#schedule your meltdowns! schedule your colds! time efficiency!!! (joking)

[kidspawn]

glad to hear you have masks that fit, but sorry to hear about the immune response. i know immunosuppression + retail can be an absolute beast, and a lot of people with “normal” disease resistance think it’s for lack of effort and not biology+circumstances. i wanted to make sure you had all the knowledge you needed to protect yourself as best as possible to the extent that is possible within an individual’s control, since disinformation makes it reaalllly hard for people to access info and i still come across people who were misguided by their doctors about how to best protect themselves (ie they are told to wear surgical masks and to take them off if 6 feet apart despite being indoors) and end up confused and disheartened. appreciate you being kind even though you’re probably tired of hearing it and/or are used to people blaming you instead of blaming society’s unwillingness to control illness, and hope you have a good one!

You're absolutely fine! I can tell you were coming at it from a genuine place - which says quite a bit, in my opinion. Frankly, I attribute it to most people knowing that someone who struggles with healthcare (especially in terms of covid) is probably from the USA and as such we tend to be criminally uneducated in regards to health, prevention, etc. It is important to make sure people are educated, and I think it's generous of you to send out resources to (i presume) a complete stranger who made a few snide comments about collecting viruses like pokemon cards.

I didn't pay much attention to my health, when I was a teenager, but it bit me in the butt when I found out my unwillingness to stay home from work when I'm sick (several holiday horror stories related to getting very sick but hey those are time and a half so it just made sense to work and stay very far away from others and wear gloves) just made me feel worse then I got other people sick. I'm not proud of it by any means, and knowing that my stubbornness surrounding ignoring my own health needs has hurt others has made me more cognizant of how my personal handling of my immune system can affect others. The USA work force (can't speak for any other countries) actively punishes you for, say, going "hey I am running a fever/have an illness/etc, and should not come in because it'll put others at risk." It puts your position in jeopardy, can cut your hours severely, etc. We've been forced into an expectation that we need to shelf our own needs to function in society.

(Also I'm just... used to being sick. I don't notice I'm sick until it's too late, most times. I digress. I've now become the bastard who tells coworkers to stay the hell away from me if they have so much as a sniffly nose bc I'm not missing out on work because you're irresponsible, my friend.)

That's not what you were touching on at all, but I do think it warrants a perspective for others to consider. I don't have much regard for my health, frankly. If it didn't affect others, I'd probably just keep working through a cold because I'd rather be miserable and paid than stay home and risk reducing my job or paycheck. But it doesn't just affect me. It affects customers, coworkers, even my family at the time. I'm lovingly coined patient zero because I pick up illnesses all the damn time. Once again, because retail + an (probably) undiagnosed immunosuppresive disorder clashes horribly with USA work culture and just how impossible it is to live and consider your health. Most people, including myself, chose their job over their health.

I don't know what to round out here. Am I warning people to prioritize themselves because I know several teenagers who follow me? Am I just pointing out it's a tragic collision of miseducation and the brutal work culture of this gradually decaying country? Who knows. Maybe I haven't slept in three days and as such I'm losing all capacity to regulate my word count.

(Anyway, now I just tell my colds to wait a few days until my usual day off. Do they listen? Not really, but I am quite skilled at gaslighting myself.)

Disregarding everything I said because it's frankly nonsense and unrelated to your ask (squirrel brain!), thank you. I appreciate your grace and composure. You were calm, professional, and very gentle with how you delivered information. I'm not the type to snap easily, so no worries there. Have a lovely day!

[zeroseuniverse]

Intimate Moments

Word Count: 1K Summary: "What did I tell you about getting involved?" Jaehyun’s voice was low. She blinked up at him. "I was just helping—" Pairing: Jaehyun X Female Reader

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She had a problem. A very grumpy, very intimidating, very Jaehyun-shaped problem.

When she accepted the job as a personal assistant to a high-profile client, she expected the usual challenges—long hours, tight schedules, maybe some dramatic celebrity meltdowns. What she didn’t expect was having to deal with his bodyguard.

Jaehyun was a professional. A former military-trained, no-nonsense security expert. He was sharp, efficient, and made sure no one got within ten feet of his client without approval. He was also—without a doubt—the grumpiest human she had ever met.

And unfortunately for him?

She was the nicest.

The first encounter set the tone for everything. "Good morning, Jaehyun!" she had chirped on her first day, holding out a cup of coffee. He barely spared her a glance. "Don’t need it." She blinked, momentarily thrown off. "But I got it just for—" "Didn’t ask." …Wow. Okay. Rude. But did that stop her? Absolutely not. Every morning, without fail, she greeted him with the same sunny enthusiasm.

"How are you today, Jaehyun?" "Alive." "I made extra sandwiches, want one?" "No." "It’s raining—don’t forget your umbrella!" Silence. The more he brushed her off, the more determined she became. And somewhere along the way, she noticed little cracks forming in his cold exterior.

Like how he never actually walked away when she talked to him. Or how, despite rejecting her offers, the coffee cups mysteriously disappeared when she left them on his desk.

Or how—whenever she smiled at him—he always looked away just a little too quickly, ears turning the slightest shade of red.

One night, while escorting her client to an event, Jaehyun had his usual steely focus. She , however, was busy doing what she did best—helping. "Hey! That guy just tripped—should we help him?" "No."

"But—"

"You’re not here to help strangers."

Well, that was kind of fair. But then, halfway through the event, she spotted a lost little girl near the entrance, tears welling in her big brown eyes.

Her heart melted.

Before Jaehyun could stop her, she was already kneeling beside her. "Hey, sweetheart, are you lost?" she asked gently. She sniffled. "I c-can’t find my mommy." Jaehyun groaned behind her. "This isn’t our responsibility." She ignored him, holding out her hand. "Let’s go find her together, okay?" Jaehyun muttered something under his breath but followed anyway, arms crossed as she reunited the girl with her mother. And then— She felt a firm grip on her wrist. "What did I tell you about getting involved?" Jaehyun’s voice was low. She blinked up at him. "I was just helping—" "Helping gets you hurt," he snapped, eyes dark. "You’re too nice, too trusting. One day, that’s going to be a problem." For the first time, his coldness stung. She pulled her hand away. "And you’re too closed off, Jaehyun. One day, that’s going to be a problem too." She walked away before she could see his expression. If she had looked back, she might have noticed the way his jaw clenched, like he was fighting an internal battle he wasn’t ready to lose.

The next few days, things were tense. Jaehyun barely spoke to her. And when he did, it was all clipped responses and gruff commands. So, when another bodyguard, Haechan, started chatting with her during a break, she welcomed the distraction. "How do you deal with him?" Haechan joked, nodding toward Jaehyun. She sighed dramatically. "I don’t know. I think he was raised by wolves." Haechan laughed. "I bet. But, hey, if he’s too mean, you can always talk to me instead." Jaehyun suddenly appeared. And he did not look happy. Haechan took one look at him and backed away slowly. Jaehyun’s glare shifted to her. "We’re leaving. Now." She frowned. "But my break isn’t over—" "I said now." He practically dragged her outside, his grip firm but careful. She yanked her arm free, huffing. "What is your problem?" Jaehyun took a slow breath, his jaw tightening. "Haechan is not the kind of guy you should trust." She crossed her arms. "Oh, really? And who should I trust?" His gaze darkened. "Me." Her breath caught. For a moment, neither of them spoke. The air between them felt charged, something unspoken hanging in the silence. And then— "You’re impossible," she muttered, pushing past him. But what she didn’t see? The way his hands curled into fists. Or the way he exhaled sharply, like he was trying to control something he didn’t want to feel.She didn’t expect Jaehyun to be the one to break first. It happened when she was almost kidnapped. (Okay, maybe Jaehyun had a point about being too nice.) A shady man had cornered her outside a hotel, trying to lure her into his car. Before she could react, Jaehyun appeared out of nowhere. He had the man on the ground in seconds, his knee pressing hard into his back. And when the man muttered something about her being “easy prey”? Jaehyun punched him. Hard. After security arrived, Jaehyun turned to her , his eyes wild with something she couldn’t name. "Are you insane?" he growled. "Walking off alone? Talking to strangers? Do you know what could’ve happened?" Her lip trembled. "I—I didn’t think—" "Exactly," he snapped. "You never think. You just trust people. You just walk around like the world isn’t full of dangers—like you don’t know how easy it would be for someone to—" He cut himself off, fists clenching. She swallowed, her heart pounding. "Jaehyun…" His chest rose and fell sharply. And then, his voice broke. "I can’t—I can’t lose you." Silence. Jaehyun never looked vulnerable. But right now, standing before her with his guard completely shattered—he looked terrified. Her heart clenched. Without thinking, she took a step closer, placing a hand on his chest. "You won’t," she whispered. "Because I trust you, Jaehyun. I always have." For a second, he didn’t move. Then—slowly—his hand came up to cover hers. And for the first time since she met him, Jaehyun let his walls down. Just enough to let her in.