charles was told "heavy rain on next lap" and carlos was told "chance of rain in sector 3"

-pretty immediately after the race, ferrari released this team statement

-ok now there was a lot that happened in the post race show, it was actually a very good post race show but unfortunately i am sleepy and wont talk about all of it

-tldr: alpine was a shit show, checo continues to not impress (and red bull were testing liam lawson the week after, the team dont have anything to loose really by putting a different driver in so Why Wouldn't They?), logan had a great performance (ended p11 but it could be too little too late, mclaren continue to have strategy problems as do ferrari, aston seems to have fixed their car a little cause they didnt suck, haas absolutely slayed in fact they kinda slayed better than ferrari did and nice was on pace with max at one point

-and they talked about the f1 movie

-essentially theres an f1 movie coming out next year with brad pitt and damson idris and they've filmed some of it at races and stuff actually they filmed some interviews at the paddock in silverstone while some of the drivers (lando) were having the worst time and it was pure comedy

-anyway. the trailer for it came out and no i havent watched it but. lewis hamilton is a producer of the film, aparently hes been pretty involved and well. first of all they interviewed the director of the film who pretty much said that basically everything that is in the movie has happened in real life. and well lets take a look here

-here we have our two main characters right

-and then here we have mercedes in 2015 ish (lewis hamilton and nico rosberg, fmaously in the thick of their rivalry)

-were all seeing this? right????

-lewis hamilton what the hell are you up to buddy

-they interviewed lewis's dad at one point, which i will talk about. antony said that "i know lewis and as far as im concerned he still has everything he needs to run at the top...when lewis gives his best he usually ends up with the win...its the dams that come to the british gp.... you never know what youre going to get there but you do get a spectacle"

-and will buxton closed out the post race show with this, which i will leave you all with:

"we said we could whisper it a few weeks ago, now we can shout it, f1 2024: we have got a season!"

-see you all in budapest

(also ps this post is now long enough that i cant see reblogs so if theres anything you want me to know or see put it in the replies)

Sorry i tried to scroll past but, i know nothing about f1 other than max verstappen is fast, my dad doesnt like lewis hamilton, fast car goes in a loop and sometimes expodes. Could you give me a crash course in f1 drama? Im very intrigued. Whats the tea as it were?

a terribly loaded question, but i will do my best. i’ve talked about some of the drama before like the red bull second seat and the chronicles of haas but allow me to briefly try my hand at explaining the nightmare that is the upcoming silly season

under the cut we go

silly season is when the drivers go through contract renewals, extensions and switches. usually it’s confined to the first half of the season (march-july) but it has been known to extend all the way to the last race of the season and they like to switch people around at random sometimes. driver contracts are complex, there’s a lot of money involved and basically You Are The Face Of The Team so if you have a shit season then you make the team look bad. but at the same time you could have a shit season because you have a shit car. it’s sticky stuff.

so. there are only twenty seats in formula 1. 10 teams. each team gets two drivers. (there’s also reserve drivers but we’re not going to get into that). who ends up with a contract is largely up to the teams, they can pull the contract out from under people they can also cut you mid season. they’ve done it before.

of the 20 drivers on the grid, 14 of them have contracts expiring at the end of the year. yes. 14. you see how this could get complicated.

so let’s meet the teams.

red bull racing. they came first this year (and last year) in the championship. like aggressively first. like they won the championship by over 350 points. they are definitely the team to beat. but if you end up with a seat at red bull, you do have to deal with max verstappen being your teammate and he won all but three of the races last year. he’s the golden boy. red bull are also notoriously silly when it comes to contracts and famously swap people mid season who aren’t performing.

mercedes. merc is home to 7 time world champion lewis hamilton and they have won the championship a great many times, though not since 2021. they are kind of in their flop arc and their car the last 2 years has been pretty garbage, but they have still made it work because they were able to come in second last year.

ferrari. god help the poor little meow meows with a ferrari contract. ferrari is a notoriously great team and they’re trying to get back to the top again but their strategy every single time has fallen short. to the point where their drivers are the ones doing the strategy in their cars while driving. they came in third last year and have been decently consistent at getting first in qualifying and then getting beat by max verstappen on race day.

mclaren. they’ve definitely worked their way up over recent years. they ended fourth last year and have had some championship wins before but not nearly as many as say merc and ferrari. their team ceo (owner? director?) is a little interesting and their car started out a pile of flaming hot garbage at the beginning of the year but they did manage to get their shit together.

aston martin. they are owned by canadian billionaire lawrence stroll, father of lance stroll (one of the drivers for the team). they’ve undergone several name changes over the recent years (force india, racing point, etc). they positively slayed at the start of the season and then one day they sucked. they finished fifth in the championship.

alpine. the frenchest french team. they’re (i think?) still partially owned by the french government. both of their drivers are french. (their drivers also hate eachother but we’ll get to that. just know they’re in the middle of a modern french civil war). they had the opportunity to have a good rookie driver (oscar piastri) this past year but in a thrilling twitter battle, he publically flamed the shit out of them and went to mclaren instead (and slayed). they're usually solidly middle of the pack. they ended sixth in the championship.

williams. williams has been one of the back of the grid teams for the last many years but they have finally started to get their shit together and don’t quite suck as much as they used to. all of the points this year were scored by only one driver though (except one but we’ll get there). they came in seventh.

alpha tauri. they are the sister team of red bull. so technically redbull owns both teams (meaning they can swap drivers between teams. they like doing this.) they’ve just kind of been There for awhile but they did slay towards the end of the season when one of their drivers led the race for several laps. basically tho, this team is the gateway to redbull. they came in eighth.

alpha romeo. recently renamed to stake f1 team (but sometimes they are going to be called kick sauber. this is a whole other drama post and i’m not getting into it). they’re also just kind of there. generally unproblematic. seems that really great drivers who get ixed out of a contract for a younger driver end up here or young drivers who are in their early years are here before they go to a better team. they ended ninth this year.

haas. oh haas. goofy team. they suck. point blank they suck. they keep loosing sponsors because they suck, they don’t win ever (one time they came first in qualifying last year). they cursed themselves in australia in 2018 by not tightening their tires and its been downhill ever since. they came 10th. their team principle got let go (fired?) who’s to say today.

so those are the teams. it is important to note that:

-there is a cost cap. each team is allowed to spend no more than 135m per year.

-not all cars are equal. some things are standard. they all undergo the same testing. but the cars are all very different. so you can be a good driver but stuck in a shitty car. which makes it impressive if you are doing well in a shitty car.

let’s meet our drivers!!!

starting with the guys who’s contract is not ending in 2024:

max verstappen. 3 time world champion. 26 years old. general beast on the track. he dominated the whole season. he’s currently racing for red bull and has a contract with them through 2028.

lewis hamilton. 7 time world champion. 39 years old. he drives for mercedes. he will not leave mercedes until he retires. he really really wants to win an 8th world championship and is willing to stick it out a few more years as long as merc still believes in him. his contract expires in 2025.

george russell. the other merc driver. 26 years old. hes aggressively british and says thinks like blimey unironically. walking meme. got his merc seat in 2022 right when they entered their flop arc by getting his tractor of a williams to finish second in qualifying in the middle of a rainstorm. his contract expires in 2025.

lando norris. mclaren driver. 24 years old. he has notably never won a race in his five years of formula one (mostly because right when his car finally was good enough max verstappen was 20 seconds ahead of anyone) but he is regarded as Very Good. he has only ever driven for mclaren. and even though there is another year left on his contract there is mass speculation that he will not renew his contract with mclaren after it expires and he may move up to one of the top teams (red bull, merc, ferrari) (tho i think he doesnt hate himself quite enough to go to ferrari). his contract expires in 2025.

oscar piastri. the other mclaren driver. 22 years old. this was his rookie season and he positively slayed. like people compared his rookie season to lewis hamiltons rookie season. he also had the positively funniest start to his rookie year because alpine announced that he would be driving for them (he had been their reserve driver and in the alpine academy) and he posted a tweet that basically said yeah thats false i never singed anything with you and im going to race with mclaren instead (he dodged a bullet) and then alpine tried and failed to sue him for $4m USD. he signed a contract extension with mclaren this year and his contract expires in 2026.

lance stroll. aston martin driver and son of the aston martin owner. hes doing ok, tho there was conspiracy that he wanted to quit and have a tennis career awhile ago. but basically since his dad owns the team it seems that hes guaranteed a seat for as long as he wants one.

so now. moving onto the good shit. the people who have contracts expiring in 2024. hold onto your hats people.

charles leclerc. (everyones favorite slutty little soup can). 26 years old. he is currently at ferrari and he has been since 2019. notably, he was given the longest contract in the history of ferrari after a stellar rookie season at sauber (renamed to alpha romeo, renamed to stake f1) where he got the tractor of a car consistently into the points. having the longest contract in the history of ferrari was a flex at the time, but now its likely how he will introduce himself at therapy sessions. ferrari have fucked this man left right and center up the ass with a plastic lunchroom spork. hes talented, he can drive, and he can drive well. but the strategy that ferrari has absolutely sucks. either something is wrong with the car (see him blowing out his gear box on the formation lap in monaco, his car completely crapping out and spinning into the barrier in brazil before the race even started) or they fuck up his pit stops or put him on the wrong tires and honestly its just frustrating. but will he leave??? likely not. you'd have to pry ferrari out of his cold dead hands and at this rate that might be where this is headed though there has been some minor speculation of him going to another team like merc or red bull, but merc doesnt have any open seats and red bull is a whole other dumpster fire of drama. ferrari are going to have to pay him a boatload of money to make him stay.

carlos sainz. the smooth operator. 29 years old. ferrari driver. previously carlos was at toro rosso (renamed to alpha tauri), renault (renamed to alpine), and mclaren before signing with ferrari. he has been at ferrari since 2021 and has voiced that he would like to stay with them for however long he can. there is speculation that lando might replace him at ferrari (but landos contract is not up until 2025) and there is also some speculation that alex albon might replace him. while charles is clearly the golden boy at ferrari, carlos is slightly slower but also definitely consistent. he was THE ONLY non red bull driver to win a race this past year, in Singapore after max verstappedn was knocked out of qualifying by alpha tauri reserve driver liam lawson (more on him later) and because he basically came up with his own strategy in the car while he was driving.

sergio perez. aka checo. red bull driver. 33 years old. and oh boy here's where we open the can of worms. checo was previously at racing point (renamed aston martin) and it was very near the end of the 2020 (?) season and he was out of a contract. he had a bonkers race where he was knocked to the back of the grid and then overtook everyone and somehow ended up winning (there is more to that story but just trust me) and christian horner, red bull team principle, mr ginger spice and definite disney villain called him and said congrats sir you have a seat at red bull! well. fast forward. hes been causing problems. problems as in crashing a lot, generally not doing great and pissing the crap out of red bull. it is basically guaranteed at this point that he will not be getting a contract extension. there was actually talk this year of him losing his seat mid season to one of the alpha tauri drivers, because remember, red bull owns both teams and they can switch them whenever they want to (and they have!) but ultimately this did not happen. even though checo has a seat at red bull until the end of 2024, its mass speculated that he is going to get switched with an alpha tauri driver, probably daniel ricciardo (more on him shortly) mid season because there is a speculated clause in daniels contract that says that if checo isn't performing well in the first few races daniel is getting his seat.

daniel ricciardo. 34 years old. alpha tauri driver. man oh man what a guy. outside of being the prankster of the paddock, he has one of the most batshit careers of anyone currently on the grid. he started out at red bull and was showing real talent and skill and was on track to win things (and was!) and was there until the end of 2018 when max verstappen (his teammate) started getting preferential treatment and also red bull started having a lot of problems with their engines (which were being outsourced from Renault (now alpine) and another team on the grid) and well very very long story short he made the surprise move of the century and decided to sign with Renault (which makes no sense they're the one with the engine problems) and was there for 2 years before moving again to mclaren where he was reportedly not treated very well and had a hard time driving the car so they mutually ended his contract with them early and he basically retired at the end of the 2022 season and became a red bull reserve driver. then halfway through the 2023 season alpha tauri ixed one of their drivers, nyck de vries, because he wasnt doing well and promoted daniel back up to a full time driver at alpha tauri (which we know is only a step down from red bull) but then he broke his hand in a crash in zanvort (?) and then he was replaced for a few races by formula 2 driver liam lawson (who we will also talk about) and then he came back to finish out the season in alpha tauri after he was cleared. daniel has admitted openly that he never should have left red bull and he was given bad advice to do so. hes towards the end of his career at this point and its well known that he Really Really wants to finish out his career at red bull again. he and max have already been teammates before and they do work well together and daniel is great driver (see his comeback in texas (or maybe it was brazil?) this year). so. Pretty Sure that daniels going to get either an extension at alpha tauri or go up to red bull. thats what we all want. get this man in a red bull we need him there biblically.

liam lawson. now technically liam is not actually a formula 1 driver. hes a formula 2 driver, but he was daniels replacement for five races and there has been some speculation and some confirmed news about him so hes getting included. when he was racing for f1 he was at alpha tauri. hes 21 and looks like he belongs in the movie grease. no one was expecting him to slay in formula 1 and he positively knocked everyones socks off. the scene: Singapore. which, if you'll recall, is the one race that a not red bull driver won. this was largely because liam lawson slayed the absolute game in qualifying. the qualifying part of racing determines what order the cars start in on the grid for the race and theres three parts, the first two parts the bottom 5 drivers each time get knocked out and then the top 10 complete for the last 10 spots. liam lawson knocked BOTH max verstappen and checo perez out of qualifying in the second round by going very slightly faster than them, effectively fucking up red bulls race and allowing carlos to win. and he also scored points in that race, which no one was expecting. now thats all fine and dandy, but here's the speculation: hemlut marko (im pretty sure) (who is somehow decently involved in the decision making at red bull though i couldn't tell you how) said that he thinks that liam lawson will be in an f1 seat no later than 2025. meaning that he will probably get offered a contract this year. and hes already raced for alpha tauri. red bull have sunk a good amount of money into him. they clearly want him. so if he gets offered an alpha tauri seat in 2025, that means theres a good chance danny rics is going to red bull. do you SEE how the plot here is THICKENED

yuki tsunoda. age 23. currently at alpha tauri. and fun fact, the only alpha tauri driver to race there the whole year. he had three separate team mates. he is slaying and hes often slept on. he has a bit of a temper and likes to shout on the radio and also hates working out (they had to force him to move to italy or something to work out, long story) but hes been kinda killing it. he led several laps in the abu dhabi race this year and hes decently consistent. people think theres possibility that he could get moved up to red bull on account of the fact that he is younger than daniel and clearly has more years in him,, but there is also possibility that he might not because red bull like to make stupid decisions. and if he doesnt get moved up to rebel, will he stay with alpha tauri? we don't know.

alex albon. age 27. currently a williams driver. alex albon is another one with a batshit career. he started out his rookie year in 2019 at alpha tauri then got moved up to red bull halfway through the year when red bull decided that pierre gasley wasnt doing a good enough job (more on him later) and stayed with red bull for a solid year and a half until he lost his seat in 2021 to checo. he has been with williams for the last two years and is basically carrying the team. like. williams as a team scored 28 points this year. and alex albon scored 27 of those 28 points. and as we know, williams is still kind of in their shit arc (though they are doing much better. they didnt score any points for a solid 2 (?) years. so this is an improvement.) and if you can get a shit car to perform you catch the eye of bigger teams. now, alex has already been a red bull driver. and he was on the cusp of podiuming two separate times when lewis hamilton ran into him. this (among a few other things) basically killed his chances at getting resigned at red bull because he wasnt ""performing"" and red bull are bitches who love to win. but some people think that red bull should give him another shot. like daniel, hes already been max's teammate and he can definitely drive. but theres also talk he might go to ferrari because ferrari think that he might compliment charles's driving style (or something). but going to ferrari at this point is kind of suicide. so.

logan sergeant. age 23. the only american on the grid. the other williams driver. he just finished his rookie year. he scored a grand total of one single point this season, in texas, and it was because charles leclerc and lewis hamilton both got disqualified because the floor of their car had more wear (by literally less than millimeters) than it was allowed to, bumping him up from 12th to 10th. he has never done better than alex albon. he was also the very last driver to get a contract for 2024, with williams waiting until i think december of 2023 to announce his contract extension. clearly, hes on thin ice. but people have also said that he needs time to get used to formula 1 (other people have pointed out that oscar piastri slayed his rookie season this year and this statement about needing time is largely false). where logan ends up next year though will largely depend on how well the 2024 season goes for him.

fernando alonso. 42 years old. many people like to point out that oscar piastri is actually younger than fernando's racing career. he won tiktok creator of the year (somehow) and is also a 2 time world champion. he retired a few years ago, just to show back up again and slay. during the first half of the season when aston martin had a zoom zoom car he killed it, and then they had problems on top of problems and he didnt do well. except for that one race in brazil where he came in third, beating checo by literally .05 seconds. he hasn't really made any hints about retiring a second time and he is kind of carrying aston Martin right now (he scored 205 points this season, coming in 4th and tying in points with charles leclerc, lance stroll only scored 74 points this year.) and they did have their best year yet this year. (though they are relatively new).

pierre gasley. 27 years old. french. drives for alpine. the french team. previously he raced with toro rosso (now alpha tauri), then got promoted to a red bull driver in 2019, then halfway through the season they decided he wasnt doing a good enough job and he got demoted back down to alpha tauri. then he won a race with alpha tauri just to stick it to red bull. after the great oscar piastri contract twitter war, he was signed as alpines second driver, with Esteban ocon being the other driver (more on him soon). estie bestie and pierre (both french) were childhood friends and now hate each other for unknown reasons and basically feuded on the track for most of the season. french civil war at alpine. he scored 62 points in 2023 and came in 11th. not really sure where he will end up, it is possible that he will stick it out at alpine.

esteban ocon. 27 years old. also french. currently driving for alpine. another one with a silly bonkers career. he started out at force india and had a baller few seasons there but his teammate at the time was checo, and checo didnt really cooperate with him too much and caused some drama that cost estie bestie some places and some points. max verstappen also beat him up in the garage once. thats not really relevant but it did happen. anyway, after the owner of force india was arrested for .... i don't remember what maybe it was embezzlement or bankruptcy or something money related, the team was backed by lawrence stroll and became racing point. but all of that happened mid season and lawrence was basically like look ill back you guys for now but next year my son gets a seat (lance) so one of you two (checo and estie bestie) have to go. and ultimately they let estie bestie go even though he was more consistent because checo had more sponsors and they needed money. so he was out of formula 1 for a few years (but was a merc reserve driver) and then went to Renault, which then became alpine. he did come in 12th though overall this season, just behind pierre. so. will alpine keep both him and pierre and keep the civil war going? whos to say.

nico hulkenberg. 36 years old. haas driver. in his 200+ f1 races he has never been on the podium and he really really wants to be on the podium. unfortunately this will never happen in a haas because haas fucking sucks. and everyone knows it. he is getting towards the end of his career though. though! stake f1 will become the mario Andretti and audi team in 2026 (don't question it) and they have supposedly voiced interest in nico. so we will see if he hangs on that long to end up at audi. for now tough, hes definitely hating it at haas. though, haas are going to have a different team principle next year so maybe that will change things. i have a sneaky feeling through that haas will probably end up with another 2 rookie drivers because everyone else is smart enough to not race for them.

kevin magnussen. 31 years old. haas driver. hes another deeply interesting character. he has had one podium. in his rookie season. in his first race. and none since. kevin started at haas in 2017 and then left at then end of 2020 when he basically got kicked off because the team needed money and they wanted to bring in drivers with more sponsorships. these drivers were mick schumacher and nikita mazepin. so kevin basically was forced to retire after the 2020 season. this went decently well for haas. until russia invaded ukraine right before the start of the 2022 season and, well, nikita was Russian and it was never distinctly proven that his dads company (who was sponsoring the team) wasnt also funding the invasion. so nikita got fired and they were literally like 2 weeks out from the start of the season, down a driver. who are you gonna call? kevin magnussen! and hes been back ever since. but hes clearly getting annoyed with haas. there was one great clip from this year where his car caught on fire and he kind of just stared into to, clearly hoping it would burn for a long time. so the likelihood of him extending his contract is looking slim.

valtteri bottas. 34 years old. currently a driver for stake f1 (alpha romeo, kick sauber, whatever you wanna call it). previously, he was a mercedes driver and notoriously helped lewis hamilton win a great many championships, until he lost his seat to george russell in 2022. there was a rather awkward part of the 2021 season where valtteri knew that he was out of a merc seat the following year and kind of just chose violence. he slayed. then he went to alpha romeo, grew a mullet and made a calendar of his ass. quite the glow up if you ask me. hes also very interested in cycling. honestly though, i have my own personal speculation that hes going to retire at the end of this year.

zhou guanyu. 24 years old. driver for stake f1 (alpha romeo/kick sauber, etc etc). hes doing alright. he just finished his second season, in his first season he was majorly out qualified by valtteri but this past season he managed to out qualify him a good 6 times. which is decently good for the tractor of a car hes driving. its possible that he could get a contract extension, but like logan, its probably going to depend on how the 2024 season goes for him.

and thats all the drivers. theres also a few others i didnt talk about, like some other f2 drivers who want seats and mick schumacher, who is currently a merc reserve driver, all of which could be contenders for f1 seats. but one things for sure. this is going to be the silliest fucking silly season.

feel free to add on and peer review me

[kkbarksdale]

Day 2- Lindquist Beach

Sunday, April 30th, 2023

Cody and I woke up at the crack of dawn due to the chickens (again) and a full night’s sleep. We headed down the hill by foot to grab our daily Lattes in Paradise breakfast. The barista at Lattes stole our hearts and actually ended up knowing our names by the end of the trip. After breakfast, we completed our workout routine and got ready for the day. We decided to pack lunch and Cody made some BOMB chicken honey mustard wraps. Once we were all packed up and ready, we decided to venture over to Lindquist Beach for the day. This beach is known as being the secondest prettiest beach on St. Thomas and actually gives Magen’s Bay a run for it’s money. Lindquist does not have amenities like Magen’s such as the beach bar and grill, that’s their “downside”. 

Arriving at Lindquist, we were blown away by the crystal blue water. It was a perfect, beautiful beach. There were trees scattered along the back end of the beach where we found some shade. We immediately knew we wanted to bring our family here when they arrived on Thursday. Cody and I enjoyed the beautiful, quiet beach. We encountered the cutest black kitty that enjoyed the shade of our picnic table. We tried to feed him water, but he was really only interested in food which we didn’t have. He looked like a Bert and he was the only stray cat that we encountered that I would want to take home. We had heard from the lifeguard that there was good snorkeling to the right side of the beach, but unfortunately we did not have snorkel gear. At some point in the day, we saw a Caribbean local come out into the water with a floating bar. He went around the beach selling drinks. We heard from the lifeguard that he only comes out on Sunday and uses the tips that he makes to buy the bottles of liquor. He does this for fun on Sundays and his day job was a driver for some heads of the local government. 

Cody and I decided we would go out to dinner this night since we had packed lunch and been eating well. Our plan for Monday was to spend the entire day at St. John and then go to dinner that night. After some discussion, we realized that going to a nice restaurant for dinner after a day of beach hopping, did not make much sense. So far, we had only been making it barely 4 hours in the sun each day. We decided that we would go to St. John on the “people ferry” for dinner at Morgan’s Mango. Once we had our fill of Lindquist, we headed home to get ready for our first fancy island dinner on St. John. We called and made reservations for 7pm. This was the only day that Cody and I managed to lay down to try to nap. 

We headed over to the “people ferry” where we waited in line to board. They had a pretty cool bar but you had to finish your drink before boarding so we opted not to grab a cocktail. We decided to sit on top of the ferry out in the elements. We met a really cool couple from Nashville, Tim and Alicia. Tim had long hair, overalls, and a dirty cowboy hat. TIm enthralled Cody with his stories of being a good musician in Nashville. Turns out, they were actually heading to St. John for their friend’s wedding. They gave us some marriage advice- never give up/quit on the same day. He told us a story of how he recieved that advice from an older couple in their life and was pleased to pass it on. 

Once we got off the boat, we walked and explored the shops right by the port. They had many quaint shops but we did not end up buying anything. We made our way over to Morgan’s Mango for dinner. We arrived about an hour earlier than our reservation time. The restaurant was so cute. It was a beautiful open air restaurant with palm trees and stunning views. The sun was setting and although it was not a clear view, the light shining through the palms was mesmerizing. I ordered a pomegranet martini and Cody ordered a whiskey cocktail. Both of our drinks were so refreshing and tasty. We decided not to get an appetizer, so we just ordered entrees. I ordered one of the catches of the day which was halibut which came with rice and beans. Cody ordered the cocnut crusted grouper. Both of our meals were so tasty. Mine was refreshing and healthy, and Cody’s was tasty and sweet. We decided to order their famous key lime pie to go to eat when we got home. We rode on the people ferry back home and actually saw a couple that had just gotten married on St. John! We sat behind some crazy ladies that were about to go out in St. Thomas. The one lady wore a beautiful white dress that her mother had embroidered colorful patterns on. It was one of the prettiest dresses I’ve ever seen. The night/dusk sky was so gorgeous ferrying back over to St. Thomas. 

We came back home and ate our key lime pie, which was the best I’ve ever had! We had another early night and bought our car ferry tickets to head over to St. John with our Jeep the next day. 

[helliontherapscallion]

(Y/n) and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week: Monday

Tuesday     Wednesday     Thursday (Part 1)     Thursday (Part 2)     Friday     Saturday     Sunday

Spotify Playlist (collaborative)

Pairing: SBI x sister!reader (she/her pronouns)

Warnings: swearing, toxic friends, panic spirals/attacks, injury, taking pills for pain

Summary: you have a very bad week, how will you manage? (Characters are fully human, but based on their DSMP characters. High school AU)

Word count: 4,818

(A/N): I’ve never played volleyball or watched Haikyuu before, so I’m not 100% certain how games work. Also, I probs should’ve split this into two parts, but eh.

“(Y/n) love, you look homeless in that sweater, it’s literally so fucking ugly.”

“Haha, yeah it is. I guess I just wasn’t really trying today.”

Adrian snorted, scanning your body with his cold eyes. “Today? You don’t try at all. You always look like trash.”

“More than trash, you always look like you just rolled in dog shit.” Sammy threw her head back and cackled at her own joke.

Your friends around you erupted in laughter as you four walked down the hallways of the hell that was your public high school. You awkwardly chuckled alongside them, you didn’t really find it funny, but you didn’t want to draw more attention towards yourself. 

“Seriously, (y/n), I really don’t know why we still hang out around you anymore. You really let yourself go.”

“Yeah, now that I think about it, you did gain like five pounds in the past week.”

“Really not a good look on you, love. Then again, nothing you do can make you look good anymore.”

You tried to not let their comments get to you, you really did, but sometimes their comments just rooted themselves deep into your subconscious. You didn’t try looking good anymore, you couldn’t wear anything without them criticising it. You could never win. 

“Awe,” Adrien poked your cheeks, “stop looking so sad. We’re just trying to give you advice. You really need it.”

“Yeah, (y/n). You’re so sensitive, get a grip.”

“Guys look, I think she’s gonna cry!” 

You wiped at your welling eyes with the sleeves of your sweater. “I’m not. I just got allergies.”

Annie rolled her eyes. “Uh-huh. Anyways, what are our plans for Halloween? We should totally dress up like sexy angels! I think that’d be so cool. Like, Clint’s party won’t be ready for us.”

“Oh, about that Annie…”

“God, what now (y/n)?”

“I was actually planning on spending Halloween night taking Tommy and Tubbo trick-or-treating with my brothers and dad. I won’t be able to go with you guys, I’m sorry.”

The group groaned loudly. “C’mon (y/n), you never hang out with us anymore.”

“Oh my god (y/n) you still go trick-or-treating? We’re juniors.”

“I’m sorry, I’ve just been busy with my AP classes and studying for the SAT. My team captain’s really been pushing the team hard with volleyball practice. State finals are soon and we want first this year.”

“No matter how much studying you do, you’re gonna fail. You’re stupid, so why try? Just give up and hang out with uuussss.”

“Yeah (y/n),” Adrien looked at you suspiciously, “you’ve been ignoring us lately. I thought we were friends. Do you even wanna be friends anymore?”

You felt a flare of panic flare up in your gut. “I do! I-I just have so much going on right now. It’s starting to get hard to juggle everything.”

“We’re starting to think that you don’t like us anymore, we want our (y/n) back!” Sammy whined. The others agreed with her, making you feel guilty. You were ignoring them, it was selfish in your opinion. You supposed that you could skip out on taking Tommy and Tubbo trick-or-treating, there’ll be other years you could take them. 

“I guess I can take Tommy and Tubbo another year. They’d just have to go without me this year.”

They cheered, giving you praise. You beamed at that, they seemed down lately and you loved it when they’d give you compliments. They didn’t do that much, so that made their praise more special to you. You strived to get compliments.

You four went off to your separate first classes for the day. Yours was statistics, a class you’ve been struggling in lately. You didn’t know anybody in there except for your oldest brother Techno, so you tried to stick with him. Unfortunately, the teacher’s seating chart placed you both on opposite ends of the room, probably because of your last names indicating that you’re siblings. You placed your stuff down on the table and plopped down into your seat, already drained. You had a long day ahead of you; you had a major AP world history test in your next class, you had to give a presentation in your AP english class that was worth a quarter of your final grade, and you had a semifinals volleyball match that would last until late in the night. If your team won, you would be going to state finals, so it was a lot of pressure on your shoulders. You were the main setter, so you had to really focus tonight if you were going to score your team points. 

“Alright class, pull out your homework!”

Fuck, you had homework? You looked in your folder, only to see the unfinished sheet full of equations you didn’t understand staring back at you tauntingly. Mr. Mullins walked over to your desk, took one look at your blank homework, and just walked right past you. Another big fat zero in the gradebook for you, just what you needed. At least he wasn’t in the mood to berate you today. You didn’t need any more stress piled onto your shoulders. 

The lesson felt like it dragged on forever with you frantically trying to copy down the notes on the board and trying to understand the content at the same time. Overtime, he would call students up to the board. Hopefully, he would skip over you today. “Ms. Minecraft.” Goddamn it, you spoke too soon.

Your head perked up and you looked at him. “Yes sir?”

“Come up to the board and solve this.”

Gulping, you felt panic rise up in you and stood up with shaky knees. On the board was part of the newer content he was just teaching. Something that you understood only a little bit better than the rest, and that’s not saying much. You still didn’t understand the content completely. Your writing was shaky as you wrote what you thought was right on the board. Finding the answer, you circled it and looked at Mr. Mullins. He looked disappointed. 

“That’s wrong, Ms. Minecraft. Please sit down.”

You felt like your face was on fire as you saw the entire class burning holes into you with their eyes. Though they looked dead inside, as per usual with any morning class full of tired teenagers, their effects still took hold on you. You wanted to crawl into a dark hole and die. You sat back down and stared at your note packet, you couldn’t focus on the lecture anymore. Your attention was fully on your surroundings, you were hyper aware of every little whisper and bouncing leg in your peripheral vision. You could feel yourself spiraling, usually that wouldn’t happen until after your third class. Today was going to be rough. 

The loud chime of the bell startled you out of your thoughts. You shakily put your papers back into your binder and put the binder back into your backpack. Right as you were about to walk through the door, you heard Techno catch up to you. “Hey, you good?”

“Yeah Tech, I’m just peachy.”

“Are you su-”

“Technoblade. I’m fine. Now if you excuse me, I have to get to my next class. I have an important presentation I’ve gotta prepare for.”

Without giving him any room to argue, you rushed off to your english class. You had Adrian and Annie in your class. For your presentation, you were paired up with people that you hardly knew. At least they did their part in the project, you were certain you were going to die if you got paired up with Adrian and Annie again. You loved them, but they never did any part of their portion of work. They left it to you to finish at midnight the day the project was due. To be fair, they both told you they had family emergencies, so you covered for them just that once. 

You pulled out your flashcards only to have them knocked out of your hand when someone bumped into you. You quickly crouched to pick them up so you could have them in order by time class started. “Oops, sorry love.”

It was Annie. She and Adrian towered over your crouched form smirking at you. Looking back down to rearrange your cards, you murmured “it’s ok.”

“Are you ready for this presentation, I know I am.”

You smiled a little. “Actually, I think I’m going to ace this. English is my best subject.”

“Yeah (y/n), I wasn’t asking you. I was talking to Annie. Besides, you’re probably going to fail this.” Adrian scoffed. 

“Thank you for asking, Adrian,” Annie shot a pointed look at you, “at least someone cares.”

The bell rang, signifying the start of your second block. You felt like you had a lump in your throat blocking your breathing. If Adrian, one of the smartest kids in your english class, said that you were going to fail, then you probably were going to fail. That would take a huge hit on your grade, this project was worth a quarter of your final grade after all. You were zoned out for the entirety of your classmate’s presentations putting yourself into a spiral. You jumped when Mr. Todd, your teacher, called your group up to present.

You stood stiffly in the middle of your two groupmates and clutched your flashcards with clammy hands. Luckily, your part of the presentation was not first. When it came to your part, you were stuttering and tumbling over your words. You even dropped your flashcards in front of everybody, causing half the class to snicker. Your face burned as you hurried to pick them up and your other groupmate took this as a signal to continue the presentation. You still had an important point to make that was integral for the set up to your other groupmate’s part of her presentation. You stared at your flashcards for the rest of the presentation. 

When the bell rang, you made a mad dash out of the classroom. You didn’t want to talk to anybody, especially not Adrian or Annie. It was a relief that you had your lunch period at the moment. You could hide yourself in the bathroom nobody used and let your panic attack ride itself out. 

You ducked inside a stall and sat on the toilet, bringing your knees up to bury your face in them. The tears and panic you were holding in all day let itself out with explosive effects. You started to hyperventilate as you muffled your sobs with your knee. Your chest painfully clenched so you couldn’t breathe. Your limbs felt like they weighed two tons each and they were shaking intensely. You didn’t hear the end of the lunch bell ring. By the time you calmed down slightly, you were five minutes late to AP world history. 

You packed your stuff up in a hurry, power walking through the halls. You probably looked like shit, but you didn’t care, you had a class to get to and a test that you probably wouldn’t be able to finish now. You lost ten minutes of your test time. When you tried to open the closed door, you found that it was locked. You had to knock if you wanted to get in. You raised a shaking hand to knock, but the door was opened by a less-than-impressed Ms. Osborne. She ushered you to your desk and gave you your unit test. 

You couldn’t focus. The multiple choice section was usually a breeze to you, but you couldn’t comprehend any of the questions. When you could comprehend them, you couldn’t concentrate on choosing an answer. You did your best to find the correct answers, but you were almost positive that at least half of them were wrong. Your handwriting was nearly incomprehensible and your essay topic was something you didn’t study for. When you were done with half of the body paragraphs, the bell rang and you had to turn in your unfinished test. 

You had your independent online psychology course next in the library. You usually worked alone secluded in a corner deep inside the library where nobody went. You would get some solace in being alone. Maybe you’d calm down enough so that you could ride home with your brothers and not go for a long walk so you could avoid them. 

You settled down in the comfortable chair and pulled out your laptop to get started. Psychology was your favorite class. It was easy for you to understand, it didn’t have much of a workload attached to it, and it was fun to learn about. It always calmed you down reading about the intricate workings of the brain. 

By time the day was over, you got most of your psychology work done and you were on your way to the car you shared with Technoblade and Wilbur. You took out your spare keys and slumped against the window in the backseat. You were absolutely drained after your terrible day and you still felt panic swirling deep within you, waiting for the right moment to strike. 

You stretched out your legs across the seat and leaned your back against the door. For the first time that day, you felt peaceful. You still had at least fifteen minutes to yourself until your brothers would start to make your way to the car. You felt the panic subside slightly and you fully relaxed. You closed your eyes and let yourself drift off into a light sleep. You needed your energy for tonight’s match. 

The door you were leaning on swung open and you tumbled backwards smacking the back of your head against the metal frame of the car and reverse scorpioning onto the pavement. Your entire upper back and the back of your head exploded in pain and your lower back hurt slightly from having your back bent uncomfortably. You heard laughter above you as you felt tears of pain start to slip out of your eyes. Your legs swung out from their place above your face and landed on the ground with a painful thump. 

You saw three blurry figures above you laughing at your pain. You reached up with a shaky hand to wipe at your tears and saw Adrian, Sammy, and Annie. They were cackling as you shakily stood up and sat on the comfortable seats of the car. You waited patiently for them to calm down. 

Eventually, Sammy calmed down enough to explain what happened to you through chuckles. “I’m sorry (y/n), it was just too good to resist. You should’ve seen your face.”

She and the others broke back into uncontrolled laughter as they remembered your embarrassing fall. You were used to their antics, and quite frankly it felt good to make your friends laugh, even if it were at your own expense. Just as they were calming down once again, you saw Wilbur and Techno walk out the front doors of the school laughing at something the other said. Annie and Sammy heard their laughter and quickly turned around to watch them. They had massive crushes on both of your brothers, many in the school did. 

Your brothers made their way to your shared car and stopped to look at you in slight confusion. “(Y/n), were you crying? What happened?” Wilbur asked worriedly. 

“Yea-”

“Oh Wilbur, it was terrible, (y/n) fell out of the car. I don’t think she closed the door before she leaned on it.” Annie interrupted you with a faked concerned tone, a complete contradiction to her reaction before your brothers came.

Techno hastily made his way to the driver’s side door. “Well, if she’s hurt we better get going, right Wilbur?”

“Yes! We better get going, please excuse us.” He sat in the passenger seat and closed the door without hearing Sammy and Annie’s desperate attempts to stop them so they could talk to them. Your brothers thought Sammy and Annie were annoying. They absolutely hated being around them. 

Waving apologetically at your friends, you pulled yourself into the car and closed the door. Annie and Sammy looked offended that you had let Wilbur and Techno get away from them. Avoiding their eyes, you looked down at your tightly clasped hands. They were shaking slightly. 

After pulling out of the parking lot, Techno glanced at you from the rearview mirror. “You ok (y/n)?”

“Yeah, my back just hurts and I have a headache.”

“Well, do you wanna go and get some ice cream? We still have some time left before we have to pick up Tommy and Tubbo. Dad doesn’t have to know,” Wilbur asked you.

You sighed, you wanted nothing other than to take a nap before your match. “Sorry, but I need to watch what I eat today. We have semifinals tonight and I can’t have anything sugary. I just wanna go home and take a nap.”

Your brothers were quiet for the rest of the car ride until you reached your driveway. Techno twisted his body around in his seat to look at you after he put the car in park. “Did you actually fall out of the car?”

Shit, should you tell him the truth? If you did, they would almost certainly get mad at your friends. Sammy and Annie would never forgive you if you turned your brothers against them. You decided that you would take one for the team again. “Yeah, I wasn’t paying attention.” 

Techno snorted. “Well, that was stupid,” he jokingly said. “Next time you’re gonna get run over by a parked car.”

You knew that he meant that as a joke, but it still stung. Stamping your emotions down, you laughed with him and Wilbur. It was stupid of you to do, you shouldn’t have let your guard down if you weren’t at home. 

You winced as you slung your bag on your back and walked the best you could back into your house. Your upper back was killing you. You made a beeline to the bathroom and rummaged through the medicine cabinet looking for some pain relief pills. You took some and shambled off to your room to take your well earned nap. You set your alarm’s setting to its loudest volume and passed out. 

You jolted up and gasped when you felt a wave of pain hit your upper back. You blearily looked at the time. You had a little under two hours before you had to get back to the school for your match. You groaned when you pulled yourself up, your head pounding with every turn. You pulled yourself out of bed and once again took some pain pills. You went downstairs to grab an apple or something to eat. Your dad was at the stove stirring something around in a pot. 

He turned to look at you with an excited smile. “You ready for your match tonight? You’re gonna kill it!” 

You only nodded halfheartedly and plopped yourself down at the table with your apple. Philza frowned at your lack of enthusiasm, but he figured that it was just because you just woke up from a nap. You’d bounce back eventually. 

“Wilbur told me that you fell out of the car? How’d you do that?”

You shrugged, wincing slightly as it moved your back slightly. “Dunno, must’ve not closed the door.”

Philza was at your side in a hurry, his hands hovering over your shoulders. “Did you get hurt? Show me where it hurts.”

“My back and the back of my head.”

“Can I move your shirt so I could look?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

You felt him gently pull the neck of your t-shirt away from your body to peek at your back. You heard his breath hitch as he looked. Was it that bad? “Good god (y/n),” he breathed out.

“What, is it bad?”

“Don’t you feel how bad it is? Your entire back is bruised. I think there’s some blood too.”

“Damn.”

“First, language. Second, that’s all you have to say? Aren’t you in pain?”

“Yeah, but the pain pills are gonna kick in soon. I’ll be fine.”

“Would you be able to play tonight? I really think you should sit this one out.”

“No, I’m playing tonight Dad.”

“(Y/n),” oh no, he was using his stern dad voice. “It’s not a good idea to play tonight. You’re hurt, I’m sure they’ll understand if you sit this one out.”

You felt frustration rise up in you. “We’re in the semifinals. They need me, I’m the main setter. They’d lose without me playing.”

“(Y/n), I’m serious. You’re not playing today.”

“Dad, I am playing today. Look, I’ll talk to Coach Williams to see if I could be rotated out more often. I know she’d let me.”

He stared at you for a while before sighing. He knew there was no convincing you. “...Fine. But you better talk to Coach Williams about sitting out for a bit if your back hurts too much or I swear I’ll drag you off the court myself.”

You smiled a little at the small victory. “Thank you! I promise I’ll sit out if needed.”

He quirked an eyebrow at you. “If needed?”

You sighed, “when needed.”

He walked over to the pot, stirring the contents slightly. “That’s better. Dinner’s almost ready, I made some pasta.”

“It smells good, but I think I’m skipping out on it for today. I already ate this apple and if I eat any more I’ll probably hurl on the court.”

He made a displeased noise in the back of his throat, “fine, but you’re eating something when we get home tonight.”

He walked off to go get your brothers and Tubbo for dinner. You could hear their booming steps racing down the stairs towards the kitchen. They raced into the kitchen and almost crashed into the back of your chair. You stood up and looked at the two excitable fifth graders. “Careful boys, don’t want you getting hurt.”

“You’re no fun (y/n),” Tommy whined.

“Sure, sorry bout that,” Tubbo beamed at you.

You chuckled, making your way upstairs to get ready for your match. You took off your clothes with great difficulty and slipped on your jersey and your spandex shorts. They were way too short for your tastes, but you couldn’t wear longer ones, they’d just get in the way. You fondly remembered how your dad flipped out when he first saw you in them, he hated them with a burning passion. He still hates how short they are.

When you were struggling with pulling your hair back into a tight, sleek ponytail, the back of your head throbbed continuously with pain. You most likely bruised your scalp. 

You slipped on your shoes that were made specifically for playing volleyball and headed downstairs. You were met with Tommy and Tubbo jumping in excitement seeing you in your uniform. They loved going to your matches, even if they would always pass out in the car after them because matches usually ended late at night. You grabbed your dad’s keys and headed to his car. Before you could lead the boys out the door, Philza’s voice stopped you.

“(Y/n), coat.”

You huffed, grabbing your coat and putting it on before tossing him his keys. You four got into the car and set out for the high school. The short drive was filled with Tommy and Tubbo asking you questions about volleyball and encouraging you. “(Y/n), you’re gonna kick their butts!”

“Yeah!” Tubbo cheered 

Despite their voices causing a spike of pain to shoot throughout your head, you laughed at their enthusiasm. It was always nice to hear your little brother and pseudo brother in the stands cheering you on, they were your and your team’s personal cheerleaders. 

Not long after you got to the school, you were stretching with your team on the gym’s floor. Your posse found their way into the stands, sitting in the front row. The away team watched your team like a hawk, analysing every single player for any weakness. It was because of them that you tried to not show any pain when you moved your back. You talked to Coach Williams before the team stretch and she was obviously sympathetic with your situation. She agreed to switching you out with the standby setter every few rotations. 

The echo of the whistles caused pain to ring in your head every time someone scored or a foul was called. Your team captain, Haley, was constantly, yet discreetly checking on you throughout the game since she was always next to you. She was the team’s main spiker after all. 

The game droned on and on before you realized that the opposing team was targeting you when they were offensive. They probably realized that you were injured a round ago. You tried your best to block every ball that was sent your way, but a few managed to slip past you when you couldn’t move fast enough. This team was good, but your team was better. 

The score during the final round was tied and the clock was on it’s last ten seconds as the ball soared your way. You dove to hit it, landing on your shoulder on the hard floor and hitting it up high enough for Haley to spike the ball down. The crowd went wild as the ball bounced off from the opposite end of the court almost simultaneously with the screeching of the referee’s whistle, signifying the end of the game and your team’s victory.

You laid on the floor in pain, you thought you must’ve pulled your tender muscles in your back and shoulder. It hurt to move it. You felt one of your teammates grab your hand to yank you up into a giant full team group hug. You yelped slightly in pain as you felt arms press against your back and hands firmly patting your bruised shoulders. You were whisked away into the locker room to change into the pajamas you brought with you. 

“(Y/n), are you alright? That was a pretty hard fall.” Haley’s soft voice asked you. You felt your heart sing in your chest. 

“Yeah Hales, I’m fine. I just pulled a few muscles.”

Her perfectly shaped eyebrows furrowed together, “are you sure? As your team captain and your friend, I’m worried about you.”

You couldn’t help the smile that spread across your face. You felt warm knowing that she cared about you. “I’m sure, worrywart.”

She rolled her eyes playfully and breathed out a soft laugh. “Sorry for asking, grump.” Her laugh sounded like music to your ears. 

Your phone vibrated in your pajama pocket, alerting you of your family waiting for you in the car and for you to hurry up. You sighed, “sorry Hales, I gotta go. Dad’s getting impatient.” 

She gave you a small smile. “Oh, well, tell your family I said hi! Good work on the court today, I wouldn’t ask for a different setter.”

You felt your cheeks warm up and you watched with wide eyes as she left the locker room. Your phone vibrated again, your dad was really starting to get impatient. 

You walked out of the school as fast as you could to find your dad’s car waiting for you up front. Jumping in and softly closing the passenger side door, you slumped against the window. “(Y/n),” Tommy’s tired voice slurred. “That. Was. Pog…”

You glanced back to see him and Tubbo snoring away in their seats. Your match was more exciting than usual, so that must’ve really tired them out. You chuckled, turning back around to lean against the window. You took care not to put any weight on your shoulder or back. 

“(Y/n), you were amazing out there, but why did you dive for that ball? That fall looked like it hurt.”

You hummed tiredly, “thanks Dad. I just did what I thought would win us the game. We’re going to finals!” You quietly sang. 

“Did you hurt your shoulder?”

“I actually don’t know, but I think I might’ve pulled a few muscles. Nothing too bad.”

“...I scheduled a doctor’s appointment for you tomorrow morning during your first and second blocks. I want you to get your back, shoulder, and head looked at. You looked miserable the entire match.”

You sighed, too tired to argue, “mmk.”

He chuckled before the car fell into a comfortable silence. The gentle bouncing of the car and the subtle hum of the engine was lulling you to sleep. Your eyelids were drooping by the time you pulled into your driveway. 

You drug yourself out of the car and into the house, leaving Philza with the sleeping boys. You walked straight to your room and plopped down on your bed, passing out instantly for the second time that day.

Series taglist (comment if you want to be added):

[chaeryybomb]

BRUTAL

pairings: female reader x best friend!jungwon

summary: they told you that these were the golden years, but to you "golden" was a rusting metal spray painted yellow. the story of a seventeen year old trying to survive high school when all you do is try your best. but your best friend jungwon makes it worth the while. 

genre: high school au, friends to lovers, fluff, tiny bits of angst if you squint, attempt at humour

featuring: jang wonyoung, kim sunoo & nishimura riki 

word count: 4.5k 

warnings: reader having a existential crisis most of the time, strong language, mentions of insecurity

the sour series masterlist

You slumped forward the moment the bell rang, letting your head hit the table. You could care less if a bruise would form on your forehead, you had much bigger things to worry about. Your teacher left the class wordlessly as the class was busy doing their own thing. And by that, everyone was buried nose deep in studying. You lifted your head to see the different books of the same topic scattered on your desk, a yellow highlighter balancing on the edge of your table.

Reaching over to grab the highlighter, you turned your head over to the side to look at your desk mate. Wonyoung sat there looking straight out from a k-drama, with her hair flowing down her back perfectly and her slender nimble fingers moving as she continuously wrote in her notebook. She was smart too, fluent in English and Korean, great at maths and science. And on top of that she was kind and friendly, everyone loved her. You did too, you had the honour of calling her your best friend. But sometimes you felt insecure around her, everything she did looked flawless and there you were just trying your best.

"Ack!" You yelped as you sat up straight, holding your forehead. Wonyoung rolled her eyes at you with a small smile on her lips, she had flicked your forehead to get you out of your thoughts.

Without taking her eyes off the textbook, she tapped your own workbook with her pen. Silently telling you to stop procrastinating. You pouted at her and looked at the clock, 10 minutes before lunch. Maybe a walk to the girl's bathroom would do you some good.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom," you whispered to Wonyoung. She nodded and smiled at you before you walked out.

As you strolled towards the girl's bathroom, you passed by the bulletin board outside your class. A bright blue poster stood out with the words "ENJOY YOUR YOUTH" in white. Scoffing at the message, you continued on your way.

"I'm seventeen now, where's my fucking teenage dream?" You muttered to yourself. You were tired of waiting for your life to end up like a coming of age movie. Everyone told you that these were the golden years and you should enjoy your youth, but you swear to god if you hear another one of those cheesy sayings, you might just cry on the spot.

Reaching over to open the stall door, you halt in your actions when you heard familiar voices talking.

"I'm so worried for finals, my parents are gonna kill me if I fail English again," a girl complained. You hear the sound of tap water running. "How are you so calm during this time, Mirae?'

"What's the use of studying hard anyways," the second girl, Mirae, said. "We all know the top spots are gonna be taken by Jang Wonyoung and Yang Jungwon, I just study enough to pass."

The other girl snorted at her reply. "Imagine if those two got together, the power couple of the year," she suddenly said.

"Poor Y/N then, she's gonna be over shadowed by them."

"As if she already isn't. I almost forgot they were a trio until you mentioned Y/N," the girl laughed.

"What can I say? They're out of her league," Mirae joined in with her laughter.

The two voices faded away as you heard the door closed. Finally pushing the door open, you looked at your reflection. Your eyebrows knitted in annoyance and your face was morphed in a scowl. You washed your hands aggressively and poked the inside of your cheek. What bugged you was that they were right. You were the black sheep between Wonyoung and Jungwon. Both of them were smart and amazing, and you're just…you.

You love your best friends, you truly do. But you were constantly compared to them and you hated it. Everyone wanted them, you watched as guys tripped over to confess to Wonyoung and girls squealing when Jungwon smiled at them. The two of them always reassured you that you weren't beneath them but you were sick of their sympathy. You're so caught up in the news of who likes you and who hates them. You just wished people liked you more.

Storming out of the bathroom, someone accidentally ran into you and caused you to fell onto your butt. The student immediately stood up and scurried off, not bothering to even a mutter an apology. All I did was try my best and this is the thanks I get, you thought bitterly.

They said that these were the golden years, but you wished you could just disappear. God, it's brutal out here.

"Y/N, wait up!" Jungwon called after you.

You stopped in your tracks as you watched Jungwon waved goodbye to some students before jogging towards you.

"You heading to cram school today?" He asked you as the both of you fell into the same walking rhythm.

You shook your head, clasping your hands behind. "I moved it to Thursday instead, Wonyoung said I had to many things on Tuesday," you told him. Originally, you would be heading to the library to study before heading over to the cram school. But Wonyoung took one look at your schedule and decided that you did not had enough breaks, so she managed to convince you to take the Thursday slot instead. Thursdays are one of the days where you would not go to the library.

Jungwon seemed to be disappointed to find out that you had switched slots. Maybe he should changed slots too, but does he have any empty spots open for Thursday though? He'd have to check later. Instead, he coughed and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"Do you wanna come over later? The new Demon Slayer movie is out," he offered, hoping that you'd accept.

Unfortunately, you once again shook your head. "Sorry Jungwon, I'd want to cram even more later. Finals are really creeping in and I can't afford to waste any time," you told him with a sad smile. As much as you would like to ditch the books and watch Demon Slayer, the glaring C on your last history paper was telling you otherwise.

You stopped walking when you had reached your doorstep. "Thanks for walking me home, Jungwon. See you tomorrow!" and with that you disappeared behind the door.

Jungwon waved goodbye as he watched the door closed. The smile on his face dropped and his shoulder sagged. Jungwon you idiot, of course she would want to study, he scolded himself. With disappointment on his face, he trudged home with a heavy heart.

"Change of plans, guys," he announced as he swung the front door open, unfazed by the fact that Riki and Sunoo were lounging on his coach. He accepted the fact that Sunoo had somehow gotten the keys to his house (suspecting that his mother probably gave it to him due to favouritism or maybe Riki had sneakily made a copy).

Riki's head poked out from the couch. "She rejected you, didn't she," the younger boy said with a smirk.

Jungwon's face ears turned red as he glared at the boy. "No she did not!" He immediately told him. "She rejected the offer to watch the movie, that's different!"

"That's basically rejection, hyung," Riki laughed.

The other boy just glared at him. "Shut up!" he sputtered out before hiking up the stairs.

Sunoo gave Riki a look, to which the Japanese boy just shrugged his shoulders innocently.

Jungwon walked out from the shower, a towel around his neck with one hand running through his damp hair. Sunoo and Riki had left earlier, finally giving him some peace and quiet. His phone screen was flashing from his study table, initiating that someone was spamming him (quite aggressively) with text message. With a raised eyebrow, he picked up his phone

[7:09 pm] wonyoung: JUNGWON

[7:09 pm] wonyoung: JUNGWON

[7:09 pm] wonyoung: JUNGWON

[7:10 pm] wonyoung: WHY DID Y/N JUST MESSAGED ME ABOUT HOMEWORK

[7:10 pm] wonyoung: ISNT SHE WITH YOU

[7:11 pm] wonyoung: I THOUGHT YOU SAID U WERE GONNA WATCH A MOVIE

[7:11 pm] wonyoung: DEMON HUNTER OR SMTG

[7:12 pm] wonyoung: WHY IS SHE ASKING ME FOR HW

[7:12 pm] wonyoung: DID U CHICKEN OUT???

[7:13 pm] wonyoung: omg u chickened out didnt u

[7:14 pm] jungwon: jfc wonyoung

[7:15 pm] jungwon: and no i did not chicken out okay

[7:15 pm] jungwon: she declined

[7:16 pm] jungwon: she said she had to study ;-;

[7:17 pm] wonyoung: omg u suck

[7:17 pm] wonyoung: i told u the movie idea was dumb

[7:18 pm] wonyoung: but do u ever listen to me

[7:18 pm] wonyoung: no

[7:19 pm] wonyoung: and now u suffer the consequences

[7:20 pm] jungwon: yea yea i get it im dumb

[7:20 pm] jungwon: now what's ur solution the great jang wonyoung

[7:21 pm] wonyoung: i am so glad u asked :)

[7:21 pm] jungwon: oh no

[7:21 pm] wonyoung: stfu im giving u a better idea

[7:22 pm] wonyoung: a n y w a y s

[7:22 pm] wonyoung: my ynradar is going off and she's s a d

[7:23 pm] jungwon: how would u know

[7:23 pm] jungwon: she seemed fine today

[7:23 pm] wonyoung: stfu jungwon its best friend things u wont understand

[7:24 pm] jungwon: i-

[7:25 pm] wonyoung: and as her future bf u SHOULD start to train ur ynradar

[7:25 pm] wonyoung: anw its exam season stoopid

[7:26 pm] wonyoung: and its when those kids start to talk abt how the both of us are gonna get top scores

[7:26 pm] wonyoung: and they talk down on y/n while doing so

[7:26 pm] wonyoung: assholes

[7:27 pm] wonyoung: so i propose to u

[7:27 pm] wonyoung: a ✨ study date ✨

[7:28 pm] jungwon: i

[7:29 pm] jungwon: that's

[7:29 pm] jungwon: actually not a bad idea

[7:30 pm] wonyoung: obv i came up with it

[7:31 pm] jungwon: can u not

[7:31 pm] wonyoung: anw a study date

[7:32 pm] wonyoung: she's struggling in maths

[7:33 pm] wonyoung: specifically taxes because she said and i quote

[7:34 pm] wonyoung: "why do we have to do taxes when we pay people to do it for us"

[7:34 pm] wonyoung: so pls help her and try to cheer her up

[7:35 pm] wonyoung: and confess coward

[7:36 pm] jungwon: i make no promises for the last one

[7:36 pm] wonyoung: aFTER EVERYTHING I JUST SAID

[7:37 pm] jungwon: what if she rejects me wonyoung

[7:38 pm] wonyoung: WE'VE HAD THIS CONVERSATION A LOT OF TIMES JUNGWON

[7:38 pm] wonyoung: SHE LIKES U BUT SHES TOO DUMB TO REALISE

[7:39 pm] jungwon: sigh

[7:40 pm] jungwon: fine i'll try thanks wonyoung

[7:41 pm] wonyoung: np i expect y'all to be a couple by next monday <3

[7:41 pm] jungwon: i-

Sighing for the nth time of the night, Jungwon sat on his bed. He allowed the towel to slipped off his shoulders as his thumb hovered over your chat icon. Truth be told, he always thought his crush on you was unrequited love. You never showed any signs of returning of feelings so he thought he would just ignore the feeling until it was gone.

But oh boy was he wrong, because he didn't knew that he would be spending his high school years by your side. And now you occupy his mind 24/7. Wonyoung could literally tell that he was in love with you, but somehow you never caught on. He allowed Sunoo and Riki to convince him to do the whole "movie date idea", but that failed. So Wonyoung's suggestion was his only option left.

He typed out the message, ready to send it out. If only he could just press the button. Come on Yang Jungwon, you can do this. Just press the damn button Jungwon. Suddenly his phone pinged loudly, scaring the lights out of the poor boy as he yelped and his phone landed with a thud on the ground. He peered over his bed, as if his phone was a ticking bomb.

Oh, it was a message from you.

[8:01 pm] y/n: hey do u know where wonyoung is

[8:01 pm] y/n: she isn't answering my texts

Oh no. He realised that your chat was open, the two ticks indicated that he had (unintentionally) read the message. He couldn't just leave you on read. That's just evil. Scrambling to get his phone, he immediately typed a reply to cover for the other girl.

[8:02 pm] jungwon: sorry i don't :/

[8:02 pm] jungwon: what do u need her for

[8:03 pm] y/n: mf was supposed to teach me a maths question but she left me on rEAD

This was his chance! It was the perfect opportunity for him to score a date with you. Okay, breathe in breath out Jungwon. Don't mess it up and just ask her, he mentally prepared himself.

[8:04 pm] jungwon: oh i could help you if you want

[8:04 pm] jungwon: yk with finals coming up and everything, i can help you study

[8:05 pm] jungwon: if you want of course

[8:05 pm] y/n: omg srsly??

[8:06 pm] jungwon: pls help me study my braincells are literally dying

[8:07 pm] jungwon: jdsjkda okay how about this saturday at your place?

[8:08 pm] y/n: yeah sure

[8:08 pm] jungwon: cool its a date then!

You blinked at Jungwon's message. A date? Wait, did Yang Jungwon just indirectly asked you out? Nah, nah. You were overthinking it. Yes, definitely overthinking. Don't kid yourself, why would Jungwon ask you out on a date? Jungwon is just a friend, you tried to convince yourself.

Keyword: tried.

If he really was just a friend, then why did it felt like butterflies were in your stomach when he said "it was a date"? Then why did you frowned when those girls said that Wonyoung and Jungwon would make a good couple?

Oh god, do you have feelings for your best friend?

Saturday came faster than you would have liked it to. Ever since that last chat with Jungwon, it gave you the sudden realisation that you did in fact had feelings for your best friend. You tried so hard to avoid him in school because you don't want the butterflies back in your stomach. It was basically confirming the fact that you like him. Well, avoiding him also confirmed the fact but you choose to be in denial about it.

You didn't tell Wonyoung about your study date but lately she's been sending you outfit ideas on Pinterest. Specifically, date outftis. And whenever you tried to ask her a question about school, she brushed you off with a random excuse. So it left you no choice but to save those questions for Jungwon.

Speaking of Jungwon, he had texted you 10 minutes ago that he was on the way. You were standing in the middle of your room with your hands on your hips. Both of your parents were out for the day, which left you alone at home. You had taken out the low table to be used later and it was currently in front of you. Colourful workbooks were neatly stacked on top of it.

You did a 360 turn around your room. Was it messy? You cleaned it this morning when you woke up. Did you had any clothes out? No, doesn't look like it. For some reason, you were a nervous wreck. You blamed Jungwon. He just had to call this a date, didn't he.

Should you change? Maybe you should finally look through all those pins Wonyoung sent. Wait, no, why would you have to change into something nice. Jungwon was here to help you study, just that.

Yeah, a study date, your mind emphasised on the word.

The sound of the doorbell pulled you out from your thoughts. You immediately went to open the door. Yang Jungwon stood there on the other side, with his signature smile. Had he always resembled a sheep? He just looked so fluffy.

"Hey!" You greeted him with a smile, internally wincing at your way-too-enthusiastic voice.

But Jungwon didn't seem to mind it. "Hey!" he greeted back.

You moved to the side to let him in. "Thank you for having me," he said as he bowed then proceeded to remove his shoes.

"Uh, do you want anything? Water?" You asked him.

He shook his head.

"Ah, cool. Let's head to my room," you started to walk back to your room.

"Where are your parents?" He asked.

"Out," you simply replied.

That was when it dawned upon you, that your parents were not home. Leaving you and Jungwon, alone. Together. In your room. Alone. With the boy you potentially have a crush on.

"Y/N?" Jungwon tapped on your shoulder. You had stopped walking when you were suddenly washed over by your thoughts. Snapping out of it, you sent him a small smile before opening the room to your door.

The both of you shuffled into your bedroom, you sat down in front of the low table while Jungwon settled down next to you. He moved to take out his books then turned to you. "How about we do some studying and if you have any questions, you can ask me okay?" He said.

You nodded and flipped your own workbook open, immediately starting to work on the first question. Jungwon copied your action and a comfortable silence engulfed the both of you. As the time passed, you found yourself stuck on a certain maths question.

You slightly turned your head to the side to look at Jungwon. He was concentrated at doing his work, you felt a sense of deja vu while looking at him. He resembled Wonyoung when she was studying. At the thought of Wonyoung, you suddenly thought of what those girls said at the bathroom.

They would make a good couple, wouldn't they, you thought. The power couple of the year.

The butterflies in your stomach faded away into an uncomfortable feeling. Just the idea of them getting together already made you sick. You bit the inside of your cheek, you really did had feelings for him. And now it scared you because what if he doesn't feel the same. You made a mental note to consult with Wonyoung later, at least you hope that you'll allow yourself to tell her.

Jungwon must've noticed you staring and gently tapped your head with his pencil. A contrast to when Wonyoung painfully flicked your forehead.

"What's wrong? Are you stuck on a question?" He asked.

You leaned back a bit at the sudden action. You were so deep in your insecurities that you had totally forgotten about the literal problem sitting in front of you. Yet you couldn't even bother to ask him so you just shook your head. "I'm gonna get something to drink," you said instead.

Jungwon watched as you stood up, then decided to follow you as well. "I'll come along."

The boy joined you in the kitchen, perched on one of the island stools as you grabbed a can of soda from the fridge. He studied your movement as you worked around the kitchen. Your features were neutral, you weren't smiling nor frowning. But he could tell that your shoulders were tensed. Wonyoung was right, you did seem down. And he cursed himself for not noticing earlier.

"You okay?" His question made you stopped in a mid-pour stance, the can of soda was tilted but not enough for the contents to be poured out.

You brushed his question off and poured the drink into the cup. "Yeah," you hummed.

Unconvinced by your answer, he pried more. "You know you shouldn't care about what they say, right?"

You furrowed your eyebrows at him, pretending like you didn't understand where he was coming from.

"You're not below us, you know that right?"

You couldn't help but scoffed at his words. Jungwon's lips tugged downwards "I'm being serious here, Y/N," his tone was stern. "You shouldn't listen to what they say. You're more than just-"

The sound of the can being slammed down shuts him up. Your fingers tightened around the can as you looked at him. You didn't had the energy to hear him preach the same old "Don't Listen To Them" speech. You don't need his pity.

"I don't want to hear it, Yang Jungwon," you said through gritted teeth. Not sparing him another glance, you threw the empty can into the trash as you grabbed your glass.

As you walked past Jungwon, he suddenly reached out and held onto your forearm. "Y/N," he said softly. "Please tell me what's wrong."

You sighed and slowly turn around to face him, placing the glass back on the counter. You took in a deep breath before you opened your mouth. "I feel like I'm not enough," you finally said. "Everything I do just doesn't seem enough. All I'm doing is my best but it's just crushing my ego because everyone is telling me that you're better than me."

"I feel like no one wants me and I hate the way I'm perceived. It's always poor Y/N this and poor Y/N that's because everyone just sees me as your shadow and I fucking hate it. I only have two real friends," you gestured wildly. "And lately I'm a nervous wreck cause I keep comparing myself to the two of you. I'm not cool and I'm not smart, and I can't even parallel park!" You threw your hands up in frustration, the feelings you kept inside were pouring out like a waterfall.

Jungwon just stood there as he listened tentatively to every word. He didn't knew that you felt this way, bottling up all your emotions like that.

"And I'm so tired of people telling me to enjoy my youth and that these are the golden years. I might just fucking cry if I hear those words again," you finished ranting. It felt good, it felt like a weight on your heart has been lifted. Then you remembered that you just dumped all of it on Jungwon.

You opened your mouth to apologise to him but he surprised you by pulling him into his arms. At first you were standing stiffly at the sudden contact, but it took a millisecond for you to melt in his embrace. His arms were gently around your back and you returned the hug by wrapping your arms around his torso. The two of you stay in that position for awhile, relishing in each other's embrace. You definitely needed this hug.

Tightening your hold on Jungwon, you realised how important he was to you. He was your best friend and he was always there for you. It was stupid of you to compare yourself to him, when all he did was tried his best for you. The taller boy chuckled when he felt you rubbed your face into his shoulder, he involuntarily released a contented sigh. You felt one of his hands stroked your hair, it felt comforting. That action itself was enough for the butterflies to slowly settled back in you.

After a while, both of you finally (unwillingly) released each other. He pushed a strand of hair behind your ears and said, "You're wrong by the way." Which made you tilt your head in genuine confusion.

"You are cool and you are smart. You're like the coolest person I know. And no one thinks of you as our shadow, you don't hear it but I've always hear the juniors praising you for helping them and how enthusiastic you are," the way he delivered his words was filled with pure awe for you.

"And who cares if you can't parallel park. You didn't hear it from but Jay hyung failed his drivers test three times just because he couldn't parallel park," and that got a laugh out from you. Jungwon smiled proudly that he managed to make you laugh. "And you're wrong when you said no one wants you. I want you."

You blinked once, twice and thrice. He wanted you? "You're just saying that cause you're my best friend," you replied.

"No," he firmly said. "I like you, Y/N."

(Jungwon doesn't know where he got this sudden surge of confidence, but the mood was the perfect time for him to confess. It was a one time chance and he had to take it.)

You chuckled. "I like you too, Jungwon. We are friends aren't we?"

"No, Y/N. I like you. More than friends."

"Oh." Oh.

"Yeah," he scratched the back of neck awkwardly. Oh no, did you not feel the same way?

While you on the other hand, were malfunctioning on the inside. Your best friend just confessed to you and you were frozen on the spot. Why couldn't he had done it over text instead. If he had done it over text, then you could've left the message unread and you could've spammed Wonyoung for help. But the thing is that it wasn't over text and you couldn't just tell him to wait here while you panicked to Wonyoung in your bathroom.

Yang Jungwon likes you. And you like him too, right? Because if you didn't, your cheeks won't be heating up right now and your heart would have not be beating rapidly like it was going to break your rib cage any second. If you didn't like him, there would have never been butterflies in your stomach. Yeah. You like Yang Jungwon, you like him a lot.

"Me too," you whispered, it was soft but it was enough for him to pick it up. Jungwon eyes snapped to you, doe eyed filled with hope. "I like you, too," you said, this time louder. And you made sure you looked him in the eye when you confessed.

You watched as Jungwon's mouth morphed into a big grin. He let out a sigh of relief and dropped to his knees, surprising you. "Jungwon!" you squeaked, bending down to help him.

"I'm fine! I'm fine," he assured you as he stood up with your help. The grin on his face was still there. "It's just that … you like me," he breathed out. "You like me back, wow. I-I can't believe it."

Your face was definitely burning with embarrassment. You punched him lightly on the shoulder, turning away to hide your face. "Believe it, you dork. I like you, okay!" Somehow his grin was able to grew wider at your words, Gently, he took your hand in his.

"How about we stop this study date, and I'll take you out on real date?"

© chaeryybomb 2021

a/n: thank you so much for reading this <3

[jikookiekosmos]

Make Me || pjm

➥Pairing: dom!jimin/sub!reader, ceo!jimin, boss!jimin/employee!reader

➥Summary: After a bad breakup, you decide to go out one night and drink your sorrows away - that is, until you see your now ex-boyfriend there with someone clinging to his arm. To get your mind off of things, you go back to your job after hours; what you don’t expect is for your boss and CEO of the company, Park Jimin, to show up and offer you help in ways you didn’t know you needed.

➥Genre: smut, fluff, slight angst, mutual pining

➥Rating: 18+

➥Words: ~15.3k

➥Content Warnings: mentions of cheating, making out, marking/biting, dirty talk, cursing, sub!reader, dom!jimin, some bdsm elements (reader’s hands are bound during parts of it), slight exhibitionism, hair pulling, safe word (jimin has a consent kink, we love to see it), oral (f. receiving), fingering, slight spanking, jimin has a sir kink, jimin calls the reader princess a lot, body worship (jimin really likes the reader’s thighs), multiple orgasms, slight handjob, slight oral (m. receiving), reader fawns over jimin’s tattoo (we all know the one), unprotected sex (reader is on the pill), rough sex, possessive!jimin, cumming inside, praise, aftercare, jimin is soft for the reader, they also banter and it’s cute, also let’s all have a moment of silence for jimin’s desk

A/N: ok so I had a little bit of a hard time finishing this one because I felt like I might be getting repetitive or boring, etc. and I was unhappy with how it was turning out for a while and thought I may not actually be able to complete it. BUT I finally finished it and I hope anyone who reads it enjoys it! Please let me know what you think, if you’d like~

As always, special thank you to @dntaewithluv​ for always supporting me and offering encouragement (being my biggest hype-person particularly for this work), and for also basically being my beta reader for everything. Especially helping me catch my typos, you are truly a blessing and I’m very grateful for you. ❤

➥Masterlist

⊱──────── ✬ ✬ ✬ ────────⊰

It was Thursday night. You typically didn’t go out except during the weekends, but you thought fuck it, you were heartbroken and needed some fun.

You had decided to go to the bar near where you worked, only a 10 minute or so drive away. Your old friend from college met you there, since you wanted to catch up with her.

Both of you were chatting and having a good time, and had been for about half an hour, before it happened. Across the room, you spotted the last person you wanted to see: your ex, as of very recently. And he wasn’t by himself; he had someone clinging to his arm, laughing obnoxiously loud at whatever he’d just said.

As he grinned down at the obviously drunken girl that was attached to him, you felt a dull pain in your chest. The two of you hadn’t even been broken up properly for a week and he was already off dating someone else. It didn’t surprise you, really, considering you broke up because he cheated on you in the first place, but still seeing it in person like this hurt.

You wasted almost a year of your life with this person only for him to go and betray you for more than half of your time together. He’d been mentally checked out of the relationship long before you ended it, and even though you saw it, you didn’t want to acknowledge it. You didn’t want to let go because you thought maybe he could change, maybe deep down he did love you like he said he did.

One person had tried to convince you otherwise, but you didn’t listen. Of all the people it could be, it was your boss who tried to talk some common sense into you.

Park Jimin, CEO of the Park & Jeon law firm. This man was your boss of 2 years now, and also the man you’d had the biggest crush on since you first laid eyes on him. It was, of course, an unrequited crush, and even if the feelings were mutual, dating someone you worked with – especially if that person is your boss – has always been a taboo sort of topic. So you never acted on it, you just kept it to yourself and swallowed down any feelings of hope whenever something might happen.

You briefly recalled something that had happened a few weeks ago at the office, one night when you decided to stay late after a fight with your – then – boyfriend.

⊱──────── ✬ ✬ ✬ ────────⊰

Jimin was about to leave to head home when he noticed you were still typing away at your desk, working your way through the mountain of files he had stacked there earlier in the afternoon. It was already 20 minutes past when you were supposed to leave, but the way you were situated at your desk gave him the impression you weren’t planning on going anywhere soon.

“Y/N,” he called to you, immediately making you wipe your eyes with the back of your hand. You didn’t want him to know you’d been crying earlier.

But, of course, as with most things, Park Jimin could always tell.

You heard rather than saw him walk over to your desk, aware of his presence beside you when he stopped. When you didn’t answer him he sighed and gently swiveled your chair around so you would look at him.

“Why haven’t you gone home yet,” he asked, his tone level. His eyebrows were somewhat furrowed as he took in your countenance now that he was closer and could see you had definitely been crying earlier.

You sniffled. “I really need to get these files done.”

Jimin’s face told you he wasn’t buying it. He looked at the giant mass of paper on your desk. “These files? All of them?”

You nodded. He pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Y/N, what’s wrong?”

“What do you mean, everything’s fine-”

“Don’t bullshit me,” Jimin cut you off. His sudden firmness caught you off guard so you didn’t say more and just waited for him to continue.

“Did something happen? Between you and him?”

You nodded again, although this time a bit more hesitantly. Jimin sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“Honestly, Y/N, I don’t see why you put up with this guy. He’s not- look, you’re sad more often than not and it’s usually because of him.”

“But my work performance hasn’t suffered,” you said it quietly, almost expecting him to not hear it. But he did.

He leaned closer and rested both hands on the armrests of your chair, almost like he was caging you in.

“Do you actually think I only care about how well you perform at work,” he asked you, a frown very prominent on his face.

You weren’t sure how to respond so you didn’t. Jimin stared you down as you sat there waiting for him to say something else.

 “I care about you as a person, Y/N. You’re more than just an employee, you’re- look, I may be your boss but I’m still a human being. I don’t only see you as a machine that churns out work when I ask you to. Of course, I value all the hard work you do, but I also value you.”

Your eyes welled up with fresh tears as you listened to every word he said. It was something you’d needed to hear in some capacity and hadn’t for a while. Not from anyone, and certainly not from the person you needed it from the most, the person who was the cause of your current emotional state.

Before you could realize what you were doing, you hugged Jimin. Your sudden movement startled him and it took a few seconds for him to return the hug, even though it was just a light pat on the back.

“Thank you,” you wiped away your tears as you settled back into your chair, watching as Jimin moved back and straightened his posture. “It’s nice to hear I’m valued in some way.” You offered him a small smile, but he didn’t return it.

“Do you not…does he not tell you that he cares for you?” Jimin’s tone had dropped into a tone you didn’t recognize.

You shook your head. “It’s not that he doesn’t it’s just…well he says he loves me so I guess it’s implied, right?”

Jimin’s frown deepened. “Y/N-”

“It’s ok, we just had a little fight, I’m fine, I promise.” You tried to give him a bigger smile in hopes he’d take it as genuine.

You knew better than anyone else, though, that Jimin could see through you as if you were a delicate piece of glass.

Jimin searched your eyes for a moment more before sighing again and turning to the side, placing his hands in his pockets.

“I know it’s not really my place,” he said as he looked out the window behind your desk, “but you deserve better. Much better.”

His words made your heart start thumping faster, a feeling you hadn’t experienced in a long time.

“Go home. You can finish these tomorrow.” Without sparing you another glance, Jimin turned and walked back into his office that was connected to yours.

That night, as you drove home, all the feelings for Jimin that you’d worked so hard to bury started resurfacing. You made up with your boyfriend that night, thinking that maybe bringing your feelings for him to the forefront of your mind might fix that.

It didn’t.

⊱──────── ✬ ✬ ✬ ────────⊰

So, here you were now: back at work after hours, trying to get your mind off of everything in your life that was confusing the fuck out of you. Your recent break-up and your feelings for your boss who was way too attractive for his own good marked the top of that list.

You had excused yourself, telling your friend that you remembered you had really important work you needed to finish and that the two of you would have to take a raincheck for another time. She looked concerned but didn’t press the issue, and for that you were grateful.

Luckily for you, there was an important case that was due the end of the following week, and you’d been too distracted to make any real progress on it. You decided to try and knock as much of it out as you could tonight.

Which, unfortunately for you, proved to be more difficult than you thought, since you couldn’t find the files you needed. You searched every corner of your office, and even Jimin’s office, but to no avail. The files were nowhere to be seen.

You’d been back at the office for maybe 2 hours before you finally caved and called Jimin. You’d never called him outside of normal working hours, so you weren’t sure how this would go.

To your surprise, he picked up after the first ring.

“Y/N?” Jimin’s tone sounded surprised, something you didn’t hear often at all. You couldn’t blame him; you were calling him at 8:42 P.M. on a Thursday so he had to be wondering what you could possibly want.

“Hi yeah it’s me, sorry to bother you, sir,” you threw in the last bit without thinking as you shuffled through the papers on your desk a second time. 

“What’s wrong? Are you ok?”

His genuine concern made you pause for a second, grip on your phone tightening. You were way too emotional for this right now, but you cleared your throat and composed yourself.

“Yes I’m fine, I just had a work related question.”

You could almost picture him nodding on the other side of the phone, his face turning to stone again. “Ok, what is it?”

“You know that really important case due the end of next week?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Where are the rest of the case files? I don’t think you left them on my desk-“

“Hang on, where are you right now?” 

You groaned with frustration because you didn’t really have the time – nor the want – to play 20 questions with Jimin right now. You were in a shitty enough mood as it was after seeing your ex with that bitch on his arm.

“Jimin, please just tell me-”

“Answer me.”

The authority in his tone made a shiver run down your spine unconsciously. You had no choice but to obey.

“I’m at work.”

A few seconds of silence. “Why are you at work this late?”

You sighed. “I came in to try and get some more work done on the case.”

“But it’s late, you really don’t need to be at the office. We’ve talked about you working after hours-”

“I know but just-” you broke off to let out another frustrated sigh “Look I just really need to be here right now, ok?”

You usually never challenged his authority, so as you waited for him to respond, you imagined he was probably tonguing his cheek, like you’ve seen him do countless times before.

“Fine. The case files are in the safe in my office.” Without another word he hung up.

Happy to finally know where the stupid files were, you walked through Jimin’s office again and made your way over to his safe.

As you crouched down in front of it to enter the code, it dawned on you that this was a new safe. One that you’d never seen before.

In other words, you didn’t know the code.

You slumped down onto the floor in front of the safe and wrapped your arms around your knees. You felt like crying because there’s no way in hell you were calling Jimin back, but you were determined to not leave this office unless you’d done something you needed to do.

So you just sat there, hugging yourself as you tried to figure out all the possible solutions for this mess you were in. And not just your current situation, but your life situation too. With your ex, with everything.

You’d probably been sitting in Jimin’s office for 10 minutes before you heard a noise outside. You shot up quickly, not sure if it was just the wind outside or if someone was in the building. You grabbed onto the edge of Jimin’s desk when you heard footsteps approaching.

The sound of a key turning the lock to the office door is what finally brought you to your senses. Jimin opened the door and there he stood, still in his work attire just minus his suit jacket, with his sleeves now rolled up and his tie somewhat loosened around his neck.

He pushed a hand through his silver strands of hair when he saw you. Oh god.

Jimin sighed. “Y/N, why are you here?”

You blinked, not even thinking about what you were wearing until now, when you were looking down at the floor. Oh god (again).

You answered him. “Um...I’m looking for the files?”

You swear you saw him roll his eyes, even in the dim light of the office. He strolled over to his desk and turned on the lamp there, now just a few feet away from you.

“No, I mean why are you here. At work. Alone, at night.” 

You couldn’t think of a convincing enough lie, and you didn’t want to lie to him anyway, so you told him the first thing you could think of.

“I just had to get away for a bit. Bury myself in my work. You know how I get.” You were still looking at the ground, very aware of how much of your legs were showing thanks to the skirt you’d chosen to wear.

“Hm,” he hummed, crossing his arms as he looked you up and down. You felt a small blush rise on your cheeks. 

“Why did you need to get away?”

“That’s personal, first of all, secondly, why are you here?” You crossed your arms and took a step toward him then so now you were in front of the middle of the desk.

Jimin didn’t back down from your challenge. “Since when do you care about me knowing personal details about you?”

“I uh-,” well shit, he had you there. Up until now, Jimin had known pretty much everything about your personal life that you’re not even willing to share with most people.

Jimin strolled over to where he was standing in front of you, his arms still crossed. You gulped as you watched the clearly defined muscles in his forearms move as he repositioned his arms.

“What are you hiding from me,” he said it more as a statement than a question, in a low tone.

“N-Nothing,” you stammered, definitely giving away that there was something you were hiding. He arched an eyebrow as he looked you up and down again. You felt hot under his gaze.

“Hm, I don’t think I believe you,” he responded as he inched closer to you. 

“Well, you also never told me why you were here,” you challenged. “Don’t you think it’s fair to answer at least one of my questions?”

He chuckled then, giving you a sly smirk. Your heart skipped a beat. 

“Fine, I’ll tell you. I knew you didn’t have the password for the new safe, so I came to help you.”

Wait. Pause. Huh? Jimin came to help you? The thought surprised you, and it wasn’t like he was heartless or anything, but him coming to work after hours to help you with something not super important was...what?

“Why did you do that,” your voice was quiet as you were more-so asking yourself than him, but he heard it anyway. 

“You’d be here all hours of the night if I didn’t. So you’re right, I do know how you get.” His eyes were staring into yours and suddenly you felt very small.

Just how much did he really pay attention to...?

“So,” he uncrossed his arms, now placing his hands into his pockets. If you reached out just barely you could touch his chest – that’s how close he was. “Let’s get to work then, yeah?”

You blinked, taken aback. Was he serious about helping?

Apparently so because he turned on his heel and walked over to the safe, crouching down to unlock it. He came back holding some files and dropped them onto his desk.

“I’ll give you the code some other time but for now,” he pulled out a chair for you to sit beside him, “let’s get what we can done tonight.

You nodded and both got to work.

You’d been working for maybe 10 minutes before anyone spoke again.

“So, why the, uh, choice of attire?” You glanced over to see Jimin scanning you with his eyes, letting them linger on your legs that were currently crossed.

Fuck, you forgot you’d changed into something definitely not work appropriate. You were wearing a tight tank top and a miniskirt that just barely covered your ass.

“Well,” you started to say, turning away to hide the blush that you knew had to be there, “I was going to the bar with my friend, but then I-” you paused then, catching yourself before you told him what really happened.

Jimin’s eyebrow raised. “Y/N? You what?”

“I, um, remembered that I needed to work on this so I left.” You gave him what you hoped was a convincing smile.

He hummed and started flipping through the papers in front of you again so you had no way of knowing if he believed you or not.

“Did you only go with your friend?” He wasn’t looking at you, instead it looked like he was intensely concentrating on the task at hand.

“Y-yeah. It was just gonna be a girl’s night thing. Why do you ask?”

Jimin shuffled the papers, lining them up on the desk. “No reason, just curious. Thought maybe your boyfriend might go with you.”

You flinched and luckily (you hoped) Jimin didn’t catch it.

You hadn’t told Jimin about the break up yet, considering you’d been wallowing in your own sorrow about it too much. And you knew already how much Jimin...disliked your ex, for lack of a better word. So you didn’t feel it was important to mention, at least not yet, anyway.

And deep down some part of you thought maybe he wouldn’t care anyway, so why bother?

“Yeah, no, it was just her and me.”

“Hm, well then,” he stacked the papers and turned toward you ever so slightly. “Since you had to leave the bar, why don’t we drink some here?”

You stared at him, dumbfounded. “Sir, what-”

“I keep alcohol in a stash under my desk. I work late nights sometimes too, you know,” there was a tiny hint of a smile but it disappeared before you could really appreciate it. Damn.

“And I’m the owner so I can do whatever I want, which includes drinking at work if I’m off the clock.” He pulled out a glass of something, you weren’t sure what (rum? whiskey? you didn’t know but you wanted it) and two glasses, placing them on the desk.

“Wait...I’m allowed to drink, too?”

Jimin chuckled and you loved the sound. You never got to hear this man as anything other than professional so you were enjoying this a lot.

“Of course you can. You’re off the clock too, and you’re putting in overtime, I think you deserve a drink.”

Well what were you gonna do, say no?

“Thank you, sir,” you politely accepted the glass he handed you. You tasted the drink and it was rum, but it was one you liked. You knew you’d need to be careful though, because the last thing you want is to get drunk at work with your insanely hot boss.

...ok maybe you wanted it a little, but you know.

You both continued working, drinking and casually chatting while you did. The atmosphere overall was just really nice, and you got the work done a lot faster than you thought considering you originally figured it would just be you working alone.

When you were done, you walked to the front of Jimin’s desk and stacked the papers neatly on top, almost in the middle of it.

You turned and gave him a big smile, proud of the work you had done. Your brain was swimming with excitement from completing your task but also from being a little tipsy and also being in the presence of Jimin all at once.

To your surprise, he smiled back, but only for a moment.

“Now that we’ve finished what you came here for,” he raised his glass, “let’s get to the next important matter at hand, shall we?”

He was still raising his glass so you clinked yours with his, casually leaning on the desk, almost sitting on it but not quite.

Yeah you were definitely feeling the alcohol now, which meant you’d be more confident and daring which could potentially be bad but right now Tipsy You doesn’t give a shit. 

“And what would that important matter be, Mr. Park?” You sipped from your glass after your impromptu toast. He did the same, watching you the whole time. When he brought his arm back down, there was a bit of a smirk adorning his features.

Hm. Well. That was new.

“The matter, Ms. Y/L/N,” he stated as he sat the empty glass on the edge of his desk, also stepping closer to you in the process, “is that you still haven’t told me what you’re hiding.”

You sat your glass down next to his and crossed your arms. “With all due respect, I still don’t really think that’s any of your business.”

There was silence again, before Jimin let out a wry chuckle, still smirking. Apparently alcohol helped him loosen up as well.

“Tell me what it is you’re hiding from me.” The tone was authoritative and it almost made you give in.

Almost.

You held your ground and gave him a sly smile of your own, which seemed to confuse him if his face was anything to go by. You opened your mouth and let the two words fall out as if it was nothing.

“Make me.”

In the dim light you saw something flash in Jimin’s eyes as they widened, and you suddenly felt a little scared. But the scared feeling was outweighed by the excitement you felt throughout your whole body.

“You wanna run that by me again?” His tone had changed into a register you’d never heard from him before and you realized that you may be veering into dangerous territory now and should probably stop-

“You heard me, sir,” you responded, clearly dragging out the word at the end. “If you want to know what I’m ‘hiding’ you’ll have to make me tell you.”

He stepped forward once more, to where you were basically chest to chest now. He stared down at you and you suddenly no longer felt the urge to talk back.

“Oh trust me, I can make you. I have my ways,” he let his gaze trail down to look at your lips then back up to your eyes. He ran his thumb along your bottom lip, the movement so quick you almost didn’t catch it.

One thing to know about you: you never back down from a challenge.

“Why don’t you stop talking big and just show me already? What are you gonna do, Mr. Park?” You could almost feel the heat radiating off of him now as you continued, “Tie me up?”

You heard what might’ve been a low growl come from him and then he was wrapping his arms around you before you could process it. Unlike what you thought, though, he wasn’t doing it to hold you. You heard as some papers shuffled behind you before he moved away and back into his original position.

“W-what are you doing,” you asked, looking at him now and his eyes were intense. You’d never seen a stare like that come from him and you’d seen a lot in your time of working here.

“Just making some room,” was his blunt answer.

“Making room for wha-”

You barely got the words out before you were being lifted off the ground, his hands holding you up by your thighs, just underneath your ass. You gasped and wound your arms around his neck, out of surprise but also because of instinct since you thought you might fall.

He sat you down on the desk then, now in a clean area where no papers were placed. He removed your arms from around his neck and put a hand on either side of you, watching you closely as you were starting to breathe more rapidly.

Oh you were so fucked.

“You see,” Jimin said as he stood in front of you, moving your legs apart so he could get closer. “I own this desk you’re sitting on right now.”

As if to emphasize his point, he slapped one of his hands against the surface of the desk, right beside your thigh. You gulped.

“By extension, I also own everything on it.” Jimin was staring at you through half lidded eyes. He got even closer still, close enough now where if you barely moved your lips you’d be kissing him.

What a dangerous thought that was.

“And right now, princess,” his voice had dropped into a more sultry tone and you were drinking him in more and more with each passing second. “That includes you.”

Before you could even react, he pushed you back to where you were laying on the desk, with your legs still hanging off as he was standing in between them. Your skirt had hiked up around your thighs during the interaction, and you didn’t notice it until you felt him brush his fingers across one. 

“You know,” Jimin went on as he loomed over you now, the long end of his tie landing on your chest. “You’re playing a dangerous game.”

“Am I?” You deliberately questioned him, even though you were at his mercy already. You had already pushed this far, so why not push further. You were tingling all over, from the alcohol you were sure, but also from the overwhelming presence that is Park Jimin.

You hadn’t felt this way in a long time, and you were determined to chase that feeling as long as you could.

You had been absentmindedly playing with the end of his tie that you could reach, but you opted instead to now try to wrap your legs around him to pull him closer, your body basically acting on its own accord. But it was if he knew what you might try and do, because he suddenly had a vise grip on both of your thighs, pulling them apart more.

You let out a small whine, feeling so exposed under him despite still being covered. 

“Let me explain something to you because I don’t think you understand,” Jimin spoke again, leaning over you even more now, his grip on your thighs tightening. “You’re not in control here. You gave up that control the second you questioned my authority.”

You gulped as he raised one of his hands to caress your cheek, the soft action briefly making you forget the position you were in - caged on top of your boss’ desk with him in between your thighs.

You didn’t forget for long though because that same hand travelled up further, burying itself into your hair and giving it a gentle tug, the surprise making you jolt forward.

You felt Jimin’s lips ghosting over your throat then, but you couldn’t look down at him due to the hold he had on your hair.

“I have you completely at my mercy.” He said, his voice low. He placed a single, soft kiss to your throat and you whined again. 

“And I have to say,” he practically growled out, his grip in your hair tightening, “you look quite lovely like this, submitting all control to me.”

You were already so wet and could feel yourself getting hotter everywhere and you knew this now had the potential to turn into something it probably shouldn’t. But also you were literally pinned underneath your hot boss on his desk under his control so like...what’s a person to do, yeah?

“Nothing to say, princess? You sure were eager to talk earlier.” He nosed along your jawline now, and all you wanted to do was reach out and touch him somewhere, it didn’t really matter where. And god the pet name, you felt like you could just die, but like in the best way possible.

You didn’t really have the chance to contemplate reaching out to touch him, though, because Jimin stood back up and captured both your wrists in one hand, placing them over your head.

“I’ve been thinking,” he started, his other hand going to his tie, “and I actually would like to tie you up.”

You gasped as his grip on your wrists tightened experimentally, him looking over your face as he tried to gauge your reaction.

“Of course I won’t do anything without your consent,” he used his thumb to rub along the underside of one of your wrists he was holding, “so I need you to tell me.”

Your heart fluttered at the fact that despite him being in control and clearly being the dominant one in the situation, he still wouldn’t cross any boundary you weren’t comfortable with.

Were you comfortable with being tied up? You fucking bet.

“Do it,” you breathed out. His hand around his tie froze.

He started tsk, tsk, tsking at you. “Oh, Y/N. It seems you still don’t understand.”

His grip tightened again around your wrists, making you yelp more out of surprise than anything else. He leaned down to where his lips were just hovering above yours.

“If you want something,” Jimin said, his tone low, “then I need to hear you beg me for it.”

You understood then entirely what this dynamic was and had to think about if you actually were comfortable with this. It was unlike anything you’d ever dealt with before, so it was new and exciting.

And as it was with anything else, Tipsy You craved excitement.

“Please,” you said barely above a whisper. And that was all Jimin needed.

He leaned up and you watched as he swiftly took off his tie with only one hand as he looked down at you, the tie now hanging loosely from his palm.

“When I let go of your wrists, don’t move,” he commanded. Maybe on another day you’d challenge it to see what he’d do, but for now you did exactly as you were told. 

He wound the tie around your wrists, giving it a firm tug when he was done, checking to make sure that you couldn’t get out but that it wasn’t too tight either.

He leaned back to admire his handiwork, his eyes scanning over every inch of your body as you were now stretched out and bound at the wrists. You imagined you probably were a sight: hair splayed out, cheeks flushed, chest rapidly rising and falling with your excited breathing.

“You look so perfect like this,” he said, almost too quiet for you to hear. He stroked his fingers along the inside of your thigh. You shuddered at his touch.

“Perfect princess, all laid out for me.” His fingers kept traveling upwards, inching closer and closer to where you wanted them, playing with the hem of your skirt.

“Now, what should I do with you, hm?” Jimin switched gears then, his hands began traveling along your sides, his fingers dancing around your ribcage as they travelled upwards.

“Should I play with you like this?” He started rubbing his hands up and down your arms, trying to go over every place he could touch. Well, every place except places you wanted him to touch.

He looked up then, almost like he was trying to find something. An evil grin covered his features.

He placed an arm around you, his palm under your back as he lifted you up so you were sitting again. Your arms were now in front of you, still bound.

“Up,” he commanded, tugging on your binds. You got up, your legs a little wobbly. He walked you over to his window that overlooked the city, the blinds drawn as they usually were.

He wrapped an arm around your waist as he opened the blinds with his unoccupied hand. The city looked beautiful from up here, and as you were looking out at everything, you didn’t feel him move away.

You didn’t know until you felt him pressing against your back. 

“Arms up,” he told you, and you obeyed without hesitation. You were now pressed up against the window, your arms above your head, wrists tied, and Jimin behind you.

Oh fuck.

“Imagine if people below could see you right now. See you all pretty on display like this.” His chin was moving on your shoulder as he spoke, one hand curled around your waist. 

You didn’t know where his other hand was until he snaked it into your hair again, pulling tighter than he ever had. Your head fell backwards, exposing your neck to him.

“I’ve never told you,” he started as he placed a kiss on the side of your neck, “but I love when you wear your hair up. I can see your neck and it’s always so inviting, just asking to be marked.”

“But now,” he continued as he travelled lower, “I love that you have your hair down, because I can use it however I want.” He pulled again as if for emphasis, and you let out a quiet moan.

Jimin paused. You held your breath, not sure what to expect next.

He turned you around then, having your back pinned against the window now.

His hands were holding you against the window by your waist, grip tightening when you looked into his eyes. They held a look you’d never seen on anyone before, one that you couldn’t quite decipher. But if it did anything, it made you want to submit.

He moved one hand up to your hair again and pulled, eliciting another moan from you. At this point you didn’t bother holding back.

He groaned. “Fuck, you sound so pretty for me.”

He started kissing down your neck again then, still pressing you against the window by your waist, the glass cold on your shoulders.

“Jimin,” you pleaded. He paused and looked up at you.

“Hm? You want something?” His tone was normal, almost as if he was giving you a briefing on a case or something.

You nodded as best you could given your current position. “The window - it’s cold, please-”

You barely got the words out before he was pulling you into his chest and wrapping his arms around you. Your bound hands ended up right in front of his crotch and-

Fuck, he was hard. And knowing that made you even more aroused.

You didn’t have time to react before he pulled away again to look at you. His gaze scanned over your face, and he looked like he was contemplating what to do to you next.

“Do you have any idea how beautiful you look right now,” he rubbed one of his thumbs underneath your eye and along your cheek. “Makeup smeared, breathing stuttered, tied up and completely pliant, just waiting for me to do what I want to you. So fucked out and I’ve barely touched you yet.”

“When you look like this, Y/N,” he paused so he could lean in closer to where he was right by your ear.

He gently bit down on your earlobe before finishing his sentence in a hushed tone.

“It makes me want to ruin you”.

That sentence alone suddenly made you even more wet (and you’d been doing your damnedest to hold back but you were only so strong) and you wanted to kiss him with everything you had. You wanted to do something, it was driving you crazy. Your wrists squirmed as you tried to touch him.

Jimin noticed you struggling against your binds and moved away with a chuckle.

“Oh, princess,” he sounded, his tone almost scolding, “that’s not allowed.”

“Wha-” you broke off, not realizing how out of breath you were from just all of this, “what’s not allowed-”

He pulled one of your legs up to wrap it around him as best he could in the position you two were in, then moving that hand to hold onto you so you wouldn’t fall.

Without a warning, he used his other hand to push past your skirt since it was hiked up now, lightly brushing up against your inner thigh.

His touch was delicate, soft, but also intense and you wanted more. So, so much more.

“You’re not allowed to touch me,” Jimin finally answered, his fingers climbing higher until they were brushing lightly over your panties, against your core. You let out a small sound, something like a whimper, because holy fuck you were sensitive.

“Fuck, Jimin, please,” you threw your head back, no longer able to contain yourself and he’d barely done anything yet. You were truly at his mercy, just like he said.

He groaned again, his fingers now applying more pressure. “I love hearing you fucking beg for me.”

Since your leg was wrapped securely around him now, he used that hand that was holding you to pull you closer, cradling the back of your head. When you were barely an inch away, he finally closed the distance, allowing you what you wanted. 

His lips felt unlike anything you could have ever imagined. The kiss was rough but held all the gentleness you never would’ve associated with someone who had a presence as strong as Jimin. His hold around you tightened, and you felt like you could just melt then and there.

He bit down lightly, asking for access that you gladly gave him. The kiss lasted a while but not nearly long enough for your liking, because when he went to pull away you whined again.

When you opened your eyes, he was giving you that same cocky smirk from before. He brushed his thumb across your bottom lip again, pressing his forehead against yours while you both tried to control your breathing.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that,” he said. The words made you feel hot but also fluttery again like before.

“What else have you wanted to do with me,” you asked, simply because you were fucking curious and you were also still confident since not all the alcohol was out of your system yet. You were definitely sober enough to know what was happening, though, and to know that you absolutely wanted it to.

Jimin laughed, the sound so nice and so attractive at the same time. “Ah, that’s a dangerous question. Are you sure you want to know?”

You nodded as vigorously as possible. Jimin hummed at your enthusiasm.

“Well, for starters,” he said as he hovered over your lips again, “I’ve wanted to kiss you until you couldn’t breathe.”

He kissed you again, kissed you hard, but it was short-lived since he was pulling away to speak more.

“I’ve wanted to see you, all pretty and marked up for me,” he started trailing down your neck again, this time leaving a hickey on your shoulder.

“Fuck, Jimin,” you breathed out, your wrists squirming again in their binds. 

He continued, tugging on your binds, making you stop your movements.

“I’ve wanted to see you tied up, at my mercy,” he pulled again on the binds and your leg fell from around him as you wobbled forward. He steadied you then, not missing the opportunity to bury his hand in your hair once more when you were standing upright.

“I’ve wanted you to submit to me since I first laid my eyes on you,” he looked at you again through those half-lidded eyes and you felt like if you didn’t get some part of this man either in your mouth or inside of you then you were going to lose it.

“But then,” he added more softly, “You showed me how much of an independent and strong woman you are.” He kissed you and continued.

“You demonstrated how willing you are to work for what you want and how considerate you are in caring for others, even more than you care for yourself.” Jimin started backing you up, and you weren’t sure where you were going but you were along for the ride. Plus he had his hands around your waist as he guided you, so you trusted that you wouldn’t fall.

Jimin wouldn’t let you fall. Jimin wouldn’t hurt you.

These were things that if someone asked you about them an hour ago you wouldn’t know the answer, but now? With the way he was handling you, there was no way he’d ever willingly put you in danger and you knew it.

When the back of your knees hit something solid, Jimin paused and looked you in the eyes. You felt like there was a sudden shift in his behavior and it confused you.

“Jimin? What’s wrong?”

He closed his eyes and sighed before he started speaking again. “Sorry, it’s just- I can’t get over the fact that you somehow ended up with someone who doesn’t deserve you. Thinking about how he has you all to himself and doesn’t appreciate you,” his grip on your waist tightened and he was looking down at the floor.

“It drives me insane.” He brought his eyes back up to look into yours once more. You were sobering up and you realized he might be too, and it almost looked like he might be regretting what was happening.

You felt his grip loosen around your waist, and you panicked thinking he may move away. It clicked then: he thought you were still dating your ex, which was your own fault since you hadn’t told him about the breakup yet.

You didn’t want to let this moment go over a misunderstanding. Not when the man you’d been pining over for years now finally had you in his hold.

With your hands that were still bound, you desperately reached out to grab his shirt.

“Jimin, wait.”

Jimin froze but he had removed his hands from your waist. You knew you needed to act fast.

“We broke up,” you blurted out. The sudden flash in his eyes didn’t go unnoticed by you, that intense stare from before slowly coming back to life in his eyes.

“What? When?” His stare made you feel small but you needed to go through with this. You needed him to know that you wanted to be his and only his, no one else’s.

“Last week. I broke it off because…he cheated on me, but I also knew the relationship wouldn’t work. If I’d listened to you sooner, I could’ve been a lot happier.” A sad smile painted your face, one that made the expression on his soften.

“He cheated on you? What a fucking idiot,” Jimin scoffed, making you giggle. “I knew he was stupid but I mean for fuck’s sake, he had you,” Jimin wrapped his hands around yours still grasping his shirt, “and he was too fucking stupid to appreciate you the way you should be.”

Jimin removed your hands from his shirt and repositioned his own around your waist again, pushing you against the desk more. He leaned down to where his lips were a mere inch away from yours, causing yours to automatically part the faintest bit.

“I’ll make sure you never go unappreciated again,” he said against your lips before kissing you with so much passion that it nearly made you fall over. You wanted to wrap your arms around him, but since that was impossible, you settled for moving your body closer to his.

“Please,” you breathed out when he pulled away, resting his forehead against yours. “Make me yours.”

That was all he needed to hear. You saw him smirk when he backed up, shifting back into that more dominant persona that had you tingling all over with arousal.

With no more hesitation, Jimin turned you around and you were facing the desk again. He bent you over, and your still-bound hands were almost reaching the opposite edge of the desk.

His hands were still gripping your waist as your felt him settle in behind you. You could feel him pressing against your ass and you instinctively moved back against him.

Suddenly you felt a slap on your ass that jerked you forward.

“What did I say earlier, princess?” He rubbed over the spot he’d just hit, trying to soothe what little pain it had caused. “You’re not allowed to touch me, it’s against the rules.”

“But Jimin,” you whined, earning another slap. You cried out because the pain felt nice and you weren’t exactly sure if you wanted him to stop.

“If you behave,” Jimin said in that low tone you were slowly getting used to, “I might let you have your way, how does that sound, hm?”

You nodded and that seemed to please him.

“Good,” you heard him say as something started shuffling behind you. You felt him lift your skirt up and soon your ass was exposed, still covered by your panties but not much else.

“Y/N,” came Jimin’s voice, and you suddenly could feel how close he was to you. Your felt like there was a fire slowly igniting inside you with each passing second of anticipation.

“Y-yes?” 

“A safe word. We need one.” His tone was gentle as he started running his hands up and down your thighs, making you squirm on top of the desk.

“Um...don’t people use a color system or something?” 

“We can if that’s what you want. Red for stop immediately, yellow for slow down, green means you’re good to go. That work for you?” He was trailing his fingers up again and suddenly playing with the hem of your panties. 

You nodded, your cheek pressed against the desk. “Yes, anything, just please do something, please-”

Jimin chuckled. “What’s your color?”

“Green, pleas-”

You barely got the words out before he shoved the panties to the side and you felt him plunge two fingers inside you. With how wet you were, there was little resistance. You gripped the edge of the desk as best you could with your hands as they were still tied, letting out a loud moan that you couldn’t even be bothered to be ashamed of.

“That��s it, be loud for me,” he sped up, holding you down on the desk with his unoccupied arm so you’d stop moving as much. 

You kept letting out sounds that were somewhere between a mixture of moans and his name, panting every time he would speed up.

“This is also something I’ve wanted to do to you for a long time,” Jimin’s tone was sultry again, but he seemed like he was having a bit of a harder time composing it. Suddenly it seemed like he was crouching down, but you couldn’t see. 

“I wanted to watch you come undone underneath me. Whether it be from my fingers-” he broke away to pull out and you whined at the loss of contact.

“-or on my tongue,” he continued as he flattened his tongue out and ran it over your clit. You moaned and gripped the desk harder, now laying your head down face first because it was too intense.

You’d never been eaten out from behind before but you guessed there’s a time for everything, right?

Jimin was moving his tongue in ways that you could only describe as ‘expertly,’ making sure to lap over every part of you that he could reach. His hands were gripping your thighs, pulling you apart so he had better access. You were shaking in his hold, and with how fast he was going you knew you would not last long at all at this rate.

You heard him moan around you, the vibrations from his mouth causing a new type of pleasure to wash over you, each one stimulating your clit more and more. He started fucking you with his tongue and you moaned even louder.

“Jimin, oh my god- fuck,” you called out, which made him groan in return.

“You taste so good,” he said as he added in a finger alongside his tongue, alternating between the two, one going in while the other was coming out. You wanted to scream but no sound would come out, you could barely think. 

He pulled away briefly to attach his lips to a spot on your thigh as he gripped the other one harder. 

“It always drives me crazy when you wear short dresses and I can see your thighs, just begging to be marked.” 

You felt him start to suck then, marking your flesh and making you gasp. He continued his assault on your clit with his thumb before his tongue was on you once more, the pleasure almost overwhelming. As much as you were enjoying this, you wanted to turn over so you could see him. 

“Please,” you begged, still squirming against your will. He let up but only slightly, replacing his tongue with his fingers again.

“Yes, princess?” He sounded slightly breathless and his voice was making you even more wet. 

“I want to see you. Please,” you pleaded again. His fingers slowed down to a more gentle, rhythmic pace, as if he was contemplating your plea and needed to slow down in order to focus.

You didn’t have to wait long before he was pulling you up from the desk, bringing your back flush up against his chest. 

“Since you’re being such a good girl for me, I think I can give you what you want,” he said in that same low tone that was driving you insane, mouthing at your neck as he did so.

He turned you around and pulled you to him by tugging on your binds to give you a quick kiss, but despite its quickness it still took your breath away. You could taste yourself on his tongue and it was a new feeling but you didn’t mind it right now.

You didn’t mind anything right now. All you could think about was Jimin. Head empty, no thoughts, only Jimin.

He made you lay back again, this time where you were facing forward and if you craned your neck just right you could see him.

You looked at him as he kneeled down in between your legs, pushing your skirt up again so he’d have access. This time, however, he pulled your panties down to your ankles instead of just moving them to the side.

There was just something about still being clothed while all this was happening that drove you crazy with arousal.

He stared up at you through those half-lidded eyes, his mouth hovering over you and you almost came then, that’s the power this man holds.

“Y/N,” Jimin breathed. “Color?”

It took you a second to realize what he was talking about before you nodded and said “Still green.”

He stuck out his tongue and licked a slow stripe up from your entrance to your clit, the motion making you moan and lay your head back on the desk.

You had barely just laid your head down before there was a quick slap to your thigh, making you jolt.

You looked up again at Jimin, who now had a hold on your thighs again to keep them spread apart.

“Eyes on me, princess.” He lapped again at your clit, slowly, making sure to take his time. Looking at him made every feeling more intense and you didn’t know how long you’d hold out.

But still, you looked. Because he told you to. Because you had to obey.

Because he was Park Jimin and had a power over you that no one else had before.

“You’re gonna watch as I ravage you,” he said in between movements of his tongue, applying more pressure to your clit as he went down again. 

You had to fight closing your eyes because the pleasure was too much but he wanted you to watch and you’d watch until you couldn’t.

“I’ve waited so long to make you mine, and I’m going to take my time,” he continued, and despite what his words suggested, he started going faster instead.

Your moans were increasing in pitch the more he sped up, his attention going from your clit to inside of you as he inserted two fingers again. You could feel your orgasm approaching and all you could do was lay there and take it.

Your wrists were moving on their own, trying to get out of your binds. It was no use, however, and you were stuck with nothing to hold on to as Jimin ate you like you were his last meal.

“Jimin, fuck, oh my god, please-” you kept saying the same things over and over but your brain couldn’t conjure up much more. He flicked his tongue faster against your clit and every part of your body felt like it was on fire.

“Can you do something for me,” he asked from between your legs. You nodded with no hesitation, despite not knowing what the fuck you were agreeing to.

“Call me sir,” was his simple command, and before you could respond he resumed his mission and you let out what sounded like a strangled whine.

“Yes sir, please, ruin me,” you just started saying things and apparently it was working because he was gripping your thighs hard enough now you thought they might be bruised tomorrow.

“Fuck, I love it when you call me that,” he groaned as he broke away to breathe, his fingers now picking up the pace where his tongue left off. You had looked away for a few moments to try and ground yourself a bit but as you looked at him now, you knew it’d be all over soon.

He was such a sight to behold. He was resting his cheek against one of your thighs as he caught his breath, lips so pretty and parted, eyes half-lidded with arousal. His damp, silver hair had started to fall into his eyes, so he pushed it back as he continued panting against your skin.

When he saw you staring, he smirked, and you clenched around him, making him laugh.

“Oh, I see. So that’s what gets you going, huh?” His fingers went faster, and he added his thumb now to rub your clit at the same time.

“You like seeing me enjoying myself as I taste you?” Knowing you were still staring, he removed his fingers and wrapped his lips around your clit, closing his eyes as he let out a moan that had you clenching around nothing. That was it, you couldn’t take it anymore.

You laid back and held your arms above your head so you could grip onto the edge of the desk behind you. You were crying out something that sounded a lot like his name but you weren’t sure at this point. 

“Sir, please, I’m so close, please-” you begged again, not sure if he’d stop or keep going like you wanted him to, since again, he was in control. 

To your very pleasant surprise, he kept going, this time only with his tongue and you were so close.

“Mr. Park,” you breathed out this time without thinking. You felt the vibrations against your clit as he let out a loud, guttural grunt, pulling your thighs even more apart and giving him better access. 

“Can never get enough of you saying my name,” he said now, but it was muffled. What he said next, however, was not.

“Fuck,” he said and it startled you at first. You then felt the loss of his tongue and you couldn’t help but whine. 

“No, sir, please, don’t stop, please-”

“Shh, no it’s ok,” he soothed you as he stood up, pulling you up to where you were sitting on the desk. He brought you forward some so you were hanging off it just enough for him to insert his fingers back where you needed them most. 

He wrapped an arm around your back to pull you into his chest, looking down at you. 

“I needed to be closer to you,” he said in a hushed tone, his voice now raspy. “Needed to feel all of you as you cum for me.”

“Fuck,” you clenched around him again and your head fell forward to rest on his shoulder.

He leaned down and started kissing your neck again, all the way back up to your ear, his fingers moving at exactly the right pace and you were already trembling. When he added another to tease your clit it took all of your willpower not to fall off of the desk.

“I want to wreck you in every way possible,” he said right by your ear, the words spurring you closer to your undoing. “I’ve wanted to fuck you on this desk for so long, wanted to have my way with you until it breaks.”

Well, there it went.

“Jimin, sir, I’m- I’m-” 

“I know, I can feel you, cum for me princess, be a good girl for me.” He sped up again and everything washed over you at once, your orgasm hitting you so violently that you almost did fall off of the desk, had Jimin not been there to catch you.

You could feel yourself still clenching around him as he slowed down, letting you ride out your orgasm on his fingers.

When you finally stopped spasming, you were breathing hard. Jimin carefully took his fingers out, and whether or not he cleaned off his hand you weren’t sure because your eyes were still closed as you tried to feel human again.

You felt a gentle pair of lips on top of yours then and began moving in sync with them. Jimin caressed your cheek to bring you in closer. The moment was so intimate, so sweet...

And you knew then that you were so very fucked.

When Jimin finally broke the kiss, you opened your eyes. He looked so beautiful, giving you a small, satisfied smile. He untied the tie from around your wrists now, placing it on the desk before rubbing your wrists to make sure they were ok. 

“That was...” you started to say but you were still breathless. Jimin chuckled.

“Yeah. I agree.” He smiled again and you looked down-

He was still very hard.

“Um, sir?” You got his attention while he was still rubbing small circles on your wrists.

“Hm? What is it?” He brought his eyes back up to look into yours and you swear you’d never seen them look so soft.

“You’re-” you nodded to where you’d been looking, his eyes following yours before he let out another chuckle.

“Yeah, I guess I am. Although I’d hardly expect I wouldn’t be turned on by that.” 

It was your turn to giggle now, your chest swelling with pride knowing that you’d managed to (inadvertently) turn him on so much.

You pulled him in for a kiss this time now that you had the use of your hands again. You felt him smile into the kiss, his arms wrapping around you.

“Will you let me take care of you now?” You whispered it against his lips and watched as his eyes opened, the surprised look on his face almost making you want to laugh.

“Y/N, I- are you sure? That wasn’t too much?” His concern made your heart constrict.

“I’m sure,” you nodded, trailing your hand downward so you could cup him over his pants. He let out a soft groan.

“I told you I wanted you to ruin me, Mr. Park,” you said right by his ear, applying more pressure as you cupped him. He let out such a beautiful sounding moan and you were dying to hear more. His eyes were closed and his mouth was slightly parted. You took advantage of this moment of distraction to turn him around so he was now in front of the desk as you dropped to your knees in front of him.

He opened his eyes and looked down at you, groaning at the sight. “Fuck, Y/N.”

Your hands worked to remove his slacks and he helped you, both of you eager. When you finally pulled his boxers down and his cock sprang free, you immediately wrapped your hand around it, and you were rewarded with another delicious sound from the man above you.

He looked like a dream; head tilted back, eyes screwed shut, small pants slipping past his pretty, plump lips. You watched as he swallowed before letting out a groan when you started pumping your hand faster.

“I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve thought about sucking you off underneath your desk,” you confessed as you moved your hand faster and applied more pressure, making him hiss.

“Just wanted you to sit back and relax while I did all the work. Maybe even fuck my mouth during one of your important business meetings.” You licked a stripe up the underside of his length then to accentuate your words.

Jimin sucked in a breath as he took in the sight of you, tilting his head back once more when he finally felt your mouth on him. You watched as his head lolled to the side, his neck muscles moving with the action. The view made you want to mark the pretty skin there. 

But right now, you had other matters to attend to. 

You opened your mouth wider, wrapping your lips around his tip before sucking gently, teasing him.

“Fuck-” you saw him bite his lip as he stared down at you with half-lidded eyes. He was holding onto the edge of the desk with both hands, fingers flexing as his hands opened and closed around the wood. You worked your hand faster, feeling him twitch in your grasp. You wanted to take all of him in, and you were determined to do just that.

Before you could continue, though, he pulled you off of him and up from your knees, capturing your lips in a heated kiss.

“As much as I would love for you to choke on my cock, I need you over this desk. Now,” he growled in between kisses before he pulled away, moving his hands to the hem of your shirt.

“May I,” he asked, and you knew he wasn’t teasing because he had that same concerned look in his eyes. His need to make sure you were comfortable with everything, while still also maintaining that sense of control was one of the hottest things you’d ever seen.

“If you don’t then I’ll be mad,” was your response as you jutted out your lower lip, playfully pouting. Jimin smirked and captured it with his own, biting gently as he started lifting your shirt up.

When your shirt was off you immediately unclasped your bra to let it fall to the floor, making Jimin smile this time.

“That’s my girl,” he whispered against your neck as he started fondling you, his touches soft but still intense. 

He turned you around this time, guiding you so that you were sitting on the desk once more.

His desk had been through so much already, the poor thing. 

“Jimin,” you whined as he loomed over you. He had one hand cradling your thigh, drawing smooth patterns over your skin.

“Hm,” came his response. He was looking down at you and into your eyes, making you briefly lose your train of thought.

“It’s not fair that I’m basically naked and you still have some of your clothes on.”

Jimin chuckled. “That’s wrong; you’re still wearing your skirt. And I also took off my tie earlier.”

You groaned and he laughed, the delightful sound echoing off the walls of the empty room.

“So eager, I love that,” Jimin said as he started taking off his shirt. As he shrugged out of it, also stepping out of his slacks and boxers, you gasped as you noticed the inked letters spanning across his ribcage.

He must’ve noticed your staring, since he tilted your chin up to look at him. “Princess? Mind telling me what’s got you so occupied?”

You gulped. “You- you have a tattoo.”

Jimin ran a hand through his hair and grinned, almost as if your interest in his body art increased his confidence.

“I have more than one. Maybe one day you can find them all.”

The thought excited you way more than you’d care to admit, and if Jimin wasn’t standing in between your legs, you might’ve even rubbed your thighs together.

He leaned down to rest an elbow on the desk, his other arm occupied since he was caressing your cheek. He bent down fully to give you another kiss, this one slow and full of unspoken words.

He pulled away to look you in the eyes once more, his stare serious. “Are you sure you want this, Y/N?”

You nodded so fast that you were afraid he might laugh at you. “Jimin, I don’t think I’ve ever wanted anyone more.”

His small smile was enough to make your heart leap. That is, it was until he frowned.

“Shit,” he let out a sigh.

“What’s wrong?” You knitted your brows in confusion as you watched him drag a hand down his face.

“I don’t have any condoms on me. And I don’t keep any here, for obvious reasons. Fuck,” he ran a hand through his hair again, but this time you were sure it was from exasperation.

You reached out when he moved back. “Jimin, wait.”

He looked at you and his brows were knitted together in frustration.

“I haven’t been with anyone in a long time, and I’m clean. So, if you want…” you trailed off, your voice sounding small. You started thinking that maybe it was a stupid thing to imply, until you saw his eyes widen.

“But you- you were in a long-term relationship,” he cocked his head to the side, trying to make sense of it. He was trying to make sense of the thing you had been trying to piece together yourself for the last year.

You shrugged. “Yeah, well, when I figured he might be cheating I put an end to that.”

Jimin stepped closer until he was in front of you once again, his hands finding purchase on your hips. “Why didn’t you end everything back then?”

You sighed. “Because I didn’t know how. But,” you pulled him closer as you wrapped your arms around him, “it’s over now and I’m here with you. That’s what matters right?”

Jimin nodded slowly. “Right,” he sounded distracted, though, so you cupped his face.

“Jimin? Do you want this?” You needed to make sure before anything went further, and if he said no and put an end to it, you wouldn’t fight the decision no matter how bad you wanted it.

You both were looking out for each other’s comfort first and foremost above anything else.

“Of course I do, it just- it fucking frustrates me to no end that you were staying in such an awful relationship. It makes me angry,” he paused to look at you again, and you could see the fire in his eyes. “Not angry at you, of course, but angry at him for treating you any less than what you deserved.”

His grip on your waist tightened. You rolled your eyes before kissing him hard, a surprised sound leaving him upon the impact.

“Jimin. Are you clean?”

Your question took him off guard, if the confused look on his face was anything to go by. “Yes, but-“

“Then instead of using your energy being frustrated, why don’t you use it for something better,” you reached down to wrap your hand around his length again as best you could from your current angle, and he let out a hiss at the pressure.

Within an instant, he had you caged against the desk again, moving your thighs apart so he could get closer to you.

He started kissing down your neck as you wrapped your arms around his back, feeling the muscles flex beneath your fingers.

“Did you have an idea in mind, princess?” You could feel him speaking the words against your skin, and when he travelled back up to a spot right underneath your ear, you turned your head.

“Why don’t you fuck me on this desk like you’ve been wanting to,” you said this time by his ear, trailing your hands down his back all the way to his ass. “Let’s see if we can break it.”

He groaned at the same moment you pushed him closer. He placed one last kiss on your neck before leaning up. You were rewarded with the sight of him standing before you, defined muscles on display. The dark-lettered NEVERMIND tattoo sprawled across his ribs was a stark contrast to the rest of his skin, and it was so beautiful. Everything about him was beautiful.

And you still couldn’t quite believe you were here, finally, with him.

You watched as he started stroking himself leisurely as he looked at you. The sight made you more wet immediately, and you reached for him.

He smirked, that cocky smirk that drove you mad some days. “Patience, princess.”

He stepped closer and grabbed your hips, pulling you to where you were just hanging off of the edge of the desk slightly. He pushed his hands between the desk and your thighs just underneath your ass, confusing you. Before you could ask why, Jimin informed you of his plan.

He leaned closer, tugging your earlobe between his teeth, making you melt instantly. “You gonna let me fuck you the way I’ve been dreaming about, princess?”

The words mixed with his sultry tone had you gushing and you nodded vigorously, feeling him chuckle against your neck.

“Yes sir, please, have me however you want me,” you reassured him. When he pulled back to look at you, his eyes were filled with lust but also the ever-present concern. 

“Are you sure?”

You almost groaned. “Jimin, yes, please do something.”

You barely got the sentence out before he picked you up and flipped you around, making you lean over the desk as he settled in behind you. He tugged your skirt down to around your ankles where your panties still were, and he removed them both. Your arms were laying by your sides; you were planning to grab onto the desk but Jimin had another idea in mind.

He grabbed your wrists and pulled your arms behind your back, placing one wrist over the other. The motion didn’t hurt and it wasn’t uncomfortable. He was restraining you again, but he also gave you enough room to move if you needed to.

“What’s your color,” he asked as he rubbed your back with the hand that wasn’t holding your wrists.

“Green, please-” you looked over your shoulder at him, hoping he would heed your plea. He pushed a finger into you, making you gasp.

Jimin chuckled. “Just making sure you’re ready. You’re so wet for me. Even after cumming for me once already.” He was shaking his head and you knew he was messing with you but it was working. You squirmed in his hold, moving your ass against him to try and entice him.

“Jimin, I swear, if you don’t fuck me soon-“

Your words were cut off as Jimin entered you in one thrust, making you breathless. He quickly set a steady pace, one hand on your hip, the other holding your wrists in place, smirking down at you as it took everything in you to not to stop looking at him over your shoulder.

“Nothing else to say, Y/N? What’s the matter, can’t talk when you’re getting fucked this good?” He increased his pace and your mouth was just hanging open in a silent scream.

“Jimin, fuck, please,” you closed your eyes and let your head fall forward, clenching and unclenching your fists as each thrust rocked you forward.

“What was that,” Jimin asked you as he slowed down, his fingers pressing harder into your hip.

“Sir, please, don’t stop-“ you moaned and heard him curse under his breath above you. His grip around your wrists tightened, making you whine at the feeling.

He loosened it then, and you realized he may have mistaken your sound to be one of pain. You looked back at him as best you could, watching him as he studied you, his lips pulled between his teeth. You could feel him twitch inside you when your eyes met.

“It feels so good,” you told him in between your moans, your breaths coming out shallow as he continued to pound into you. 

As good as you were feeling, you still couldn’t help the question that popped into your head. 

“Sir,” you called out to Jimin. He slowed his movements inside of you, but didn’t still completely.

“What is it, princess?” He sounded somewhat breathless and for a moment you forgot what you wanted to ask.

“Isn’t there - shit - some kind of policy against this sort of thing?” 

Your question took him completely off guard and the look on his face made you giggle.

“Are you asking if there’s a rule against fucking my employees?” He smirked at you as he picked up his pace again, making your eyes roll back.

“Well not just that,” you broke off to let out another whine when he repositioned his hand around your wrists, “but against workplace dating in general.”

“Hm, well, now that you mention it,” he pondered, pausing to let out a grunt when he pushed into you deeper, “there isn’t anything against that.”

You smiled at that, resting your cheek against the desk as you closed your eyes.

“Perfect, so if I wanted to date the cute guy who works in accounting-”

You couldn’t finish your sentence because Jimin rocked you so hard it actually did knock the breath out of you. He pulled you up by the hold on your wrists until your back was flush against his chest, letting go of your arms then. He wrapped one arm around your midsection while his other hand cupped around your jaw.

He moved your face to the side so you could look into his eyes that held a fiery expression.

“You’re mine and no one else’s,” he growled before pulling you into a kiss that was searing with so much passion. He continued to pound into you, now moving the desk forward along with you.

“You got that, princess?” He kissed you again, all teeth and tongue as he explored the expanse of your mouth. He reached up to tweak one of your nipples, making you cry out into the kiss, him swallowing all the sounds you were making.  

You knew his possessiveness he was exhibiting now was due to the more dominant persona he had adopted during all this, and you really didn’t mind it at all. You knew he valued you as your own individual person, and he’d never want to have actual possession of you or your body. So things like this, that happened in the moment, you were comfortable with. You wanted to be his, and had wanted that for so long.

He continued ramming into you faster and when you still hadn’t answered him, he snaked a hand into your hair and tugged hard. Again, not hard enough to really hurt, but hard enough to bring your attention back to him.

“Yes, sir, I’m yours and only yours,” you answered breathlessly. Your answer seemed to please him as he groaned and mouthed at your neck. 

“Fuck, my good girl, taking me so well like this,” he released his grip on your hair to now hold onto your waist with both hands. Your head fell back against his shoulder, your eyes closed and mouth open as all sorts of sounds were tumbling out. 

“Color?” 

“Green. But, Jimin,” you whined. 

“What is it, baby? Tell me what you need,” he spoke the words against your temple as he placed a kiss there. His pace had slowed somewhat, more sensual now than anything else, but the force of his movements were still enough to send you reeling forward, had he not had a tight hold on you.

“I wanna see you. Please,” you repeated a plea from earlier that night. You loved what was happening right now, but you loved watching him come undone above you even more.

“Of course, princess. I can’t deny you when you beg so sweetly for me.” His words made your heart constrict, a somewhat strange feeling when you were already overflowing with arousal. 

He turned you around and laid you back, only pulling out for a second to do so. He entered you again and resumed his pace he had been keeping up before. He gripped your thighs to pull them apart more, now hitting a different angle inside of you from this position. The change in angle had you both moaning, your sounds mingling together.

He sped up once you were positioned high enough on the desk so that he knew you wouldn’t fall. He removed his hands from your thighs, only to capture your hands in his own a moment later. He intertwined your fingers, giving you something else to brace yourself against as he pinned you there.

His pace was relentless, and with every movement that rocked you forward, you felt him hit that spot inside of you that had you begging for another release. You knew you wouldn’t be able to last very long, especially after reaching your high earlier, and certainly not with the way Jimin was sounding above you.

Every noise he let out was music to your ears, and with the way he was moaning now, you wondered if he was nearing his high, too. The idea of watching Jimin come completely undone as he pounded into you had you clenching around him, causing him to let out a strangled groan.

“Shit, you got me so worked up earlier that I don’t know how long I’ll be able to last now. Especially when you do tha- fuck.” Jimin cut himself off with another grunt as your walls clenched around him once more.

Both of you were so wrapped up in the moment of passion that you didn’t notice the lamp that was teetering dangerously on the edge of the desk, threatening to topple over any second. Jimin thrusted harshly then, making you scream out, the noise almost masking the sound of the lamp falling onto the ground.

“F-fuck,” you stammered, tilting your head to the side to try and find the source of the noise. Jimin wasn’t having it though, as he turned your face to look back at him.

“Focus on me, princess,” he said in a low tone, eyes nearly closed from his own pleasure. He squeezed your hand with the one that wasn’t currently cupping your face. When his eyes met yours, he let out a groan.

“Always so good for me. I wanna see that pretty face when I make you cum for me again. Wanna see you completely lose it when I’m deep inside you.”

His words sent another wave of arousal crashing through you and you started clenching harder around him now, making him twitch inside you in return.

“Please, sir,” you whined, not even sure what you were begging for at this rate.

“Please, what,” Jimin emphasized the last word as he squeezed your hand again, letting you know he wanted an answer from you. So you blurted out the first thing you could think of.

“Please let me cum again, sir. Please make me.”

Jimin moaned and you could see him smirking above you. “You want me to make you cum again? Well, princess,” he leaned down and brushed his lips against yours, “I think I can grant that wish.”

Without a warning he let go of your face he’d been cupping so gently, reaching in between the two of you to rub your clit as he started moving inside you harder. The combined pleasure of everything drove you to your climax much faster, and you started crying out his name and other incomprehensible words.

Since Jimin wasn’t holding one of your hands down anymore, you started reaching out blindly with that one for something to hold onto.

“Jimin, I’m so close, please-“

He noticed your struggle and pulled you up to where you were just barely seated on the desk now, wrapping your legs around him. This new angle caused both of you to moan loudly, and you knew that at any second you’d be ready to burst.

“I’m right here, Y/N, I’ve got you,” Jimin said against your mouth as he tried to kiss you, failing only because his ministrations were moving you so rapidly that you couldn’t stay still. You grabbed onto his back, leaving scratches whenever a particularly hard thrust would shake you to the core.

You rested your forehead against Jimin’s shoulder, and he placed an uncoordinated kiss on your neck. His thrusts were becoming sloppier now.

You could hear him let out breathy moans by your ear, and if that didn’t spur you onward to your release, his next words definitely did.

“Cum for me, princess. I wanna feel you cum all over my cock,” he said softly beside your ear. His words triggered your release before you could call out a warning, so all you could do was scream out and hold onto his back for dear life.

"Fuck, fuck,” Jimin breathed out, and the way you were clenching around him had him reaching his own high not too long after you did. You saw his abs flexing with his release, and you could feel him painting the inside of your walls as he let out a muffled groan against your shoulder. 

He slowed his thrusts to a stop and the both of you were breathing heavily. You sat there for a little bit, both trying to catch your breath with you rubbing his back and him placing small kisses on your shoulder and neck.

Before Jimin pulled out of you, he reached behind you and grabbed some tissues from the opposite end of the desk. He gently pulled out and cleaned up whatever mess he could from the current position you both were in, and when he thought he did a sufficient enough job, he tossed them into the waste bin beside the desk.

You didn’t have a chance to ask what would happen next before Jimin was picking you up and walking over to his desk chair. He sat down and situated you so you were comfortable in his lap. It felt so nice and you let yourself enjoy the feeling, hoping to bask in it as long as you could.

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw a small heap of something on the floor that you knew wasn’t there before. It dawned on you then what it was, which also made sense as to why it was darker in the room now.

“We didn’t manage to break the desk, but that lamp has seen better days,” you noticed as you took in the sight of the lamp that had fallen to the ground. The light bulb didn’t shatter, thankfully, but the lamp had separated itself into 2 different parts upon its impact of hitting the floor.

Jimin observed the lamp as well before he shrugged, saying “It’ll be an easy fix, and that’s a problem for another time.”

You hummed your agreement as you made yourself more comfortable in his lap. A few moments of comfortable silence passed before anyone spoke again.

“I don’t have anything here for aftercare, seeing as I never expected it would be needed-” Jimin sounded worried, so you were quick to reassure him.

“Being here with you is enough. Plus getting to sit all cozy in your lap is a bonus.” You wrapped your arms tighter around Jimin and he chuckled.

“Even still, we did a lot tonight and I want to take care of you properly. So,” he broke off, waiting for you to look up at him. When you did, he continued.

“Stay with me for the night,” Jimin offered. “Let me take care of you.”

“I’d like that,” you answered with zero hesitation. You could feel Jimin’s smile against your forehead as he placed a kiss there.

An idea dawned on you then, making you frown.

“Wait, but I drove here, so my car-“

“Can stay here until the morning. Or whenever we decide to come back. Maybe we’ll take the day off tomorrow, who knows.” Jimin patted your head as he kissed your temple. You let out a soft sound of content, closing your eyes as you rested your head on his shoulder.

“Then take me home. I’m all yours.”

He chuckled and you could feel the vibrations coming from his chest. “God, you don’t know how long I’ve wanted to hear you say that.”

You looked up at him then, placing a gentle kiss on his lips. “And you don’t know how long I’ve wanted to say it to you.”

“We really are just some clueless idiots, aren’t we?

You laughed, laying your head back on his shoulder. “It would appear so.” 

You could feel Jimin’s steady breathing from where you sat, the warmth of his skin pressed against yours soothing you. 

“You know,” you started to say, your mind still hazy, “if I’d have known there was any interest, we probably could have made this happen much sooner.”

Jimin pulled away then and nudged you with his nose so you’d look up at him.

“Y/N,” he said, a small frown covering his beautiful face. “You do realize that up until last week, you were in a relationship, right?”

You groaned and laid your forehead on his shoulder. “Trust me, no one knows that better than I do. But it was a miserable relationship.”

“Then, why did you stay?” 

You knew he was genuinely curious, and you pondered about it for a second, wondering how to answer it in the best way.

In the end, you decided to just be straight up honest with him, since transparency and honesty are always important in any kind of relationship, intimate or otherwise.

“Truthfully? It was the only way I could get my mind off of you.”

You felt him stiffen beneath you then, and you reached up to place a soft kiss on his lips. It took him a second to kiss you back, his arms pulling your closer.

“Fuck, if I’d known that- I swear I would’ve never stood idly by while you continued to stay in a relationship you were miserable in, you know that-”

“I do, don’t worry. I know you wouldn’t do that. But it also wasn’t up to you, either. Everything was up to me. And I finally had the courage to end things, and we’re here together now. That’s what matters, yeah?” 

Jimin didn’t seem completely convinced, so you caressed his cheek, making him bring his soft eyes down to look at you.

“I want to be with you, and you want to be with me. We can figure out the rest some other time, but isn’t that enough for right now?” You felt his smooth skin underneath your fingertips, the corners of his lips tugging upward as he finally sighed and nodded. 

“I think I can deal with that,” Jimin hummed, brushing some of your hair back out of your face. Your head found its place on his shoulder once more, relishing the comfort of his arms.

You yawned before you continued talking. “I’m tired so we may wanna get a move on, unless you plan to carry me all the way to your car.”

“Hmm, sounds like you’re doubting my ability to carry you.”

You snuggled closer, running your fingers along the lines of his beautifully drawn tattoo. “Not doubting, just thinking out loud.”

“Well,” you felt Jimin wrap his arms more securely around you, “let’s test that theory.”

He pulled the both of you up out of the chair with little effort, and instead of letting you down so you were on your feet again, he carried you over to the desk and set you down on it.

Before you could ask what he was doing, he handed you your discarded clothes so you could redress.

“It’s cold out, so clothes might be helpful,” he teased you as he redressed himself. You didn’t have the energy to tease him back, so you shrugged your clothes back on and waited on him to finish gathering his things in the office, swinging your legs back and forth.

When Jimin was done, he walked back over to you with his arms outstretched. He was offering to carry you again, and you felt your heart skip a beat.

Instead of taking him up on his offer, you got to your feet. “As much as I’d love to have you carry me the whole way, this way is faster.”

Jimin smiled and opted for putting an arm around you instead as the two of you left the office once you’d grabbed your things. “So eager to get home?”

Something about him calling his place ‘home’ made you feel warm all over, but you pushed it down for now. You had so much time to sort your feelings out later, and you wanted to enjoy these moments now without any overhanging thoughts. 

“Yeah, eager to get in the bed.” You stretched and yawned again, making him smile as he called the elevator down.

“So eager to sleep, huh?”

“Is that all we’re gonna do in your bed,” you pretended to be sad and he caught on immediately. He patted your head teasingly.

“Yes, tonight we sleep. But tomorrow,” he stepped into the elevator, pulling you in with him and hugging you against his chest, “who knows.”

You felt your face heat up at his proximity, which you found to be ironic considering everything you’d just been through. The remainder of the elevator ride was silent, as was the walk to the parking lot. You didn’t feel like any words needed to be exchanged when the feeling of his hand wrapped around yours was saying enough.

The car ride was also comfortably silent, and despite your best efforts, you couldn’t keep your eyes open. The next thing you knew, Jimin was softly shaking you awake as he helped you get out of the car. He helped you walk into the house and guided you to the bedroom since you were still half-asleep.

The two of you shared a nice shower, stealing kisses from each other underneath the comfort of the warm water. After you were both clean, Jimin made sure you had everything you needed to be comfortable, and he settled into bed behind you, pulling you close as he wrapped an arm around you.

“Hey, Jimin,” you said sleepily.

“Hm?”

“Next time, maybe we should use my desk since it’s smaller.”

He let out a laugh and wound his arm around you tighter, burying his face in the crook of your neck.

“Maybe so,” he murmured against your skin, making you smile. It didn’t take long for you to start drifting off to sleep once more.

The last thing you remember hearing before you fell asleep was Jimin’s soft voice saying “Pleasant dreams, princess.”

And for the first time in a long time, you were able to sleep peacefully.

[mrkcore]

𝐄𝐏 𝟏: 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊 𝐇𝐎𝐓𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐓 - 𝐥.𝐡𝐜

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: lee donghyuck x fem!reader

𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬: college!au (cs - computer science major haechan, psychology major y/n)

𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: fluff, slight angst

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠(𝐬): suggestive innuendo(s), infidelity, drinking

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 2.2k

𝐚/𝐧: the first chapter of the and they were roommates! series :D send in an ask or comment here to be added to the taglist! (sorry for the delay, i have been really unproductive so uh, yeah)

𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 | 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭

you’ve been stuck with haechan for about a month. you’ve successfully avoided him for the majority of the time, he’s still a bit flirty, but he’s been pretty quiet too.

except for when he streams. did he mention that he was a streamer? unfortunately no, you had to find out the hard way.

“haechan, can you fucking tone it down?” you storm into his room after enduring half an hour of his screaming on a thursday night. “i have an essay due tomorrow and it’s 30 percent of my mar-”

you see a professional looking mic, webcam, and another monitor with what seems like comments flowing in constantly on the screen.

“oh…” you trail off taking in all the equipment in front of you as haechan looks up at you.

“oh hey, sorry about that, jeno and renjun were being noobs and i needed to teach them a lesson, chat knows. i’ll keep it down, sorry.” he turns back to his game in front of him, completely unbothered.

“yeah.. uh sorry for barging in, thanks.” you say quickly and dash out his room, hearing the other voices from his headset laugh.

your face is hot, and you feel so embarrassed. 

anyways, lesson learned.

a few days later, you were complaining to your friend about haechan on a zoom call–as usual.

this time, however, she needed to spill the tea about her thoughts.

“ma’am, what is this tension,” she jokes. “i can feel it from miles away.”

“hey!” you snap back. “need i remind you that i have a boyfriend? and haechan? ew no, he gets on my nerves too much for that.”

“oh right, your boyfriend.” she rolls her eyes.  “i think you need to visit him, you’re so uptight all the time, i’m gonna get wrinkles if you keep complaining to me about shit.”

“oh right, restrictions have been slightly lifted, i can probably go visit him.” you remember reading about it in the news.

“yep, go.” your friend sips on her iced coffee and you laugh.

the next day, you go through with your plan to go visit your boyfriend.

all prepped and ready and you were going to walk out the door before you hear haechan coming out his room.

“oh, good morning, i’ll be out for a bit, maybe the whole day.” you say to him.

“good morning.” he yawns. “look at you all dolled up and pretty, where you going?” he smirks as you roll your eyes.

“visiting my boyfriend,” you scowl out. “now if you’ll excuse me, i better get going.”

“oh great, hope you enjoy your time with him.” he smiles and you think he’s going to be nice for once. “don’t forget protection.”

you groan. of course he had to ruin it.

“thanks haechan.” you yell behind you as you walk out the door.

it takes around 1 hour to drive to your boyfriend’s university, and an additional 10 minutes to his apartment, and you’re giddy the whole time. 

you’ve missed human interaction. 

and no, lee haechan does not count. 

you’ve missed the warmth and fuzzy feeling of an embrace, of having someone’s arms around you, protecting you from the outside world. 

you couldn’t wait to get cuddles.

hopefully your boyfriend likes this surprise.

gleefully walking into the building, pressing in the password to his apartment complex. completely missing the creaking coming from his room, but as you entered, you hear the voice of another person, who was definitely not your boyfriend.

you stomp right up to the door, and push it open.

there’s two people in the bed, and your eyes glower at your boyfriend.

“what?” the girl screams, scrambling to cover herself.

“babe?” your boyfriend is frozen on the spot as the girl looks at him as if he just said the most bizarre thing ever.

“babe?” she seems angry now. “you said you were single? what the fuck?”

“yeah, i think he lied to you.” you say coldly. “do you have anything to confess, ‘babe’?”

“you’re a douche, what the fuck.” she gets up and gets dressed. “i’m so sorry, he told me he was available, i would literally never agree to sleep with anyone who’s taken.”

“yeah, it’s okay.” you say, kind of relieved, and the two stare are you like you’re an alien. “at least now i know what type of person i was dating.”

and you turn to walk out.

“wait, babe please.” your ex tries to run after you. “y/n, let me explain.”

“no need to, we’re over.” you turn to say. “you need a ride?” you ask the girl.

“yeah sure.” she says. “don’t call me.”  

“babe please, can we talk this out?”

you couldn’t believe it. you drove 1 hour to see him and he has the audacity to pull this shit and expect you to just easily forgive? nope, lesson learned.

pfft, and he said long distance would work. 

“no we can’t, now if you’ll excuse us, we have somewhere else to be.” you grab the girls arm and walk out the door, slamming it in front of your ex’s face before he can catch up.

“do you have any plans for the rest of today?” you ask the girl after entering your car. she shakes her head while you smile. “great, any bar or night club recommendations you have?”

“uhh, bar then nightclub?” she suggests. 

“i like the way you think.” you giggle. “i’m y/n btw.”

“yina.” she smiles back at you as you pull out of the parking lot. 

a few hours later, and way too many drinks in, you’re at a table with yina, spilling your deepest secrets about your relationship with your ex.

“can you believe he made me wash his socks?” you take a sip before continuing. “and with my hands too!”

“what? that’s disgusting!” she listens to you rant in disbelief.

“yeah, he said that his socks were precious and the washing machine was too harsh on the cotton or some crap.” you snicker as you recall the other stupid stuff he told you. “ah the shit i did for love.”

“men are trash,” yina says. “cheers to that.” and you both down the rest of what’s left of your drink.

fast forward another 2 hours, you’re wasted. absolutely wasted. 

yina held you back a little bit, but its no use. you needed this.

“y/n, it’s like 11 pm, you’re drunk, i’m barely sober, i think we should call someone to come and get us.” yina tries to reason with you while you shake your head.

finally after 10 minutes of bickering, you finally agree.

“here’s my phone, you can call anyone.” you rest your head on your folded hands after handing her your unlocked phone. “anyone but haechan.” you start to doze off. “anyone but haechan…”

“hbbhng” you jolt up, feeling the warmth of your own bed. 

how did you get back home?

groaning, you feel your headache. you feel the vomit coming up your throat as you gag.

you almost fall trying to get out of your covers.

“woah there, be careful.” haechan is suddenly barging into your room, holding onto you so you don’t fall on your face, guiding you to your bathroom.

you’re too nauseous to wonder why he’s even helping you or even bother screaming at him like usual.

he pats your back soothingly as you vomit into the toilet.

“there you go, that’s it. i’ve got you.” he reassures you.

“what are you even doing helping me?” you’ve washed up and downed some water, you’re 100% sober now.

“wow,” haechan chuckles, rolling his eyes. “after saving your ass last night, this is the thank you i get?”

“what do you mean you saved me?” you’re genuinely confused by what he means.

“this yina girl called me from your phone, telling me that you’re blacked out drunk in a nightclub at 11:32 PM, on a saturday. asking me to come and get you.” he says, matter-of-factly. “i call a cab, get to the nightclub, haul your ass out the club, drive yina back home, and then us. where during our commute back, you wake up, start crying, and when we get home, you’re bawling about how your boyfriend cheated and you were a dumbass for thinking he would change. remember now?”

you’re in shock.

yina called haechan? you remember clearly that you told her not to, this is so embarrassing. you even cried about your ex to him? oh dear lord you wanted to crawl back into your room into a deep pit and never come out. 

haechan must’ve noticed your distressed expression because his face turns softer.

“hey hey hey, sorry, that was a bit mean. you just got out of a relationship, that was really inappropriate of me and i do not blame you for wanting to relax a bit.” he tries to comfort you once again. you’re in even more shock by his words. “honestly, me driving you back home, and taking care of you was the least i could do. it would have been so mean if i just left you guys there.”

you wanted to burst out into tears. 

this is the nicest thing you’ve heard in about 6 months.

unfortunately, haechan doesn’t know that.

“oh gosh, jheez, i’m not helping aren’t i.” he’s panicked by your emotional state. “uhm, to make it up to you, i’ll watch one of those scary movies with you?”

your tears instantly are sucked back into your eyes in excitement.

“really?” you ask, just making sure.

“yep, ahaha.” he laughs nervously, but happy to see your mood lighten up.

“you free tonight?” bouncing up and down practically.

“yeah…” haechan is a bit scared. “aren’t you going a bit too fast though, princess? you jut got out of a relationship.”

you gasp and slap him in the arm.

“okay okay! that was a joke. yeah i’m free, i have an essay due, but i’ll be done by 6.” haechan says.

“sounds good!” you b-line for the kitchen, your stomach is completely empty. “see you then haechan!”

oh how haechan regrets his offer.

6 o’clock rolls by, and you choose “the shining” to watch with haechan. anticipating the terror it would bring him. 

and you were right.

every jumpscare, even the smallest sounds, haechan would screech in fright. the last straw for him was the knock on your door.

“AHHHH!” he screams, almost knocking the popcorn out of your hands.

“calm down, dude.” you say, standing up to open the door.

to the unfortunate sight of your ex.

“y/n?” he says, softly.

“what are you doing here? how did you find out where i lived?” you were very sure you never gave him your dorm address.

“your friend gave it to me,” the eye bags he has are very evident. “listen, can we talk?”

“no?” haechan suddenly butts into the conversation. “you literally cheated on her, she doesn’t owe you anything.”

“who are you? her rebound?” your ex frowns. 

“her roommate, and if you even bothered to keep up with y/n, you’d know.” haechan returns the frown.

“it’s between me and y/n, you have no business telling us what to do.” your ex is getting more aggressive now.

“that’s funny, i was the one who was called to drive her home while she was out drunk, i was the one who listened to her talk about how she regretted believing you again, i was the one who held her hair back when she was vomiting this morning from her hangover.” haechan again returns the energy. “you tried to contact her, but she blocked your number and you had to get her address from her friend. you never even cared to ask her beforehand, and now you wanna try and show up to seem like you care? bullshit. now if you’ll excuse us now, we have a movie to finish.” he slams the door in his face and haechan surprises you for the millionth time today.

your ex bangs on the door for about 3 minutes before giving up, and you guys sit in silence as the movie still plays.

“hey haechan.” you try and start.

“AHHH!” he screams again, scaring you this time.

“JHEEZ BRO I WAS TRYING TO START A CONVO, CHILL OUT.” you scream back.

“okay, i’m fine, yeah sorry, continue.” haechan pants out.

“thanks for that.” you say, genuinely. “not even joking, you didn’t have to do that.”

“well i did, because that dude was a douche. literally having the guts to come over here and try and ask for forgiveness after he cheats. unbelievable.”

“yeah.” you fiddle with your fingers anxiously.

“i like this side of you,” haechan breaks the awkwardness. “you’re usually uptight, little-miss-perfect, and cranky, so i like this raw side of you.”

“mhm, i realized that now. sorry for being such a bitch.” you admit.

“no, i honestly deserve it. but i hope we can be friends now, it would be great to have real conversations with someone, you know?” he says.

“seriously?” you hit him in the chest as he chuckles.

“i’m joking! i swear. but seriously, friends?” he asks.

“yeah, friends.” 

and that’s where it started.

© mrkcore. 2021.

[theretirementstory]

Bonjour à tous, it is 15c and partly cloudy, however we are due 23c at some point today.

As I am not getting out and about as much as before I am using photos from previous years and the above photo was taken when I visited Île de Re, probably when I first arrived in France in 2017! Yes it is now 6 years that I have been living here, that anniversary fell this week and I cannot believe that it is only 6 years, I just feel so “at home” here.

I decided last Sunday to cut the grass in the back garden, I was tired of poppies and tall yellow flowers (weeds) taking over the grass, so out I went! Determined to only do half if that was all I could manage…… well you know how it goes, half done and oh yes I will continue…. well it wasn’t that tiring really and it does look a whole lot better. It really gives me a boost when I see the grass looking looking nice and green. We have had some rain this week but not nearly enough to get deep into the dry earth, but mustn’t grumble at least we had some.

I took up the pea plants and some of the broad beans but some looked to still be flowering so I have left those. The strawberries haven’t done so well this year and I guess I will have to buy new plants for next year. The raspberry canes have come to nought and I will be looking to sort out that pot at the end of the season. I promise myself everyday that I will look to clear some of the weeds in order to lay down newspaper and compost and move irises from troughs into the garden, unfortunately, my heart isn’t in it at the moment. I don’t want to waste the spent compost as I do think that it will provide nutrients for the iris and make a good base for them to grow on.

“The Trainee Solicitor” was unwell at the beginning of the week and took himself off to the “walk in” centre where he was told he had tonsillitis and given antibiotics. Having been a tonsillitis sufferer when I was younger, I knew just how he would be feeling and really hope that he is starting to turn a corner now.

“The Daddy” has his two children this weekend, the youngest was at the playground with his grandad. Not yet two years old and he was counting up to six, then was saying he liked being in the swing. He told grandad “no more hand” as he didn’t want to be pushed, unfortunately grandad missed that bit and pushed him again, when grandads hand was making a move to push him again he said “get off” not so much he wanted to get off the swing more he didn’t want to be pushed again. What a little star, he was looking up at the sky as he was in the swing and sounded as if he was saying “delighted”. His daughter is staying an extra night as it is a “teacher training day” on Monday, then there are teachers strikes Wednesday and Friday so she will be with grandad for at least one of those days too.

They are both growing up so quickly and I am sad that I won’t get to see them again this year, although my granddaughter did come to visit me in April, it will just be my grandson I haven’t seen.

I have had a couple of visitors this week, Sarah, a British lady who lives in Haute Marne, came to see me and was surprised by how well I look. Her and her partner are going to come over in a couple of weeks and hopefully he will put the fixings onto the large print that my eldest son bought for me and he will hang it. The print shows Whorlton Bridge, a single span chain suspension bridge, which was opened on the 7 July 1831. It is of interest to me as my grandfather was born in the village.

Then Monique came to see me, she has a lot on her plate at the moment, her husband is unwell and this coming week she is having her twin granddaughters, aged 18 months, to stay from yesterday until Thursday. She is hoping that the weather will not be too hot so that the children can be outside most of the time. Fortunately Monique has a large garden and orchard and I am sure that running around in there will tire those children out quickly. Let’s hope so, as one sleeps well all night but the other hardly sleeps at all, let’s hope a little bit of “Aube air” will work on them both. I really don’t envy her that task this week.

Finally, let’s take a minute to honour twins Adam and Simon Yates who finished first and second in Stage 1 of the Tour de France yesterday. British cyclists, not the first brothers to finish in that order but it looks like the first twins to do it. Just to keep the theme of the Tour de France, this photo was taken as the race came through Bar-sur-Aube on the 6 July 2017.

See you next time!

[just-come-baek]

body rhythm

Pairing: Taeyong x reader | mentions of Seulgi x Irene | mentions of Johnny x almost everybody

Themes: smut | fluff | dance!au 

Word count: 14.8k

Summary: Taeyong and Seulgi participate in a nationwide dance competition. However, due to unfortunate scheduling, she has to drop out of it, suggesting you, out of all people, fill in. Taeyong isn't pleased with how things manage to fall out of place, but he is in no position to be whiny about it. For him, it's either learn to work with you or lose yet another time to his arch-enemy.

Warnings: a moderate amount of fluff | Johnny flirting with everybody in plain sight | Johnny stalks people out on social media | cursing | Doyoung being a huge dick | Doyoung flexing his hips | reader has inappropriate thoughts about Taeil | Taeyong being very demanding dance teacher | stressfull situations | drinking | reader is kind of bratty and Taeyong finds it really frustrating | frustrated/angry making out | as per smut | oral!female receiving | unprotected sex (never try it at home or else Imma tell your parents) | they kinda fuck in the open and kinda check our their refection in the mirror |

A/N it's my entry for song association event, I hope you like it, and also don't forget to check out other entries ^^ they must be all out by now lol

“Are you ready?” Johnny inquired as he set his fourth coffee of the day on his desk and plopped onto the swivel chair in a cubicle next to mine. It was a really long day at work, and we both had trouble sitting through the end of it. Heaving a deep sigh, I looked at the pile of documents that required my attention, groaning before I sprawled across my workspace.

“I thought it’s canceled tonight,” I spoke as I looked at my wristwatch, wincing when I realized there was still one more hour until Johnny and I could finally clock out.

A few months ago, our lovely firm, instead of giving us a well-deserved raise, had decided to provide us with a variety of extra activities. Though I’d rather get some monetary benefits, together with Johnny, we chose dance classes. Our company was paying for it, so we might’ve as well attended.

Ever since then, every Thursday, we would go to a dance class to sweat out all of the pent-up frustration. I didn’t have plenty of expectations, still bitter after the company’s decision, but the dance class turned out amazing. Seulgi was our teacher, and although she was a bit demanding, she was patient enough to teach us some sick moves. If that didn’t scream talent™, I had no idea what did.

“Well… last week, she said she might be absent today, but I got a text from school that someone will fill in,” Johnny spoke matter-of-factly. I sighed, checking my phone, reading the same text message from the studio. I really didn’t have energy for dance classes, but there was no way Johnny would let me skip.

“Do you want to grab a drink after? I think I need one, or a few,” I proposed as I sat back in my chair, trying to let my eyes rest from the computer’s screen.

“Does a bear shit in the woods?” Johnny asked rhetorically, smiling at me as if I just read his mind. It was almost Friday at this point, and we deserved a little treat.

Though it felt like an eternity, the clock finally struck 5 p.m., letting us leave our claustrophobic cubicles. Tomorrow we would come back for another dose of torture, but right now, we were free. Only for a few hours, though.

Quickly, I returned home to get my gym bag. Thankfully, I lived within walking distance from both – my office and the dance studio, so it wasn’t as troublesome to commute as it was for Johnny, who got stuck in traffic almost every day.

A few minutes before the dance class, I was already changed into my gym attire, waiting for Johnny. Though no one was texting me, I stared at my phone, furiously typing away. Moon Taeil, also known as my secret crush, was leaning against the wall on the other side of the corridor, and I tried every single trick my mind could come up with not to look desperate.

“At this point, he must think you hate him,” Johnny commented as he conjured in front of me out of nowhere. “You should hit on him instead of trying to bolt every time he approaches you,” he added, and I rolled my eyes at his yet another one shitty advice.

“Can you remind me why I don’t take dating advice from you?”

“Why are you attacking me? I just wanted to help. There’s no need to get so aggressive,” Johnny defended his case, not really answering my question. Johnny was a self-proclaimed love expert, but to me, he was more of a pathological playboy. Either way, he seemed to understand the secrets of flirtation to pick up girls whenever he set his mind to it.

“I am just trying not to be obvious,” I commented, stealing a glance at Taeil. It was a silly crush, and though Johnny encouraged me to go for it, I never decided to act on my feelings. Taeil probably didn’t feel this way about me, so remaining idle actually saved me embarrassment after an inevitable rejection.

“Speaking of which, I figured out why Seulgi is so resistant to my charms,” Johnny announced proudly, and I raised my eyebrow, waiting for the big reveal. Everybody in our group knew that Johnny was attracted to Seulgi, but every time he tried to approach her, she would brush him off.

“By figured out, you mean you stalked her, right?” I commented when Johnny handed me his phone, showing me Seulgi’s profile. According to what Johnny dug out in social media, Seulgi was getting married to Irene – her girlfriend of five years. “Huh,” I mused as I gave him back his phone, trying not to laugh at him. Seulgi was already madly in love with someone else, no wonder she could resist his charm.

“Call it whatever you want,” Johnny started, putting his phone away. “Just don’t hold me down when FBI finally recruits me for my impeccable detective skills,” he argued, and I laughed as I imagined him leaving our lovely company. That would be a shame; I couldn’t imagine anyone else sitting in the cubicle next to mine.

“The room should be open,” someone hollered, mentioning for us to open the doors and get inside. I had seen him a few times around the school, so I deduced he must’ve been our substitute teacher today.

Once everybody took their spot on the dance floor, the man cleared his throat. “Hello everybody, my name is Taeyong. Together with Seulgi, we run this school, and I hope we will have a lot of fun today with new choreography,” he announced politely with a practiced professionalism. Perhaps Taeyong didn’t seem as cool as Seulgi, but we had to give him a chance to prove us wrong.

Taeyong was intimidating. I wouldn’t want to be left alone with him. When he showed us a few moves, he was immensely focused on delivering one hundred percent. It was impressive and admirable, but at the same, Taeyong gave off a scary fierce aura. Though he was a great dancer and teacher, Seulgi was just better.

“I think I have a heart attack,” I panted, gasping for air. The new choreography required lots of jumping, and I didn’t expect so much cardio today. I wasn’t out of shape; however, after dancing to Taeyong’s choreography, I had some doubts.

“We should’ve skipped,” Johnny commented, bending over with his palms on his knees, supporting his huge body. Taeyong’s dance routine was too much for us, and we weren’t the only people struggling to breathe. Thankfully, next week Seulgi would be back.

***

“You’re not gonna believe this,” Johnny announced, craning his neck to look inside my cubicle. Heaving a sigh, I put my pen down, giving him my full attention.

This better be good.

“What is it? Who are you stalking this time?” I inquired, giving him the attitude. Johnny was spending too much time on his phone during working hours, but I couldn’t really frown upon it because I often caught myself doing the same thing.

“First of all, I thought we agreed to call it researching, not stalking,” Johnny clarified, and I rolled my eyes. “And second of all, it’s Seulgi. She and the other guy from the dance studio qualified for some dance competition. Check this out,” Johnny explained, handing me his phone.

Seulgi and Taeyong rocked the stage. Though I had nothing to compare their performance to, they just oozed charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent. Without any shred of doubt, they would make it to the grand finale.

“Wow,” I mused, not sure how to appropriately respond. I was happy for their success; after all, their performance was broadcasted during prime time on national television. At this point, Seulgi and Taeyong were celebrities.

“I can’t wait for today’s class,” Johnny added in excitement, hiding his phone away inside the pocket of his jacket. “I have to congratulate her.”

“Them. You have to congratulate them,” I corrected Johnny as he seemed to forget about Seulgi’s dance partner. It wasn’t a solo competition, so both Seulgi and Taeyong deserved praise. “And as if you’ve forgotten, Seulgi is not and will never be interested in you. You gotta let this one go, man,” I added, hoping Johnny would stop his relentless flirting with Seulgi. Though it was funny at the beginning, it was evident Seulgi would appreciate it if he stopped.

“I am all over her. Trust me,” Johnny reassured me, and I let out a shallow sigh, wanting to believe him. “Do you know Wendy from the HR department? I think I’m gonna ask her out. I am all over Seulgi,” he added, and it actually convinced me. Although Johnny didn’t seek anything serious at this point in his life, and when something didn’t go according to his plan, he would shake it off and forget all about it.

“Ok, I believe you,” I said, giving him a genuine smile. “Oh, and I was thinking… how about some beer and chicken after dance classes today? I’ve been craving them the whole day,” I offered, and Johnny enthusiastically nodded. It did sound like a solid plan.

Thankfully, this week Seulgi was back, and everybody appreciated it. Taeyong was a great teacher, but we were a group of beginners, and it was difficult for us to follow his routine. We just weren’t ready for such complex choreography.

Everybody had so much fun today. At first, we practiced some old routines, working on synchronization. Later on, Seulgi taught us a few new moves, which I recognized from her television performance. Admittedly, they weren’t as difficult as they looked. Maybe it was a little bold of me, but I was thinking I was doing a pretty good job today.

At the very end of the class, Johnny delivered a dramatic congratulatory speech, making people laugh out of utter cringe. It was a nice gesture, and Seulgi’s embarrassment was adorable. She would cover her blushed cheeks and turn around, hoping the ground could swallow her up. In all honesty, it seemed to be the only way to shut up Johnny.

Just when we were about to be dismissed, I heard someone calling my name. Surprisingly, it was Seulgi. She must’ve wanted to discuss something with me. Damn it, was she going to scold me for not improving? Or was it because I sat half of the song out? I just needed a short break; I had no idea it would get me in trouble.

“I am sorry,” I apologized even though I wasn’t sure what for yet. Seulgi would enlighten me in a second, so I cleared my throat to apologize to her once again. However, when she giggled instead of yelling at me, I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

“I’ll wait for you outside,” Johnny hollered before he strolled out of the practice room.

“Am I in trouble?” I asked, and Seulgi smiled, shaking her head.

Great, it was a relief.

“Actually, I may sound crazy to you,” she started, fidgeting a little. It was strange, Seulgi was a strong and confident woman, but right now, she seemed rather bashful. “Would you like to participate in a dance competition?”

Her question took me aback.

“What?” I asked, trying to wrap my head around the topic.

“Let me explain,” she offered, and I reluctantly nodded.

By the look on her face, I could tell it wasn’t going to be a quick chit-chat. Seulgi had a lot of things to explain, so we decided to sit on the floor before she began her speech.

Patiently, I listened to everything she wanted to tell me.

Seulgi and Taeyong wanted to participate in a dance competition ever since they had decided to open up a dance school together. Last week they really thought they were going to achieve their dream. Unfortunately, as soon as they qualified and received the schedule, complications started to follow.

Maybe it was a little bit overconfident of them to think they’d make it to the finals, but it still made them anxious. Regardless of their talent, they wouldn’t be able to perform in the grand finale. Apparently, on the very same day, Seulgi was getting married.

At first, I wanted to interject that they could reschedule, but Seulgi beat me to it.

“It would be the third time we reschedule it, and I just can’t let that happen. I don’t want Irene to think I prioritize dancing over her. She means the world to me, and I’d quit a thousand times to get married to her,” Seulgi confessed, and I tried my best to contain my feels. There was something raw and pure about Seulgi’s love, and it moved me.

Seulgi’s proposition was genius in its simplicity. Together with Taeyong, she would perform, climbing up the rankings. And if by any chance, they would make it to the final round; she wanted me to fill in. Given I had been dancing at their studio for about four months I couldn’t comprehend why she chose me.

I was a rookie, for crying out loud!

Finding a substitute dancer made a lot of sense, actually. Instead of dropping out, they could find a replacement. This way, Taeyong could still make his dream come true. And next year, together with Seulgi, they could try to defend the title.

However, once again, Seulgi read my mind and answered my question before I voiced my doubts. She must’ve really thought this through before approaching me. It seemed she had rehearsed all possible inquires and came up with perfect answers.

“All of our dancer friends either compete against us or failed during qualifications,” she declared, and I hummed in response. “Unfortunately, people who already attempted joining can’t fill in for other dancers.”

“That sucks,” I commented, and Seulgi dryly chuckled.

“I think you would be a perfect fit,” she started, and I held my breath, wanting to hear what made her think I’d be able to rise to the challenge. “Everybody can memorize moves, but you have a natural passion for dancing. I can see it in class. Maybe you can’t see it yet because dancing is a hobby to you more than anything else, but I can tell you have the it™ factor.”

I was speechless. Seulgi, the dance prodigy, was praising my dancing skills. I couldn’t believe my ears. What kind of self-indulgent dream was it? Why couldn’t I dream like a normal person? I had tendency to toot my own horn sometimes, but it was just too much.

“I bet with proper training, you and Taeyong could win.”

“Let me think about it, okay?”

“Sure, of course! No pressure!” Seulgi replied enthusiastically, giving me enough space to clear my mind and think about it.

“See you next week.” I waved at her, exiting the dance room. Absentmindedly, I changed out of the gym clothes and walked out of the building, almost walking past Johnny.

“Hey, what did Seulgi want?” Johnny asked, grabbing my wrist, pulling me out of trance.

“She wants me to dance in her place if she and Taeyong ever make it to the finals.”

“What?!”

 ***

At first, I was hesitant about this whole thing. I wasn’t a professional dancer, and I really didn’t want to contribute to them losing the competition. However, Seulgi really made a point that they would have to drop out anyway, so in some twisted way, my participation gave them a slimmer of hope for victory.

Once I explained everything to Johnny, he really insisted I should help them out, spitting nonsense about fame and recognition and how I couldn’t doubt myself and just go with the flow. Opportunities like this rarely occurred, and I ought to welcome them with excitement.

So I did.

Every Saturday and Sunday, I dropped by the dance studio for practice. Taeyong still intimidated me, but I could deal with it. Seulgi was always around me to nag him whenever he demanded too much from me. They balanced each other very well, and it was fun working with them. Even though each practice left me with sore muscled, I was still excited. It was tangible proof I was improving.

Seulgi and Taeyong smoothly went through the contest, winning each battle with ease, slowly climbing in the ranking. There was still plenty of work until the grand finale, but everything looked they were to make it to the very top.

Unfortunately, the closer to the D-day, the less time Seulgi had to help us during practice. With her wedding coming up, she had a lot of preparations to deal with. As a result, Taeyong and I had to practice the dance routine on our own.

“No, you’re doing it all wrong,” Taeyong yelled in irritation when for the nth time, I turned to my right instead of my left. “Do it again; five, six, seven, eight,” he added, playing the song from the very beginning.

To say I was frustrated was an understatement of the century. I was aware that Taeyong really wanted to win the competition, but he didn’t have to be a dick about it. With no Seulgi to supervise him, he was unbearable.

“I think I need a break,” I declared once I turned to the wrong side again before Taeyong managed to scold me for it. Even though he shouted something again, I ignored it. With a deep sigh, I walked over to my gym bag to get my water bottle.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Taeyong asked, staring down at me with his arms folded across his chest, his demeanor dominant. His eyes were drilling holes in my head, his jaw was tightened – it was evident I was driving him up the wall. It was just a matter of seconds before Taeyong would snap, lashing out at me.

“I am taking a break,” I answered quickly, ignoring his angry stare. I was at my limit. If Taeyong didn’t back off, it would be the end of the practice for today. One more mean word and I’d storm out of the studio. I was here voluntarily. I was doing him a favor, and I didn’t deserve this type of treatment.

“Is it a joke to you?” Taeyong carried on, and I rolled my eyes. Of course, it wasn’t a joke to me. But at the same time, I was sick and tired of his shenanigans. I wanted him to win, but not when my mental health was on the line. He was pissing me off, and I wouldn’t let him walk all over me. “I thought you decided to help us out, but you’re not trying at all.”

He did not just say that.

“What?” I rhetorically asked, standing up, poking his chest with my forefinger. “I am trying my best here. You’re the one who makes it impossible to have fun dancing. You’re making it a chore, sucking all the fun out it.”

“Then tell me what I should do for you to finally make some progress? We’ve been stuck at this part for two weeks, and you still haven’t learned how to turn right!”

“Then go ahead and find someone else who can put up with your shit. I’m out,” I spoke, bending down to pick up my stuff, ready to leave the studio. Unfortunately, before I managed to exit the practice room, the doors opened, and Seulgi walked in with a confused expression on her face.

“Hey, what’s going on here?” She asked in worry, trying to put two and two together. It wouldn’t be the first time Taeyong and I argued, but it seemed to be the most intense one so far. It didn’t sit right with her. “Please don’t tell me you fought again.”

Briefly, I summarized what happened, and Seulgi looked down at Taeyong disapprovingly. I was glad Seulgi took my side; after all, she knew Taeyong could be too demanding.

“I am a dancer, but why does it feel I am a couple counselor? You two really have to learn how to work together when I’m not around,” she scolded us, making her point. If this whole arrangement was to work out, we both needed to establish some ground rules and learn how to put our differences aside. “I have an idea.”

Oh, no.

There was something mischievous in her tone, and I didn’t particularly like it.

“Let’s finish for today,” she proposed, and I smiled, thinking it was a great idea. Taeyong and I needed some time to chill, and calling it a day seemed like an appropriate way to do it. “Let’s go out clubbing instead!” Seulgi added cheerfully, clapping her hands in excitement.

“What?” Taeyong and I asked in unison, a bit surprised by Seulgi’s statement.

“That’s my prescription for the two of you,” she started, and I rolled my eyes. Taeyong and I didn’t get along as well as she wished for us to, but it wasn’t that bad. We didn’t need to bond over a few drinks in a crowded club. We would do just fine if Taeyong learned to go easy on me. “I believe we all can benefit from clubbing.”

“How come?”

“First of all, it will remind Taeyong that dancing is about fun, not overworking oneself,” Seulgi spoke, and I hummed, agreeing with her. “Second of all, it’ll give you a chance to loosen up. Your moves are still a bit stiff during intimate parts of the choreography,” she added, and Taeyong nodded in agreement. “And I really need something to drink because wedding planning is stressful as fuck.”

Not even thirty minutes later, we were inside the club.

“It’s a very sensual song. And you two really have to work hard to convey emotions through your dance,” Seulgi started as she sipped her tropical cocktail. “You must feel comfortable around each other and just ooze longing and sexual attraction,” she added, and I almost choked on my drink.

Performing with Taeyong was going to be more difficult than I had anticipated. When Seulgi and Taeyong showed me the choreography, I was amazed. Absolutely blown away. The way their bodies moved in synchronization left me speechless, but at the same time, I was a little bit nervous because I didn’t see myself living up to their level.

I wouldn’t consider myself particularly sexy. It made me feel awkward when I thought how seductive the dance routine actually was. I wasn’t sure I could pull this off, but Taeyong still had a lot of time to teach me.

“Take her to the dance floor,” Seulgi elbowed Taeyong, almost spilling his drink. Unenthusiastically, Taeyong looked at me before standing up and extending his arm.

Drunken people were jumping around us to the rhythm, and I awkwardly swayed from side to side, staring at Taeyong. With godlike precision, he moved, getting lost in the music. One could tell straight away Taeyong was a professional dancer.

Upon noticing how stiff I was, Taeyong shook his head, yanking me against his lean body. “How about you take a five-minute break to get that stick out of your ass? You look like you have no joints,” he yelled into my ear, his breath tickling my sensitive skin.

“I’ve had too little alcohol,” I replied, but Taeyong wasn’t having it.

“When we perform on the stage, will you need alcohol to let loose too?” Taeyong challenged with a playful smirk, and I rolled my eyes, too prideful to admit he was right. I couldn’t participate in that competition drunk. We wouldn’t win if I wasn’t able to come out of my shell and show everybody I had a sensual bone in my body.

“No,” I yelled into Taeyong’s ear. “How do I let loose?” I asked, hoping to hear some words of wisdom from him.

“Mirror what I’m doing,” Taeyong guided, and I nodded, focused on my new task. I could do that. I had been mirroring Seulgi’s movements during our classes, and I was pretty good at doing it. I could copy Taeyong’s moves.

At first, Taeyong danced a few classic moves we usually did during our warm-up routine. It was easy, and I think I nailed it. Later, he wiggled his upper body, feeling the rhythm. With envy, I observed how his body executed every single move, owning it. I wish I was half as good as Taeyong. Next to him, I probably looked like a crippled kid.

Upon noticing my struggle, Taeyong began jumping around, throwing his hands in the air. He looked ridiculous, but I remained focused on my task, dancing as if I was his shadow. Our bizarre moves earned some attention from other people, but our eyes were trained on each other, slowly getting lost in our own bubble.

I was sober, and I was on my way to owning the dance floor. I couldn’t believe it was happening. Maybe Taeyong’s charisma overshadowed my poor attempts of showcasing mine; however, I was sure I made a big step in the right direction. Slowly, I was improving.

“How about we spice it up a little bit?” Taeyong shouted into my ear, and I cocked up my eyebrow, thinking what he meant by that. “Don’t be shy,” he added, yanking me against his body. Taeyong was so close I could feel his legs rub against mine. “Come on, sweetheart. Touch me, tease me, feel me up,” Taeyong snickered, getting on my nerves. Not only Taeyong was smug for no reason, but he also quoted the song, which I was slowly growing to hate.

Taeyong must’ve assumed I’d back out. Surely, he didn’t expect me to follow his instructions and actually run my hands across his chest, shoulders, and back while simultaneously swaying my hips, earning approving stares from impressed men on the dance floor. At first, he was surprised he talked me into it, but a second later, he smirked, resting his palms on my sides, slowly exploring the valley of my butt.

I had no idea I had it in me, but Taeyong helped me discover it. We were basically grinding against each other, and it somehow didn’t feel awkward at all. We were just two people having fun.

“I’m sorry I was so harsh on you,” Taeyong apologized, shouting in my ear. “I’m just stressful all the time, and I think I may sometimes take it out on you,” he added, and I looked at his face, which was dangerously close to mine.

“It’s understandable,” I replied as I wrapped my arms around Taeyong’s neck, finding it much more comfortable. Now with our bodies pressed together, it was easier to have a conversation. “I know how much you want to win this competition. I’ll try harder,” I promised, and Taeyong released a relieved chuckle.

Who would’ve thought an adult conversation would work better than shouting at each other?

“Thank you,” Taeyong spoke genuinely, and I pulled away, staring at his face. His eyes were trained on mine. No matter how many hours we had spent at the dance studio, his gaze still intimidated me sometimes.

“Ekhm, I need a break,” I said in a desperate need to break eye contact with him. The dance floor was crowded, and it was making me dizzy. I was getting dangerously hot, and it seemed like heaven to get back to our booth and finish our drinks.

“Of course, you need a break,” Taeyong teased, sending me a lopsided smirk. “It’s okay, though. We still have plenty of time to work on your stamina,” he added as he grabbed my hand, leading me out of the crowd. Carefully, we zigzagged around drunken people, trying to make it safely to Seulgi.

Unfortunately, by the bar counter, someone walked into Taeyong, almost knocking him down.

“I’m very sorry,” a man shouted, but I could sense the words weren’t genuine.

“Doyoung,” Taeyong spoke, gritting his teeth, staring at the other man. Taeyong’s grip tightened around my hand. I figured he didn’t particularly like Doyoung.

“Taeyong,” Doyoung sighed, checking Taeyong out from head to toe before his gaze shifted to me. There was something spiteful about his lingering eyes, but I couldn’t pinpoint it. For sure, there was some bad blood between two men, and I suddenly felt an urge to know more. Inquisitiveness got the best of me.

Taeyong and Doyoung kept glaring at each other almost as if it was a competition. The tension was so intense one could cut it with a knife. I cleared my throat in a poor attempt to break their stare contest, but they didn’t even acknowledge my presence.

“I saw your last performance,” Doyoung finally spoke, scoffing. “You’re getting out of it, and here I expected to kick your ass in the finale. I wouldn’t be surprised if you and your partner got eliminated next week.”

I thought I had seen Taeyong furious, but right now, I was proven wrong. The way he looked at me whenever I was a handful during our practice was nothing compared to the way he glared at Doyoung. Taeyong was scary, and I decided to not get on his wrong side ever again.

“I’d gladly kick your ass here, but I’d rather wait for the finale. You know what people say about prolonged gratification,” Taeyong talked back, and I gasped, trying to comprehend what I just heard. Taeyong was getting cocky, and it made me nervous. I was already stressed about the possibility of performing, and he just added more pressure on my shoulders.

“We’ll see about that,” Doyoung replied, focusing his scrutinizing gaze on me. “But I have to say I kinda look forward to seeing you cry again. The way I beat you the last time was spectacular.”

“Let’s go, Taeyong. Don’t waste your breath on him. He’s not worth it,” I exclaimed, pulling Taeyong’s hand, reminding him I was there the whole time. I couldn’t listen to Doyoung talk trash about Taeyong. If Taeyong wasn’t going to walk away by himself, I had to intervene and pull him aside. Doyoung was provoking him.

“And who is that?” Doyoung asked in a mocking tone, displeased by the way I looked at him. Though I didn’t know the back story, I took Taeyong’s side. At least, Taeyong didn’t try to humiliate his rival, while Doyoung had already tried a few tricks to tick Taeyong off.

“You’re right,” Taeyong said, looking at me. It was evident he was holding himself back, trying his best not to take the bait. “Let’s go,” he added, pulling me away from Doyoung.

“Who was that?” I asked as we approached our booth. Unfortunately, I didn’t get my response. Upon arrival, we noticed that Seulgi was sprawled on the table, giggling to herself.

“Is she always like this?” I inquired, concerned about how drunk Seulgi got in such a short amount of time. We were gone for thirty minutes tops, and she was barely conscious after drinking her and our drinks.

“Aww… there you are… my dear friends,” she cooed cutely, trying to attack Taeyong with cuddles. She was adorable, but it was kind of irresponsible to drink by herself when we were on the dance floor. Thankfully, nothing happened. We returned just in time to collect her and escort her home.

“I can’t believe my plan worked,” Seulgi grinned, pointing her finger at Taeyong. “You no longer have a stick up your ass,” she exclaimed at Taeyong, too drunk to realize she should be talking to me. “And look at you! You were having fun!” Seulgi yelled, extending her arms to hug me. “I am so proud of you!”

“I should take her home,” Taeyong reasoned, considering it the safest option. He could call an Uber for Seulgi or just phone her fiancée to pick her up but bringing her home himself seemed to be the most rational solution. “Will you be alright by yourself?” He inquired, and I nodded right away. It was sweet of him to look after me too. Thankfully, I barely touched my cocktail; I could get home safely on my own.

“Don’t worry about me,” I replied casually, sending him a reassuring smile. “Just make sure Seulgi makes it home safe,” I added, warming up at the way Taeyong hauled up Seulgi, carefully leading her out of the club. It made me wonder if Johnny did the same to me. Probably. He wouldn’t be that gentle, though. If anything, he’d throw me over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes. Or just drag me out like a corpse.

“Give me a call once you get back home,” Taeyong demanded before we parted ways.

 ***

“You went clubbing without me?” Johnny dramatically asked after I told him everything that happened on the weekend. Despite my detailed narration, it seemed as if that was the only thing he caught on to. “How could you?”

“Relax, dude,” I rolled my eyes, shuffling around my desk, getting ready for work. It was Monday morning – it was about time we start our gossip routine.

“And I was wondering… would you mind helping me researching this shady dude? There’s some conflict between him and Taeyong. And I need to know what happened,” I started, wondering if Johnny would cooperate with me and put his stalking abilities to good use.

I was too embarrassed to ask Taeyong about Doyoung. Besides, I had a hunch he would either brush me off or scold me.

“Do you know anything about this dude besides his name?” Johnny pulled out his phone, no questions asked. “Please, don’t tell me that’s the only thing you know.”

“I mean… he’s probably a dancer,” I added with a sheepish smile, making Johnny heave a deep sigh. “He must be a big deal, though. Apparently, Taeyong lost a competition to him.”

“I’ll try to find some dirt, but it may be difficult given how little info you gave me,” Johnny declared as he began his thorough research.

It took Johnny five minutes to find the correct Doyoung. It was remarkable. If it wasn’t enough for the FBI to hire him, I’d gladly present them a recommendation letter. Quickly, I opened Doyoung’s profile on my phone, scrolling through his feed.

At first glance, Doyoung seemed to be a regular bratty internet star with an overgrown ego. His follower count was impressive. Studying his profile, I learned a lot about him. Unfortunately, it had no value. There was nothing specific about his conflict with Taeyong.

“How was your date with Wendy?” I asked Johnny as I gave up on my research. Whatever was the root of their bad blood would have to remain a mystery.

“It was fine,” Johnny started, but I could tell he wasn’t entirely honest. His disappointed tone betrayed him. “She left before the waiter brought the dessert. Apparently, she didn’t particularly like when I kept calling her Wanda.”

“Ouch.”

“No hard feelings, though,” Johnny shrugged it off, trying to focus on the positive aspect of their terrible date. “At least, I’ve had two slices of cheesecake. Besides, I’m kind of into Sooyoung from the creative team now. I think she is the one.”

“Every girl you’re into is the one,” I interjected, rolling my eyes, done with his antics.

“Oh, by the way, I’ve forgotten,” Johnny chimed in, staring at me in excitement. “Taeil asked me about you,” he revealed, and I almost spat out my morning coffee.

“What?”

“Are you still into him, though?” Johnny inquired, rubbing his temple in deep thought. “I haven’t heard you gush about him these days,” he pinpointed, and I wondered if my crush on Taeil was still as intense as it was a few months ago.

Taeil was insanely hot. I kept drooling whenever I saw him operate the printer. It was inappropriate to check him out whenever he bent down to change the ink, but I couldn’t help myself. Or whenever we met by the vending machine.

Good old times.

Right now, though, I rarely caught myself thinking about him. At first, I thought it was due to a hectic schedule. I was either at work or at the dance studio or getting shit-faced with Johnny on another wild adventure with him and his friends.

It was difficult to comprehend how easily my crush faded into thin air. Taeil was still sexy as fuck, but while I appreciate his looks, I wasn’t daydreaming how to get into his pants. At this point, I was just admiring his attributes in the most nonsexual way imaginable.

Apparently, the lack of response on my part was everything Johnny needed to confirm his suspicion.

“So what? Are you into Taeyong now?” Johnny asked boldly, and now, I actually choked on my coffee, thinking I heard him wrong. How did he jump to that conclusion?

“What?”

“Don’t get me wrong, but it kinda looks like you’re into him,” Johnny commented, playing with a pen. “You talk about him all the time with lots of passion. I think there’s something going on between you two. Is he single?”

“I talk about him all the time because I live to complain, and recently he’s the sole reason why I gotta vent,” I defended, but Johnny didn’t seem convinced. “And I don’t know if he’s single. I don’t really care,” quickly, I rejected all accusations, but in all honesty, his words got me wondering.

Was I attracted to Taeyong?

Surely, Taeyong was ridiculously attractive. He danced well, too. Unfortunately, we didn’t click much. There was passion between us, but it wasn’t romantically stemmed. We just kept annoying each other. I wouldn’t consider it sexual. We were just getting on each other’s nerves often, unable to properly solve our differences.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, honey,” Johnny teased, and I fought the urge to throw the stapler at him. “I bet fifty bucks you’ve imagined him naked, fucking you dumb.”

What the fuck, John???

I did not imagine Taeyong naked!

Not until now, at least.

“I seriously hate you right now,” I complained, deciding it’s about time I focus on work.

 ***

After Johnny had planted naughty thoughts in my mind, each dance practice was unbearable. My mind was running wild, coming up with different scenarios involving Taeyong and me in intimate situations. It was wrong on so many levels, but I couldn’t bring myself to stop.

After months of practicing the dance routine, we decided it would be best to make some changes to the choreography. Though it was still sensual as hell, with our hands roaming each other’s bodies, we found it crucial to accentuate Taeyong’s talents.

It was a strategic plan. While typically male dancers helped the female dancers shine, we put a little twist to it. Though our performance was still pretty balanced, Taeyong had a few crucial parts of choreography, in which he would snatch everybody’s hearts.

Seulgi didn’t object to our strategy. Well… she was never there, to begin with. Seulgi was a ghost, never present during our practice, always busy doing some last-minute wedding prep.

“Let’s take a five,” Taeyong hollered as he turned off the music, sending us off to a short break. It sounded weird when it came out of his mouth, but I didn’t complain. We’ve been practicing nonstop for the past hour. At this point, I was panting.

Lying down onto the floor, I rested my head on my towel, reaching for my phone. Quickly, I unlocked it to see a series of notifications from Johnny. He had sent me a link to a video, telling me in all caps to watch it.

Having left the earphones in the locker room, I played the video quietly through my phone’s speaker. It was a short film with Doyoung. It must’ve been his performance from last year’s competition. Jamming to the music, I studied his moves.

Doyoung was really good. I mean… it wasn’t professional expertise, but I could tell he had talent. His body control was impeccable, his hip thrusts must’ve impregnated plenty of women in the audience, but his shoulder rolls were just otherworldly. Along with the female dancer, they showcased quite the performance. From the beginning to the very end, I couldn’t look away, failing to notice Taeyong approach me.

“What the hell are you doing?” Taeyong shouted, tearing my phone from my hand, double-checking what I was watching. “Why are you watching this?” He angrily asked, locking the device, wishing for it to stop playing music.

It was difficult to explain.

I couldn’t exactly tell Taeyong that I asked my best friend to do research on Doyoung in hopes of finding out what was the root of their conflict. Though we had never found anything substantial, Johnny would send me more footage to check out. However, regardless of how much stuff Johnny had provided me with, I was still clueless.

“Why are you shouting at me?” I spoke, biting on my bottom lip. I was in big trouble, so it was only logical to play dumb.

Taeyong stared down at me, demanding a genuine answer. His jaw was tensed, his knuckles around my phone turned white. It was just a meaningless clip, but it got him fuming at me. Regardless of what I’d tell him, he wouldn’t like the answer. I figured this much.

“Why were you watching that?” Taeyong yelled, raising his hand, almost smashing my phone against the floor. Thankfully, he held back and gently put it on my bag.

It was incredible how much the video affected Taeyong. The movie worked on Taeyong like a red rag to a bull. One moment he seemed fine, but once he figured out what I was watching, he snapped.

“You really want to know?” I challenged as I rose to my feet, staring at him. It was my turn to raise my voice. If he kept shouting at me, I was going to give him the same treatment. “Ever since that night at the club, I was curious. You were basically throwing daggers at each other, and I really wanted to know what happened between you two. You never bothered to explain it, and I didn’t want to push you.”

“Do you have your answers now?” Taeyong exclaimed, and I rolled my eyes, agitating him even more with my fed-up behavior. He was scary right now, but I refused to let him intimidate me. “Or do you want to read my diary too?!”

I resisted the temptation of saying yes to his offering. Taeyong wasn’t the type of person to write a dairy. He was exaggerating, but I didn’t want to provoke him further. At any mention of Doyoung’s name, wrath took control over Taeyong, turning him into his destructive self.

“If it makes you feel any better, I know shit about him,” I confessed, throwing my hands in the air. “I wanted to know what he did to you, but I came up with nothing. And believe it or not, the way he treated you that night made me worry. You’re my dance partner, and I care about you a lot, and it really hurt me seeing you in distress,” I spat, not thinking about consequences. I was talking without filter, probably spilling too much information.

My verbal diarrhea confused Taeyong. His huge eyes were staring at me in astonishment. He was studying my expression, wondering if everything I said was true. Oh, no! My reckless words made him uncomfortable. He must’ve grown to hate now.

In embarrassment, I looked down at my shoes. I felt terrible, and I needed to come up with something clever to say to save my dignity and ease the tension. However, before I managed to voice my sincere apology, I felt Taeyong’s hands cup my cheeks as he surged forward and kissed my breath away. It was sudden, but I reciprocated the kiss in an instant.

Stress, anxiety, anger, sexual frustration, and probably many other factors led us to this very moment. I had been daydreaming about Taeyong’s mouth on mine for a while now. And when it finally happened, I eagerly swept my tongue across his lips, deepening the kiss. Though I had tried my best to withstand the tension between us, I wasn’t oblivious to it.

Taeyong already knew almost every inch of my body, so his hands naturally began roaming across my skin. Moaning into the kiss, he held me closer, keeping me pressed against him.

“Taeyong,” I breathed out as I pulled away, only for Taeyong to smash his lips against mine again, successfully shushing me. This time around, the kiss was even more passionate, making my knees weak. In a rush, Taeyong pushed me against the wall, pushing his thigh between my legs. “We shouldn’t,” I spoke, but my tone wasn’t convincing at all. I wasn’t even sure who I was trying to convince that it was a bad idea.

“Shut up,” Taeyong demanded as he tilted his face, sucking on my bottom lip. His hands were on my butt, kneading my flesh, trying to make me moan into his mouth. In all honesty, it worked. Maybe, I whimpered incoherent sounds, but it’s was just a poor attempt to encourage him to keep kissing me.

Regardless of how much he was to gift me, I needed more. I wasn’t going to stop until I’d take everything Taeyong was willing to give.

I craned my neck to the side, and Taeyong quickly caught on, leaving a wet trail down my neck. His lips were delicate, careful not to leave a mark, while his hips were grinding against me, letting me feel how stiff he already was.

“Legs,” Taeyong ordered, gently slapping my thigh. Obediently, I spread my legs apart, letting his hand cup my sex. It was ridiculous how horny he was making me. Once his raspy voice echoed in my ears, I fulfilled his wish, waiting for another command in excitement.

“Please,” I begged, needing more of him. Whatever he planned on doing to me, I needed it now. Whether he was to tease me with his beautiful fingers or fuck me raw with his cock, he better do it now.

“Patience, sweetheart,” he whispered against my skin, pressing feather-like kisses along my collarbone. His touch was driving me insane. His hands were everywhere but where I wanted them the most. This type of teasing should be illegal.

It was more than I could take, so I took matters into my own hands. I could play this game, too. With a mischievous smirk upon my face, I hooked my forefinger under the band of his tracksuit bottoms. Unfortunately, Taeyong quickly swept my hand away.

“You’re such a bad girl,” Taeyong commented before he captured my lips again, sliding his tongue into my mouth, knowing I’d talk back to him. “You have to do everything your way. Would it kill you if you listened to me at least once?” Taeyong muttered, staring into my eyes.

Yes, I was a brat. Taeyong wanted me to submit to him, and I would do it eventually, but not before I’d tease him first. What was fun in that?

“Don’t answer that,” he added, and I rolled my eyes. Though we barely hung out outside the dance studio, Taeyong learned a lot about me. Having an answer to everything was one of those things he had the pleasure of discovering.

“Just fuck me, please,” I said nicely, staring into his eyes, hoping it would be enough to make him cave. “I can’t take it any longer,” I added, rubbing my loins against his restrained cock, making him let out a guttural moan.

My plan was working. Slowly, Taeyong was giving in, probably taking his time to think about the consequences of letting me experience instant gratification. Orgasm would’ve been sweeter if he made me wait a bit more, but it was difficult for him to control his urges.

Without any doubt, Taeyong wanted to bury his cock inside of me as much as I wanted him to fuck me dumb. We withstood so many practices without jumping at each other – I should consider it foreplay.

“Fine, but I’m gonna eat you out first,” Taeyong spoke, and I almost lost it by just imagining his jaw going between my thighs. Swiftly, he knelt in front of me, pulling my leggings down to my ankles in one fluid motion. Having kicked off my gym shoes, I wiggled the fabric off my feet, sending it flying across the dance studio.

Taeyong ran his fingers across my panties, inspecting how soaked they already were. With a smirk upon Taeyong’s face, he pressed a chaste kiss against my skin above the waistband before he yanked the undergarment down.

“Beautiful,” he said under his breath before he surged his face, taking my clit between his gorgeous lips, making me tilt my head in pleasure. Frustration got me sensitive. Even the slightest touch got me purring in delight.

Taeyong licked and nipped at my entrance, and I run my hands through his hair, encouraging him to keep going. He flicked his tongue, and I buckled my hips, wanting more.

“I need your fingers,” I pleaded, looking down at him. Taeyong looked breathtaking, with my juices were dripping down his sharp jaw, with his lips turned into a satisfied smirk. He was proud of how he was making me feel. His glistening skin was the very evidence of his skillful moves. “Taeyong, please, I am so close.”

Though I didn’t expect him to, Taeyong listened to my humble request. His middle finger slid right it, making me purr in satisfaction. I could finally feel him inside of me, and it was heavenly. His palm moved quickly, working me up.

The first orgasm was building up. Taeyong was fucking me now with two fingers while his mouth was fiddling with my clit. If it wasn’t for Taeyong’s palm, holding me still, I’d buckle right into his face for more friction.

“I’m about to come,” I declared, shutting my eyes close. As tempting as it was to peek at the mirror on the other wall and check out the view of Taeyong eating me out, it was more than I could take. My instinct to squeeze my eyes shut and welcome the orgasm was too much.

Unfortunately, it didn’t happen.

Before tiny tingles of electricity could unite and explode, shooting through me like a lightning strike, Taeyong pulled away, denying me of my orgasm. It physically hurt when instead of a blissful peak, I felt nothing.

“What the fuck?” I barked angrily, ready to pull him by his hair against my sex and press him against me, so he could finish the job.

“We’re coming together, or we’re not coming at all,” Taeyong sternly replied, standing up. His lips were swollen from all the work he was doing, and they looked even more kissable.

“I’ve never pegged you for such a teaser,” I stated matter-of-factly, still a little bit butt-hurt over the way how smug he was about not letting me come first. Maybe I was a handful most of the time, but I didn’t do anything wrong to deserve such treatment.

“I’m not,” Taeyong chimed in, biting down on his lip. “There’s just something about you that makes me want to punish for your misbehavior,” he explained, and I got it where it came from. I wasn’t the best student he could work with. “Isn’t it the sweetest torture?” Taeyong challenged before he surged forward, smashing his lips against mine again, raising my thigh and giving it a gentle rub.

“Please, Taeyong, I need you inside of me,” I begged as I ground my sex against his rock-hard cock. I couldn’t comprehend how self-disciplined and patient he was; his budge was throbbing underneath his pants. It must’ve been painful for him, and he did all of that to teach me a lesson. “Fuck me, already.”

“Relax, sweetheart. I got you,” he softly spoke as he hoisted me up, pressing me tightly against the wall. “To be honest, I expected you to lose it sooner,” Taeyong added, and I hoped he was talking about my sanity. I endured more than enough; his teasing was too much.

“How should I fuck you?” Taeyong asked, looking around the practice room, seeking a perfect spot to stuff his cock inside of me. We didn’t have a lot of options, but I didn’t care. He could fuck me in the middle of the room, and I’d eagerly spread my legs for him. “Screw it,” he cursed, gently lowering me down onto the floor. “Do you mind?” Taeyong inquired, and I shook my head as I wrapped my legs around his hips, pressing him against me.

“Strip,” I ordered, and Taeyong smirked before he pulled his T-shirt over his head, revealing his lean physique. My eyes marveled at his beautiful shoulders and toned muscles. I had touched him more than I could count, but I never saw him bare, and when I finally did, I gawked.

“What about you, sweetheart? Come on, I am waiting,” Taeyong teased, and I took off my T-shirt. I was only in my sports bra, and Taeyong bit his lip, staring down at me, admiring my simple beauty. With no further comment, Taeyong leaned in, attacking my collarbone. It was hot how attentive he was, but right now, all I needed was his cock buried deep down my cunt.

Desperately, I reached to his sweatpants, palming his erection through the fabric. As soon as I touched him, Taeyong released a needy growl, rolling his hips into my hand, finally giving in to the pleasure. He lost his self-restraint, and now, he seriously needed to fill me up with his throbbing length.

“Take them off,” I breathed out, pulling by the hem of his pants. With a lowered head, Taeyong tsked before he yanked them down to his knees, wriggling out of them. Just as I expected, his cock urgently entailed my attention.

Though the thought of blowing him crossed my mind, I eventually decided not to entertain this idea too much. It was apparent Taeyong wanted to him inside of my pussy. I’d suck him dry on a different occasion. Hopefully, it would happen soon.

“Fuck me, Taeyong,” I moaned as I trembled when the tip of his cock brushed against my folds. I was embarrassingly sensitive after his ministrations, and he dared to tease me again. “Please,” I begged as I gave his length a few gentle strokes, aligning it with my entrance.

“Aaahh…” Taeyong growled, slowly pushing his dick inside of me. Inch by inch, he filled me up, stretching my walls. A lot of different sinful noises came out of his mouth as he began steadily thrusting his hips.

Taeyong’s stamina was no joke. It was hard to believe how long he could snap his hips without messing up his rhythm. His low voice mixed with my desperate moans echoed inside the room, creating a wicked symphony along with the sound of our sweaty bodies smashing against each other.

He was fucking me hard, and I was in seventh heaven. Taeyong was filling me up so good; I could come undone on his cock anytime.

“Taeyong,” I moaned his name as I watched him fuck me. Though it was hot to look at his cock disappear in my pussy, it was even sweeter to stare in the mirror. With my head turned to the side, I studied the whole picture how Taeyong was fucking me.

“I am coming,” I screamed as I felt the bliss approach. Taeyong was panting, struggling to maintain his tempo with the way my walls tightened around his sensitive cock. Once he hit my sweet spot, I was a goner. After a few thrusts, I came, digging my nails in his back.

“Fuck,” Taeyong cursed, shouting my name as he shot his load inside of me, collapsing on top of me. We were a breathless mess, our bodies sticking together, but neither of us minded. At this point, we were too spent to care. “You were incredible,” Taeyong whispered as he pulled out, rolling to the side.

“You weren’t that bad yourself,” I panted, giggling, still recovering from the mind-blowing orgasm. Thankfully, Taeyong didn’t pay much attention to my playful jab. “I meant it what I said,” I added, turning around to look at him.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you,” Taeyong started, staring into my eyes, showing me his sincerity. “I just can’t help myself but get angry when I see him or hear about him,” he continued, and I nodded my head, letting him know I was willing to listen.

I didn’t expect that Taeyong would agree to vent to me, but when he did, I patiently heard him out. After all, I was pretty sure we were at least friends now.

“It all happened about a year ago. We were competing in the same contest, and he made my dance partner quit. Doyoung seduced her, toyed with her, and once the trophy was his, he dumped her. Because of him, I was disqualified, and she quit dance altogether.”

Listen to his story made me both sad and angry. Doyoung had been a dick to interfere like that – he must’ve known he hadn’t stood a chance against them in a fair fight. My blood was boiling in my veins as I put all the pieces together.

Sadness took over next. The way Doyoung had manipulated Taeyong’s dance partner was upsetting. The wound had been cut so deep, she couldn’t have forced herself to keep going. Doyoung had wrecked two lives, and it made my blood boil, too.

“We’re gonna beat him. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure we do,” I spoke, reassuring him. It was impossible to tend the wounds, but the least I could do is help Taeyong win. For what he had done, Doyoung deserved punishment. If I were Taeyong, I’d not hesitate to beat him up.

“I hope so,” Taeyong muttered, reaching for my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “It’s still fine if we don’t. I’m pretty sure karma will get to him eventually,” he added with a sigh.

“I’ll work harder,” I declared, feeling an extra wave of determination wash through me. “I’ll try my best,” I said, and Taeyong smiled fondly, content to hear me say it.

“Thanks. It means a lot to me.”

For a while, we were staring at each other. It felt nice and somehow more intimate than all the fucking we had done. If we were in bed, I could do it all night. Unfortunately, we were still lying on the uncomfortable floor.

“Let’s get washed up before we get too sappy,” I added, trying to ease the tension. I really enjoyed it, but it was getting a little too much.

“I hope you don’t mind sharing the shower with me. You know… water bills are a bitch,” Taeyong spoke, and I giggled at his bullshit excuse, finding it incredibly cute, considering what we had been doing a few minutes ago.

“Of course they are,” I deadpanned, chuckling. Though his excuse was lame, I liked Taeyong enough to go with it. “Come on. Let’s go. I don’t want anyone to catch me naked.”

 ***

After that one time at the dance studio, Taeyong and I made it a regular thing. However, we kept it civilized. We wouldn’t jump each other’s bones in the open like animals like we had done the first time. Usually, we would go on small kind-of-dates, which consisted of picking up food, going to my or his place, and then rolling in the sheets.

We were having lots of fun. It was a perfect way to de-stress. After all, the finale was this Saturday, and we were nervous as hell. In all honesty, I was still scared, but these orgasms were numbing my anxiety.

“I think that’s it,” Taeyong spoke, and I smiled brightly, unable to contain my joy. It was the first time Taeyong ever approved of our performance. Most of the time, he was nitpicking, complaining about the slightest mistake, but finally, he was satisfied with it.

I was ecstatic; I never expected to live up to Taeyong’s approval. Through hard work and persistence, I managed to earn his eulogy.

“What should we do now? How about we order some food?” I asked, feeling in a celebratory mood. Maybe it was a little bit too early to drink to this small success, but it’s still worth a shot.

“We should do it again. We should dance it flawlessly at least a couple of hundred consecutive times before celebrating,” Taeyong seriously replied, and I rolled my eyes. Despite his painstaking nature, a couple of hundred times, it was a bit too much. Even for him. “Don’t give me that look. Let’s start again; five, six, seven, eight.”

Though usually, I’d complain and try to force him into a five-minute break, right now, I was oddly energized. We were dancing for the past two hours, and I was panting out of exhaustion. Nevertheless, the thoughts of finally mastering the choreography kept me going.

“I’m pretty good at this,” I confidently commented while roaming my hands across Taeyong’s shoulders before he twirled me around to the rhythm. I could tell that Taeyong was just waiting for an excuse to pause the music and scold me for making a mistake. However, much to his dismay, I executed every move impeccably. “I had a pretty good teacher,” I added, stroking his ego. The D-day was approaching, and Taeyong obviously needed an extra boost of confidence.

“I must admit you were a piece of work. I have no idea what kind of sorcery is this,” Taeyong teased, staring into my eyes. We had practiced the routine plenty of times; we could probably perform it in blindfolds and not make a single mistake. “I must be a magician or something.”

“Don’t push it,” I warned him in a very non-threatening tone, making him smirk. “But it’s only partially your success. Seulgi told me I have the it™ factor,” I proudly said, cracking Taeyong up, messing the choreography. “Is it a student-has-become-the-master kind of moment?” I asked, laughing at Taeyong. For the dance prodigy, he was getting distracted way too easily. It was suspicious.

With a broad smile upon his face, Taeyong grabbed my wrists, making me look at him.

“How about we finish up for today? I have a surprise for you,” Taeyong said, and I cocked my eyebrows, biting my bottom lip. “Not that kind of surprise,” he added, rolling his eyes at me. “We might get it on later, though.”

“What kind of surprise then?”

“Wait a second,” Taeyong spoke, quickly jogging out of the practice room. In a minute, he was back with a garment bag in his hands. “Here, that’s for you. Seulgi came in the morning to drop it off for you,” he explained, and I pulled down the zipper. It was going to be my costume for the contest, and I was curious how it looked.

I was speechless. At first, I thought it was a joke. I wouldn’t be able to perform in that. However, the more I looked at it, the more sense it made. It was a simple white suit shirt, but when mixed with a leather body harness, high-waisted shorts, and boots, it fitted the concept beautifully.

“Do you like it? I thought it was too revealing, but Seulgi insisted you would look amazing in it. I mean… it fits the mood, but if you’re not comfortable with it, we still have some time to find something else,” Taeyong blabbered, and my heart swelled. It was very sweet of him to consider my comfort above anything else.

“It’s skimpy, but it’s fine. I like it,” I replied, having no idea where my confidence was coming from. A few months ago, I’d be anxious to even try it on in the confines of my bedroom. However, now I was planning on showing a lot of skin on national television during prime hours on the weekend. I must’ve gone insane.

“Do you want to try it on?” Taeyong challenged, pulling the hangers out of the bag.

“You mean… here?!”

“Come on, it wouldn’t be the first time you took off your clothes in the middle of the practice room,” Taeyong concluded, smiling at me mischievously.

“Pass,” I firmly rejected his dare, even though it felt tempting. “It’s not fun when I’m doing it alone,” I added, and Taeyong grabbed the hem of his T-shirt, more than ready to discard his clothes in a blink of an eye. “Don’t fool around,” I warned him, placing my hand over his before he managed to take his T-shirt off.

“You’re right. Let’s go to my place first,” Taeyong agreed, zipping the bag before he grabbed my hand, leading me out of the practice room.

 ***

 On the day of the performance, I woke up with a terrible stomach ache. No matter how much fantastic sex Taeyong and I had, I was not mentally prepared to perform in front of the whole nation. I felt sick, almost as if my body was telling me to quit before I’d embarrass myself on national television. Stress was eating me from the inside.

“What are you doing up so early? Let’s go back to bed,” Taeyong purred in his raspy morning voice as he sneaked his arm around my waist, pulling me against him. “You need to be rested before the performance. Trust me, you don’t want a camera to catch you yawning,” he added, nuzzling his nose in the crook of my neck, breathing hot air against my skin.

“Thanks for giving me one more thing to stress about,” I deadpanned, heaving a deep sigh, staring at the ceiling. It was a mistake. I should have never agreed to Seulgi’s proposition in the first place. What the hell was I thinking? “I think it’s a bad idea. We should quit.”

Taeyong wasn’t in the mood for my nagging so early in the morning; he was having none of it. “You’re being ridiculous. We’ve practiced so much. We’re gonna win it with ease,” he declared, pressing a featherlike kiss against my jaw. “But for real,” he added, climbing on top of me, trapping me between his thighs, “we’re going to win. And even if we don’t, it’s fine. Really, if somehow we lose to Doyoung and his partner, I’ll just punch him backstage.”

“How can you say that?” I said with a sigh, running my hands across his thighs, finding it rather calming. “I know you said we should rest, but how about…” I trailed, and Taeyong smiled before eagerly capturing my lips, reading me like an open book.

“Say no more,” Taeyong whispered before his hands traveled under my shirt.

Unfortunately, Taeyong’s phone started buzzing on the nightstand before he managed to pull my panties down. With a groan, he extended his arm, staring at the screen.

“It’s Seulgi.”

“What are you waiting for? It’s her wedding day. Pick it up,” I yelled at him as I fell on the pillow, admiring his handsome face when he was talking to Seulgi.

“Please, not you, too,” he barked, rubbing his face in annoyance. Though I barely could make out what she was saying, I figured this much Seulgi and I were suffering from the same stress-fuelled illness. It was her wedding day, after all. Even if it was obvious she loved Irene with a burning passion, she wasn’t immune to pre-wedding anxiety.

Seulgi was talking her stress away, and Taeyong just hummed and nodded his head, registering her words. For some reason, the pressure didn’t seem to bother Taeyong at all. It was weird, but at least he was the voice of reason, which could help me and Seulgi cope.

“Breath in, breath out,” Taeyong spoke when Seulgi made a pause long enough for him to interject. “I know it’s a big deal, but there’s nothing to worry about. You’re getting married to Irene. You love her so much,” Taeyong reminded her, winking at me, expecting Seulgi to end the call soon. “Everybody’s a little nervous; it’s completely normal.”

It was beautiful how close Taeyong and Seulgi were. They had each other’s backs in all types of situations.

About ten minutes later, Seulgi finally calmed down. Taeyong’s reassuring words swept the anxiety away, and she was more than ready to get married to the love of her life.

Once Seulgi hung up, Taeyong threw his phone on the bed and secured my legs around his hips before he leaned forward, giving me a quick kiss. “Seulgi says hi, by the way,” he added, sneaking his hand under the hem of my panties.

“What?”

“What do you mean what?” Taeyong looked down at me, creasing his eyebrows in confusion.

“She knows?” I yelled, unable to comprehend how, on Earth, Seulgi figured out I was in Taeyong’s bed. She couldn’t know. She wasn’t even there when our romance bloomed. “How?”

“Yeah, is it a bad thing, though? You didn’t want to fuck me in secret, did you?” Taeyong challenged, not really answering my inquiry. Did Seulgi figure it out on her own? Or did Taeyong told her about us? And, the biggest question mark was: what were we to begin with? “Seulgi must have some sort of sixth sense. She was bothering me about the sexual tension between us since day one of your training.”

“I wouldn’t call it sexual tension per se, but there was something going on,” I replied, reminiscing how rocky our beginning was. “But I think we were interrupted…” I reminded him, and Taeyong with a playful smirk on his face dived right between my thighs.

 ***

 The streaming should begin at 8 p.m., but we had to arrive before 5 p.m., so the make-up artists and stylists could prepare us for the performance. Sitting in that chair and waiting for all pampering to be over with was stressful as fuck. I tried to preoccupy myself with an idea of Taeyong, but whenever someone threw a question in my direction, I was being pulled out of my train of happy thoughts.

I wanted to get on the stage and be done with it. Unfortunately, whoever funded that contest didn’t think of the mental health of its participants when making today’s schedule.

Punctually, the show began its transmission at 8 o’clock. However, at the very beginning, the MC had to introduce all sponsors. Going through them took him about twenty minutes. Then, they interviewed some of the eliminated dancers, asking them questions either about their experience in the competition or simply who they thought would win.

Later, they decided to rewind the contestants’ moments in the show. At first, they showed Doyoung and his partner, and a few experts analyzed their performance, wondering what the odds of them winning were.

When the host announced the rewind of Taeyong’s and Seulgi’s stages, the jury only talked about the sudden switch up, confirming it was the first time it ever happened in the grand finale. It startled a lot of people why would Seulgi drop out, but Taeyong explained it in a brief interview.

“It was a crazy coincidence, but Seulgi couldn’t participate today because she is getting married today,” Taeyong revealed, and the audience cooed loudly, obviously supporting her choice. “I was stressed at first, but Seulgi found an amazing dancer to take her spot. She really chose well,” he added, and I looked at him, trying not to cry in front of everyone.

It was almost impossible to fish out a compliment from Taeyong during practice, but right now, he did it on his own accord, melting my heart with his words.

“Everybody is dying to know more about your partner,” the MC started, shifting his attention to me. I didn’t particularly like to be put in the spotlight, but before I managed to spit some nonsense, Taeyong butt in, rescuing the day.

“Although she doesn’t have much experience in dance competitions, I think she’s a great dancer. To think of it, she is my secret weapon,” Taeyong added, and I almost ran into his arms, feeling too overwhelmed by his speech.

“Alright then, let’s see what you got after a short commercial break,” the MC cheerfully announced before I bolted out of the stage as I felt the stress crept into my head.

“Calm down,” Taeyong softly spoke as he approached me, holding my hand, drawing circles with his thumb. “You’ve got this. Just focus on me,” he added, flashing me a reassuring smile before kissing my knuckles.

“Awww… isn’t it adorable?” Someone snickered, and I didn’t need to turn my head around to know it was Doyoung. He was like a venomous snake, trying to sneak into our subconscious and make us even more anxious. It couldn’t be fair play.

“Buzz off,” I barked as I didn’t want to let him tick Taeyong off. Taeyong was my safety pin, and I didn’t want him to go full rage on Doyoung. Their backstage battle would make it to the news, but I’d rather prevent it from happening.

“With Seulgi on your arm, I was giving you a five percent chance of winning,” Doyoung started, ignoring my warning. “Now, when she’s gone, I won’t even have fun beating you on the stage,” he added, and I almost surged forward to punch him. If it wasn’t for Taeyong, who held me in my place, I’d definitely rearranged Doyoung’s face.

“Don’t let him get into your head,” Taeyong whispered into my ear, and I nodded my head, sighing. Then, it struck me. Doyoung’s motive wasn’t to mess with Taeyong but with me. He knew I was the weakest link, and he wanted to guarantee his victory by making me doubt myself. His words rung in my head, but one look at Taeyong helped me relax. We had practiced it a thousand times; there was not a chance I would make a mistake.

“Come on. Let’s go. They’re calling us out,” Taeyong mused, pulling me towards the stage.

The silence filled the auditorium when we got on the stage, taking our respective places. I stole a glance at Taeyong – he was mouthing words of encouragement seconds before the MC announced our performance.

I can hear it callin'

Loving the way you wanna talk

Touch me, tease me, feel me up

Callin', something in the way you wanna talk

On two sides of the stage, we moved to the rhythm, telling the story of two strangers lusting over each other from afar. With hunger in our eyes, we tried to seduce each other with sharp movements, showcasing our attributes.

You got me sayin', you got me sayin'

How you doing? Tell me what's your name (Ey, tell me what's your name?)

What's your sign? Feeling like you are into me

Taeyong ran up to me like a man enchanted by the siren’s voice, rolling his body against mine. It was his moment to shine; everybody’s eyes were on him as he owned the stage with his overflowing charisma.

Baby, we're two distant strangers

I know you don't speak my language

But I love the way she's talking to me (Talking to me)

I can hear it callin' from where you are

Loving the way you wanna talk

Touch me, tease me, feel me up

Touch me, tease me, feel me up

It was a classic game of cat and mouse. Though our bodies were so close to each other, we moved in perfect synchronization, careful not to brush against each other. The chemistry between us was undeniable, and the feeling of yearning was visible from the very last row.

Max, max, max, we can have it all (To the max)

If you back, back, back, back, back it up (Back it, back it)I'll take you where you wanna, got the gas in the tank (Wow)

If you really wanna make it last (Git, git, git)

Finally, as the song slowly progressed to the end, we were showing intense frustration. We were portraying two individuals, yearning for intimate contact, who were hastily losing their minds over uncontrollable passion.

I can hear it callin' from where you are (Callin', woo)

Loving the way you wanna talk (Love the way you talk)

Touch me, tease me, feel me up (Yeah, yeah)

Touch me, tease me, feel me up

The song was to end soon. The last chorus rolled in – it was our cue. After all teasing, we finally made the connection, ready to combust out of raw craze. After three minutes of painful longing, we were to reach completion.

I can hear it callin' from where you are (Callin', woo)

Loving the way you wanna talk (Love the way you talk)

Touch me, tease me, feel me up (Yeah, yeah)

Touch me, tease me, feel me up

It was all or nothing. We were finally together, touching each other with fervor.  The audience was eating our performance up – particularly when Taeyong showcased his flexibility and body control.

Tell me how you like it babe (How you)

I don't even know your name (How you, ey)

I love the way you're talking to me

It was finally time to finish our performance with a bang; we needed to show something spectacular, something Doyoung wouldn’t ever think about. As the singer began the last verse, it was my cue to run into Taeyong’s embrace. The second the last syllable rolled of the singer’s tongue, Taeyong caught me in his arms, and the lights went out to add a dramatic twist to our performance.

For a while, the audience was silent. However, a few seconds later, they roared in excitement, clapping loudly, showing how much they enjoyed our stage.

The MC was congratulating us, but I was too thrilled to register his words. I still couldn’t believe I performed on national television and didn’t trip and smash my face.

I had no idea how I found myself backstage, but there was a high chance Taeyong led me off the stage. I was too overwhelmed to do it on my own.

I even forgot that Johnny, together with Yeri – the love of his week, had backstage passes. I only remembered that when he wrapped his arms around me in a bear hug, congratulating me.

“You gotta quit that office job and start dancing professionally,” Johnny ordered, and I smiled, glad that he enjoyed my performance. “We both gotta quit. You’ll be dancing, and I’ll be a badass FBI agent.”

“You two were great,” Yeri politely said when Johnny let me go. “Thank you so much for letting me backstage.”

“No problem,” Taeyong replied as he grabbed my shaking hands. “Are you okay?” He asked, cupping my face, making me look at him. “You rocked the stage,” he added before he leaned forward to peck my lips.

Ignoring Johnny’s perplexed expression, I wrapped my arms around Taeyong in a comfortable hug. I hadn’t suitably introduced Johnny to the concept of me dating Taeyong, but hopefully, our interaction got the message across.

Emotions were slowly fading away, but I still needed Taeyong’s support. I was a rookie, and I had no experience with this type of stress. Something was calming about Taeyong’s aura; I couldn’t pinpoint what exactly, but I wasn’t going to question it.

“Anticipation is killing me,” I muttered against his skin. “Can he already go on that fucking stage?” I yelled, wondering why Doyoung’s performance didn’t start yet. I knew the MC was building up tension, but it was too much for me to handle.

“We could always skip,” Taeyong casually spoke, and I pulled away to look at him. What the hell was he talking about? I hadn’t agreed to help him out, so we didn’t wait until the end. “If we lose, we lose. If we win, your friend can accept the prize, can’t he?”

“Are you insane?”

“Maybe a little bit,” he answered with a bright smile, brushing stray hair off my forehead. “I just want to know the result already so we can go to Seulgi’s wedding and congratulate them,” he added, and I nodded my head. Though we couldn’t participate during the ceremony, the least we could do was to show up ridiculously late to the reception.

“Can they hurry the fuck up now?” I craned my neck, trying to find Doyoung and his partner. They were arguing about something right behind the curtain. Everything seemed they weren’t in the right headspace.

“I don’t think I want to see their performance,” Taeyong whispered, tightening his grasp on my waist. “How about a quickie in the dressing room? What do you say?” He proposed, and I smacked him, telling him to behave. It was tempting, but we really shouldn’t. I wouldn’t walk up that stage with messed-up post-sex hair.

“Get a grip,” I added, gently elbowing him. “Let’s just hit the snack table. I am hungry,” I spoke, pulling him away when the MC invited Doyoung and his dance partner onto the stage.

While munching on snacks, we stared at each other fondly. In some weird way, we were helping each other cope with anticipation and stress. Though it was tempting to check out their performance, we decided it was for the better if we didn’t.

They performed to “Hips Don’t Lie,” and it was almost impossible to turn my head around to check out Doyoung’s sick moves. Having considered all the videos I had seen of him, I was sure he looked gorgeous.

“What about a little peek?” Taeyong questioned, unable to control his urge to see his rival’s performance. “I thought I could endure it, but I can’t,” he added, and I nodded, giving in. Instantly, we ran to the nearest screen to watch their stage.

It was everything I imagined. Their moves were executed with precision and grace, but entertainment-wise, I was bored. They had the skills, but something about the general concept didn’t fulfill my expectations.

No matter how great of a dancer Doyoung was, he just could not pull this song off as the original artist did. Regardless of how hard he swayed his hips, it just didn’t live up to its potential. Though I wasn’t educated enough to give an honest review, it felt meh.

The audience in the studio whistled and shouted once they finished their performance, giving them a round of applause. With genuine smiles, Doyoung and his partner bowed before they ran off the stage.

Now, only thirty minutes of aggressive advertising, and we would know the winner.

“Is it too late to agree to that quickie?”

“You should’ve said so earlier,” Taeyong answered with an innocent smile as he reached to hold my hand. “The best I can do is cuddles,” he added, leading me to the couch, letting me rest my head on his shoulder. “It feels nice.”

“It does, but it doesn’t take my mind off things like a quickie would.”

“Don’t even try. I am not going on that stage with a boner in my pants,” Taeyong warned, peeling my hand off his thigh, pressing a delicate kiss against my knuckles.

Though it wasn’t as preoccupying as sex, it was still nice. And most importantly, it took our minds off the unbearable anticipation. A staff member actually needed to gently shake Taeyong’s shoulder to remind us that the MC was calling us to the stage.

Taeyong’s hand didn’t leave mine once we were waiting for the big reveal. It was fine if we lost. Next year, Seulgi and Taeyong would definitely make it to the top.

When the MC announced the winner, a few confetti bombs exploded. The audience roared in excitement, but I had no clue what was going on. Uncertainty was over – one of us won.

Stress, anticipation, and anxiety slowed down my reactions. However, I figured it would be weird if Taeyong picked me up and spun me around in his arms if we lost. It could only mean one thing – we did it.

We won.

Taeyong’s acceptance speech was short and simple. He thanked everyone who succored him discover his passion for dancing, who supported him throughout his dream, who directly helped him get this far, and me.

When I was handed the microphone for the first time that evening, I basically rephrased Taeyong words. Maybe it wasn’t my dream, but it felt damn good to assist Taeyong in achieving his. It was a bumpy road, but overall, it was all worth it.

The MC handed me a statue after shaking my hand, congratulating me once more. Taeyong, on the other hand, was gifted a huge check for 20 thousand dollars.

“Let’s go,” Taeyong whispered to me, running off the stage with me.

 ***

It was shortly before midnight when the Uber parked in front of the hotel where Seulgi’s and Irene’s reception took place. It was beautifully decorated with lights and flowers, making it look like a magical castle.

Though the security didn’t want to grant entrance, one of Seulgi’s aunts recognized Taeyong and told the man to let us in. She was nice enough to help us out, but she still found some time to glance disapprovingly at my stage costume. I wouldn’t be surprised if she gossiped to her entire family I was a prostitute.

As soon as we walked into the ballroom, Seulgi noticed us. She was sitting by the table, eating the wedding cake with Irene. In an instant, she rose from her chair and ran up to us, throwing herself on Taeyong’s neck.

“You won! I knew it!” She shouted as she gave Taeyong a bone-crushing hug. “Irene and I sneaked out for a while to watch your performance. You smashed them,” Seulgi added before she turned to me, congratulating me too.

“You were amazing,” Irene approached us, sending a polite smile. Unlike Seulgi, Irene was much calmer and collected.

“You are finally married,” Taeyong spoke, beaming. “You better have everything recorded. I gotta know every embarrassing thing that I missed,” he added in a teasing manner, earning a playful jab from Seulgi. “I bet you cried during your vows.”

“Congratulations,” I chimed in, breaking their friendly banter before it properly started. It was Seulgi’s wedding day, after all.

After we caught up, Seulgi and Irene walked off to the dance floor, leaving us by the table alone. For a while, we admired them. They looked absolutely stunning in their white suits, dancing, basking in happiness.

“Do you know where the gifts are held?” I inquired suddenly, looking around.

“Why? Did you have time to get them anything?” Taeyong asked before he stuffed his mouth with a chocolate glazed strawberry. “Or are you thinking of stealing some?”

“I just want to give them my part of the prize,” I started, making Taeyong choke on the fruit. “Seulgi’s the rightful winner, and I think it’s only right.”

“Are you sure? It’s a lot of money.”

“Yeah, I know, but I really want to do that,” I replied, fiddling with my fingers. “I don’t need this money, so I want to give it to her.”

“You’re so hot right now,” Taeyong said, making me turn my head in embarrassment. “If that’s what you really want to do, do it. But remember, you earned it.”

“I am sure.”

“Then let me spoil you with my prize,” Taeyong offered, staring into my eyes. At first, I thought he was joking, but when his gaze didn’t even falter, I understood how serious he was. “Well… look at that. What are the odds?” Taeyong spoke as a familiar melody echoed within the walls of the grand ballroom. “It’s our song. Shall we dance?”

Having glanced at Seulgi, who whispered something to the DJ, I smiled at Taeyong. Though I was sick and tired of Love Talk already, it was kind of our song. We had been listening to this song too much, and regardless of how good it was, the prospect of it being our anthem terrified me.

“One last time,” I gave in, accepting Taeyong’s invitation, letting him lead me to the dance floor. Despite having mastered the choreography to it, I just wrapped my arms around his neck, slowly waltzing to it.

“That’s nothing like we practiced,” Taeyong pinpointed, and I chuckled, shaking my head. “I don’t mind, though. It’s comfy,” he added as his hands found purchase on my hips.

“Seulgi doesn’t look pleased. She didn’t expect us to perform, did she?” I whispered into Taeyong’s ear, hugging him closer. “Also, it can’t be our song. We have to change it; the sooner, the better,” I complained, but Taeyong just chuckled into my ear, humming softly.

Instead of giving me an actual answer, Taeyong decided to sing it.

“I love the way you're talking to me.”