#right as I get on break my computer decides it's time to just pass away

[fingertipsmp3]

Just sitting here eating breadsticks in the calm before the storm tbh

[chaoticwriting]

Part 1

Danny x Cass part 2

The silence is loud in the room. Everyone is staring at Danny with a few glares being straight up hostile. Danny gives the crowd a scan and realizes that the hostile intent comes from 3 figures.

The Batman

Nightwing

Robin

'Huh, that's less than I thought' He thinks to himself. Another figure catches his attention when he sees the guy swiftly typing something on his computer wrists and acting like nothing is happening.

Just as Danny is about to think about how to break this awkwardness, Superman flies to Danny and greets him.

"Errmm, hello. I am Superman. May we know what you mean when you say you are here to help?"

Danny looks confused at that question when his shirt is tugged by Cass. He looks down and Cass climbs his arm and whispers to his ears.

"I have not told them."

Cass then climbs down and happily stands besides Danny holding his hands. Danny can see Batman's mouth twitching at the sight. Danny just smiles wryly but doesn't release her hand.

"I am here to help you deal with Trigon and Darkseid. I have been requested to help all of you by my partner."

Superman looks unsure on what to do next as he looks at Batman for instructions. Superman also realizes that Batman seems to be in a more terrible mood than usual. Not stressed. Not fear. More like agitated and angry.

When he sees Batman not reacting, he turns to Wonder Woman to ask for help. Diana seeing one of her friends in need of help while the other is in another space all together decides to step up and control the situation.

"May I know is it Black Bat that invites you, Mr. Phantom?"

"Danny is fine. And yes, she invites me to help with the crisis. I am also here to meet some of you actually."

"May I know what we could help you with, Danny?"

"Of course. First and foremost, I would like to formally introduce myself. I am Danny Phantom, the High King of the Infinite Realm, the Ancient of Space and the Protector of Balance."

As soon as Danny finishes his introduction, the magical heroes kneel down towards Danny.

"We deeply apologize for not properly greeting you, Your Majesty. We are truly grateful for your offer of help."

Captain Marvel leads as the rest of the heroes become baffled at their act. The rest of the heroes are also about to kneel when Danny speaks.

"Please get up everyone. And please call me Danny. I'm not really here for any official stuff. I only tell all of you my title so that we can skip the whole 'Who are you really?' part"

All the heroes stand back up and this time Danny doesn't let the awkward tension last in the air.

"I'm here today mostly because my partner here asks me for help. And while I am here someone asks me to pass something."

Suddenly, the space between Barry and Danny shortens, bringing Barry right in front of Danny. Danny summons a small parchment and hands it to Barry.

"This is for you Flash. This is a fine because you often mess with time and Time doesn't like it when you do."

Barry slowly takes the parchment and reads it. His eyes go wide but before he is about to protest, Danny shut him up by saying.

"If you are dissatisfied with the punishment, you may go talk to CW himself. I'm only here to pass his punishment to you."

Barry slumps his shoulders and goes back into the crowd. The heroes look concerned at Barry as it looks like he is about to cry.

Wally approaches him from behind and taps his shoulders. Barry turns to Wally with water about to burst out of his eyes.

"What happened? Is the punishment so bad? Can we do anything about it?" Wally asks concerned at the state his mentor is in.

"No. This is all my fault. It's because of the time traveling mess I did before this. Now I need to become a servant to Time or Clockwork in this case for 1000 years."

Wally and the other heroes around look very concerned at the statement because even for some of them, 1000 years is a long time.

"No worries, your punishment will only start after you pass away. And after your sentence is done, you can pass on to whatever afterlife you choose."

A sticky note appears out of thin air right in front of Barry just as he is really about to cry. He holds himself back and reads the sticky note carefully. Wally peeks from the side and also sees the content of the sticky note.

"Oh also, CW says to not mess around with time too much anymore. He says he is kind enough to not count all the time where it is technically not your fault but he did say that if you can bring him Reverse Flash he will lower your sentence."

Barry lit up at Danny's words like he just received a Christmas present. He swore to himself the next time he sees Thawne, that guy is not going anywhere.

All the other heroes look at the pair of Flash and decide to ask(interrogate) them later. Now, there is an interdimensional deity in front of them that may or may not be dating one of them.

"So, Danny. May I know how you can help us?" Diana asks carefully.

"I can help you deal with both Trigon and Darkseid. That's it really."

"Is there any price that we need to pay for your help?"

Diana's question alerts all the heroes as they now remember that the one standing in front of them is not just any other normal guy. He is an interdimensional deity and those things usually take something as payment whenever they are asked with something.

Danny looks thoughtful at the question and suddenly a smirk appears on his face. Cass knows what that smirk means. It usually appears whenever Danny decides to do something he deems funny. And his funny usually means chaos.

Batman stares intensely at Danny. He knows that smirk. That is the same smirk any of his kids do before they cause trouble. (I.e glitter bomb his batmobile and change his ring tone to symphony)

"Hmm, I don't really need anything from any of you. After all, I do wanna show a good impression on my future-in-law."

Pin drop silence. The heroes expected many types of responses from Danny. Some of them are even ready to swear eternal service or even their life. But whatever Danny just says certainly isn't one of them.

The silence is broken as a katana flies at high speed towards Danny.

"How dare you touch my sister?!" Shouted a tiny figure.

Danny catches the katana and puts it inside his treasury. He will enchant it later to give back to Robin. Cass says that Robin loves weapons.

Chaos ensues as Batman and Nightwing hold Robin while the rest of the heroes gossiping loudly. He could also see Spoiler just snickering while waving at them.

He sure loves chaos.

Part 3

[yuyusgirlie]

[1:15 pm]

The sounds of the house were eerily quiet as you padded around the living room. Your steps were soft as you paced, but every step felt like you were walking with bricks attached to your feet. How were you going to bring this conversation up to your husband? You knew deep down there was nothing to fear and that he would always support you. But at the same time, the idea of such a big change… it was terrifying. 

Standing in the centre of the room, you took a deep breath in and slowly let it out, letting your eyes close and at least some of the stress melt away. Once you opened your eyes, you looked down the hall to find your husband’s office door open, with his light on. 

You walked down the hallway and stood in the doorway, watching your husband type away on his office computer. Yunho was very focused on whatever he was working on, finally locking in on his work after a morning of hectic meetings that you could hear from down the hall. After a few moments he noticed a presence and looked up to find you watching him. He smiled and pushed away from his desk to take a quick break with the person he loves. “Hello love,” he says as he pulls you in for a hug. 

You wrap your arms around him and feel the rest of your stress melt away as the conversation you knew you needed to have began to feel less and less daunting. 

“Decided to visit your favourite boy during work today?” 

You laughed and lightly hit your forehead against his chest before pulling back to look him in the eye, “Of course, but I also wanted to chat with you, is now a good time?”

“Anytime is a good time with you,” He said with the cheesiest wink imaginable. 

Regardless of how serious a conversation may need to be, there was always a level of foolishness that Yunho brought to every conversation. Often times it was welcomed, there are some times where he knows it isn’t the right move and he avoids it, but there was always a level of comfort that the sillness provided. 

With a big sigh, you decided to speak, “Yunho, I’m late.” 

He looks down at you with his big eyes, slightly swaying from side to side with you in his arms, almost dancing to a tune in his head. “Oh love, that’s ok, where are you planning on going?” 

“No Yunho, I’m late.” 

“Oh.” And everything stops. 

The movement from side to side, the silly noises, he’s now locked in. “How late?”

“We are now on day 3.”

“Oh that’s pretty late.” 

The silence that follows is thick, you both know what this could mean. It felt like hours had passed in the mere seconds both of you stared at each other. He continued to hold you as you froze together. 

“Well…” After far too long of agonizing silence, he finally decided to say something. “It was bound to happen eventually with how much w-” “YUNHO.” 

You both looked at each other again, at this point you couldn’t hold back the laughter and overwhelming emotions. He was laughing and looking down at you as you laughed with him, tears starting to fall. 

“Awwww my baby, don’t cry, it’s all going to be ok.” He pulled you in tighter, one hand on your back moving up and down slowly, while the other was pulling your head to his chest. “No matter what happens we will be ok.” 

The tears won’t stop streaming down your face and you pull him closer to you, trying to surround yourself in him. You knew deep down everything was going to be ok, but the possibility of such a big change was a scary thought. 

You pull back a bit to look up at him, your eyes red from the tears. He looks at you with his classic pout, moving his hand from your head to wipe away your tears. “Aww, my love. What do you need from me right now?” 

“Just you.” 

“You always have me.” His hand stays on your cheek as he wipes away and stray tears and strokes your face softly. 

“Did you take a test?” He asks gently, almost afraid to scare you. 

“No I wanted to tell you first.” 

“Well thank you for telling me.” He says with a smile. “But our next step should probably be to get a test. I can run out and get you on.” 

“Ok.” You say in almost a whisper. “Yuyu?” 

“Yes love?” 

Both of you haven’t moved as you continue to look for comfort in his arms. 

“What if it’s positive?” 

“Then we will talk about what you want to do and go to the doctor.” He says warmly, starting to sway side to side. 

“What do you want?” 

“I want you to be happy and healthy. If that means we have a family a little sooner than expected then we do that, and if it means we don’t then we don’t.” 

You can feel the tears coming back as you hide your face in his chest once more. The feeling of every possibility is anxiety-inducing, but having Yunho there to support your every step fills you with an overwhelming feeling of love.

He continues to sway you both gently from side to side until you’re ready to face the daunting next step to reveal the truths. But right now you knew two things. One: everything was going to be fine, and two: Yunho will always be there for you. 

[evangelical04]

A Single Daffodil || 2

Summary: Getting arranged to be married to your long-time crush wasn't exactly the fairy tale romance you were hoping for. Nor is the dynamic of the marriage, with your husband treating you like you don't exist. But you're going to make this work, whether he cares about you or not. And he definitely doesn't...right?

Pairing: Min Yoongi x Reader

Rating: 18+ minors DNI

Word Count: 9.1K

Genre: angst, romance, unrequited love, smut, enemies to lovers, arranged marriage au, businessman yoongi

Warnings: parental trauma, sibling trauma, toxic parents, unrequited love, explicit language, alcohol usage, yoongi's kind of mean, future smut

Author's Note: hi everyone! it's currently exactly 2am for me lol but I wanted to get this chapter out today! i was hoping to having the wedding happen but I like it more for the next chapter. all the support has been so overwhelming and amazing, thank you guys so much for all the love!! i appreciate it so much and I'm grateful that you all are so supportive, especially for my first ever fic. i really hope you guys enjoy this chapter! also, just let me know if you want to be added or removed from the taglist!

Taglist:

@yoongisducky @kam9404 @sumzysworld @tarahardcore @viankiss @babystarcandylovejk @ktownshizzle @futuristicenemychaos @igot7fairlyoddparents @baechugff @pb89nv @peachytokki @ratherbfangirling

previous / masterlist / next

You could feel your eyes glazing over with the amount of time you’d spent staring at your computer screen. A quick glance at the clock showed that only a couple hours had passed since you’d arrived at work, and a devastating thirty minutes remained until your lunch break. Rubbing at your tired eyes, you tried to find the energy to resume reviewing the materials your team had sent you, but you came up short. 

The wedding planning had been taking a lot out of you the past couple of months, even though your mother wasn’t letting you decide anything for it anyway. She had been quite clear that all you had to do was show up and that your input wouldn’t be needed. You couldn’t honestly say you had an issue with that, this didn’t feel like your wedding anyway. If it were yours, you would’ve been getting married to someone you love, and crucially, someone who loves you in return.

But that wasn’t in the cards for you and you knew that well, so you went along with your mother’s planning placidly, agreeing to almost everything she mentioned and getting ignored on things you didn’t. It left you exhausted, both physically and emotionally. It felt like an out-of-body experience every time your mother pulled you into another appointment for your dress fittings or makeup and hair test runs. You could feel yourself simply going through the motions and just waiting until the appointment was done so you could return to your mundane life. 

Not much else had changed, honestly. You were still working, hanging out with your friends on occasion, reading in bed, and watching television in the evenings. The only thing looming over you was the date of the wedding, now only six months away. It felt like an omen, always hovering near you, spiking your heart rate, and making you sweat. 

Even your team had noticed your heightened anxiety and expressed their worries to you, especially the youngest, Choi Song Ha. She was a cute, young thing, a fresh face in the industry that you had quickly taken under your wing once you had set eyes on her in the new recruit orientation you visited just over a year ago now. You knew just how quickly the gaming industry ate up and spat out women like clockwork and you didn’t want the same fate for her, so you’d snatched her up into your team. She truly felt like the little sister you’d never had and your bond quickly grew over the months since you’d met. She had picked up on your dampened mood and resolved to leave you small treats of a chip bag or chocolates on your desk every other day or so as a means to cheer you up. She knew you well enough to know you wouldn’t appreciate outright signs of concern or making a scene at work, and you loved her for it. 

She had left you a small red ginseng jelly this morning with a doodle of a grumpy cat stuck to it on a post-it note. It made you smile every time you glanced at it.

It kind of reminded you of Yoongi. The two of you hadn’t talked since that night in the restaurant, and you weren’t sure if you even wanted to talk to him. Your mother had given you his number and you’d saved it, but you hadn’t made any move to message him.

“Team leader?”

You turned, snapping out of your daze to face another one of your team members, Yeonsik. 

“Yes, Yeonsik,” you responded, trying to appear calm and collected, and not like you were just thinking about your soon-to-be husband who hates you.

“We have the materials from the character graphics department for Plan C ready, it’s in your inbox now. They said that they’re ready to make any changes you want, but they’re worried about the deadline for the second draft,” Yeonsik rambled. He was a nice man, only a few years younger than you, and quite passionate about his job since joining your team two years back, just after you’d become the team lead of Planning Group 1. He had a handsome face with longer, dark hair and bright eyes that were eager to please.

“Okay, thanks for letting me know. Also, good job on keeping Graphics 2 on track, I know they’ve been giving us a hard time with getting the updated designs over. Thanks again,” you said politely, sending him a small smile. Yeonsik beamed in response and returned to his seat happily. You chuckled fondly at his antics before opening the file he’d sent. You loved your team members and you held a high respect for them. You knew you led them well and that they respected you in return. It was a small team, consisting of only five people, including you, but you were content with the group and the dynamic. You often went out for drinks together after work, usually followed by karaoke and at least one member passing out, most often Yeonsik, who would then be picked up by his boyfriend. You were a close-knit group and you couldn’t imagine a better job.

Slowly, Mrs. Min’s words crept back into your mind at the thought of how much you loved your position. Surely, Yoongi wouldn’t expect you to quit your job? You wouldn’t be able to bear it. 

No, he said that he would do his thing and you would do yours, you reminded yourself. That’s right, you’d agreed that you wouldn’t interfere in each other’s lives. Except, you hadn’t really agreed, had you? You’d just acquiesced because he’d been in the motion of leaving anyway. You weren’t really sure if that’s what you’d wanted, living separate lives and being married only on paper. 

Yoongi’s words rang clear in your head as you gnawed on your lower lip, was this really how this marriage was going to be? The two of you not even acknowledging each other except at galas and parties where you had to appear married? You didn’t want that.

But…if Yoongi did, how much say did you really have? As much as you wanted to make this work, it had to be a two-way street. If Yoongi didn’t want anything to do with you, you would have to accept that and just try to get through this the best you could. You had said to Joohee that day you’d found out, that there’s nothing you can do to stop him. 

It felt painful to come to terms with, especially in the environment of your office where you still had to appear professional. Thankfully, you breathed, none of your team members had noticed your mini-mental breakdown. 

Your phone buzzed with a new message from Yujin, your mother’s assistant.

From Yang Yujin

Hello Miss Y/N,

Your mother has asked me to confirm your three attendees for your wedding invitations. The invitations will be sent out on Friday night, so please send your three names with their contact information and address to me by then. If possible, please send it at least one day beforehand as Mrs. Seo would like to review them before I send the invitations out.

Additionally, she has set up another meeting for you with Mr. Min Yoongi on Friday, at 6 pm. Please find the location details below.

Please let me know if you need any other information,

Yang Yujin

You sighed, reading over the email again. For one, you honestly didn’t even know who you’d want to invite. You didn’t really have that many friends outside of Joohee, your colleagues, and Jung Hoseok, your friend from college. You knew that Joohee would already be invited, but you weren’t sure about Hoseok. He wasn’t a part of the same social circle as you and Joohee, especially since he didn’t come from a richer family, but you’d met him in college and introduced him to Joohee soon after. The three of you had been practically inseparable during your undergrad but after graduation, the three of you hadn’t met up in person in a while, with Hoseok in Busan for work. You tapped your chin thoughtfully with the eraser end of a pencil, maybe you should send an invite to Hoseok. Suddenly, another thought occurred to you, making the pencil drop from your fingers and onto your lap.

You hadn’t even told Hoseok about Yoongi!

“Damn,” you muttered, making a mental note to call him later today. You’d figure out the other invites later. Your eyes drifted to the second part of the email. 

Another meeting, huh? It sounds like it’ll be just the two of us this time. I wonder if he’ll be any different.

A rap of knuckles against your desk brought your attention back in front of you. Song Ha stood beside your chair, looking at you curiously, “It’s lunch, Team Leader. Want to grab something with the team downstairs?”

Shit, you had agreed to grab lunch with Joohee today. 

“No, Miss Choi, I’ll be meeting a friend of mine. But you all enjoy your lunch!”

“Alright, have fun!”

The team slowly filed out, discussing amongst themselves what they’d get from the cafeteria today. You almost longed to go with them, but you knew you had to tell Joohee about the email you got. 

You could feel a headache coming on. 

Sighing, you stood and gathered your things into your tote bag, never having liked purses, and started the walk towards the elevators to reach the quaint cafe across the street you and Joohee liked to frequent. 

You had arrived before Joohee, which was to be expected with your office right across and decided to grab a table for both of you. Setting your tote bag in the seat beside you, you read the email once more on your phone. It dragged another sigh out of you before you almost jumped into the air at the sound of Joohee’s voice.

“What’s got you so melancholy?’

You breathed out to calm your heart rate from the mini jumpscare and looked up at her. She was dressed a bit more formal than you in a light blue blouse and dark navy dress pants that fell gracefully in silk around her long legs with a maroon purse hanging from her shoulder. Her office was much more formal than yours, working under her father. Your own office often had team leaders and higher-ups in jeans, the nature of your work making it more casual, so you contrasted her in a simple black sweatshirt and blue jeans. 

“I have to meet Yoongi again on Friday.”

“God damn.”

You nodded somberly as she took her seat across from you, “You remember what happened last time? Why does it feel like he’s gonna eat me alive this time?”

Joohee looked at you suggestively, wiggling her eyebrows.

You recoiled, shooting her a glare, “Good God, woman, not like that.”

Joohee relented, waving her hands in surrender, “Okay, well, assume he’ll be the same. Then you won’t be caught off guard. But I think you should still try to get through to him. Maybe, at the very least, you guys can become friends.”

You hummed in agreement, what she was saying made sense. You weren’t exactly hoping for a rom-com drama-like romantic relationship, but being friends wouldn’t be so bad. 

A waiter arrived, taking your drink and food orders, and you and Joohee fell back into easy conversation about your jobs and other small gossip. As much as you were trying to pay attention to what Joohee was saying, you couldn’t help your mind returning to Yoongi and his dark eyes scrutinizing you and his cold, biting voice. 

“Y/N?”

You focused back into Joohee and her concerned stare dug into you, “What?”

“Are you still thinking about Yoongi?”

You nodded, looking away. You felt bad for not listening to her especially when she had basically given you a solution to your anxiety regarding Friday. You heard her sigh before speaking. 

“Listen, Y/N, you can’t stop how he’s going to behave towards you. You can only control how you respond. I think your best bet is to try to tell him you’re not expecting him to treat you like a wife, but you want him to treat you like a friend. Unless that isn’t what you want.”

“No, it is,” you said, keeping yourself from burying your head in your hands, “And you’re right, that’s all I can do. Why didn’t you become a therapist, again?”

Joohee only grinned in response, “I’m too pretty.”

Joohee’s words from earlier echoed in your head for the rest of the workday. Did you really want him to treat you like a friend? Or something more?

You weren’t sure. Of course, you had this half-crush, half-infatuation with the man since you’d met him when you were younger, but marriage was a totally different game. Were you really ready to spend the rest of your life with a man you were attracted to but he couldn’t feel the same? 

Maybe he could.

You knocked that thought away as soon as it entered your mind, you shouldn’t be getting your hopes up. You knew that Yoongi was less than happy about the situation and the unfavorable circumstances would only serve to further distance him from you. You would have to be okay with just being friends if that. 

As you paced around your apartment later that night, you stopped in front of your dresser in your bedroom. In the third drawer from the top was the handkerchief that Yoongi had given you when you were younger. You had kept it meaning to give it back to him, but you had barely seen him since then, let alone had a moment in private to give it to him. 

Most of your interactions had been minimal conversations at parties and galas, often accompanied by Joohee and Seokjin. You couldn’t recall a time when Yoongi had actually talked to you directly in any of those scenarios. So why did your crush persist?

Maybe it was the innocence of your first meeting, the cliche of it all. You, small, sad, and alone, and Yoongi, showing up like your knight in shining armor. You had had a fascination with him since then, always trying to seek out his silhouette or pitch-black hair at gatherings afterward. Yet, he never approached you alone, nor did you make an attempt to do so yourself. You had called it an infatuation with Joohee because it really was, you didn’t really know anything about him, much less had a full conversation with him. Even when you were in a group with him, Seokjin, and Joohee, he would barely acknowledge you. 

Not that he was obligated to.

You fell back onto your bed and stared up at the ceiling, letting out a soft grunt when you hit the mattress. Would you be able to survive actually getting to know Yoongi? Your greatest fear was that you would fall in love with him, you were basically already primed for it. And that would not work out, you knew that, and you refused to consider any other outcome.

You couldn’t afford to get your hopes up.

Turning on your side, you could feel your thoughts drift to your few interactions with him growing up. He had always been polite, but cold. The most he’d said to you was a curt greeting and the barest of small talk. The only other interactions you’d really had were your first meeting and hearing about his escapades through the grapevine, mainly Joohee. Nonetheless, you found yourself infatuated, your eyes finding his slightly round cheeks and pouty lips inevitably. What would life be like once you got married?

You tried to imagine yourself in a domestic setting with Yoongi but quickly shut that down, that would only bring up unwanted feelings. You considered whether or not he would continue seeing other people after you were married. Joohee had said it was very possible. Would you be able to handle it? Joohee had suggested that you fool around a bit yourself but you had quickly dismissed that. Cheating was something you would never tolerate in a relationship, from the other person or from yourself. You knew that the reality would be different in your situation, but you still refused to let yourself stray from Yoongi.

Not that you hadn’t tried in the past. You had been in only two relationships leading up to now, one in college and another as a short burst after graduation. It all felt pointless when you knew you wouldn’t get to choose who you spent the rest of your life with. It was an agony that, along with other factors, ended both of your relationships. Mina had been a bright spot in your life, but she couldn’t deal with the fact that you were not only not out to your parents, but that you would likely not be able to be with her long term anyway. There had been other signs that the relationship wouldn’t work out, and you had tried to remain friends but it didn’t pan out past college. 

The relationship after college that had only lasted a few months was with Jaehyun, a sweet man who had been your coworker at your first job out of college. He was very kind to you and you felt comfortable in his presence, but you couldn’t handle the guilt of going out with him while knowing he wouldn’t be the one you marry. To his credit, he had been very understanding when you’d broken down in front of him in a guilt-fueled spiral. He’d held you until you calmed down, wiped your tears, and squeezed you tight before leaving, stating that you could always call him if you needed anything. You still messaged him sometimes, and you remained firm that if you did get to choose who to marry, he would be your first choice. 

The arranged marriage had been looming over your life since you were old enough to understand the importance of status to your family. You were sure Yoongi’s family was the same. You were both expected to keep your duty to your family, a repayment for the comfortable life you both had lived. Once or twice you had considered telling your parents you wouldn’t go through with it when the time came, but you knew that it would only result in you having to pay them back for everything they had ever given money towards for you. Even though you’d gotten multiple scholarships for college, your parents insisted you go to a prestigious university that rarely gave any money to their students because they knew their parents would have wide-open wallets. There was no way you’d ever be able to pay that back in your lifetime, especially with your current job. 

So you were stuck. But you knew you weren’t really all that unhappy. While the circumstances weren’t what you preferred, you couldn’t deny the small excitement that you felt at the prospect of being able to have a relationship with Yoongi. The caveat to that was also knowing that he was an entirely unwilling participant in this situation, which wasn’t really going to work to your advantage. You were set on remaining a realist, refusing to consider the idea that Yoongi might come to love you. It felt like you didn’t have much of any other choice. Everything about this entire situation made you feel like a passive observer, someone with no impact or voice, which wasn’t far from the truth. You imagined Yoongi was much the same.

Distantly, you wondered how many people Yoongi was allowed to invite to the wedding.

Speaking of! You had almost forgotten to call Hoseok, and it was getting late. You scrambled to reach for your phone, stretching your arm out to the nightstand where your phone sat, and grasping it. Dialing his number, you registered how low his contact was on your recent calls. You really needed to call him more often. Hitting his contact, you waited for the ringing to start. He answered rather quickly, which surprised you, as he was usually an early sleeper.

“Hey, Y/N! It’s been a while.”

“Yeah, it has. I missed you. Hobi,” you said, not realizing how much you meant it until the words left your mouth. It really had been too long since you’d called.

“What’s up? You don’t sound too happy. Is everything okay,” he questioned, and your heart warmed at his concerned nature. He was always able to read you well, better than Joohee sometimes. 

“Yeah, everything’s fine I guess. I’m getting married, actually.”

The other end of the line was silent for a bit before you heard Hoseok let out a breath and speak, “Oh, wow. Okay. How are you feeling?”

You choked out a laugh, “You’re not even asking who I’m marrying?”

“Well, I know that it’s not someone you chose. So I want to know how you’re doing. When did you find out?”

Your laughter died at his serious nature, your attempt at lightening the mood unsuccessful, “About two months ago. The wedding’s in around six. Want an invite? I get a whole three guests of my own choosing.”

He chuckled softly at that, “Of course I do, you know I’ll be there. But seriously, how are you feeling about this?”

You almost sighed at his unwillingness to let you escape his question, “I don’t know, honestly. I really don’t. I think I’m weirdly at peace with it? I’ve been expecting it for so long and now it’s finally happening. Plus, it being Min Yoongi isn’t exactly the worst thing ever.”

You could hear his surprise over the phone, “Min Yoongi? Like your crush of almost two decades, Min Yoongi?”

You groaned, responding, “Jeez, way to remind me how old I am. Yes, that Min Yoongi. He’s definitely not as okay with it as I am though.”

“What do you mean?”

You recounted the past meeting with his family to Hoseok while he patiently listened and interrupted occasionally to provide his own thoughts. When you finished, you could practically see him falling back against his desk chair, exhaling a burst of air. 

“Well, that’s a lot.”

You let out a short laugh, “Yeah, that’s been my life for the past couple of months.”

“I think Joohee gave you some good advice. I’d probably say something similar to you. Try to make the most of the situation but don’t expect a lot from him. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

You nodded, even though he couldn’t see you, “Yeah, you’re probably right. But, enough about me, how are you doing? How’s work?”

Hosek launched into recapping how busy the dance school he taught at had been lately and the gossip surrounding his coworkers. You felt yourself relax more into the conversation and slowly forget your troubling feelings surrounding Yoongi. 

You would deal with those come Friday. 

It was Friday. You made sure to leave work a bit early, giving you enough time to run back to your apartment to change and look presentable. You had chosen your outfit with Joohee’s help the night prior. You were meeting at a relatively fancy restaurant but it was more of a bar, so you didn’t want to be too formal. You had opted for a green dress with a small flower print since you were coming off the winter months into spring. Your dress was an A-line cocktail dress with a square neckline and puffed sleeves that cinched at your wrist. You’d had it for a while and knew how it looked on you, and you knew you would feel comfortable in it tonight. The last thing you needed weighing on your mind was getting in your head about how you looked, which you usually felt nauseous from. 

With it approaching six, you quickly finished up some minimal makeup, topped it off with a lip tint, and tried your best to make your hair look presentable after what was a long day of work. A glance at your watch told you that you didn’t have much time left, so you rushed to your car, almost forgetting your small purse, and started your drive over to the restaurant. You didn’t want to be late and make a bad impression on Yoongi, although you didn’t know if his impression of you could get any worse. 

After you arrived and were sat at your table, you checked your phone to see the time and were relieved to note that you were a couple of minutes early. You felt yourself relax into the booth and started taking slow, calming breaths to slow down your racing heartbeat. The adrenaline of trying to get to the restaurant on time was starting to fade and you took another glance at your watch. 

6:06

Well, that’s fine. He’s probably just a little late, you tried to reassure yourself, but you had a sinking feeling. As the minutes marched on, the sinking feeling grew deeper, and you could feel yourself growing slightly annoyed. 

6:29

Well, whatever.

You took out your phone from your purse and decided to message him. It should be reasonable, right? You had scheduled this beforehand, after all. Well, not you, your mother, but still, the principle held. 

You:

Hi Yoongi-ssi, this is Seo Y/N. I’m waiting at the restaurant at the moment 

and I was wondering if you were alright, since you weren’t here yet? Please let me know if you’d like to reschedule instead.

You winced at how the text message sounded more like an email between colleagues, but you weren’t sure how casual you were supposed to be with him. Before you could mull over the tone of your message more, you hit the send button and bit your lip as you waited for a response. Your fingers began to pick at your dress in a nervous habit and you kept your eyes trained on the restaurant entrance in case you spotted him. 

Finally, at 6:42, you saw the head of black hair that had haunted your dreams as of late. He walked in calmly, looking slightly disheveled, but his lax pace didn’t betray anything about his tardy entrance. He looked infuriatingly attractive in a well-fitted suit with the tie loosened and the top couple of buttons undone. His eyes met yours as the hostess led him to your table and you smiled politely at him, receiving only a cursory nod in return. The waitress quickly approached as he sat down across from you and took his drink order, two fingers of whisky, while you asked for more water. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to drink, more that you needed to keep your wits about you for this dinner and alcohol would only make you feel nauseous in your already anxious state.

With the waitress gone, he turned to you and you felt yourself flush automatically, something you internally cursed. You wished he didn’t have such an effect on you. He declined to say anything, so you took a moment to take in his appearance now that he was much closer to you. 

You could see that his collar was more rumpled than you initially thought and his hair a bit more mussed. You saw a small mark just barely visible from beneath his white button-up, above his tie. Now that he was much closer, you could smell a faint scent of a sweet perfume that you knew wasn’t yours since you had only worn a very light citrus one. 

Oh. He was with someone else. Why does that bother me so much?

Finally, he spoke, his deep voice lulling you out of your trance of staring at the mark on his chest, “Sorry I’m late. I saw your text, but I was driving. To be completely honest, I forgot about this.”

For a moment, his apology surprised you. For some reason, you hadn’t expected him to apologize. Maybe you’d built him up to be this cartoon villain in your head after your last interaction, but you’d forgotten that he was human just like you. 

“That’s alright, it’s no problem,” you responded kindly, noting the way his eyebrow slightly furrowed at your response, “How was your day?”

He raised an eyebrow at you in a questioning manner, “Are you really going to do small talk with me?”

You let out an embarrassed laugh at your failure to engage him and tried for a new tactic instead, “Okay, what would you like to talk about then?”

“I want to set some ground rules.”

Your surprise must’ve shown on your face because you saw the way his expression almost changed to amusement. You quickly shook off the abruptness of the statement and nodded your head, “Okay, like what?”

“First, you’ll be moving into my apartment. I’m sure your mother already told you,” you nodded, “Do not enter my bedroom or office without knocking. I’ll extend the same courtesy to you. Second, we keep our lives separate. Unless we need to appear at an event together, we shouldn’t be mingling our private lives, including friends, work, things like that. Thirdly, this marriage is going to be on paper only. Don’t expect me to treat you like my girlfriend, or my wife, because we both know that’s not what this is.”

You felt your teeth take in your bottom lip as you considered his words, “Okay, that’s fine, I guess.” You couldn’t really stop him from wanting to do that, but it still hurt some. Any hopes you had of getting a normal romantic relationship after this were quickly dashed by his next rule.

“Lastly, I want this to be open. Our parents aren’t pressuring us for kids, so we can both find relief elsewhere. We both know this is only for increased stocks and influence in our respective companies. So, I do whatever I want and you do whatever you want in that regard, and we don’t interfere in each other’s love lives.”

You felt your face fall a bit, but you tried to control your expression. You had prepared for this, Joohee had prepared you for this. So why were you still so upset? He’s giving you the go-ahead to find whoever you want, so it’s not technically cheating. So why does it still feel so wrong?

“Okay,” you said uneasily, “That’s all okay.” It felt like you were saying it more for yourself than for him. 

His eyebrow quirked once more. They were very expressive, you noticed. 

“That’s it? You don’t have any rules of your own you want to add in?”

Your hands clenched onto the edge of the booth seat, needing something to ground you. Rules of your own? Your head was swimming with everything that had just happened, you could barely think of anything else, “No, none I want to add.”

Yoongi leaned back and clasped his hands, “Alright then. Shall we eat? My dad’s technically paying so eat all you want.”

You shakily took hold of the menu you’d already looked over a hundred times while waiting for him, not wanting to appear rude by being on your phone. You had already chosen what dish you wanted when Yujin had sent you the restaurant name, a habit of yours being to look up the menu beforehand to choose. The waitress approached and took your orders, taking the menu from your hands, leaving you with nothing to grasp your quivering fingers onto. 

You looked over at Yoongi, seeing him on his phone, scrolling. You felt yourself blanch at the blatant disregard and couldn’t find it in yourself to try and start a conversation. 

The minutes passed by slowly, and you were barely relieved when the food came, providing momentary respite by giving you something to do. You felt like you’d never been in a more awkward situation. The waitress quickly refilled both your drinks, and you noted that Yoongi had ordered water this time. It must be because he’s driving. 

Soon, the both of you finished your food, in utter silence. The waitress, who was quite on top of her game, swiftly provided the bill and told you to take your time. You had a feeling she felt the awkward tension as much as you did.

Once the bill was paid, you and Yoongi walked out towards the parking lot where he started shifting to move in the direction of his car before you blurted out, “Wait!”

He turned, facing you with a bored expression, waiting for you to finish speaking.

“I do have a rule actually.”

Seeming slightly intrigued now, he gestured for you to continue.

“I want us to try and be friends. Please.”

He seemed slightly surprised, judging by the way his eyebrows lifted slightly and his mouth parted. Collecting himself, he looked directly into your eyes, his dark orbs boring into your own, “No. I want us to keep our lives completely separate. We’re not friends.”

With that, he turned around and walked to his car, not sparing you another glance. 

“Wow, what an asshole.”

You hummed lazily in agreement, feeling your head lull. You were already a bottle deep in more cheap Moscato with Joohee, as well as a couple of shots of strawberry soju. 

“I know right! I agreed to whatever he said, why couldn’t he agree with the one thing I asked for?”

Joohee winced and prepared herself for your buzzed anger that was sure to flare up at her next statement, “Well, he wasn’t exactly wrong. It did conflict with his other rule. Not that I think he’s justified either. There shouldn’t be a problem in being friends.”

Your head snapped towards her, seeing it as a defensive move for Yoongi in your half-drunken state, but before you could find the energy to get upset, you felt yourself melt further into the couch, “Yeah, you’re right, I guess. Whatever, I don’t need him. I’ll just fuck anyone who looks my way, instead.”

“No, you won’t.”

“No, I won’t,” you cried, collapsing onto the pillow beside you, squeezing it tight, “Why am I so pathetic?”

“You’re not,” Joohee cooed, “You’re just in a shitty situation. So is he, but at least you’re not being a dick about it.”

You nodded glumly, still not feeling better about the situation. As you cradled the now-empty wine bottle to your chest, you remembered Hoseok.

“Oh yeah, I invited Hobi for the wedding. My coworker, Song Ha too. Can you believe I couldn’t think of a third person?”

Joohee laughed before throwing herself onto the couch with you, “Hey, you don’t need other friends, you have me. Besides, we’ll all be together again, then! It feels like forever since we’ve seen him.”

“Yeah, I told him and he said the same stuff as you. To try and make the best of it, or whatever,” you could feel yourself becoming less and less sober, “Can I crash here tonight?”

“Of course, do you want me to wash your dress for you?”

“No, I’ll just do it at my place. Thank God I have you.”

Joohee only laughed loudly in response, getting up to grab another bottle of soju from the fridge. The two of you lounged around before moving to watch TV in Joohee’s bed where she promptly fell asleep. Soothed by her snoring, you relaxed into her comfortable mattress and traced the light extrusions on her ceiling. Your thoughts soon drifted to Yoongi, as they seemed to do often these days. 

Was he really fair in rejecting your friendship? Joohee had made a good point earlier in that it certainly conflicted with his rule of ignoring each other outside of obligated functions. But…you didn’t want that. So why did you agree? In the moment, it hadn’t really felt like you’d had another choice. You seemed to be feeling like that a lot lately. 

Yoongi seemed serious about this marriage being for business only and you knew that you didn’t want that, but you couldn’t exactly tell him as such. You couldn’t be more sure that he would only be disgusted if he heard you say that and you didn’t think you’d be able to survive seeing that kind of emotion on his face when it’s directed towards you. 

Not that you’d be able to survive this marriage either. 

Your fingers toyed with the frayed hem of the sleep shorts you’d borrowed from Joohee, a frequent occurrence whenever you stayed over, and you saw her shift in her sleep. She really had been so supportive throughout this whole thing. 

Maybe you should go to her brother for help? No, Yoongi would probably hate that. 

You resisted the urge to kick your feet in frustration out of fear of waking up Joohee. This was so difficult, it was next to impossible to figure out what your next move should be. 

You had a nagging feeling that your mother wouldn’t force you to meet up with Yoongi anymore before the wedding, but why did that not feel like a clear-cut win? Did you want to meet with Yoongi again?

Rubbing at your eyes frantically, you pushed aside the flurry of questions stirring inside you. You didn’t have time to deal with this. There was a large project at work that was in its final stages that you needed your full attention on and then the final beta tests before the official launch, just weeks before your wedding. You couldn’t afford to spend another moment thinking about Yoongi. 

As you got more comfortable in Joohee’s bed, you turned your head to face the clock on her bedside table, reading 3:09 AM. 

A sigh escaped your lips as you forced your eyes closed to try and get some rest. 

You had an inkling that Yoongi would be occupying your thoughts whether you wanted it or not. 

“We’ll be meeting for the rehearsal dinner in one week, Yujin will send you the information and instructions. Don’t be late.”

Your mother’s voice cut off after that, not bothering to say goodbye before ending the call. You could feel your headache coming back and you fumbled for your water bottle before getting up to grab a red ginseng packet from the breakroom. Things had been a lot lately. 

The final preparations for the wedding were underway and your mother was leaving nothing to chance. Your dress had been fitted to perfection with your mother sending you a strict diet and workout plan to make sure you stayed the exact same size until the wedding. That email had been swiftly archived. 

You weren’t even sure of who was in your bridal party other than Joohee being your maid of honor. Not that it mattered. This wedding wasn’t for you anyway. 

As you slowly sucked out the paste from the ginseng packet, leaning against the break room counter, you wondered if Yoongi had had to go through similar procedures, though likely less extensive. You hadn’t heard from him since that dinner where he’d firmly placed a boundary between you, but he’d rarely left your mind since. You’d hoped that the reality check with Yoongi might help clear you of your feelings for him, but, instead, they only deepened your desire to get to know him better, to break past that boundary. But you knew that those ideas were merely fairy tales and this marriage was not going to be one by any means. 

Distantly, you wondered how the ceremony would go. The two of you hadn’t prepared any vows, nor were you expected to. This wedding was not a show of love and everyone knew that. Your parents weren’t concerned with making it appear as though you and Yoongi were a loving couple, no, this wedding was more of an excuse to show off their wealth and influence. Your nuptials were merely a byproduct. Still, would you have to kiss Yoongi?

You quickly shook your head, trying to rid yourself of the mental image, feeling your cheeks flush hot. Yet, you couldn’t get it out of your head. You imagined his lips would be soft and gentle, that he would lead you through the kiss and deepen it for more. His hands would come to rest at your waist before encircling it, pulling you closer, flush, to his body. 

No! You can’t imagine that, you’re not allowed!

Internally, you scoffed. What kind of girl wasn’t allowed to imagine kissing her fiance? You knew the truth, however, that it wasn’t your place to imagine yourself in that position. That was reserved for the person he loved, who was, decidedly, not you. 

Tossing the packet, you made your way back to your way back to your desk. Settling into the pillowed surface of your chair, you browsed through your emails before noticing one from the marketing team.

From: limheesungmarketing1@okgaming.com

RE: MIRA’S AWAKENING Influencer Advertising

Hello Team Leader Seo,

We have decided that we would like to reach out to online influencers and streamers to assist in promoting Project Mira’s Awakening. A list of possible candidates is attached, along with their profiles and viewer analytics. We would like your input on any public figures you believe may be good candidates for this endeavor. Please reach out if you and your team come up with any candidates that are not already included in the attached file.

Additionally, we would like to create merchandise to provide for these public figures and we need to confirm with you and Graphics Team 2 on graphics we can include on merchandise items. You will find a list of items we are looking to make, along with graphics suggestions, attached as well. Please coordinate with GT 2 to send over finalized ideas and start creating the images.

Thank you,

Team Leader Lim

You considered the contents, feeling the eraser of your pencil tap against your lip, who could you suggest? You had your favorite streamers, but none aligned that well with the nature of the game you were producing, which meant the viewer base wouldn’t have enough crossover with your target audience. Running through a list of the streamers you watched regularly in your head, you stopped at one in particular. 

Goldenboy97. 

Jeon Jeongguk was quite popular and played enough combat-based games to have sufficient audience crossover, while still being intriguing for the puzzle aspect of the game. Not that you were biased, but he was your favorite creator at the moment. You jotted down his handle and a note to ask the rest of your team about their thoughts. 

Leaning back in your chair, you stared blankly at the screen as the emails continued flooding in. Slowly, but surely, your thoughts drifted back to the phone call with your mother. The wedding was next week, with the rehearsal dinner only being seven days away. 

You felt a strange combination of dread and giddiness, a swirl of emotional turmoil you weren’t ready to unpack. Hoseok was coming back tonight and you were picking him up from the train station. You’d probably have time to process your emotions then. Hoseok was staying at your apartment in the guest bedroom for a couple of weeks so he could be there through the whole wedding process. He had also mentioned looking for an apartment to move into in Seoul, which made you excited. You really wanted to have the college dream team together again.

The thoughts of the actual wedding were stoking your nerves, you still hadn’t talked to Yoongi since the last time you’d met. You weren’t sure of the protocol or if you should try to talk to him beforehand, especially about the ceremony. Too cowardly to act on your anxiety, you shut off your opened messaging app on your phone. You weren’t keen on finding out how Yoongi would respond to an unprompted message. 

The sound of your team packing up alerted you to the time, being slightly past five. You joined them in getting ready to leave before heading to the elevator. The rest of the group trekked slightly ahead while Song Ha walked slightly slower to stay back with you. 

“So, the wedding is next week. Are you excited?”

You chuckled nervously, “Yeah, you could call it that.”

“Ah, are you nervous? Makes sense. Just think, though, soon, you’ll be married to the love of your life! How exciting!”

Your insides felt queasy. You hadn’t told Song Ha about the nature of your relationship with your betrothed because you weren’t exactly sure how to explain it to someone who wasn’t familiar, nor did you want to deal with the embarrassment, “Yeah, I guess so.”

“Where are you going for your honeymoon?”

You bit your lip, “Nowhere, actually. We couldn’t get time off of work at the same time.” The honeymoon had long been decided as an unnecessary expense, and neither you nor Yoongi complained. Being stuck with him for weeks after the wedding in another country sounded like a nightmarish situation. You wouldn’t have minded a vacation though.

“Gosh, that sucks. Hopefully, you’ll be able to do something over the summer, maybe,” Song Ha pouted, swinging her work bag in line with her step. You smiled at her naivete.

“Yeah, hopefully.”

“Hobi!”

You ran towards the taller man, throwing your arms around his upper body, “I missed you! It feels so nice to have you back in Seoul.”

Feeling his chest rumble with a laugh, you squeezed him harder before releasing him. 

“Feels good to be back too,” he responded, a bright, heart-shaped smile adorning his face, “Let me get my bags to your car.”

“Oh, right, let me help,” you nodded, reaching for the bigger suitcase to roll towards your car. Hoseok easily picked up the duffel bag lying at his feet and followed behind you. You had opted for driving to the station since his train had come too late for the buses to still be running, and you didn’t want to have to deal with paying for or lugging his baggage into a cab. 

After loading the luggage into your trunk, you both settled into the front seats of your well-worn car. You heard Hoseok chuckle while clicking in his seatbelt, “This certainly feels different from the drunk bus and taxi rides back to the campus dorms. Even if it’s about the same level as luxury.”

You rolled your eyes, “Hey, my car is reliable. The previous owner only had it for a couple of years before selling it off and she’s been perfectly good since then. Though, my mom would probably agree with you on the luxury bit.”

“Yeah, well, who wants to listen to her opinion anyway. Before I forget, thanks again for letting me stay at your place while I’m here, I know it’ll probably be annoying with the wedding prep going on.”

“It’s no problem, seriously. Besides, a lot of my stuff’s been moved over to Yoongi’s for when I move after the wedding. I’m just keeping my apartment there in case I need it since I won’t be paying rent at Yoongi’s.” Keeping the lease on your apartment had been a conscious decision because you had figured you’d want a safe space away from the marriage drama and it wouldn’t be an extra hit to your income. What your mother and Yoongi didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them. 

“Has he really paid off his entire apartment? You’re marrying a proper chaebol,” Hoseok joked. 

You laughed lightly, a tinge of awkwardness at the idea that you really were, and you had no idea how he’d act in his own house. Tapping your fingers along the steering wheel, you tried to subtly change the topic, “Well, speaking of apartments, do you know where you’re going to be looking?”

Hoseok launched into a detailed plan he had for looking at rental properties in Seoul for both his apartment and the studio he wanted to open. You excitedly listened along, thrilled that he was planning on settling near you, as you drove to your own apartment. 

After you’d parked, Hoseok insisted on taking the large suitcase, claiming that only he was strong enough to lug it up the stairs. You only laughed a little bit at his sour expression when you showed him the perfectly working elevator. 

Punching in the code to your apartment, you swung open the door, making sure not to step food inside. A loud pop rang out and confetti sprayed out from the doorway.

“Surprise!”

Hoseok stumbled back, clutching at his chest and mouth agape at Joohee’s excited smile from inside the apartment, “Shit, Joohee, you scared me!”

You laughed loudly before grabbing his suitcase and rolling it inside, setting the duffel bag on top. Joohee began cleaning up the mess of confetti, Hoseok started to unpack what he’d need for the night, and you began unboxing the pizza that had arrived while Joohee was setting up. 

As the three of you settled into your living room, Hoseok already teasing Joohee, you felt like a void in your heart had been filled. The last few months had been so stressful and it hadn’t felt like you’d gotten a break emotionally in so long. The sounds of your friends chattering and laughing made you feel at ease. So, naturally, Hoseok had to ruin that.

“So, Y/N, how are you feeling about the rehearsal next week? Or the wedding, for that matter.”

You shifted in your position on the loveseat, feeling yourself frown, “Um, I don’t know. I don’t know what to expect. I can’t believe I’ll be married in just over a week.” Letting out a nervous laugh, you continued, “I haven’t talked to Yoongi in like six months. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

You could feel yourself spiraling, but you had been holding in so many emotions that it felt like you couldn’t stop yourself from talking, “Honestly, I’m really scared. I don’t want this to be my life forever. I’m not ready, I don’t think I’ll ever be.”

Joohee got up from her spot on the couch to hug you, Hoseok joining soon after. Something about their touch comforting you pushed you over the edge, the dam broke, and tears began streaming down your cheeks. You sniffled pathetically, hating the level of vulnerability you were currently displaying. You hadn’t cried throughout this whole experience, but in the comforting presence of your closest friends, you couldn’t help it. 

“I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to marry him if it’s going to be like this. Why does my life have to be this way? Why can’t I be normal?”

Joohee and Hoseok only squeezed you in response, not having an answer to your questions. Your tears continued on until you couldn’t cry anymore and Joohee finally released you. She stood and smiled kindly at you, “Do you want me to get you anything?”

“Water, please,” you said raspily, throat dry from all the crying. Joohee nodded before heading to the kitchen, leaving you with Hoseok who had shoved himself into the loveseat to further comfort you. 

“Thanks,” you mumbled, slightly muffled by burying your face in Hoseok’s soft, cotton shirt. 

“You know you can always talk to us. I wish I could change this for you, that you didn’t have to do this,” he said softly, stroking your hair. 

“It is what it is,” you said, feeling much more mellow now that you’d cried out all your overwhelming emotions. 

“Still,” Hoseok insisted, “He has no reason to be such a jerk.” You shrugged, you felt the same but there wasn’t much you could do to change that. 

Joohee returned with a cup of water which you gratefully took and sipped. Suddenly feeling quite exhausted, and a headache coming on, you tapped Hoseok to get off of you, to which he complied and clambered off the loveseat.

“Sorry guys, I’m just so exhausted now. I really appreciate you being here, but I think I’m going to head to bed,” you stated, hugging both of them, before starting to gather the trash to clean up. 

Joohee laid a hand on your shoulder to stop you, “Go, get some rest. We’ll clean up.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Hoseok exclaimed, and pushed you towards your bedroom, “Go to bed!”

Laughing, you acquiesced and headed into your bedroom to get ready to sleep. As you went through your nightly routine, you felt yourself feeling a bit calmer about the upcoming week. You had your two closest friends by your side. 

You were ready to handle anything that Yoongi threw at you.

Probably.

Yoongi lightly swirled the glass of whiskey between his fingers as he sat at his desk in his brown leather chair. By this time next week, he would be getting married. 

His eyes drifted towards the manila folder lying at the edge of his desk, a small water stain on the corner. Inside were the files on his soon-to-be wife, Seo Y/N. He took a sip of his whiskey, the smoky flavour traveling down his throat, as he considered his fiancee. 

He didn’t know what to make of her. She just seemed so meek and obedient, which wasn’t at all appealing. He didn’t remember much of her from before the arrangement, aside from vague interactions between them and the Kim siblings. She had seemed quite timid then too. 

Sighing, he leaned back in his chair, setting his glass on his desk. He didn’t want to do this marriage. It was a chore, really. 

Yoongi didn’t necessarily have anyone he was looking to marry, but having to pretend to be exclusive with some girl he didn’t care about wasn’t conducive to the bachelor lifestyle he’d cultivated. He’d set his ground rules, and she’d agreed, pretty easily, another thing that irked Yoongi. 

Couldn’t she stand up for herself? Or say anything at all that was her own opinion?

Yoongi drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair, he supposed she had said something that night. She’d wanted to be friends. He hadn’t been expecting that.

He figured it might be some condition about how she didn’t want to work or for him to stop seeing other people, but, instead, she’d simply asked for his friendship. And he’d refused. 

Of course he did, it went against his other rule. He wanted to keep his life separate from this artificial marriage and that included remaining nothing but acquaintances. He’d have to be steadfast, he decided. That night, when he’d seen your imploring expression with hope shining in your eyes, he’d almost agreed. He wasn’t sure why that was, or if he even wanted to know, but he couldn’t let it happen again. 

Despite your docile and unassuming nature, you were dangerous. And you didn’t seem to know it, which made you all the more so.

previous / masterlist / next 

[harveysweakness]

Pressing Charges

WARNING: TALK OF BEING MUGGED

A/N: This has been sitting in my drafts for so long!!!!

"And she's been saying that Y/N has been yelling at her left and right and on top of that she, I think, might not pass the-"

"What did you say?" Harvey interrupted, listening just barely enough for that snippet to catch his attention.

"Y/N has been yelling at her?" Mike questioned.

"Y/N has been yelling?"

"Yeah, at her first year associate. Anyway," Mike kept rambling and Harvey didn't listen one bit. You never yelled. The only time you ever raised your voice was when someone attacked somebody you cared about. And the fact that you were yelling did not sit right with Harvey at all.

-----

The day seem to drag on as Harvey stared at the clock. The office wouldn't get empty enough for him until 7pm and he knew you'd still be in your cozy corner office a hall down from him way past 7.

He couldn't risk seeing you during the day. The only person who knew him and you were growing closer was Donna, and Harvey knew she could keep a secret. Donna always knew what was going on in the office-

Harvey shook his head, frustrated that he didn't think of it earlier. Pressing the button on the intercom, he waited for her familiar voice. "Donna, can you come in here please?"

"What's up?" Donna asked as she plopped a seat in the chair across from Harvey's.

"Have you heard anything about Y/N?"

Donna looked a little nervous.

"Donna," he pushed, giving her a pointed look that meant he would not ask again.

"Someone heard her on the phone with someone talking about pressing charges."

Harvey's face turned more serious than it had been. "Did someone hurt her?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know, I wish I did."

"Thanks, Donna."

--------

As soon as enough people had left for the day, Harvey made his way down the hall, pausing in the doorway to your office, his heart breaking just a bit at the site. Your head was in your hands, one of your cream-colored blankets draped around your shoulders, and Harvey could only assume that the soft sniffle you gave was from crying.

You picked your head up a moment later, seemingly finally sensing a presence.

"What do you wa- Harvey," your tone softened at his name, eyes going from steely to tired.

"Hey," he greeted softly, finally stepping into your office and shutting the door behind him. He paused for a moment, not quite sure on the best course of action before you burst into tears. The man moved swiftly around your desk towards you. You waisted no time in wrapping your arms around him, burying your face into the jacket of his suit.

"Talk to me, sweetheart."

You pulled away enough to be able to speak, him moving to rest against the edge of your desk.

“Last night, I decided to walk instead of take a car.”

Harvey bit his tongue. You were at least a fifteen to twenty minute walk from the office and he knew for a fact that you hadn’t left while it was still light outside.

“I had made it almost halfway home when some guy came up behind me and hit me and tried to get my bag. I turned to fight,” -Harvey let out a small sigh, which you ignored- “and he pulled out a gun.”

“Y/N.”

You brushed away a stray tear and continued. “I must be the luckiest woman in the world, because there was a cop nearby, who pulled out his gun. The man was shot, he’s in the hospital currently.”

“My god,” Harvey said quietly. You hummed.

“I’m pressing charges, but I can’t get it out of my head.”

“Did you talk to your therapist about it?”

“How do you know I have a therapist?” You questioned, a small smile toying at your lips.

He shrugged. “I know everything.”

“You are not Donna,” you giggled.

“Nor would I ever dream to be.” You both laughed before it got quiet.

“I’m seeing my therapist tomorrow to talk about it.”

“Good. I hope it helps. If you need anything-“

“You’ll be the first one I go to,” you admitted softly. Harvey felt his chest tighten.

“The first?”

“Is that okay?”

“I’d be honored… It’s late, Y/N.”

You glanced at your computer screen, which read 9:24pm.

“I should get going, and so should you.”

Harvey stood and walked to where you had thrown your coat over the couch in the corner. You blushed when he held it open for you, cheeks reddening further when he gently pulled your hair out from under the warm material, his fingers brushing ever so lightly against the back of your neck.

“Let me walk you out. Did you call Frank?”

You nodded. “He should be pulling up any second.”

You followed Harvey to his office, watching him throw his coat on and pack up his bag. You felt a sadness inside, and you weren’t quite sure why. Maybe you didn’t want to say goodnight to him just yet.

“Ready?” He asked.

“Definitely.”

The two of you walked side by side towards the elevators, riding down in silence, both exhausted by the day. After you exited the elevator and made your way through the revolving door to the building, you felt Harvey’s hand on your back, providing the security you needed to feel safe. He walked you to your car, Frank standing at the driver’s side, watching the pedestrians walk by with narrowed eyes. Harvey felt better knowing your driver was someone who cared about you too.

“Ms. Y/L/N,” Frank greeted.

“Hi, Frank, thank you.”

Harvey moved to open the backseat door for you, offering his hand to help you into the car. You took it, but didn’t get in, instead choosing to look at him.

“Thank you,” you whispered, hoping your depth of your gratitude was evident.

“Of course, sweetheart. Get home safe.”

You bit your lower lip, not missing the way his eyes flickered to it. He looked like he wanted to lean in, so did you, but you just gave a small smile and leaned up and around to press a kiss to his cheek.

“Goodnight, Harvey,” you murmured, before stepping into the car and taking a graceful seat.

“Goodnight.” He shut the door once he made sure you were clear and you didn’t miss his smile as you pulled into the streets of the city.

[lovers-rck]

Abby when my period RAAHHHHHH

ok i know this request was about something smutty but i happen to be on my period and it came out a lot softer than i had intended so I APOLOGIZE..... smutty abby coming soon (we hope)

but enjoy

☆

"do we have those chips that we ate the other day?"

the christmas lights that are taped to your bedroom wall with tape stolen from your ex-roommate are slowly peeling off. abby looks at them.

"uhh... the orange ones?" she says, her gaze returning to the computer in front of her.

"yes" a mild pain settles in your abdomen; a warning of the upcoming colic.

"lev ate them all" abby's fingers type rapidly, the word counter increasing second by second.

"oh my god" you protest, more from the upcoming pain than from the chips "tell your child not to eat my food"

abby laughs lightly without stopping writing "it's not my child, for your information" thousands of daggers attack your abdomen "i'll buy you more tomorrow".

the pain takes your breath away. your body twists in on itself like a little bug looking for warmth to soothe the pain.

the pain lasts for a minute or so, but you can swear it lasted hours; your body is the trojan horse and the warriors inside your belly were out to fight tooth and nail, but against yourself.

your mouth lets out a moan of pain and abby turns around. she sees your body curled in on itself, your face contorted in winces of pain and she could swear she'd buy you all the chips you wanted if it would ease the pain.

abby gets up from her chair and her stocking-clad feet with your face stamped on them scurry across the room. your valentine's day present.

she gave you a t-shirt that reads "my girlfriend is better than yours".

"are you okay?" abby mentally beats herself up for asking such an obvious question "do you need anything?"

you shake your head and feel the warmth of her hand on your shoulder "just a second".

abby nods even when you can't see her. the pain lingers for a few more seconds, leaving your body for short moments and then fiercely attacks again.

"this is lev's fault" you joke, and abby knows it's her cue to go along.

her body climbs onto the bed, her muscles navigate between the sheets and blankets resting on the mattress, her freckled skin finds yours and her arms capture your body, enveloping it in a warmth that can cure all ill.

"no" you mutter "you have to finish the essay abby".

you try to pull away from abby, to detach yourself from her alluring warmth. that essay has been dwelling in abby's mouth, between her molars and gums, for months. you remember the countless times abby mentioned to you how important that essay was, how it could ruin or resolve her life, how nervous and anxious she was.

basically, it was very important.

but abby is abby, and she's a very committed girlfriend "don't be stupid" a breeze of freckles and moles comes back to invade you and press you against her body "it's my break".

you roll your eyes, abby never took breaks, but you decided to grant yourself the right to be a little selfish about her future and say nothing, resting your head on her chest, listening to her heartbeat.

abby's fingers dance through the fine hair on your head, untangling imperceptible knots and combing through each strand, blessing it with her warm touch belonging to a movie summer. you remember the time abby asked you if you were jealous of the sun that kissed her skin and caused more and more freckles with each passing summer; you laughed and tapped her shoulder playfully.

and to your stupidity, you did feel a little bit jealous

"you know what, i have the theory that every time you kiss me i get a new freckle" abby had said, she had sunglasses on but you could feel her gaze on yours "maybe you can test it"

that summer you gave her a million kisses.

"Do you want some painkillers?" abby mumbles, her words vibrating in her chest.

"i can handle it" you look at her. she's grimacing "what?"

"whatever" abby says and her breath hits your face.

wait a moment.

"stick out your tongue" you say

"what?"

"just do it!"

her hand rests on your lower back, her fingers make small circular motions, your chest bumps against hers.

when abby sticks out her tongue, you can see how it is slightly tinged orange.

"you ate the chips!" you yell.

abby's cheeks redden slightly and her laughter is loud. her body vibrates under yours.

"you're a liar!" you say, a smile growing on your face against your will "you fucking liar!"

abby continues to laugh and her hand comes to rest on the back of your neck, drawing your lips to hers.

she laughs some more and kisses you, slow and sweet with a disguised apology unraveling on your lips. abby opens her mouth wider and you can taste the salty taste of your stolen food.

"you're a liar" you whisper against her lips, her hand still on the back of your neck, holding you against her "i'll tell this to lev."

forehead to forehead, you can see abby's eyes narrow at your smile "i'm sorry" abby whispers too, leaving a small kiss on your lips "can you forgive me?"

she scatters small kisses all over your face: down your cheeks; the bridge of your nose; the bone of your cheekbones; the corner of your mouth; over your eyelids.

"please?" abby murmurs, her fingers caressing your cheeks "huh?" you slowly deny, a smile escaping from the corner of your lips "you don't forgive me?"

you deny again, and abby's mouth meets yours again. she kisses you so slowly that you forget for a second the stabbing pain of the colic attacking your body, you feel drunk, lost in the wetness of her tongue searching for a home in your mouth, so delicate and erotic at the same time.

"and now?" abby murmurs, her pupils dilated, her hand on the back of your neck.

"that's manipulation" you whisper, feeling her heart beat stronger.

she shrugs, caressing your jaw and neck "I just use the tools I have at my disposal"

you smile and leave a kiss on the tip of her nose "you forgave me?" she continues.

"i'm considering it" you murmur, and the blonde girl's lips invade yours again.

[xuchiya]

"Quick Reaction" || kang yeosang || one-shot

| genre: non!idol ateez. fluff. slice of life | mentions: teasing. fainting. jewelry gift. | This is literally my high school delusions. My old school is literally an 'old school' school like no phones and computers, being in a relationship is not allowed, and big ass windows as our source of fans--- i mean we do have electric fans and ceiling fans but with the weather and a very old, close to dying, e-fans? We really have to depend on the wind from our windows. Anyways, this list is basically a true experience. My personal favorite? Song Mingi's.

You were bored out of your mind, wishing you could have brought your book or your drawing pad to pass time, although everything seemed to be going smoothly—until your professor called you to the faculty room. "You're missing an assignment," she said, a hint of amusement in her voice as she added, "and so is your classmate, Kang Yeosang."

Anything but that. You cried, stomping your foot to the ground out of frustration. You sighed internally, mentally retracing your steps to figure out which assignment had slipped through the cracks. As you walked to the faculty room, carrying your notebook and pen, you bumped into Yeosang, who had the same expression of concern on his face. You both exchanged knowing glances, resigned to your fate.

“You lost your assignment?” Yeosang asks. You shake your head, “I’m not sure either but I know I wrote it and had a perfect score. What about you?”

Yeosang shrugs, “I guess I was cutting class when it was given.” Both of you giggling knowing that is farfetched. He never does and never will, most especially his mom is your math adviser. Besides, there are guards blocking the two entrances of your school gates, so there is no point in cutting class unless you decide to fake ‘sickness’ to not attend school.

Standing outside the faculty room, you could hear your professor bustling about. "Alright, since you two are here, I’ll dictate the assignment instead, but since students aren’t allowed inside, I’ll give you the answers too. Be quick, though—it needs to be passed immediately and the head will not be happy to have students inside."

You pouted, “We could just work inside the classroom.” 

“Oh … you’re right. You may go but I hope to get this one before dismissal and ask one of your classmates to dictate some of the homeworks you both are missing.”

And that’s how you found yourself inside your classroom. Yeosang stays at the other but you both agree to stay at your classroom instead. You pulled out your notebook, your pen poised to capture every word. Years of training as a news anchor for your upcoming college years had honed your ability to take notes swiftly and efficiently. Yeosang, however, wasn’t faring as well. As your classmate, Hongjoong rattled off the questions and answers, you noticed him out of the corner of your eye, struggling to keep up. His eyes darted from his notebook to yours, then back again, frustration clear on his face.

"Hey, hey, what’s this..." he whispered urgently, tapping you on the shoulder to grab your attention, leaning over your shoulder. It wasn’t until you leaned back to check on him that both of you realized how close you were. Your faces stopped just inches apart, your breath brushing against his lips. Yeosang froze, his gaze trailing over your features, taking in every detail. His heart pounded in his chest as he noticed every imperfection—each one making him feel something unfamiliar yet undeniably warm.

"Hey, if you two are gonna kiss, let me turn around first!" Hongjoong teased, breaking the moment.

Startled, you both pulled away, cheeks burning with embarrassment. You quickly handed your notebook to Yeosang, avoiding eye contact as you nervously fiddled with your pen. Meanwhile, he hid his face behind your notebook, furiously scribbling down the remaining answers, trying to ignore the heat still lingering on his cheeks.

As both of you finished the assignment, he took your notebook and he handed the assignment to Hongjoong who insisted on bringing them to your professor since he will be passing by the faculty room and towards the auditorium. After thanking Hongjoong, Yeosang glanced at you, a shy smile tugging at the corners of his lips. You met his gaze for a brief moment, sharing a silent understanding, before both of you looked away, the air between you filled with unspoken words and the beginnings of something new.

[starlightmoon96]

Yandere Earthspark Tarantulas x human female (aromantic) reader pt.2

(kidnapping)

With Tarantulas accepting that he had fallen in love with you he was determined in you accepting his feelings, he didn't know that you where aromantic cause you had never mentioned it to him. With his determination in wanting to win your heart he had even finished in completed his human avatar, what he had done was your typical stalking but he called it gathering information about you. He even went as far as hacking your home and work computer in getting the type of information that he wanted from you, he even went as far as getting information about your toxic family and saw that you where telling the truth about them and that you hadn't contacted them in a few years. He even went as far as following you to an anime convention that you had recently went too with your friends cosplaying Mima from Perfect Blue, he managed to slip past security since he didn't have a pass for the convention and in that environment was something new to him. He also didn't think that you would stay for three days straight along with having a room at a hotel right across the convention, you can bet that he had no clue what anime was nor understood how you loved it as much as you did.

"You alright (Y/N)?" One of your friends in your group of five asked you that question when she stopped drinking her boba tea during the lunch break from the main dealers room and seeing you looking over your shoulder a few times while enjoying your boba drink as well, you had a confused look on your face before answering your friend

"I'm not sure? I feel like someone is watching us?" You saying that your friends looked around the surroundings in seeing if anyone stood out and didn't see anyone and neither did yourself

"Well no one seems to be staring at us weird." Was what another friend said in which you sighed

"Maybe I'm just being a little paranoid?" You saying that your work friend who was also into anime the same as you and was one of your guy friends spoke up

"Didn't you mention something about your dead beat parents calling you before the convention?" You couldn't help but grunt in disgust and even showed it on your face

"Don't even get me started, six years of no contact and they call right out of the blue? I don't trust that, doesn't seem like them? Don't even know how they got my number?"

You didn't know that you had a special listening device in your phone that allowed Tarantulas listening to your conversion even at the far away distance from you and your group far enough not to be seen, he listened to your conversation about the sudden call from your horrible parents. It had gotten him curious since you had went to no complete contact from them, then it was them that had tried to contact you.

After the convention was over and you had returned back to your home, you decided to enjoy the rest of your weekend by yourself most of the time. You still met up with Tarantulas, he still acted like his old self around you and not like someone in love. He did ask how your convention was and you told him about your time not knowing that he already knew, you had spent a few hours with Tarantulas before heading back to your condo though when you did. Several men had abducted you and you can met Tarantulas had witnessed it and took action the moment he saw you being tied up and shoved into a van after they had knocked you out.

What had happened was that your arranged fiance decided to abduct you and basically force you to marry him, when you had came too from the drugs that knocked you out. To your horror you where in a wedding dress, you knew well that it meant and you weren't going down without a fight. Even if the men the had abducted you duck taped your mouth as they dragged you to the wedding hall, there where the people that you had disowned yourself from. Not only did you see your parents you also gave a death glare to the man that your parents arranged against your wile, however right before you made it to the alter something happened. The sound of broken glass was heard and the next thing that everyone knew thick/heavy smoke had filled the room, in the confusion with the smoke Tarantulas had rescued you using his avatar that had gotten in the building and using his real form in getting you far away as possible. You can also bet that he had contacted the police before he had taken action in rescuing you

"Thanks Tarantulas, I owe you big time. I never want to go threw that again." You said that after he had gotten you at a safe distance, which was back in his lab. He had put you down and you had removed the duck tape, Tarantulas himself couldn't get over how beautiful you looked in the wedding dress that you where in.

"I also took the liberty in contacted the right authorities, you'll be happy to know that THEY won't be bothering you again." You where confused by what he said and then he told you how he had discovered a few illegal activities and alerted and tipped people the wanted to hear more and putting them away for a very long time, the same with your parents as well so you wouldn't have to see them ever again. You couldn't help but hugging him in gratitude with what he had done for you.

When he said that he had reported to thee authorities he meant it, practically every news station and social media where going crazy about the news of the millionaire involved with illegal funds and kidnapping/forced marriage. Your parents got it worse with there involvement, seeing that finally made the rest of your family raised how horrible they where and they where wrong in not believing you. Your where invited for a news interview and you had told your life story with your parents and who they REALLY where, along with there mistreatment with you during your childhood. Many people had reached out to you in sharing there support and their own stories, a lot of them where women even men who where forced in arrange marriages that managed to get out or where staying anonymous.

After just two weeks of (stalking) Tarantulas had gathered enough information, he even upgraded his human avatar based of off the human males you had befriended. He had carefully planned in winning your affection and felt confident, not knowing the truth about you and how his hopes where for nothing.

His plan started when he had bumped into you at your favorite discount book store, he acted like he didn't know you as casually introduced him with a human name when you two where grabbing for the same book and he allowed you to take it. Luckily you where a people person so you didn't mind making a new friend, in just ten minutes he was succeeded in a friendship.

Tarantulas did whatever he could in order to get close to you within the first month while keeping up with appearances around you when he wasn't using his human avatar, despite his efforts he had noticed that you still treated him as a close friend when his feelings for you only grew more by the day. Going along with you to your favorite concerts with VIP tickets to had given to you not realizing that he had stole them and even going to the art museum at one point, he started to get annoyed in his efforts weren't working that you weren't showing signs of romantic feelings for him and he was still in the friend zone just after two months.

"(Y/N) there's something I have to tell you, it's important." Tarantulas had spoken to you while the two of you where outside your condo and he was using his human avatar

"What is it?" Was what you asked at Tarantulas hesitated for a few seconds before he answered her

" These last couple of months have been wonderful, I want to be honest with you upon what I realized." Him saying that only confused you and it showed on your face as he continued

"(Y/N)(L/N) I'm in love with you."

"I'm sorry" That was the only two words that came out of your mouth still confused by what he said, he explained himself without giving away about who he really was. He told you why he had fallen in love with you, he also reed that human females prefer the direct approach as a last result. He poured his spark to you and he felt better in speaking it out to you, it was after he was done he saw the you still had a confused and uncomfortable look on your face that made him confused

"(Y/N)?)" Before you answered you nervously rubbed the back of her neck

"Listen, I appreciate you being honest with me. I guess you deserve me being honest with you? I'm actually aromantic, I only like you as a friend and nothing more. I'm sorry. I hope this doesn't change anything?"

Tarantulas felt his spark shatter into pieces, you where the first person he truly opened up too. You had rejected him, that made him snap when the two of you parted. Him out of his human avatar he had released out a bit of his anger by destroying several tree outside his lab, it was thee aftermath that he had gotten an idea. If you weren't going to accept then he was going to take by force, with that motivation he got to work in making a device that would brainwash organics.

[redhoodinternaldialectical]

Yet again I am away from my computer and nonetheless compelled to write jaytim as though my life depended upon it

This is a snippet that will... probably(?) go in Chained at some point so spoiler warning for below the cut, but it should be funny enough on its own for folks who aren't interested in that to enjoy it too 👍

Dick carefully punches in the codes to disable Tim's second story window alarms and comes in out of the late December chill. He's not being particularly stealthy, since all he's here to do is drop off a small present before Christmas - but then he hears Tim and someone who sounds suspiciously like exiled-from-Gotham-and-totally-disappeared-off-face-of-Earth Jason, and decides to switch to maximum stealth instead.

They're standing around in Tim's kitchen (which actually looks well used for once) sharing coffee. Jason's striped down to nothing but boxers and Tim is draped in an oversized shirt that leaves it a mystery as to weather or not he's got anything covering his ass. Something about the way Tim is looking at Jason's chest makes him uncomfortable.

He's expecting Jason to be uncomfortable with it too and snap at him for staring at his scars - instead when Jason notices Tim's gaze, he smiles smugly and makes his pecs bounce.

Dick silently recoils in shock, while Tim blushes a bright red and thwaps Jason with a hand towel.

"You're supposed to say 'my eyes are up here'!"

"Hey, normally I would, but we both know that these..." He gestures lasciviously to his chest. "Are the only things keeping your eyes from wandering down here." He gestures the same way down to his boxers which are actually tented when he holds them at this angle and- holy fucking shit why is he wearing a strap-on?!?

That- that is way too fucking big and hard to be a packer why is he... With Tim... Both half naked... Flirting over coffee... Strapped...

Dick rapidly begins spiraling towards something like a mental breakdown, because not only is his little brother who's freshly murdered someone (AGAIN!!) being harbored by his other little brother who he loves to absolute death and he's going to have to fight both of them over this, potentially on Christmas - not only is the world possibly ending in like four months - not only that but they're apparently fucking each other too!

Which... Kinda isn't the most surprising thing ever? It breaks his heart in two to think it, but honestly how could Jason not assume that he's been utterly disowned at this point? Is Dick even right to still think of him as family? Maybe this was a long time coming...

Tim blushes an even deeper red and rolls his eyes. "Well, gee, thanks for helping to keep your little brother's thoughts chaste."

The words 'little brother' hit him like a psychic mac truck to the forehead.

It's supposed to be sarcasm, but his tone is far too fond and too flirtatious, and his eyes are still far too low, and 'little brother' wasn't said like the punchline it was said like it was true, and they're smiling at each other as they each sip their coffee and-

That's when he spots it.

Bright red and perfectly centered between them. One large container of coffee. Folgers. Coffee.

Dick officially snaps.

The x-files theme plays over clips of that goddawful commercial and the image before him of his own two siblings reenacting that same energy right before his eyes.

Dick stealthily goes back down the hall and right out the window and up to Tim's front door and rings the doorbell repeatedy until Tim opens the door, looking flustered and just a touch guilty.

"Uh, hi? Wha- are you good?"

Dick pushes passed him and marches right up to the kitchen. "Got a case, sorry about this, but there's no time to explain."

"Should I be getting my suit on??"

"Nope! No, no, no, you just stay here. Just don't touch anyone for the next like twenty four hours and you'll be fiiiine!"

Jason has predictably vanished by the time he gets there, but Tim's coffee is still hot and on the counter.

He swipes both the cup and the container of grounds right off the counter and starts marching back towards the door to leave, to go down into the batcave and test this shit for psychoactive chemicals!

"My coffee? Seriously?? Dick what the fuck?!"

"Crane and or Ivy, don't ask, no time, just don't touch anyone!"

Tim looks at him like he's a lunatic as he runs back out the door, but he's earned that lunatic status so they can both be excused.

---

Jason eyes his coffee, takes another sip. It doesn't taste poisoned. He shrugs and drinks the rest.

---

(Dick is ultimately glad that the lab tests come back clear. Whatever is happening between them it's better that it's not... chemically induced.

He's still gonna have to have a whole internal crisis about it though.)

[fandom-lover2]

Deep In The Woods, Something Lingers In The Trees

Chapter Seven - Storm Clouds On The Horizon

Word Count - 4419

Chapter Six - Trees Are Taller Than You Think

Chapter Eight - He Is Not Tarzan

I never understood what people meant when they could sense a storm brewing when it came to a person.

I could smell rain, I could see clouds gather, I could feel the wind and hear the thunder.

All my life it was simple. My mom woke up in a bad mood, and without rhyme or reason and so that was the day.

But I understood it now, watching him loom in the corner of his room.

For weeks, things had been building.

Without me having to go to school, I spent every day at his house, hidden away in his room as we went over courses and universities and colleges and online opportunities.

At first, he was eager to help. Now, he barely glanced at the computer screen when I turned it towards him, just staring down at his hands or glaring at the world beyond the window.

Sometimes he fiddled with the multiple projects he had lying around his room, and occasionally I could coerce him into a game of chess, but they never kept his attention long enough to make significant changes.

The final breaking point came from the most normal moment.

Will had finally taken a break from spending weeks locked away in his study working on his father’s condition and had decided to take Caroline and us to the woods for a picnic date.

For being together for 5 years, I was surprised there hadn’t been a wedding yet.

Caesar seemed to like her well enough, and she cared for him. Lord knows she was good for Will, and helped with Charles.

Whatever, wasn’t my place or worry.

Caesar had pulled me away from the ground, depositing me onto the branch that had become my perch in these last weeks since the first time he’d brought me up to his world.

As usual, I had my leg bent and was reading while he surveyed the city, looking every bit like his namesake.

“It’s two years ago today that I meant you down there.” I murmured, turning the page of my book. And it was actually beneath this very tree I’d passed out at the sight out him.

How much both our lives had changed since then.

He made no indication of if he’d even heard me.

This was getting exhausting. But I wasn’t about to start a fight with the only one who could get me out the tree, so I kept on reading.

Below, Caroline’s giggles floated up.

Instinctually, my eyes snapped up to Caesar.

He glanced down at them, watching as his parents basked in one another.

I watched as his shoulders sagged, his eyes going from an observing glare to a downcast sadness.

He was lonely.

And far more than what friendship I could provide him.

I could go there, to the college that was the setting for almost every stupid love story Caroline had us watching on Friday nights. I could gain a man’s attention, and experience that romantic bliss.

He was completely and utterly alone. And would remain that way until the day he died.

I’d overheard Caroline a few times, when she thought I was out of ear shot and above eavesdropping. She was worried about us being left alone together.

Caesar had just turned 8. Male chimps began puberty at about 9.

I wanted to hit her for even thinking something like that, let alone it become a concern. Caesar was my friend, and there was no one on the entire planet I felt safer with.

I knew he would never, ever, try to hurt me intentionally or not. And Will had agreed with me.

But, she was still right. Caesar was at that age where young males began to progress, as start to try find themselves within the troop. They become more violent, fighting to see where they fell in the social hierarchy. They began to understand what it was to have a female’s attention.  

Only, he had no troop. No females to make a fool of himself to impress. No older males to compare himself to.

For once, I truly understood how alone he was.

It was my choice to spend every waking moment with him, and often times spending the night curled up beside him in his tiny bed. I choose to spend weekends, and after school, and school breaks. He had no choice.

I chose him over spending time with boys my age, or making human friends.

I was his only friend. And he could never change that.

He turned to me, not expecting I was watching him, and huffed at my sad face.

“Let’s go.”

“Caesar-”

He grunted, turning his back for me to climb onto, and also attempting to silence me. It was funny how he sometimes forgot that turning his back didn’t silence talking, only sign.

But I wasn’t looking to be stranded in a tree, again, and so stood and stepped up to him and looped my arms around his neck before locking my legs around his hips.

We were getting better at this, the position becoming more comfortable and my confidence in him growing. Last week he’d swung from one branch to another with me.

To feel those moments of freedom, to feel like I could fly, it made me wish not for the first time that I was ape.

He maneuvered us down the tree with practiced ease, dropping down the last 6 feet and landing very close to Will and Caroline, who were lip locked.

His impact sent pine needles and dirt flying, and Will flinched away from his girlfriend, which was probably Caesar’s intention.

I slipped from his back and the ape put on a show, acting like a teenaged boy.

I was still trying to figure out why he acted so different when with me than he did with Will.

It wasn’t much of a change, and when comparing it to a teenaged boy messing around with his dad it didn’t seem that drastic, but he acted more ape around Will.

He swung his arms, his eyes wider and curious. He downplayed his intelligence.

With me, he walked like a human, he studied and analyzed. He made a game of outsmarting me.

‘Dumb female, smart alpha’ maybe. Or he didn’t want Will knowing something.

Whatever it was, I wasn’t going to say anything. It was amusing watching him act like a child at times.

Will and Caroline laughed as he hobbled around them, acting the fool.

“Hi. What’s going on, buddy?” Will greeted, smiling at his son as Caesar made kissy lips and swayed back and forth until Will lent forward and brought their foreheads together.

They did it often with one another, kind of like their version of hugging.

Caesar had adopted the gesture into his daily life, doing it with me at least once a day.

It felt nice, closing my eyes and letting myself sag into him. To close my eyes around him, not only showing him I trusted him entirely, but letting his hand come to rest at the back of my head, it was a show of familiarity, trust, and love.

Because I did love him, every furry inch, with all I had. And no matter what happened in the future, he would remain the being I trusted most in this life. And I knew that no matter what I ended up studying and where, he would be there when I needed.

I stepped forward, bending to take a grape from the spread and popping it into my mouth.

“Are you two ready to go?” Caroline asked, moving to stand.

I glanced to Caesar, still rough housing with Will. Their playfulness had them now rolling in the dirt.

I nodded, biting the grape and chewing through the juiciness, spitting out the seeds into the ground.

Helping Caroline, I helped dust the leaves and dirt from her hair, and then packed up the picnic.

Finally done being boys, Will and Caesar joined us again and shook themselves clean.

Bending down, Will picked up the collar.

I looked away, forcing myself to focus packing up my own backpack.

The arguments between Will and I about making Caesar wear that damn thing were plenty, but finally he tired of fighting with me and threatened to end our playdates if I kept bringing it up, so I shut up. Though not without throwing him a glare every now and then.

Caesar didn’t seem to find anything wrong with it, but because he knew no different. To him, this was normal.

To Will, Caesar was still a chimp, an animal.

I couldn’t remember the last time I had looked at him and seen only an ape. He was so much more. Hell, he was more human and most humans out there.

Collar in place, Will took Caroline’s hand and they headed out the clearing and back towards the path. I walked alongside Caesar, mindlessly humming a song I’d heard on the radio earlier in the day.

I was lost in thought, as I usually got when we were strolling through the trees, that I didn’t hear the other footsteps, or the woman address us.

“Hi.” Will greeted, and I turned to him instead of looking for who he was talking to.

And then something growled, and teeth almost closed around my ankle, if not for Caesar hauling me out of the way.

I stumbled, his hold on my arm the only thing keeping me upright as he put himself between me and the animal.

I looked down to the dog who was pulling against its own leash, barking and baring its teeth.

This was the first time we’d ever come across a dog in all the years we’d been coming here. Other people occasionally, but they usually just stared and kept walking, or walked faster to get away from us sooner.

The dog pulled harder, barking hysterically.

Caesar pushed me further behind him, and I noticed his own leash taunt.

Will kept walking, watching as he tugged Caesar gently, continuously.

The dog tried to lunge again, the woman using both hands and trying to pull it back towards her.

Caesar’s hand reached up to his own collar, his eyes never leaving the dog.

“Come on, Caesar.” Will called, pulling lightly to nudge Caesar along.

The ape turned, putting his hands on my shoulders and turning me, beginning to hobble after Will and Caroline.

The dog continued to bark, still pulling to get to us, to get to him. I had just been in the way, not the target.

Caesar spun, and barked out a sound a mix of a screech and a yell.

The action, sudden and unexpected from him, startled me. The terror only intensified when I saw his teeth, those terrifying canines the size of my finger, bared.

Suddenly, I was the scared little girl from 2 years ago who passed out at the sight of him.

He was Caesar, my friend.

He was Caesar, the chimpanzee.

He was a chimpanzee. How had I forgotten that? How had I gotten so lost in all these moments to lose sight of that?

The dog high tailed it back to the family, now rushing them down the trail faster.

Caesar let out a softer growl, and for a second I thought he’d go after the dog.

“Caesar!” Will called out, yanking on the leash hard. So hard, it jerked Caesar’s head back.

The ape’s hand came up to touch his collar again.

“Come on. It’s alright. Come on.” Will reassured, beginning to walk and again and Caesar followed, twisting to watch the family and their pet leave.

For a solid 5 seconds, I didn’t move. Fear rooted me in place, watching the couple and the ape walk on.

My heart thundered in my chest, my ears ringing. My blood rushed through my veins and felt like ice all at once.

He was still an ape. No matter how many nights we spent reading, and how many times he beat me at chess, and Risk. He was still an ape. Violence, killing, it was his nature.

And I’d let myself play house with him.

No. He was just protecting me. That dog had almost bitten me in its attempts to get to him. He was just protecting me, protecting his family. Any human would have done so. He just had the advantage of big teeth and an animalistic cry.

“Alina!”

I jumped at Caroline’s call, my eyes snapping away from where they had been locked watching the space Caesar had inhabited.

The three had not stopped to wait for me, but she was walking backwards to watch me. “Come on.”

He would not hurt me, he couldn’t. He was incapable of it.

I rushed to catch up with them, sliding in beside Caesar as I always did. Only this time he didn’t turn to acknowledge me, or try begin an argument of what movie we’d watch once we were home.

He kept his eyes down, occasionally reaching up to tug at his collar.

His eyes, they gave it away. He was lost in thought. They showed his mind racing, his brows pinched, his lips turned in a frown.

This lasted the entire walk to the car, and continued as Will lowered the back of his old station wagon.

Usually, we both sat in the back. That way, we could still screw around and not be crammed in the confines of the back seat.

It had been that way long before I joined the family. I had briefly questioned it, but then it rolled with it.

Will opened the back, and I tossed my backpack in, turning and hoisting my ass onto the flatbed. But then I caught Caesar’s scowl and stopped.

Will stepped over, unclipping the leash, and Caesar jerked his chin away from the man as though the action was an annoyance.

Usually he didn’t wait long enough for Will to do it, jumping and I’d take it off.

Will took a step back, giving Caesar space to jump in before closing us in. Only, Caesar didn’t move for a solid 2 seconds. Instead, he breathed, not moving as he formed a thought.

He looked at Will, then to me waiting for him to do something, then to the car.

“Caesar,” Will prompted with a smile, watching. He didn’t seem concerned in the slightest.

Without a word, Caesar reached out and took my hand from my lap, and then pulled me from the bed and guided me to the back seat, opening the door and gesturing for me to climb in.

I did, sliding across and getting settled behind Caroline while he climbed in and shut the door.

This had never happened before.

I turned to Caroline, and saw her confusion as she watched Will for some answer.

Will closed the back, squinting at the setting sun as he approached, and peered at Caesar through the open backseat window.

He knocked on the glass, before leaning down to speak to Caesar. “Everything ok, pal?”

Caesar fidgeted with his collar, swaying his head back and forth in annoyance and he tugged the leather circle.

“Am I a-”

And then he made a sign I did not know. Two years in and I was still learning a new sign every day.

“Are you a pet?” Will repeated his question, and my heart dropped.

I didn’t know then why the question set alarms off in my head, and filled me with a sense of impending doom.

“No, you’re not a pet.” Will immediately answered.

“Who is my father?” was Caesar’s follow up question.

“I’m your father.”

I looked to Caroline again, and she glanced over when she saw me looking at her. She was just as confused as I was.

Caesar seemed agitated, making the sign for ‘what’, but not seeming sure what he was questioning.

“What is Caesar?” Will guessed, and got it right, though Caesar’s nod was minuscule.

Will looked to me, then to Caroline.

Then he got in the car and started out the parking lot and headed back to the city in silence.  

The ride home was the longest and most awkward of my entire life. And the most nerve wracking.

I knew I was safe next to Caesar, but he was tense and that made me tense.

Every red light, every asshole cutting us off in traffic, brought me closer to tears.

I wanted to get home, make some stupid excuse to go home, and to hide away in my room.

I’d fucked up. Fucked up so so bad.

I’d let myself get comfortable, and now it was all spiraling out of control. And I was going to be the one getting hurt.

Instead of turning right, Will kept going straight.

“Uhh, home is that way.”

Will glanced at me through the rearview mirror. “There’s somewhere we need to go.”

Sorry Mom, I wasn’t coming home tonight, or ever again. Please don’t miss me too much.

After about another 20 minutes, we pulled up to a lab, Will’s lab. Gen-Sys.

Will pulled the car over to the side of the large circle that allowed cars to move around the large campus, putting it in park.

“Caesar, this is where I work.” Will started.

I glanced over at the ape, and he seemed to be coming out of his haze and finally looked away from his lap and out the window.

“This was where you were born. Your mother was here with other chimpanzees, but she’s not here anymore. So, that’s why I took you home to live with me.”

Caesar looked away from the window, signing to Will through the mirror. He looked absolutely destroyed, and shocked. I mean, 8 years of his life was coming to light.

“My mother is dead?” he asked, and dropped his head with a grunt at Will’s confirmation.

“The thing is, she was given medicine.”

Caroline’s head snapped over to Will. Oh shit. Was I the only other one who knew?

“Like the medicine I give to Charles.” Will kept addressing Caesar through the tiny mirror. “She passed it on to you. That’s why you’re so smart.”

Caroline turned back to look at Caesar and I, and I had just enough sense to fake a look of shock.

Beside me, Caesar began to shake his head, as if that would rattle the words out. He scrunched his nose, huffing and revealing his clenched jaw.

If he went ape-shit, I would leave them all behind.

“Take him home.” Caroline spoke up, making sure it was obvious she was avoiding Will.

Great, an angry ape and a couple’s domestic. I should have stayed home.

Will started the old Jeep up again and began to drive, Caesar turning in his seat to watch as we pulled away from the building.

When we finally, finally, got home, I was opening the backseat door and ready to bolt across the street, but Caroline caught my arm.

“He needs you.” she whispered, the men still getting out the car.

Not men, an ape and a lying man.

I looked to Caesar, his tight shoulders and scowl as he made his way to the front door, not waiting for Will to leash him.

“Caroline, I can’t-”

“He needs you.” she insisted. I looked at her eyes, and she was pleading. Not just as a woman who would be subject to an awkward house, but as a mother worried about her son.

2 years and he had never once so much as looked at me with ill intentions, no matter how much I annoyed him. Why the hell was I being so stupid as to think now he’d changed.

‘Because now he knows he’s an ape.’ a part of my brain told itself.

“Ok.”

Grabbing my backpack, I headed up the stairs and was greeted by Caesar and Will standing in the foyer. Charles must’ve still been napping because he was not in the kitchen as usual.

“Why don’t you two go up and play. Will and I need to talk.”

So I was just the distraction so they could get into it. How lovely.

“Y-yeah. Come on Caesar. I thought of another uni course to look at.”

The ape hardly acknowledged my presence as he began to make his way up to his room, me following behind.

And for the first time in all the years of our friendship, he did not help me up the attic stairs.

Instead, he marched into his room and immediately went to stand at his window, ripping his shirt off like it burned him.

Downstairs, I heard Will and Caroline starting. I couldn’t hear much, them being in his office, but with Caesar’s better hearing I had no doubt he could hear every word.

He shifted his weight, swinging his arms slightly as he swayed. I took a step backwards, closer to the stairs.

“Wanna watch a movie?” I tried, my voice squeaky and small.

He turned to his mirror, and brought his hand up to lightly touch the small patch of white fur on his chest.

A birthmark, I had always assumed. Just a rare fluke. I had a birthmark on my calf of an upside down heart.

It was pretty to look at, and resembled a star, but I had never given it much thought after that.

But he seemed to finally be connecting the dots. The birthmark, the change in his DNA, it ran deeper.  

He shook his head again.

“Look, Caesar I know you’re upset-”

“Humans…” he started to sign, his eyes angry as he looked at himself in the mirror.

“What Will did was wrong, but his reason were right. And we got you from it so-”

“So my mother can die?” he spun to face me.

“That’s not what I meant.”

He huffed, beginning to pace the room.

“Lie.” he signed. Over and over again. “Lie, lie, lie, lie.”

“Will did what he thought was right. They would have killed you too-” I didn’t stop myself until it was too late.

Caesar froze, and looked to me.

Oh fuck.

“Did you know?”

I knew I did not need to answer that question. Hell, even if I did manage to piece together a convincing lie, he already knew the truth.

The hurt on his face broke my heart.

“Why did you come here?” he asked. And I knew what he meant.

Why, 1 year and 363 days ago, had I decided to march right over and knock on the door?

“Because we both needed a friend.” I signed to him.

“You are just like them.” His hands were quick, motions sloppy as he turned away from me.

And I get he was hurting but that was a low blow. And it caused a spark of rage inside me to ignite. “Oh I’m like them? Right. The humans that fear you, and hate you, and want to hurt you. I’m just like them. Damn, guess I left my bat at home today.”

“You did fear me.”

“And then I got to know you!”

“You just wanted to play friends with the monster.”

Is that all I was to him? All these months, everything we’d done together. Sleep overs, and movie nights, and talking till the sun came up. Every board game and school assignment, every race through the woods. All of it just my morbid curiosity?

 I sacrificed years of friendships and boyfriends and basically a life so that we could see each other. I was planning my future around how to still be able to see him every day.

Caesar was my friend, my best friend, my brother, and now I was nothing more than a stupid human to him? A human, just like the rest, who didn’t give a shit about him.

I blinked a few times, trying to clear the tears.

Caesar looked at me, finally, and either he didn’t notice the tears or he didn’t care. “You are no different to all the other humans.”

“Fuck you.” And I didn’t wait a moment more.

Spinning on my heels, I practically jumped from the attic to the level below and charged my way out the house, ignoring Will call out to me.

I slammed the front door closed, wiping my eyes as I didn’t even bother to look before racing across the street and then entered my own house.

My parents were surprised to see me, both throwing questions my way, but I ignored them, running up to my room and throwing myself onto my bed.

My mom came rushing in behind me, taking my open door as an invite to consol me, and joined me on my bed as I sobbed into my pillow.

I didn’t know which hurt more. Knowing this was probably the end of our friendship, or that he thought of me as just some human with a sick sense of humor.

I cried, and screamed, and every time it seemed as though I had control of myself, the tears started again.

I mourned the friend I once had, knowing that I would never have Caesar back. Not the way he once was. That carefree ape who chased me through the forest, and put on puppet shows with, he was gone. I would never make shadow animals against our fort again, have a food fight in the kitchen. I was as alone as he would remain.

My mother stayed by my side for hours, not needing an explanation to know the pain I was going through. This had been the longest we had spent together in years, long before my time with Caesar.

But eventually, dinner needed to be made and she had to prepare for work, and so I was left with a kiss to the forehead and a plate of cold spaghetti.

Finally, hours after the sun had gone down and I was so dehydrated I had no tears left to cry, I pulled myself to sit up. And then almost burst into tears again.

There, across the street, Caesar sat at his window watching me.

I had forgotten to close my bedroom curtains.

I looked at him, eyes puffy and raw, and from this far away I couldn’t tell exactly what he looked like. But I didn’t give a shit.

Think I’m like a normal human, fine! I’ll act the normal human.

Getting off my bed, I marched over to my window and yanked my curtains closed.

Sign language your way through that, monkey.

[number1jeonginstan]

can you please make a jeongin smut? jeongin had too much screen time on his computer playing games and you were angry at him so you ignored him and he wanted to pay you back by joining you on the shower and made a make out session in the shower

A/N: I hope you like this!! Also, thank you for being my first-ever ask!!!

WC: 1k

Frustration:

You were lying on your bed waiting for Jeongin to end his game. You were casually scrolling through your phone, waiting for him to finish his game with Felix and Beomgyu. Ever since Felix helped him build a PC, he has been on it non-stop.  The last full conversation you guys had was him telling you how he was going to get a new graphics card to have smoother gameplay. You wanted to rip the damn wires out of the thing, he was spending every second, not working, on the computer. You knew he needed a break, constantly being stressed especially with the new comeback right after their Japanese EP, but you missed him. You missed being close to him, and spending time with him, but most of all you missed the sex. You were not someone with a high sex drive, but you missed having him on you, in you, kissing you.

“Innie, do you know how much longer you are playing for? I want to sleep soon.” you sighed. 

You hoped he could hear the annoyed tone in your voice, you wanted him to look up from his computer and look at you, but he just responded with a “in a little bit”. You waited another minute but the only thing you heard was him telling Felix to look behind him. You just groaned, looking back at your phone, deciding on reading a book for a bit if he was going to take a long time. An hour passed like this, the sound of him occasionally yelling into his mic and you flipping through your book. You got more and more immersed in your book, a romance novel your friend recommended for you to read. “He took her clit in his mouth, lightly sucking it as she ran her fingers through his hair,” you whined slightly, feeling yourself getting wet from the words. 

You couldn’t believe it, you were so touch-starved that just reading the book soaked your underwear. “Innie, I’m going to go take a shower.” You quickly got up, not wanting to feel your underwear stick to you. He just nodded, allowing you to go to the bathroom. What you did not realize was that Jeongin had finished his game ten minutes prior. He was watching you from the black screen of your computer. Your face scrunching a bit, and he heard your whine. The little sound you always made when you needed him. 

He went over to the bed, opening the book to the page you left off of, and his eyes widened. You were getting off to a book while your own boyfriend was just a foot away. He felt like shit, he didn’t realize how much he was ignoring you and he felt even worse that you did not speak up. He knew that he needed to make it up to you and make you feel appreciated as you do to him every day. He quickly took off his shirt, leaving him only in his sweatpants, and entered the bathroom. You were already in the shower, shampooing the roots of your hair. 

You did not realize that he was behind you til you turned around to get conditioner. “Hi,” he grinned at you, his signature smirk splayed on his face. “Hi,” you responded back with the cheesiest grin. He cusped your jaw in his hand, kissing you passionately. It felt like time had stopped, you missed him so much, groaning into the kiss. “What do I get to owe this pleasure to?” you asked giggling a bit. “You were getting off to a fictional man, while your hot, cool, tall boyfriend was right in front of you” he pouted, kissing you once again. “When did I get a tall boyfriend?” you asked trying to hide the smile on your face. 

“Hey!” he screamed “I don’t think you deserve my kisses after that.” You pouted at him, taking his cock in your hand and he groaned. “No,” he took your hand off his cock, “this is about you, I want you to feel good, my good girl,” he said against your lips. “But I want you in me” you pleaded looking up at him with your doe eyes. “Fuck, don’t say that to me.” 

He hoisted you up onto the side of the shower, his back being sprayed with water. “Let me prep you okay? It’s been a while, I don’t want you to get hurt.” You just nodded, moaning when he inserted a finger into you. “Fuck, you are so wet, did you miss me this much, need my fingers in you. You are so tight, don’t think I can even fit a second finger, but you can take it can’t you? You are going to take it like a good girl?” You whimpered at his words. “I can take another one, I can be a good girl, want your cock Jeongin, please I can take it.” 

He groaned, loving the way you felt his fingers in you, scissoring inside of you. You were always so tight, but after not fucking for two weeks, he knew that he had to stretch you more than usual. He wanted to make you cum, wanting to hear your moans as you reached your climax, so he lifted you higher, face directly at your cunt. He licked up at you taking your clit in his mouth sucking slightly, groaning at your taste as he continued to fuck his fingers inside of you. That was all you needed to cum. 

He rubbed soap on you and conditioned your hair as you came down from your high. He wanted to give you time to relax before he fucked you so hard you couldn’t think about anything else but his name. After you both finished washing up, he took a towel, wrapped it around you, and kissed your forehead. “I’m sorry I didn’t pay attention to you, baby, it won’t happen again.” He made sure you knew how much he meant it as he fucked you into your bed.

[marcelloshdz]

long distance dinner

summary: when marcello is away visiting family, you decide to have dinner with each other on facetime. requested by anonymous.

“you know, you could still come with me.” marcello said to you as you stood outside the airport with him. he was traveling home to miami to visit his family, and you were dropping him off at the airport.

“i wish so badly i could. but i cant take off of work right now.” you sighed. “but, next time. i promise.” you added, holding your pinky out to him. he smiled and hooked his pinky with yours. 

“we’ll make the plans when i get back.” he said with a smile. he pressed a kiss to your lips, and you waved him off, watching him pass through security and disappear into the crowd as he made his way to his gate. by the time you’d gotten back to your car, you had a text from marcello saying how much he already missed you. you laughed and rolled your eyes, replying with the same sentiment.

“but at least it’s only a week.” you said to yourself. you made your way home and settled into the couch, turning on the tv. 

the first few days went by slower than you could’ve ever guessed the would have. work sucked, you hated coming home to an empty apartment every night. you missed marcello like hell, and couldn’t believe that he was still gonna be gone for four more days.

“what are you doing tonight?” he asked while you were talking the phone during your lunch break. 

“i’m actually free tonight. i was supposed to go to a department meeting, but it was canceled. just going to go home and eat dinner in the dark.” you said, and you heard marcello stifle a laugh.

“how about we have dinner together?” he asked. “instead of dinner in the dark, you can have dinner by computer light.” 

“that sounds perfect, actually.” you said, a smile growing on your face. you decided on what you were going to eat, wanting to eat the same foods so it truly felt like a date. you ending up opting for cuban food since he was home in miami, and there was a good place near your apartment in new york that he deemed “damn near authentic.” you set a time, which made you both even more excited. 

the rest of the day flew by, and you were actually excited for once this week to get home. you picked up your food on the way, freshened up a bit once you got home, and changed into some more comfortable clothes. you set your laptop up on the dinner table, made your plate, and sat down. just as you were getting ready to hit marcello’s contact, he was already calling you. you immediately answered, him smiling wide as he appeared on your screen.

“hi baby.” you said, waving at him.

“hola, mi amor.” he said, making you blush. you always swooned harder than normal when he spoke to you in spanish. 

“how are you doing, my love?” you asked him. 

“good! excited to see you. ive been enjoying my time here, but i cant help but think that i’d be enjoying it more if you were here with me.” 

“stop, i just got over not being able to come. youre gonna make me sad again.” 

“we’ve been missing you here, too. its only been three days but it feels like its been a lifetime.” he pouted. 

as you ate, marcello told you all about how his trip had beem so far, and how good its felt for him to be able to see and catch up with his family. you told him about work and how slow it was over the last few days, which wasn’t helping your missing him, since it gave you time to think about him all day. 

after your dinner, you and marcello ended up spending the rest of the night on facetime together. you watched a couple of movies and ultimately ended up falling asleep together. 

after a few hours of sleep, you were woken up by loud noises from your computer speakers. you looked at your screen, watching marcello tossing, turning, and whining in his sleep. 

you called out his name as loud as you could to get him to hear through the speakers. you wished you could help shake him awake, but he eventually heard you and jumped up. you watched as he turned a light on in his room and focused on you on his screen. 

“are you okay?” you asked, and he just shook his head. he took a deep breath before he spoke. 

“no. i haven’t been sleeping well these past few nights. being away from you is taking more of a toll on me than i thought it would. ive been having horrible nightmares since i’ve been here, and hoped they were eventually gonna go away. but sleeping alone every night has made that hard.” 

“baby, i’m so sorry. i wish i could give you a hug.” you sat quietly and let marcello continue to catch his breath for a bit before you spoke again. “what have the nightmares been about?”

“you. me losing you. turns out the more i miss you, the worst the nightmares get.”

“well, you’re not losing me. i’m here. i will always be here.” you said. you pressed a kiss to the tips of your fingers and placed them where marcello’s cheek was on your screen. 

“i love you.” he said softly, wiping the tears from his eyes. 

“i love you.” 

you spent a little while longer talking with marcello before you both ended up falling back asleep. you woke up the next morning as your work alarms started going off. you got up to start getting ready, marcello still sound asleep on your computer screen. you smiled to yourself as you rolled out of bed. 

as you were getting ready, you heard marcello starting to move around and wake up. you heard him call out to you, and you walked back to your laptop.

“good morning, sleepy head.” you said to him. you moved your laptop to your vanity while your started getting dressed. 

“good morning.” he said, words muffled by his pillow. 

“did you sleep any better last night?” 

“much better. having you with me and actually being able to talk about everything helped a lot.” 

“babe, you could’ve called and woken me up in the middle of the night at any point and i would’ve been there with you.” 

you kept marcello on facetime while you finished getting ready for work, then shared your goodbyes and wishing each other a good day.

you finally shut down your laptop and headed out, making your way to your office. you set up at your desk, turning on your work computer and getting ready for the day. just as you were about to get started on your tasks, your phone vibrated on the desk next to you. you checked it and saw you had a text from marcello. 

“i love you so much. thank you for always supporting me and making me feel cared for. i truly don’t know what i would do without you.”

“you don’t have to thank me. we’re partners and thats what we do for each other. you’re there for me when i need you, and i will do the same for you. you mean the world to me, and i will do everything i can to make sure you know that.” you replied. 

you and marcello text back and forth for a bit before he told you he was gonna try and get some more sleep. you turned your attention back to your computer and started working. your eyes flitted to the framed photo you had of you and marcello on your desk, smiling down at it. 

“i love you, my sweet.” you said softly, pressing a kiss to your fingers, and pressing your fingers to the photo.

[ordinaryschmuck]

Full Family AU Part 38

Manny awoke slowly and groggily, the lack of sleep already hitting him. But his body decided it was time to be awake, and he couldn't refuse no matter how much he wanted to. At the very least, he could reach over and hold his wonderful wife tightly so they can suffer through this together.

Sadly, for him, Camila was nowhere to be found on this bed, no matter where Manny reached or how far. He peeked his eye open to confirm said suspicions. With a groan, Manny slowly got out of bed and went to search for Camila, already having a suspicion of where to find her.

Groggily, he left their room to make his way to the computer room, where Camila was already sat at the desk, typing away search after search in a mad rush for answers.

"Please tell me you got some sleep," Manny begged.

"Of course I did," Camila said numbly. "I passed out in the woods, remember? You helped carry me in."

"I meant after." Manny made his way over and put his hands on Camila's shoulders.

"Don't think you can use your magic fingers on me right now," Camila told him, slapping his hands away. "I'm too focused on my work."

"And what's your work?"

"Figuring out there's a way we can fake Vee's birth records legally."

"...You're trying to figure out a way to legally break the law?"

"Yes."

"And how's that going?"

"TERRIBLY!" Camila yanked out the keyboard and chucked it at the wall. "I hate this!"

"Camila--"

"No! I hate it!" She got out of her chair and started stomping around the room. "I can't believe that I have to break the law for this to work! The most we had to worry about was whether or not you would survive treatment. At first, when you got better, I thought that was the last of our problems, but then the universe said, 'NOPE! Here's a little girl who needs a home and can't be legally adoopted into yours! HAVE FUN DEALING WITH THAT!'"

"Camila!" Manny grabbed Camila by the shoulders, this time making sure his grip is tight so she can't push him away this time. "Take. A. Breath."

"I can't!" Camila shrieked, which was quickly followed up with a sob. "I can't...It's all too much...Too much to do with no clear idea of how to do it right..."

"I know." Manny pulled her in for a hug, letting Camila cry into his shoulder. "I know..."

"Why...?" Camila sobbed. "Why does it feel like our family is cursed...?"

"It's not cursed."

"You got sick and almost died, we're unable to give a poor girl a home, and there's a witch sleeping on our couch! An actual witch! Seems pretty cursed to me!"

"That isn't a curse. It's...character," Manny tried to explain. "It's what makes us more of a unique family than we already are. And when it's all finally over, which it will be, we'll all look back at this and laugh."

"How can you be so sure?" Camila asked, pulling away just enough to look at his face.

"Because you're freaking out," Manny confessed. "And I'm just trying to help you feel better. Even if it means painting a pleasant picture to get your mind off the insanity. Just for a bit."

"...When you think we'll start laughing at it?"

"I'm guessing...at a barbecue."

"A barbecue?"

"Yeah, I'm teaching Vee how to work the grill, and she's being super grateful for this nice, bonding moment. I tell her, 'That's good. Your mother and I worked very hard to get you something like this.' She'll asked how bad was it, I'll tell her there was a freak out or two, and we'll all just chuckle over how we blew a small issue out of proportion."

"It's not really a small issue."

"Well, right now, it isn't. But in the future, when this is all solved, it'll definitely seem like it. As do most things that feel huge in the moment."

Camila hummed in thought. "By any chance, do you think that witch will be there?"

"Probably," Manny said with a shrug. "Most likely so she can steal a burger or two."

"Over my dead body."

Manny chuckled. "You see? We're laughing already?"

"I...guess we are." Camila breathed out a sigh. "Thank you..."

"Don't mention it. Now, how about you call in work for work today. Even if it means asking someone to cover for you. You clearly need more time to rest."

"Yeah...I do. I'm so tired, it's making me loopy to the point where I swear I'm smelling eggs for...whatever reason."

"Huh..." Manny sniffed the air. "That's weird. So do...I..."

Both his and Camila's eyes widen at a horrible thought. Someone's cooking in their home, and it's neither of them.

In a flash, they both rush out of the room to investigate.

[peaches-creek]

You were typing away at your computer, just as you have been for hours. Being blessed with the freedom of education, doesn’t make it any less of a curse. Here you were spending half of your life’s savings so that one day you could earn it back. Finals week was exactly 9 days, 2 hours, 17 minutes and 45 seconds away. With what felt like no time to spare you were cramming as much knowledge into your brain as you could. You are a smart person, you know it, but with the way you are struggling, it feels otherwise tonight. Sometimes things just get too heavy. You are under a ton of pressure at work, your friends are pressuring you to hang out when you have no time for yourself, you need to get groceries, check the mail. Etc. but there’s only so many minutes left in the day and you need to put those minutes into your studies.

Amidst your circling chains of thought about all of the things that you need to do, should be doing, and are doing, John enters your office. He takes in your form, headphones on and hunched over your books and laptop, messy hair, dead tired eyes. It makes his heart ache. A person he admires for her hard work, looks so worn out and god, do you look tired. He wonders how long it’s been since you had a good sleep. You need it clearly. He wishes he wasn’t so caught up with, maybe then he would’ve noticed you were struggling, but there’s not time for him to feel guilty, he has to help his girl.

He walks over, softly takes off your headphones, and swivels your chair to face him.

“Hi darling.” He flashes you with that wholesome smile that’s always on his dopey face. He brings a hand up to gently wrap around your neck, beckoning you forward to trap you in his warm embrace.

“Missed you.” You say, though it’s muffled against his shirt.

“What are you working on.”

“A bunch of stuff.”

“I can see that,” he chuckles.

“I know you can see that, now that you know I can get back to the endless amount of information that needs to take home into my brain.” you attempt to turn your chair back around, but his hands stop the chair from moving.

“John-“ you start.

“Don’t wanna hear it, you’ve been up to this for days, time for a break.”

“I don’t have time to take a break.”

“You absolutely have time to take a break. So you are taking one now. And I am going to tuck you into bed, a bed that you get to sleep in with your husband who loves you very much.” He justifies.

John has the habit of usually being right, he usually reminds you after the fact. He also knows that you hate being wrong, and you absolutely hate when people know you are wrong, which is why you are studying so damn hard.

“I appreciate it John but I really can’t tonight y’know, I have to-“

“You have to sleep.” He says.

“I can do that later.”

“Why not know.”

“John you are actually pissing me off.” You would’ve found this whole thing adorable if you weren’t already so frustrated.

“Don’t care,” He says as he tips you forward, essentially throwing you over his shoulder, “you’re going to bed.”

He begins to walk toward your bedroom passing the halls littered with pictures of the two of you and your beloved cat, Lady. When he reaches the entrance of the room, you reach up and grab onto the door, not letting go. This causes John to nearly drop you, nearly.

“Oh my god, that’s it you little shit!” He drops you onto the bed and proceeds to tickle you. Running his fingers over your ribcage over and over again.

“John sto-“ you choke out, “John I’m gonna pee fucking sto-“ you interrupt yourself with your laughter.

Eventually when he decides you’ve had enough, and that you’ve tuckered yourself out, he stops. He then hovers above your body and stares into your eyes.

“You know some people find that creepy.”

“Not you.” He grins.

“Yeah, not me.”

He gives you a sweet kiss to the lips, and then to the both of your cheeks, then your nose, lastly your forehead. He gets off of you and the bed heading to your side. He pulls back the covers and gently grabs your body and tucks you, just like he said. Once you are situated, he gets up and walks to the light switch and flicks it off. In the darkness, he makes his way back to you. He tucks himself in right behind you, spooning you.

“Goodnight, My Darling.” He says. But he doesn’t expect an answer, you are already half asleep.

“G’night John.” He gets one anyways.

[kimiehasthoughts]

Ancient tales of streaming services

Gather around youngsters. Let me tell you all about when hulu was free. I saw a commercial for hulu that said watch tv and movies for free. This was back in the pirating days when those pirating websites were everywhere. Limewire has to have an honorable mention. Absolutely diabolical these pirating sites had EVERYTHING. They would give your computer viruses and slow it down. Anyway I always try to be morally correct. Thats one thing about myself im highly principled. There are just somethings I cant and wont change my mind about. This maybe one of my more morally gray times. In middle school alot of us.... I dont think understood piracy.... by high school some folks just didnt care....

I wanted to be morally correct so I made an account lied about my age. Mind you this is just a little tiny lie. Honestly, i think 🤔 in some cases 13 was the proper age for some online consent stuff to an extent. It was the wild wild west on the internet. It was less rules. Enter me about 16 years young, and i really want to watch Bad Girls Club and Bridezilla. I loved those shows so much! When hulu switched to paid, because my account was ancient I got a year or two free. I still get emails to do beta testing crap. Nielson sends me mail wanting us to sign up to be a "Nielsen family". They send us two bucks with the letter. The Nielson topic is a side note that pairs with hulu because you do have the option in settings to tell them no. I say turn that off because you are giving them data for free when they use to pay. They still do pay by the way. Right in your settings in hulu you can look this up but check other platforms too. They scam you youngsters because you let anything collect your data for free when they give your data for a fee.

Im back on topic sorta. My sister thought me signing up for a streaming service was odd. I mentioned to her that she literally bought a movie off of amazon. Im talking back when amazon was barely a name. I remember asking her if she was sure about giving her credit card to a rando site. It of course turned out fine but amazon was a very limited site at this time. The movie came, it was "The Breaks". If you haven't seen it look into it. Came out in 1999 but essentially its "The Jerk" and "Malibu's Most Wanted" concepts with alot of parody scenes. I thought it had Jamie Kennedy in it but its some other guy. The star was Mitch Mullaney, he passed away of stroke in 2008, I just found this out when I googled his name. Peak ridiculous and funny. All this to say, back in millennial youth days you just kinda hoped that you werent going into a website that would scam you. Honestly, its still like that. Be paranoid on the internet. You will still get scammed. There are avenues now to get your money back. It wasnt then, you could purchase something then boom website down the next day.

Anyways enter netflix, it made you pay but it had no ads. The whole draw to Netflix for me was it had no ads it was only like 5 bucks. Hulu was only free because it had ads. The ads paid for their content. Makes you wonder why its now so expensive when it has ads. My theory to this day is Hulu looked at Netflix and decided "oh ppl are willing to pay". I blame Netflix for all paid streaming. I blame hulu for ads in streaming because they showed we will tolerate it. Now Netflix is still paid and now has ads. Hulu is now paid while keeping their ads.

They both took capitalist ideas from each other and now neither platflorm is really worth the price we are paying for it. Streaming turned into regular cable, in cost and content. My solution.... we bring limewire back into the fold! (Im kidding, its a joke) But maybe we all decide to go back to cable and cut streaming. Problem is my friends, streaming is now way bigger than cable and cheaper than going to the theater. I have movie theater thoughts too, i actually worked at a movie theater for about 4 years. Im getting way off topic so i will leave this here. We have to figure out a way to get the content cheaper. Maybe we bankrupt these streaming platforms one by one until we just all go back to Roku type cable not necessarily traditional cable. Im still thinking on this.

On my next ancient tales post, I will tell you all about movie rentals. I was with blockbuster until the end and now redbox suffered that same fate. I worked at warehouse that sorted rental dvds. We had to make sure they were in their cases and box them neatly. I only lasted until lunch! Lol I hated it and they didnt allow music or talking. I'll also get more into the Netflix rent a dvd because it fits perfectly with this same topic. I have larger ideas about movie theaters that i will share in another post as well.

Support your local vintage stock, bookstores and record stores. Always support your local library too.

🐞🩷 Kimie

[samcatcher]

When in London.

chapter 8. masterpost

To make up for his absence yesterday, when we were supposed to do something nice for the day, Jean woke me up with a cup of tea and a tender kiss. That’s how I knew he wasn’t mad anymore, I decided not to bring it up. It’s not like he would have much to say.

After I thanked him with a smile, I went downstairs to try and see how Sam was doing. Yet, he wasn’t there, neither was Danny.

-They’ve gone out with Jake and Josh, some sort of LGBTQ+ charity event, they’re playing there and Josh is doing an interview I think.- Amelia said from behind me.

-Oh okay.- I simply replied. Amelia gestured for me to sit down as she passed me and sat on the living room sofa, littered with Sam’s blankets that he never puts away.

-So, I met Jean, I also heard an argument last night. What’s going on?- Amelia asked, concerned.

-Ami I don’t know what to do. Sam is literally in love with me. He has been since he met me at that party apparently. I thought he was just ‘nice.’ I thought that I could have a new friend but now I feel betrayed. He wasn’t being nice for the sake of it, he wanted to win me over. I just feel so stupid.- I blurted quickly. Amelia stayed staring, she knew I had more to say.

I walked over to the living room door and closed it, so Jean didn’t hear.

-But at the same time, sometimes I wish that Jean never existed. So I could sneak along the corridor with Sam. It feels like he just knows me, more that Jean ever will.- I said as I walked back over to the sofa.

-The main thing you shouldn’t feel is stupid Lyla. It’s obvious you’re going to look to someone else to fulfill you, look at the way Jean treats you. You weren’t even here an hour without him calling you and shouting about something.- Amelia sounded as if she had been waiting to say this for ages. 

I put my head in my hands.

-Now I’ve upset Sam, he confronted me yesterday. I never told him about Jean Ami. I led him on and it wasn’t fair on him.- I said, tears in my eyes.

Amelia reached her arm around me and rubbed my back, I held back my tears, there was a man upstairs waiting for me to get ready for a date. 

-you know what you want, Lyla-

I wanted Sam. 

I nodded and thanked Amelia, then I headed back upstairs to Jean, who was smoking on the balcony.

-What’s the plan for today?- I asked.

-Well, we’re in smelly London, we could go to a bar, a park, maybe a museum?- Jean replied, looking off into the distance.

-Museum.- I said nodding, then I walked back to my room to make a museum outfit.

-

 The day I had with Jean was actually really nice. We went to eat lunch before the museum. Just some cafe we found near Regent street. It was a beautiful small cafe, rushing with quiet customers on their computers and ordering all day breakfast.

Jean didn’t enjoy eating there, what a surprise. He hated the small things. He was a snob.

After we ate we walked down the museum. This one specifically had the Vincent Van Gough sunflowers painting, so that would be exciting to see.

We wandered around the museum for hours. Both of us taking everything in but not speaking, then following each other out of the room after finally intently looking at every painting.

When we finally got to the sunflowers painting, there was a crowd around it, it took us a while to get to the front after people dissipated in front but built up behind us. 

Seeing a piece of art like that right in front of you is an incredible feeling, as if you could still smudge the paint. You can see every brush stroke and it feels wrong to look so closely. As if you’re invading the privacy of History. That day I realized that that feeling is similar to how I feel when I look at Sam for too long.

I think that realization stopped time for a few seconds. It caused Jean to break his silence and ask me if I was ready to go.

I was ready to go alright. Ready to go and find Sam and leave Jean. Ready to start a new life with a nice man who plays me to sleep and paints my walls. The man who has loved me since I was locked in my best friend's garden at 14. The man who has been looking for me and never gave up. Then played it cool when he found me again.

The man with the same birthday as me, the same music taste, the same language.

I needed Sam. It was so hard to accept it with my boyfriend standing right there but-

I will always need Sam.

-lyla.-

I snapped out of it and turned around smiling. I took Jean’s hand and we walked out of the museum together. I was drafting in my head what I needed to say to Jean. Just as I was about to open my mouth his phone started ringing. The name on the phone was the Same as my brother’s.

-is my brother calling you?- I asked

-No, a work friend has the same name as your brother. I have to take this.- Jean replied

He walked a few feet away and answered the phone. Mumbling in french and pacing a little bit. A few minutes later he ended the phone and looked at me nervously.

-Lyla, baby, I’m so sorry. Work has called me in because there's a massive emergency. I need to go home tonight. A lot of people are injured and there’s threats of a second attack.- He said anxiously.

Jean took his job very seriously. He worked as a firefighter as well as a paramedic. He was one of the best in his team, and every time there was a giant incident, He needed to go straight away.

-Okay, please come back as soon as you can.- I replied, secretly hoping he stayed away while I tried to fix my brain.

He walked up to me and kissed my head, and hugged me sorrowfully. Then began to speed walk to the train station. I didn’t follow him. I didn’t say anything either.

I called an uber back home, I didn’t feel like walking. As I walked through the front door I could hear talking in the living room. It ceased as I closed the front door. Shortly after, Sam walked out.

My heart struck, I remembered the realization I had about him today. I tried to speak but couldn’t. I just smiled at him and started making my way upstairs for bed. I could feel him standing there watching me walk up there alone. I had a feeling he would follow me. But he didn't.

Part of me was relieved about both of these men being absent from me. Time to think was what I needed. 

I pulled out an empty journal that my wellness friend had gotten me for my most recent birthday and a matching pen that came with it, then I sat on the balcony on the warm summer night and decided that I would just write my feelings. This is what I ended up writing;

About a week ago I think I fell in love with someone else. Disgustingly. Now I have so many feelings and nowhere to put it all. So I'm going to do this. My boyfriend isn’t a horrible person. I want people to think he’s not a horrible person. He’s beautiful and kind, he’s understanding in so many silent ways but he’s just not there. He can be so earth shattering but he’s just not there. That still doesn’t mean that I’m allowed to fall for another man though. I’m at fault here, I am the one that will ruin everything. Unless he does something unforgivable, unbelievable, something so horrible that it would be required for me to fall in love with someone else and you know what? I’m hoping that happens. I really am. Because I am stuck in this bond. I am stuck in this relationship and I thought London was my way out but it wasn’t. Mentally he is not mine anymore. He is NOT THERE! 

Sam entered my life before Jean ever did. I know it was a short encounter but now I know why I remembered that encounter so clearly. He is mine, I want him to be mine.

His hands are my favorite. The stories in them. The abilities they have and their creativity. What I would do to just have those hands all over me. All the time.

Then his face. He is my painting. I can see his brush strokes and his blending. I can see the blotches of unmixed paint is his pores and the white spirit gleaming in his eyes. I can smell his life on him, I don’t even need to know anything about him, I just know him. 

He thinks of me the same way.

Which is the hardest part. Feeling like this for a week has broken me, tortured me. I can’t imagine how he has felt like this for seven years with no hope. 

He can be my everything, and I’m afraid I just ruined it. So I have to let it go. I have to hope Jean never knows about it and we stay with each other so I can be unhappy forever. That's what I get. That's what I get for falli-

That's where the entry stops. I never finished it because I heard the balcony door slide open and I snapped the book closed. That’s how it would stay. Closed forever.

-We need to talk- Sam said.

-we do. - I replied. 

chapter 9.