#remember the dumpling episode yeah

[nico00235]

I don´t agree with the fact that people thinks Tang is weak, i just think he´s lazy af XD

SO YEAH, SHOUTOUT TO STRONG TANG THAT LIKES TO LIFT PIGSY IN HIS ARMS GOTTA BE ONE OF MY FAVORITE GENDERS

[imminent-danger-came]

I was rewatching s2 last night, and ohhh man mk looks over mei so much it's not even funny. times mei has been ignored:

maybe you need to really listen! (during the blindfold ep)

mk just? grabs stuff she's using out of her hands all the time? (video game ep)

maybe you shouldn't skip the tutorials? (video game ep again)

the way he addresses her in dumpling destruction and then immediately pushes her aside for tang

i honestly remember it lowkey kinda bothering me on first watch but now it's REALLY egregious on rewatch. are you scared? I'm so scared. do you WANT to end up like shadowpeach MK

2x03 is so rude because the whole fucking episode they're like "MK you don't listen" and it's so true. He doesn't. Pigsy literally points it out again at the end of 4x14 with the whole sun screen bit:

Pigsy: "Tch, don't bother, I've been telling him that for years but he LITERALLY never listens." Sun Wukong: "Yep! That's how we role."

-

THEY'RE SO FUCKING RUDE. "That's how we role." We. We????? Wukong and MK???? Like WHATEVER. FINE. (("I told you going against the Jade Emperor was a bad idea, but no. Wukong doesn't listen to ANYONE! He just does whatever he wants" Like shut up. Shut up!))

MK gets so stuck in his own head ("You're all stuck up in your own head! None of this is your fault!" +1 to the MK ignoring Mei counter from 4x08) and I think that really contributes to his s2 scramble to get more powerful.

LIKE:

MK: "Stop? Now? Never! I just have to try harder. It's just like the Monkey King said! *laughs manically* I just need to get stronger!"

(2x06 Game On)

VS

MK: "Why didn't he just stop, right here? He was already so much stronger than anyone ever needed to be!" Macaque: "Wukong didn't think so, he always felt he had to be stronger—more immortal."

(4x11 A Lifetime of Mistakes)

-

(Bonus thing between eps 2x03 and 2x06, look at 0:42 in this video for MK hearing Mei but not listening to her. Because of course that's what he would do. *head in my hands .png*)

The terrible s2 choices both Wukong and MK make in relation to their friends is just absolutely delicious after 4x11. Like, OH. This has been a lifelong pattern of Wukong's—paranoia is one of his fatal flaws (paired with his terrible communication and self-sacrificial nature), and while he had the power to stop LBD before he still feel's the need to go after the Samadhi Fire to stop her now, and to protect MK.

Hold on look at this parallel that I don't know what to do with:

MK: "Ugh, I can't do it!"

Mei: "It's alright MK—you did it before, you'll do it again!" Sandy: "Yeah! Maybe it's like Monkey King said: the power will come when you need it most!"

(3x04 The Winning Side)

-

MK: "What! But you said the Samadhi fire was the only thing that could stop her!" Sun Wukong: "I KNOW WHAT I SAID! But I've beaten her before I'll- I'll do it again! Mei was right—I need to stop dragging you into my fights, all of you."

(3x10 The Samadhi Fire)

-

Wukong and MK's reach for power inspires a lot of fear in me! It does! Because, well, MK's current reach for power is going to lead him to his Monkey Form, and uh:

Like I'm scared. I'm scared!

"All doomed to play a role in tearing this world apart!" ; "This is Azure's utopia, and this barren wasteland is the price he paid to build it." ; "I'd do anything for my friends! But at the cost of the world?" "I'm sorry pal, ain't NOTHIN' worth that price!"

[peachjagiya]

Hiii! What you said is not really negative, more like realistic to me. I also noticed the change in Tae's tone and demeanor, almost silently saying "Yeah, right...".

“It's good PR. I think all celebrities kind of have these simple stories to pull out in interviews. Maybe it makes good sense to have a curated public image that provides a smokescreen for the private life that exists somewhat seperately. Does that make sense?”

In my opinion, this is so real about Bangtan. The dumpling fight with 453798 different versions of the story, the jikook rain fight, the banana fight, etc. These have been repetitive over the years. In more than 10 years, you would think they have a thousand different stories in stock but they seem to stick to a few ones. I remember on a Run episode how one member, if I remember correctly, insinuated that they don’t hold their liquor very well or something like that. Suga replied saying “Now that’s just a lie” or something along those lines. I feel like they do this quite a lot: dusting a few stories in the content that armys consume, giving the illusion of closeness, of knowing them to a T when in reality, we barely know anything about them. In addition to giving them a crystal clear public image with no faults. I mean, they are Korean idols, it makes sense, but it’s interesting to notice.

It just makes sense right? There's probably all kinds of arguments that aren't as cute as banana and dumpling fights, all kinds of drunkness and smoking and sex and clubbing and all kinds of stuff they'd really rather didn't form part of their image. There's probably even a smokescreen of them all being bestie best friends forever, unbreakably close, and that might be a bit of a twisting of the truth too.

Sadly, some of us can handle these things about our boys who are grown human adults and some people REALLY can't. And the ones who really can't are a nightmare. 😂

So they protect themselves with some walls full of cute and cuddly ideas. It makes perfect sense to me. But goodness me are there a lot of people who think it couldn't possibly be the case.

Thanks @whattypeofsoul! 💜

[heiayen]

EPISODE 7: SOMETHING SHE MIGHT LIKE... note: this chapter's written part is longer but very important, so! remember to read it

"No offense, but how else would anyone follow you?" Lumine raised her eyebrows as she put down the plate with dumplings, "If the person got a professional camera and all, then I don't think it would be hard for them to get a tracking device and just plant it in your car."

The main topic of the dinner was, obviously, who took the photos. You couldn't blame the twins for being curious and asking questions, the case was on your mind all the time, too.

"The car was locked, Lumine. Not a single sign or anyone breaking in." Scaramouche replied, annoyance evident in his voice.

"Then how else on earth?"

This was something that also bugged you. Your boyfriend was literally swearing he saw no one following you, and yet someone did. When Lumine first proposed the existence of a tracking device, Scaramouche disagreed instantly, saying how there was no chance someone broke inside.

But you couldn't help and feel like this was possible.

"Could someone put it somewhere on the car?" You asked.

Both Scaramouche and Lumine looked at each other, and then her gaze wandered to her brother.

"…I mean, someone could put it under the car? I saw people do it."

You looked at Scaramouche. Despite his usual frown, you noticed the uneasiness underneath it. To realize that someone was constantly aware of where you were going was a terrible thing, you could only imagine. You grabbed his hand under the table and gave it a light squeeze.

He squeezed back.

"I'll check later."

This was the end of this discussion. Lumine nodded.

"Anyway, I made two kinds of dumplings because I didn't know what you'll like…" She started and pointed at the plate, "Those are with meat and these are with mushroom. Oh, and Aether has his potato filling ones."

"With potatoes?" Your boyfriend asked. Honestly, you were kinda curious about them too. You never had dumplings with potatoes, out of all fillings…

"You want some?" Aether smiled, a dumpling already on his fork.

"No."

Still, the said dumpling ended up on his plate anyway. He stared at it and, honest to god, for a second you thought its about to get stabbed with his glare alone.

"Aether, can I have one too?"

"…sorry, Y/N, I have only six dumplings left…"

You glared at him, "So this is how you treat your friend… you pick their boyfriend over them…"

"No, it's not like this!" Aether waved his hands, a hint of amusement on his face. This quickly turned into a friendly bickering between you and him.

You didn't even notice when suddenly, half of the potato dumpling ended up on your plate.

When you noticed it, you smiled at Scaramouche.

a/n: i wonder what's the thing... anyways the dumpling lumine mentioned are actually rly good. yes im pushing my slavic twins agenda cuz i enjoy projecting. also! please if you have any comments theories whatever feel free to share them cuz i love listening what ppl think and yeah <3

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[icarusthelunarguard]

This Week’s Horrible-Scopes

It’s time for this week’s Horrible-Scopes! So for those of you that know your Astrological Signs, cool! If not, just pick one, roll a D12, or just make it up as you go along. It really doesn’t matter. Better yet! Check out “Heart of the Game, Fredonia” and see if they can sell you those D12’s with the symbols on them. Tell them “Shujin Tribble” sentcha. And “Hail, Hail, Fredonia!” Home of the Blue Devil!

No specific topics this week. Just a random collection of thoughts and ideas and seasonal points to ponder.  So listen up for your sign - it MIGHT just be worth listening to for a change. 

Aries 

It’s still in theaters, so how about you head out to see “DUNE”? No, the theme isn’t by America this time. And no, Sting isn’t in a leather G-String. And finally, no… there are no Mons-Faced Guild Navigators to see this time. So it’s all family friendly! So This Week… We know. YOU… do not take ORDERS… from US. Yeah, ok. Whatever, nerd.

Taurus 

With spring right around the corner, now’s the time to start your garden’s germination. You’ve got lots of left-over coffee grounds, plenty of tall biscotti buckets, and all the sunlight you could want through your window. Just buy some potting soil, mix that and the coffee together and drop all the seeds into the middle. As they grow bigger you can split them into individual containers, since, you know, all these seeds are a year out of date. So This Week… Keep drinking good coffee. It’ll help stabilize your mood.

Gemini  

If you want to wear something “unconventional” at home when no-one’s there to see, there’s nothing wrong with it. Put on gobs of makeup, try on that spandex tube dress, maybe that tuxedo with tails goes perfectly with home-made chicken and dumplings. All that matters is - decompress on your down time however you like. So This Week… If you’re gunna wear the Tux, make sure you have the matching cummerbund and cufflinks to go along with it. And don’t drip tomato sauce on the shirt! 

Cancer Moon-Child 

We really don’t mean to scare you, but have you looked at the calendar recently? You’ve only got six months until Halloween and you haven’t thought about it since New Years, right? This year go Old School - SUPER Old School! Like 1969-Old! Find the first season of “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?” and take your pick of the best of the bunch: The Black Knight, Miner 49er, Mummy of Ankha, or maybe The Space Ghost… not to be confused with the intergalactic crime fighter of the same name. So This Week… Whatever you do, do NOT pick “Captain Cutler” and then watch Season 7 Episode 19 of “Mythbusters”. Please, just trust us this time. 

Leo 

You’ve replaced all your vinyl records with cassette tapes, only to replace that with CD’s, and now it’s all on your computer, but there’s something still missing for you, isn't there? You miss the qualities an old vacuum tube stereo gives you, but you can’t say exactly what that is. We can tell you, scientifically, that the music coming out of your computer is of the exact same quality as those records - sometimes even better. But you don’t want to believe us, and that’s fine. So This Week… you’ve got two choices. Either buy a scam sound card for your computer with a fake tube in it, or just admit that you need a nice Sherwood S-8000 IV Stereo Receiver from 1964. Just remember: that “Special Quality” you miss just MIGHT be induced from the fumes all the components give off.

Virgo 

You’ve been wanting to get into 3D Modeling, but you’re daunted by the learning curve. Well have WE got something special for you! Curated from all the best online tutorials and explosive failures we could find, we’re selling our own training manual aimed right for you! That right, for only seventeen monthly payments of Three Euros, or one nice payment of sixty-nine Euros, we’ll send to your door, “The Smooth-Brained Guide to: 3D Building”. So This Week… Order Yours Today! Product will come on a Mac-Formatted ZIP100 Disk. No refunds if you don’t have a compatible reader. All sales final. ORDER YOURS TODAY!    

Libra

Yes, it’s possible to make butter at home. All you’ll need is some heavy or whipping cream and a beater of some kind - preferably electrically driven. And yes, you can make bread at home too: flour, salt, sugar, yeast, dry milk, oil, and water. Again, it’s easier in a machine. But do them both and you’ll have some delicious breakfast toast and butter to savour. So This Week… No, you shouldn’t try to roast your own coffee beans. Knowing you, you’d try deep-frying them. That will NOT end well.

Scorpio 

There’s an impending Big Bad Sad coming your way this week. We’re not looking to scare you, just warn you and maybe lessen the blow a little bit. Because, you know, we do actually care about you out here. We really can’t be any more specific than that. So This Week… Remember what Rosey Grier taught us in 1972, “It’s OK to cry. It might even make you feel better.”

Sagittarius 

You don’t need them, but we know you - you’re about to buy them anyway, aren’t you? Sure, Fifteen Dollars U.S. isn’t a lot at all, but come on! You should use your Mad Money on something that you can actually use worth a damn without annoying people who ACTUALLY know how to use it. So This Week… If you buy those Laser-Guided Fabric Scissors and use them for general, all-purpose cutting, we will NOT come to save you when tailors come for your inseam. 

Capricorn 

You made your big candy buy-out and you made out pretty well! Here’s the catch, though - you need to put it all in an airtight bag and into your freezer. It’ll last a long time that way while you find how to melt it down and make your own treats; assuming you know how to make a double-boiler. So This Week… we told you a LONG time ago to just buy a 5Kg (11Lbs) bar of chocolate for under $70 USD. It’ll cost you literally HALF what store-bought Hershey’s Bars would. You’re Welcome.

Aquarius 

Some of you are old enough to remember this one, but not all of you. Back in 1975 there was a Saturday Morning Kids’ TV Series called, “The Secrets of ISIS” - a superhero show about science teacher Andrea Thomas who found the "Tutmose amulet", on an archeological dig in Egypt. It had originally belonged to Queen Hatshepsut, an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh, which gave the wearer, specifically, Hatshepsut and her descendants, of which Andrea was one, the powers of the animals and the elements! One of those powers was Flight when she said, “O zephyr winds which blow on high; Lift me now so I can fly”. Trouble is, “Zephyrus” was the Greek god of the Westerly Winds - NOT Egyptian! So This Week… it’s time to start questioning everything you watched on TV as a kid. You were lied to!

Pisces  

We know you don’t much care for flying insects, but it’s almost time for them to start working again. Honey Bees are good, Bumble Bees are canonical drunk fliers, and hornets and wasps need to be killed every chance you get. There’s a lot of ways to do it, but we know how you are. You’re not gunna make a bat house and hang it on a tree. You also don’t want to try to kill a hornet nest by yourself - and rightly so. That’s one for the pros. But we know you LOVE a Tech Challenge! So This Week… there’s a project out there using a suped-up laser and an aiming computer, designed to spot hornets and shoot them out of the air. Find that project, buy and program an Arduino board to run it, and enjoy all the dead ass-needles of stabity death. OH, and do NOT look into the laser with your remaining good eye!

And THOSE are your Horrible-Scopes for this week! Remember if you liked what you got, we’re obviously not working hard enough at these. BUT! If you want a better or nastier one for your own sign or someone else’s, all you need to do to bribe me is just Let Me Know - or check out the Ko-Fi page ( https://ko-fi.com/icarusthelunarguard )! These will be posted online at the end of each week via Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, Discord, and BLUESKY.

[maguro13-2]

Shattered Hero ~ Origins of the Ink Demon : Episode Maka Pt.13 ~

[Chun-Nan (Day) - Kenichi Tokoi]

Ashley : Hey, Two of dumplings please!

Mona : Here you go. It's on the house.

Young Cricket : Hey, Ashley. Thank you for saving my life back there. If I haven't been defending myself from those strange masked guys, I would have easily defended ourselves from danger.

Ashley : My pleasure, cricket. You can count on me anytime. So do you wanna help spend time fixing up the dojo? Kat and Ana are worried that the dojo has left a huge mess after their fight with a demon.

Young Cricket : Oh that's weird, I took the demon child back to it's father so that the Dojo can be safe and sound. Speaking of which, I wonder if Mona ever on her part time job on giving these tasty dumplings. I'm going to create a work of masterpiece that will ever complete me in the science fair and also Penny is working a new invention that will give Wario a new bike.

Master Mantis : So I got a word from Princess Peach. Here look at the newspaper.

[Newspaper : LEADER OF THE KOOPA TRIBE BURNED TO DEATH BY FALLING OFF INTO THE LAVA PIT]

Mario : What!? Me, a murderer who mad that bowser fell into a ridiculous death. It happened on that Crocomire creature who was cooked to death by Samus!

Luigi : Yeah I don't like the sound of it, Mario. Buring a Koopa alive is kinda murder as in that result. You literally cooked a turtle to death and watch his skin getting melt except for his spiny shell!

Mario : Well, I'm sorry that he finally got what he deserved! Told you, cooking someone alive is the result of death and carnage, roasting some turtles is a kind of murder.

Luigi : But you didn't remember that Bowser Jr has a magical pot that has the ability to revive anyone from the dead after being cooked alive! Is that how video game logic works?

Mario : You tell me. Anyways, we're sigining up for the new Samsh Bros game titled "brawl" after Melee since the Space Colony Ark and I was in an incident too after I got framed by his son that makes them coconut heads force me to clean up crap all over on the island! And I just wanted a vacation, this is why I hate 2002 because of that incident! I wished went on a real vacation in Hawaii.

[radio buzzing]

Mario : Luigi! Can you turn off the radio! It's going on with the buzzes!

Luigi : I don't think that's me doing it, Mario! I'm not doing it with the radio.

Mario : Then what are...

Seto : (via radio) Hello! This is Seto the deathless from Needless! I just discovered a shocking truth and it's quite possible to spread it for you! It is just revealed that the Mabuki known as Demon Weapons were all part of an Alchemical research by Shotaro the Dokeshi, the boy who has unleashed an ultimate taboo for creating the demon weapons and it is also stated the Death the Kid that everyone know and love is Dracula's servant Death, a black wolf in sheep's clothing! He ordered Shotaro and the heroes of Soul World into taking down the Kasugatani family tree and I cannot believe that he would do such a thing! This was all a stage to make Witchkind's greatest downfall and will be on the verge of extinction! Tell Maka Albarn that everything she entrusted is a lie from Shinra! A lie to the devil himself! Please, understand the truth and let Truth win!

Mario : What!? Dracula's servant and Castlevania boss character death has been ordering all that!?

Luigi : Damn! So the actual Death the Kid was captured by King Boo! Konami is real smooth for showing their tricks up in their sleeves! I guess the Shinigami from Soul Eater was just a kid that is the human form of a Yokai called Kyokotsu! Lucky bastard! I don't know why the crazy story of Soul Eater was really false and to think that Maka Albarn is the hero of that world! This is the real world and we need to wake ourselves the hell up!

(suddenly lights went out)

Mario : Hey! The lights went out! What's going on here!?

Luigi : This could be a real messed up move!

Daisy : Guys! It's happening! Someone has broken into Nintendo and a recolored Shadow is heading this way!

Mario : Recolored Shadow? I don't know of this recolored Shadow!

Daisy : You gotta believe me! He is an acutal recolor of Shadow and he has the purpose of manipulating a hedgehog from the future and killing the blue blur himself! They say that he'll make the planet fall into darkness along with Real World AU itself!

Mario : Oh yeah!? Well who is this bozo that is attempting to drown the planet in darkness?

Mephiles : Simple question you may ask. But it shall be the living things that shall rejoice their selves to darkness! You'll just be lucky that you will be in your nightmares and all that frustration will easily hurt a heart and soul!

Mario : Ahh, sh**! I knew it! I knew someone in the building is going to get us! Hey, what do you think you're doing!? No! Stop! DON'T TOUCH ME!!!

(Mephiles laughs evilly)

Mario : Luigi! Guys! HEEEEELP!!!

(the lights were suddenly turned back on as Mario is missing)

Luigi : (gasped in shock) MARIO!!! NOOOOO!!! NOT MY BRO! ANYTHING BUT MY SWEET BRO-O-O-O-O-OOOO!!!

Mona : What's going on here!? Mario's missing!

Luigi : Yes! A recolor came by and took Mario hostage! Who could've done this!

Mona : Yeah, as a result of in that, Wario is missing too! and I haven't getting a direct call from him!

Waluigi : And who am I going to play tennis for what!? Now I don't have someone to play Tennis or Golf! And there will no be kart racing for tomorrow!

Luigi : (looks up into the sky, yelling) MARIOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

"Meanwhile..."

Mizune : [whistling a tune] Hey, dad. Long time no see. Do you remember who I am now? It's me, Mizune, your beloved daughter. (sees a photo frame of Mouser) I know that you haven't seen your daughter in years and I haven't seen you in years.

[Sadness - Seirou Okamoto]

Mizune : I promised you that I would able to reunite with you for a long time. But I haven't realized that I was the not only person that I ever get to see you again.

*flashback*

Mouser : Listen here, Mizune. You'll grow to be a strong girl just like your old man and when you do, you'll be just like me someday when you get older! How does that sound!

Young Mizune : Sounds great! I want to be the greatest being that I ever wanted to be the icon of my own! I will become the world's greatest treasure hunter there is!

Mouser : That's my girl!

*flashback ends*

Mizune : So now I understand that you wanted to see your own daughter again, dad. But now that you're gone dead, it's like that I never get to see you again...and I never felt this alone because I wanted to become the strong girl that I dreamed of! I dreamed that I would become the world's greatest treasure that there is and no one will ever take it away!

Blair : Long time no see, Treasure hunter!

Mizune : My rival from the same school, Blair?!

Blair : What are you doing here at Mouser's grave? What's the matter, Mizune? Cat got your tongue?

Mizune : You know why I came to daddy's graveyard, I came to mourn his loss of him after he died, he vanished from existence. I didn't know why I wanted to be the villain that is a part of a story. Believe it or not, I will never be a villain like this. Eruka was right about this, Medusa is not the friendly person that I expected to work with. No wonder why the author would make me the villain of the story. But...(grabs Blair by neck) If anything happens to Free or Eruka in the country, you'll pay. (Blair backs off)

Blair : So what!? That's how that I was such in an influence since we know each other at High school. I come to the church in Maryland everyday. You're begging that you planned on reviving Shinra's grandson to wipeout the planet, would ya? That's genocide!

Mizune : I didn't say that we of Ashley's kind were supposed to destroy the planet, that would be the heartless that is their doing! Here's something that I needed to tell you something, I didn't wanted to become a stupid villain! I wanted to become a hero of another story! I am sick and tired of the heartless' crap! That stupid Medusa and her dumb sisters would eventually get their asses kicked by the force! I could never trust a cold-blooded son of a b*tch that has us ever done to our kind. Thanks to unknown circumstances, Medusa and her sisters would be gone missing to confess their crimes against humanity. If only they were here to destroy the planet that easily.

Daroach : Still thinking about Mouser's loss, would you? I'm so sorry to hear that your father has passed on!

[Dark Samus Appears - Kenji Yamamoto]

Mizune : Daroach? Is that you? What happened to yourself? What did you go a little blue? Wait a sec, (her visions show Dark Nebula who is currently possessing him) Dark Nebula! How did you--?!

Daroach : (possessed by Dark Nebula) Escaped from imprisonment? Yes that's right. It was all thanks to this mice who freed me from that horrible prison that I lay dormant for all eternity. I have needed time for such lovely reunion to your master's body.

Blair : Hold the phone. Are you saying that Daroach is Mizune's master?

Mizune : And my adoptive grandfather as well. Enough fun and games, Dark Nebula! You come right out that body of his! I mean it now! You'll never cover the planet in darkness, not even the king of all Ink Demons would able to bring humanity into despair!

Daroach : (possessed by Dark Nebula) Fat chance, Mice girl! Once I reclaim my right position as ruler of the Underworld, I shall get rid of Earth's underworld rulers Hades and pluto, so does Yama himself to bring the darkness and despair for the rest of your lives! Both Humankind and Witchkind shall forever be in their miserable fates.

Mizune : Dark Nebula!

Daroach : Here! Have a present from your late father!

Mizune : What the-!?

*DBZ SFX : LOUD EXPLOSION*

Blair and Mizune : (coughing out)

Mizune : Dark Nebula! (realizing that Daroach disappeared) Damn it! He's got Daroach and now they're both gone!

Blair : Oh no! He must've went into space! Along with...the Squeakers!

Mizune : Daroach, no! (falls down on the ground) ...No! (whimpering) It's should've been me, not him! It's not fair! Why couldn't Dark Nebula just take me instead and be it's own puppet? I will never forgive for this Nebula! I'll make sure that you'll die with a terrible fate! A fate that you'll never forget just like what you did to daddy! I'll kill you for this!

(Dark Nebula laughs sinisterly)

~ Act 13 : Personification of Darkness ~

[thomas-anonymous-nyc]

August 12, 2023

1:52am

Some drinking thoughts.

I absolutely do need some time away from it. And if I am in NYC for 950+ days, even a year, I would be able to see at least "what I'm made of". I think that's an important thing to know, even if part of me is like, "yeah but I wanna go out on weekends so what?" True, so what. But what am I MADE OF? I don't know. And kinda screwing it up every couple of weeks and feeling kinda addicted only strengthens the case.

I've been pretty drunk all week.

At 6pm, I drank a Fat Mango at Finback + dumplings.

I walked another 4 pack at home, watched 4 episodes of Normal People and admired the beauty of that girl. Could I get her? Or someone like her?

I wanted to journal, had some insights about life. But the more I drank the less I remembered what the hell it was I was thinking.

I j'd off to chelle. oh man... geez. what a body. and she wanted me.

I'm sitting here and forgetting. There's nothing to do.

Remember: Ray Dalio. Do the thing.

Friday: 5 Fat mangos today

Thursday: A cocktail with Lisa yesterday. A manhattan at BK Inn. A martini + IPA at BL. Another IPA at WashC.

Wednesday: Rolling in Clouds at home. Rolling in Clouds walking to Park Slope. Manhattan + IPA at Barbie. IPA at that one bar with the cute busser. Fried chicken and wings over at that asian snack place

Tuesday: beers at G-Star, talking to M and El. Last times

Monday: No fucking clue???

Sunday: All out with Magz, BK Inn + dinner + Sharl's.

Saturday: Opps with T and G, dinner with an expensive negroni, white claws, and expensive cocktail elsewhere

Friday:

I've done it all man. I've done it all. All the fucking places. Only one thing left is to leave it all behind.

[missduplicities]

OTASD | Chapter 7: And the clouds grow bigger

The day after Seokjin’s dog’s incident, Nabi woke up to a text from the guy, letting her know that his dog was feeling better. She was genuinely happy to hear that, feeling like she had contributed a bit to the dog’s recovery in some way.

As was now usual, the neighbor from across the street passed by to say hello before taking her baby to daycare; this forced Nabi to leave bed earlier than anticipated. She realized just now how messy the house was, especially her room. For the past weeks, she had been living in self-preservation mode, limiting herself to only the necessary needs, which meant she hadn’t done laundry, worn makeup, or made her bed ever since. She felt angry at herself for not noticing how much of a mess she was, which sent her into a cleaning episode. Not only did she clean and organized her room, but she also did the dishes, took out the trash, and finally put the dirty clothes to wash. Feeling like she finally earned it, she allowed herself to a long and relaxing bath in her mom’s fancy tube, lighting up some aromatic candles, and exfoliating her skin.

After talking to Seokjin, she realized not getting her application letter wasn’t the end of the world. She could take a sabbatical, in fact, that was the best option for her. She could prepare even more for the next application and maybe even get a job or an internship that made her curriculum more competitive. Her life was not over, her life was just starting.

Around 4pm the bell rang, interrupting the sappy movie she was watching. Judging from the time, she knew it was probably Mrs. Kim, bringing her dinner as if she was a convict in a cell. Still, she was happy to socialize with someone as nice as Mrs. Kim.

“Hi!” Mrs. Kim’s son, Kim Seokjin, said. At this point, she didn’t know why it surprised her to keep running into him.

“Hi,” she said, reminding herself to be nice.

“I brought back your bike,” he said, which was clear since she could see him holding her bike. “I totally forgot about it yesterday,”

“Oh, thanks,” she said, grabbing the bike and getting it inside the house. “You shouldn’t have bothered, I’m not planning on riding it soon,”

“Well, that was actually the Trojan Horse. Mom asked me to bring your bike and kidnap you for dinner. For you to have dinner with us, I mean. I’m not saying we’re having you for dinner or anything,” he nervously laughed, wishing he had stopped talking three sentences ago. “Anyways, she won’t let me get home if I don’t bring you with me. So, could you please consider it?”

She laughed for what felt like the first time in weeks, surprised that the muscles in her face still remembered how to do that.

“I was kind of hoping it was your mom who rang the bell,” she admitted. “She told me yesterday that she was making dakgalbi,”

“Well, I’m afraid she lied,” he sighed. “There’s beef stew and dumplings,”

“Even better,” she felt her stomach rumble, hoping he didn’t hear that.

 “So, that means your coming?” he asked, unable to hide his surprise at how easily she had agreed.

“Well, yeah,” she said, closing the door behind her already. He awkwardly led the way to his house, not quite knowing what to talk about. “So, how is Dal?”

“Oh, he’s feeling better! He’s just being whiny because he loves getting attention,” he said with a fond smile. “But he’s fine, taking his meds and all,”

They walked in silence for a few blocks until they reached Seokjin’s house. Mrs. Kim was just as surprised as her son to see Nabi had agreed to come, but she seemed just as delighted. The kitchen smelled delicious, which made Nabi a bit nostalgic for the feel of a home. Her parents had always been busy, she had been kept just as busy, and even though she knew she was very loved, she always wondered what it was like to live in a “normal” household, one where dinnertime existed, and table was set for the family to eat together.

Nabi was glad that Mrs. Kim wasn’t the type who ask uncomfortable questions; she was very fun and nice. Mrs. Kim told Nabi all about Dal and how he came to the family when he was a pup as a birthday present for Seokjin’s older brother but ended up being closer to Seokjin since he was always at home. Seokjin didn’t say much during dinner, but he seemed comfortable with the conversation.

“Do you have any pets, Nabi?” Mrs. Kim asked after a while.

“Oh, no,” she said. “I used to have a fish; his name was Goldie. Well, I think they were a couple of different fishes, but my parents thought I didn’t notice them changing every few months,”

“Seokjin loves to fish!” Mrs. Kim said, happy to find something remotely common between the two teenagers.

“Mom,” Seokjin said, a bit ashamed. “That’s not something you tell someone who likes fish,”

“I mean, I like seafood as well,” Nabi chuckled, seeing how sorry Mrs. Kim looked. “Besides, I was a kid when I had them. I always wanted a dog, but they require a lot of love and attention, and we’re never home, so…”

“When my kids left, Dal became the baby of the house,” Mrs. Kim said fondly. “It’s funny since my husband and I didn’t want to get a dog in the first place, but now he’s our favorite kid,”

“Hello? I’m sitting right here,” Seokjin chuckled.

“Well, Dal-I never complains about the menu or my taste in music,” Mrs. Kim said, making his son roll his eyes.

“I just said I wasn’t craving dakgalbi,” he laughed.

“Oh, the food is delicious, Mrs. Kim. Thanks for inviting me!” Nabi sincerely said.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it, and I’m glad you came sweetheart,” she said with a warm smile. “Jinnie said you guys are starting a studying club for the summer. Feel free to come any time, alright?”

“Thanks, Mrs. Kim,” Nabi said, really meaning it. She wondered whether Seokjin had told his mom about how she’d failed at getting to university, hoping he didn’t.

Before she realized it, the night had come. She enjoyed talking to the Kims, feeling like they actually spoke her language. Seokjin told them both a story about his last fishing trip with his brother, which ended up badly because he fell into the lake. This was the longest she’d heard him speak. After she was offered dessert, but kindly declined, Nabi thanked them for having her over again.

“We should take you home,” Mrs. Kim said, looking for the car keys.

“Oh, seriously, don’t bother! I’m literally a couple blocks away,” Nabi insisted, not wanting to bother them even more.

“I’ll walk you home,” Seokjin said. It wasn’t up for discussion, so she didn’t complain. She said goodbye to Mrs. Kim and Dal and walked to her house next to Seokjin. It was hilarious to her that only a day before, she would be really uncomfortable with all of what happened that day. But it was clear now, what she had realized the day before, Seokjin wasn’t much different than her. Sure, her mom and his had different careers and different ways of showing their love and support for their kids, but she never doubted how important she was to her parents. She didn’t have a clue what her dad did in his job, she only knew his profession, and that he worked for Seokjin’s dad. She was sure Seokjin didn’t know the details of his father’s job either. She wondered if he knew as little of himself as she did about her.

“Are you good with Chemistry, then?” Seokjin asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.

“Just because I want to get into the science field doesn’t mean I’m great at every form of science,” she said, getting defensive for no reason. “But yeah, I am, why?”

“It was my worst grade,” he chuckled. “I didn’t get that class this year, and I barely remembered what I studied before going to the company,”

“How did you do in Math?”

“I’m above average in Calculus and Statistics, but my strength in the exam was Social Studies,” he said. “Did you choose Foreign Language or Chinese Characters?”

“Foreign, of course,” she said. “English,”

“I was so dumb for thinking I could do well in Chinese Characters, I can’t even read Hanja anymore,” he sighed, still frustrated about a test that happened months ago.

“I can help you review Chemistry,” she offered when they were reaching her house. “And I guess I could use some help with Social Studies,”

“I can help with that,” he said with a smile similar to Mrs. Kim, one that made Nabi feel welcome.

“When do you want to start?” she asked.

“After graduation?” he suggested.

“Deal,”

“Well, see you around,”

“See you,”

(Previous) (Next)

[tsuki-sennin]

Alright, DePaPre~! Staying in Oishi-Na Town~ for the big 1-1! Got a bowl of leftover curry I made for dinner, made with chicken, tikka masala, coconut basmati, and a little extra spice~! I'd dare say I'm having a nice dinner~!

Spoilers, I guess...

-Yui-chan~! The Recipeppis are pretty recipoggers, huh?

-They gave you a straight up laser cannon disguised as a food processor~!

-Aaaand Gentle continues to be treated like crap by Narcistoru.

-So... you can either use your power to keep the Recipeppis from feeling pain upon capture, or make a super strong Ubau-zo...

-Ohhhhh, man, food dreams... I love those.

-I hope you too can experience the joy of waking up and devouring a massive fucking hunk of fried chicken in your dreams, Amane-chan.

-OH FUCK IT'S TEST DAY

-"Surprise, bitches. I'm making you take a test."

-"My beloved potato salad..."

-Awwwww, she smilin :)

-Is this my pen?

-That was pretty good, Kokone-chan. On point pronunciation.

-"My pen..."

-I... don't think that's how sandwiches, rocks, sunlight, or proverbs work, Yui.

-Three years on a rock? What a fascinating phrase...

-DUMPLINGS

-Got a line for every occasion, huh Grandma Nagomi?

-Heeeeeey, I'm a foreigner! I'm following Yui already!

-Science~!

-Our girls are studyin'~!

-Oh epic, Amane's doing a good job :)

-JESUS CHRIST THEY HIT US

-Ah, the old "Fuck it, time's running out" strat. School is truly cruel to the neurodivergent.

-"Uhhhhhh, I guess I did my best?"

-"Oh yeah... Big Brain Time, Gentle."

-22 plus 39 is 61! ...that's still a failing grade, but you're at least a regular F between ya instead of an F minus~!

-"MY PARFAITS! My sweet tooth is all but useless now!"

-Oh, Takumi-kun!

-It took me three days to make that potato salad... three days!

-Oh fuck, a teacher

-"Oh cool, you're done, epic, gimme the assignments"

-"Kokone Fuwa... the only non-idiot here!"

-Oh, Mari can directly control who goes in and out of the Delicious Field. I remember that being stated, but I guess I kinda forgot...

-Is that Ubau-zo like... a potato masher?

-Spicy Solo.

-"Oh hey Yui~!

-"Fuck it, we're cheating! I need to

-Ohhh, he's feelin' it!

-Oh wow, Takumi's very perceptive. Pretty impressive for such an ordinary dude. ...

-"You're wasting all the farmers' hard work!"

-"And I feel absolutely horrible about it on the inside :("

-"Chop chop, Kome-Kome, we're wasting Precious time standing around untransformed!"

-Oh wow, she jumps high!

-Shoot 'em up, Spicy! Pamu~!

-Delicious Spicy Bakin'? Huh...

-Oooooooh, again!

-Wow, Toei must've had all these done for months now.

-Yum-Yum Drain? Mem?

-It broke~!

-Ooooooh, her glasses broke!

-Amane-chan's revealed!

-They know now.

-...surprisingly disquieting, I have to admit. Time to balance that with the bassline~!

-Amane Kasai's gentleness is offset by her own suffering.

-I mean, I know these silly magical girl shows aren't exactly high drama, but they somehow always find a way to make me feel for the characters. And since Amane's freedom is absolutely inevitable, I would like to take the time to say that her being abused into Godatz's service by Narcistoru and to a lesser extent Secretoru really makes me sad, and that once she's freed I demand Toei to let her do fluffy fun stuff with the rest of the cast! Make up! Gardening! Working together on projects! Whatever it is middle school girls do nowadays! She can play goddamn Fortnite for all I care, let her have a good time, she deserves it!

-#FreeAmane.

-I didn't really have a lot to say this episode, I'm just having a good time watching the show. Which is great, right? Not really good for content, but hey!

-One last thing before I go, and it's about something I've been wondering… do Amane's parents know what's happening to her? Cause, like, she has to be legally allowed to attend the school somehow, right? Are they like typical ojou parents too busy to pay attention to their kid? Or did the Bundoru brainwash them too? Considering how light hearted the season's been so far, I don't think they're trying to build up to her parents being willing sell out.

-But hey, Butler tried to commit genocide last season, what do I know?

-Alternatively, what if Secretoru and Narcistoru the closest thing she has to parents? I don't have any real basis for this other than Amane being way younger than either of them and their behavior uncomfortably reminding me of parents of friends I've had in the past, but that is something to consider. ...tell you what, if I don't come up with a proper theory by the end of Episode 12 next week, I'll instead draw a picture of Gentle. I can't promise it'll be very good, but hey, it might be the last chance I get to do so while this form of Amane's still relevant. Deal? Deal~!

-Alright, it's getting pretty late, so I'll see you all next week when Amane finally gets the hug she needs. ...or in the morning and on Monday when I continue with Revice and Donbrothers. Whichever~!

[bellarkeandclintashaandsuch]

Bad Buddy Episode 5 Thoughts:

This got a little out of hand

- No!!!! I forgot how sad our little Pran was when we left him!

- What is he putting on his toast?

- Are you my wife, Pat? So now Pran is referring to them as a couple. Mmk.

- Pat’s like, look at me! I’m so cute! Please don’t kick me out! And Pran can’t help but smile. ):)

- The ceiling in this apartment seems low. But that seems kind of nice, so then you can reach the top shelves in the kitchen. Maybe it’s just in the kitchen?

- He’s got a photo of candy corns on his wall.

- He called him Dimples!

- Don’t touch my stuff! *immediately opens up Pran’s notebook*

- “I don’t know how to flirt. Can I give you dumplings instead?” I wonder if Pat’s going to get some dumplings soon.

- Oh, my gosh! I absolutely thought he used Pat’s name as his password. This is slightly better. Pransocool. He is right.

- Does Pat not get it? Oh, no. He got it.

- Or not hahahaha. So Cool brand

- Aww, look at the soft smile on Pat’s face when he sees the photos on Pran’s computer 🥰 Pran was definitely going through old photos of Pat wistfully

- Oh, no! Wai’s too observant.

- Haha Pran grabbed him from behind.

- He hasn’t gone into his room, bud. Did you think he’d show up shirtless?

- The look on Pran’s face when Pat starts smelling his shirt. 😂 He’s like why did this have to be the man I fell in love with?

- Ink’s like finally my high school ship is going to sail!

- Aww, poor Pran. Remembering Pat saying he likes Ink.

- Pat does not lack confidence, that’s for sure.

- Loving this part 2 intro drawing a line between Pat and Pran’s eyes.

- Aww, Pat’s unlucky in love? Buying things for girls who turn around and dumb him :( Just date Pran. Problem solved.

- Pa’s like, it’s happpeninnnng!

- I can’t wait for the gif sets with these indicators of attraction between Pat and Pran.

- He’s just going to leave his “date” with Ink early to pick up drumsticks 😂

- What were the numbers? Number 1, there’s a hint from physical contact or something? Mmk 👀

- Oh, suddenly the drum sticks don’t matter so much?

- Ohhhh, that’s a smile! He looked away!

- Is that your date? Which one was this? Wanting to know if they’re taken is Number 3, I believe.

- Oh, dang! Pat’s thinking about the numbers himself! And now he’s panicking. I did think that Pat would notice Pran showcasing the signs. I like that he’s noticing it in himself instead :)

- I like this music

- Aww, sweetie! He looks so distressed!

- He can’t open the condiment…

- I hope Pat sees his little drawing of the note Pat left him 🥺

- Oh, no! Pran saw their date! :(

- 😂 maybe I’m just excited…

- Have you eaten?

- I’m not jealous, though. *wears a scowl while Pran talks to Wai on the phone*

- HAS HE EVER SPENT THE NIGHT HERE?!? Why is that so important to you, Pat?

- Please tell me that Pat realizes he’s jealous right now. Or is he like, hmm photo of Pran and a woman. I feel nothing. Thinking of Pran taking him friend home makes me burn with rage, but that’s nothing.

- He slept right where you did 🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂 Do you know what you’re doing, Pran? Pat’s about to implode

- WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME, HE SAYS! Pat! You aren’t dating, yet!

- I do have to say, I did not expect Pat to have this realization before confessing to Ink. But I like this.

- Pat! You big dork! Pran’s idea is “born to be together” and Pat’s like seeing each other every day? Sounds like us! You’re right. We’re born to be together… as rivals! What a great song idea!

- How do Pran’s friends know the song if they just got it last minute?

- Love me some protective Wai.

- Pran: I wrote this song with my high school friend. The song: Are we just friends? Pran: Don’t read too much into that. Or do.

- I love Wai and Pran’s friendship so much. I hope he doesn’t secretly have a crush on Pran or anything. But I am loving Pat getting jealous of him. And I think it’s even better if they are just friends on both sides. Makes his jealousy even more nonsensical.

- Ink is so perceptive.

- Aww, yeah! I’m glad architecture won. Considering it’s the only group we saw perform. And I love Pran’s friends more.

- I mean, why do you come here when you know Wai works here?

- Wai, don’t act like them.

- Wow, that got really intense. I was not expecting this fight between them.

- Why was Pran so angry off the bat, though? Or was he still pretending even though he was drunk? Is Pat also drunk? I still just love Wai so much. Constantly ready to throw down for his friends. I’m glad Pran got him to leave. I get so much anxiety when secrets are revealed, even if it’s for the best. 😬

- I particularly liked, it’s not the time to be silly.

- Ohm is really selling the myriad of emotions Pat is feeling right now.

- I’m sorry, is Pat going to be wearing a shirt that says Baseball Mom for an emotional scene?

- I don’t like you playing our song with someone else. 😭😭😭

- Stop doing this to me. We’re not a thing. We’re not even friends. Okay, Pran. I’m going to need you to stop taking a sledgehammer to my heart, please!

- He kept track of everything Pran did. 😭 And it was so depressingly lonely for him while Pran was gone! 😭😭😭😭

- This thing we have now! Name it! Name the thing!

- If we’re not enemies, can we be friends?

- I’m just typing everything they say, but it’s all so emotionally charged!

- Pran is crying! 😭

- Is Pat crying too???

- Pat kissed Pran!!!!! He kissed Pran! They’re kissing!

- Even when he moved closer I didn’t think he’d actually kiss him! This is only episode 5! Ahhh 🥰🥰🥰🥰

- And Pran pulled him back in! This is so romantic 😭 Pat was like, I’ve made up my mind. I have feelings for you and this cannot wait. And Pran was like well I’ve waited ages. I’m getting another kiss.

- Pran pulled away with a pained look on his face, and Pat pulled away with a relieved look on his face. I don’t like what that says.

- He walked away! Oh my gosh! Pat was like, this is great! We’ll be together now! It took me a minute, but now it’s all making sense. We’re in love! But Pran knows it’s not that easy. Pat really only had Pran on his mind, and thought the world would right itself once he allowed himself to give in to his feelings. But Pran knows they’ll have to deal with their families and faculties and it’ll be hard for them :(

- Sorry, babe. We’re only on episode 5. Can’t have your happily ever after, yet.

- I can’t believe they’re going to play the game of “whoever falls in love first loses” when they’ve already made out in a rooftop like that. They’re playing each other and themselves, and the director is playing us.

- I would like Pran to confide in Wai, so at least he would have someone to talk to about all this, the way Pat has Pa and even Ink kinda, even though she’s friends with them both.

[chalkrevelations]

So, Episode 7 of Word of Honor, and where to start? No, I’m kidding, I know exactly where I’m starting, which is with some recognition of what a great job this show does of developing 98 percent of its multitude of characters, because the first two things I’m going talk about this week aren’t even Zhou Zishu, Wen Kexing OR Wen Kexing’s thirst (AKA, the three main characters of the show).

Well, I guess I’m really starting with the usual warning – this is a re-watch and so there are SPOILERS here, not only for this episode, but for most of the show. Scroll away and come back later if you’re trying to watch all 36.5 eps unspoiled.

SO, I mean, come on. Of course I’m starting with the Smartest Man in the World, who has finally shown up in this episode, and I’m reminded once again what an actual cinnamon roll, too good for this world, Cao Weining is. He’s maybe the single completely good character we meet  – even Chengling wants to burn down somebody’s house at one point because he’s mad. But Cao Weining is almost too good to be true – and yet, there he is! Living his best life, being good, eating good, falling in love, and refusing to let his beautiful, clever, fierce girl’s neuroses come between them. I love him, y’all. And not just because he instantly falls in love with A-Xiang when he happens to see her beat up a bunch of drunk bro assholes in the inn where he’s having a quiet little lunch by himself before she storms into his life like a purple whirlwind. But let’s do think about this from his perspective, yeah? And let’s remember it as we watch the progression of their relationship, as we wait for the revelation we know is coming, and as – many eps down the line – he learns the truth of her. Cao Weining’s first experience of A-Xiang is someone who’s brave and capable, who defies outsized odds to come to the rescue of those in need, who doesn’t allow women and girls to be abused, who expects proper behavior from the representatives of the jianghu, and who is absolutely fearless in demanding just treatment and never even thinks to be intimidated when she faces unfair censure from an authority figure. This is the girl WKX raised, y’all. This is a girl who embodies everything Cao Weining has been taught to believe in as a cultivator. And this is the girl Cao Weining sees every time he looks at A-Xiang. Maybe, just maybe, this is the truth of her, and Cao-dage sees and understands it from the very first time he spots her, and anything else he’ll learn about her is really extraneous. (Hmm. I wonder what other relationship we’ll eventually end up seeing that kind of dynamic in, where someone truly knows you and believes in you, so everything else is unimportant?) Also, Cao Weining tells A-Xiang she’s very beautiful, and how many people do you think have ever told her that before in her life? He asks why he would want to fight and hurt her, and how many people – particularly men, given where she grew up – have ever told her that before? He buys her lunch – twice, because the first round gets cold. Remember a few episodes back, when WKX asked her who the second cutest person in the world was, and she responded that it was someone who would buy her a meal? Well, here he is. For bonus points, it is hilarious how badly WKX responds to Cao Weining’s very existence after ZZS points out the pair of them having a toast at the same inn that WKX and ZZS have stopped in WKX has dogged ZZS’s footsteps into. Poor Cao Weining doesn’t even get the shovel talk – although to be fair, he doesn’t get the full-court Ghost Valley Master press, either, so WKX must have been holding back somewhat – he just gets told to get out, before WKX grabs A-Xiang by the ear and delivers some scathing commentary on her taste in men, like he didn’t immediately fall for some rando who was tits out, drinking himself to death in the gutter.

ANYWAY, from the Smartest Man in the World, we’re going to move to Han Ying, My Beloved, who we see interacting with the Five Lakes Alliance again, this time in the person of Gao Chong, leader of Yueyang Sect and host of the upcoming Heroes Conference, da-ge of the 5LA. I had honestly forgotten we got to see so much of Han Ying this early on. What strikes me here is that this is a guy who I actually could believe is the second-in-command of Tian Chuang at what is it? 21 years old? When he’s doing his job, and ZZS is nowhere around for him to make pining puppy-dog eyes at, he’s focused and determined and a bit forceful and somewhat threatening and, frankly, appropriately arrogant for the job he’s been sent to do. He’s also wearing a cloak with a mini-Collar of Evil. He comes off as, dare I say, a capable leader of an assassin organization and a guy who’s able to do a proxy flex for his boss without looking completely ridiculous - which puts him one up on Duang Pengju, omg that asshole, and also makes me feel a little better about how I want ZZS to wreck him (or I guess, technically, him to wreck ZZS, because I’ve never seen a character (except Marcus Flavius Aquila, THANK YOU for your service, Channing Tatum) who put off such subby service-top vibes. WHY is there not more Han Ying/ZZS on AO3, fandom? I thought better … worse? … better? … of you.) When Gao Chong claims the Glazed Armor is a myth, Han Ying basically calls this older, respected zongzhu a liar and gets up in his face before refusing a dinner invitation and sweeping out in his mini-Collar of Evil with a credible “PAH.” My boy has layers, y’all.

What else? We start out the ep at Luo Mansion, a wedding scene, and I’m struck by how the Ghost Valley colors match traditional wedding colors, here. I’m thinking about how A-Xiang’s wedding dress won’t be red (and I think green was more common during the Tang dynasty?) although all the decorations will be, and I’m thinking about how we have this wedding as a book-end to that wedding, and I’m thinking about how it’s interesting that a girl who was raised in the Ghost Valley and protected by the Department of the Unfaithful meets a man who’s going to be so faithful to her in the same episode as this wedding with/of the dead. Ghoul, who’s one of the attendees from the Ghost Valley, also remarks that the red makes him hungry, so there’s a meat reference to throw into the thematic basket, I guess. (Also, hey. Ghoul is played by the same guy who’s Sun Yongren in Killer & Healer.) Lovelace (ugh) briefly menaces one of the Department handmaidens before Luo Fumeng shows up, and I think she’s Yun Zai or Hong Lu, one of the two maids that A-Xiang rescued from him, although I’m not positive, because her hairstyle is so different and hides a lot of her face, here. So, we’re all attending the “wedding” of Mu Yunge, the apparent fuckboy who got got a couple of episodes ago as bait for Ao Laizi when Changing Ghost got his hands (briefly) on the Danyang Glazed Armor. We did see a brief scene with Yunge in the last ep, when he woke up tied up in bed, being menaced by someone who appeared to be his dead lover – who hanged herself while pregnant with their child – but turned out to be Beauty Ghost using a face-masking technique similar to ZZS’s disguises. In the interim, Ghost Valley has kidnapped 10 cultivators as his wedding party, and – this is the important plot point – that includes Deng Kuan, head disciple of Yueyang Sect. We get to see some of Beauty Ghost’s ruthlessness here, as she carries in the dead woman’s memorial tablet draped in a red cloth – how’s that for some foreshadowing (my f’kn HEART) – to set it down in the “bride’s” place before Yunge is forced to bow three times. (Dead girlfriend was a Mo from Broken Arrow Manor, and I … am not sure if that is significant or not. Is she possibly related to Mo Huaiyang? Does anyone know which sect is associated with Broken Arrow Manor?) Beauty Ghost also kills two of the 10 “guest” cultivators for talking without permission as she explains the next event to them – cage match. Only one of them gets to get out alive. Deng Kuan, the best of them, apparently, pleads with everyone to not let themselves be divided, but we can all guess how this is going to go. I guess maybe he’s the other completely good character we meet, but he sure is a punching bag. He ends up the last man, sort of, standing, as he kills the final other person in self-defense, but not before getting stabbed, and he goes down and is out for the count.

Meanwhile, cut to Zhao Jing and Shen Shen drinking and gossiping at an inn on the way to Yueyang. Shenshen – Shenshen – continues to bemoan Chengling’s uselessness, and also talks about the torture the other Zhang family members underwent just in time for Chengling to overhear in the hallway, so thanks a lot for even more trauma, Shenshen. Zhao Jing is so sad about it all, y’all. He’s just so very very sad, can we just stop talking about it, Shenshen, because you’re making him sad, and he’s just going to let Da-ge figure it all out, OK? Uh-huh.

Fourth plot thread of the episode is ZZS skulking around, following Chengling, trying to convince himself that this kid is safe now that he’s turned himself in to gone to live with the 5LA, even as ZZS spots Tian Chuang spies in the ranks of the Yueyang disciples and among the dumpling vendors on the streets outside. ZZS follows the dumpling vendor, gives him a code phrase and almost gets his head taken off by a Scorpion blade for his trouble, before stabbing Dumpling Man in response. WKX picks this exact moment to wander back into ZZS’s orbit, taking the chance to flirt as Dumpling Man spits up blood and dies in the alleyway, because of course he does. WKX tsks, accuses ZZS of being cruel, and quotes some poetry about fair faces and poisonous hearts, which - like all of his poetry - has a double meaning, because which of them is he really talking about, ZZS or himself? ZZS notes that WKX is openly wearing the (Danyang) Glazed Armor because of course he’s looking for trouble, but WKX loosens his stays and clutches his pearls and replies that he couldn’t possibly be looking for trouble – him? Philanthropist Wen? He’s not a merciless killer like ZZS. Whereupon ZZS finally says out loud what he’s been clearly thinking since he started going on about what an awful person he is in the LAST EPISODE, which is why the hell don’t you stop following me around, then? There’s some more flirting, and WKX continues to follow ZZS around, and ZZS takes note that WKX is obviously flaunting the Glazed Armor out in the open, and then there’s a little sleight of hand when Famous Pickpocket Fan Bu Zhi, oh noes! Steals WKX’s Glazed Armor right off his belt when he isn’t even looking! before WKX continues to follow ZZS around, conveniently into the same inn where Cao Weining and A-Xiang are having lunch. After WKX attempts to chase him away, we discover Cao Weining has had his wallet stolen. WKX deploys his Sadness Eyebrows to convince ZZS to turn over his wallet to pay for Cao Weining’s and A-Xiang’s lunch. ZZS – who does an admirable job of refusing for a bit – finally caves, and WKX orders lunch for everyone, on ZZS. Now all we need is Chengling, because the fam is not complete without Goldbean.

[thoughts-on-bangtan]

Why we’ll never get a Vmin vlive: a theory

by Admin 2

We’ve been waiting for at least nine months now for the joined vlive by Jimin and Taehyung which Jimin “promised” us once, and then again when someone brought it up in the comments of his birthday vlive in October. I don’t think we’ll actually get it, at least not any time soon.

We all know how Taehyung wears his heart on his sleeve, and how he has a tendency to simply say whatever he feels even if it might be a little much, a little too revealing even perhaps. Remember how he said that when Jimin smiled at him after their meeting at the park where they made up after the dumpling incident and that set off arrows of pent up emotions from his heart? Yeah that’s the sort of thing I mean. 

I’m sure that if Vmin were to do a vlive together, the comments would be filled with questions about their friendship but also their bond beyond just friendship, their sexualities, their potential romance with each other, these types of things. Knowing Taehyung, he could be inclined to, perhaps not outright answer one of those question since he’s not an idiot and aware that not only his career is on the line but all of BTS, but he could say something that could have potential implications and be something you can’t take back or edit out since it’d be live.

Furthermore perhaps both wouldn’t be able to quite control and keep themselves from certain behaviors, or that the entire thing could simply be uncomfortable for them. Not because they would feel disgusted by the idea of them being shipped or seen as couple, but simply because being faced with such questions, bombarded with them even, could just put them in a weird position and come with a whole plethora of other implications and issues.

More below the cut:

Vmin as ship itself causes controversy among certain parts of the fandom, so if they were to do a vlive together and potentially be cute together or do something just nice together while having fun, it would just kick off another giant wave of hate against both Tae and Jimin. Jikookers would eat Taehyung alive for trying to take Jimin away from JK and whatnot, and the same from Taekookers but against Jimin who (in their opinion) would be trying to get in the way of Tae’s and JK’s relationship. Even if none of that is true, you know how obsessive shippers are like, and the members themselves do as well, so would they really want to expose themselves to something like this?

Also I don’t know how much BH controls these things, as in who gets to do a vlive with whom and when, but if they control it, I doubt they’d be all too thrilled by the idea of vmin doing a vlive together, thus highlighting their bond, since it would take away the focus from JK, who is being highlighted as golden maknae since “Dynamite” era. This of course isn’t a criticism against JK, not at all, just an observation when it comes to BHs editing and screen time choices in the context of marketing. 

I’d compare this to “In The Soop” where, at first it seemed like they wanted to show more vmin even going as far as Jimin and Tae sharing the room in the upper house, yet not only did them sharing a room on camera not happen (even though Tae’s suitcase was in Jimin’s room in the first few episodes), but also the amount of vmin we got to see drastically decreased and the whole concept of the show seemed to suddenly changed when the members returned to the “In the Soop” house after they were gone for three days. But I’d be inclined to believe that this isn’t so much a choice by BH, but by Tae and Jimin themselves, seeing as they rarely post any selcas together and like, perhaps it’s simply their conscious choice to avoid having their relationship analyzed and criticized by millions of people around the world, oftentimes in very nasty and almost deranged types of ways.

Besides, this strategy of keeping their private life private is a strategy the entire group follows, since we really do know barely anything at all about the members and their life outside of what it shown on camera. All we get to see are friendship moments and whatever fits with shipping/skinship agendas in many cases, but if vmin really is more than just platonic, that would mean that it is a BTS bond but also a bond reaching very far into their private life, so why should they want to showcase that so obviously for everyone to see, to dig into their lives and rip it apart to dissect every piece of it.

The only member who shows us parts of his private life is Namjoon with his pictures taken at places he goes to when he rides his bike or when he visits a museum, but even still, he too doesn’t show any of his private friendships and alike. It’s all kept secret and away from prying eyes. We remember how amazingly things went when ARMY started joking about that one guy in Namjoon’s picture with the sticker covering his face. It started harmless yet later turned very nasty for no apparent reason. Why would any of them want that to happen to their private bonds?

EDIT: Or remember how, when Tae posted the pictures lying down with Yeontan? I don’t know if you’ve seen it but at the time it caused an uproar among a certain part of the fandom, though it pains me to even call them part of the fandom, who got so curious and enraged that they figured out what hotel he MIGHT’VE taken the picture at, started to call the hotel to ask if he was there alone or with his mom (since Tae replied to an ARMY on Weverse that his mom took the pictures), they stalked a girl who was at the time being suspected to be his girlfriend (with no actual proof of any kind that it could be true) to figure out if she was there, and some even went as far as trying to figure out Tae’s family’s phone numbers to call them and ask. It was a whole mess. Now imagine if Vmin did a vlive and somehow by doing even something trivial and silly, they’d enrage the same kind of crowd or obsessive shippers and they’d start digging into their private lives, figure out more touchy details and terrorize their families over it. Why would they want to pull such attention onto themselves, why tempt those types of people and potentially put themselves into danger, or their families? You can never know what people might do...

So, this is why I think he won’t be getting a vmin vlive any time soon. If ever.

[sweetestlamb]

BMTL Chapter 9- Teaser

Author's note: Chapter 9 is coming after a short break! Here's a teaser, this one will be another rollercoaster and the pov I've been dreading the most🙄 plus a special guest based on a suggestion one of you made! All this and more on the next episode of Dragon Ball Z 😂😂😂 errr I mean Bring me to life.

The bus ride is far too quick, he already loathes the moment when his shoulder will no longer be brushing "accidentally" against hers and he has to suppress a groan when someone rings the bell and he realizes this is their stop. She'd been acting uncharacteristically adorable after his honest statement earlier, running away as soon as the bus arrived as if she'd never gazed upon herself in a reflective surface before. She was beautiful, it wasn't something that was subjective it was just a fact. But once they entered the bus she made her way to a single seater by the window, he'd easily tugged her away by her backpack forcing her to a double seater in the back instead.

They were sitting together, there were already straying eyes watching her every move. Some from their schools and others just strangers who didn't bother to hide their interest in her, eying her up and and piquing his desire to throw hands. They were all lucky he had an important date after school.

She'd glared at him and swung her arms latching on to a metal handle trying to stop him but he was stronger than her, with a huff he pulled her with him and made her sit in the inner seat so he could bracket her in and marginally hide her form from the predatory looks.

Her leg brushed against his before moving away, so quickly he almost thought he imagined the whole thing. But then it happened again. He glanced over discretely at the tail of his eye.

He'd never seen Sujin fidget before. Didn't know her bones were capable of such a function but he had felt her jiggling knee knock into his own and learned that even an ice princess like her got embarrassed. He swallowed the immense pride that erupted at the realization that he was the one making her act this way. Completely out of her character.

"It's our stop." She whispers staring at the floor, eyes refusing to look up.

He's tempted to ignore her and see if that will make her look at him, now that he's been the center of her attention- that hug is burned into his mind- he is greedy for more, her resistance makes him even more desperate.

But he wordlessly stands up instead sliding out of the seat and opening the back door for them, she only pauses minutely before skipping down the stairs and exiting the bus. Her short pleated skirt bounces dangerously with every movement and he's temporarily distracted gazing at the smooth expanse of milky skin, why were the school skirts so short anyway? Sujin's barely reached her knee, stopping in the meat of her thigh.

His stomach clenches at the thought of others staring too, maybe he could convince her to tie the sweater around her waist instead of wearing it normally. It was worth a try at least.

"We probably shouldn't walk in together, your fangirls will go cra--"

He interrupts her, not paying at all to what she's suggesting because he has no intentions of separating from her. She's so exhausting with all this push and pull honestly. He already told her that they don't matter.

"Isn't your skirt too short?"

He stops when he realizes that she's no longer beside him, twisting left and right before turning around and seeing her a few paces behind. He almost sighs in relief much more familiar with this particular emotion etched on her face, annoyance and mild rage- the patented princess look™️ and he backs up looking at her with a lifted brow, silently questioning her inactivity.

"What did you say to me Han Seojun?" She admonishes staring at him like he's grown another head, she also steps into his space tilting her angry face to glare directly into his face. She looks prepared to murder him and hide the body.

He's not stupid enough to repeat his gutsy idiotic question, he very much likes his face the way it's currently arranged. He might be stupid but he's not that stupid.

"Me? Nothing. I would never say anything, I don't deserve to speak in your presence." He flutters his eyelashes dramatically, speaking in an exaggerated cute voice and she stares blankly at first. Both of them searching the others face before the tension is snapped like a rubber band and she pushes him in the chest, he almost whines reaching out to grab her wrist before he sees the small smile on her face, its hidden instantly behind the curtain of her hair when she moves away but he sees it and he feels his chest palpitate.

He stands staring in wonder. Lost in her spell.

He's never been a gracious loser but she gives him no chance in the matter.

He stares at her back, cheeks hurting as beams at her bounding off in his sweater. It's hers now he will never be able to wear it again without remembering her in it, it's been ruined.

Chorong struggles to carry all the cards he pushes at him, the female population seems to have decided that he was sick and his return results in high pitched screams of his name and constant food and gifts being shoved in his direction, despite his refusal. He's wandering the halls arm filled with the gifts when he runs into Sujin, her face brightens upon seeing him before she glances down at his arms. The smile is thwrated before it can even come to fruition, her eyes turning cold before she stomped past him.

He smirked at her back, chuckling as Chorong stared in confusion before asking, "What's wrong with her?" He shook his head before handing the bigger boy all the unwanted gifts, her smile was worth more than all of this anyway.

Lunch can't come soon enough and he happily swaggers into the bustling room, oblivious to the amount of hungry eyes that latch onto his form. His own eyes too busy locking on one figure and one figure alone.

The seat across from her is conveniently empty and he laughs into his sleeve when Jukyeong waves him over, smiling conspirationally at him pointing at the empty seat and giving him a thumbs up. He can't control his laughter when Sujin turns to the girl and to hide her damning thumb the clumsy girl pokes herself in the eye. He definitely owed her.

Suho nods at him as he takes his seat, he returns the gesture. Watching at the usually stoic boy reaches across to comfort his girlfriend, stroking her hair and blowing gently into her teary red eye as she whines loudly.

He opens his backpack taking out the food the girl avoiding him like the plague had given him just this morning. The dumplings are perfect this time she's clearly figured out a technique now, and when he bites into them a delicious umami flavor explodes on his tongue. He groans in pleasure before stuffing another dumpling in his mouth eagerly.

"Wow those look amazing! Did your mom make them?" Su-ah calls across the table and he freezes mid-chew instinctively looking at the real culprit and her eyes are already on him, wide and then pleading. He knows what she's begging from him but he really really wants to disobey and tell everyone that she made them for him. That same Kang Sujin, who served men roundhouse kicks and resting bitch faces for lunch had made him food and was sitting there eating a lunch he had prepared for her.

It sounds so domestic and he has to bite his tongue to stop himself from doing something she'll regret.

But she's not ready it's too evident and he's not inconsiderate nor selfish. Whatever this is, it's far too new and fragile for him to throw it to the wolves before it's on stable grounding.

"No my mom didn't make it." He answers honestly and he can feel the cold air wafting off Sujin in frigid waves and then he feels a sharp kick to his ankle, he has to grab her feet with his legs to stop her from delivering another blow. He probably shouldn't find her violent tendencies so attractive. He clearly isn't right in the head.

"Someone else made it. Someone special." He continues trying not to wince as she tries to attack him again. Immediately the table erupts into ohs and everyone starts talking at once except her best friends who look on with smirks, Su-ah playfully winking at him.

"Someone special? Who? Who made it? Do you have a girlfriend?"

Sujin spontaneously starts choking on her blueberry milk, the very one he'd packed in her lunch bag this morning the pale blue liquid spilling out the corners of her lips. He passes her a napkin immediately, their fingers brushing as she takes the paper from his grip wiping her face and looking sheepish once she realizes that all eyes are on her now.

"Are you okay?" He asks amused, looking at her with a smile barely hidden. So fucking cute.

"Yeah don't worry about me." She breezily replies struggling to escape from his tight grip under the table, unbeknownst to everyone there. But her cold statement only reminds me of their meeting in the hospital. Her words echoing in his heart, I'm going to worry about you. Who are you to tell me not to? Let me do what I want. Hearing those words made him want to stupidly put himself in more scenarios that would result in her concern, maybe he'd get another hug. Or a even a ki--

"Don't think we forgot! Who made you this food Seojun-ah?" Chorong breaks his concentration and he stares incredulously at the other boy, his words were meant to trick everyone else but his best friend should know who he was referring to; he'd been the one to deliver the food for him after all. Wasn't it clear who he liked? Who might be making him food in return?

He sighs shaking his head, glancing up at Sujin from under his fringe feeling warm all over.

It's hard to tail him without making it too obvious but she tells Jukyeong and Su-ah that she has something to do before running after Seojun at a distance. She misses the knowing look on both of their faces as they watch her conspicuously hide behind a very thin tree. He had offered to wait for her but she didn't need his fanclub seeing them leaving together, they were so possessive of the boy. It didn't matter that he never showed any interest in them they were all still convinced that he belonged to them.

She didn't see him making food for any of them so she didn't know how they reached this asinine conclusion but she'd rather stay off their radar.

"Are you practicing to be a national spy? Why didn't you come when I offered to wait for you?" They are far from the school now, miles but she still looks around nervously before speeding up finally allowing them to walk side by side. He looks over at her fondly, she looks away unable to maintain eye contact when he's acting like this. It doesn't help that she can feel her walls weakening, she was tempted to accept his offer earlier. To walk with him side by side and let everyone see, she was losing her mind.

"I didn't want to be murdered by your girls." She teases, the words fall flat because as soon as she utters them she feels sick to her stomach.

A huge hand suddenly wraps around her wrist halting her, warm even through the stick material of the gifted sweater.

She turns to look at him bewildered, even more so at the hard look on his face. Those exotically sloping eyes even thinner than usual as he pulls her closer. She gulps, hard. Looking at him as his eyes peruse her face slowly, full of dark intention her blood simmers hot under the matching gaze.

"They aren't my girls. You know that." The emphasis and bite on the word makes her uneasy, refusing to think about the implications of his words. A sheen of sweat raises on her back, and she gently tugs her arm away scoffing to tear through the thick cloud of tension that is loitering between them.

"I was just joking. You don't have to be so serious. Let's go." She awkwardly rubs at her wrist before bolting away, scared to continue this line of conversation. Something has changed between them and she has no idea how and if they can go back to the way things were.

A little voice in her head whispers, Is that really what want you?

How is she supposed to know what she wants? Up until this point that has never mattered to anyone, she was just expected to do as she was told. Speak when spoken to. Everything about this is foreign and terrifying. Knowing that he'll be there to catch her if she falls is more nerve wrecking than anything she's faced thus far.

It's better not to think about it especially with where they're going, but thinking about that makes her even more nervous. She fidgets with the sleeve of the huge sweater, tugging at the extra material that folds over her hands. She suddenly realizes that she's completely covered in Seojun, this wasn't her best idea but she can't bring herself to remove the sweater.

She's never felt so warm.

"You can wait inside, I need to get something." He suddenly pats her head ruffling her hair and she reaches up to push his hand away only to be entranced by the grin on his face, has his smile always been that luminant or is this reserved just for her?

[ashketchup119]

Figuring It Out As We Go Chap. 1

Here we arreeee~ the fic i sat on for a month and a half before i decided to post it~

I got this in my head a couple days after reading the whole spicynoodles tag on ao3, because as yall have prolly figured out, if i run out of content for a ship, i usually begin making the content myself. After i post chaps 1 and 2, i’ll begin updating this every friday, like i do on ao3. I don’t know why i wrote this, but honestly i pumped out 4000 words of it in 2 hrs one night, so yall know im in love w it.

It’s got like, implied nsfw, some emotions on mk’s part, some other stuff goin on 👀 (also if ur emetophobic feel free to stop by the askbox or my dms to ask for a summary bc this might trigger u)

I hope yall like it!!

It had started off as a casual thing.

A release of post-battle adrenaline, the kind of thing MK and Red Son did and then immediately agreed not to talk about or repeat.

But they repeated it, again and again and again.

The sound of their labored breathing echoed throughout MK’s apartment as the two of them lay on the bed, finally spent. MK felt pleasantly drowsy, and basked in the final rays of sunshine that shone through his window.

“I have to go.” Red Son murmured from beneath him. “My parents will be looking for me.”

MK buried his face in the crook of Red Son’s neck, and bit back the words in his throat that sounded suspiciously like “stay, don’t go, let me fall asleep in your arms.” Dangerous words, ones that would make this situation even worse.

They both knew that this was possibly the worst decision either of them had ever made, but MK wondered when “a casual fuck” had turned into something more, something that pricked at his eyes and put words on his tongue. He knew he’d never tell Red Son about any of his blossoming feelings, but he found himself wondering about the demon more and more. He’d never stayed for breakfast, but MK wondered if he drank coffee in the mornings. Maybe he was a chocolate milk drinker. Maybe he drank tea. Did he like pancakes or waffles better?

MK wanted to know everything about Red Son, from the tiny, inconsequential things to the big, life-changing moments.

He just wanted Red Son, in every way.

MK’s breath caught in his throat, but he rolled to the other side of the bed so Red Son could get up. He stared up at the ceiling as he heard the shuffling of clothes next to his bed, and chewed on his bottom lip as he blinked back tears. He’d been very emotional lately, and the feelings swirling in his head didn’t help.

The rustling of clothes stopped, and he heard quiet footsteps head toward the window. He heard Red Son draw in a breath, then listened as the window unlatched and closed as he left.

MK sucked in a breath, then began to cry. He curled in on himself as sobs shook his frame. He cried for lost chances, bad decisions, and missed opportunities. He ached to be held, to be soothed, but the only person who could help him feel better had already left.

He cried until he could cry no more, tired and dehydrated as he was. Then, he showered, using cold water to shock him into awakeness and out of the post-coital funk. He felt slightly better after putting on some pajama pants, then went to his mini-fridge to see if he had any food.

Truthfully, the stomach issues he’d been fighting off and on for a couple months now made it difficult to find an appetite, but he figured it was better to eat something and hopefully absorb some of the nutrients than eat nothing. He’d even tried a liquid-only diet, but had thrown up the liquids too.

He picked a package of dumplings, then settled on the sofa to watch reruns of Monkey King: The Animated Series. Fifteen minutes later, he was once again in the restroom, this time throwing up what little he managed to eat of the dumplings. When he finished, he finally gave in and called the doctor.

“Thank you for calling the clinic, how may I help you?” The receptionist answered.

Mk cleared his throat before responding, “Yes, I’d like to make an appointment,” in his most grown up voice.

The sounds of typing came through the line, and the receptionist asked, “Name?”

“Uh, Qi Xiaotian.”

“Okay, we have an opening tomorrow at 1 PM. Are you available?”

MK thought it over for a moment. On the one hand, he’d have to call in sick, but on the other, Pigsy would probably let him, what with his stomach issues and all. “Yes, I am.”

“Good. See you then!” The line went dead, and MK hung up.

Then, he called Mei.

“Hey MK!” She greeted excitedly. “What’s up?”

“Hey Mei! Can you take me to the doctor tomorrow?” He asked, knowing that Pigsy was busy and Tang didn’t have a car.

Her voice immediately took on a tone of concern. “Okay, but are you okay?”

“Yeah, just an annoying stomach bug.” He replied casually, flopping on the bed as he sipped water from a water bottle. “They’ll probably just give me some pills and tell me to drink liquids. Shouldn’t be too long.”

“Alright, but if it gets bad or you start throwing up blood or something, promise me you’ll go to the hospital?” Mei asked.

MK smiled as he replied, “Yeah, of course.”

It was nice to know that someone cared about him.

He just had to forget about Red Son and remember all the people in his life who loved him.

Mei hung up after that, and MK went back to their marathon. The episodes were ones they’d already seen, but there was a comfort in these older episodes, akin to wearing a nostalgia blanket. They snuggled with their favorite stuffed animal, and soon drifted into a heavy sleep.

[taelme]

High school classmate!Lucas

genre: it’s kind of set in like the past? like u know those like Taiwanese school dramas like that kind of vibe mixed with like reply 1988 vibes idk how to classify it , so high school!au  (fluff, slow burn, angst with a relatively happy ending) 

pairing/s: Lucas / Reader, ( some of nct/superm/wayv appear in this!! ( just Kun, Ten, and Sicheng ) )

word count: 12k+

tw: like domestic abuse like,,, tough family situations,, 

a/n: this was kind of inspired by a dream I had of Lucas and like I’m honestly really in love with like the vibes of those like Taiwanese school dramas like ‘Our Times’ and like those dramas with the vibes of like the Reply series, so I thought I would try something different and do something for Lucas inspired by that,,, so enjoy!! I had a lot of fun imagining how Lucas would behave if he were in this situation.. 

Usually, Lucas would have stuck to just pacing around the stretch of field near his house whenever he left his house out of boredom when his parents weren’t home, but he didn’t regret wandering into the market on the day of his 8th birthday, after a ritual cutting of a small cupcake his housemaid had prepared for him. Because if he hadn’t decided to wander, his life wouldn’t have changed, according to him. ( which really meant he wouldn’t have stumbled across your grandma’s noodle shop )

“Hello,” your grandma smiled in greeting, waving at the young boy who looked fascinated at such a place, never having been to any eating place other than a restaurant before. Lucas waved shyly at her, carefully climbing onto a stool near the table next to the kitchen, watching in fascination as your grandma cooked.

“What’s your name, dear?” she asked the rosy cheeked boy, who fiddled with his short bangs before replying a quick, “Huang Xuxi,” to her.

It didn’t take long for your grandma to realize why the name sounded so familiar, realizing this boy was from the rich family that had just moved into the neighbourhood barely a month ago.

“You want something to eat?” Lucas considered her offer as seriously as any 8 year old would, glancing between the kitchen to your grandma, before reaching into his pocket and being only met with fabric, frowning upon realizing he hadn’t brought money with him.

Shaking his head in reply, rather sadly at that, he told your grandma, “I don’t have any money with me....”

She had simply laughed in reply, shaking her head, “Oh, that won’t be necessary, Xuxi. You can have it for free.”

His eyes widened in delight, smiling at her appreciatively.

She’d brought a small bowl of her dumpling soup noodles back to where the boy sat. Watching with a motherly smile on her face as he took his first sip of the soup, his eyes widening.

“Aunty...I love you,” your grandma guffawed, reaching out a hand to pat the boy’s head endearingly.

Lucas’ eyes widened in realization, “you know...” he leaned closer to your grandma with the intention to divulge a big secret, his eyes widening the closer he got to her, his voice lowering to a whisper. “A girl in my class gave me a dumpling that tastes just like this!”

Your grandma tilted her head at him, having a feeling she knew who he was talking about. “And what might this girl’s name be?”

“Y/N!” he told her with a grin, munching on an amount of noodles that seemed too much for his tiny mouth.

“I’ll tell you a secret,” your grandma leaned closer to his ear, “she’s my granddaughter.”

The noodles threatened to slip out from Lucas’ mouth when he gasped loudly, giggling after as he covered his mouth so his noodles could stay inside.

“What do you think of her?” your grandma asked him, seeing him stare at his noodles with a smile playing at his lips, shrugging repeatedly.

“She’s....cute,” he mumbled, making your grandma laugh.

“I’ll tell you what, whenever you come here you can get a free bowl of noodles,” his eyes widened, nodding profusely till your grandma continued, “on one condition.”

He nodded at her, putting on his best serious-looking face to show her he was ready, “Help me look after Y/N in school,” Lucas figured at that time that this was a simple request, bringing his hand up in a salute position.

“Will do, aunty!”

===

Now, 18 year old Lucas had developed his ‘efficient fool-proof system’ to do small things that would make things easier for you without you knowing.

For instance, using his good rapport with the market vendors to make sure you would already have the freshest possible selection for the noodle shop, to even silently going out of his way to make sure nobody in school gave you trouble for your background ( which meant that he would personally pay for your new set of uniform every school year, passing it to Sicheng and instructing him to tell you it was given by the school )

“You look lovely, dear,” your gaze fluttered to the figure standing at the doorway, which was none other than your grandmother, dressed in shoddy clothes and an old apron, what you recognized to be her work clothes.

Your family wasn’t well off ( well by family, you meant your grandma and yourself since it's been that way since you could remember ), you barely scraped by off of the profits your grandma made from her noodle shop that you occasionally helped out with, but you still received supplies from the school.

Such as the uniform you were wearing now. Ironed crisp and clean, you passed off as any other average student in your school. You were thankful your school decided to implement uniforms earlier than other schools, since you really didn't think your normal clothes could compare to the other girls in your school, not wanting a repeat of the episode you experienced in the past.

You picked up your school bag from where it was on the bed, walking over to kiss your mother on the cheek, “bye mama, I’ll be home by 6.”

Your grandma waved her hand at you in dismissal, clucking her tongue at you disapprovingly, “It’s okay, it’s okay! Take your time. Have a good day at school!”

You picked up the pace as you walked, eager to avoid bumping into Sicheng and his friends, especially not at this time of the morning. But you seemed to have spoken too soon, hearing the familiar sound of bicycle wheels whirring and boyish shouting.

They would call you with a teasing tone, making you wince, avoiding eye contact with them until one of them wheeled their bicycles in front of you, stopping your path.

“What do you want, Sicheng,” You huffed, staring up at him impatiently.

The boy scrunched up his nose as he shot you a mischievous smile, “is it such a crime that i wanted to say good morning to you?” his words were all meshed together in a combined mumble, a habit of Sicheng's ever since he was young, but the black haired boy never seemed to care too much about it- since after all, to him it didn't make a difference as long as you understood him.

“Yeah, okay fine, good morning. Now would you please get out of my way so I can go to school?” Believe you, you loved Sicheng, but sometimes you really did miss your quiet walks to school to enjoy the scenery at your own pace.

“C’mon, your grandma wouldn’t be happy if I just let you walk even though I have a bike, let me give you a ride.”

You knew this could go either of two ways. Either you stand firm and have a long battle with Sicheng to let you walk to school on your own, or you suck it up and let him give you a ride to school.

The ride to school would have seemed harmless to anyone else, since Sicheng was a friend of yours for as long as you could remember, but it was just that you would rather not hang out with him while he was with his friends, since they didn't exactly have the best reputation in school.

You did a once-over at his friends that were with him currently, a senior named Ten with short choppy black hair and many piercings (and very expensive shoes, you noted), and a boy your age that went by the name of Lucas. Although you could talk and joke around with Ten one-to-one, you don’t think you’ve ever had a proper sentence spoken to you by Lucas before.

The boy was all expensive sneakers, sports brand bags, the latest music tapes that were extremely hard to get if you didn't save up. He lived pretty near you, so you would usually walk past his giant- at least compared to yours -house whenever you were on your way to the market, sometimes even catching a glimpse of his mother leaving the house to go to work on rare days when the car was parked in the house. It was almost as if the placement of his house was just a daily reminder for you that you were both from different worlds.

Sure there were times you would think was cute, and you may have given him your last dumpling when you were younger as an unspoken love offering, but as you grew older, you felt like maybe you and Lucas just shouldn't, and wouldn't happen. After all, you figured your heart was too weak to get put up for rejection.

You were pulled from your thoughts when you saw Sicheng snapping his fingers in front of your face, snatching your gaze from Lucas.

"So...?" he raised an eyebrow.

“Alright, but don’t drive too fast,” you told Sicheng, hurling yourself onto the back of his bicycle with your back facing his, making sure your skirt was covering whatever it needed to cover, grabbing on tighter to the seat when the abrupt start of the bicycle moving almost made you lose your balance.

Ten had gone ahead and rode his bicycle faster than Sicheng, which had only meant Lucas was directly in your view. He pedalled effortlessly, his gaze on you intent, as if he had wanted to say something, but decided against it in the end. You had almost let yourself get carried away watching how he would do things with a certain amount of charisma that you found almost difficult not to look at, even the small smirk he gave you when he caught you staring at him left you breathless.

“Don’t flirt with Lucas behind my back, okay.” Sicheng sing-songed, earning a hearty eye-roll from you, your eyes darting nervously to look at Lucas for a reaction but strangely he had seemed absolutely unaffected. Instead, he simply huffed and pedalled faster, overtaking Sicheng and maintaining his pace there.

You felt almost hurt at this unspoken rejection, not knowing how to come back from the incident, tried your best to push any kind of curious thought you had about Lucas away from your head during the ride.

What was so special about him anyway?​ you huffed at the thought. Other than the fact that he was the son of a prestigious lawyer and company owner, and that he was the star of the school's basketball team, there wasn't much else for you to work with when it came to unraveling who exactly Lucas Wong was. ( well other than the occasional rumour that he was in a gang and got into fights frequently )

Though Sicheng was your closest friend, you had never spoken to him on the topic of Lucas any further than simple things like how well he played at a game or how nice his hair looked that day. There were rumours floating around that his family situation was rough, but you knew it wasn't your place to ask.

Little did you know, Sicheng wasn't as well informed about it as you thought he was; only aware of the fact that Lucas would leave home occasionally, and skip school a few days after.

"Hey! Wait up! Oh-I guess he isn't gonna wait up after all," you peeped your head around to see Lucas having disappeared from sight.

"Let me know if you see him at class today, yeah? God, it's the first day of the school year; he can't possibly be skipping already," Sicheng huffed with the tone of a worried mother, but instead of laughing, you couldn't help but sympathise with him, wincing slightly out of pity.

You shrugged your shoulders, your hands still gripping the seat of the bicycle, "to be honest, I just wouldn't care if I were you, I mean, what's the point if he's not gonna listen anyway? I wouldn't be surprised if he gets kicked out of his house again, he's asking for it with those bad grades he brings home all the time," you were taken aback by the sharp thump on your head you received from Sicheng after that statement.

"Don't ever say that again. I'll tell you this once and I won't say it again, Y/N. Sometimes for Lucas, just a little care is all he's asking for."

===

"Class, please look at the notice board in front of the class for your new seating arrangement," your class representative had announced amidst the sound of reunions and loud chatter before the teacher arrived.

Making a beeline for the notice board, you analysed the seating plan as you munched on the dumplings your grandma had packed for you for breakfast, your index finger finally landing on your name on the square at the corner of the room, looking at the squares to your seat’s perimeter, you noticed that the table behind you, at the very back corner of the class next to the window belonged to the very boy you were hoping you wouldn't need to be in such close contact with, Lucas. The sound of the girls at the table near you chatting animatedly suddenly becoming deafening.

"Did you hear? Lucas Wong rejected Hana from year 3's confession? She looked so afraid I almost felt bad for the poor girl!" you heard one of them lament, and you made to walk past them as slow as you could so you could hear more.

"When did she do it?"

"This morning!" you tuned out the rest of the conversation, figuring this was just another reason to add to your list of reasons '​why you shouldn't go after Lucas Wong'​.

You figured if you wanted to continue to lay low in school, you would stick to admiring him from afar, instead of putting yourself up to get hurt like that. There were only a few ways to look at Lucas for people in your school: you either didn't want to get involved with him, were scared of him or you liked him ( sometimes ​all three​ for people in situations like yours )

You reassured yourself that seeing Lucas wouldn't be a problem if you just didn't try to cross paths with him, until you looked for your seat and realised that there was Lucas seated at the desk behind yours. His long legs stretched out on your chair, hoodie-covered head leaning against the windowsill, eyes closed peacefully with earpiece plugged into his ears.

Your hands unconsciously clenched harder on the dumplings, anxiously contemplating finding another chair since yours was currently being used as a leg rest, but you couldn't see a free chair in sight, eventually deciding to munch on the dumpling you had, in the hopes that it would give you strength for what you were about to do.

Just as you were going closer to Lucas, he was already very aware of your presence next to him, the dumpling you were eating awakening his senses to the very first time he ate that same dumpling. His stomach growling softly, making him flush in embarrassment with his eyes still closed.

Your gentle fingers prodded at his shoulder lightly, and you had to remind yourself to keep chewing as you saw the way his eyelids fluttered open and his gaze landed on you. Shifting his upper body slightly to face you, Lucas lifted a hand to remove the earpieces from his ears, giving u an expectant look.

"Uh...sorry, I know you were sleeping and all but uh..I kind of...you know, ​need​ my chair," you pointed at the chair his legs were currently resting on, "and there's no extra chair here so uh...yeah if you could just...you know, give it back?"

Lucas looked at you with a curious expression, setting his earpiece down on the table, and you found yourself almost afraid to make eye contact with him, lest your face turn red from the attention he was giving you.

"What do I get in return?" his voice shocked you, seeing as you've never heard it in a while, you never noticed it could get this deep.

"Uh...what do you want? I'm not sure if I can get you those branded stuff, then again you probably have them already-"

His gaze flickered between you and the item of food you were holding in your hands, "I want the dumpling," he spoke.  

You cocked an eyebrow at his unexpected request.

"This? You want this dumpling? Are you sure? You've probably tasted a lot better.."

He shot you a smirk, tilting his head at you, "I said I want the dumpling, not your house. You don't have to ​fight me." He held out his hand expectantly, making you reach out hesitantly before finally placing the small plastic bag onto his hand with a shaky breath leaving your lips, seeing him shoot you a smile and use his free hand to pat your head twice.

"Good girl," he lifted his legs off the chair with a thud that seemed both harsh yet dramatic, "the chair's yours."

You turned around and hauled the chair back to your seat, all sorts of confusion washing over you from that interaction, completely oblivious to the stares your classmates were giving the both of you. God help you if you wanted to get through this year sane.

===

“Y/N, I packed an extra breakfast, pass it to cheng cheng for me would you? His mother is out of town so he doesn’t have lunch.” You hummed as you packed the blue lunchbox with white flower patterns on it into your bag, though you knew for a fact that Sicheng had no problem with his mom not cooking lunch for him, since it gave him an excuse to loiter out later with Lucas and Ten.

You proceeded to school as per normal, handing Sicheng’s lunch to him when you passed by his class in the morning, assuming it was very much enjoyed by him judging from how the lunchbox would come back to you practically clean at the end of the day.

You noticed that Lucas was coming to school more often, tending to see him hanging around with Sicheng. But you weren’t sure for exactly what since you were on a short school break now, and the only reason you went to school was because you had to prepare for the sports fest as part of class committee.

After which, you would usually wait for Sicheng to be done with soccer practice before you two would go home together. So there was your routine for your break thus far, and now, on an absolutely blistering Tuesday afternoon, you found yourself sat in the spectating area overlooking the soccer field, using your textbook to shelter your head from the heat.

You contemplated filling your water bottle since you were thirsty and well, had nothing else better to do, but figured stealing from Sicheng would be a lot more convenient. Making your way down the bleachers carefully, you straightened out your messy skirt, smoothing out the creases that had formed after sitting for so long.

Quickly locating Sicheng’s bag from the messy scrawl of his name in white marker on the bag strap, you shuffled around in it and was about to take the water bottle from his backpack, until you realised there was something missing from the bag; your extra lunchbox.

You found it a little strange, not knowing why Sicheng would have misplaced your lunchbox like that, about to turn around and pull him out of practice to give him an earful about it before you saw Lucas jogging towards you, standing abruptly still upon spotting you, his hands behind his back and his gaze looking elsewhere as he quickly made a sharp turn, walking away from your direction.

Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion, completely forgetting that you were thirsty since Lucas had definitely seemed as though he was going to go towards your direction before he'd seen you, so you decided you would carry out a little experiment.

Stepping away from Sicheng's bag carefully, making as if to walk to the water cooler, you'd hid behind a pillar where you would be blocked from Lucas' gaze, watching said boy indeed making his way back to the bleachers carefully, his long legs stumbling and stretching over the bags to bend down to Sicheng's bag, finally pulling out what he was holding behind his back, your gaze practically burning holes into the lunchbox as you watched him shove it back into Sicheng's bag quickly.

Sicheng was going to have to answer to this.

After practice, you bounded down the spectator stand, standing with your hands on your hips next to Sicheng, a deep frown on your face.

“What’s got you looking so ugly?” He smirked, using his knuckle to nudge your head lightly, flicking his hair away from his face as he reached over to pick up his bag and sling it over his shoulder.

“Dong Sicheng, you’d better get some answers ready.”

===

“Alright,” you began just as you both turned onto the road of your neighbourhood, the clicking of his bicycle almost unnoticeable from how long you both had been walking, “have you been eating my grandma's lunch boxes?”

Sicheng shot you a look of disbelief, his sudden slip of his hand on his bicycle giving away that you had caught him off guard, though he straightened up quickly, replying ever so stoically. 

“Yeah, of course, I mean, they come back to you empty don’t they?”

“Oh yeah, they do. D’you remember what she made for you yesterday?” Sicheng's eyes darted in so many directions within a span of a few seconds. Praying to God that what he would guess would actually be correct.

“Noodles with soup?” you frowned at him, earning a sigh from Sicheng, knowing he had trapped himself then and there.

“You’ve been giving them to Lucas, haven’t you?” you accused, like a parent who had found their child doing something they weren't supposed to behind their back.

You held the silence, watching Sicheng squirm visibly before he gave in.

“Okay, fine! I did. But what’s so bad about that?!”

“God, Sicheng, he’s rich! Why can’t he get his own lunch? Why does he have to eat yours! What have you been eating for lunch then?”

Sicheng sighed, “Look, he doesn’t get lunch either, alright? And I mean, isn’t it good that he loves your grandma's cooking so much? What’s with you and always thinking people have bad intentions?” He told you, disbelief laced in his tone.

Ignoring his last question, you scoffed at him, “that wasn’t my grandma's cooking, Cheng, it was mine. Mama told me to start making them on my own because the restaurant needed to open earlier and she couldn’t get enough sleep so I did it instead. All those extra dumplings ‘you’ asked for? All me.”

“Oh,” Sicheng murmured, making you groan loudly, “Lucas doesn’t even acknowledge my presence on a daily basis, and I’ve been making lunch for him for two weeks now? You’ve gotta be kidding me, Sicheng.”

“Okay, Y/N, I’m sorry. But there wasn’t much I could do, he looked really happy eating it. It's the first proper meal he’s had in ages.”

“He should pay me.”

Sicheng shot you a pleading look, “can’t it be service for a friend?”

You glared at him, “No. He’s not my friend, he’s your friend.”

“And any friend of mine is a friend of yours, am I right?” he smiled at you sheepishly, flinching slightly when you snapped at him.

“Cut the crap, Cheng. If he wants more noodles, he can come to the store and pay for them himself.”

===

“Hey, Y/N, can you stay back to finish up the boards for next week? we sort of need them by the end of this week” you were stuck in the dusty classroom trying to design, draw and colour the signboards for the sports fest, only halfway done when you heard a knock at the door, from the class representative informing you she was about to lock the classroom so you had better find another place to do the signboards and hold the flyers.

You complied, albeit reluctantly, stacking the boards and boxes of flyers ( which were atrociously heavy you may add ) until they piled up so high you couldn’t see the stairs as you were heading down them.

Hoping to God you wouldn’t bump into anything, you slowly made your way down, but soon you heard the loud thundering of running on the steps.

“You’d better run!” you heard a boy shout before something hard smacked into you from behind, causing you to lose your balance, sending you falling down the stairs with a yelp.

You tried to break your fall but were too late, your wrist coming into contact with the floor and feeling as though you had just had it run over by a car, the boxes and boards strewn about around you. Hearing light footsteps in a run, you felt a hand on both your shoulders, looking up to see Lucas in his sports attire, his hair messy and slightly damp with sweat, looking at you with concern, before turning to the direction of the people that had bumped into you, shouting what would have sounded like a threat if you weren't too focused on the pain in your wrist to pay attention.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?” you tried to recover from the shock that he was actually talking to you before replying him,

“I hope not, I mean, I think I’m okay? My wrist really hurts though, I feel like it's broken.”

He made a grim face, “come with me,” he easily helped you up. 

“Can you walk?”

You nodded in reply, watching him scoop up the boards and carry the boxes along with an ease you were almost envious of.

You let him lead you to the school nurse's office, though you were still a bit tense regarding the whole lunchbox exchange you had with Sicheng earlier that day. You found that Lucas was very familiar with the nurse from always faking sick to get out of school.

“Hey doc, she fell down the stairs, can you check if her wrist is messed up?”

“It feels like it’s broken,” the nurse smiled, letting a small laugh escape her lips.

“For the last time, I’m not a doctor, Lucas. And it’s not broken, honey. Looks like you’ve just sprained it. You might find it a little difficult to write or do things with your hand the next few days, so just be careful, hmm?” she scribbled something down on the paper attached to her clipboard, noticing the way Lucas stared at her and nodded intently with a pensive look on his face as if she was giving him life advice, almost making you smile.

But that moment was short-lived when your gaze shifted to the incomplete signboards you were supposed to send for approval the next day, not knowing how you were going to complete all of that in time with your bad wrist.

The nurse kindly wrapped your wrist, and once you were done you noticed the sun was already setting, making you sigh once again. You weren't even able to push your worry aside to have enough time to refuse Lucas' help to bring the flyers and banners to your house, being an unspoken agreement.

You found yourself almost nervous during the walk home, afraid things would get awkward again given Lucas' non-existent urge to talk to you on the daily. But what had happened instead gave you a surprise, and a rather pleasant one at that.

“Are these the signboards for the sports meet thing?” you nodded with a hum of confirmation.

“I have no idea how I’m gonna finish them by tomorrow with my wrist like this..” you lamented, kicking at the ground as you walked.

He bit his lip, cutting in quickly before you could continue, “I can help you...and stuff. I have nothing on tonight...and it's not like you can do everything yourself with that wrist and all....” Lucas offered, his lips pressing into a thin line as he looked away from you to try to calm his heart which was racing so much.

“Are you sure? It’s not exactly the fun-est thing in the world..”

“No, really it’s fine, I want to,” he dismissed you, making you scrunch your nose up in distaste but agreeing anyway, not in any position to refuse.

===

“My grandma's still at work, so is it alright with you if I just heat up something from the fridge?”

He nodded profusely, setting the materials down with a rather loud thump on top of your dining table, “yeah, that’s fine by me. If you need help just tell me, alright? I’ll just get started on the boards first.”

You decided to take a quick shower first, undoing the wrap around your wrist so it wouldn’t get wet, after which, you changed into your more presentable pyjamas since Lucas was over, you quickly went to the kitchen and looked in the fridge to see if there was any leftover noodles.

Doing your best to heat it up and pour it into a nicer-looking bowl with your bad wrist, you slowly carried the bowls one by one to the living room, seeing his head shoot up at the smell wafting in from the kitchen. It was safe to say you wanted to present the best you could to him, not wanting him to think lowly of you or anything.

“Oh my God.” His mouth dropped open at the sight of the food before turning into a big smile, staring intently at the bowls before glancing at you, his gaze moving to your wrist and realising it was unwrapped.

The smile disappeared from his face, being replaced with a slight frown, letting out a little upset sound, a ‘tsk-tsk’ leaving his lips, he grabbed the bandage he saw lying on the table, “come here, sit down,” he instructed you.

You nervously watched as his big hands carefully wrapped your wrist just like how the nurse did, delicately but firmly, seeing how careful he was in tucking the ends into the bandage.

Letting a small smile of satisfaction appear on his face after he was done, “there, better?” he looked to you for affirmation, and you finally looked up from your wrist to make eye contact with him, seeming awfully similar to a little boy with that expression as you gave him a smile in return, nodding.

“Much better, thank you.”

You pushed the bowl towards him on the table, a little part of you feeling happy at how his smile grew bigger at the gesture.

“Thank you,” he murmured with a gentleness unlike anything you’ve seen before when it came to Lucas. Usually when one thinks of Lucas they would think of rowdiness, or big, rough actions, nothing like the Lucas you were currently witnessing for yourself.

“You really like the noodles, don’t you?” he looked at you mid scoffing down the food upon hearing your voice, making you let out a giggle.

Slurping the rest of his mouthful, a shy smile graced his face he nodded at you. “It tastes really...nostalgic.”

“How so?” you asked, curiosity taking over you.

“I uh..it’s a funny story actually, but...maybe for next time.” you hummed, nodding because you didn’t want to push him to do something out of his comfort zone.

After you ate, he had insisted on helping you to wash the dishes, claiming you had to let your hand rest.

"I noticed you've been coming to school more recently," you murmured casually, standing next to where he stood at the sink washing your dishes, seeing Lucas turn his head to look at you with a smirk.

"Well someone's pretty observant," he teased, a giggle leaving his lips as he looked back at the soapy dishes.

“What made you want to come?” you asked him, watching him pause his scrubbing at the dishes.

Lucas hummed in thought, pursing his lips before giving you a shrug, "Just, felt like it I guess."

“So...you didn't come to school before because you didn't feel like it?” you helped to put the dishes aside as he washed his hands, wiping them on his uniform as he let a small huff of half-hearted laughter leave his lips.

"Guess you could say that," he murmured.

“Weren’t you scared?”

Lucas turned to look at you with an eyebrow raised, “Of what?”

You frowned in confusion, “you know, don’t the teachers give you shit for not coming to school?”

He shook his head, walking back with you to your small dining table where the banners and posters were laid out. “They don’t really care anymore. But I’m planning on making a change this year!” he grinned at you, making you raise your eyebrows skeptically.

“You serious about that?” slightly surprised at his determination.

He nodded. “The serious-est.”

You let the conversation topic drop, with him taking a seat next to where you sat at the table and picked up on where he left off on the board, and you made yourself useful by doing whatever you could with your left hand, as well as telling him your ideas for the layout of the signboard and how you wanted to use the various materials. Though after a while Lucas had noticed you kept forgetting your wrist was injured and trying to help him cut things, nagging you for still trying to work when you should have been resting according to him.

“Lucas seriously, just let me help,” you insisted, a small pout on your lips.

“You can help me by resting,” he remained stubborn as ever, eventually leaving you to sit there and watch him.

You were surprised at how quickly he finished up the boards, just in time for when your grandma came home.

“Y/N! I’m back,” she called out, and you heard her soft shuffling get louder as she got closer to the dining table.

“Mama, I have a guest over,” you called out, hearing her squeal, practically running over to your room, her eyes lighting up when she saw Lucas.

“Xuxi?” You swore you'd never seen such a soft look in Lucas’ eyes before, seeing him get up to hug your grandma as if they’d known each other forever. “You’re so big now! I haven't seen you in so long,” she frowned playfully, making you even more confused.

“Do I wanna ask why?” you muttered, seeing Lucas’ cheeks tint pink in embarrassment, stepping back from your grandma and picking up his bag.

He brought a hand up to the side of his mouth in an action as if to whisper to you, mouthing a 'next time' to you with a soft smile,

“I hope Y/N has been good to you while you were here,” she looked at you pointedly, making you huff in exaggerated offence.

Lucas was quick to reply, shaking his head in dismissal, “oh, no it’s fine, I brought her home because she fell down the stairs in school, kind of messed up her wrist,” he gestured to his own wrist as he spoke, and your grandma's eyebrows knitted in concern.

“Oh gosh, sorry, she’s a clumsy one," she laughed, her hand reaching out to hold Lucas' hand in a rather delicate way, leaning in to whisper something to him you couldn't quite catch. You were beginning to feel as though you were the outsider here.

“​Mama​,” you whined, seeing the tiny crow’s feet beside her eyes appear as she laughed, shaking her head at you.

“You’d better be getting home, love, it’s getting late,” her tone was gentle as she spoke to him, and he nodded, bidding her goodbye before she left the room.

Lucas turned to face you, and you stood up, taking a step toward him, “I’ll be...heading off now,” he sounded almost breathless. “Rest your wrist, okay? see you,” he smiled at you, waving goodbye before he turned to leave.

You hadn't noticed you called him until he turned around, looking at you expectantly with his eyebrows raised, making you flush when your voice had sounded softer than you intended it to.

"Thanks, by the way, for helping me with the banners....I couldn't have finished it tonight without your help," you pressed your lips together in a tight-lipped smile, your hand reaching up to play with the lobe of your ear.

Stepping forward so he wasn't so far from you, he shook his head, "I'm glad I could help."

You felt for the first time as if you were watching yourself from a third person’s perspective, the way the wind suddenly seemed to be blowing at a perfect speed, and the music you could hear wafting outside from your grandma’s radio, to the way the streetlamp outside your house was casting the perfect shadow on Lucas’ face, right down to the way he smiled at you as if you were in a scene of a romantic drama ( that you were pretty sure if you were watching with Sicheng this would be the part you both start hitting each other excitedly )

“Goodnight, Y/N.”

You were lost for words, almost breathless at his soft shy smile. “Goodnight, Lucas.”

===

The next time you had lessons and your wrist was already starting to heal, you braved through the soreness you felt in your wrist and did your best to make lunch for both you and Lucas, even adding a small compartment where you placed a small packet of candy you had in the house.

Wrapping it up nicely, it was safe to say Lucas was shocked when you had handed the lunchbox to him directly, gaze darting between you and the lunchbox as if searching for some sort of affirmation that it belonged to him.

You felt eyes on you from some of your classmates, all eager to see how Lucas would reject you like how he usually did to girls who gave him things like this, but you barely noticed their gasps and murmurs from how happy you were when he took the lunchbox into his large hands, smiling so widely to you his happiness practically radiated from him.

"Consider it...a 'thank you', for helping me the other day," you told him, seeing him nod at you gratefully,

He lifted the lid of the lunchbox slightly, eyes widening when he saw its contents and looking at you with bright eyes, "I really, wow uh, I just, I wasn't expecting this...you made this?" he gestured at the half-opened lunchbox with his index finger.

You nodded in reply, "I've been making almost all of Sicheng’s," you swore you saw his face flush at that, his eyes widening but went back to normal quickly.

"You're really good at it," he said firmly, as if trying to convince you. To which you simply shrugged in reply.

"Wasn't sure why you liked them so much, but it's... all I have to offer, really." You took your seat in front of him, doing your best to suppress your racing heart when he leaned forward, as if he knew your heart was racing and he intentionally wanted to make it worse. ( But little did you know his heart was practically pounding in his chest he almost couldn't concentrate )

"Trust me, it's all I need."

"How are you gonna pass it back to me?" you asked him after class, watching how he slung his bag over his shoulder so smoothly, watching the way his eyebrows would raise as he thought, his lips pushed out resembling a duck.

"I'm working after this, so you can just pass it to Sicheng, he'll hand it over to me," you suggested, not very keen on Lucas seeing the ruckus of the noodle shop during peak hours.

Glancing at your watch, your eyes widened in realisation of the time, "I've gotta get going, bye Lucas!" you waved, seeing him wave back with a smile, his loud "Bye!" making you laugh.

What you didn't notice until now was that Lucas was the kind of person that would seem quiet on the outside, but once he was comfortable enough with you ( which for him, seemed to have happened after you injured your wrist ), he would let his true colours show. For example, especially with regards to Lucas, you tended to hear him before you actually saw him in most situations.

Now when he saw you in school, he would bellow your name from afar before jogging up to you, his hair ruffled and his shirt untucked, tie askew. He was the kind of boy to get through the crowd and go through all the trouble of getting to you for the sake of a 'good morning' greeting, or wanting to walk to class together.

Of course you couldn't refuse, because of how he'd already gone through the trouble of finding you in the crowd, simply choosing to enjoy his company instead of pay any attention to the girls who stared at you with such envy or shock. But you barely paid them many attention, since Lucas himself seemed to command all of your attention whenever he was with you. You couldn’t say you were complaining though, not when he’d been smiling a lot more and looking happier in general.

Your grandma was out of town temporarily, since she had to visit her sick sister. You were currently in the noodle shop on a weekday evening, trying to wait tables as quickly as you could since the dinner crowd was starting to come in.

With your hair pulled back into a ponytail, you wiped the sweat on your brow with your sleeve, trying your best to take orders and make the food at the same time, all the while trying to ignore the soreness you felt in your wrist whenever you carried things on the heavier side. You had just seated a group of middle aged working men who clearly had a few drinks before coming here. They had always given your grandma trouble, so you were praying in your heart that they wouldn’t be as troublesome to deal with today as well.

You had brought their food to their table, the narrow aisle between the tables preventing you from manoeuvring yourself around the table to serve them individually, choosing to stand at the same place and trust that they could pass down their bowls themselves since you knew your wrist wouldn’t be able to take it. 

“How have you been? Haven’t seen you helping your grandma out in a while,” the uncle next to where you stood had let his hand linger on your arm, an uncomfortable warmth lingering there as you tried to calm your racing heartbeat.

You hadn't noticed Lucas’ bicycle pulling up next to the store over the loud chatter in the store, as he stepped into the doorway of your humble shop, his eyes practically glaring daggers at the uncle whose hand was starting to creep down your back, resting on your bum as you wriggled in his hold.

The rest of them were busy in their own tipsy state, telling you just how much you’ve grown. 

“I have to get back to work-” you felt a presence behind you before the uncle in front of you had his hands roughly taken off you by Lucas.

Lucas pulled you back protectively behind him, “I don’t think that’s very appropriate of you, she’s clearly uncomfortable.”

The men had recognised Lucas to be his mother’s son, looking at him with evident contempt before cursing under their breath and resuming with their meals.

He followed your quick steps into the kitchen as you hurriedly cooked another bowl of noodles.

“Thanks, for that, by the way,” you said in choppy intervals, the steam from the wok giving you a good excuse for the blush creeping onto your cheeks.

“There’s no need to thank me,” he murmured from where he stood in the kitchen, his arms folded over his chest as he leant against the doorframe yet making sure he didn't get in your way.

“What are you doing here?” you looked away from your cooking to stare at his ruffled hair and messy school uniform, and almost lost it at the smile he gave you when you made eye contact with him.

Lucas' hand came up out of habit to cover his mouth, trying to regain his composure before he remembered he wasn't at one of his family dinners with corporate guests and that he could just be himself without you, slowly lowering his hand and letting his smile show.

Lucas gestured to the lunchbox he'd placed on the empty table in the kitchen. “Here to return your lunchbox, remember?” you made an ‘o’ shape with your mouth in realisation, nodding in understanding.

“Is it just you running the store today?” you nodded, seeing him shake his head, not seeming to like the answer you gave him.

“I’ll help you, alright? I’ll wait the tables and seat them and all that stuff, you just focus on cooking here, we’ll get the crowd cleared in no time,” he flashed you another of his optimistic smiles, his hand coming up in a fist to cheer you on before putting on a small apron and carrying the bowls you made to where you told him to bring them to, figuring you weren't in any position to say no to him right now.

And he was right, in no time you were finished tending to the dinner crowd and he had sat himself at the counter as he watched you take a seat next to him, rolling your wrist around slightly in an attempt to soothe it.

“God, that was fast, like really fast, thank you so much. I can’t imagine how much longer I would’ve taken if it weren’t for you helping me,” you told him. Lucas shook his head with a loud sound of dismissal, waving his hand at you, “It’s no problem. How come your grandma's not here?”

“She’s out of town for the month...her sister’s sick so she went to visit her, so I stayed here to take care of the house and the shop and all, since it’s pretty much...all we have," you sighed, refusing to look at him as you anticipated a look of pity or for Lucas to look at you as if you weren't good enough.

“I like it,” you shot him a confused look, and he was prompted to continue, “the shop, I mean. It’s cozy and warm.”

“What are you talking about? We can barely feel the heating in here unless you’re in the kitchen,” you laughed, shoving his shoulder playfully, seeing him shake his head.

“The feeling,” he explained, making you smile at how genuine he sounded.

“Hey, you know, if you could use some help here after school I don’t mind helping you...you know, since your grandma is out and everything..” he trailed off, looking away nervously as he anticipated your answer.

You pretended to contemplate even though you knew what you wanted to say, but then reality hit you again.

“Lucas, you know, as much as I would love some help around here while my grandma is gone, we can’t afford to pay you.”

His answer came back in a heartbeat, looking at you with the most serious expression you’d ever seen from him, “I’ll work here for free.”

You scoffed in shock, not finding it in you to be able to believe him, “What? wha- why would you do that?” you frowned, seeing him shake his head at you, insistent on his proposal.

“I don’t want to work here for the money, I want to work here to help you.”

You felt like all of it was so surreal, even as you outstretched your hand for him jokingly, “well, then you’re hired, Lucas.”

“On one condition, though,” he added quickly before he shook your hand, so it stayed clasped in his, the warmth of his very much bigger hand causing butterflies to flit wildly in your tummy, “call me, Xuxi, it's my actual name, not Lucas.” You smiled, nodding as you shook his hand.

“Sure thing, ​Xuxi.​ ” The smile you saw on his face after that was your favourite by far.

===

Before you knew it, seeing Xuxi became a daily thing, you had started to get used to the way he would get flustered when he knocked things over in the kitchen, to the way he did silly dances for you to see from the kitchen when he was wiping up tables and stacking chairs.

The shop had attracted quite a new number of girl students as well, all eager to see Xuxi look charismatic and charming when he was working, but you had to admit you enjoyed seeing the different side of him for yourself when you two were closing up the store or preparing ingredients before it opened.

You absolutely loved how the Xuxi you got to know now was so different from the Lucas you had all thought out in your head. For instance, he would ask for you to teach him how to make the dumpling, then never make it ever again and insist you make it for him, since his ‘didn’t taste the same’. He would walk you home every day, and take you on his bike to school sometimes ( much to Sicheng’s amusement ), as well as drive you to the shop whenever he didn’t have basketball practice.

And with Lucas in the shop, that brought Ten and Sicheng's presence occasionally as well, always teasing you and Xuxi as if you two were a newly married couple that opened up the store, never failing to make Xuxi blush and make you scoff. And you had enjoyed getting to know Ten more, with how he would recommend you new music and lend you his cassette tapes and you would share with each other your reviews on the different artists.

What Sicheng always loved the most from this entire new arrangement was telling you how Xuxi was so excited to work every day that he could, so excited to go to school, a side he’d never seen in Xuxi before, which you would never admit to Sicheng that loved to hear you played a part in.

Out of your own pathetic attempt to keep modest, you would always tell Sicheng to stop making things up, but the boy was just dying to tell you how much Xuxi actually talks about you when he’s with Sicheng and Ten, which of course you didn’t hear because if you did Sicheng would be dead meat.

But you hadn’t known the fact that Xuxi thought you knew this fact all the while, and you only discovered this when you were walking back from the store one night, after he had bought your favourite ice cream for you as a means to celebrate the end of a long day. Enjoying the way everything ( which may or may not include Lucas ) looked and felt warm with the sunset in your line of sight.

“You know, I never would’ve thought you’d be this nice,” you murmured around a mouthful of ice cream.

You heard a gasp on his end, feigning hurt as he placed a large hand against his heart, “I’m hurt,” he laughed.

“For real! I always got scared when I saw you rejecting those girls who would write you love letters and buy you buns from the bakery in school.”

He made a face at that, licking his ice cream before replying you, “That’s because I was never interested, and I figured might as well let them know straight up instead of lead them on.”

“Why not? Some of them were actually really nice, you know?” you wondered out loud, licking a particularly substantial amount of ice cream at one go that it made the roof of your mouth sting, your features scrunching up in a grimace.

He shrugged simply, glancing down at you and smiling at the expression you made from the ice cream, “guess I wasn’t paying too much attention to them.”

“Yeah, cause you were too busy paying attention to my grandma?” you joked, searching his expression for a reaction only for him to remain unfazed.

“Maybe ‘cause she had such a pretty granddaughter,” he said nonchalantly, making you choke on your ice cream, stumbling slightly only for him to reach a hand out to steady you.

“Careful what you say, Xuxi, people might start rumours you like me,” you joked, trying to calm yourself down both from choking and from his words that caused you to choke, turning to frown at him when you heard no answer. Looking at him with your eyebrows raised expectantly, he made no move to act as though you were saying anything he objected to, simply shrugging at you.

"Not something entirely possible if you think about it," he told you, finishing up his ice cream. "I win!" he cheered, pointing at your still half-eaten ice cream, making you roll your eyes with a laugh.

"Doesn't count, I didn't know we were competing," you shoved him playfully, laughter bubbling out of your lips uncontrollably at the way he stumbled back dramatically, using his bike to hold him up.

You were interrupted by his phone ringing, and his expression changed the moment he saw who was calling. “I have to go, I’ll be seeing you soon, then?”

You frowned. “Not tomorrow?” he shook his head,

“I’m pretty packed this week with basketball finals, you can uh...come for my game if you want.” you nodded, bidding him goodnight.

“Goodnight, Y/N,” you chuckled at how cheesy the scene was, feeling once again like this was a scene you would see in those dramas you would watch with Sicheng on his tv, waving him off as he laughed cutely, cycling off home, leaving you smiling like an idiot to yourself.

===

Lucas returned to his house, only to see his mother exactly how he had a feeling he would find her--in the living room with an almost empty bottle of wine next to her, her glass perched dangerously at the edge of the coffee table she was sitting next to, crying into the empty glass, not even bothering to look up when she heard Lucas enter the house.

She sobbed, grabbing the sleeves of Lucas' shirt when he had crouched down in front of her, the impact causing his bag strap to slide nearer to his neck uncomfortably. His mother had hiccupped, her breathing erratic from how hard she was crying, letting her head slump on his shoulder. The sight being nothing new to Lucas, he carefully nudged the wine glass nearer to the centre of the table, slowly peeling her hands from his sleeves.

"Ma. Hey, listen to me, you need to ​stop​ thinking he's still coming back," he looked resolutely into her eyes that resembled his so much, except hers were so filled with pain, whereas Lucas' were just filled with pity at how his father had managed to leave his mother in such a state once again- without even having to be physically there to cause it.

Lucas hadn't seen his father in months, the only sign of his existence being that he would send money to his family at the start of each month, and the action would always leave his mother at a loss, since he knew he spent each month hoping that the start of the next month would be greeted with his person instead of just his money.

"You don't understand, Lucas. He told me he was coming back," she cried, hot tears streaming down her face quickly, making anger bubble in Lucas, spilling out before he could control it.

"Yeah, when? That was months ago," he told her, making her frown at him.

"Don't say that. He loves me, he wouldn't do this to me."

"Don't say what, ma? I'm telling you the truth! He's left and he doesn't plan on coming back anytime soon, it’s not like he’s contacted you ever since he left," he told her, his voice raising in an attempt to get his words in her head more.

"Don't raise your voice at me!" she stood up, abruptly, albeit a little unstable, judging from how she leaned on the armrest of the sofa for support.

"You can't keep waiting for him, you know. You're going to reach your limit at one point," he told her, desperately wanting to get through to her and put an end to both their suffering.

"You," she pointed a finger at him condescendingly at him, prodding at his chest roughly, "don't get to decide ​my​ limits for me. I need him to come back, he's ​all I have​." Lucas’ mouth shut at that, he knew his mother’s first priority was his father, but she had never said anything like this to Lucas before. And now that he had heard it, it hurt him more than anything.

"So I’m just nothing, then? Just someone to clean up your shit every time you get drunk and you act like a goddamned child?" Lucas was blinded by his hurt now, his words escaping him faster than he could process them, "​please, if he loved you so much he wouldn't have left in the first place."

Lucas's mother was absolutely furious, not knowing how to retaliate, so she did what she always did. Looking for the nearest moveable object near her, which just so happened to be the empty wine bottle, she hurled it towards her son, Lucas having to bring his arms up to try and block it as she looked for more things to throw at him, seemingly directing her anger towards her husband to her only son.

"Ma, stop it!" Lucas' shouts went unnoticed, his mother picking up a pillow to hurl it at him roughly, his mother chucking the wine glass at Lucas, which had happened to shatter on the wall where he was standing next to, the glass pieces shattering and nicking Lucas on the face slightly. Only upon the sight of blood on her son’s face did Lucas’ mother realize what she had done, already feeling absolutely horrible about it.

Her grip on the item she was holding loosened, letting it fall with a soft thump onto the cushion of the sofa. Lucas’ eyes widened, his hand coming up to touch his cheek and wince at the sight of the red on his fingers when he pulled his hand away from his face.

“Honey-” Lucas held a hand up, flinching slightly when his mother tried to take a step towards him, taking steps away from her as he felt himself shaking from sheer anger and hurt.

He didn’t want to fight with her, that was the last thing he wanted, yet it seemed to be the only thing he got nowadays.

Shrugging his bag onto his shoulder, he left the house as quickly as he could, not bothering to close the door gently in his hurry to leave. He made his way to Ten’s house, who simply greeted him with a sad smile and let him in, no questions asked, when he saw Lucas at his doorstep, face cut and chest heaving from the angry tears he was shedding.

===

You weren’t surprised when you hadn’t seen Lucas show up to school the next day, not daring to ask any questions when Sicheng showed up at your doorstep to send you to school with a very tired-looking Ten.

You had no means of contacting Lucas, only hoping that he would decide to come to the noodle shop or even to basketball practice so you could talk to him, but even that didn’t happen.

Sicheng noticed the slight dulling of your mood after a few days had passed and Lucas still hadn’t shown up to school, trying to make you feel better by telling you he was okay.

“That’s not the point, Sicheng, I want to actually see for myself that he’s okay. I thought he was actually getting back on track, you know?” Sicheng nodded, understanding where you were coming from but not knowing how to comfort you.

Ten had told him prior to that day that Lucas absolutely refused to talk about what had happened, choosing to simply coop himself up in Ten’s guest room all day, only ever coming out to eat and even then it didn’t look like he was enjoying himself very much. Which of course was an abnormality in Lucas’ case.

What Ten wasn’t aware of was that when Lucas had returned to the house the day after the incident, he’d found a note his mother left for him, saying she was going to look for his father, and that she wouldn’t come back unless she was coming back with him. The last sentence of the letter not even a small ‘I love you’ but instead a reassurance that she would send him allowance every month.

Lucas figured he needed time to cool off and figure out what he was going to do now before he could even go back to see you- despite desperately wanting to do so. But he didn’t want to see you like this, not when he was preoccupied with all his thoughts you knew nothing about.

“I know,” Sicheng murmured, turning to you with a tight-lipped expression. “Just give him some time, he’ll be back in time for the game, then you can have a proper talk with him or whatever,” Sicheng sighed, standing up and offering you a hand to help you up.

“How about some ice cream?”

===

The day of the sports meet had arrived, the basketball nationals being the highlight of the day, and almost your entire school had gathered at the spectator stands to watch the game. With Sicheng next to you, you saw the home team arriving in the court, a small part of you relieved when you saw Xuxi on the court, next to Ten, looking perfectly fine and happy.

So you went through the game doing whatever you figured a supporter should do, raise your giant banner with Sicheng and cheer for your school’s team, especially when Xuxi or Ten would make a particularly impressive pass or score.

Thankfully, they had won, so you figured their spirits were still high by the time they finished their team debrief and were dismissed. You were standing outside the room waiting for Xuxi and Ten with Sicheng. You looked up expectantly when you heard the double doors of the school entrance open, only to huff in disappointment when you realized it was just another one of Xuxi’s teammates, Kun.

You kicked at the ground absentmindedly before you felt Sicheng start to nudge you, his nudging growing more rapid as the seconds passed, making you look up at him with an annoyed expression.

“What?” you asked, seeing his face scrunch up, trying his best to gesture to your opposite direction with his eyes without making it to obvious.

“Hey,” you turned to the direction of the voice only to see that it was Kun, looking at you with a soft smile, his hand gripping the strap of the duffel bag he had slung across his chest. Sicheng looked away so his staring wouldn’t make Kun uncomfortable, though he was intently listening to your conversation with Kun.

“Y/N, right?” you nodded. “Uh...I wanted to thank you for coming to the game,” he smiled sweetly at you, his voice matching his expression.

You shook your head in dismissal, “Oh, it’s nothing, really. I mean, Ten and Xu- I mean Lucas, are my friends too so I just, you know…thought I should support them.” You saw him nod in understanding, glancing up at you again, looking almost nervous.

“I was actually wondering if you would like to go watch a movie with me one of these days? It’ll be my treat, I kind of want to get to know you better....I mean, you don’t ​have​ to say yes but it’d be nice...if you did.”

Sicheng let out a small snort, making you kick his leg firmly, all the while still smiling at Kun.

I mean, it wasn’t as if you didn’t like the idea of a date with Kun, you just...would prefer if it was a date with Xuxi, to put things simply.

“Would you let me have some time to think about it? Can I let you know by like…next week?” you asked, seeing him nod at you, that same sweet smile appearing on his face.

“Of course, no problem, have a goodnight,” he smiled at you, Sicheng taking that as his queue to turn back around and exchanged a nod with Kun as a goodbye, practically bursting into laughter when Kun was out of sight.

“Poor Kun, doesn’t know he’s gonna be waiting the whole weekend for a rejection,” he snickered, making you roll your eyes, shoving him as you saw the double doors open again and Ten and Lucas walk out, laughing about something while looking for you and Sicheng in the area.

“Okay, shut up, no more talk about this or Ten will mock both Kun ​and​ me,” you shoved him, your glare softening and a small smile appearing on your face when you saw Xuxi.

He smiled widely, waving at you and Sicheng, the both of you making your way over to them and walking out of the school grounds together.

You walked in pairs, Ten and Sicheng walking in front on purpose so you and Xuxi would have to walk next to each other.

“You played really well, today,” you told him as a passing comment, seeing him let out a shy laugh, muttering a small ‘thank you’ to you.

“Have you eaten dinner yet?” he asked you, you shook your head in reply.

“Not yet, I was kind of just feeling like some ice cream.”

His smile brightened at that, nodding at you eagerly, “Me too!”

He bent down, half leaning towards you to whisper, “should we ​ditch​ them?” he used a finger to gesture to the pair walking in front of you, watching you give him a hesitant look.

He shot you a pleading look, his eyes closed and his palms together in front of him, rubbing them together in a begging action, making you smack him on the shoulder, covering your mouth in a poor attempt to stifle your laugh.

Ten and Sicheng already having anticipated your next sentence with all the giggling they were hearing behind them.

“Hey, uh guys, me and Y/N are gonna detour and get some ice cream. Catch you guys next week?”

Not without shooting each other a knowing look, Ten and Sicheng pretended to be upset before waving the both of you off quickly, wanting this to happen more than anybody.

You walked with Xuxi in the silence to the small convenience stand, Xuxi paying for the ice cream, and you ripped open the packet quickly, walking with him back in the direction of your neighbourhood.

“Thanks for paying for the ice cream,” you said, a little belatedly, making him huff in amusement, using his free hand to ruffle your hair in reply, the action making you blush unexpectedly.

Xuxi started to walk towards the direction of the small playground you were nearing, the both of you silently taking a seat on either of the two swings, Xuxi ditching his bag on the ground to sit comfortably.

“Are you okay?” you asked, chewing on the small bit of your ice cream you’d bitten off by accident, “you were gone for really long.”

Xuxi scoffed teasingly, “I was gone for like 5 days.”

“Well it was long for me, okay,” you huffed, “It was weird...going from seeing you every day to not seeing you suddenly.”

Xuxi bit his lip, licking the ice cream that had gotten on his lips as he turned his head to glance at you, his legs pushing the ground gently to swing himself lightly.

“My mom left,” he murmured. Abruptly raising his hand for his palm to face you, “And before you start feeling stressed ‘cause you don’t know what to say and all that, I’m alright if you don’t know what to say. I mean, neither did I, I spent 4 days not knowing what to even ​feel​ about it.”

You ate your ice cream quietly as he spoke, processing what Xuxi was trying to tell you. A small part of you understanding a little bit of how lonely he may have felt since you had found yourself in a somewhat similar situation when you were young.

“She told me she wasn’t coming back until my dad comes back with her, so...I took that as a ‘I’m not coming back at all’,” he used his fingers to make air quotes, shrugging afterward as he took a bite from his popsicle, “but I’ll live, I guess....I have to.”

“That’s really strong of you, Xuxi,” you murmured, seeing him turn to you, expression blank before he smiled softly.

“I have you by my side, so I’ll make it through this no matter what,” he grinned, turning his attention back to his ice cream.

“I’ll hold you to that,” you joked, suddenly thinking of Kun’s proposal just now after the basketball game, debating on whether to tell Xuxi but something inside you ( that strangely sounded like Sicheng ) was telling you to just do it.

“Kunaskedmeout,” you blurted, seeing him turn to you with a raised eyebrow, a small hum of confusion leaving his lips.

“Kun, he...asked if I wanted to go watch a movie with him when I was waiting for you and Ten to come out just now,” you told him, gauging his expression carefully as you told him, “I mean, at first I was kind of hesitant because I was kind of worried about how I would pay for the movie ticket but then he said he was paying and all so...I guess it’s not so bad?”

Tell me not to go. ​Your eyes pleaded, watching intently at the way he took his time to nibble on the last bits of his ice cream, holding up a hand as if telling you to wait as he stood up from the swing, taking your empty ice cream wrapper to dispose of them together, returning to you with a serious expression on his face. Stopping in front of where you were sitting, he leaned down so his head was level with yours, eyes narrowing at you, before straightening up.

“Don’t go.” he told you casually, sitting back down on the swing.

Your mouth gaped, unsure of what to make of his reaction. You looked at him with furrowed eyebrows, pursing your lips before speaking.

“You don’t think I should go?”

He looked at you with a blank expression, shrugging nonchalantly, “you shouldn’t go if you don’t want to,” he reminded you, his shoes scuffing on the ground as he rocked the swing back and forth.

“What makes you think I don’t want to?” you narrowed your eyes at him.

He shrugged, “maybe the way you told me about it? But of course, I could just be assuming, so go, have fun with Kun if that’ll make you happy,” he laughed, making you frown at him.

“But...” you started, though there was no other way to say this other than to admit you wanted Lucas to tell you not to go.

Lucas stopped swinging, looking at you expectantly, with a small glint of mischief in his eyes and a smirk playing at his lips.

“But? Is there a problem with what I just said?”

“Yes, a very big problem,” you told him, a small pout playing at your lips.

“Why is that?” He prodded you some more, to the point where you threw away your anxiousness, exasperatedly admitting to the tall boy,

“The problem is that I don’t wanna go ‘have fun’ with Kun because I like you!” you blurted.

He looked at you, pressing his lips together, before his eyes crinkled into crescents as he smiled.

As if nothing had happened, Lucas stood up, dusting off the imaginary dust from his track pants, slinging his bag on his shoulder, using his hand to shield the non-existent sun from his eyes as he looked up at the sky, “It’s getting late, let’s get you home.”

It was an understatement to say you were upset as Lucas walked you home. You felt so humiliated, that he would have the audacity to ignore the fact that you’d just confessed how you felt towards him, making you huff in annoyance when you realized you had reached your doorstep.

Not looking at him, you glared at his chest, being the only thing at your eye level, about to say goodbye when you felt him pull you into a hug. Not just any kind of lazy armed, lean-in goodbye hug, but an actual, warm, comforting hug, a hug of greeting instead of parting.

He let his head rest on top of yours gently, and you heard his laugh vibrate in his chest slightly, as his hand went up to pat the back of your head gently.  

“I’m glad,” he told you.

You frowned, pulling away to see him look down at you, his hair flopping over his eyes only slightly as he gave you what you had deemed as your favourite smile of his, where his eyes would shut tightly and his mouth form the cutest grin you had ever seen.

And for the third time, you’d felt transported into one of the romantic dramas, you could practically hear Sicheng saying matter-of-factly, ‘he’s totally gonna confess’, which you would always reply with a shush, wanting to savour the moment.

Opening his eyes, Lucas reached one of his hands reached down to hold your hand, “because I like you too.”

It was as if you had become hyper-aware of your surroundings, the way your heart was beating at a steady pace for once, and how gently Lucas was holding your hand, to the way the moonlight was so bright today, being the perfect backdrop for this moment you wanted to capture in your head and remember forever.

Letting go of your hand after a while, it was as if things were moving in slow motion when Lucas leaned over to plant a shy kiss on your cheek, pulling away and covering the lower half of his face with his hand, hiding his blush from you.

This time, you smiled at him first, “Goodnight, Xuxi.”

He had to look away to compose himself since he was smiling so widely, turning back to you and nodding at you, waving his hand as he’d started taking slow steps back, desperate to run home so he could giggle and be shy about this in the privacy of his room.

“Goodnight, Y/N.”

[chiveburger]

remember like 2 years ago that one person that wrote this whole entire meal plan on jype fans telling young k to lose weight and she was like “I’m doing it for his health” even though he wasn’t even unhealthy in the SLIGHTEST. yeah he had a caffeine addiction but who doesn’t? couple years later they invited him for a mukbang show where he eats like a whole entire cow that’s meant to serve 8 people, and then eats noodles afterwards. In another episode he eats like 50 dumplings....... like....... I think she got the message young k.