#sent to tempt me

[domm1etae]

sent to tempt me - chapter five

chapter five: unavoidable connections

chapter summary: Yunho’s day goes from bad to worse when a group project forces him and certain someone to work together, leaving him dreading what’s next.

pairing: yunho x mingi

genre: smut (not yet but there will be eventually), angst, fluff, romance, m/m, non!idol!ateez, sub!yunho, dom!mingi, drama, coming of age, collage, religion

rating: 18+ (for the whole series bc there will be smut eventually) | mdni

word count: 2.1k

warnings under

collage, roommates, sub!yunho, dom!mingi, bad boy mingi and religious church good boy yunho same-sex attraction, m/m, teasing, dark themes, homophobia, self discovery, pet names, strangers to lovers, religion and religious topics, aaaand more will be added soon hehehe

previous chapter | next chapter | AO3 | this fics masterlist

Yunho woke up feeling like he’d barely slept, though the heaviness in his chest told him otherwise. His dreams had been restless, and now his thoughts picked up right where they’d left off—circling endlessly around Mingi.

The room was still and dim, the faint morning light filtering through the blinds. Yunho stayed curled under his blanket, his eyes fixed on the ceiling. His body ached with the kind of exhaustion that went deeper than just being tired. He rubbed at his face, trying to push away the memory of the awkwardness last night—the sharp tension in Mingi’s voice, the unreadable look in his eyes.

Yunho wasn’t sure why it bothered him so much. It wasn’t like they were close. Mingi wasn’t exactly the type of person you got close to. With his sharp tongue and that intense stare of his, Mingi was the kind of guy who could shut you down with a single look. He wasn’t mean, but he was… intimidating. Someone who took up space in a room without even trying.

Yunho had been terrified of him at first. Moving in with a stranger like Mingi, who seemed so naturally confident and untouchable, had felt like the worst luck in the world. But over time, Yunho had noticed something else about him—something quieter. Mingi wasn’t outright friendly, but he wasn’t cruel, either. He didn’t yell when Yunho accidentally left his stuff on the shared desk. He didn’t make snide comments when Yunho fumbled through introductions with the group of friends Mingi had brought over one night.

He’d even done small things that Yunho didn’t know how to take. Like that one time Yunho couldn't find a snack he bought for himself, and Mingi had wordlessly handed him an extra choco bar of his without making a big deal about it.

Those moments had been rare, but they’d stuck with Yunho. Enough that he’d started to think maybe Mingi wasn’t as terrifying as he seemed.

But now, Yunho wasn’t so sure.

Whatever had happened between them last night felt like a sharp crack in the thin thread of understanding they’d built. It wasn’t like Mingi had yelled at him or even said anything particularly harsh. It was just… different. The way Mingi had looked at him, like he was annoyed or disappointed, gnawed at Yunho’s chest.

What did I do wrong?

The question haunted him as he lay there, waiting. He strained his ears, listening for the sound of Mingi moving around the room. The faint rustle of clothes. The click of a bag zipper. The door closing softly behind him. Yunho stayed perfectly still, barely breathing, until he heard that last sound—the door shutting.

Even then, he didn’t move right away. He stayed under the blanket for a while longer, staring blankly at the wall. A part of him hoped that maybe Mingi would come back, if only so Yunho could try to figure out what had gone wrong. But another part—the bigger part—wanted to avoid him altogether.

Finally, after what felt like forever, Yunho dragged himself out of bed. The room felt emptier than usual, and Yunho hated how much he noticed it. He shuffled into the bathroom, avoiding the mirror as he splashed cold water on his face. When he finally glanced up, he almost winced. His reflection was a mess—his hair sticking out at odd angles, his eyes shadowed with exhaustion.

“Get it together,” he muttered to himself, running a hand through his hair in a half-hearted attempt to fix it.

But no matter how much he tried to shake it off, that uneasy feeling clung to him. As he grabbed his bag and stepped out into the hallway, Yunho couldn’t help but glance over his shoulder, half-expecting to see Mingi standing there with that sharp gaze of his.

He didn’t. The hallway was empty, just like he’d hoped. And yet, the pit in his stomach only grew deeper.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yunho slumped into his seat in the lecture hall, setting his notebook on the desk without bothering to open it. The low hum of students chatting around him felt too loud, grating against his already frayed nerves. He kept his head down, hoping no one would notice him.

The professor’s voice droned on, words blending into white noise. Yunho tried to focus, scribbling aimless shapes in the margins of his notebook, but nothing stuck. His thoughts kept slipping back to Mingi. That strange look in his eyes. The way Yunho had felt so small under his gaze.

He tapped his pen against the desk, the rhythmic click barely cutting through the sound of rustling papers and muted coughs. His chest tightened as he caught himself replaying every awkward moment from the night before. What if Mingi thought he was weird? Or annoying?

A sharp laugh from somewhere in the room made him glance up, and his stomach churned. For a split second, he thought it was Mingi—but, of course, it wasn’t. Yunho shook his head, hunching lower in his seat.

By the time the lecture ended, he hadn’t written down a single thing. As the other students filed out, Yunho stayed behind for a moment, staring blankly at the empty page in front of him. It felt like he’d been sitting there for hours, trying to make sense of something he didn’t even fully understand.

With a sigh, he shoved his notebook into his bag and headed to lunch, hoping—unsuccessfully—that the day would get easier.

Yunho dragged his feet to the cafeteria, his tray feeling heavier than it should. He wasn’t sure if it was the weight of the food or the weight of his thoughts that was making his arms ache. He quickly spotted his usual spot near the windows and slid into the seat, grateful to finally sit down. The cafeteria was buzzing with noise, the clatter of trays, the hum of overlapping conversations, and the occasional burst of laughter filling the air.

He stirred his soup absentmindedly, barely registering the steam curling up from the bowl. His notebook, tucked under his elbow, still had faint doodles of shapes he’d drawn earlier in class while failing to focus. He sighed, the sound getting lost in the din of the room.

“Yo, Jeong Yunho!”

Yunho startled slightly as Jisung’s voice cut through the background noise. His friend approached with his trademark grin, dropping his tray on the table with a thud and plopping into the seat across from him.

“Hey,” Yunho muttered, poking at his soup again.

“What’s with the face?” Jisung said, squinting at him. “You look like someone just told you winter break got canceled. Did the professors gang up on you this morning, or what?”

“No,” Yunho mumbled.

Jisung tilted his head, unconvinced. “Uh-huh. Come on, man. What’s up?”

Yunho hesitated, chewing on his bottom lip. “Do you remember how yesterday I said Mingi wasn’t actually that bad? And you were like, ‘What? No way,’ and I was like, ‘Yeah, he’s okay’?”

“Yeah?” Jisung leaned forward, his eyebrows raised with intrigue. “I remember that. I was ready to write it down as one of the great mysteries of the universe.”

“Well, that changed yesterday,” Yunho said flatly.

Jisung blinked. “Wait, what? What do you mean? What happened?”

Yunho exhaled heavily, leaning back in his chair. “I don’t know. One minute everything was fine, and then it wasn’t. He just—he just started acting weird. Like, distant. And then when I wanted to say something to him, he looked at me like…” He trailed off, struggling to put his frustration into words.

“Like what?”

“Like I was annoying him. Or like he didn’t want to be around me anymore.” Yunho frowned, stirring his soup again without taking a bite. “It’s just… I don’t know. It’s been weird.”

“Damn,” Jisung said, his lips twitching upward in what was likely a repressed grin. “So Mingi went from ‘okay’ to back on your hit list in less than twenty-four hours. That’s gotta be a new recordr.”

“I’m serious, Jisung,” Yunho groaned, dropping his spoon onto the tray with a clatter. “It’s throwing me off. I don’t even know what I did wrong. One second, he’s fine. The next, it’s like I don’t even exist.”

“Well,” Jisung started, leaning back and crossing his arms, “if I had to guess, I’d say either he’s stressed about something, or he’s just messing with you because he knows you’re too nice to call him out.”

“Maybe,” Yunho muttered, though the knot in his stomach didn’t feel any smaller.

Jisung waved it off. “Whatever. Don’t let him get in your head, man. He’s just your roommate, not your life partner.” He smirked, clearly proud of himself, and changed the subject as easily as flipping a switch. “Anyway, enough about Mingi. Guess what? I’m hanging out with some friends later. You should come with.”

Yunho glanced up, furrowing his brows. “Friends?”

“Yeah, just a couple of people I know. Well, a couple who’s a couple,” Jisung said with a grin. “They’re good people—fun to be around, chill vibes. You’d like them.”

Yunho shook his head. “I can’t. I have to study.”

Jisung groaned dramatically, throwing his head back. “Oh, come on! You study all the time. One afternoon won’t kill you.”

“I have a quiz next week,” Yunho lied, suddenly finding the edge of his tray fascinating.

“Excuses, excuses,” Jisung said, wagging a finger at him. “Fine. Be a nerd. But if you change your mind, you know where to find me.”

“I won’t,” Yunho said with a faint smile, pushing his tray away.

As Jisung launched into a story about his disaster of a new project, Yunho tried to focus on his friend’s voice. But his mind kept circling back to Mingi—his sharp, unreadable gaze and the way his presence seemed to fill the room, even when he wasn’t speaking.

Yunho didn’t understand why it bothered him so much. He told himself it was just because they lived together. That had to be it.

Right?

By the time Yunho got to his last class of the day, his nerves were shot. It had been a long day of dodging Mingi at every possible turn, but now he had to sit through an hour in the same room as him. The thought made his stomach twist uncomfortably.

The classroom was buzzing with pre-class chatter as Yunho slipped into his usual seat near the middle of the room. He glanced toward the back, unable to help himself. There Mingi was, leaning back in his chair, one arm slung over the desk behind him as he laughed at something one of his friends said.

Yunho quickly looked away, his stomach twisting. Mingi was relaxed, like nothing about yesterday had fazed him at all. Meanwhile, Yunho felt like he was being eaten alive by anxiety. He dropped his bag on the floor and focused on pulling out his notebook, flipping to a blank page.

The scrape of chairs, the hum of voices, the faint tapping of someone’s pen against their desk—it all blurred together as Yunho stared at his notebook, his pen poised above the page. He tried to focus on the little doodles he was making in the margins, spirals and shaky lines that barely resembled anything.

The noise in the room quieted slightly as the teacher entered, clapping her hands to gather attention.

“Alright, everyone, let’s settle down,” she said, smiling as she walked to the front of the room. “I have an important announcement to make.”

Yunho straightened in his seat, his stomach sinking. Important announcements never mean anything good.

“We’ll be starting a group project,” the teacher continued, her smile widening as if she thought this news would excite them. “This project will count for a significant portion of your grade, so I expect everyone to take it seriously.”

A few students groaned, while others muttered to each other about what the project might entail. Yunho’s grip on his pen tightened.

“Now, I know some of you were hoping to choose your own partners,” the teacher said, raising her voice slightly to cut through the chatter.

Several students perked up, a ripple of murmured excitement spreading through the room.

“…but I’ve already assigned the groups.”

The excitement evaporated instantly, replaced by groans and complaints. Yunho barely noticed, his pulse thudding in his ears.

Please, not Mingi. Please, please not Mingi.

The teacher pulled out a sheet of paper and started reading off the pairs.

“Eunji and Minho.”

“Jiwon and Haneul.”

Yunho barely heard the names as they blurred together in a steady stream. He clutched his pen tighter, the edge of it digging into his palm. His leg bounced under the desk, the faint tremor keeping pace with his racing thoughts.

“And finally,” the teacher said, looking up from her paper, “Jeong Yunho and Song Mingi.”

Great. Just great.

[pikinanouart]

Ok but what if, in the movie, Yor meets Fem!Twillight and has conflicted emotions about it?

[cinematicnomad]

I EXCHANGED NUMBERS WITH MY CRUSH!! AND!! He joined my and 2 friends/coworkers for dinner after originally turning us down. And the way he decided to join us?? Was by calling me and asking if we were at the bar we’d mentioned and if it was ok for him to join 🥰🥰

[necrotic-nephilim]

do you ship helena bertinelli with anyone? if yes, then which characters and why? what's your favorite helena ship? do you have any helena rarepairs? (i know you've talked about helena/steph and you're so right about it, it's a very interesting ship)

!!!! i have so many ships for my best girl ever yes oh my god thank you for asking.

my top pairing is probably Vic Sage/the Question. Vic is the basic answer, but man. i love them so much. no couple has matched each other's freak like that have. Justice League Unlimited is a great adaptation of Helena in general, but it also did a great adaptation of Helena and Vic's relationship. how he just dedicates himself to helping her with no expected return, but also wants to make sure she doesn't go too far in a hunt for vengeance that never ends for her. i think a lot of characters often want to change Helena or expect things out of her for their own needs, like the Batfam and the BoP. but Vic is one of the few people who just wants her to be better for her own good. when he tries to stop her from killing it's not because of his morals, it's because he doesn't want this crusade to consume her. and i just. man i think about them a lot. Helena rlly likes weird little men who give themselves wholly to her.

Zinda Blake/Lady Blackhawk is also a top ship for me. tbh i just like Zinda. but i do love how Helena and Zinda interact, being the more rough and tumble members of the BoP. they're both outsiders, in different ways. Helena is an outsider of the Batfam and Zinda is literally from a different time and an outsider to the current world. their friendship is so genuine and i think if Babs and Dinah can have. whatever homoerotic nonsense going on during BoP, then Zinda and Helena deserve some homoerotic nonsense too. as a treat.

if we're willing to count New-52 Helena, then i enjoy Helena/Dick/Tiger. i think Helena and Dick being a past relationship is really important in pre-Flashpoint for Helena's development, though i don't ship them as a serious couple beyond a fling. but in the New-52, i think this throuple be fun. Helena and Tiger respect each other as two very driven, no-nonsense agents and then well. they both clearly have some kind of thing for Dick. so it's fun finding the balance of how they could all work together romantically.

and ofc. it's a crime to mention Helena ships and not mention Renee Montoya/the Question. every time they interact it's really fucking gay. it's so gay that Kate Kane, Renee's own ex, assumed Helena and Renee were gay. i cannot be convinced against this ship. i genuinely think this ship should be canon. i mean. DC did tease us with this moment from an alternate universe and it's lived rent for me since. fucking criminal for us to only get one panel of what we could have if DC let Helena be a fruit in the main universe. being in love with Helena Bertinelli should be a right of passage for the Question mantle, i personally believe. if you asked me like. genuinely who i want to see Helena date in the current comics, Renee is my top pick. (i would say Vic but he's fucking dead and the New-52 butchered him so rip my mans-)

lois lane (2019) #10

besides those ships, just about every ship for Helena probably falls into the category of rarepair. like you said i've talked about my love for Helena/Steph before bc god. i think it should be a thing more people ship. once i finish the fic i'm writing about them i will convince others to like it.

i also think Helena/Cass could be fun. in a *lot* of ways Helena and Cass are narrative parallels to each other. Helena was a victim of her family being murdered at about the same age Cass was forced to be a murderer. Helena grows up to believe in lethal justice because of this, and Cass grows up to be staunchly against it. Cass' Batgirl suit was made *by* Helena. they both want to be protectors of the most vulnerable people. they balance each other out in a lot of ways and i think they should kiss about it.

also probably a rarepair, i think Helena/Lady Shiva is fun. their fight during Birds of Prey (2010) had... questionable moments for Helena's characterization, but i do love so much that Helena knocks Shiva off her feet and gains a deep respect from Shiva. like. Shiva gives her a nickname and shows her admiration. i would like to see fanfic where Shiva continues to be weirdly admirable of Helena and bothering her non-stop. they could be a fun fucked up toxic yuri moment. this is just. so gay to me.

birds of prey (2010) #6

my most rare Helena pair would probably be Helena Wayne, actually. but specifically Helena Wayne of JSA (2022). ever since, for some reason, it was made canon that the current Helena Wayne was named after Helena Bertinelli and took the name Huntress to honor her i *cannot* stop thinking about them meeting. because in-universe it makes *no* fucking sense for Bruce to name his kid after *Helena Bertinelli*, someone he's regularly at odds with and doesn't like. it's clearly an awkward explanation to try to make the whole two Huntress situation make sense. (it's almost as bad as Helena Wayne in the New-52 using Helena Bertinelli as an alias.) but because it's such an odd choice, i do think it could be fun for Helena Wayne, when she's back in time to see Bruce, to find Helena Bertinelli to get to know the woman she was named after and Helena Bertinelli just being. baffled by the idea of *Batman* naming his kid after her. it could be a fun fucked up moment.

my other super rarepair is Kara Zor-L/Power Girl. they had like. one meaningful interaction of JSA Classified and it's been PLAGUING me. something about when Power Girl doesn't remember her past and she's seeking a friend, she instinctively goes to find Huntress? but it's wrong bc this isn't *her* Huntress and neither of them understand why Power Girl would seek Helena out? god it's so good. i'm always a big fan of ships where one person in the ship is *so* obviously using the other person as a replacement for someone they lost and they both know it. it's such a doomed angsty thing where you could play with Helena actually really liking Kara, but knowing that she's just a replacement for Kara's Helena Wayne. good fucked up shit man.

and lastly: i really ship her with Dawn Granger/Dove. there's no canon basis for this, they didn't have a ton of interactions even when they were both on the BoP. but there's a very kind innocence to Dawn that contrasts Helena's violence really well. and i do love a ship with a corruption kink vibe to it. let Helena corrupt Dawn. i could write such fucked up porn about these two.

[stuartgibson]

Destroy me, Dave Gahan

[professorjirt]

not to be bitter about the Durins again but it will never stop pissing me off to a burning degree that in the movies Kíli dies off in a little corner with no one but one elf he met two days ago around, and she’s nerfed to the point she’s utterly helpless until RIGHT AFTER he’s killed. It feels so bullshit and unfulfilling. I remember me and a friend were huge fans of the Durins (her even more than me) as well as the little Kíli and Tauriel side story back when the movies came out, and we watched it in theatres and she literally said she would never watch that scene again bc it disappointed her so badly. She skips it to this day. Bc why the fuck did they have Kíli die for an elf he barely knew (I like Tauriel but it is true— they’ve known each other for maybe two or three days total) over the family he ran out into battle to defend, the family he set out on the quest with and the family that he was so proud of. Why was he not with his brother, or trying to defend his uncle who was still very much alive and in danger? Tauriel literally just serves to get Kíli killed in that scene, bc they nerf her (CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD. Even against a tough orc she should be holding her own) but have Legolas out there holding his own, and it is nowhere NEAR as emotionally devestating as the single sentence we’re given in the book of how Kíli and Fíli went down defending their uncle. I can almost excuse the change in how Fíli dies bc it does hold emotional weight, but Kíli’s death going from the devotion of family even to his own doom into dying for an elf he has puppy love for while being totally cut off from the other dwarves fucking killed the scene for me. And there isn’t really even a good payoff for Tauriel afterward either. We just leave her there regretting she ever loved him. It hurts me so damn much, and not least of which is because for every video someone does as a tribute to Thorin and his nephews, it always takes a sharp left turn into Tauriel watching Kíli die all by himself and it doesn’t even feel related to the other’s deaths. I think it would have felt much more like the best of both if they’d kept Kíli dying defending his family, and then have Tauriel come to him as he’s dying. But that’s not what happened. It fucking sucks. I promise I do like the movies but I will stand hard by saying that it’s weakest writing is the latter half of the second and the former half of the third movie. It only really picks up to consistently good scenes at Thorin’s battle with Azog in my opinion. Sorry for another brief hater moment but man. Man.

[altruistic-meme]

............ i want to come out.

[chiropteracupola]

As Fortuna sits idly by / I spin her wheel with all my might / crushing my kin for warring-wage / minted from the ivory of your tooth and eye...

[flintlock fortress is a collaboration with @dxppercxdxver]

[domm1etae]

sent to tempt me - chapter one

chapter one: the first glimpse

chapter summary: Yunho arrives at his new dorm, hoping for peace and quiet, but his expectations are shattered when he meets his unexpected and enigmatic roommate

pairing: yunho x mingi

genre: smut (not yet but there will be eventually), angst, fluff, romance, m/m, non!idol!ateez, sub!yunho, dom!mingi, drama, coming of age, collage, religion

rating: 18+ (for the whole series bc there will be smut eventually) | mdni

word count: 2.2k

warnings under

collage, roommates, sub!yunho, dom!mingi, bad boy mingi and religious church good boy yunho same-sex attraction, m/m, teasing, dark themes, homophobia, self discovery, pet names, strangers to lovers, religion and religious topics, aaaand more will be added soon hehehe

 next chapter | AO3 | this fics masterlist

author's note: my first series, yaaaay! I’m so excited about this, and I hope you’ll like it. let me know how you feel about the first chapter in the comments. also, should I make a tag list for this?

Yunho grew up in a house where silence spoke louder than words. Yunho grew up in a house where everything had its place.

Every Sunday morning, he woke up to the scent of his mom’s freshly brewed coffee and the sound of his dad humming hymns in the kitchen. Breakfast was always ready by 8:00 a.m. sharp, the same time they left for church.

His family wasn’t unkind; they loved each other in the way a well-rehearsed choir loves its conductor: faithfully, dutifully, but not too loudly. The Jeongs didn’t argue or slam doors. They lived in neat, quiet harmony, with Bible verses framed on the walls and a family portrait taken at the church picnic hanging above the mantel.

Yunho always knew his role in this symphony of order. He was the son they prayed for, the one who didn’t talk back or skip curfews. At 13, he was the boy who stayed late after services to help clean up, stacking chairs and sweeping floors while other kids hung out in parking lots blasting music. He was the one teachers praised, neighbors admired, and his parents held up as an example, they always smiled proudly, calling him “their angel.”

And Yunho liked being good.

At least, he thought he did. Until the dreams started.

Dreams that left him waking up in a panic, drenched in sweat, begging God for forgiveness before he even got out of bed. Dreams that weren’t about the soft curves of a girl’s body, like he knew they were supposed to be, but about sharp jawlines, strong hands, and broad shoulders.

It wasn’t just the dreams. It was the way he couldn’t stop looking. At first, it was small things—admiring how his classmate’s uniform shirt stretched across his chest during gym class or wondering why he felt so warm when he saw certain smiles. He convinced himself it was normal. Just admiration, nothing more. But it didn’t stay fleeting.

He prayed for hours at night, whispering to God to make it go away. “Please, Lord,” he’d say, clutching the cross on his bedside table until his hands hurt. “Don’t let me feel like this.” But the thoughts didn’t stop.

He never told anyone. Not his friends, not his parents, not even the priest during confession.

He thought about telling Father Lee once. After Sunday Mass, he lingered outside the confessional, hands trembling, heart racing. But when he finally stepped inside, knees pressing into the wooden kneeler, the words froze in his throat.

“Bless me, Father, for I have sinned,” he managed, his voice barely audible.

The priest’s calm, steady reply came through the lattice screen. “What troubles you, my child?”

Yunho’s hands gripped the edge of the pew until his knuckles turned white. He wanted to say it. He wanted to confess. But the weight of it, the shame—it was too much.

Instead, he mumbled something about talking back to his parents and skipped dinner that night, too sick with guilt to eat.

Books became his escape.

Yunho discovered literature the way some kids discover a secret hideout: by accident, but it quickly became his sanctuary. He wasn’t one to seek it out; books, like distant cousins, were something that didn’t seem to fit in his world. But on a lazy summer afternoon, when his parents were busy with their own lives, Yunho wandered into his father’s study. The room smelled of old wood and dust, filled with shelves of books that always seemed too formal to touch, too thick to bother with.

It was there, buried under a stack of untouched textbooks, that he found an old copy of The Great Gatsby. The cover was faded, the corners of the pages slightly curled, but something about it called to him. There was no reason for Yunho to pick it up—he wasn’t interested in the world of the Roaring Twenties, the glamor or the excess—but something about the worn edges, the ink fading in places like a secret waiting to be unraveled, made him curious.

He sat down on the living room floor, cradling the book in his hands, the cover smooth under his fingertips. When he opened the first page, it was as if the world had shifted. The words seemed to leap off the page, weaving a narrative that was both foreign and familiar. He got lost in it: the parties, the glamour, the yearning, the tragedy. The way Jay Gatsby’s life felt so full of promise, yet so hollow at the same time.

There was something about the way words could paint entire worlds, how they could make you feel things so vividly that it almost hurt. With every turn of the page, Yunho found himself sinking deeper into Gatsby’s world, a world that was both dazzling and dark, where no one was who they appeared to be. For the first time, Yunho could relate to the idea of masks—of playing a part and feeling alone, no matter how many people surrounded you. It was as if the book had taken something deep inside of him and pulled it into the light.

For Yunho, books weren’t just stories; they were freedom.

They were a bridge to a place where no one judged him, where no one expected him to be perfect. In the pages of The Great Gatsby, there was no family name to live up to, no prayers to recite, no duty to be a certain kind of son. There was just the raw, beautiful act of existing without judgment. The characters, flawed and human, didn’t try to pretend they were anything other than what they were. They loved, they hurt, they sought something more—but they were always, in some way, authentic.

Books gave Yunho a place to escape the life he had to lead—one that demanded perfection, one that demanded silence when all he wanted was to shout. Every character, whether they were noble or tragic, flawed or redeemed, felt real to him in ways his real life didn’t. He could be whoever he wanted to be when he opened a book. He could think things that scared him, feel things that frightened him, all in the comfort of knowing it wasn’t real.

He read everything he could get his hands on—Shakespeare, Frost, Brontë. Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Hamlet—the classics that made him feel like he was standing on the edge of something monumental. He fell in love with the way poetry could turn pain into something beautiful, the way prose could make even the simplest moments feel profound. Each word he read felt like an invitation to a world he was never allowed to explore in real life.

There was power in poetry. The kind of power that made you feel seen even when you weren’t speaking. A line from a poem could echo in his chest like a secret whispered into his ear—how the pain in the words felt like his own pain, and yet it was shared, universal. He began scribbling lines in the margins of his notebooks, quoting his favorite poets, trying to capture something of the way they made him feel. But his words never seemed enough. His words never seemed to touch the depth of the feeling, the longing he couldn’t explain.

In books, there was no shame. No guilt. Just characters and their stories, raw and human. No one to look at him with pity in their eyes, no one to ask questions he couldn’t answer. He was free in a way that no one ever told him he could be.

When the acceptance letter from the University of Seoul arrived, Yunho saw it as a sign.

A fresh start.

A chance to focus on his studies, to leave behind the heavy silence of his house, the suffocating expectations of his family. To be free, not just in his mind but in the world. He dreamed of quiet nights in a tidy dorm room, stacks of books surrounding him, the hum of a desk lamp keeping him company as he read well into the night. He imagined himself walking the leafy campus, the world sprawling before him—endless possibilities, untouched and waiting. He imagined being the kind of student who got lost in lectures, who lost track of time in libraries, who got so caught up in books and ideas that the rest of the world felt far away.

He imagined a life where he didn’t have to hide who he was. Where his thoughts didn’t feel like a burden. He could be a literature major, someone who was known for his intelligence, for his passion for the written word, without anyone ever asking about the things he kept hidden. No one would ever know about the turmoil inside him, the yearning that crept up every time he thought about something or someone in a way that didn’t feel right.

The thought of a fresh start was everything he’d dreamed of. It was the chance to begin again, to bury his fears in books, to embrace his studies without the guilt.

But when he stepped into his new dorm, those dreams started to crack.

The first thing Yunho noticed about the dorm was the smell.

It wasn’t bad—just different. A faint mix of cleaning solution and something else he couldn’t quite place, something organic, maybe even a little musky, like a place that had been lived in. It hit him instantly, a sharp contrast to the scent of the fresh air outside. As he stepped inside, the small living room greeted him with beige walls, mismatched furniture—an old, faded gray couch with a wobbly coffee table in front of it, and a tiny kitchenette tucked into the corner like an afterthought. The kind of space that made you think the people who built it were more concerned with efficiency than comfort.

There were two doors leading to separate bedrooms, just like the housing brochure promised, and a narrow hallway that led to a cramped bathroom. It was basic, functional, nothing fancy.

Yunho let out a small sigh of relief. It wasn’t perfect, but it was enough. It was quiet—blissfully, eerily quiet. The kind of quiet his mom had warned him about, the kind he’d been desperate for since they’d first dropped him off at the university.

“Call us when you get there, alright? And eat well! Are you sure you’re not forgetting anything? Don’t forget your vitamins—oh, and make sure you pack extra socks!” His mom’s voice had been a constant hum in the back of his mind the entire journey. She was always so concerned, so fixated on the little things.

His dad, quieter but just as insistent, had kept reminding him to stay focused on his studies and “be a good boy.” It wasn’t that they didn’t trust him, but they’d never really let him out of their sight long enough to be sure he could take care of himself. So, as Yunho unloaded his suitcase into his new dorm room, his parents’ voices still echoed in his head. “Eat well,” “Take care of yourself,” “Stay safe.” They said it as if every part of his life depended on their supervision.

But now, as he stood there alone in his new room, he felt a little freer than he expected. Sure, the place wasn’t what he’d dreamed of, but it was his. No hovering, no expectations. It felt… private. Safe.

He dropped his suitcase by the door and took a moment to look around. For a second, the room felt empty—like it was waiting to be filled with something, or someone. Yunho had imagined this moment a thousand times in his head, but it didn’t match what he had expected. He’d pictured coming here to study, to read in peace, to finally get a break from the pressure of his family and the silent, constant burden of expectations that never seemed to ease. Here, he thought, would be his fresh start.

Then he saw it.

A black leather jacket draped over the couch.

It looked expensive, the kind of thing Yunho had only seen in movies or on mannequins in department stores. The leather was soft and worn, creased in places where it had clearly been lived in. The silver zippers glinted faintly under the fluorescent lights, and as Yunho stepped closer, the scent of cologne hit him—sharp, musky, and a little too out of place in a room this plain.

Yunho frowned. His roommate must have arrived already.

Curious, he stepped closer and reached out, fingers brushing against the cool material. It felt smooth under his touch, almost like the jacket had been designed to be a piece of armor—something protective, something that spoke of confidence and mystery. A strange thought flickered in his mind: Who was this person?

He had barely processed the thought when he heard a voice, smooth and low, slicing through the silence.

“Sorry. I shouldn’t have left it there.”

Yunho froze, his breath catching in his throat, as the sound of another voice rippled through him.

 next chapter | AO3 | this fics masterlist

[one-winged-dreams]

This is usually around the time my dad starts messaging me telling me how ~excited~ he is for my upcoming birthday, but he hasn't texted me since the ones he sent chewing me out for 'only caring about him when i need a favor' so guess i'm still a huge fucking burden in his eyes, oh fucking well

[xx-psych0-rabbit-xx]

nyways to complain abt smth petty this new era of ableism by using mental illness as an aesthetic is rly harmful for me bc im psychotic ofc but its also harmful in this rly dumb way of "i rly enjoy reclaiming the quirky psycho aesthetic as a comfort thing n a new era of that might be giving me new funny terms to reclaim but it also means the chances someone mistakes me for a neurotypical n accuses me of ableism in some annoying ass savior complex way have gotten higher"

[shrub-jay]

eeby deeby is up, the core is down. give me another direction. possibly cardinal

Ummm, northwest? :)

[redeemed-wren]

Going to be thinking about "I put you on a train" "I got off" for the next 2-5 working days ughguhg

[tumblasha]

10.02.2023 - grateful

i feel like this is a word that’s brought up a lot in my writing [1] and today is not any different. this month is so special to me!! let me list some reasons why:

a. reunion month (i saw a college pal today in LA, i will see a high school pal next week in nyc, i will see almost everyone here This Weekend in nyc!)

b. it’s my little brother’s bday at the end of the month! oct 23 if u wanna send david some happy bday thoughts :)

c. learning that my life is flexible! i work remotely!! i can work from wherever!!! [2]

d. end of this week will be my official first completed month of being an Employed Adult with a Big Job renting an Apartment with Roommates who are Nice to me

e. i saw pabllo vittar today! talked to some brazilians!! i met a peruvian-boricua (bori-peruana? idk)!!! glad i wore my ear plugs bc pv was yelling all night (positive)

f. i’m planning to travel internationally next year!! taiwan in march and hopefully perú in june / july [3]

i just love myself, everything, and everyone & i wanted to shout that into a void for more than 280 characters

thank u,

<3 -dc

---

[1] if u look up “grateful” or “blessed” on my twt acct you will Find things, esp references to this one mha panel of the main character thinking his life is blessed (he’s surrounded by his friends having dinner) right before they all go into war. the war part is less applicable. (i also journal in my notebook but no one will see that)

[2] been feeling homesick. looking forward to november, going to stay in houston for two weeks LOL

[3] my grandpa (dad’s dad) has been feeling lonely so we wanna say hiii. he deals w lonely-based depression and it’s hitting hard again bc i think my aunt and young cousin moved out :( kinda scared tho bc he and my grandma (dad’s mom) hate hate hate traveling so i forgot if they got their covid vaccines yet (they don’t even like the 3hr car + 2hr plane trip to lima). i’m sure they got at least a first dose, idk abt boosters, but my fam hates masking so i hope they’ll mask up for them :((

[ascendingtostardust]

🌺💜SEND THIS TO OTHER BLOGGERS YOU THINK ARE WONDERFUL. KEEP THE GAME GOING 💜🌺

THIS IS SO NICE ILL CRY RN 🥺

A few people sent me this and I don’t want to spam the dash so I’m just going to answer this one!

Y’all are absolute angels and I love you guys so much thank you for thinking of me 💗💗 @fallonfatality @losfacedevil @lightmylove-gvf @gretasmokerising @jmkho @rhythm-of-space @a-beauty-lives-in-every-soul @takenbythemadness @sammysprincess @allthatyouneedisinyoursoul

[oveliagirlhaditright]

For some odd reason, I decided to look up and see if they were selling jewelry online for a lot of the Square Enix characters we all know and love (a lot of the girls, namely, but also some of the boys). And I was looking for fan-made ones, and also products done by Square Enix themselves, and I was honestly surprised by all I found.

First of all, Square Enix has actually made a lot of such merchandise themselves (for a pretty penny, of course, but it's still pretty neat). Like, they even made Ashe's necklace from Final Fantasy XII, which I was not expecting, oddly enough. Partly because a large part of me wasn't even sure it was a necklace I was seeing in her design, until today when I saw two artist renditions of her done by Akihiko Yoshida and Ryoma Itō, as opposed to just staring at her 3D model and trying to figure out if the jewel I was seeing was a necklace or part of her shirt.

Though, oddly, neither fans nor Square Enix have made Garnet's necklace... or, at the very least, I couldn't find one on Amazon nor Ebay today.

There also doesn't seem to be Shiki Misaki's pendant (which sadly doesn't surprise me, since TWEWY and Shiki herself aren't that popular), the Nameless Star from Kingdom Hearts yet, or Kairi from Kingdom Hearts... and that one vexes me so, when we have had Sora and Roxas' necklaces sold for years.

...I guess for the heck of it I'll spell out all I did find today.

Aerith's new necklace from the Remake series, fan done.

Squall's necklace fan done and professionally done by Square Enix.

Rinoa's necklace fan done... Though since at least the Griever part of her necklace is Squall's (as he gives it to her in the story), you could buy the professionally done pendant that was done for Squall and just give it to Rinoa and lie and say it was for her if you wanted. LOL. It's the same thing and you would be covering your bases there.

Also, a certain fan made a necklace inspired by Rinoa:

Tidus' necklace fan done and professionally done.

Yuna's necklace fan done and professionally done.

Ashe's necklace, as I mentioned above, professionally done.

Snow and Serah's engagement necklaces fan done and professionally done.

Lunafreya's necklace professionally done.

Sora's necklace fan done and professionally done.

Roxas' necklace fan done and professionally done.