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niawritess · 4 years ago

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The Lovestruck~ Final.

(15th November)

Tapping his shoes constantly on the marble floor, his legs kept shaking which made him hold his knee, but all in vain since he couldn't stop the nervousness inside him. Dressed in a black tuxedo, Baekhyun took a deep breath to calm himself down before almost, immediately standing up to walk back and forth to subside his nervousness.

It was finally, the day everyone has been waiting specifically, you and Baekhyun. However, at his most special day, his heart, his mind, even his body wasn't working according to him.

"Why are you like this?" Kyungsoo walked in the grooms waiting room, as he watched his best friend walking back and forth in a nervous state.

Baekhyun groaned making himself seated again on the couch and looked at Kyungsoo. "I have never been this nervous before... Like not even giving the presentation... This is confusing."

"This is normal." Kyungsoo stated. "Though... It might be confusing for you being like this but normally people do get nervous on their wedding."

Kyungsoo's word did nothing but made Baekhyun glare at him where Kyungsoo just shrugged before shuffling under his coat and fished out a small black bottle which he gave it to him. "Drink this, you'll feel better."

"Where did you get this?"

"I didn't, Y/n asked me to get it." Kyungsoo spoke before smirking. "I didn't really expected you to be nervous but maybe she knew it."

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. "I can see how you guys are making fun of me, only my wife cares for me."

"Keep this up till you get to the asile." Kyungsoo rolled his eyes. "I am going to check the venue since Junmyeon hyung is taking care of it alone."

Baekhyun chuckled nodding as Kyungsoo walked out leaving him behind as he was feeling better than before. No matter how much they tease or make fun of each other, he just knows that his friends and him, always have each other's back.

It's been two weeks to the proposal day, and the next week, you both were being dragged into a boutique to buy wedding dresses but separately, which led Baekhyun to whine the whole day because he, himself wanted to see you trying beautifully, however, his and your family were having too much fun making him sulk.

And, it's also been a week since he has seen you because of the so called traditions in the family, where bride and groom can't meet, not even see eachother and now he was missing you crazily and was dying to see you where he also knew, you would be feeling the same.

His phone rang making him snap out, as he checked the caller ID and a smile crept on his lips before answering it and exclaimed with an enthusiasm. "Coffee bean!"

Laughter could be heard from the other side which made him confuse before he let out a exhasperated sigh. "You better stop it, this is second time you have done this."

"Aw, Is my soon to be brother-in-law angry?" The feminine voice which he has remembered, his best friend's wife and his soon to be wife's bestfriend, one and only Ria, who could come up with this prank.

His heart did a flip when he heard your voice behind as you were asking for some tissues. "Hey, put my wife on the phone."

"She is not your wife, yet." He could imagine her smirking evil making him bite his lip frustratingly. "Here I thought you were on my side."

She laughed. "I am, but right now, let me be your sister in law. Okay, Mr. Brother-in-law, see you at the wedding!"

Before he could say anything, the call was cut off and he groaned with the little pout following behind on his lips. The door suddenly cracked opened, revealing his friends, coming inside dressed in a full suit and began to laugh at his impatient friend.

"I am actually suing your wife after getting married." He stared at Chanyeol with his ever so angry look which did nothing but made his laugh more. "Why are you so impatient? You'll meet Y/n outside, so be patient my friend."

"Aigoo, who would believe that you're getting married, Hyung." Jongin spoke staring at his friend's frustrated face and Baekhyun rolled his eyes. "Do you guys have to make fun of me when I am nervous here?"

"Why are you though?" Minseok commented confusingly. "Even Y/n isn't nervous as you."

"She's not?" Baekhyun asked surprised and Yixing nodded. "We came here after meeting her and she didn't looked nervous at all."

Baekhyun eyes sparkled. "Really? How does she look?"

"She looks like a bride." Sehun said, straight truth which made all guys laugh and Baekhyun, to glare at him before Jongdae decided to help him as he patted his shoulder. "She looks beautiful and you, stop being so nervous or we'll think you're going on a war or something."

"Well, it's not less than a war." Jongin said snickering and Everyone laughed as now, Baekhyun was less nervous and more happy with an excitement to see you.

The door opened again, and this time it was Mr. Byun and Mrs. Byun, walking towards him with a tender smile on their faces before Mr Byun held Baekhyun's shoulder firmly while fixing his collar. "Young man, you have actually become a man now."

Baekhyun chuckled. "I was always a man."

Mr. Byun smiled nodding. "Listen to me carefully now, marriage is a very important part of your life and you are taking a big step towards it. It's a huge responsibility, not just for you but for the girl you're marrying to, so Y/n's care and happiness is your responsibility, just make sure you're doing your part well. "

"I will." Baekhyun immediately nodded before his eyes went large to see his mother bawling her eyes out making him gasp dramatically. "Eomma! Not the water tank, you're makeup would get smudged then Y/n's going to scold me!"

Mrs Byun slapped his arm. "Don't talk about my daughter in law like that!"

He pouted. "So, she already has sides."

"Obviously, she knows who's she marrying to." Jake said taking everyone's attention as he stood by the door frame smiling at him before walking in to tease the nervous man even more.

______________

A wide smile was playing on your lips where you bit your lip to prevent yourself from giggling out loud since you were feeling happy about your special day. A white, off shoulder ballgown dress hugged your figure with flowery embroidery illuminating around your upper half sleeves while your hair, styled in a braided updo leaving half of it in a wavy style.

Sniffing the flowers in your hands, a lively smile appeared on your lips while feeling giddy and excited to see Baekhyun who you haven't seen, since a week but at the same time, you knew this wait would be worth it.

"Ayo~ Aren't you too happy bestie?" Ria cooed, dressed in her pastel pink colored dress, fixing the strand of the hair putting it around your temple while giving your look a last touch up and you grinned. "Yes I am, bestie."

"And I am happy to see you happy." She smiled widely trying hard not to cry and as you noticed her expression, you giggled making her slap your arm lightly before hugging you eventually.

"But... Aren't you nervous?" She pulled away, frowning and you smiled bringing your index finger and thumb closer. "A little."

Her forehead creased in amusement. "Well, good for you because you have to look after your too nervous husband to be."

You giggled, before the door opened revealing your two most, chaotic yet the ones whom your life couldn't have been amazing as there stood, your brothers dressed in their Grey suits looking handsome.

Jaehyun walked in with Daniel following behind him with an amused look on their faces making you chuckle. "What? Why are you both surprised? Do I look that good?"

Jaehyun gasped dramatically cupping his mouth. "What to do, potato? Even the make up couldn't do its work."

You bit your lip fuming before grabbing a water bottle beside you and threw it in his face which he immediately caught it perfectly as he gave you a smirk making you roll your eyes. "Are you really my brother?"

"Dan...," You looked at Daniel beside Jaehyun and smiled. "How do I look?"

He stared at you blankly. "You...look like that pasta you made last time."

You closed your eyes sighing, controlling your urge to not to kill them on your special day while both of your brothers were so close to laughing and eventually, they did.

"You think I don't know that you both empty the whole fry pan that night?" You retorted, sassily making them silent as they stood surprised while Ria just stood there with a poker face as this was just neverending scene to witness.

"How do you know that?"

"I have spies, my brothers." You smiled in victory and they both groaned knowing who those spies were before you laughed out loud at their faces making them laugh back.

Jaehyun walked towards before grabbing your hand to make stand up and held your shoulders, as he stared at you seriously. "You know I am just a call away right? I am still your secret trunk so whatever and whenever you want to talk or tell me something, just do it, okay?"

And that's when your heart welled up seeing his brother mood and nodded before he smiled. "If he does something which I know he won't because I know he's mature and loves you too much to hurt you but still, just tell me and I will deal with him."

You slapped his arm while laughing. "I'll kill you if you do that."

"Right, Baekhyunee Hyung wouldn't dare to do that knowing how hard your punch is." Daniel commented as he stood beside you making you laugh even more before both of them hugged you, and another one jumped who was none other than Ria herself.

Your mom's voice got your attention as you four pulled away to see your mom walking inside, in a light pink and purple mixture colored Hanbok and looked so beautiful where behind her your dad, in a black suit looking dashing.

As he walked towards you, his eyes teared up and you looked at him in awe. "Dad.. What...?"

"Gosh, you look so beautiful." He sniffled and you bit your trembling lip before hugging him tightly. "You look more beautiful than your mother."

"Ow!" He whined pulling away as a hard slap was landed on his back by your mom making you all laugh before your mom stared at you with teary yet smiling eyes. "My daughter is always beautiful."

"Seriously, why is everyone crying?" You whined and Daniel wrapped his arm around your shoulder. "Noona, we're just really happy that we won't have a potato in the house now."

"You're so dead." You muttered gritting your teeth and was about to hit him but looking at your mom's stern eyes, everyone went serious as you went to sit on the couch back.

"Ria, look after her so she won't jump around like a cat again since we're going out to greet the guests." Your mom ordered her as she walked out dragging the three chaotic men with her and you made a grumpy face as Ria couldn't stop laughing at your mom's words.

"Y/n! Your most loving person is here!" You let out a laugh knowing who's high pitch voice was as walked inside, your sister like friend, who was once your owner too, Rose, in a light blue dress with her always shiny smile.

She gasped. "You look gorgeous, lady!"

You and Ria laughed at her reaction as she instantly sat beside, hugging you. "Gosh, my little sister has finally grown up."

"Ughh." You groaned playfully. "Seriously, you too?"

"It got cringy, right?" She looked at Ria who nodded with you following before you three broke out in laughter.

_____________________

5:04 PM

It was finally the time to walk down the asile, your most awaited moment, as you stepped out of the brides room, a fresh breeze hit your face making smile while your eyes roamed around the outdoor area. This was the same place where you both came to stargaze last time and you casually joked about getting married at this place but you didn't know that Baekhyun would take that seriously as you got an actual shock when you got to know about the venue.

Oh, how can you not love this person?

Linking your arm around your dad's, your head tilted to the side to look at him as you felt yourself shaking inside where he looked at you with an assuring smile that it'll be alright and you knew it will be for sure. Taking slow steps towards the asile, your eyes averted ahead to see the lights around the branches of green trees and either side were the wooden chairs giving it a perfect look.

Looking at everyone, seated there were your mom with her biggest smile and your brothers watching you with a proud smile with Baekhyun's family, looking at you with so much tenderness. Looking at the other side to see your friends with their usual understanding and proud smiles as why not, because they all were the cupids of your life.

As you looked ahead, your breath hitched, the moment your eyes met his stunned ones, standing there waiting for you as how he always had. You could feel your heart pounding against your chest as you were walking towards him, the flashbacks of your moments were flashing in your mind making your eyes teary with those beautiful moments.

Baekhyun just stood there stunned for a while watching you, looking so ever beautiful and he was falling all over again. Biting his lower lip, he gulped down the lump forming as his eyes burned making his vision blurry while he took a deep breath to calm down before he felt Kyungsoo, patting his back.

Aproaching him, your dad pulled Baekhyun in a fatherly hug, as he patted his back gently before pulling away where he placed your hand on his hand, giving you to the person who was your home now. You bit your lip, controlling yourself from crying before locking your eyes with his glossy ones and he gave you his most beautiful smile.

"We're here." He whispered, his hold tightening around your hand and you nodded smiling back. "As we should."

"You...look..," He trailed off, licking his lips as he went speechless and you peeked over his expression chuckling. "I look handsome?"

He let out a chuckle with everyone laughing at your little joke before Baekhyun shook his head. "You look really really beautiful. And I have finally kidnapped you, and I don't even care if I got behind the bars for it."

You laughed shaking your head as he giggled while Kyungsoo gave him a look but his smile was saying something else.

The vows were taken, rings were exchanged, and sealed it with a kiss of promise. His palm pressed against your jaw gently, stroking his thumb over your cheek as his other hand rested on the side of your waist and as he pressed his forehead against yours, his eyes spotted his favorite flushed cheeks.

He couldn't help but smile fondly before pecking your lips again softly taking you by surprise as you jolted up to look at him making him giggle like a baby while everyone laughed. Giving him a playful glare, you lightly punched his arm making him laugh even more as he kissed your knuckles before pulling away as everyone came to congratulate you.

"Oh My, finally, you have become our daughter in law." Mrs Byun cooed, as she pulled you in a hug where a fake cough made you both pull away to see Baekhyun's sulk expression. "I got married too, why aren't you congratulating me?"

You chuckled making him glare at you playfully and to make him even more sulk, you side hugged Mrs Byun as she played along while Baekhyun pouted defeatedly as he nodded. "Alright, sides have changed."

You both laughed before Mrs Byun hugged him and Mr Byun gave you a fatherly hug while patting your head as he hugged his son after. Walked in your dad towards you with his teary eyes and hugged you tightly before patting Baekhyun's shoulder. "Take care of her or I'll come for you."

Both of them laughed as Baekhyun nodded while you shook your head smiling at them before your mom came in smiling but instead of coming to you, she engulfed Baekhyun in a hug. "My son in law looks so handsome."

Baekhyun smiled shyly thanking her before she looked at you confusingly before laughing as she hugged you. "Why are you sulking?"

"I'm not." You hugged her back tightly as she rubbed your back in a comforting way making you sigh before you pulled away to see your brothers hugging Baekhyun.

"Hyung, How do you feel about this marriage?" Daniel asked making you glare at him and Baekhyun chuckled before looking at you with a smile. "I feel amazing."

Your cheeks flushed as you looked away before looking at your brothers who just groaned at his answer. "I shouldn't have asked this question."

"Listen, Baekhyun." Jaehyun leaned in to his side. "If she does something, I am only a call away."

You gasped hearing his words which he said to you earlier. "This conman!"

You attempted to grab him but Baekhyun's arm around your waist prevented as he pulled you closer. "Let's not make our wedding a killing day, coffee bean."

You looked at him pouting and he imitated your expression while nodding cutely before you glared at Jaehyun. "I am letting you off today."

"I am letting you off today." He mimicked your tone before chuckling as he patted your head while Daniel hugged you and both of them walked away.

"So, you did got married to this brat." Minseok commented as he patted Baekhyun's shoulder and he rolled his eyes while you giggled nodding before your friends came one by one to congratulate.

"Ahh, my bestie is married already." Ria came forward with a fake crying face and you chuckled pulling her in a hug before she let go and looked at Baekhyun. "You have to take care of my bestie."

"Of course, I will take care of her more than you have ever had." Baekhyun said, confidently making a face at her. "You just wait, I will get back at you for pranking me."

Ria giggled. "That was part of fun, but aren't you glad that I was on your side and even played cupid for you."

"That...," He trailed off as he glanced at you, smiling. "I will always be."

"Okay, do this at your own new home, we have guests here." Ria spoke before winking at you as your eyes widened, noticing her playful look before slapping her arm while Baekhyun laughed where Ria walked away.

"Hey, Sister-in-law!" Sehun's voice beamed as he walked towards you before pushing his phone screen infront of your faces and you gasped. "Sooyoung!"

Sooyoung couldn't attend the wedding as her dad's health got bad and they had take him out of the country for his treatment but he was doing better now. However, Sooyoung didn't find it appropriate to attend the wedding while her dad was lying on the bed, so she couldn't join.

Baekhyun cutely waved at her. "You're being missed here. Now who would catch y/n's flower?"

She laughed. "I'll ask Sehun to do that."

"I am a busy person." Sehun remarked back earning an eye roll from three people before Sooyoung suddenly gasped. "Gosh, you both look so amazing!"

"Sehun-ah, I want to see their whole look!" Sooyoung exclaimed making you both giggle and sehun rolled his eyes. "I am not an assistant."

But, he eventually did as Sooyoung let out a squeal. "You look so beautiful!"

"I know right, I am." Baekhyun spoke smiling playfully and you chuckled nudging him lightly before the host of your wedding, Chanyeol clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.

"Okay, we have prepared something for you both, so let's enjoy!" He exclaimed, clapping as he stepped aside while you looked at Baekhyun. "I have a bad feeling about this."

Baekhyun slightly laughed. "And I am really excited!"

You rolled your eyes before a music erupted, startling you as Baekhyun looked at you shook hearing the familiar song and you gasped cupping your mouth seeing a projector while a video was being played, where you were dancing with your brothers in your parents wedding anniversary. "No way."

JYP'S Honey.

Three of you were childrens, wearing a cap and black sunglasses as you were dancing between them and your cheeks flushed as you hid your face behind the flowers where you heard a giggle from Baekhyun. "Gosh, you are so adorable."

"Ugh! I am not!" You whined making him pinch your cheek as he laughed softly and you let out a shy chuckle. "Gosh, they still had this."

Suddenly, the woos from the audience could be heard taking both of your attention as you looked at your brothers coming to the stage with black sunglasses on their faces making your jaw drop. "Are you serious?"

"Noona, this one's for you." Daniel spoke as he slid his glasses a little to send a wink at you making you and Baekhyun giggle before Ria stepped on the stage with black sunglasses as she stood between them.

You sighed smiling as you realized they were reenacting the scene making you feel awed. As the song played again, three of them started dancing like how you did, earning some woos and making everyone dance along with them. You laughed feeling Baekhyun copying the steps playfully while jamming along with them and making you move along with him as you both laughed afterwards.

In the midst, Jaehyun walked over to you and grabbed you both to lead to the stage as everyone joined together. Baekhyun took your hand and twirl you around before wrapping his arm around your waist doing a wavy move making you laugh.

The photographer was smiling, watching the scene while capturing those moments and at that moment, Baekhyun leaned closer to your ear as the music was loud. "I think I should show you my strength since you always doubt it."

"Huh?" Your forehead creased confusingly as he placed his hands either side of your waist and you let out a squeal when he lifted you up unexpectedly making you wrap your arms around his neck in reflex.

Everyone wooed watching the scene while you stared down at him with enlarged eyes as he giggled. "So.. Do you believe in my strength now?"

You burst out laughing before leaning down to bump your forehead against his gently as your palm pressed on his cheek. "I do."

As the moment was captured, you knew, you have had the best wedding ever with the best lifepartner.

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8:48 pm

It was dinner time, everyone was seated down on the thick mat with the cushions filled around and the shelter about was decorated with flowers and some candles around them. You had changed your gown into a knee-length white dress while Baekhyun's blazer was over your legs as you gave him a light squeeze around his hand locked with yours on his lap.

His thumb rubbed softly against your skin making you look at him to see him discussing something with Sehun about their business thing and you smiled at his warm gesture.

"Stop looking so much, you look crazy in love." Ria's voice snapped you out as you looked at her to see her giggling with Rose beside her and your cheeks flushed making you glare at them. "Shut up."

"Awe, my shy Y/n." Rose reached out to pinch your cheek softly and you scrunched your nose pulling away before chuckling at them. "So, Is your little one giving you hard time?"

Rose was seven months pregnant with a baby boy before her hand went to caress her bump softly and she chuckled. "Well, sometimes? Because he has been kicking way too much now."

"He already wants to come out." Ria commented giggling before Jack beside Rose spoke. "Because he wants to meet his dad."

Rose rolled her eyes while you and Ria laughed before you felt a light nudge on your shoulder making you look at Baekhyun. "Hm? What?"

"Shush." He placed his index finger on his lips as he leaned in. "Let's sneak out, coffee bean."

You laughed lowly. "What?"

"I am waiting behind that tree." He whispered pointing to the place and you chuckled staring at him weirdly. "We're married now, Baek."

"Don't ruin the fun and follow me." He glared at you playfully before kissing your palm as he excused himself from everyone and walked away.

"Go, your husband needs you." You turned to the voice to see Mrs Byun giving you a teasing smile and it was loud enough to take everyone's attention as they looked at you before giggling and you closed your eyes blushing.

Nevertheless, you slowly got up with his blazer in your hands as you wore it properly before walking away and you could hear your dad's voice kids these days and you chuckled fastening your speed. Aproaching him to see him standing against the tree with his hands shoved in his pocket and you just took your moment to stare at this handsome man infront of you.

As if he sensed your eyes, his head tilted to the side to see you as his lips curved upwards in a beautiful smile and you smiled back before he extended his hand which you took it as he made you stand infront of you. The moonlight touching his face made him look even more ethereal while his eyes bored into yours with a dreamy smile on his lips and you felt yourself blushing under his gaze.

"You know everyone got to know about this sneak out." You said and he pouted, clicking his tongue playfully. "Plan failed."

You chuckled. "But why did we even snuck out?"

Baekhyun pointed towards the sky with his index finger. "For that."

You tilted your head up to the sky with a gasp seeing the whole night sky, filled with shining stars and the lightning moon as your eyes sparkled. "Wow."

"You watch your favorite stars and I'll watch my favorite, you." He uttered out softly with his arms wrapping around your waist as he pulled you closer and kissed your temple making you smile as you looked back at him, before circling your arms around his neck to hug him.

He tightened his grip around your waist. "Gosh, you know you give the best hugs."

You chuckled placing your chin on his shoulder. "Let's stay like this here and live here."

He hummed. "Let's live on the tree and do your tree show."

"Seriously!" You whined leaning away as your arms rested around his neck and he laughed making you smile as seeing him laughing just brush your anger away.

His laughter slowly subsided, as his eyes stopped to stare at you softly as he bit his lower lip and you looked away blushing. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"I am looking at my beautiful, wife." He said tucking the strand of hair behind your ear smiling and you bit your lip as you couldn't say anything back making him giggle as he slightly bumped his forehead against your temple. "Do you remember that day? When I helped you by being your boyfriend?"

You laughed nodding, remembering that moment as you looked at him. "Of course, how can I forget that? I was so surprised and who knew we would end up like this."

"Yes, and I am soooo...," He trailed off stealing a peck from your lips. "So glad that I did that. And now you're officially my wife, Mrs Byun." He added winking.

"And you're officially my husband, Mr Byun." You winked back and his eyes widened. "Did you.. Did you just flirted with me?!"

You shrugged giggling. "Perks of having a flirty husband."

"I seriously love you for flirting with me." He said kissing your cheek and you kissed his cheek back. "And I seriously love you for being my flirty husband."

Both of you looked at eachother for a moment before bursting out in giggles before pulling eachother in a hug.

And they knew, they were home.

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And, that's a wrap! I hope you liked this chapter and this fanfiction too. I was really thinking if I should post the last today or not because somehow, I didn't wanted it to end and posting the last chapter is making me emotional🤧. Anyways, I just want to thank you, whoever has been reading this story and your responses really made my day and I appreciate it a lot.

This fanfiction has been close to my heart because this my first ever written and posted story, the storyline was simple but the plot and characters are very close to me, there might have been some errors and typos but it still made me improve my writing skills. I might write an epilogue, maybe, not confirmed, but I really want to though, and if I did I would post it for sure. 🥺

Again, thank you and hope you guys like this chapter, then, take care till I post my another fanfiction soon🤍

Nia~

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@wooya1224 @buttercupbbh @jddcfc-blog @usernameloaa @gominieni @shesdreaminginoverdose

#bbh #exo fanfiction #exo ff #baekhyun fanfic #baekhyun fluff #baekhyun gifs #baekhyun imagines #baekhyun #baekhyun x reader #baekhyun scenario

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yehet-me-up · 4 years ago

Text

Fractions of Tomorrow

Pairing: Zitao/Reader (female)

Word Count: 10,249

Rating/Warnings: PG13

Summary: They always say opposites attract but you and Tao are putting that theory to the test. He works nights at Flanagan’s, you work the crack of dawn shift at Starbucks. He wears leather jackets, sings in a rock band, and drives a motorcycle. You prefer Keds to Chucks, study poetry at UW, and ride a pastel purple bike across town. Luckily, he’s not someone who’s afraid of a challenge.

When Baekhyun dares you and Tao to test the idea that two people can fall in love in one night you don’t expect to care so much, so fast. And when the sun rises all you can hope is that he feels the same.

Part seven of the Exodus Mall series (Can be read independently, but you’ll get some extra backstory if you read the other parts first!)

February 28, 1997

His head aches, body still reeling from the alcohol he drank far too much of the night before. The line at Starbucks is endlessly long and he groans. If he was responsible he’d go to the grocery across the street and get a decent breakfast. But his brain needs a substitute for the gin he was coerced into last night by his friends and it will only accept caffeine as an offering.

A saccharine song pours in from the speakers and people around him clear their throats or rustle in their pockets and the sheer noise of the morning grates against him. He’s a creature of the night; he finds other humans far more tolerable without the sun beating down on him. Only desperation pulled him from his hangover to acquire the nectar of the gods. He taps his foot and shrugs his jacket further up his body, hoping the collar will keep the bright light pouring in from the tall windows from reaching him.

A sweet voice breaks through the din and he turns to watch you, drawn by the warmth of the sound. It’s not his first time here, but it’s his first time paying attention. In the thriving ecosystem of the Exodus Mall everyone’s a friend of a friend of a cousin of someone and he distantly remembers you’re related to one of Baekhyun’s friends.

Maybe it’s the way early mornings after late nights distort the world, making everything feel hazy like a dream. Maybe it’s the fact that he went home alone last night, yet again. Maybe it’s the bright, energetic shine in your eyes, astounding for the pre-eight-am time. Or maybe it’s the dimple in your cheek when you smile at the customer, writing his name on the cup and passing it to your co-workers.

When the man moves aside and you turn your focus on Tao, for whatever reason, his intuition tells him to notice. Maybe it’s an illusion, but today feels different. You feel different.

‘Hi, welcome to Starbucks. What can I get you?’

He opens his mouth, unsure what to say. For a long beat he simply observes you. The little hearts drawn around your name on your name tag. He rolls it around in his mind, matching your face with the word, almost saying it aloud. A dangerous proposition. A door he should leave shut.

Someone coughs behind him and he shakes his head, stepping forward. ‘Just a big Americano please. As big as possible.’ His voice is thick and his throat dry. One day he’ll remember to drink a glass of water before bed after getting drunk.

You nod, reaching to the stack of cups. ‘A grande?’

He swallows to wet his throat. ‘Sure.’

‘Name?’

With a deep inhale he smells last night’s cologne still clinging to his skin. God he needs to get his shit together, he thinks with a sigh. His general state of dishevelment is even more noticeable next to you. He wonders if you ironed the collar of your shirt to be that precise or if you simply move through the world without acquiring any wrinkles.

‘Zitao,’ he says finally.

‘Cute.’ You say it under your breath but he still hears. His eyes go wide, his sluggish mind coming awake. After handing the cup to your co-worker you say the total. ‘That’ll be four oh two please.’

Automatically he reaches into his pocket for his wallet and pulls out the five dollar bill. He knows he’s staring like an idiot but he can’t help it. You hand him his change and on reflex he drops it into the tip jar. Service industry solidarity, he thinks with a half-smile.

The smile on your face blossoms; tentative at first, it grows when his eyes meet yours again. ‘Thank you!’ You pull a small coffee can out from beside the register and hold it out to him. ‘Anyone who tips gets a poem.’

He stares at the can and the slips of paper neatly folded within. Amusement fills him and he reaches for one at random, his fingers brushing yours as he pulls back. The sensation makes him want to linger. How long has it been since he touched someone, in the daylight? Since he wanted to hold and be held? Tao tells himself it doesn’t matter. It can’t. He’s got plans to leave Seattle and he doesn’t need anything tethering him here.

Before he embarasses himself he slides the paper into his pocket with a nod and moves on down the line. As he waits for his drink he keeps his focus on you. The efficiency of your motions and the genuine happiness on your face as you take order after order on the busy Friday morning. People come and go around him but he leans against the wall, waiting, thinking.

Finally his drink is done and the cup spreads heat along his chilled palms. The world is too sharp and demanding and the thought of a day full of errands on too little sleep followed by a full shift at the bar drags at him. But the smell of coffee and your smile and the mystery poem in his pocket are life preservers thrown to him today. He clings to them with both hands to keep himself afloat.

On his way out he finally reads the poem you’ve gifted to him. The writing is done with small, neat lettering and he knows it’s yours.

There is a candle in your heart, ready to be kindled.

There is a void in your soul, ready to be filled.

You feel it, don’t you?

- Rumi

With a groan he pushes out the door with his shoulder, blinking on the too-bright sidewalk. It’s too early to feel so raw and exposed, he decides.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday July 18, 1997

You trail into Flanagan’s Pub after Baekhyun and your sister, Hitchcock. It’s not her real name, but she’s had the nickname so long it might as well be. As always, they argue about movies. As always, you’re the third wheel. Not that they’re actually dating. But everyone agrees they should.

‘Come on, it was brilliant.’ Baekhyun waves his hands dramatically as you wind your way around the crowded bar after them.

‘I’m not saying it wasn’t,’ she responds. They slide into a booth opposite each other and you follow after your sister. ‘All I’m saying is it’s unrealistic, that’s all.’

Baekhyun scoffs, offended. ‘As if realism was the point here.’ You unfold the drink menu while he carries on, undeterred. ‘I know you’re not a hopeless romantic like myself, but are you honestly telling me that you don’t think it’s possible?’

Tonight’s Friday-movie-night tradition was your first viewing of The Fifth Element and Korben and Leeloo’s instant connection has revived their years-long argument about love at first sight. You roll your eyes when your sister shakes her head, leaning forward to tease him. She’s told you about her crush on Baekhyun, her best friend. For someone who’s been in love for as long as you can remember she fights awfully hard against Baekhyun’s romantic nature. Methinks the lady doth protest too much…

‘Look at Before Sunrise,’ Baekhyun says with a click of his tongue. ‘One night and they fell in love.’

She hums and scans the menu. ‘So what? It’s just one night. Show me what happens ten years later. After they see each other with messy morning hair and when he leaves dishes in the sink or, I don’t know, when she bites her nails.’ Baekhyun huffs and she smothers a laugh. ‘Let’s see how that instant love does after it’s put to the test. I’m not saying it isn’t possible, I’m just saying one night doesn’t mean it will stand the test of time, that’s all.’ She folds her menu and rests her elbows on the table, looking incredibly smug.

Baekhyun opens his mouth to argue but the server arrives and interrupts his tirade. ‘What can I get for you?’

The gravelly voice is familiar and your eyes widen in surprise when you see Tao towering over the table. Quickly you look away, back to the dark wood table.

You’ve noticed him before - at Starbucks, at parties at Baek’s from a distance, at Moe’s ages ago - but tonight he’s so cleaned up you hardly recognize him. Gone are the bags under his eyes and the nervous, jittery, curmudgeon energy that seemed to hang over him like a dark cloud. Tonight his eyes are alert and crinkle at the corner when he smiles broadly and you can’t help but notice. A very bad idea.

‘Hey man, how’s it going?’ Baekhyun reaches out and does a complex handshake with the man before you.

‘Oh, you know. Just working at the salt mines,’ Tao says with a laugh. ‘Are you coming to Chan and Soo’s party tomorrow night?’

‘You know it. I wouldn’t miss your big send off. My man here is taking off on a national tour on Sunday. Local boy making it big!’ Baekhyun gives Tao a friendly punch on the arm before drumming his fingers on the table and raising a brow. ‘Since you’re here, maybe you can settle an argument for us.’

Tao darts a look to you and clears his throat. ‘Sure thing. Lay it on me.’

‘Do you believe you can fall in love with someone in one night?’ Baekhyun waggles his brows at your sister and she groans. ‘Like, soulmates burning-down-the world you’re the person I’ve waited for always Blockbuster kind of love.’

He tilts his head to the side, considering. After a moment he shrugs. ‘I’m not sure.’ For a flash Tao’s eyes linger on you once more. ‘I think it would depend on the person.’ And then the bastard goes and winks at you.

Baekhyun snorts and lounges back in the booth, resting his arm on the back of the seat. 'Good luck, buddy. You'd have better luck charming a brick wall. She only reads about love these days, Double Shot here is a bit gun-shy at putting it into practice again.’

You glare at Baekhyun, body going rigid at being called out. For as long as he's been your sister's best friend he's acted like a surrogate older brother to you. He vacillates between telling you it’s good you’re so focused on your studies and telling you that you're too serious, too focused on school and work. Since you got broken up with Baekhyun seems focused on the latter, always needling you to go out and have fun. But, as they say, once burned twice shy.

You focus intently on your hands resting on the table and absolutely avoid looking at Tao. From the first time you rang him up at Starbucks you knew his gaze would see more than you'd like. He's the type to see through every bullshit line you give about how you’re fine being alone, fine with how things ended, fine fine fine.

If life was kind the three of you would order and Tao would leave and that would be the end of it. You could safely stay in your cocoon and hide. But of course, life doesn't play fair.

Tao sticks the pen behind his ear and folds his arms. ‘Is that a bet?’

Your cheeks warm and your heart races. Finally, you look up to him fully. 'Excuse me?'

He shrugs and gives you a lopsided smile. 'If you're game, of course. What do you say, shall we put this to the test?'

'You want to see if we'd fall in love in a night?' You're certain you look like a terrified animal. In a vain attempt to fold yourself back into someone confident you lean against the booth, pressing your feet to the ground and making your spine tall and straight. 'What makes you think you're even my type?'

‘Sweetheart, I’m everyone’s type.’

God knows he probably is. Tall, handsome bad boy who sings like an angel, drives a stupidly hot motorcycle, and looks like he knows the fastest way to make you come undone with just a look. But charming is only skin deep and in return you want to see if there’s anything underneath it that would keep your interest.

‘Fine, then.’ You hold out your hand. ‘I’ll take your bet.’ Stubborn, always so stubborn. Baekhyun giggles and claps excitedly as you grip Tao’s rough, much larger hand.

Your sister leans across you to stare Tao down. 'Hang on. I'm not about to let her go off with some random dude. How do we know you're trustworthy?' Hitchcock has turned her interrogation mode on. ‘I’ve seen you around, but I don’t know you from Bruce Willis.’

He must have other tables to attend to, other things to do, but he rests his palms on the table and leans down to meet her glare. 'I'm an open book. Ask me anything.' The move brings him inches from you. He smells like whisky, the kind that burns, and you swallow instinctively in response.

She narrows her eyes and hums. 'How old are you?'

'Twenty three.'

'Did you go to school?'

He chuckles. 'High school. No need for college.'

'Why not?' You speak up, preparing for an argument. He looks like he could actually keep up with you and a spark of excitement grows low in your body.

'Between singing and bartending I make plenty of money.’ He answers you, not your sister. ‘Don't get me wrong, I respect an education. But I get far more inspiration from living life than from just reading about it.'

You bristle. As a poetry major this feels like a personal attack. ‘Are you telling me you’ve never read anything that made you feel - I don’t know - inspired. Magical. Exposed?' You press your lips together, wishing you could gather the words back.

Tao looks at you through his lashes, bending close enough that you can feel his breath on your lips when he speaks. ‘Words are just the appetizer, darling. I prefer to have an entire feast.’

His dancing eyes dart down to your lips. But then he straightens, pulling the pen out and readying it on the pad. You grip the table to avoid swaying towards him and almost hate him for how much of a magnetic pull he seems to have over you. 'Any other questions or can I grab your orders?'

Baekhyun orders a Smirnoff Ice, delight pouring off him. Your sister narrows her eyes at Tao for a moment. Finally, she relents and orders a sex on the beach. You stare at the red plaid shirt tied around Tao’s hips and order something. An Appletini maybe? Your mind seems to have abandoned you but thankfully Tao nods and winds his way back through the crowd to the bar. In his absence you can breathe fully and look up to see Baekhyun smirking.

‘What?’ you practically groan at him.

‘Oh, nothing.’ He looks like the cat that caught the canary. ‘I just love being right.’

Hitchcock kicks him under the table and he winces, reaching for his shin. They resume their discussion, transitioning to talking about their opening shifts at the theater tomorrow and how much they can reasonably drink tonight and still be functional in the morning. You drum your nails on the lacquered wood table and wonder if your heart is racing from the heat of the packed bar or from the prospect of Tao holding you to your bargain.

The man himself comes back with drinks a moment later. When he slides the light green concoction across the table to you he tilts his head in question. ‘So, how about tonight?’

You choke on your sip and fight the burn in your throat. ‘Are you serious? So soon?’

He grins. ‘Why, did you want time to get ready? I think if we’re going to put it to the test it would have to be tonight. Also, I leave on Sunday morning, so the clock is ticking so to speak.’

‘But I work tomorrow at Starbucks. At the crack of dawn.’ You sputter, waving your hand in front of you. ‘I didn’t think you-’

‘Guess we should get started soon, then.' He winks again and you're tempted to throw your drink at him, just to get the upper hand. ‘I get off at nine.’ Without another word he puts the serving tray under his arm and leaves.

Your sister rolls her eyes. ‘You’re such a bad influence, Baek.’

He throws his arms out wide. ‘I can’t help it baby, I’m a lover. What can I say?’

She snorts and pats you on the back sympathetically. You down your drink in two swallows and absolutely refuse to look at Tao, Baekhyun, or your sister. Instead you pull some bills from your purse and push your way out of the bar before anyone can suggest anything else insane.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It takes you several tries to find a presentable outfit. It's been more than six months since that last fateful date and in the time between you’ve built a literal barrier around yourself, bundling up in sweaters and blankets at home, only emerging for work and class and Friday movie nights.

Baekhyun's words come back to you as you frown and throw yet another outfit on the bed. Are you really a brick wall, impenetrable and cold? You weren't always, surely. Byron's 'and thus, the heart will break, yet brokenly live on' swims in your mind, still fresh from the finals you took just a few weeks ago.

You don't feel broken, just stuck. Numb. Waiting. You hold a dress up to your body and wonder if your ex feels the same or if he, as the one who did the dumping, moved on instantly, and it's just the broken-up-with half that flails around trying to find new footing.

With an defiant press of your lips you sigh and settle on your favorite black and white checkered dress and white Keds. It’s a declaration of intent in a peter pan collar. Your ex always hated your clothes, what you chose to study, your music; everything about you screamed soft and he tried so hard to bend and form you into someone he wanted.

But you are as you are - romantic and idealistic and sweet. You roll your eyes. It’s the truth, and you remind yourself that just because you didn’t match him doesn’t mean you have to change just to make someone else happy. The outfit screams innocence it dares Tao to judge you tonight. As if you care what he thinks. Which you definitely do not.

You barely make it back in time to Flanagan’s. When you rush up Tao is pushing out of the bar onto the street. A thrill runs down your spine at his smile when he sees you. Your ex doesn't control you anymore, you remind yourself. You get to decide when you move on; when you stop mourning something that's dead and over and find something new. Even if it's not with Tao, tonight is an experiment. To see if you can handle a fresh start.

‘Hi,’ you start, breathless from your hurrying.

'Hi yourself. You still game?' he asks, mischief in his eyes and hands in the pockets of his leather jacket. 'If you want an out I won't hold it against you.' He looks you up and down and smirks, but doesn’t comment on your appearance.

In return you scan him as well. His hair is mussed just-so and his earrings match too well to be an accident. He’s trying too, even if his devil-may-care attitude would make others think he’s not. Everyone has an image they present to the world, tonight you’ll find if there’s substance behind Tao’s.

You press your tongue between your teeth and tilt your head at him. 'I'm ready to be surprised.'

He barks out a laugh. ‘Fair enough. I’ll see what I can do’

Tao starts to move towards you across the sidewalk, but you hold out a hand at the level of his chest, stopping his movement. 'So, love, huh? There's not some girlfriend or boyfriend of yours waiting for you at home?'

‘I belong only to myself. For now, at least.' He smiles and holds his arms out wide. His brows tug together suddenly. For a moment he looks unsure. Vulnerable. But the look is gone so fast you wonder if you imagined it. ‘What about you?’

You want to fold in on yourself and turn away, hiding. As if the stain of failure is written across your face. The words that were thrown your way like scarlet letters on your skin for him to see. Prude. Uptight. Tease. Your stomach churns and you’re glad you only had the one drink tonight.

‘Single.’ You suck in a breath after you get the word out, like it stole all the air from your lungs in speaking it.

He nods, holding your gaze for a moment. Those eyes of his drink you in and you’re sure he can see it - the hesitation and the fear. But once more he simply stands tall and gives you space to think. ‘Shall we head towards the waterfront?’

A public place, lively and full of people on a Friday night. Safe, reassuring. He didn’t suggest a club or somewhere heavy with expectation and you like him better for it. Tao waves an arm out in front of you, inviting you to go first and you start walking, clutching your purse under your arm.

He falls into step beside you. 'So I guess if we're going big or going home, shall we start with our dating history?'

You should have expected this level of inquisition, especially from someone who is friends with Baekhyun. ‘Jesus, you don’t pull any punches.’ But against your will you let out a laugh.

There’s something refreshing about someone who seems like, for all his mystery, he doesn’t hold any secrets. Everything out in the cool night air and you wonder if it would be freeing, to let it all go. To not question the words you say. To trust that the person you’re speaking them to will hold them without judgement.

‘Never have, never will,’ he reassures you. The cat-like grin on his lips is teasing. ‘That I can guarantee you. I’m happy to go first, if you’d like?’

You nod, and he sighs, looking through the clouds to the moon that peeks through. The streets are dry for once, a brief respite after the wet Seattle spring. Everyone around you takes in the night with gleeful laughter, on the search for music and connection and entertainment. But even with the full sidewalks around you all you feel compelled to do, inexplicably, is lean in closer to hear Tao.

A group of women brush by you, giggling, forcing you into Tao to avoid them. On instinct he reaches out an arm to keep you both from being overrun. You turn into him and end up meeting his eyes. In the night they’re so dark they look almost black, with flashes of light from passing cars.

The moment stretches around you and irrationally you want to stop him before he says anything else. No stories of the people he’s been with or kissed or loved or wrote songs about. Maybe that’s the appeal of one night love stories, you think. The beginning of love is always a lightning bolt. If that’s all it ever is you never have to deal with being knocked on your ass by the resulting thunderstorm.

The women pass and Tao respectfully brings his hand back to his pocket and time carries on. But the look on his face remains as you both start walking towards the Market again.

‘I should say up front, I uhh - I guess that I’ve never been in a relationship. Actually.’ He runs a hand through his hair and winces like he’s ashamed of it. ‘I came close a few times. But it’s just never worked out.’

You open your mouth but aren’t sure what to say. Do you make fun of him for clearly being a playboy, not wanting to be tied down, fitting the stereotype of the rockstar he’s on a path to becoming? Do you play coy, asking him if you might fit the bill? Or do you reassure him?

The latter feels the most natural. ‘You’re young. It’s the nineties. I don’t think it’s unusual to be playing the field right now.’ You lift a shoulder and shrug, the edge of your black denim jacket slipping down your back a bit with the motion. It exposes the skin of your collarbone above the strap of your dress, where your neck meets your chest.

Tao licks his lips and drags his eyes away from your shoulder to meet yours with a nod. ‘That’s true. I guess most of my friends are single. Sehun is. Jongin is. Baekhyun is, for sure. Even if he is in love with your sister.’ Your jaw drops and Tao bites his lip. ‘Shit, I shouldn’t have said anything. Please don’t tell her I -’

He looks genuinely panicked and you laugh, waving a hand. ‘Trust me, she’s in love with him too. They’re both too stubborn to admit it though. So your secret is safe with me.’

Tao sighs, relaxing, and gives you a half smile. ‘Thank you, I appreciate that.’ The neon lights from the bars and clubs along Pike street pass over his face, painting him dozens of bright colors. ‘So, that’s my story. Too busy working and writing lyrics and singing to be tied down. What’s yours?’

‘That’s hardly a story,’ you challenge, raising a brow. ‘More like the cover of a book.’

‘It’s plenty!’ he laughs. ‘I’ve exposed myself as a perpetually single man. I think that tells you tons about me.’ At your pursed lips he continues. ‘Fine. I’ve been chasing music for so long that I have avoided getting serious with anyone, lest it keep me from my dreams of stardom. I crave that intensity between me and an audience when I sing, but I’m afraid to let myself have something real. Something intimate, that expects more of me past one performance. I’m afraid that off-stage I’m more disappointing than on et cetera et cetera.’

He cuts off his rambling monologue, his eyes widening as he stops in his tracks for a moment, like he can’t believe he just said so much. But you stand next to him without judgement. Something about his disarming honesty and expressiveness makes you want to tell him the truth, ugly that it might be.

While you stand on the corner and wait for the light to change you look at the zipper of his leather jacket to avoid his eyes and spit it out. ‘I got dumped six months ago.’ You lift your hands and drop them uselessly to your side.

He tilts his head back in appraisal. Blessedly the teasing is gone from his face. He doesn’t offer sympathy, cloying and patronizing words about how you’ll find someone else. He doesn’t flirt with you, even though that seems to be his nature.

‘I don’t know the circumstances, and you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but all I can say is - it’s his loss.’ He gives you a slight smile, not moving even when the light changes, and you can’t help but return it.

It’s strange that it could be so simple. Perhaps if you do carry on something with Tao you’ll tell him more. But for tonight it can be that easy. The pain and doubt and shame can fade into a pinprick of light heading off into the distance and get swallowed up by the night. Like you can just wipe the slate clean and start over. You inhale a deep breath of cool, salty air and look up at Tao, your smile growing, becoming more genuine and whole.

A lightness fills you and you wind your arm through his, pulling him into the crosswalk just as the last few seconds show on the countdown. He lets you guide him easily and you come to rest on the concrete looking down at the Pike Place Market. The bright neon red sign reflects against the dark night and the inky blue waters of the Bay beyond it. In the twilight ships move back and forth through the port, full of tiny lights of their own.

He drops his hand a little, running over the clothed skin of your arm until he reaches your palm. The contact of his hand on yours makes you jolt. ‘Is this okay?’

Without thinking you nod, twining your fingers with his, savoring the heat as he presses against you. Your ex hated holding hands in public, hated any kind of PDA, calling it childish. But Tao stands by your side, hand in hand, as though it’s the most natural thing in the world.

People mill about you, heading to the endless restaurants and food stands that line the Market. In summer it’s in full bloom, crowded every night, and after a long winter and spring holed up in your apartment it’s disorienting to be out in the world again.

You start walking together, without a plan. It’s far more comfortable than you’d expected, the companionable silence with him. Everyone in your life talks a mile a minute - Baekhyun and your sister, your co-workers at the busy coffee shop, your classmates, hungry for discussion - but Tao seems content to just hold your hand and admire the rows of vendors you pass. The lack of pressure from him eases something that had drawn tight and anxious in your chest over the last few months.

Before you is a maze of stalls. Tables full of tulips in bright yellows and pinks, bouquets wrapped in brown paper, that you stop to smell. Screen printed tee shirts with the Sonics logo or photos of the Space Needle or trendy political puns that Tao points out with a laugh. People sell everything from watercolor paintings to homemade honey to snow globes. As a recent college grad, you’re saving all your money, but everything is still fascinating to look at.

The two of you settle on a kebab place for dinner after a long debate about the merits of the taco cart and the hole-in-the-wall seafood stop. The steam brings the rich smell of meat and vegetables to you. Against your protests to split the bill, Tao insists on buying dinner.

‘If this is an official date I have to follow the guidelines,’ he winks.

You roll your eyes and defiantly go to the next stall to order two Jones sodas from the seller. When you hold them up he laughs and inclines his head. ‘Alright, that’s fair.’

When you’re settled on the narrow rock wall beyond the far edge of the market, balancing Jones sodas on the uneven stones with a warm kebab resting on your knees, he carries on.

'So, poetry. What made you choose that?' He asks around a bite.

After a sip of soda you tilt your head at him. ‘You can't laugh, okay?'

'Why would I laugh?’ His brows furrow like it’s the furthest thing from his mind. ‘I'm a singer, sweetheart. I don't take the arts lightly and anyone who does is an asshole.' He narrows his eyes at you in mock seriousness but the way his mouth fights a smile is endearing.

You snort, liking him yet again without planning on it. ‘I don’t know. I’ve always loved it and sometimes I try to write it. I’ve had some job or another since high school, so I’m confident I can always get a job if I need it but - there’s something so - so delicious about poetry.’ You swallow another drink of your soda and Tao’s eyes flick to the motion of your throat. ‘If I was going to go to college, and our parents kind of insisted on it, I wanted to study something I loved.’

Tao lifts his own soda and clinks it to yours in solidarity. ‘I can respect that. What’s your favorite poem?’

Suddenly shy you turn to set your soda down on the stone beside you, letting your hair fall over your face while you think. It’s not that you don’t know, but that it feels too close, too personal to tell him just yet. ‘That’s very private.’

When you look back to him he holds your gaze for a moment. ‘Hmm. Okay I can respect that. Favorite songs are pretty personal too so I’ll let you hold onto it, for now.’ With a movement as casual as breathing he tucks your hair behind your ear, as though he does it twenty times day, and resumes his eating.

Poems run through your head as you chew, heart racing. You’d thought this was an experiment that would quickly go south. A quick walk to prove that you’re not compatible. A smug ‘I told you so’ to Baekhyun. And then a return to the comfort of your bed to read for the night. You didn’t expect to want him. Words, endless remembered words filter across your consciousness, ones of love and lust and death and the exhilaration of life.

Normally your own creative voice is quiet, too afraid to give permanence to the ideas, the words, that live inside you. But as you watch the gentle night breeze ruffle his dark hair you think you could write some tonight, if you had pen and paper. Instead you shove an enormous bite in your mouth and chew, afraid of the attraction you have to him.

When you’re both done eating he holds his hand out for your trash and you wad up the wrapper and hand it to him along with the empty bottle. He walks over to the trash and dutifully puts the bottles in the recycle, like any good Seattle boy. Dusting off his hands he turns back towards you, approaching slowly and holding out his hands.

After a moment’s hesitation you reach for him, allowing him to help you stand. Continuing the night’s adventure. When you’re on your feet he releases one of your hands, keeping the other one tucked in his as the two of you wind your way back through the crowds. Both of you stop to pat the bronze pig at the crux of the Market for good luck.

He leads the way down the narrow stairs to Post Alley and the line outside the comedy club at its base winds around in a long chain. It’s funny, normally you’d want to know The Plan. Baekhyun calls you anal retentive, but you just consider yourself organized. You like knowing what’s coming. But tonight you consent to following him without knowing the destination. You bite back a smile - it’s exciting and terrifying all at once.

A group of people tries to come up the stairs as you’re going down and you are pressed against the rail, trying not to slip. It definitely isn’t meant to be wide enough for both directions of people at the same time. As if sensing your predicament Tao presses his broad back into the rowdy man behind you, ignoring his grumbles of annoyance, making space so you can descend the last few steps onto the courtyard.

Out front of the Market Theater you thank him and wonder what exactly his plan is. Is he taking you to an improv show? A concert? Drinks? With your hand still in his he gently moves to the left, under the archway and in front of the long gum wall. You raise a brow at him but he merely smiles and shrugs.

‘I didn’t peg you for someone who likes tourist attractions.’

His eyes dance with amusement. ‘Oh yeah? What kind of person did you imagine me to be?’

You purse your lips and try to figure out how to answer him. ‘I’m not sure, actually. Normally I can read people pretty easily, but I can’t pin you down.’

‘Me?’ He presses his hand that holds yours to his chest. ‘Baby, I’m an open book.’

The gum wall around you smells sickly sweet and you can almost taste it on your tongue. Everyone around you is taking polaroids in front of the wall or chewing their own gum in preparation to add to it.

You wonder what the two of you look like from an outsider’s perspective. Tao, tall and imposing with his thick motorcycle boots. You with your white Keds and sweet, checkered dress and headband. It might seem like you’re an odd couple, but the heartbeat in his chest against your hand is strong and underneath it all perhaps you’re not so different.

With a breathy laugh and a roll of your eyes you grip his hand and pull him further along the alley beside the gum walls, towards the water. Nearby one of the many buskers permitted to perform along Pike Place starts signing a loud and heartfelt, if slightly off-key, rendition of ‘Sweet Caroline,’ drawing the cheers of the onlookers.

Away from the crowd in Post Alley you emerge onto a side street a block or so from the water. Tilting your head back you watch as everyone sings along. Tao’s free arm suddenly comes around your waist and dramatically he starts swaying you back and forth, crooning along to the Neil Diamond song far better than the busker. A few other people on the street around you smile or laugh, making their way to the pier up ahead.

Instead of asking him what on earth he’s doing or feeling embarrassed about dancing in the middle of the sidewalk you just cling to him and try to keep up. His voice is rich and soothing, his hand holding you against him is sturdy and comforting. You can’t help but giggle and roll with it, holding onto his jacket and watching his jaw move as he sings.

All too soon the performance back at the Market behind you ends and the last lyrics are drowned out by applause. Tao takes a step back and the night is cold without his warm embrace. You long to step forward and close the distance once more. Instead you brush your hair back and compose yourself.

‘What kind of music do you like to sing?’ you ask as the two of you resume your progress towards the pier.

‘All kinds.’ He shrugs. ‘But mostly love songs.’

‘Really?’ The light before you changes and ahead the aquarium looms in the night. To your left is the Kingdome waits, past the long stretch of the boardwalk. Without waiting for Tao you head that direction, the briny ocean air filling your lungs.

He easily comes to your side. ‘Of course. Everything’s about love I think, when you get down to it.’

‘You weren’t singing love songs when I saw you perform.’

You answer without thinking, remembering the concert a few months ago that you and your sister went to. Baekhyun had invited you both to see Chanyeol’s band - Yeol and the Salty Wolves - and Tao was performing with the opening group.

‘You’ve seen me on stage?’ His proud grin is teasing and playful and damned if you don’t want to kiss him.

‘Yeah. It - my sister dragged me out of the house. She thought getting outside would do me some good.’ You focus on picking off a section of your pink nail polish that’s started to chip. ‘You guys were great. But you were definitely yelling about anarchy, not love.’

The imagine of him in his tank top, wide slits cut under the arms revealing a broad swath of his tanned skin, singing passionately, makes you suddenly very aware of him. Tonight he’s composed, a rebel in street clothes. But that night his face was slicked with sweat from his intensity, red in the cheeks and headbanging along with the crowd and the rest of the band. Even that night, so close after your recent break up, you wanted him. It was a dangerous idea then and it’s a dangerous idea now.

He hums and veers to the right, heading down one of the longer piers. ‘I could argue that anarchy still is love. Love of your beliefs and love of a person or a place or a thing so much that you’re willing to fight for it, to go to war for what you care about.’

To that you don’t argue. ‘That’s true. I guess anything could be love when you get down to it. There’s so many poems about sadness - missing love or rejected love. Anger. Bitterness.’

The wooden boards of the pier below you give a gentle thunk with each heavy step of Tao’s huge boots. Below you the water sloshes against the planks. Now at the end you lean forward, resting your elbows on the railing, before turning back to Tao.

‘I guess this is a day to be debating love,’ you smirk, thinking back to the conversation that got you into this. In the wind off the Bay you shiver.

Like a reflex Tao shrugs out of his jacket and holds it out to you. But you lean over and wave your hand at him. ‘No it’s okay, I’m fine. Please, you don’t have to -’

But he drops it over you anyways, the warm weight of his jacket settling on your shoulders and insulating you from the wind. In his black, long-sleeve shirt he doesn’t even seem cold. With a sigh you pull it more fully onto you and bend upright again, inches from him.

‘Debating love indeed. See I think love and intimacy is made far too complex by a lot of people.’ He slowly rubs his hands together, forearms resting on the railing as he leans over, looking at the waves. ‘I think it comes from knowing someone. Really knowing them. Hopes and fears and memories and all of that. and choosing to be with them. Simple and complicated as that.’

‘Simple as that?’ you gape at him, holding your wind-tousled hair out of the way with one hand so you can look at him. ‘There's no way to truly know someone in one night, though. There's too much nuance for love in such a short time.’ The beating of your heart in your palms when you look at him would argue otherwise and you inhale deeply, trying to keep your center.

‘Hence why I also said complicated. But now we’re debating what love itself means.’ His gaze darts down to your lips before he meets your eyes. ‘I know plenty about you.’

You open your mouth to argue but he carries on. ‘I know you’re stubborn, given the soda earlier and the coat just now. I know you’re practical and competent - I’ve seen you at your job. I know you’re a romantic at heart, you have to be to study poetry, and even if some asshole temporarily doused that fire you look for evidence that love is real everywhere.’

Feeling raw and exposed you try to find anything to say to brush off the way his statements cut to the heart of you. ‘That doesn’t mean you - uhm - that you know me.’

The word you almost said in your haste was love and the thought makes your palms sweat. Irrational. Impossible. Everyone always says your emotions are easy to read, that they’re written all over your face, and you wonder what he sees as he watches you. The moment you said it you could see the slow smile start on his lips. At the very least he knows you’re not arguing with him as much as arguing with yourself, against what you feel.

He leans in closer so that his forehead touches yours, low voice almost a murmur. ‘But I want to know you more. I want to do a lot of things. Does that count?’

‘Count?’ If you wanted to you could press up on your toes and kiss him. The thought is intoxicating and you close your eyes, heaving a breath into your lungs.

After a long moment of thinking and waiting and wondering you finally open them again. Tao looks just as conflicted as you are - his brows tug together and the casual flirtation is gone. He holds himself still before you and something far more serious crosses his face. Though he doesn’t answer with words the look in his eyes telegraphs his feelings for you.

With a sigh he pulls back, reaching to the railing with both hands to steady himself, and you sway in his absence. He looks up at the night sky, at the moon through the clouds, and smiles. The stars peek through here and there. It’s not a cold night, just a breeze across the water to relieve the heat from the long summer day. Distantly a line of poetry comes to you, about being thirsty, parched almost, and wanting to drink him in to quench it.

Rather than indulge the dangerous impulse to touch him again you take off back down the boardwalk. Back to the city and the lights and far away from the closeness of being with him in the dark. The pressure of his thick jacket will have to be enough, for now.

‘So, where do you want to go next?’ You’re impressed you manage to sound steady.

He sticks his hands in his pockets once more and ambles after you, a small smile gracing his lips. ‘I know a place.’

As you make your way along the waterfront he turns the conversation to safer territory. You fill each other in on your jobs - how they started and what you like and don’t like. Co-workers who are dating, friends you have in common at the mall. Notorious customers. Tao has dozens of stories and his laugh is easy, his eyes bright with flirtation now that you’re both on safer ground.

Through the night you meander around the city in a vague Northward direction. Past the Science Center, it’s great white sculptures lit up. Around the Space Needle and the fountain. Another city and the streets would be deserted this late. But here there’s groups of people, laughing and splashing each other at the base of the enormous bowl that forms the center of it. You pass the occasional jogger or couple holding hands, walking home.

The two of you stop to use the restroom and get a drink of water at a 24 hour grocery store. Tao also insists on buying some snacks, chocolate and a bag of chips that you keep in the large pockets of his jacket as you progress to the edges of Lake Union.

It’s easy, being with him. His energy is calm, reassuring. He’s got a wicked and witty sense of humor you wouldn’t have expected and you easily spend half an hour looking out at the boats, making up other, naughtier names for them.

It turns out he likes X-Files just as much as you and your sister do. As you stroll along the Fremont bridge you end up taking his hand once more. The snacks are gone and you can’t resist touching him again. It must be well after midnight, but he doesn’t mention going home. Strangely, you don’t want to either. For someone who’s life has become so habitual you’re surprized you’ve not even spared a thought for your nightly routine of reading in bed with a glass of wine and a candle burning on the windowsill.

There will be other nights for that, but for tonight you let the momentum of the evening carry you along with him. You both decide to skip a visit to the Troll, not wanting to tempt any disasters. The Keds on your feet hold up well and you give a thanks to your past self for not wearing heels or sandals.

Eventually his destination becomes clear. The gates to the park are closed for the night. ‘Gas Works? This is your plan - breaking and entering?’

He nods, biting his lip. ‘Yep. I know a way in. The nighttime view is unbeatable.’

You hold out your hands, gesturing to the enormous PARK HOURS: DAWN TIL DUSK sign.

‘Afraid of being caught?’

You roll your eyes. ‘Yes, actually. I don’t think getting arrested for trespassing would be a great thing for my resume.’

Tao considers before backing towards the edge of the fence with a smirk. ‘Come on. How about a little mischief here ‘upon the honey’d middle of the night’?’

‘You know Keats?’ It leaves you breathless, rooted to the ground. It’s not from your favorite poem, but he is your favorite poet. A good guess or has he been doing his research?

‘Of course. Don’t you?’ Tao teases, folding back a corner of the fence and easing himself through.

You scoff and charge after him. The smug bastard can’t just quote Keats and then run away from you. Once again you want to kiss the proud look off his face, to rattle him the way he seems so capable of rattling you, getting underneath your surface. With a last thought to your reputation you step through after him and a thrill runs down your spine.

The rusted red containers and machines that form the center of the park are tall ghosts in the night, rising from the grass and casting long shadows around you in the distant light from the city. He holds out his hand and you easily catch it, both of you winding your way carefully around the gentle hills to make your way to the view.

You find a suitable spot and sit down on the grass. ‘You’re right,’ you tell him reluctantly.

‘About what?’ Tao sits beside you, linking his hands over his knees. He sits near enough you can feel his thigh pressing against yours. Close, always so close, but not as close as you want him.

‘About this.’ You gesture to the Seattle skyline in front of you.

Sure you’ve been in the daytime, watching the boats sail on Lake Union and the groups of yoga practitioners and families with young kids fill the grassy slopes down to the water. But by night the lights of the city look like a painting. Skyscrapers touching the clouds as the first hints of sun are lightening the horizon.

‘I thought you’d enjoy it.’ He nudges you with his shoulder and smiles at you.

The gentle sounds of the water below is relaxing. Even as you lift your hand to cover a yawn you don’t truly feel tired, like the night and closeness to him could keep you awake forever, if you let them. But even so, dawn is coming and you think back to the reason that you’re both here.

‘So. About that bet?’ Your words are a sigh and somewhere between the late hours and the way his eyes crinkle at the corners when he smiles you don’t second guess the question.

He side eyes you and can’t smother the grin on his face. ‘You mean the one about if we can fall in love in one night?’

‘Yes, that.’ It must be the lack of sleep causing the giddiness you feel, you tell yourself, as you lean back against the grass and cover your face with your hands.

His own hands find yours and you turn to see him on his side next to you. Gently he pulls them down, holding them to his chest, so he can look you in the eyes. ‘Hmm, I don’t know about love, but I feel a whole hell of a lot right now. We never came up with an objective definition of it, anyways.’

You snort. ‘Did you honestly just say ‘objective definition?’’

‘Yes, I think if we’re going to agree here, we need to be on the same page.’ With his intense focus on yours he brushes a kiss against the backs of your hands. ‘If we say love is a feeling, who’s to say that we aren’t in love? If we decide it’s an action then which one is it? A kiss or a commitment or - maybe it’s nothing more complicated than putting words to the way I feel when you look at me?’

The smile blooms across your face and right then you’re tempted to say it’s all of them. How much you want his mouth on yours and his hands all over you. How you’re not quite sure you know how to have a relationship with a man anymore, after your ex, but that you want to try with him. How wild and free you feel being next to him.

‘I don’t know about -’ you whisper. You let the truth fall out, not bothering to think about what it might mean. ‘Long term or after tonight. But I’d say, much that I hate to admit Baekhyun could be right, I’d say… uhm, he could be right.’

You avoid Tao’s eyes, focusing on his jaw or the fabric of his shirt or the way his hands hold yours. But still you see how he smiles, almost glowing in the light of the moon and the barest reflection of the sun coloring the skyline to your left.

He clears his throat, pressing another kiss to your hand. ‘Well, I'd look at it this way. Let's say we do get together. Maybe we last a month or maybe we last for the rest of our lives. Another fifty or sixty years. In either of those cases tonight would be just a fraction of the relationship. A small sliver. Important when looking at the broad view of a life together, but not crucial by itself.’

With a nod you look at him and the heat in his eyes makes you gasp. He moves over you, releasing your hands to brace himself on the ground behind your head. The sturdy press of his body reminds you this isn’t a movie or a dream, it’s something real that’s happening to you. The cool grass sinks into your dress at your back and brushes against your thighs.

'Or.' His hot breath cascades across your lips. 'If all we have is tonight.' Moving himself to the side he runs his nose along your jaw, mouth teasing the skin of your neck with barely there kisses. 'One night would be everything. For all the marbles, as they say.' He pulls back and looks at you with a lopsided grin.

You huff out a breath, blowing your bangs out of your eyes, absently running your hands across his shoulders, along his chest. 'I don't know. I like knowing there's always time for more. Like - what if I was tired tonight or hungry or cranky and I messed it up? The thought of just one night still makes me nervous.’

He kisses your forehead and the words come faster, as if hurried along by the morning. ‘If we're a forever thing, then it's okay, because there will be a thousand more chances to get it right. But just once? How can it be perfect if it's so brief?'

'Well, even if we do get together we'd still only have one first kiss.' He rests on one elbow and uses his free hand to cup your jaw, clearing his throat around the roughness of his voice. 'Do you want to wait or shall we attempt perfection tonight?'

The thought of waiting any longer makes you far sadder and you nod. ‘Screw it - kiss me. Please?’

Instead of answering he simply drops his head, closing the distance and sealing his mouth over yours. He groans at the contact, the sound vibrating in his chest where it rests against yours. You grip his neck, winding your fingers through the strands of his hair and hold on, to ground yourself, between him and the grass as he slowly, hungrily, kisses you.

Your eyes flutter for a moment as he sucks on your lower lip. Behind him the sky is bright, the rays of light spilling through the clouds and rendering him art himself. The arch of his brows, full of emotion. You squeeze your eyes closed and hold him tight, grazing his neck with your nails and sighing into his open mouth. Before you can kiss him again he pulls back, his cheeks flushed and his eyes full of delight.

‘That was pretty damn good.’ He huffs out a laugh, running his tongue along his lower lip like he’s trying to keep the taste of you close. ‘Are you sure you want to risk another one? It could be -’

‘Yes,’ you answer immediately. ‘Again.’

He grins and buries his face in your neck, his hot breath falling on your sensitive skin. ‘I think we’ve found the crucial difference between us.’ At your hum he carries on. ‘I can take one moment and hold onto it forever, perpetually living off the way it felt. You want to have it over and over again. And here I thought you were the poet.’

Rolling onto his back he pulls you on top of him with a squeal as you right yourself, bracing hands on his shoulders for balance. His hand rests against your cheek. ‘But if it helps. I - feel the same way.’

‘Oh.’ To keep your surprise and delight from exploding all over your face you bite your lip. ‘Alright then.’ You trace patterns in the fabric covering his chest.

It’s as simple and as complicated as that, just like he said, hours ago.

As the day rises full and bright with the heat of the sun you do indeed kiss again. Several more times. When you’re both red lipped and thirsty and covered in wrinkled clothes you head back to your apartment by UW. He gives you a piggy back ride when your feet start to hurt and helps you make breakfast with a sleepy smile and runs his fingers over the covers of the numerous books stacked on every surface of your apartment and all the while the feeling in your chest grows, not diminishes.

You hurry through a shower and getting dressed for work while he patiently waits on the couch. His eyes are closed when you emerge, putting your hair back in a ponytail. Leaning against the door frame you watch the gentle rise and fall of his chest. You stifle a yawn and think of how not twelve hours ago you didn’t know what his skin felt like beneath your palms or what he’d be like to kiss or how perfectly your bodies seem to line up.

Tomorrow, or perhaps later tonight, you’ll have to report back to Baekhyun and your sister. Though you still have no idea what you’ll say when he asks if the two of you fell in love in one night, you know that, at the very least, it was the start of something.

You leave Tao a note with instructions to sleep as long as he wants and a spare copy of your keys. He works his own shift tonight at Flanagan’s at two, his last one before he leaves on tour. Reassured that at least you’ll see him once more tonight at the party, before he’s gone for - well, you suppose you didn’t ask the specifics yet. You laugh at the thought and quietly shut the door and sprint down the steps to work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It’s hardly after nine in the morning when Tao arrives. Far earlier than you were expecting, but you’ve learned that he likes to surprise you. When you see him standing in line you bite your lip, tilting your head and giving him a sleepy smile.

‘A bit early for you, isn’t it?’ You ask, friendly and professional. ‘You look like you had a long night.’

He laughs, shaking his head and resting his palms on the counter. ‘I did indeed. But it’s been over two hours since I last saw you.’

‘Oh yeah? Is that a long time, then?’ you tease him.

He whistles and leans in to whisper so only you can hear. ‘Far too long for someone in love.’

‘Love?’ The word thunders in your chest.

‘Maybe it’s too soon to know,’ he says, not backing up at all. ‘Maybe love is confirmed by time. But what I feel, whatever this is the start of, I’m greatly looking forward to.’

‘Are you sure you want to start this? You’re leaving, like, tomorrow.’ Suddenly in the light of day the reality of the situation makes your stomach flip.

He clutches his chest dramatically. ‘Don’t sound so sad, love. Please. You say that like I won’t come back.’ He reaches for your hand across the counter. ‘At least we'll have tonight. Tonight or forever, right?’

‘Exactly.’ Unable to resist you lift your hand to hold his cheek and kiss him. It was killing you not to and why not? He’s right. If it’s just one more night, you’re going to make it count.

You pull back and fill out his cup, insisting it’s your treat. Before he leaves you hold out the jar of poems. When he reads the line he laughs, holding it out to you.

“And one by one the nights between our separated cities are joined to the night that unites us.”

― Pablo Neruda

#exowritersnet #tao x reader #zitao x reader #tao scenario #tao fanfic #exo x reader #exo au #exo fanfic #exo scenario #exo imagine #exodus mall

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sooibian · 5 years ago

Text

Dittany

✨ part of the Spellbound collab series with insanely talented writers @hkynm @fullsuninbloom @blackberrykai and @j-pping

✨ pairing: hufflepuff!kyungsoo x ravenclaw!oc/reader ft. ravenclaw!chen

✨ themes: fluff, mild angst, slow burn, cheesy couples

✨ genre: hogwarts!au

✨ description: broken bones and a tedious detention - can I still say that this is the best christmas i've ever had? it’s because I found magic in him - the big eyed, dark haired, hufflepuff boy. funny I say that as a witch! but sadly, good things don’t last forever.

✨ word count: 16.5k

✨ tag list: @eggsodose @christiandosworld @imgonweast @is-that-baekhyuns-shirt @changshapatrol @thatanonymousgirl-as14 @his-mochi-cheeks @charmedbaek @xiusoomygod @crescent-iak @gdaystays @mangobaek @keonaforever21 @staryyugy @hyckrens @yixing-jaebeom @halfbloodkjm @thepoeticfirefly

With a baggie of Caramel Cobwebs grasped between her fingers, he saw her head towards Gladrags Wizardwear. He feigned untied shoelaces as his friends Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Chen made a beeline for a table at The Three Broomsticks. He stayed just so that he could see her for just a little bit longer as she walked down the quaint but bustling lane of Hogsmeade. It baffled him how different she looked to him every time he saw her.

Yet she looked so familiar.

A sound of girls giggling reached his ears suddenly making him more aware. A jet of purple light shot in her direction and she stood frozen, right in the middle of the street, face buried in hands.

It enraged him to see her like this, weak and lost. With a flick of his wand he unbound her legs. Misty eyed, she hesitantly looked over her shoulder for a fleeting moment before hurrying into the safer confines of the shop as though nothing had happened.

This was their first ever trip to Hogsmeade and he thought J. Pippin's Potions worth the detour.

Rat tails. Porcupine quills. Billywig stings.

The Hair Raising potion had its benefits, after all.

A few drops of it in their pumpkin juice and those girls went around school with their hair standing on end. It made them the laughing-stock and not a single soul suspected the innocent looking, third-year Hufflepuff boy.

Professor Trelawney's got me feeling like I’ve downed an entire flask of Felix Felicis.

Maybe it was the fine sherry I brought her for Christmas and if I'm being honest she was most likely under the influence of some at the time - a bit too early in the day for such an indulgence but that’s just my opinion. Anyway, she has prophesied that today’s going to be a momentous day for me. She said it would “change the course of my destiny”. Jupiter has entered Pisces owing to which I’ll be able to open myself up more to the world. I shudder at the thought but her comically large, moony eyes bore a distinct hint of euphoria so I’ll take her word for it. And I don’t care what “opinions” other students - or even Professors for that matter - have of her but I’ll always believe that Divination is a highly compelling (albeit misunderstood) branch of magic.

And Professor Trelawney is a truly gifted Seer.

With a spring in my step, I'm practically galloping down the Great Hall after a hearty breakfast and Professor Flitwick is unfeignedly in his element. A peppy tune on his lips, he blossoms golden baubles out of his wand, trailing them over the branches of the new dozen of frost covered fir trees akin to a Maestro weaving a symphony with his baton. Christmas has always been an ethereal treat for the eyes at Hogwarts. The Castle is covered in several feet of silver snow, in the Great Hall thick streams of holly and mistletoe criss-cross the ceilings and enchanted snow falls warm and dry from it. While I do feel a little lonely sometimes, I'd rather spend the holidays here than back home with Gran.

Fourteen years of having to raise me all by herself after Mum and Dad passed away couldn’t have been easy. I reckon she could do well without having to unnecessarily fret over me during the holidays. And I could do very well without her persuasions, asking me to live up to the dreams my parents had had for me. Hopefully, she's enjoying herself with a cup or two of Firewhisky in the evenings in the company of her Ministry friends and gorging on those delicious Ugly Christmas Sweater Cookies and Liquorice Wands that she so relishes!

"Looks great, Professor!" I say to Professor Flitwick and with a cheery laugh he waves his wand bearing arm at me. I duck at the sudden attack of tinsels but one golden bauble nests in the loop of my topknot anyway. I think I'll keep it and use it for Hagrid's gift.

Hagrid!

A glance out the window behind the staff table and I resolve to brave the weather and pay him a long overdue visit. I have a little something for him and old Fang. I won’t lie, it helps to be the granddaughter of an influential woman for Hagrid’s Christmas presents don’t come easy.

Another great thing about Christmas is that I have the castle all to myself. The dormitory is vacant and the Common Room is far emptier than usual. And I’m spared the everyday torment of hushed whispers and giggles and the occasional “practical jokes”. Carefully, I bring Hagrid’s present out of its little pen to measure it up against the stray bauble. Not his size. He rapidly blinks his beetle brown eyes at me and crawls up my arm with a certain urgency, nestling into the crook of my neck. “Aww Mr. Twiggles”, I plop the Bowtruckle down onto my lap and wrap a pink ribbon around its knobbly brown arm. Placing him under an airy bronze cloche, alongside a huge slab of butterbeer fudge, I bid him adieu.

***

My butt is freezing, I’m pretty sure I heard something crack and it was definitely not the ice. A terrified Bowtruckle is smack in the middle of my face while I lie amidst crumbs of Butterbeer Fudge. Since this could be his only shot at freedom, Mr. Twiggles scuttles into the Forbidden Forest. Taking stock of the situation I realise that Fang’s present has now become one with the snow, I’ve lost Hagrid’s present to its natural habitat and probably snapped a few of my bones in the process.

But this is the least of my concerns.

My literal fall further down the school’s social structure has a witness - the Muggle-born Hufflepuff boy, who belongs to probably one of the most influential cliques in school. I don’t think much of them, to be honest. They’re just a babbling band of bumbling baboons. But can’t I have a day go by without being humiliated? Is that a lot to ask? Hagrid’s hut is barely ten feet from here. I wouldn’t mind breaking all of my bones in his company. He would’ve probably offered me some tea and his infamous rock cakes before carrying me to the Hospital Wing. Out of all the places in Hogwarts... out of all the places in the world...did this wide-eyed bloke really have to be here? Exactly in this moment? And just how many students is Hagrid friends with anyway? And why him? I swear I’ve never seen the boy smile. Not even when he’s with his rowdy friends.

This can’t be it.

This can’t be the ‘momentous day that changes the course of my destiny’. This is just like...any other rubbish day and it’s crushing my soul. I'm starting to believe that Divination is a whole lot of hogwash and Professor Trelawney is indeed a fraud. But at this point, I can’t feel my limbs and I really, really could use some help.

Squinting hard, the Muggle-born rushes to my aid. My lips begin to quiver and I feel warm tears trickle down my temples, further wetting my already damp hair. He stoops down and his eyes widen with surprise and recognition and he scoffs at my immobilized state. As he’s helping me up, I wrap my right arm around his shoulders. An imperceptible smile tugs at his lips as his left arm firms around my waist and before I know it, I’m standing on my own two feet - or one. My weight is supported by him and my good right leg. But before I can begin to thank him, a sharp pain shoots to my head and I see little stars buzzing around his ears. Maybe they are real!

“Wrackspurts”, I mumble and observe his lips form the shape of a heart when curved into a wide smile. His smile is….bewitching.

And it's the last thing I see.

***

Madam Pomfrey strongly insists on keeping me caged in for the night. She’s implacable and my protests are met with a standard taut response, “Broken bones are particularly dangerous in winters. You’re staying the night.” How do I explain that I feel fine and keeping me in will only make matters a LOT worse for me.

I have to go see the Hufflepuff boy.

I have absolutely no memory of the events that unfolded after I literally started seeing stars. Not Wrackspurts. Did he perhaps carry me to the Hospital Wing? I have no answers and this isn’t exactly the kind of topic I wish to broach with Madam Pomfrey. My throat dries up at the thought of him struggling to bring me all the way up here and it makes me actively consider a transfer to Beauxbatons - if that is indeed possible. Because this cannot be happening right now! Sixth year has been quiet and I’d like to keep it that way, thank you very much.

I don’t know if the Hufflepuff boy will keep it down for me. Will he tell his friends about it? Will I become the talk of the town even before school resumes? Will he keep it to himself if I cut a deal with him? I don’t mind helping him out with schoolwork or something.

My delirious train of thought is interrupted by three rhythmic knocks on the slightly ajar double door.

It’s him.

He’s standing in the doorway, twiddling a rectangular purple box in his hands, shifting his weight nervously from one foot to the other. Does he expect me to invite him in? What’s the protocol? Smoothing out the wrinkles in my blanket, I sit up slightly and crane my neck to find Madam Pomfrey who seems to be in her Office. Pursing my lips into an awkward smile, I turn to look at him and shrug noncommittally. He takes it as his cue to enter.

“This is for you.” He says in a low mellifluous voice which tastes like honeyed milk and gingerly places the box at the edge of my bed. Caramel Cobwebs. My favourite! He finds a seat at the edge of the other end of my bed.

“Thanks, you didn’t have to...and thank you for everything. I -”

His deep brown eyes suddenly meet mine and I lose all sense of speech.

“It was Hagrid who brought you here”, he says nonchalantly, drumming his fingers on his knees while allowing his large eyes to survey the sterile, sprawling infirmary.

Then why is he here?

“Aren’t you missing lunch?” I ask, unwrapping the box and offering the constellate of bite sized confectionery to him. “I’m not too hungry”, he says, guzzling down a few anyway. A soft smile touches the corners of his mouth.

Silence echoes in the Hospital Wing, save for our muted nibbling. It’s soothing in its sense of comfort as neither of us is particularly chatty. And that’s just as gratifying as the sweet treats.

“Looks like we have company!” The stern but kind Matron swooshes out of her office, scrutinizing the boy from top to bottom, making him shift uncomfortably in his seat. She’s never been too fond of visitors. I remember the day I tagged along with Chen last year to visit his human banshee of a friend - Baekhyun.

A doxy had apparently sunk it’s double row sharp front teeth into his arm, injecting him with its venom. His dense idea was to experiment with doxy venom to appear ill just so that he could cut a couple of lessons with his dimwitted oaf - Chanyeol. While the latter went unscathed and even managed to extract an ounce of venom out of the doxy (cute fairies he liked to call them), the human banshee had to be brought into the Hospital Wing to be administered the Antidote to Uncommon Poisons. I only visited the boy who cackles like a goose to get a little look-see of what doxy venom could do to a person. But to my absolute dismay, he looked... peachy, with an annoying boxy grin plastered across his face. The Matron shooed Chen, me and the big oaf out in a matter of minutes. It’s not that I blame her. I would’ve probably done the same in view of the racket that ensued amidst their boisterous conversation.

Madam Pomfrey brings out a small vial of brown liquid and applies a few drops of it on my elbow. I hadn’t noticed the nasty wound my fall had left on it, up until then. A greenish smoke billows upward and it quickly clears out to make the wound look several days old and new skin stretches over what had been a deep cut.

“Dittany!” The Hufflepuff boy and I say in unison.

“Well done! 5 points each to Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw!” Madam Pomfrey jokes as she peers over her spectacles and her gaze flits between him and me. I catch his heart shaped smile again. And for some reason, makes my stomach contract and my heart go into a somersault. Or maybe it’s the effect whatever Madam Pomfrey’s got me under.

The Matron raises her wand and points it at the table adjoining my bed. A large plate of sandwiches, two silver goblets and a jug of a cold beverage appear with a pop.

It's honeyed milk.

She retracts into her office without pressing on him to leave and for that I am grateful. We share sandwiches in silence as a mildly bitter citrus aroma of Dittany wafts through the space between us. The plate endlessly refills itself but we’re both satiated by the third fill.

“I’m Kyungsoo, by the way. Sixth year.” He says in his dulcet tone and I take a huge gulp of the sweet nectar out of the goblet.

***

Madam Pomfrey sets me free with not one but two warnings. Avoid slippery outdoors if you’d like to enjoy the Christmas feast and Don’t count your owls before they are delivered. I’ll admit the second one is a bit difficult to stomach since I had my eyes trained on the door for the better part of the morning. It comes in fine print at the bottom of the letter of acceptance - steer clear of parent-less weirdos who believe in Divination and Nargles. Of course the sweet and quiet Kyungsoo received the same letter.

After having sent Hagrid a Christmas greeting via an owl, I head over to the library. Its musty fragrance clears my mind off trivial sentiments. Sixth year is no child’s play and I need to read up on Apparition to avoid having a limb splinched especially after yesterday’s disaster.

“Umm...HI!”, a chirpy voice startles me and I almost collapse into the Restricted Section. This voice is a little too sprightly for a deserted library and its owner looks like someone who does not belong in school during the holiday season. Her dazzling smile perfectly complements the twinkle in her eyes. She’s one of those girls but she seems nice? My puzzled expression asks her the obvious questions.

“Sorry! Professor Slughorn asked me to give this to you.” She hands me a rich parchment. It’s a letter addressed to me in the most exquisite cursive inviting me to dinner held by Professor H.E.F Slughorn.

Bleaaargh!

The girl is still here, eyes beaming with curiosity, “It’s for the Slug Club, right? What’s it all about? Well... I’ve always wondered.” Her voice trails off in an awkward giggle.

“Be my guest!”

It’ll help to have a slightly known, apparently friendly face in an obnoxious crowd.

***

I’m no stranger to the opulent ways of prestigious wizarding families but this isn’t something one would expect to see in a Professor’s office at Hogwarts. It’s barely even an office! It’s an enormous tent bathed in a dim orange of the sunset with its ceiling and walls draped in emerald hangings. The deep melody of violins drowns the frantic squeaking of house elves who are obscured by the heavy silver platters of the finest hors d'oeuvres.

A circular dining area is set up right in the middle of the room where most of the invitees have taken their seats. There aren’t too many compared to last year. No Warlocks, no Vampires. Just a handful of students with their guests and a couple of past students - Slughorn’s proteges of course - who’ve managed to carve a name for themselves all thanks to the powerful connections he’d helped them forge through this very same Club. Or so he’d rather believe.

The tap on my shoulder strikes me with the realization that I’m still stood at the entrance. It’s my chirpy guest! The fifth year Gryffindor Prefect. One awkward small talk later, we find our seats at the ostentatious table.

Despite the grandiose, this is a rather intimate gathering. But judging by Professor Slughorn’s enthusiasm, the turnout is certainly not off-putting to him. He drones on about his overachieving handpicked students and I let my mind wander into the distance while Miss Prefect is certainly taken by the charms of this first-class motley. Well, at least someone’s liking it here.

“Kyungsoo, m’boy!” Slughorn jumps mid-feast at the sight of the newest entrant to this coalition, almost causing me to choke on my roast duck, “Welcome, welcome!”

At a gesture from Slughorn, he sits down in the empty chair next to me and mutters a velvety ‘hullo’ in my direction and I’ve suddenly lost my appetite thanks to the butterflies in my stomach. He’s dressed casually in blue denims and a beige knit sweater yet he’s shining brighter than Sirius among all these boys in their finest ensembles.

“This young man is the only sixth year I’ve ever seen who’s managed to concoct the Draught of Living Death”, he takes a dramatic pause to peer at his guests over his spectacles before meeting my eyes, “flawlessly!”

Almost everyone at the table acknowledges Kyungsoo with a smile or a slight nod, save for a few overtly arrogant Purebloods who merely grunt in response or completely ignore his accomplishment. I, on the other hand, have my eyes trained on the roast duck to keep my erratic heartbeat in check.

Slughorn gears up for another act, “So tell us, Mister Doh, what exactly does your family do in the Muggle world?” His smile is cold, unwelcoming.

“My Mum is a chef, Professor...my parents own a restaurant.” Kyungsoo answers.

Slughorn contemplates on his answer for a while with a ‘hmm’, “A Muggle-born, eh?”, he lifts an eyebrow, “But the fumes from his cauldron almost lulled this old man into a deep slumber”, he chortles, wagging a sausage like finger, only to receive cold silence in response from everyone else except one invitee.

The feline eyed man laughs the loudest at Slughorn’s pathetic joke. One might think it’s probably out of sympathy. But it’s not. He seems to have actually found that funny.

Slughorn introduces him as Minseok Kim and goes on to sing praises about this former student of his. Slytherin. Excellent potioneer. One of the youngest registered animagi.

His animagus is a cat.

Minseok interrupts Slughorn’s discourse with an uncomfortable laugh showcasing his wide gummy grin, “You give me too much credit, Professor!”

“You’ve made me proud, my son! So tell us how your career as a Magizoologist is treating you? Well, I hope? Your uncle Soo Man Lee, a notable Warlock and a dear friend of mine, wrote to me saying that you happened to cross paths with an obscurus during one of your recent travels! That must have been...” Professor Slughorn shakes his head in horror and awe as his voice tails away.

“It’s certainly a story for a different occasion, Professor. Although, it happens to be one of my most memorable experiences.” Something about Minseok’s discomfit demeanour tells me he’d rather have a tête-à-tête with the obscurus than with Professor Slughorn. I take an instant liking to this man.

“Minseok, we happen to have an aspiring Magizoologist in our company”, I loathe the nickname. It’s a garb. It’s a lie. But the conversation seamlessly steers towards me as a dozen pairs of eyes follow Professor Slughorn’s snivelling gaze. Clearing my throat, I say to Minseok, “I’m delighted to meet you - ”

“My dear, if I may ask and I hope you won’t mind”, Professor Slughorn interrupts me, per usual. Kyungsoo lets out a barely audible annoyed grunt and I hold my breath in anticipation of what he’s about to say next. Slughorn has a knack for broaching treacherous territories with utmost eloquence. I didn’t think it was possible for me to despise this gathering any more than I already do. I know where he’s going. I know what he’s going to say next. He’s going to play the Devil’s (Gran’s) Advocate.

This is not a party. It’s an intervention which serves as an offhanded reminder of my parents’ gruesome deaths.

“You come from a lineage of Aurors par excellence. Your grandparents with whom I had the great fortune of exchanging notes and secrets in these very same classrooms. Your parents…. a tremendous loss to our world…”

At this point, I’ve lost Professor Slughorn.

He’s testing me again to see if I have any of my parents’ flair. I do not. Magizoologist is just a veil that conceals my seemingly purposeless life. I’m not sure what I want to be. Or who I want to be. If there’s one thing I know it’s that I don’t want to end up like my parents. Neither am I brave nor am I self sacrificial. Their deaths, I’ve come to terms with. It’s the torture they went through that keeps me up most nights - the unimaginable pain of the Cruciatus Curse before they were engulfed in blinding green light. My throat seizes up and I chew on the insides of my cheeks to feel pain that’s more superficial.

My sweaty palms clutch at the hem of my silk lilac dress. I feel hesitant fingers gently graze the back of my left hand, steadying the tremble. Judging by my lack of protest, Kyungsoo’s grip around my hand courageously strengthens.

In subliminal comfort.

I don’t feel cornered anymore.

KYUNGSOO

Oh I shouldn’t have.

OH BOY I SHOULD NOT HAVE!

I’m not a pervert. In my defense her hand was right there! Trembling. Astray. Seeking shelter.

Asking to be held.

She didn’t say a word to me after that ridiculous party. I couldn’t muster the courage to say anything to her, either. What could I have said? I’m sorry? That would’ve been dishonest. I wasn’t sorry about it at all. Are you alright? I didn’t want her to feel any more uncomfortable than she already did. So I left it at that. Like I always do.

Because I’m a coward.

She swooped out with her friend as soon as the snoozefest was over, leaving her food completely untouched. In fact, I didn’t catch her taking a bite out of anything ever since I arrived. Her slender fingers were gracefully wrapped around a silver goblet the entire time.

It’s always been like that with her. She always needs something or the other to physically hold on to. The straps of her bag, books, remembralls, whatever she can find. I notice these little things about her. I always have. But to her I’m only a face in the crowd. The very same crowd she fights shy of. I don’t blame her. It is quite rare for pretty girls to notice me.

And she’s ethereal.

Year One

My heart was hammering in my chest as I was ridiculously close to missing the Hogwarts Express. Partially because the oddly named Platform was nowhere to be found and I was starting to think of the entire thing as an elaborate prank. And when we did end up finding the way to the Platform by following a snooty wizarding couple who seemed to be seeing their daughter off, I quite frankly lost my mind at the prospect of having to run through a solid wall to get to it.

I said a final word of my goodbye to my teary-eyed mother.

Earlier in the day, her theatrical sobfest went on for hours after she progressed from outright denial and came to terms with the fact that witches and wizards do exist and that her only son is in fact a wizard. He wasn’t going to take over his parents’ restaurant business like she’d always hoped he would. Honestly, at this point he’s not entirely sure what his future beholds but he’s a wizard and is indeed very happy about it.

But I didn’t dare say this to her.

I pretended to be upset about having to practically move out at the age of eleven. In all honesty, I was mildly upset but far more excited about this school I’d, obviously, never heard of before the Letter arrived - Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

But it wasn’t long before all of my bubbling excitement was reduced to a pile of rubbish.

I had lost my little pouch of wizard money which I thought I'd carefully tucked into the back pocket of my jeans only to find out about it seconds prior to having to pay for the strange but oddly tempting treats. I felt myself shrink under the kind old lady’s sympathetic gaze as I put my little confectionery treasure back to where it belonged. On the top of her trolley. Suddenly, the embarrassing rumble of my stomach was drowned by a welcome jingle of coins.

The second year boy in my compartment - who later introduced himself as Baekhyun Byun - paid for the treats instead. I didn’t like him at first since he had a permanent smile plastered across his face, was giggly and extremely chatty. He’d told me all kinds of sorting stories which made me want to take the same train back home. I discovered his annoyingly loud chewing habits while sharing a stack of Cauldron Cakes with him. But I guess a happy stomach makes one truly tolerant.

We tried to offer Pumpkin Pasties to the girl in our compartment who had her face buried in a book right since the moment she boarded. Baekhyun even tried to strike up a conversation with her, multiple times, but to no avail. She’d only respond in nods and slight smiles.

After a point, we gave up. There’s no cure to snobbery.

There was an empty feeling in the pit of my stomach even after having annihilated five Chocolate Frogs, a dozen Liquorice Wands, six Pumpkin Pasties and two Cauldron Cakes. It wasn't even the first day yet and I’d lost ten Galleons in wizarding money which equalled fifty Pounds in muggle money which equalled two meals at our restaurant.

The rain thickened as the train sped further north. Baekhyun pulled on his long black robe, gave me all of his Chocolate Frog cards and scurried ahead with his trunk leaving me alone with the oddball. We were nearly there.

“Here”, she said, thrusting a heavy, knotted pink cloth in my hands before exiting the compartment in a rush.

It was five Galleons neatly wrapped in a cloth that smelled exactly like the “farewell” cake Mum baked me.

Vanilla.

***

We didn’t have to wrestle a troll or turn a fat rat yellow for the Sorting Ceremony like Baekhyun said we’d have to.

“RAVENCLAW!” the Hat bellowed and the girl from the Hogwarts Express found her place amidst the brains at Hogwarts (as Baekhyun liked to call them) and that didn’t leave me surprised at all.

When the strict witch called out my name I almost stumbled upon a step on my way up to the wooden stool. For no particular reason the word “Ravenclaw” rolled off my tongue and the Hat contemplated, “Intelligent and hard-working, eh? Hmm….where should I place you...I see. I see! HUFFLEPUFF!”

The table next to Ravenclaw cheered me on as a ghost, the Fat Friar, swooshed past me in what was supposed to be a bone chilling embrace. I caught her eyes and she gave me a little wave.

Ravenclaw...at least I knew where to find her. I’ll return her money but not the piece of cloth.

It is a reminder of home.

Year Two

Am I invisible to her?

Every time I’ve so much as smiled at her she’s returned it with an unreadable expression like that lady in the fake painting at our restaurant. If I approach her and she doesn’t recognize me, I’ll be making a complete ass out of myself. Anyway, she probably thinks I’m not good enough to be seen around with but third-year Chen is. People say she belongs to one of the oldest wizarding families and she sure does act like royalty. I guess, five Galleons to her is nothing but a drop in the ocean.

***

While Professor Sprout thinks I’m the next Tilden Toots - a celebrity Herbologist and Potioneer, Professor Snape’s way of expressing his satisfaction with my abilities in Potions was with a scowl and a barely audible “five points to Hufflepuff.”

Most of the students think of Potions as a lot of hard work but to me, it’s really not. I don’t entirely blame them. The classes are held in a dungeon and the Potions Master looms over us with a murderous intent but if you ignore all of that it’s just intricacies of timing and stirring techniques.

The Hair Raising potion was disgusting to concoct especially since one of the key ingredients was rat tails and three counter clockwise stirs left the cauldron with a sickening green residue causing the entire dungeon to smell like a dead rat.

I must admit, Hogwarts is one weird school. What on earth would I need this potion for?

Year Three

Whenever I’ve tried to avoid the joined at the hips duo Baekhyun and Chanyeol, I’ve found myself in their ear splitting company. By now, I’ve resigned to my fate. My fellow Hufflepuff Yoongi isn’t up for much these days. To be honest, he’s always liked to stick to the confines of the Hufflepuff dorm and that’s kind of a downer.

So I spend almost all of my free time in the company of the Perpetually In Detention duo and their Ravenclaw friend Chen. And I realise that I can never be Chen. Chen is perfect in every way. He’s polite, he’s intelligent, and at such a young age he’s got his life planned out. He wants to work for the Ministry of Magic. Which, I believe, is a cakewalk for the likes of him. He’s also kinda good looking. While we’re all struggling with embarrassing bulk sticking out of odd places and less than appealing skin, he could very well replace Gilderoy Lockhart for the next issue of Witch Weekly.

***

When I saw her head toward Gladrags Wizardwear, fingers clutched at a baggie of Caramel Cobwebs, I feigned untied shoelaces as Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Chen made their way into The Three Broomsticks. Suddenly, a jet of purple light shot in her direction and a sound of girls giggling reached my ears. She stood frozen in the middle of the street, face buried in hands and with a flick of my wand I unbound her legs. Misty eyed, she hesitantly looked over her shoulder for a fleeting moment before hurrying into the safer confines of the shop as though nothing had happened.

This was our first ever trip to Hogsmeade and I thought J. Pippin's Potions worth the detour.

Rat tails. Porcupine quills. Billywig stings.

The Hair Raising potion had its benefits, after all.

A few drops of it in their pumpkin juice and not a single soul suspected the innocent looking, third-year Hufflepuff boy.

Year Four

Hagrid seemed quite proud of his crate full of Blast-Ended Skrewts. They were cuddly creatures, very useful and made for exceptional pets.

If you looked at them with Hagrid’s beady brown, affectionate eyes.

Everyone in class was visibly disturbed at the sight of them. Yoongi was quite close to disappearing into the Forbidden Forest. But that’s just him - slimy, foul smelling, shell-less lobsters or not. I wouldn’t be surprised if he chose, out of the blue, to live as a hermit in the company of centaurs. Not sure if he’s aware that they’re averse to humans.

Smiling, she took two graceful steps towards the crate as the rest of us took two steps back. Then four, then six as her waist length hair rippled down her shoulders and sunlight bounced off the silver trinkets in her ears. Perhaps motivated by her deep affection for Hagrid and anything non-human, she dipped a piece of frog liver to tempt the freshly hatched Skrewts.

It was pointless. Skrewts don’t have mouths. Mine is carefully locked away in a little pen under my bed. Honestly, I don’t care whether it survives the semester or not.

Anyway, she ended up earning a roaring applause from Hagrid and ten points for Ravenclaw.

I found myself following her to the hideous crate like my legs had a mind of their own while Yoongi gaped at me in horror. I don’t know what struck me but I’m pretty sure that I don’t love Hagrid enough to get stung by an ugly lobster.

But she had her eyes lovingly trained on the Skrewts the entire time and my valiant battle against a six inch burning, biting and stinging hybrid went completely unnoticed by her.

Would I have to transfigure into an ugly Skrewt to get her attention? Or gulp down a vial of Polyjuice Potion to look like Chen?

I’d still lack his charm.

Year Five

How Chanyeol and Baekhyun managed to advance to the sixth year is anyone’s guess, really.

Because at this point I wish I had a Time Turner. Twenty four hours in a day are not enough for what the O.W.L.s demand. I’ve got Potions, Arithmancy, Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, History of Magic and Defence Against The Dark Arts.

And Divination is entirely her fault.

There’s one thing, though, that Trelawney’s “Inner Eye” was right about - Everything is not as bad as it seems, my dear. It’s true. Professor Slughorn isn’t half as bad as Professor Snape. Although he’s a little vain and self-serving, I have a better shot at earning an O in Potions with him than I could have ever had with Snape. Where Snape would dismiss my nearly perfect brews with a grunt, I manage to earn some real points for Hufflepuff with Slughorn.

Professor Sprout, ever so confident in my abilities, had laughed away my Career Advice session by calling me the next Tilden Toots. Her face fell slightly when I told her that I aspired to be Tilden Toots the Potioneer and not Tilden Toots the Herbologist.

But my dreams won’t materialize if I don’t have near perfect scores in Charms and Arithmancy and these are the two subjects that have kept me away from my “happening” social life.

I’d been haunting the Hufflepuff common room with my fingers in my ears, muttering soundlessly and my dear friend Yoongi chose to “take a quick catnap for a refreshed mind” every chance he got. I haven’t seen them in a while - Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Chen and their Quidditch friends Kai and Sehun. With twelve (failed) study schedules strewn on the floor and six weeks left until the exams, I seized my copy of Defensive Magical Theory and stepped out of the dorm for some fresh air and mindless chatter.

Last I’d heard, they’d managed to earn themselves a week’s worth of detention for setting off Filibuster’s Fireworks in Filch’s office.

What I witnessed in the corridor on my way out made me stop dead in my tracks. Chen had his arm around her shoulders as they walked along the hallway laughing and talking animatedly. This was the happiest I had ever seen her in all these years. At the sight of them, I felt a paralyzing dread seep into my consciousness.

I hated it.

I hated to see her happy. With him. A part of me saw this coming but I could’ve never prepared myself for it and I immediately regretted leaving the unwitting confines of my Common Room.

Seething, I went in the other direction, taking a detour for the Quidditch pitch, to find those clowns.

With them, I could very well drift in and out of conversations. While I lacked patience for most of their rubbish and I usually brought my earmuffs along, today was different. I needed to hear something refreshing to get my mind off the horrible fragmented flashbacks of what I’d witnessed just minutes ago. It’s probably nothing and they’re just friends but the nagging rebuttal to my ‘just friends’ argument is making me restless.

To my absolute horror, Chen breezed into the pitch with an annoying grin on his face, cheeks flushed. I felt the knot in my stomach tighten.

“Guys! I asked her out and she said yes!” He announced to the world in his usual thunderous scream invoking a deafening response from the rest of them. Slamming my copy of Defensive Magical Theory shut, I rushed to the common room, ignoring Kai calling out for me.

Year Six

Study hard and you will be rewarded. Fail to do so and the consequences may be... severe.

And rewarded, I was. With 6 Os, 2 Es (Arithmancy and Defence Against the Dark Arts) and 1 A (Divination). Yoongi had managed to scrape through with a decent O.W.Ls score as well. And “Chen’s girlfriend” had topped the year, per usual. With 8 O’s and 1 E in Defence Against The Dark Arts, having messed up one counter jinx in the practicals. She’s strangely under confident when it comes to this subject.

My house-elf friend Winky smuggled in a congratulatory vanilla cake - a Muggle recipe I’d helped her recreate.

***

So turns out “Chen’s girlfriend” isn’t Chen’s girlfriend.

I mean, Chen has a girlfriend but it’s not the girl from the Hogwarts Express. It’s the Ravenclaw Head Girl. Because I spent nearly half a year sulking, slogging away in the library, feeling betrayed for no particular reason, despite my well above average O.W.Ls score I felt like a complete idiot.

The bearer of good news was Chanyeol Park.

Who enraged me and made me want to kiss a Blast-Ended Skrewt on its non-existent mouth at the same time with, “Of course he’s not dating that Ravenclaw oddball. He’s dating the Ravenclaw Head Girl.”

Smacking him on the head with my copy of Advanced Potion Making, I decided to spend the upcoming Christmas at school.

It’s now or never.

***

She’s SUCH an idiot!

A freezing, injured, drenched, clumsy idiot.

A Bowtruckle whirred past me into the Forbidden Forest as I rushed to help her off the ground. Tergeo, I muttered to siphon the blood off her elbow and hoisted her up not long before she collapsed into my arms.

She’s a cute idiot whose pain is… my gain.

“Why aren’t you home for the holidays?”

Howling, a chilly breeze engulfs us but the panoramic view of the landscape from the Wooden Bridge is well worth it. As is the mildly attractive Hufflepuff boy who’d asked, very shyly, if he could see me here.

“My parents are always busy with the restaurant during the holidays, anyway. Thought I’d use this time to prepare better in advance for N.E.W.T.s”, says a red-nosed, shivering Kyungsoo.

He’s ambitious as he is kind. “So, are you?”

“Hmm?”

“Preparing for... N.E.W.T.s?”

“No. Something’s kept me busy.” An imperceptible smile tugs at his lips and I find myself unconsciously mirroring him. It’s freezing out here but my cheeks are ablaze.

“What has?” My tone is unwavering but his rich pause has me dreading as well as anticipating the answer.

“The Patronus Charm”, he says, “All I can manage is formless silver vapour.”

Oh.

“I could help if you like.” I turn to face him to find his confused expression uncoil into a toasty smile.

“You can conjure an actual corporeal Patronus?” His excitable voice is not as deep as his regular talking voice but it’s melodic anyway.

Nodding, I say, “Let’s go.”

Kyungsoo’s eyes aren’t exactly trusting. I’ve brought him to the seventh floor and we’re gawking at a tapestry of trolls ridiculously bent in a plier. If I were him, I wouldn’t trust me either. But Hogwarts is an ancient castle and I’ve spent a good amount of time recceing it’s rooms, hallways, and everything in between. Yet, I discover something new, every time.

Last year, I discovered this - The Room of Requirement - or as Meady likes to call it - the Come and Go Room.

“Okay, so we’re going to walk past the area of this door, thrice, thinking clearly of what we need.” Pointing at the wall opposite the funny tapestry, I say to Kyungsoo but a look of sheer confusion mixed with worry clouds his face.

“We’re going to think of a large, dingy classroom where we can have our lessons without anyone disturbing us.”

His expression is short of saying, ‘You’re crazy. Goodbye.’ Despite that, he valiantly follows my instruction.

After the third pass we’re in a spacious classroom completely devoid of any furniture, save for two desks.

“Ahhh”, hands on hips, he gapes in surprise surveying the dimly lit room, “but...we could’ve practised anywhere. Why here?”

“For the effect?” My fingers clutch at the edge of the desk as a knot tightens in my stomach and I find myself hoping that he stays.

His ha-ha-ha echoes in the room and his voice is at it’s high pitch again, “Shall we?”

Nodding, I take the centre of the class, “So the incantation is ‘Expecto Patronum’”

“Of that, I am aware.”

“Great now concentrate hard on a happy memory. I know it’s going to be tough without an actual Dementor or even a Boggart to practise on. But let’s give it a try, alright? Professor Flitwick taught me using a Boggart last year. I didn’t leave him alo -- sorry I’m rambling. Okay, happy memory... now...go!”

Kyungsoo squeezes his eyes shut and his face screws up in concentration. With a swish of his wand he stutters, “Ex-expecto Patronus!”

Nothing except peals of laughter echo in the room.

“Lets go again. Together now.” I say patting his shoulder.

Signalling each other with a nod we try again, “Expecto Patronum!”

A lynx rises out the end of my wand, trotting across the room before diffusing into nothingness. While Kyungsoo manages to issue a not so tangible cloud of silver.

A few tries later, he manifests something visibly stronger but he’s not quite there yet. And we’re both exhausted. I fish for a Chocolate Frog in the pockets of my cardigan and hand it to him.

“This charm is ridiculously advanced! How about we try again after Christmas?” Leaning on one of the desks, he offers dejectedly, nibbling at the Frog’s head.

I gladly accept it.

***

Owing to the small number of students that have stayed back this year, the House tables have been put aside and a single table has been set up for the Christmas feast. As if it were the most natural thing to do in the world, Kyungsoo comes and sits next to me. I hope he doesn’t hold my hand like he did during Slughorn’s party or maybe I hope that he does. I hope we do get to hold hands often and discuss what happened at the party. But we’re both great at pretending that nothing unusual did. The Gryffindor Prefect is somewhere on the other end of the table, chatting to a fellow Gryffindor. And the spread, as always, is sumptuous.

Digging into a delectable roast turkey I ask Kyungsoo, “What’s Christmas like in the Muggle world?”

“Isn’t half as exciting as it is here. For starters, we have no Wizard Crackers. Or silver Sickles hidden within puddings.” He says toying with the cardboard tube moments before it went off like a canon, covering him in a cloud of blue smoke. A flurry of white mice scamper down his legs and scurry out of the Great Hall.

His mouth drops, inviting a roar of laughter from the rest of the table and he chooses to steer clear of the Crackers for the rest of the Feast.

He insists on dropping me off to the Ravenclaw Common Room, “I’ll see you again tomorrow? Six in the evening, the Room of Requirement?”

It’s a date?

***

Today’s class wasn’t nearly as bad as the previous one but God knows Kyungsoo’s in a dire need of practise.

We sit on the floor after two scarcely productive hours with our stash of Chocolate Frogs pooled in the space between us.

“Here’s something I don’t get about Muggleborns. How are your parents okay with sending their children away to an entirely different world? Doesn’t matter what Professor Dumbledore has to say, I refuse to believe Hogwarts is one of the safest places in the world. We have moving staircases, a murderous tree, Quidditch, and Filch!”

His laugh reverberates in the empty classroom, “It’s not much of a trade off, really. The Muggle world has its own set of issues.” He unwraps a Chocolate Frog and offers it to me, “You live with your grandmother, right?”

“My fierce, retired Auror, grandmother. Yes. And you?”

“With my parents. I’m an only child. And you’re right. My mother wasn’t very keen on sending me away but she couldn’t risk their restaurant being reduced to a pile of ash every time I threw a temper tantrum.”

“You don’t look like the temper tantrum sort.”

“Ah you underestimate me.” He chuckles, “so the holidays end soon and I don’t have a Patronus which means our classes will have to continue. You’re okay with that, right?”

“Very much”, I nod but an upsetting finality pulls at me.

“Is there anything...you’d like to do on the last day of the holidays?” He fixes his gaze on my feet.

“Do you have something in mind?”

“Do you want to...well I was thinking if...I need to procure some Wolfsbane from the Forbidden Forest would you like to come with?”

“Are you daft? Do you have any idea what sorts of -”

“Creatures dwell in the Forest? Yeah, I’ve been there, multiple times.”

“And you haven’t been caught? Mauled? Battered?”

He sighs, “Unfortunately, not once.”

Meeting his unflinching gaze I welcome my impending doom, “Okay...maybe I’ll end up finding Twiggles in one of those Wiggentrees but don’t abandon me if Werewolves come for us.”

***

I guess there’s a first time for everything. But it’s my first time flouting a rule and getting caught. My adventurous friend from Hufflepuff seems absolutely unperturbed by the ghastly smile that’s spread across Filch’s face. And anything that makes Filch this happy can’t be good news. Kyungsoo shoves the bunch of Wolfsbane down the pocket of his jeans and I just stand there as an unwitting accomplice to his dumbassery. To my dumbassery. I should’ve never agreed to this. I didn’t even have any luck with Twiggles. But then again Bowtruckles are master camouflagers. What was I expecting?

“Follow me”, the sadistic old man wheezes and my legs feel bound by shackles. Kyungsoo tugs at my arm and teary eyed, I slowly shake my head. He laughs mouthing, ‘It’s nothing.’ Maybe it’s nothing to him considering the company he keeps. What if I get expelled? Where will I go? It’ll be enough reason for Gran to disown me but this bespectacled charming boy doesn’t have a lot to lose now, does he? He can waltz back into his Muggle world and work in his ‘restaurant’. Of course he’s an exceptional cook if he trades recipes with freaking house-elves! I can’t end up having a life worse than squibs. Boys are trouble unless they’re Chen. I literally never should’ve. What of this was a trap all along? I’m SUCH a fool!

I find myself in the part of the vast echoing Entrance Hall I’ve deliberately avoided in all these years. It’s foul smelling, really dull and a cat menacingly meows at us while curling around her Master’s feet.

Room 234-00. Filch’s office.

Coughing, the caretaker points at the chains and manacles that are hung from the ceiling, “I keep ‘em well oiled in case they’re needed. The Forbidden Forest, eh? Brave enough for Acromantulas and Werewolves, are we?” His face is barely inches away from Kyungsoo’s and I feel a sudden pump of adrenaline, “Sir, please, it was a mistake. We promise to never venture into the Forest again. We promise to never venture out of our own dormitories again. Please, please just let us go!”

Filch is taken aback by my plea and Kyungsoo has pursed his lips, holding in a laugh and I feel stupid.

With the sound of a crack, Filch’s equipment of torture comes crashing to the floor. Mrs Norris’ tail shoots up in fear and a raucous laugh echoes in the room souring Filch’s mood, “PEEVES!”

“Nasty Filch! Leave the luuuuurve birds alone! Leave them alone! Loony woony filthy Filch!” An invisible Peeves’ annoying cackle resounds before ceasing with a deafening crack.

Filch is boiling in rage. I tilt my head to look at the slightly experienced in disciplinary matters Kyungsoo and judging by his sullen expression, we’ve had it.

Does he think that I somehow jinxed his great expedition to the Forest? Because it’s been two days since the start of semester and there’s no sign of Kyungsoo. Neither in the Great Hall, nor in the classes I share with Hufflepuff. Is he avoiding me now that his friends are back? The lump in my throat aches.

“Oww!”

Chen greets me with a smack of a book on my head, “I MISSED YOU, GOBLIN!”

I’ll never get used to Chen’s incessant need to announce everything to the world to get his point across but seeing him makes me realise just how much I’d missed him, too. Despite his dig at my height and an underhanded compliment to my brain. He slumps into the chair next to me, activating his ability to speak like a banshee. Not very different from his white haired Gryffindor friend.

“So tell me. How was Christmas? Did you get the set of Wizard Chess I sent you? We should play sometime. Thanks for the Floo Connection, by the way! It was really thoughtful of you and I love it! My darling loved it a lot, too but I had a tough time explaining it to my folks. So how was Christmas?”

I wait patiently for my closest friend in school to finish babbling before telling him what I think he’d like to hear about my little adventures. Or the information Kyungsoo would rather have me share. The nagging feeling that he’s been avoiding me weighs me down like a rock.

“So you broke your leg, told Slughorn off and earned yourself Detention with a Hufflepuff boy who happened to be in the Forest at the same time as you. All of this in a matter of two weeks? Wait, why were you in the Forest again?” Chen is amused but also a little suspicious.

“I told you! I was bored. I went looking for the Bowtruckle!” I argue, needlessly.

“Bored? Didn’t you have to read up on Apparition? Also, you of all the people should know how elusive Bowtruckles are, Miss Magizoologist!” I cringe at the nickname. “And who is this Hufflepuff boy?” I wouldn’t be surprised if Chen were a Legilimens.

Letting out an exasperated sigh I answer, “Some Kwangsoo something?”

“Glasses? Kinda short? Squints a lot? Brooding?”

“So you know him, Mister Tall Guy?” I ask, inviting another smack on my head.

“Yes, through Baekhyun. I mean, haven’t you seen him with us? His name is Kyungsoo, by the way.” Chen’s not particularly suspicious now which bolsters my confidence to spew rubbish.

“No I haven’t. It’s probably because I can hear you guys before I can see you and I prefer not to violate my eyes like I do my ears when I’m around any of you. I hope this answers your question.” I think it was a bit much but Chen breaks into a fit of laughter.

“Then you’ve probably not heard him, either. He isn’t a lot like us.” He contemplates, “but don’t you look around in class? You haven’t ever noticed him before? He’s in the same year as you! You’re ridiculous!”

Of course I’ve noticed him.

Every time he’s tried to talk to me, return my money, earned points for his house or even a sneer from Snape. Every time Madam Pomfrey has cooed at him. Even when he braved feeding a Skrewt. I’ve seen him in the hallways, in classes, in the Great Hall.

But to know someone is to invite heartache and I’ve had my fair share of it.

“You mean he isn’t noisy like the rest of you. And no I haven’t. It’s probably because he’s not as attractive as a Merperson or as lithe as a Basilisk.” I lie. He’s not anything like the magical creatures I’ve studied about. He is a human. And humans are too tricky for my liking. Two weeks with him, two days without him and I seem to have lost my marbles.

Guess, I am pathetic if not ridiculous.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t seen him around either”, Jongdae ponders.

***

“You’ve been avoiding me.”

Maybe it was too direct but I need to get this weight off my chest. I can’t spend every Saturday until the end of term with him in close quarters, clearing out Filch’s old files (the Muggle way) with animosity looming between us. Peeves is enough trouble with his water bombs already. And Kyungsoo’s silent treatment is simply too much.

He brings me Caramel Cobwebs, holds my hand and refuses to talk about it, insists on being tutored, spends Christmas with me, lands me in Detention and starts avoiding me as soon as his friends are back.

“I caused you trouble and you seemed so disturbed by it. I’m sorry. I’ve not been avoiding you...I just thought maybe you wouldn’t like to see me again.” Mumbles Kyungsoo, dropping Filch’s File Number 27 on the floor, leaving a mess of loose, dusty papers.

‘Butterfingers’ here isn’t right at all. I’ve been dying to see him.

I help him clear the mess by re-filing the records of the 27th file in alphabetical order.

“I’m not mad at you. I was a tad bit worried, that’s all. This is my first time being...punished and none of this is your fault. I’m sorry if I made you feel like that.”

His little smile and an understanding nod makes my heart flutter. Snapping out of it, I read out an amusing record from a random file, “at least we’re not pickling rat brains in the dungeons.”

His eyes grow wide in horror, “What?”

“Sehun Oh and Kai Kim for bewitching snowballs to hit Professor Snape!” I summarise.

Kyungsoo guffaws, “Yes! This was last year. Baekhyun had dared them to it and those idiots thought Snape wouldn’t notice. They ended up reeking of dead rats for two weeks after that. Nobody would go near them! Not even Baekhyun.”

I put the file back with an ‘ahh’, “So Kai Kim, Sehun Oh, Baekhyun Byun are your friends right? And Chen, too?”

“Yeah, Chen and Chanyeol Park. Why?”

Of course, the Great Oaf.

“Nothing, you’re quite different from them.”

“How so?” Resting his chin in his hand, Kyungsoo inquires and avoiding his eyes I reply, “Well, you’re not very noisy or mischievous?”

He chuckles, “I’m not noisy that’s true. But I literally took you to the Forbidden Forest and it’s the reason why we’re here today sifting through these records. Will you still say that I’m not mischievous, Miss Ravenclaw?”

“I take back my words, Mister Hufflepuff”, I need to get away from this sweet talker, “Now let’s look for more, shall we? Filch certainly has your friends’ adventures chronicled in these files.”

“We’ll probably find something on Chen, too.” He says quietly.

“No wayyy! Chen’s perfect.” I protest.

He throws a file onto the desk, creating a cloud of dust, “What if we do end up finding something about him here, in these records? Then what?”

“Then I’ll….do whatever you ask!”

Why! Why?

“It’s a deal!”

***

Kyungsoo and I have been seeing each other fortnightly for the sake of Dementors. Let’s just say if he were required to actually fight one off today, he’d end up having his soul sucked out. Does the boy have no solid happy memory or what? Or maybe I’m just a terrible guide.

In class, we’re cordial. But somewhat distracted.

We spend all of our Saturdays together. Turns out he’s a couple of weeks older than me which means we both qualify for Apparition Lessons. The lessons are scheduled for Saturday mornings and we spend the rest of the day in Detention.

The first lesson was...quite unforgettable.

For Kyungsoo, me and whoever was witness to our idiocy. Professor Flitwick positioned Ravenclaws into a line as did Professor Sprout with Hufflepuff which had Kyungsoo and me standing next to each other with the requisite distance of five feet between us. The Instructor from the Ministry waved his wand and old-fashioned wooden hoops appeared on the floor in front of us.

“Destination. Determination. Deliberation!” The man who was a white wispy version of humans, squeaked.

“Concentrate upon the destination now. Which is within the hoop. Then focus on your determination to occupy the visualized space. And when I give a command, on three, turn on your spot, feeling your way into nothingness, moving with deliberation!”

Kyungsoo gave me one furtive glance and I lost all sense of Destination and Determination.

“On my command….one….”

I spun on the spot, lost my balance and fell over and Kyungsoo crash landed into my wooden hoop. With our Professors’ eyes on us, I felt myself melt into a puddle of embarrassment.

The inexplicable tension crowding the office during Detention that day left hardly any room for conversation. Which was kind of okay considering the ground we covered with Filch’s wretched files.

Although, the next lesson found us positioned at the two opposite ends of our respective House lines by Professor Flitwick.

Despite being in the same room, I missed Kyungsoo.

Transfiguration hasn’t been particularly eventful with Kyungsoo. With Professor McGonagall’s hawk-like eyes on us, we don’t dare to so much as shoot a glance in each other’s direction.

But last week was different.

In a lesson that included conjuring a flock of birds out of our wands, the entire class managed a few feathers, some gross mutations, and severed heads. Everyone except Kyungsoo. He’d succeeded in creating several twittering birds in his third try. Which was not so great for me since the little yellow chirpers zoomed in my direction and circled around my head, singing merrily. This continued even after most of the class, including Professor McGonagall, had already left. His idea of an apology for the inconvenience was flashing his heart-shaped smile.

I guess it doesn’t take a lot for me to forgive him.

***

It’s nearing the end of the third month of the semester and there’s no dirt on Chen.

Like I’d said, he’s perfect. We’ve found volumes on the other two, though. Chanyeol and Baekhyun. How they’ve not been expelled yet is anyone’s guess. These delinquents make my little Forest excursion look like a joke.

They’ve set off dungbombs in Snape’s dungeon, cursed each other and ended up having a slug attack right in the middle of their Astronomy practicals, got caught sneaking out of their dorms after curfew only eleven times, transfigured McGonagall’s desk into a ferret to ‘showcase their Transfiguration prowess’, set off Filibuster’s Fireworks in Filch’s office, distracted Filch by jinxing Mrs Norris with Tarantallegra - her legs spasmed wildly out of control, making her appear as though she were dancing.

No wonder they’re the only students Peeves gets on with.

This little vault of information made Kyungsoo exceptionally happy after moping around for not having anything on Chen, yet. He’s going to use these embarrassing incidents (one of the punishments included cleaning out the bedpans in the Hospital Wing without using magic) against the two of them, he says.

Detention and shared classes is the only time Kyungsoo and I get to see each other since sixth year is no cakewalk.

Free periods come by few and far between and are used to keep up with the vast amount of homework we’re being set. We’re studying as though we have exams everyday and lessons themselves are far more demanding than they used to be. Especially since we’re required to use Nonverbal spells now in every lesson that requires incantation. I often catch Kyungsoo’s motley around school. Somehow, they’re everywhere but he’s hardly ever to be seen with them. Working hard towards his ambition to become a Potioneer, I suppose. I wish I were just as passionate about something.

Sixth year is an anomaly.

Professor Sprout says we’re allowed to swear loudly in today’s lesson since we’re going to be dealing with one of the most dangerous plants ever - Venomous Tentacula - a green, spiky, toothsome magical plant with mobile vines that tries to grab living prey. Kyungsoo quietly stations himself next to me in the greenhouse inviting snarky sideway looks and hushed whispers from a couple of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws around us. “She’s latched on to him now”, sniggers a Ravenclaw boy and I notice Kyungsoo ears turn scarlet.

A pair of thick gloves on, Professor Sprout takes her place behind a trestle bench in the centre of the greenhouse, “We’ll be extracting Venomous Tentacula’s essence for Professor Slughorn’s experimental Potion No 7 today. Now, who can tell me how we should proceed to extract essence out of a plant that could try to strangle you?”

Kyungsoo’s hand rose in the air like it always does during Potions and Herbology, “By using the Severing Charm, Professor.”

“Excellent. Ten points to Hufflepuff”, Professor Sprout beams at her favourite student, “We’ll use the Severing Charm but Nonverbally. Which will stun Venomous Tentacula and sever its mobile vines. Along with me, on three. One...two...”

I nearly squeal as one of the Tentacula’s sharp fangs grazes my arm. Kyungsoo notices and in a state of panic tries to stun my plant for me only to get seized and bitten by his own. “Diffindo”, I flick my wand at Kyungsoo’s plant, flailing it and flouting the nonverbal spell rule but it’s too late for any of that. The plant’s poison, although non-fatal, has started working on Kyungsoo.

His skin turns bright purple, knocking the wind out of me.

Professor Sprout rushes him to the Hospital Wing.

***

On Professor Sprout’s special request, Filch has begrudgingly exempted Kyungsoo from this week’s Detention. I saw him for Apparition this morning and we’d both managed to, with Destination, Determination and Deliberation in mind of course, land into our own hoops.

Kyungsoo looked perfectly fine. Which is to say the purple of his skin from yesterday has been washed over by the roses of his cheeks and the honey of his skin. Madam Pomfrey was required to keep him in only for the day as Professor Sprout was quick to act and the poison hadn’t caused much harm. I feel like a bad friend for not having visited him since lessons ended in the a.m. with Astronomy but he says he was out in a couple of hours at most.

He’s planned to spend the rest of the day with his friends who he’d not had a chance to catch up with off lately.

By late afternoon I’d unexpectedly fallen into a state of blissful slumber on one of Filch’s old files. Coughing, I woke up engulfed by dust. I had to admit, Detention was boring without Kyungsoo and it’s honestly starting to scare me how used to I gotten to his presence, the faint scent of eucalyptus that trails after him and the ambrosial warmth that infiltrates through his seemingly tougher exterior.

But at the same time I regret misreading him. Mistrusting him or sometimes trusting him too much. He’s nothing like I thought he’d be. His simplicity is comforting but at the same time it is truly baffling. Maybe it’s okay to not give it much thought and let Jupiter do its celestial dance while I do mine by recreating damaged detention records.

#1116

>> Chen Kim

>> Lack of concentration in Charms resulting in production of a hoselike jet of water instead of a fountain from his wand, knocking Professor Flitwick flat on his face in the process

>> Lines - ‘I am a wizard, not a baboon brandishing a stick.’

>> Issued by Professor Flitwick

>> Points taken: None

I do a double take when I read the name.

Chen! Chen? Chen in Detention? How did I never know about this? Even if it’s just lines it is still a punishment. And how did The (then) Ravenclaw Prefect Chen mess up a Charm in Professor Flitwick’s class? I must know. But Kyungsoo’s got to see this first! I quickly replicate the record on a spare parchment and shove it in my bag and with a flick of my wand, I place everything exactly where it belongs in Filch’s office. What’s he going to do about it when he finds out? Give me another detention? Bring it on!

Throwing caution to the wind I allow my feet to take me where Kyungsoo said he’d be. Swiftly descending down the staircase, I exit out the side door down the corridor off the Entrance Hall and run towards the courtyard feeling the harsh winds tugging against my skin.

It’s unusually cold for the first day of April.

Seated between Chanyeol and Baekhyun, he’s laughing away seemingly at the two lanky boys - Kai and Sehun who’ve got their wands at the ready. The courtyard is oddly vacant, save for these four rioters and Kyungsoo.

Even Chen’s not here.

All banter comes to an abrupt halt when Kyungsoo’s eyes meet mine, his expression solid as a rock. With a barely perceptible shake of his head he’s signalling me to walk away from here and maybe this is what it feels like being punched in the gut. Four curious pairs of eyes flit between Kyungsoo and me and I feel too numb to even get out of there. Did I make a mistake being here? Is he too embarrassed to acknowledge me in front of his friends? The frigidity of his expression is eating away at my insides. Moments of complete stillness later I sprint out of the courtyard amidst wolf whistles and peals of laughter.

Throwing my bag over my shoulder, I wipe the angry tears rolling down my cheeks and vow to never see this doe eyed pretender again.

KYUNGSOO

It’s been two weeks since the incident.

Two whole weeks of her arriving after and leaving before me for our shared lessons. She’s even charted up a Detention routine which limits our interactions to curt nods and dismissive grunts. Needless to say, I still don’t know how to conjure a corporeal Patronus. She thinks she’s the only one I could’ve asked? Not Baekhyun. Not Chanyeol’s Slytherin friend. Just her?

So much for her big Ravenclaw brains.

She walks around all high and mighty displaying her knack for embarrassing honesty but in the moments of truth she plays ostrich. I wasn’t trying to avoid her. I would never. But she’s a complete idiot who’d rather believe otherwise. An idiot who’ll never look into my eyes to feel what I feel. Even if she does, she’d just never accept it. It took me five and a half years to get her to talk to me. And if it takes just one misunderstanding to drive her away like that, I’m not sure if I want to try again.

The only two things I’ve gained out of my short lived acquaintance with Kyungsoo Doh are Detention and a new foul nickname “the girl who follows Kyungsoo around.”

I hear it everywhere I go. The Great Hall, the corridors and the Common Room isn’t very forgiving either. So all thanks to Kyungsoo, I’ve retracted into my wretched shell. I arrive late for lessons and swoop out like an owl as soon as it’s over. I spend every free period in one corner of the Library and try to avoid the Common Room as much as I can.

All these years I spent pretending like the cute, short, portly boy I met on the Hogwarts Express didn’t exist were far better than the last couple of months of letting him into my small Universe. In all honesty, I’ve started to loathe him. It takes immense self control for me to not have his pretty face eat slugs every time I cross paths every time I lay my eyes on it.

“Now, this one here….who can tell me what this is. My dear boy, Kyungsoo?” Holding a vial of liquid pearl in the air for us to see, play-acts Professor Slughorn. Another potential victim of my out-of-character slug attack.

“It’s Amortentia”, Kyungsoo’s voice reaches my ears from the far end of the dungeon.

“It is indeed. It almost seems foolish to ask”, he says, bringing the vial to my eye level, “but I assume you could tell me what it does?”

“It’s a love potion, Professor.” I say.

“It’s not just a love potion, sir. It’s the most powerful love potion in the world.” Kyungsoo offers and I feel the heat rising up my cheeks. I hate having this volley regarding a love potion with Kyungsoo.

“Excellent! And how did you recognize it, my dear?” Slughorn directs his question to me.

“By its distinctive mother-of-pearl sheen.”

“And?” His theatrics redirect to Kyungsoo.

“And the steam rising in characteristic spirals.” His dulcet tone echoes in the gloomy dungeon.

“Well, well, take ten well-earned points each for Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw”, says Slughorn genially, “would you two please be kind enough to come forward?”

Kyungsoo and I take, in what it seems like, ages to be stood on either side of Slughorn, arms over our chests, looking in opposite directions.

“There is one more key characteristic --”

“It’s supposed to smell differently to each of us, according to what attracts us”, Interrupting Slughorn, Kyungsoo and I garble.

“So to demonstrate”, Slughorn brings the vial closer to my face, “my dear?”

Consumed by the heady steam rising out of the potion, I clear my throat, “I can smell honey and...eucalyptus and….” Dittany. But I leave it at that, “That’s all Professor.”

“Very well, Mister Doh?” Slughorn quizzes.

“Sleekeazy’s Hair Potion…..Vanilla and …..Dittany.”

***

‘Evanesco!’

With that my last bottle of Sleekeazy vanishes in thin air.

“What are you doing up so late?” Chen’s groggy voice makes me jump but I counter, “What are you doing up so late?”

“Early. Up so early. It’s three in the morning”, yawning he waves his Charms textbook in front of my face, “Protean Charm.”

“Vanishing Spell”, I say pointing my wand at the empty table in front of us.

Chen relaxes into the chair next to mine and I let my gaze wander around the deserted Common Room. It really is a work of art encapsulated in all the blue and bronze. The stars painted over the domed ceiling, shine the brightest at this hour of the night, waltzing gracefully across the midnight blue carpet. If they were my stars, they’d wobble and fall owing to their two left feet. Could they, in the very least, give me a reason for this nagging ache in my chest?

‘Aguamenti!’

Drenched and dishevelled by a jet of cold water that shot out of Chen’s wand, I silence his raucous laugh and shower him with the choicest expletives before lifting the spell and drying myself.

“WHAT WAS THAT FOR!” I demand.

“You seemed so lost I was tempted. It’s what my dad uses to wake me up when I oversleep, you know? A nice cold bucket of water.” Chen’s snicker causes me to silence him again and he continues to blather soundlessly. How is this idiot so energetic at three in the morning!

“I’m going to bed”, wearily, I get up to leave and wave my wand at him.

“Wait! Stay”, says Chen, “It’s been quite a while!”

Groaning I slump back into the chair without further protest, “You’re right...so how’s our Head Girl doing?”

“She’s doing great. We’re doing great! She’s signed up to intern with the Ministry this summer under a certain Arthur Weasley...The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office.” Chen beams and making me want to pinch his cheeks in adoration.

“Congratulations Chen! Ah but I’m not surprised. She’s always been as bright as a button.” I can’t help but coo at these lovebirds. At how absolutely smitten they are with each other while I suffer with an inexplicable tug of longing.

“And you, not so bright. Stopped following Kyungsoo around, have we?” Putting on his ‘big brother cloak’ he quizzes me with a raised eyebrow and I shrink back into my chair out of embarrassment, “You know about it?”

“The whole school’s talking about it!”

“I’ve stopped ‘following him around’ now why isn’t anybody talking about that, eh?” My anger is misdirected at Chen.

“He’s been talking about that. About how you’ve been acting like he’s invisible. A notch below satisfactory behaviour, am I right?” The low rumble of his voice thunders.

“You’re defending your stupid friend here! So much for being unbiased, hah!” Seething, I argue.

“You’re absolutely right Dung Brains I am defending my stupid friend here which is you. Now tell me, airhead, what’s it called when two wizards have their wands pointed at each other, in a combative position.”

I groan, he can’t really be asking me that but the urging silence is uncomfortable.

“A duel”, I mumble.

“You, my dear, were walking straight into a battlefield of hair-brained blokes who were surrounded by stink pellets, dungbombs and fireworks. It was only natural for Kyungsoo to ask you to skedaddle, make a run for it...save your life! If only you’d have let him explain?”

Guilt courses through my veins and I find myself in the defensive, “But then why didn’t he just tell me instead of giving me that terrifying look? I thought he’s ...I thought he didn’t want to see me...and..and why didn’t he do anything when those great prunes started laughing at me? Also why do they keep causing trouble everywhere they go? Do they want to fill up Filch’s office with their records before they graduate? It only means more work for me. And for Kyungsoo.”

“They were celebrating a Muggle custom, April Fools’ Day as per the wise counsel of their frog brained leader Baekhyun and Kyungsoo was only trying to protect you. And you were too obtuse to see that. Why won’t you give him a chance? He’s one of the good ones, you know? And those prunes aren’t too bad either. They were laughing not at you but at him...they’re just happy for their friend.”

“Happy? Why?” My heart goes into a wild frenzy.

“You should ask him that. We’re going to be at the Three Broomsticks for Baekhyun’s birthday celebration on our trip to Hogsmeade this Saturday. So naturally, your Detention is suspended for the week. Come along?” He eyes me expectantly.

“Not in a million years”, I deadpan.

“Don’t be stupid”, with a flick of his wand he makes the three bottles of Sleekeazy’s Hair Potion reappear, “and live a little.”

***

On Saturday morning I went down for breakfast feeling thoroughly depressed but trying my best to act normal. Kyungsoo was seated with Yoongi at the Hufflepuff table. He was stealing glances at the Ravenclaw table before his eyes met mine. Pursing his lips he nodded slightly in acknowledgment. For a fleeting second I had a strange desire of joining him at the Hufflepuff table but I quietly slipped into my seat besides the fifth year girl who’s been tutoring Kyungsoo’s friend Kai and has been a tad chipper ever since.

The largest portion of my headspace has been occupied with an internal debate on whether I should apologize to Kyungsoo or not. But I’ve noticed how he’d not been trying too hard either. If I handed him the Detention routine he went along with it without a single word of protest. If I’ve been ignoring him in class he hasn’t been exactly forthcoming. The familiar sense of finality sets deep into my bones and I’ve lost my appetite. I gulp down my tea and slip out of the Great Hall to pay Hagrid a long overdue visit.

They never tire of it.

The two boys from Slytherin provoked me to strike them with the Twitchy-Ear hex. They’d found it particularly amusing to call me by my stale nickname as I made my way down to Gladrags Wizardwear to buy Hagrid a new moleskin robe.

He’d been exceptionally understanding despite my despicable behaviour. Not having visited him in nearly six months and communicated with him only via a flurry of owls, I had no idea Fangs had been suffering with distemper. Kyungsoo’s been helping out with a self prepared brew to keep him stable. Explains why he’s been frequenting Hagrid’s hut. Also explains why he didn’t come see me on the second day that I’d spent in the Hospital Wing.

And my attitude towards him explains exactly why he chose to keep the truth about helping me get to the Hospital Wing that day.

I don’t know how to thank him or apologize to him. Maybe he’s just better off without me.

I am here in Hogsmeade on a whim.

As the sun fades into a deeper blue my feet stop outside The Three Broomsticks and I’m desperate to see him. But he’s at a friend’s party and I’d only be making it awkward for everyone.

“Hullo”, a familiar honeyed voice reaches my ears making me stop dead in my tracks.

Taken by surprise, I turn and tip my head back slightly to look up at the large eyed boy, his face bearing that lethal heart shaped smile. I hug myself despite the warmth of May wishing I could make myself smaller.

Having rehearsed an entire apology speech in the shower in the morning, I found myself strangely tongue tied at the sight of him. He prods me to walk the quaint streets of Hogsmeade by his side.

“I’m sorry”, staring into the distance, I muster with a giddy head and a seized up throat.

“No. I’m sorry”, says Kyungsoo as his hand slowly finds mine, inviting stares from passersby, “I should’ve...communicated better. But promise to never shut me out again? I couldn’t take it.”

Fireworks go off in my head at the sudden contact, “No, no I’m sorry I should’ve trusted you and… I promise to never shut you out again.” I couldn’t take it either.

“So what are we now?” He interjects, lacing his warm fingers with mine.

If only he could hear the thunder of my heart, “We’re friends again?”

“Friends who fancy each other? Isn’t that a bit odd?”

“I-- umm, I--”.

“I --- umm?” He teases, “Okay...I fancy you. I always have. In case you hadn’t noticed.”

Going up on my toes I plant a little kiss on his jaw, I don’t know what came over me. Maybe I’ve finally gone mad.

His fingers run over his jaw lightly and he chuckles, “If you attack me like this again I’d have to report you to Professor Sprout.” Letting go off my hand he wraps his arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer. I feel a tingling sensation run down my spine.

Having circled the rural settlement for nearly an hour, we’re famished. We find ourselves on the High Street, right outside of Honeydukes, “After you, M’lady!” Crouching down in a bow, Kyungsoo gestures me to walk in.

M’lady?

Together we stare in wonder at the shelves upon shelves of the most succulent looking sweets imaginable. We’ve both, individually, been here countless times but together we feel like children lost in wonderland. I realize how light my pockets feel as Kyungsoo’s eyes wander around the shop ambitiously.

“Kyungsoo, I only have enough for Hagrid’s moleskin robe. I didn’t think I’d need a lot of gold for this trip...I could make a quick run to a Cashpoint first”, embarrassed, I admit.

“If we were to compound the five Galleons that I’ve owed you for six years now, I’m certain I could buy you half the shop!” The portly Ambrosius Flume, the owner of Honeydukes, clears his throat in annoyance at Kyungsoo’s comment, eyeing us suspiciously.

Buy half the shop we did.

Kyungsoo wasn’t entirely lucky with all the flavours of Berti Botts having sampled soap, dirt and earwax while I almost choked on a rotten-egg flavoured one. The Pepper Imps had us breathing fire at each other and a lock of my hair got caught in the line which Kyungsoo doused just in time and saved my scalp from going up in flames. We pigged on Peppermint Toads which made us sick after they literally started hopping frantically in our stomachs.

Kyungsoo suggested we make a quick stop at Dogweed and Deathcap for a handful of leaves of a very foul smelling plant that were supposed to help us keep our barbaric fare down. When I absolutely refused to chew on them, Kyungsoo force fed me. The weird red dotted black leaves made our mouths go completely dry and left us with a pungent after taste.

“If you wanted me dead, you could’ve just used the Unforgivable Curse instead!” I cried.

We realized if we weren’t quick about it, we’d just end up breaking curfew so we sprinted to Gladrags Wizardwear to pick up Hagrid’s robe only to be tempted to by the thought of staying longer in each other’s company. Going back to Hogwarts meant being held hostage by the blue and bronze and the yellow and black. I’ve never appreciated Hogwarts’ divisive House system, even more so now.

“We’ll make it in time if we leave exactly at 9:30 p.m.” Kyungsoo reasons.

“How much longer do we have now?” I ask, dreading the answer.

“20ish?” he says sheepishly.

Burying my face into his warm and fuzzy sweater, I whine, “That’s not a lot.”

Squeezing me in a hug he says, “Then let’s make the most of it!”

We enter the shop that’s apparently been dressing ‘the Elegant Wizard’ for over two centuries with lurid socks and flashy robes. I chance upon a moleskin one which I quickly set aside for Hagrid and a furry red one with silver and gold stars that bounced off of it. I egged Kyungsoo to try it on over his all black Muggle clothing along with a bright yellow hat made out of chicken and pheasant feathers. He on the other hand picked out a black velvet robe with a high collar, a set of fake fangs and dragon hide boots that made me look like a vicar at something that the Muggles call a “rock concert.”

The disapproving help at the shop agreed to get our magazine cover worthy looks on camera. She said she’d get them printed and that we could get a copy on our next visit for fifteen Sickles.

Along with Hagrid’s robe, I purchased a pair of socks for the birthday boy Baekhyun. They were patterned with wolves that howled when the socks got too smelly.

And then, just like that, it was time for us to go back to Hogwarts.

***

Which came first; the Phoenix or the Flame?

The eagle knocker drawls and for the first time in six years I have no clue what it’s talking about. I’ve lost all ability to reason and all I want to right now is run over to the Hufflepuff Tower. A tall, thin boy who stood leaned against the wall next to the door comes out of the shadows ‘tsk-ing’ at me.

“Aren’t you supposed to be one of the smart ones? Did Kyungsoo really manage to dumb you down?” He chuckles before proceeding to answer the knocker, leading us into the Common Room.

I choose to not answer him but he continues to look at me questioningly. He extends his arm and says, “I’m Sehun Oh, fifth-year.”

“I know”, I say, “I’m --”

“I know who you are. The pretty girl who’s captured Kyungsoo’s heart thus breaking mine.” He dramatically clutches at his chest, falls and rolls over on the floor.

Excusing myself, I softly apologize to the elongated Flobberworm and head over to the Dormitory.

“Wait!”, he calls out, “I didn’t mean to weird you out! Are you up for a game of Chess? You’re practically a friend now… considering what you have going on with Kyungsoo. And I’m really bored.”

What do I have going on with Kyungsoo and what does Flobberworm know about it?

Unsure of my role here as a friend or an entertainer, I decide to indulge him with, “...just one game!”

“Wicked! Let me call Chen and you can ask his girl to join.. also Miss Ravenclaw!”

“Aren’t we all Ravenclaw?”

“Sorry...you know the girl who’s tutoring Kai?”

This is by far the most eventful day I’ve had in all of my six years at Hogwarts.

***

Resting his chin on my shoulder, he’s circled his arms around my waist as we stare into the distance from the Wooden Bridge. Every free period finds us together, somewhere very far away from prying eyes. The seventh floor and the Bridge are our usual haunts. Although, we think of these excursions as extremely detrimental to our upcoming exams, we realize there’s nothing to be gained out of fighting a troll. That is, our intense feelings for each other. But I’m not that brave and honestly neither is he. The shadows underneath his eyes are self explanatory.

“We need to chart up a study schedule. We barely have any time left!” I say bursting out of our saccharine bubble.

“Sure”, he nods, “whatever you say.”

“Kyungsoo!” Freeing myself from his embrace I turn around to face him, “We need to make it to the seventh year!”

“Who says we won’t?”

He’s loopy.

“Kyungsoo!”

“That’s me.”

“Kyungsoo!”

He pulls me into a hug again and I’m close enough to see the constellation of moles on his neck. “Mmm Sleekeazy”, he hums, sniffing my hair. Distracting me.

“Do you need some?” I ask, immediately realising how his hair seems to be getting shorter each day. I run a hand over his head, “guess you don’t. What do you keep doing with your hair?”

“I like it like that. It’s more comfortable”, he sighs, “Wait! You don’t like it?”

“I can learn to live with it. Besides, more Sleekeazy for me. Keeps my hair from looking like a bunch of Flobberworms!”

Flobberworm!

I have a Chess game to win!

“Kyungsoo! I have to go. I need to win this time. That Sehun boy is ridiculously good at Chess. Even Chen and I together don’t stand a chance against him.”

“Wait! You’re abandoning me for Sehun?” He asks, mock angrily.

“Noooo! I just….have to win this time. And you need to go chart up a study schedule for us. Also, what are you doing next week?”

“Whatever you’re doing next week”, he says, batting his eyelashes. And I try to suppress a smile.

“Have you ever watched a Quidditch match before?”

“Baekhyun’s Captain of Gryffindor, Kai is the Keeper. Chanyeol is the captain of the Slytherin team and Sehun’s the Seeker for Ravenclaw. And Yoongi is a lousy Beater. So yes, I have. Except I’ve never found myself rooting for my own House. And if you tell those Mandrakes this, I’m afraid I will have to break up with you despite you being the prettiest, smartest, nicest girl I’ve ever met. I’m sorry I don’t make the rules.”

“Aww”, I tease, “Noted. And you could’ve just said yes. Let’s watch the Hufflepuff vs Ravenclaw match next week?”

“We’ll be in different stands!” He cries.

“Oh! That’s absolutely terrible but can we go anyway? I finally have someone to root for.”

“You’ve always had Ravenclaw to root for!”

“No, silly! Sehun Oh.”

“Ah! Of course”, he says, putting his arms around me. Again.

***

On the morning of the match, I had my game face on. I don’t even know why.

Having successfully followed the study schedule that Kyungsoo had laid out for us, our mood was light, and we were ready to let our hair down. Which, for all practical purposes, wasn’t something Kyungsoo was capable of. We were walking up to the pitch until it was time for us to go our separate ways.

“You turn right and I’ll go left”, I instruct Kyungsoo.

“I’m aware of where the Hufflepuff stands are. Thank you for your consideration.”

“Okay then”, I giggle, “see you later?”

“No...you’re joining me in the Hufflepuff stands.”

“Do you want me to get expelled? Was that your grand scheme all along?”

“Of course they’re going to expel you for this. And if they do, I promise to voluntarily drop out.”

“What will we do then? Deal in stolen artefacts?”

“Looks like you have it all planned out.”

“No, I just know someone...great we’re off on a tangent again! No, I’m not joining you in the Hufflepuff stands. Bye bye Kyungsoo Doh. See you later!”

“You’re bound by law to break the law”, he hands me a neatly folded parchment, “Chen’s detention record. When you came to see me that day, it made me wonder. What was so important? So I went back to sift through the records you’d worked on and voila!”

“What’s ‘voila’?”

“Don’t digress. Come along, house-elf and find me a good seat.”

“Yessir”, I give up. And covering all the blue and bronze of my uniform with the black robe, I sneak into the Hufflepuff stands.

The things I do for this bald idiot.

The pitch is pulsing with a contagious energy and I find myself completely engaged as soon as Madam Hooch’s first whistle sounds. All the whizzing and whirring players make my head spin so I have my eyes trained on the Ravenclaw goalpost except for when I’m checking up on Sehun’s progress with the Snitch. Ravenclaw hasn’t been doing too well and with the game down to it’s final few minutes, Sehun really is their only hope. Kyungsoo pulls me down everytime I jump or squeal for the Ravenclaw side, “Do you want to get thrashed?” he whispers.

And just then the commentator shouts, “Ravenclaw’s Seeker Sehun has caught the Snitch! RAVENCLAW HAS WON THE MATCH!”

My voice is hoarse from all the screaming. I turn around to face Kyungsoo pulling him in a tight hug annoying all the Hufflepuff fans around us.

In a fleeting moment of exhilaration, his lips are on mine and the world stops.

***

"Happy memory!" I parrot for our last lesson before the year ends but Kyungsoo seems to be awfully distracted. That teasing smile on his face he's trying not so hard to contain is making my heart thump against my ribcage.

"Focus", I croon once again with mock annoyance but my brain is mush and I feel like I'm levitating because there's no way my jelly legs could be supporting my stance right now. He sways closer to give me a quick peck on the nose.

"Happy memory", he whispers as his eyes search mine. Brushing a stray lock of hair away from my face, he allows his thumb to softly caress my cheek. His fingers pry for mine before they're intertwined in a steady grip.

We take our positions, raise our wands and yell with a flick, "Expecto Patronum!"

Two lynxes dance around the Room of Requirement illuminating it with the gleam of their silver.

Dumbstruck, I tilt my head to face Kyungsoo, “Your Patronus...”

“Our Patronuses”, he whispers.

“We have the same --”

Kyungsoo reaches for my waist and draws me close, his plush lips an agonizing touch away from mine. Twirling my fingers in the seams of his robe, I close my eyes and feel my breath hitch in my throat. A tingling sensation spreads through every fragment of my being as his hand finds the back of my neck and his lips meet mine in a dizzying kiss.

Two Years Later

My house looks wonky.

And, no. It’s not the after effect of Apparating here. A wonky house held up by charms in the middle of nowhere was the only thing Kyungsoo and I could afford with his meagre pay at J. Pippin’s Potions and the modest “severance” I received after being practically disinherited by Gran for wasting my time with a Muggle-born.

I trudge the short distance from the shabby front garden to the main door, weary from my dismal performance in today’s Stealth and Tracking lesson.

The door swings open and the pungent odour coming out from Kyungsoo’s makeshift Apothecary in our basement makes me want to barf. Putting a bubble around my head to avoid the smell, I traipse to the basement.

A bald Kyungsoo is bent over a cauldron, the steam from which has fogged up his glasses and has apparently made him go deaf. I poke him on his shoulder to grab his attention, making him jump. Therefore causing his little vials to smash on the floor.

I just set us back by twenty Galleons.

Kyungsoo is quick to clear the sloppy and shard-y mess I’d made and reverse the Bubble Head charm I’d put myself under. He covers up the putrid cauldron immediately.

Tears well up in my eyes and I lean into his chest.

The world is bleak.

“You’re home”, he coaxes, gently running a gloved hand over my head.

“Remind me again why I chose to become an Auror? I could’ve done anything with my perfect N.E.W.T. scores. I’m disastrous at this!” I’m sobbing against his soft ‘t-shirt’ as he comforts me with a ‘shhh..it’s okay’. “The chickens have made such a mess in the coop, Soo and I haven’t heard back from the Auror Office on the internship yet. We have a piteous stack of gold in our vault at Gringotts….” sniffling I continue, “You know we could just keep our money in a safe here..those clever Goblins are making so much money out of our money! The vault is a bad decision...we’re losing more money because of it. I hate the vault and the chickens and this house! What if it crumbles down while we’re asleep? What will we do then?” I pull away from him, my wide eyes demanding answers.

“We won’t have to worry about much if the roof comes crashing on us”, He reasons with a slight teasing smile.

“The very stringent Auror Office accepted you because you’re a brilliant witch and right, I believe you enrolled with them only to spite Gran. And honestly my love, you’re being too hard on yourself. You did really well on the Concealment and Disguise training, didn’t you?” He says, lifting my chin up.

“Also on the Memory Charm”, I offer quietly, making him chuckle.

“Exactly! What else is bothering you? Ahh the chickens and the vault?”

“Also the fact that Gran hates you and your parents think I’m a sinister witch who has tied their son down”, my lips begin to tremble again.

He sighs.

“I promise to take care of the chicken situation tomorrow and my love, we finally have a reason to keep that vault”, his eyes enlarge into beautiful brown circles and his plush lips stretch into a heart. A shrill pitch betrays his otherwise deep, calm voice, “Dogweed and Deathcap has offered me a job with a pay raise and a free supply of ingredients! Which is a great thing because ever since you’ve started your Auror training you’ve practically emptied my Dittany stores!”

“KYUNGSOO! I’m so happy for you!” Screaming, I jump into his arms and he twirls me around, dancing and giggling.

Panting, he says excitedly, “Wait! There’s more. Apparently the article on the benefits of Confusing Concoction I co-authored with Slughorn’s Warlock friend’s daft grand nephew?”

I nod vigorously.

“That article really took off! One of the reviews called me a ‘promising Potioneer’! Gran apparently got a whiff of that article...”

My expression soured, “And?”

“She’s invited us home to discuss it!” He rummages for a letter in his desk drawer and hands it to me, “Take a look at this!”

The letter reads in Gran’s shrewd yet artistic handwriting. She mentions, to the best of her abilities, how proud she is of me for following my parents’ footsteps and that she’d like to see us for dinner to discuss our ‘future’.

“She’s coming around”, Kyungsoo crouches to peer into my blank eyes.

“Took her long enough.”

“There’s one more thing”, he says sheepishly.

It looks like an evening full of surprises.

Kyungsoo gives me a glossy magazine with a still picture of a woman in the most garish outfit I’ve ever seen with the word VOGUE sprawled across her scrawny frame in big bold white letters.

“Soo, why are you giving me a Muggle magazine?”

“For Muggle clothing inspo.”

I hate it when he uses these ridiculous foreign terms like “inspo” and “voila”. “Voila” is definitely his favourite.

“Why would I need clothing inspiration, Soo? Do you not like what I wear?”

“I love what you wear. Even when you don’t wear --”

“Soo!”

“Okay umm we have to take a trip to London...my parents would like to have us over for the weekend….you’re”, he pauses, “you’re okay with that right?”

It’s a lot to process.

What if they prosecute me by hanging? I’ve read about what Muggles do to witches. Idly running through the pages of the magazine which suddenly seems too heavy for my arms, I buy time. Kyungsoo patiently waits for my answer.

“What’s ‘goss’?” I mumble, eyes trained on ‘Vogue’.

“Gossip?”

“Ahh...I have some ‘goss’ on Baekhyun and his girlfriend.” I digress and let me.

His brows crinkle in concern, “Oh-kay?”

“They were caught snogging in one of the Training Rooms yesterday...”

“And what became of them?”

“I don’t know.” They were made to clean all the Training Rooms the Muggle way. “Kyungsoo, I love you.”

“I love you, too.” He pulls me into his arms and presses his soft lips to my forehead, “We’ll get through this.”

“Of course, we will. We’re soulmates”, I say into his chest, reminiscing the time we’d kissed while two lynxes waltzed around us.

Suddenly, with a loud boom, Kyungsoo’s cauldron went flying in the air. It’s bubbling hot contents splattered on the walls of our basement. The impact made us duck under his desk.

“I forgot to turn off the burner.”

#kyungsoo #exo #kyungsoo fluff #exo fluff #kyungsoo imagines #exo imagines #kyungsoo scenarios #exo scenarios #kyungsoo oneshot #kyungsoo oneshots #exo oneshots #exo hogwarts au #kyungsoo hogwarts au #ex aus

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exosmutfactory · 4 years ago

Text

How I Look On You 004

Chun-hei is stuck between feeling too busy to commit and too young to settle down. And with her bustling book publisher business, bachelors and alike are all swarming around her for a chance at publicity. She’s doing a good job at keeping the men at bay—until Byun Baekhyun, that is. Doesn’t mean he’ll have it easy though.

Tagging: @baeklination coz I think she’d like to be in the know about this 👀 let me know if anyone else would like to be tagged for the last chapter! 💕

•⇔♦ •⇔♦ •⇔♦ •⇔♦ •⇔♦ •⇔♦ •

The Confusion

—

Why are you only good to me

When I'm bad to you?

Why are you only?

Loving you and hating you is in, depending on the day

Tell me why are you only good to me

When I'm bad to you?

—

Opening my eyes to a familiar yet unexpected bedroom is oddly comforting. Or maybe it is because of the smell of cinnamon and the woods after it rains that causes my shoulders to relax under the thick comforter. Until the daze of sleep leaves in wake of a horrendous headache.

I sit up way too soon for the pounding in my head; close to losing the contents of my stomach before squeezing my eyes shut. Even swallowing is hard. I’m never doing this shit again.

With a groan I gingerly reach for the glass of water sitting on top of the nightstand; glancing down at the two pain pills left there before deciding to take them as well. Leaning back against the headboard of the bed, I try to remember the previous night as my headache slowly ebbs away; letting my gaze drift over the room. My whole body stiffening in realization. I saw something I probably shouldn’t, and I... didn’t come here for sex...

No matter how much time goes by before I even get another glimpse of Seoyeon, I can still pin-point her striking colored hair and confident stance anywhere—unless there is a twin she hasn’t told any of us about. Honestly that could be a likely conclusion as well with how tight-lipped she is with “personal” things. Guess shoving her tongue down her bosses throat isn't considered a “personal thing.”

Flinching at the sudden buzz coming from under my back, I flip over the clean white pillow to find my phone. Jihun’s name flashing across the screen. Briefly glancing at the time of 9:30 am I tentatively swipe to accept the call.

“Chun-hei, sorry if I woke you up,” She begins through the speaker; sounding calmer than I expected, “I’m just calling to check in with you.”

I blink, brows furrowing, “It’s okay.”

“Good.” She sighs, making my brows furrow even more. “Um...why are you so accepting of me not showing up to work?”

“I called you last night, you don’t remember?”

Blinking again I check through my call log, finding her name next to the time of 2:30am. “No,” Trying to remember the time through my blurry visions of last night is proving to be difficult, I don’t even know what time I got here...

“Good.” She sighs almost in relief causing an eyebrow raise from me. “You sure are calm about this.”

“Barely,” She grits, frustration slipping through her voice, “I called you after dragging a deadweight Minji back to my apartment just to hear a certain ‘Byun Baekhyun’s’ voice over the line.”

Heat swiftly crawls up my neck to my cheeks, “I-I accidentally gave the cab his address.” I defend with a flaming face. It is way too early to be flustered like this.

“Good,” She replies, sounding satisfied, “You looked like you’d black out at any moment,” I kinda did—“and based off how worried he was, you did.”

“Oops?”

“Yeah, right.” I can hear the rolling of her eyes, “Got to go, the meeting with the board is in 5 minutes and I haven’t finished preparing myself to take on their judging evil ass eyes alone.”

“Ouch.” I wince, a clear image of similar scenarios running through my throbbing head. “Thank you, Jihun,” I utter sincerely, playfully adding, “You know I love you right?”

“Whatever. You better be glad I get paid for this,” She grumbles, but I know she’s smiling.

“You’re the best~” I sing, disconnecting the line. Laying back on the bed, I look up at the white ceiling, trying in vain to remember everything from last night.

“..he likes you..”

Dark brown eyes watching me from across the room.

“Seojun has been far up his own ass since day one..”

Peach colored hair.

“..can’t believe Seoyeon isn’t here.”

Minji is as pale as a ghost.

“—gets all stiff when you mention—”

Wait.

I sit up, eyes wide in realization, Minji. Throwing back the covers, I swing my legs out of bed. Taking a few steps towards the door before the chill of my body registers in my mind. I look down at the long white t-shirt and tight black athletic shorts on my form before carrying on out the room; carefully opening the door and peeking around the corner. The sight that greets me too cute to bear at 9 in the morning.

Baekhyun sprawled out on the couch with wild black hair and eyelashes caressing glowy cheeks. Soft puffs of air escaping his parted yet slightly pouty lips. He is the picture of adorable right now.

I smile to myself before tip-toeing over to the other side of the apartment; finding my dress from the night before freshly washed and ironed. Sat on top of the modest dining table. Gratitude swells in my chest as I slip out of the borrowed clothes; carefully setting the folded pile on the table when something clatters to the floor.

Shooting a wary look over at the still sleeping Baekhyun, I reach under the table for the object; a single bronze key clutched in my palm. My heart racing at the underlined intentions. Pulling on my heels before slipping out of the door, I take one last glance back at him; not even fighting my fond smile.

Sighing softly once the door is shut, I type in a familiar contact while making my way down the stairwell. The 4 flights will be good for my overworking brain; filled to the brim with thoughts of Baekhyun and the company as I bring my ringing phone to my ear.

“Hello?”

“Minji.” I utter, a little in awe at her sounding so clear this morning. “Are you working today?”

“Yeah,” She sounds less enthusiastic this time; a certain edge to her soft voice.

“Good, I’m just around the block.” I observe, checking the surroundings of Baek’s apartment building fully for once in the daylight. “I’m coming over.”

“I’ll get your usual.” She mumbles, swiftly ending the call.

Taking a deep breath, I tuck my phone back into my pocket, speed walking down the remotely clear pedestrian walkways until I see a familiar sky blue building up ahead. The smell of fresh bread and the soft twinkle of the doorbell overhead bringing fond memories; ones I fear may be a bit painful to reminisce after today.

Minji looks up from helping a lady at the counter, smiling politely at the praises of her hard work and wishing her a good day. We're the only ones left after she leaves; Minji continues to stand there, seemingly lost in thought.

"...Um hey?" I give her an odd look, slowly approaching the counter.

"H-Hi," She mumbles, quickly retreating to the kitchen, "Have a seat. I'll be right back!"

Looking after her warily, I sat down at a booth in the back of the room; lazily watching the people walking past the far window with my chin on my palm as the sounds of running water filled the quiet room.

“Sorry,” She flusters, quickly setting a steaming brown mug and a slice of apple pie on the table before sliding into the opposite seat.

“It’s fine,” I reassured her, patting her hand, trying to ease her nerves. Gingerly cupping the mug in my palms, I gently blow on the ginger lemon tea. “How’s the bakery?” I inquire, quirking a brow with a smile. “Seems to be a real hotspot these days.”

“Business as usual,” She mumbles, tugging at the sleeve of her purple cashmere sweater.

“Hey...” I set down the mug, trying to meet her eye, “You okay?”

She begins to nod, stopping short with a shaky sigh. “N-” She stops, lips trembling. Croaking as tears fill her eyes, “No.”

“Hey hey hey,” I look around, pulling out a packet of tissues and makeup wipes from my purse reserved for moments like these before holding them out to her. She blindly reaches for them, still not meeting my eyes. “Minji… What’s wrong?” I soothe. My unease is growing by the minute.

She mumbles something unidentifiable under her breath and I lean forward, eyeing her worriedly. “What?”

Her head snaps up. “I’m sorry!” She blurts, shiny eyes wide with fear.

“I—” I flinch back at her wail, watching her get progressively more distressed with furrowed brows. “Minji I’m a bit lost here. What are you sorry for?..”

The purple haired woman takes a couple moments to dab at the corner of her smudged eyeliner, sniffling quietly before uttering, “Seoyeon…” She pauses, meeting my eyes for the first time today, “Seoyeon and Seojun are fooling around.”

A moment passes, only the bustling life from beyond the windows filling the silence. “Okay,” I slowly nod, ignoring the itching suspicion beginning to form at the back of my mind. Disappointed but not surprised.

“No,” Minji sniffles, shaking her head. “You don’t understand..”

“It’s okay, Min,” I soothe, putting on a small smile. “Seojun is a part of my past now.” Shrugging nonchalantly, I lean back in my seat, cupping my warm mug in my palms. “What they do is really none of my—”

“—Seoyeon slept with him while you were together.” She drops the ball.

I choke a bit on my tea, setting down the glass harder than intended. “Wha-” I cough leaning forward, fist against my mouth, “What did you just say?”

Minji keeps her teary eyes on the tabletop. The temperature in the room seems to drop a whole 10 degrees as the realization sets in.

“No.” I shake my head, tears brimming my eyes. “No, she wouldn’t…”

“I can’t believe Seoyeon isn’t here.”

“—she gets all stiff when you mention men..”

“—Who? Who?” Seoyeon craned her neck around; trying to catch sight of the man.

“Yah!” Minji whisper shouts, lightly smacking the back of her head. “Leave her be, she needs this..”

No… No. We have been friends since high school, back when she could never find the right concealer for her skin tone and Kim Publishing was but a mere thought…

“You never know,” She replies tossing her freshly dyed red hair, “Maybe you’d learn something if you left your office for once.”

Someone blocks Seojun from view; a woman with peach-colored hair that causes a spark to light up in his dark brown eyes…

“It’s not like her to miss the opportunity.”

Dragging my eyes up from the mug clutched tight in my hands, I meet Minji’s gaze with blurred eyes. “You..” I inhale shakily, clenching my jaw. “You knew.”

Her doe eyes widen, “I—”

“You fucking knew and chose not to say anything!” I explode, not realizing I’ve stood up until I blink, seeing her curled up form cornered against the wall through my red vision. Salty tears steadily streaming down my cheeks. The knocked over coffee mug rolling around it’s spilled contents dripping from the tabletop barely stopping right before toppling over the edge.

“You covered for her.” I conclude in a softer voice, the clues of betrayal burning bright behind my retinas. “You knew this entire time. When were you going to tell me, Minji?” She doesn’t dare to lift her head, my questions firing one after the other. “Who else knows, hmm? Your mom? The media? Jihun?”

“N-No.” She quickly shakes her head as I take in her cowering form, helplessly folding in on herself. “Jihun has no idea.”

“Huh.” I smile, not a trace of humor in my tone. “That makes two of us.”

After another moment’s pause, I reach over to pluck a handful of napkins from the dispenser, dropping them carelessly to soak up the mess on the table. “Thank you for telling me, Minji-ssi.” Sparing her a quick glance, I shuffle through my purse for my wallet, taking a minute to remember the exact amount before slapping the money on her side of the table. “Hope you get all that you want out of life.”

“W-Wait.” I pay her quiet call no heed, already pushing my way out of the clear bakery doors; the crisp, early-winter air biting into the skin of my drying cheeks. Looking up at the light grey sky full of wispy clouds, I brush off my shoulders, making a left turn at the end of the street that leads to the heart of downtown. Because now…. Now.

I have bigger fish to fry.

➽➼►♦⇔♦➽➼►♦⇔♦➽➼►

“Chun-hei.” He grins, comfortably reclined in the leather seat.

I smile. “Good morning, Mr. Shue.”

His eyes light up in expectant glee as I take my seat across from him, smoothing out the pants of my black suit. “To what pleasure do I owe to be graced by your presence this fine morning?”

“Just a quick little check in.” Pulling a blue pen from behind my ear, I tuck away a stubborn lock of hair escaping with the motion. “I believe we had some things to discuss?” I arch a brow, polite smile still on while opening my vanilla folder.

“Oh?” His own smile turns into a greasy smirk; the promise of his victory dancing in his eyes. “Well then. Yes, we do. Have you decided yet?”

“Actually,” I drawl, dragging my eyes back to his, “I’d prefer it if you helped me make one.”

As if on cue, Jihun steps into the room with two interns, each one of them carrying stacks of paper while she holds a recorder in her hands. The single flick of her thumb brings a red dot onto the screen.

“You see, Mr. Shue.” Turning my eyes back to him, I take in the panicked look on his face. “A little birdy told me that you have been making deals with Park’s Publishing.” I emphasize, cointining in a way too chirpy tone, “Behind my back.”

He sits there, forehead breaking out in a cold sweat as I gesture for the interns to set the documents on the long wooden meeting table. Spreading them out on the surface. “Now, if I recall.” Plucking a particular stabled stack of papers out of the two piles, I hold it up for him to see, “Your contract states specifically that any such foul play would mean a lawsuit and an immediate termination of contract.” My tone lowers, looking him dead in the eye. “It’s typed in bold print at the top of the first page, Mr. Shue.”

“I-I-” He stammers, clambering out of his seat while pointing a grubby finger, “You have no proof of anything!”

Not phased by his loud display, I calmly hold my hand out to receive the tablet that a third subordinate brings in; a mere three taps revealing a video of the short, stocky man shaking hands with the Director of Park’s Publishing; the title of exchanged documents clear as day in the HD replay. The book we’ve been working on for over half a year to publish.

Letting the tablet go to sleep, I set my gaze on his shaking form once again. “You will be hearing from my lawyer, Mr. Shue.”

He makes his way around the table in a fit of rage, fingers outstretched just for security to enter the room, swiftly hauling him out by his arms. His face redder than I have ever seen as he shouts obscenities at the top of his lungs down the hallway.

I lean back in my seat with a deep sigh, rubbing my temple and closing my eyes.

“You okay?” Jihun’s voice rings, a hand placed on my shoulder. I make an effort to relax, nodding as my eyes open, “Yeah.” One look at her doubtful expression and I know she can see through me. “Can you...cancel the rest of my meetings for today?” Tentatively, I take a glance at the time on my Rolex before meeting her gaze again.

“I can manage,” She murmurs, giving a slow nod at the apprehensive look on my face. “Go. Before the lunch hour traffic hits.”

Sighing shakily, I push away from the table, brushing invisible dust off my clothes while nodding in acknowledgement to my subordinates; swiftly exiting the room. Rolling my stiff neck with a wince. If only that was the last hassle I have to deal with for the day.

The familiar sight of the tall building up ahead causes my heart to squeeze uncomfortably in my chest, but I continue onward; head held high with every click of my heels on the pavement.

“Ms. Kim,” The guard out front nods in acknowledgement, holding the door open for me as I pass by with a brief greeting; my focus drifting to a certain advertisement posted on the far wall of the apartment complex lobby. The model and the makeup artist. My lips curl up, a bitter smile hidden behind the closing doors of the elevator. What a great pair they make indeed.

Slipping into the apartment is simple enough with the spare key in my hand. The tell-tale signs of moans and squeaking bed frames do not phase me at all as I make my way to the bedroom at the end of the hall, throwing the door open with no remorse. Startling the pair tangled within the bedsheets.

“What the fuck-” Her high pitched complaint stops dead in it’s tracks, covers messily clutched to her chest and eyes widened in alarm in wake of my presence.

“Hi Seoyeon.” That polite smile has found its way back to my lips. The curses spewed from the scrambling brunet under her mere background noise. “Just stopping by to tell you I don’t need your key anymore.” I let it fall with a clatter from my hand onto the dresser stationed within arms reach of the door, stuffing it back into my suit pocket.

“C-Chun-hei...” Her tone of voice is pitiful while her face flushes bright red, disbelieving eyes and shaky pupils glistening in the dim light of the disorganized room.

I look down at her with blank eyes, swiftly spinning on my heel, only managing to take two steps towards the front door before faltering. “Oh!” Snapping my fingers, I face them again with a click of my tongue, smiling in mock relief. “Almost forgot. I left your shoes by the door. Can’t have you leaving a $500 worth pair of heels behind, hmm?”

The nonchalant expression on her features despite the mascara streaking down her cheeks is enough of a response. Directing my gaze to Seojun, I shoot him the same pacifying smile, leaving the place just as quietly as I came.

My gaze lowers to the ground while trudging through the deserted streets, hands shoved deep into my pockets in search of some warmth against the bitter cold air. Maybe I should have taken my car amidst gathering the last traces of Seojeon out of my home, but then again, she isn’t worth the gas money.

Wandering mindlessly brings me back to an all too familiar apartment building, the weight of the remaining key within my pocket seems to grow heavier. Urging me to step into the place I’ve walked by countlessly since this morning. Beckoning me back to the man waiting—is he waiting?

My eyes widen, pace quickening as I bypass the person seated at the front desk in favor of catching the elevator before the doors shut. The ride up to the designated floor full of fidgety hands and impatient foot taps. It feels like ten years have passed before I’m inserting the key into the lock, carefully opening the door with bated breath.

“Chunhei!” Baekhyun rushes over as I force myself to calmly slip out of my annoying heels; his brown eyes wide and hair still messy from sleep. “Are you okay? I woke up and you weren’t-”

Fuck it.

Cupping his cheeks, I smash my lips to his, “I’m okay.” I breathe, pulling up briefly for air. “I just…” Looking at his worried filled face makes me pause, heart racing at the raw emotions in his shining orbs. The longer I gaze into his wide brown eyes, the more the bad feelings of the day wash away, “I need you.”

Baekhyun gulps, holding my gaze as my hands slide down his chest. He catches my wrists before I can slip them under the waistband of his jeans, “Are you sure?”

Looking him over again, I nod, gasping when he roughly tugs me into his embrace. He kisses me as if his life depends on it, so many emotions pouring from his lips as I tangle my hand in his hair; swiftly wrapping my legs around his waist when his hands grab onto my ass. He walks us back to the bedroom, lips curling against my own smiling ones and eyes sparkling with promise.

Maybe.. I want more than the pleasure he gives after all.

•⇔♦ •⇔♦ •⇔♦ •⇔♦ •⇔♦ •⇔♦ •

One chapter away from completing this story ooommmggg. Thank for reading, sorry for the long wait! I guess today is an angst filled one hehe♡ ♡ have a great weekend!

#baekhyun angst #baekhyun fluff #bbh-net #baekhyun romance

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lofitojii · 4 years ago

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Admiration VII

Summary: He’s the son of Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty. He was everything as described, handsome, cunning, admirable. You, the daughter of Poseidon, god of waters, knows that it’s against the rules to fall for such a man. Demigods aren’t allowed to be romantically involved with one another. But it’s hard to stay away.

Warning: [M] Swearing.

Word Count: 3.4k

Admiration Masterlist

“CHANYEOL!” You yelled as you saw his frail body fly through the air. He hit the ground with a huge thud, lying face down in the wet grass. You looked from your friend to the man standing in front of you. He had a smirk on his face, not a single scratch anywhere on him. You ran to Chanyeol, flipping him onto his back. His face was bruised, his nose bleeding from being smacked in the face with the man's sword case.

It was just the covering.

“Y/n, he’s too strong for head-on attacks. What do we do?” Jongin screamed, trying his best to defend himself from the man’s attacks. You were frazzled, your thoughts clouded by the insanely strong force the man was giving off. Chanyeol was knocked out, unconscious from the blow he received.

“My name is Kyungsoo,” the man said, swinging the case and knocking Baekhyun back just as he did to Chanyeol. “Son of Gaia, protector of this land. I understand your mission.” He took another blow, knocking Jongin onto his back. “But that doesn’t mean I will be giving you any sort of special treatment.” He inched closer to you, you heart racing from the thought of his blow if it were to hit you.

With being a demigod, your healing factor is much more intense than a normal humans. You heal two, three times as fast depending on your current health state. You knew you would be able to take a few hits based on your training and diet and be able to be up within a matter of seconds but there also was a limit to your body.

“Y/n, he’s too strong to go up against alone,” Jongin coughed as he crawled over to you. “What do we do?” It pained you to see your friends suffer. You knew that it came along with the title and with missions but that didn’t stop you from feeling their pain. You let out a deep breath, trying your best to concentrate on your core, heightening your senses to their full potential.

Your eyes fluttered shut, the feeling of peace flowed through your body, intertwining with the course of blood through your veins. The ocean, swimming through your body. Your orb lit up the beautiful bright blue you had seen before, only this time you could feel the power within you instead of contained in the orb.

You took a stand once more, holding your father's trident in one hand, gripped tightly within your palm. “Y/n, daughter of Poseidon,” Kyungsoo smirked. “I’ve heard rumors of your power and feel honored to see them being put to action.” Kyungsoo finally took his sword from his case, warding it in your direction. It was a beautiful emerald green, rumored to be made from a water beast that used to guard Mount Fuji.

Kyungsoo’s eyes burned a bright green color, almost shining as bright as his sword. You could feel the strength increase as you let your breathing regulate. Kyungsoo was quick to spring towards you, slashing his sword into your trident. “Amazing power!” Kyungsoo screamed, pushing himself off the collided weapons. “You’re incredible Y/n! Show me what you are capable of.” The more he screamed at you, the more you wanted to knock him to the ground. No one has been able to get a clean hit off on him yet, he didn’t even have a speck of dirt on him.

“Kyungsoo, Son of Gaia,” you began to speak in a low, thundering voice. “Prepare yourself, I don’t think you’re ready.” You stabbed the end of the tridant down into the grass, causing the ground to quake. The clouds became thick, thundering loudly as the trident glowed with increasing power. “Earth Tremor,” you whispered lowly, peering up at your opponent.

Kyungsoo looked shocked, taken back by the intense force you had strung upon yourself and the others. You picked up the trident, making a fast movement towards Kyungsoo. You saw your opening, thrusting your force into the trident. Kyungsoo was knocked onto his back, his breath uneven as you approached him. You quickly stuck the trident in between his hand and his sword, your eyes locked on Kyungsoo. “One more move and I’ll rip your arm off.” You hadn’t felt this sense of power before.

You felt your body ache but you couldn’t let Kyungsoo know you were in pain. The power had taken a toll on your body, the trident feeling like it weighed 10 times more than it did before. You weren’t strong enough yet to be using such an intense weapon.

“Y/n stop,” Baekhyun gripped your shoulder, trying to pry you off of Kyungsoo. “All we had to do was knock him down once. Stop it.” You felt your body relax at his touch, his eyes filled with concern and fear.

Was Baekhyun scared because of you?

You reached a hand out for Kyungsoo who reluctantly took it. “Sorry,” you shyly said, more embarrassed on how you let yourself get out of control.

“You shouldn’t use your orb if you don’t know how to control it,” Kyungsoo snuffed, placing his sword back in its sleeve. “Well, you beat me, unfortunately.” He closed his eyes, walking in between you and Baekhyun, slightly bumping your shoulder before stopping. “Incredible power, I must say. Come on, let’s chat for a bit.” Jongin and Chanyeol slowly made their way towards the two of you, who were slowly tracking behind Kyungsoo.

Chanyeol placed a hand on your shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “Even though I was passed out for half of that, you did amazing. Just meditate when you’re increasing your power, you’ll be able to control your emotions more.” His face was beaten and scratched up, a black eye forming. Kyungsoo had barely touched him but was able to leave a few scratches and one pretty bruised eye. His smile was still charming though, his words soft and sweet, sincere.

You had been walking for what felt like forever until you finally spotted a Japanese bath house straight ahead of you. You could feel another presence coming from the small bath house.

Plum.

You looked over at Jongin who had already stopped in his tracks. He could feel the same presence as you, his body movement coming to a complete halt. “Jongin?” Baekhyun waved a hand in front of his face, no reaction was given. “Jongin, buddy? You okay?”

“Plum…” Jongin whispered as the girl caught the corner of your eye. Her long green hair cascaded beautifully down her back, her skin fair and mesmerizing. “PLUM!” She was quick to whip her head around at the call of her name. Her big purple eyes lit up, her smile growing as she took off towards your group. Her white and green dress was long, flowing behind her as she ran towards the man with open arms. He was quick to engulf her in his embrace, latching on tight. Jongin formed tears, his head being buried into the crook of her neck. “Holy fuck,” he sobbed, trying to find his breath. “I can’t believe you’re still alive. They told me you were dead.”

“I had to stay away,” she cried back, leaning Jongin back and cupping his face. “They told me they would kill me if I didn’t.” She pressed her lips to his, both people filled with so many emotions.

“A kiss of passion and love,” Baekhyun smiled. You gazed over at him, the look of admiration danced across his features. “True love.” It was barely above a whisper, Baekhyun knowing you had heard him. He looked up at you, his faint smile warming your heart.

Jongin was in love but you hadn’t had an idea of what type of love he was in. But seeing the way he held Plum, how she was so gentle with him and his wounds. Jongin seemed happy, the first time you had seen him smile like that in a long time.

“This way people!” Kyungsoo beckoned from the front sliding door of the house. “Waste my time I swear to god.” He shook his head, walking into the small house. You followed, being greeted with a simple bath house that had been turned into more of a home than anything. It reminded you of the small house you and your father would stay in during winters away from Olympia. “A journey to find Hera, huh? And for what? This?” Kyungsoo motioned towards you and Baekhyun. “A silly little love fling? Is it really worth upsetting the council like you did?”

“Excuse me?” Chanyeol frowned, getting defensive on your behalf. You pressed a hand to his chest, pushing his flustered state back.

“Brother!--” Plum scolded but was soon cut off.

“It’s more than that,” Baekhyun spoke up before you could. His voice was shaky, his body shivering in anger. “I have found love and what I believe to be true love. My mother had once told me she fell in love once, real love, and never had she experienced more peace than when she was with him. I know she doesn’t seem that way now but she talks about him a lot. That’s how I feel around Y/n. My peace, my safe space. I believe that we were meant to be together in this life, I also believe we were together in past lives and we will find each other again in the future. If finding Hera and breaking the rules is the only way I can be with Y/n, then I would do it over and over again until I couldn’t anymore.”

You stared at Baekhyun, your heart bursting at the seams. You knew your love for Baekhyun was real, you had always known this to be true. Your fears were driven by the chances of getting caught, never being able to see your father again or know who he is. Your father had told you before that if anything ever happened that would cause you to forget, he would never leave your side. So really, nothing was holding you back.

You knew you wanted to be with Baekhyun.

“That’s wonderful,” the small voice of Plum came from behind you. “You have a pure heart, as pure as the depths of the ocean.” She placed a hand on Baekhyun’s chest, a small light beaming from her hand. “You have a beautiful soul.” Her smile was so innocent, so kind. She also was a pure being, so kind, caring. “Brother, please give them the spell to add to their map.” Kyungsoo nodded, no sense of resentment at all as he took the map from Baekhyun’s hands.

“This map now has a direct path to where Hera is said to be. My mother was her keeper for a while but who knows if she is still there.” Baekhyun took the map from Kyungsoo, nodding his thanks repeatedly. “You may stay in the guest rooms, set off in the morning.”

“How about a feast then?” Plum boomed in excitement. “Jongin, would you mind helping me?”

“Anything for you, my love,” Jongin pressed his lips to her cheek. This is what it was like for him to be in love and you loved admiring from your distance.

The night was filled with food, activities, drinking games, stories. You had grown to love Plum and her brother Kyungsoo, even though he was a bit stubborn and maybe a little too honest. They were good beings, you could feel it within their aura. Their purpose was to take care of the forest and the mountain, keeping it healthy and strong, out of the hands of humans. Plum was dainty but she had her own type of power that kept the forest safe. Kyungsoo had mentioned a few of their battles and it had taken you by surprise how powerful she sounded.

You were to set off up the mountain first thing tomorrow morning and for some reason you felt so at peace, unbothered. It was uneasy to you that you had felt so calm considering the council was on your trail. What would happen if they caught you here with Kyungsoo and Plum? Would they get punished too? You know they sent out a warning about the four of you and how generous the reward was.

You looked behind you, gazing into the open room through the open sliding door. You had stepped outside to get a breath of fresh air, take a break from all the chaos behind you. “You mind if I sit out here with you?” You looked up to see Baekhyun smiling down at you, two drinks in his hand. You nodded, scooting over a bit so he could take a seat next to you. Baekhyun was quick to pull you closer to him, hand resting on the inner part of your right thigh. “You were amazing today.”

You blushed so hard you felt your face go red hot. “Thank you,” you replied under your breath.

“I’m serious Y/n. I knew you were powerful but I didn’t think you were that strong. Most demigods can’t control their orb until eight, ten years down the road after receiving it. You did that today with only having that thing for a couple days.” He was right, you hadn’t trained at all with your orb. You were told it was powerful but never had the chance to test it out before you left.

“My father told me that as long as I focus on my breathing and keep a clear mind, it becomes easier to control. He said it’s like a test of will power and confidence. Succeed and the power is yours to hold. Fail, the power can reject you, demigod or not.” Your gaze was up in the sky, your head in the clouds you could say. Your father had educated you on so much when it came to the Ocean’s Heart, but would you be able to maintain control over this much power?

“Come back to me,” Baekhyun laughed, waving a hand in front of your face. You shyly laughed, scratching the back of your head, Bakehyun never taking his eyes off you. As you sat there, just the two of you, his words replayed over and over in the back of your mind. You had been dying to ask him but had yet to get him alone. That was, until now.

“Hey Baekhyun-”

“I meant it,” he was quick to cut you off. “I know that when I said it, you were going to have questions and I had been waiting for the right moment to get you alone.” He pulled your hand in his, pressing his lips gently to the back of your hand. “I am so, unbelievably in love with you Y/n. Never have I been more sure about anything before in my life. Once we find Hera,” he leaned back a little, his own gaze focused on the stars above. “I’m sure we can get the ban lifted. We have to.”

“I love you,” you hadn’t told him since you had made your escape. You knew you meant it. The feeling was different than the last time you had told him. You were more confident.

“How touching.” You froze in your spot, your whole body feeling like it had been drained of life. Your heart was pounding so loud you could hear it in your ears. You looked up at Baekhyun who was starring in front of you, fear plastered across his face. You followed his gaze, only to meet the intense look on Junmeyon’s face. “Funny how two criminals can sit here so peacefully and think freely as if there is no care in the world.”

“How?” You asked, frozen in fear. Sehun emerged from behind him, followed by one of the council’s knights, Xiumin, also known as Minseok. “Sehun?” He shot you a glare, obviously playing a part.

“That power of yours is quite wonderful,” Junmyeon mentioned, a sinister smirk on his face. “Wasn’t long before we had Poseidon in a corner. You have a great support system Y/n, he didn’t speak until we had to force him to.” The ache in your chest flared with rage, you could feel it burning inside of you.

“What did you do to my father, Junmeyon?”

He let a small smirk creep across his face. “He’s fine, he’ll heal quickly.”

“What did you do to my father?” You asked again, getting to your feet. You clenched your fist so tight, your knuckles turned a pale white. You couldn’t control your emotions the way you would’ve liked to but you felt so enraged by Junmyeon’s words, you couldn’t hold back.

“Y/n, don’t,” Baekhyun tried to hold you back, his words ever so gentle as you let the rage take over your body. “Did you come alone Junmyeon or should we suspect something if we try to escape?”

“I don’t need the help of an army.” Junmyeon was dressed in white armor, the one his own father had passed onto him once he received his orb. That armor had seen and been through more wars than you could imagine. “You see, you can either try to escape and be captured by force, or you can surrender and receive a slightly less intense punishment for your actions.”

“Fuck off,” you spat, your anger getting the best of you. “You’ll have to kill me before I go back with you.” Junmyeon’s sinister smile grew, fueling the fire to your anger.

“If you don’t want to come willingly, then I guess I’ll just have to kill you.” You couldn’t hold yourself back anymore. The feeling was too intense and you had no desire to control it anymore. You materialized a sword this time, something more lightweight that won’t drain you of your energy as the trident did. You needed more training before equipping something that big.

Your eyes burned bright blue, enhancing your senses to their full potential. You felt Baekhyun’s hand rest gently on your shoulder. “Have you ever been in love Junmyeon?” The question took you by surprise, but you let him speak. “I asked if you have ever been in love?”

“What kind of question is that?” Junmyeon asked, confused. “This is no time for small talk. Surrender or we’ll take you by force.”

“So you don’t understand,” Baekhyun whispered. “That’s fine. I can’t make you understand.” Baekhyun stepped in front of you, hiding you behind him. “But I can do this.” Baekhyun pressed is thumb and middle finger together, his eyes burning the bright pink you had seen before. He inhaled deeply before whispering “blind by love” and blowing towards the men in front of us. A pink like dust drifted from his finger towards the boys, putting them in a state of trance. Baekhyun stumbled back, falling into your arms. “It will keep them busy for a while,” he coughed, trying to regain his balance. “That move takes a lot out of me though. We… We have to...go.” Baekhyun had passed out, lying limp in your arms.

“This way,” Plum whispered, followed by Jongin. Jongin picked up Baekhyun, throwing him on his back. “We have an escape route but you have to hurry.”

“I’ll be here once they wake up and will take care of them,” Kyungsoo said, waiting for you all to squeeze through the small opening behind one of the beds in a nearby guest room. “They have to fight me by law. Son of Zues is all talk and big ego, just like his father.” You turned around before entering the opening, making eye contact with Kyungsoo.

“Good luck and thank you.” You bowed towards him, a smile forming on his face.

“It’s been an honor, Y/n. Until we meet again.”

You followed Plum through the small door, Jongin following close behind. Chanyeol stopped, looking down at his feet. “Chanyeol? What are you doing? We have to go,” you said, letting Jongin go in front of you.

“I’m staying,” he sighed. He clenched his fists, trying his best to choke back his emotions. “I’ve fought Junmyeon before. I can do this. I’ll stay and help Kyungsoo.”

“Yeol-”

“Please, Y/n,” he whispered, bringing his hand up to cup your face. “This is what I want to do to help you. Get as far away as you can. I’ll figure out a way to find you.” You wanted to cry, you wanted to beg him to come with you. He had been your closest friend, someone you held very close to your heart.

“I’ll take care of him,” Kyungsoo stepped in. “He’ll be okay. You need to go.” You didn’t like the idea but you agreed anyways. You gave Chanyeol a hug, whispering in his ear to be safe and that you loved him. He pulled away, a determined look drawn across his face.

Your thoughts were all over the place, your mind racing at what had just happened. You were behind Jongin, seeing the resting body of Baekhyun.

You were more determined than ever to find Hera. You had come very close to losing your opportunity, there was no way you were about to let that happen after all you had been put through. You loved Baekhyun and you were about to do everything in your power to be with him.

“Not yet,” you whispered, choking back the threatening tears. “Not just yet.”

#byun baekhyun #baehyun x reader #byun baekhyun x reader #exo #exo fic #baekhyun fic #fan fic #chanyeol #kai #sehun #junmeyon

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kpop---scenarios · 5 years ago

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Stolen Heart (2)

Baekhyun dreams of you that night and the next. Sunday night was the worst, as he laid in his bed, he tossed and turns trying to shake the thought of you from his mind. This doesn’t happen to him, he’s not one to step into other peoples business that doesn’t involve him. Although you were different to the other girls he has had the displeasure of encountering. You didn’t throw yourself at them like they usually do. Had he locked eyes with any other woman, they would have tried to do whatever they possible could to get him to take them home with him but not you.

As his mind wanders, his alarm rings with an almost deafening continuous beep. He rolls his eyes and groans as he slowly climbs out of his bed to get ready and head out to the shop, another uneventful day there, with hopefully a more eventful night. Although it was a Monday, they had collectively as a group decided last night to host a popup race tonight. These usually brought more people out, the people who wanted to blow off steam from a shitty first day back at work. They always bought more drugs than necessary from him, not that he was complaining. He didn’t give a shit about what they did after the purchase, as long as he got his money.

Baekhyun groaned as he walked into the front office of EXO Customs, the phones already ringing off the hook. Glancing down at his expensive Rolex, he noticed it was only 8:45am, they didn’t actually open until 9am. How was that a hard concept for people to grasp? Baekhyun glared at the phones as the lights flash, signaling multiple people had been trying to reach the shop. He fucking hated answering the phones, but that was the only thing he was really allowed to do.

Junmyeon had once compiled with Baekhyun’s request to try to work on cars, being taught by Chanyeol. Junmyeon and Chanyeol were weary, rightfully so as Baekhyun wasn’t the one with the steadiest of hands. That day was a disaster to say the least. Chanyeol had him tightening something on the engine, on a very nice Aston Martin. Chanyeol should have known better than to trust Baekhyun with all sort of tools, especially something that requires a firm grip and the use of muscles.

Baekhyun shudders at the memory of celebrating that he fixed whatever it was, his arms in the air, the tool still in his grip as Chanyeol closed the hood of the car. He should have had a better grip on it but as he waved his arms around, the tool slipped from his palm, crashing loudly onto the windshield, cracking it beyond repair. Baekhyun was sure the vein in Junmyeon’s forehead was going to explode as he shunned Baekhyun from the garage and forced him to pay the $4000 for a new windshield for the car. It took weeks for Junmyeon to look him in the eye without wanting to strangle him.

He hadn’t been back inside the garage since, not that he was welcomed there anyways. He was only allowed to poke his head through the door to talk to them, they would all glare at him, if he tried to extend any other body part beyond the door.

That was the unfortunate tale of how Baekhyun would be stuck as a receptionist for the rest of his day time working life. Even though someone else has needed help in the garage and Baekhyun was the only one available, they would figure it out on their own, or wait for someone else to get back. They never allowed Baekhyun to attempt to help again, which was likely for the best. As the clock hit 11am, there still hadn’t been any calls since the phone stopped ringing right at 9am. They must have had all given up and tried somewhere else, and now the place was quiet, other than listening to the men in the garage talk and laugh.

Baekhyun got up, opening the door a crack before peering his head into the other side of the building, the smell of oil strong. “What’s going on?” he asked, opening the door a little more.

“Don’t you dare Byun" Chanyeol warned him, pointing his finger.

“What? I’m not going to touch anything" Baekhyun groaned as his raised his hands in surrender.

“Don’t even try to step into this garage Baekhyun, or I swear to god" Jongin threatened.

Baekhyun mumbled as he went back into the office, sitting in his chair mimicking the men. Looking at his watch again, he groans. Only 3 more hours of being stuck behind this desk.

You were tired, tired and angry. What a shitty Monday it had been for you. As much as you tried to forget the man that saved you, you couldn’t and it was seriously fucking up your work. It’s not like you would really ever see him again, unless you went back to the races that he explicitly told you to avoid, but you weren’t one to listen to angry strangers. Out of curiosity you messaged Lisa, inquiring about the next race, as casual as you could.

[3:48pm] You: Hey, question. Just out of curiosity, when’s the next race?

[3:50pm] Lisa: Tonight.. why?

[3:52pm] You: Like I said, just curious.

[3:57pm] Lisa: Do you want to come with me?

You grinned at your phone reading her last message.

[4:00pm] You: Yes, but please don’t leave me again.

[4:02pm] Lisa: Promise!! I’ll swing by at 9.

As you stare at the clock, your stomach twists and turns. You’d picked out your own outfit for tonight, choosing something simple and more you, a metal band cropped shirt, pair of black ripped jeans and your trusty converse. You knew Lisa would have something to say, but you didn’t want to go tonight wearing the same type of shit she made you wear last time. Maybe tonight you’d be able to enjoy yourself.

Right as the clock struck 9, your doorbell rang before the door swung open.

“Let’s go bitch" Lisa yelled, walking through your hallway. You rolled your eyes as you grabbed you bag, meeting her before she entered the living room.

“Let’s go” you smiled, she gave you a knowing look. She knew you too well, she knew you were up to something.

“So why did you really want to come tonight?” she asked, turning to head to check behind her before she switched lanes.

“I just wanted to give it a second chance" you say, shrugging your shoulders.

You look out the passenger side window as the lights of the city fade and the two of you drive further into the darkness. The closer the two of you get to the race site, the more your stomach becomes an even bigger bundle of nerves. There is no reason for you to be nervous, you didn’t even know why you were. But in reality, you did. You hoped that Baekhyun was going to be there and you hoped that you got to thank him for the other night. You also hoped he would forget that he told you to never come back to these things.

Getting out of the car, you look around before you. This seems to be so much bigger than the one the two of you were at last time. It was louder, brighter and a lot more people as well. Lisa comes over to you, grabbing your hand before pulling you to one of the kegs. You were never one for beer, but since that seemed to be all they had, you took what you could get. The two of you stood there, and pounded at least 3 beers each before wandering off to watch a few of the beginning races.

Lisa stared at one man in particular, an extremely handsome man with purple hair, tattoo's littered on his arm and more piercings then you can count. She partially giggles as she watches him tuning up his car, twirling her hair in her fingers.

“Who is that?” you ask nudging her, while nodding your head towards the man.

“Ugh" she sighs. “That’s Kim Jongin, the sexiest man alive.” She swoons.

“So why are you just staring at him? Go talk to him" you say, nudging her a little more.

“Me? Absolutely not. He may sleep around occasionally but he always ends up back with one girl, Vixen. And believe me, you do not want to fuck with her" she shivers.

Just as you were about to advert your eyes from the scene, you noticed another man who looked a little familiar approach Jongin. Your stomach almost fell out of your ass as you noticed it was Baekhyun. You weren’t quite drunk enough to thank him, or even show your face, so you quickly dragged Lisa back to the kegs, pouring each of you another drink before pounding it back.

“Hey baby" you hear another voice from behind you. Another one that feels oddly familiar. Turning around you raise your eyebrow, seeing the same man that had harassed you a few nights ago, attempting to do it again.

“Seriously? Again?” you ask.

“Ahh. I think we got off on the wrong foot last weekend" he chuckled, grazing your arm with his fingertips.

“No, I really don’t think we did. You harassed me, and then you got your ass handed to you for it.” You say rolling your eyes before drinking another cup or beer. You went to fill it up again, but were stopped by Lisa, looking concerned.

“Slow down. We haven’t even been here 2 hours. Pace yourself” she laughs.

“Maybe if people like him" you start, pointing at the man who hasn’t gotten the hint yet. “left me alone, I wouldn’t feel the need to drown my disgust in beer" you smiled at her, taking her cup from her hands and downing the content.

“Okay. You’re cut off" she giggles, throwing both of your cups away. Looking at the man, you give him the middle finger before you and Lisa stumble away, giggle to yourselves. You both are laughing too much as your walking, you’re not paying any attention and that’s when you run into a rather solid person. The person stays still as you’re jolted back a little bit. Looking up with an angry face, your met with the even angrier eyes of Baekhyun.

“So sorry" Lisa says, trying to drag you away from the scene.

“Its you" you slur, stumbling up to him, poking his chest. “You saved me last time" you finish with a hiccup.

“I did. I also told you something else" he snapped.

“You did. You told me not to come back" you giggle. “But I had to thank you. So thank you mister sir." you pout.

Baekhyun tries to hide his amusement at your drunken state. “You didn’t have too. How drunk are you?” Baekhyun asks.

“I had a few. Lisa.. how many?” you ask, turning your head, only to find your friend had disappeared. “Oh.. well she’s gone now. I had a few too many.. a lot too many" you say, swaying. “I’ll just go ask the guy from last time where she went" you say, thinking it was an excellent idea.

“I don’t fucking think so.” Baekhyun grumbles as you look like you’re about to lose your balance. He wraps your arm around his neck before swiftly picking you up and taking you to his car.

“Where are you taking me you angry angry man?" you mumble, your eyes closed.

“Where do you live?” he asks but judging by your snoring, he realizes he will not be getting any answers from you. “Fuck.” He mumbles laying you in the backseat of his car.

Pulling out his phone, he makes a call to Junmyeon. “Yeah I’ll be back later. I gotta take care of something” he says before abruptly hanging up. Baekhyun starts his car but before he leaves, he glances back at you, watching you sleep for a moment.

What the fuck were you doing to him?

@ninibears-erigom @baekwell--tart @kyungseokie @fairyyeols @suhoerections @yeoldontknow @mint-yooxgi @kimjongdaely

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myforeverforlife · 5 years ago

Text

thinking about you.

For another anon! Chanyeol + Soulmates!au (Mental link) + Enemies to lovers + 1. “Are you sure this is legal?”

Note: (Words in bold and italics like this are character’s thoughts.)

Masterlist

“Y/N, catch!”

You turned around just in time to see the bottle of Gatorade being thrown your way, hands instinctively coming up to catch it. You studied it closely, nose scrunching up in disgust.

“You’re the worst, Nini. Who even likes purple Gatorade?”

Jongin gasped in mock horror, jogging over before taking a seat on the turf beside you. “Don’t knock it till you try it,” he warned.

“I have tried it.” You eyed the Gatorade in his hand — yep, also grape flavored — and sighed. Well, there went your chances of switching with him. “Thanks, but you can have mine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.” You smiled to yourself when Jongin took the bottle happily. “How much longer until our break is over?”

“Don’t know, don’t care.” Jongin was struggling to get the cap of his drink off, alternating between using his shirt and wiping the sweat off of his hands. “Yixing will come get us when it’s time to head back inside.”

“You know, sometimes I feel bad that he’s our section leader. He’s too nice for his own good.”

“Well then maybe you should help him out by focusing more during band practice.” With a grunt, Jongin finally got his drink open, guzzling down the sugary treat like he had been parched for days.

“Hey, I do focus! Come on, you can’t honestly say that I haven’t been working my ass off.”

Jongin shrugged, taking a break from his Gatorade to give you the side-eye. “You’d do better if you stopped checking out the football team every chance you got.” He nodded towards the other end of the field, the uniformed group of boys talking to each other in small groups.

“Listen, it’s not my fault that the football team is full of attractive guys. Well, except for one.”

“You know, Chanyeol really isn’t that bad — ”

“He brought his ferret to school in second grade and laughed when it pooped in my desk! And, he got mad at me when I told the teacher he was trying to copy off of Jongdae’s test in Chemistry last year.”

“Okay, but still — ”

“No, no ‘buts’ about it. Park Chanyeol has done nothing but be a pain in my ass since we were kids. He hasn’t changed since then, and he never will. I hope one day during one of his games, he falls flat on his face in front of everyone.”

“Ouch.” The new voice had you flinching in surprise, your ponytail a blur as you spun around to see who was talking — although you had a pretty good guess who it was. Sure enough, Park Chanyeol stood there in his uniform, football helmet cradled under his arm. “You know, they say that karma’s a bitch. I wouldn’t want you to be on the receiving end of that,” he said with a smirk.

Rolling your eyes, you stood up, arms crossed over your chest as you stomped past him. “The field’s all yours, Chanyeol. Try not to let your ego take up too much space,” you hissed as you passed.

“Have fun at practice!” he called out after you, voice booming. “Make sure you don’t drop your clarinet, Butterfingers!”

You bit back the retort waiting at the tip of your tongue. Of course he just had to keep bringing up the one mishap you had during a football game, nearly two years ago. It had been your first time performing at a halftime show, and your hands been so shaky that you had dropped your clarinet while performing on the field, right in front of the football teams and the entire crowd. You didn’t talk to him often, but whenever you came face to face with Chanyeol, it always ended up with him teasing you mercilessly.

You were absolutely sure that Chanyeol would never be anything more than a jerk.

You didn’t hate your creative writing class, but since it was your first class of the day, you were often tempted to just close your eyes and take a mini-nap.

Just as you were about to lay your head down on your desk, you could hear Park Chanyeol worry about how to find the derivative of some equation. Sitting upright, you looked around the classroom only to find no trace of Chanyeol anywhere. So why in the hell could you hear him like he was sitting right behind you?

Chanyeol continued to go through the steps of his math equation, driving you crazier with each passing second. You stood up, desk bumping into the seat in front of you. “I need to go to the nurse, I’m not feeling well,” you blurted out.

Your teacher stared at you, caught off guard in the midst of his lecture before nodding towards the door. “Take the hall pass with you.”

And so, with the hall pass lanyard hanging from your neck, you went stomping through the hallways in search of Park Chanyeol. He had moved through a series of equations, and no matter how hard you tried to block his voice out, you could still hear his thoughts.

You weren’t sure which class he was in, but there were only two teachers who taught pre-calculus. Heading down the math hallway, you peeked inside one room, blushing when everyone in the class turned to look at you. Another cursory glance proved that Chanyeol wasn’t in this room. “Sorry,” you mumbled, dashing down the hall to the other class.

This room was rowdier than the last one, students working in groups on the worksheets scattered over their desks. Spotting Chanyeol in the back, you paused in the doorway when he noticed you. “Y/N?”

“Sir, can I borrow Chanyeol for a minute? We’re supposed to collect and put up the flyers for the football game this week.”

Chanyeol’s math teacher brushed this off, not even looking up from his laptop. Chanyeol, on the other hand, remained in his seat, clearly puzzled. “Why is she here?”

“Come on!” you were waving him over, foot tapping impatiently against the floor. The sooner you two got to the bottom of this, the sooner you’d be free of his thoughts — you hoped.

Hesitantly, Chanyeol got up from his seat, weaving between chairs and desks before reaching the door. “What?” he grumbled out.

You grabbed onto his hand, pulling him away from the classroom. Chanyeol’s thoughts were colored with surprise and oddly enough, shyness? You led him to the library, knowing that people wouldn’t spot either one of you from this side of the building. Dropping his hand, you were taken aback to hear how Chanyeol immediately missed having your hand in his. You shook your head to rid the thoughts, trying to focus on why you had dragged him out here.

“This is gonna sound insane, but I can literally hear everything you’re thinking right now. Yes, everything,” you added when he raised an eyebrow in doubt.

Chanyeol laughed skeptically. “Yeah, right. What’s next, you’re gonna tell me you have x-ray vision too? Nice try, Y/N, but I’m not that dumb. Why did you even pull me out of class?” His eyes widened, eyebrows shooting upwards. “Wait, there’s no flyers to collect, huh? Are you sure this is legal, just talking in the hallways like this during class? Ah crap, we’re gonna get detention if we’re caught and — ”

“Listen to me! I don’t know how this happened, but one second I was trying not to fall asleep in creative writing, and the next thing I knew, I could hear you thinking about how to do pre-calc.”

Chanyeol stared at you like you had three eyeballs, backing away slowly. “Okay, I’m gonna say that you need to lay off the coffee and get some more sleep at night.” You could hear the thoughts racing in his head, all about how he was worried and yet curious as to why you were having a decent conversation with him.

“I’m telling the truth, I’ll prove it! Think of something right now.”

One corner of Chanyeol’s lips jumped up as he snorted, crossing his arms across his chest. “I’m not doing this.”

“Yes you are! Now, quick!”

He sighed, staring up at the hallway overhang above both of you.

“Pokemon! You’re thinking about getting the new game before Baekhyun does!” you blurted out, no longer caring about sounding crazy.

Chanyeol’s mouth fell open, trying to speak and failing to string together a comprehensive sentence. “You... how... how did you know that?”

“You believe me now?”

“Wait, but how come you only hear me? And why don’t I get to hear your thoughts? This is so unfair!”

You shrugged. “Maybe it’s because I’m more mature. Oh — I am half a year older than you.”

Chanyeol rolled his eyes with a huff. “Yeah, well whatever it is, it’s already getting on my nerves. Just try to stay out of my head.”

“Uh, I would if I could. Just try to keep your thoughts PG for my sake. God, I really hope that this goes away soon.”

Unluckily for both of you, you were plagued with listening to Chanyeol’s not even for the rest of the day, but for the rest of the week.

“This is fucking torture,” you groaned, lying down on the football field as Jongin shrugged sympathetically. “Do you know many times I’ve wished I could clean out my brain in the past week?”

“We still don’t know why this is happening though,” Jongin thought aloud. “I’ve never heard of this before. Do you think its another soulmate thing?”

You scoffed, rolling over onto your side as the fake grass poked your arms and legs. “If we were soulmates, I’d have a dream about it, not be able to hear his every thought.”

“Well, there’s not much difference. Dreams, hearing thoughts — they both have to do with the mind. Maybe soulmate links just manifest in different ways. Are you sure you don’t want to tell your parents?”

“And end up in the hospital? Nah, I’ll just wait it out and hope for the best. I mean, this is just a really long and weirdly descriptive hallucination, right?”

“Y/N?”

You sighed, sitting up as soon as you recognized the voice. “What is it now, Chanyeol?”

The bane of your existence this past week stared at you blankly, his football bag in one hand and hair sweaty from running. God, you hated to admit it, but he actually did look sort of hot.

Chanyeol’s already large eyes grew bigger, if that was even possible, and he dropped his bag in surprise. “You think I look hot?”

“What the fuck?” you spluttered out, back of your neck heating up in embarrassment. “How do you know that?”

“Y/N, I can hear you. I literally just started hearing your thoughts as I was entering the locker room,” Chanyeol explained slowly, still trying to make himself believe it.

“No fucking way.”

“I’m not kidding.”

You gasped upon hearing his response in your head, hand flying up to your mouth while Jongin stared from you to Chanyeol in confusion. “What, so now you guys can both hear each other?” He didn’t get an answer, seeing as you and Chanyeol were mentally yelling at each other. He rolled his eyes, poking you in the shoulder. “Hey, I want to know what’s happening too.”

“I think you’re right,” Chanyeol spoke up, addressing Jongin. “About the soulmate thing. It’s not common, but there have been people out there like us.”

“Like who?” you countered.

“My aunt and uncle. I didn’t want to say anything at first cause I was worried I’d be wrong, you know since it was only you hearing me. And well,” Chanyeol rubbed the back of his neck. “You’ve never really liked me anyways.”

“Because all you did was annoy the hell out of me!”

“I’m sorry, okay! It’s just... you’re cute when you get all mad like that. You’re funny, especially when you get mad at me,” he admitted with a sheepish smile.

You were at a loss for words. Park Chanyeol had a crush on you?

“Yes,” he answered your thoughts. God, it would take a while to get used to this. “I... can we talk about this after practice? We can call my aunt and ask her about this too.”

There really was no other choice, since this was the first time you had ever heard about any sort of soulmate link like this. And hard as you might try to deny it, Chanyeol was slowly growing on you. Getting to know him through his thoughts this past week hadn’t been the worst, despite what you had been complaining to Jongin not less than ten minutes ago. He was charming and sweet, something you had never noticed because of the limited view you had of him.

Chanyeol smiled to himself as he could hear you thinking, the tips of his ears turning pink. “So is that a yes?”

You nodded, finding it hard to look him in the eye.

Chanyeol laughed in relief, picking up his football bag and starting to walk backwards, towards the locker room. “I’ll meet you outside the band room!” he called out, before breaking into a run.

From this angle, he looked much like the other football players you had spent hours checking out. You blinked rapidly, unable to look away even as Chanyeol stopped to look over his shoulder. His eyes searched until he found you, smile turning playful and sending shivers down your spine. “I can hear you thinking about how good I look. I mean, how good my butt looks.”

“Just go to practice, Chanyeol.”

Chanyeol laughed, able to hear you sulking even in your thoughts even as he ran off, disappearing into the locker room.

“See you later.”

A/N: these drabble requests aren’t even drabbles anymore, I’m enjoying all of these prompts way too much to keep them under 1k lol

#exo #chanyeol #chanyeol scenario #chanyeol fanfic #exo scenario #exo fanfic #writings #drabbles

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baektempo · 5 years ago

Text

From Eight Until Late [3/6]

Pairing: Byun Baekhyun x Reader

Summary: The Adventures of Baekhyun, his failing Divination classes, and his broomstick named Peanut.

Warnings: Language, Violence

Baekhyun walks into the Great Hall, still on cloud nine after their match, and when he arrives—all his friends are at the Slytherin table, as he suspected, eating.

“I have news,” he says to the group. There’s an unsettling amount of sausages, eggs and rolls on each of their plates. All varying amounts of coffee, milk and tea in their mugs. Kyungsoo is reading the Daily Prophet. He doesn’t pay attention to Baekhyun’s arrival as he stares down at the boys.

“What is it?” Yixing asks first.

“Don’t say something stupid,” Sehun says.

“You know that that’s not going to happen,” Jongin tells Sehun.

“Well, go on.”

“There’s going to be a Winter Ball,” Baekhyun announces. “I just overheard Professor Dumbledore tell Professor McGonagall that he’s wearing the latest Mauricio Carneiro custom made robe.”

It is silent for a second. Minseok is blowing the steam emanating from his cup, Sehun’s mouth hangs open, and even Yixing is wide-eyed. Jongin groans.

“Does this mean I can’t go home for Christmas?” he asks. “My sister makes a really good apple pie.”

“It’s compulsory. We can go home the next day,” Baekhyun says.

“We already knew,” Minseok points at Jongdae and Kyungsoo. “Junmyeon told us. We’re supposed to pin the announcements on the bulletin board after breakfast. I would’ve told you last night, but you were annoying me with those flying paper planes at the Library last night.”

Hey, he was only testing his levitating skills. Baekhyun should be slumped that Minseok didn’t tell him. But he isn’t —his heart is steady and he has a huge smile on his face.

“We get to dress fancy,” he tells everyone. “The theme is Winter Wonderland. And guess what? We can take someone to the Ball.”

There's a full range of expressions on Jongin’s face. Excitement leaps out as he claps his hands gleefully. Baekhyun takes a seat next to Kyungsoo, picking up a sausage and munching on it.

“Kyungsoo-hyung be my date for the Ball.” Jongin says to Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo sets down the newspaper and glares at Baekhyun for eating his food. Baekhyun shrugs and picks up another.

“No.”

The rest of the table snickers, but Yixing pats Jongin’s head. “Don’t worry, I’ll take you to the Ball.”

“So when do we go shopping?” Chanyeol asks. “Wait, I think I’ll ask my mom to get me a suit.”

Baekhyun nods, agreeing. “Everyone is probably gonna get clothes from Gladrags Wizardwear. I do not want to be wearing the same thing as a second grader,”

The boys nod and discuss clothing options.

When the bell rings, Sehun and Kyungsoo gets up, gathering their books for the Potions class. Baekhyun on the other hand, has no classes this morning.

“See you guys later,” They smile and wave.

—

Everyone is in a crazed frenzy after the Prefects put up the notice for the Winter Ball. Baekhyun is walking alongside Chanyeol, discussing potential options for the Quidditch team.

“I think Mia in second grade can become a great chaser. She beat the other guy,” Chanyeol says.

“But we could also train Noah. I think he’d do well after training,” Baekhyun interjects. Chanyeol agrees, nodding his head.

He stops in his tracks when he sees you. Your mouth hangs open, and your arms are flailing as you speak. He has never seen you this upset.

The boy you’re talking to, who he recognizes as Jinyoung from Hufflepuff has an amused smile on his face as he speaks. Abruptly, you start walking in the opposite direction.

“Baekhyun?” Chanyeol questions.

He doesn’t say anything, just takes off after you. He does not know why, but his hands are clammy and shaking. He finds you in an empty classroom, sitting near a window.

His heart sinks to his toes when he sees your lip quiver. He walks, and sits right next to you. He doesn’t say anything.

“Baekhyun,” your eyes drag up to meet his as the same time you cover his knee with your hand. “I’ve had a crappy day. And it's not even noon.”

“There are days like that,” he croaks out.

There is a crinkle at the corner as your lips lift up into a smile. You take an intake of breath.

“I’ve been hearing from people that I slept with my ex-boyfriend whilst he’s with his new girlfriend. And when I asked him about it, he said that it must be true if people are talking about it.”

What?

“What?” he says aloud.

“Yeah,” you say lightly. “I was with him for two years, and I was the one who broke it off. Because he told me he had developed feelings for a housemate!”

“He’s a dick,” Baekhyun cuts in without thinking.

“Well, I know that now,” a slight roll of your eyes, and Baekhyun smiles a little. The air wary as you shake your head. “But, honestly I—” your tongue darts out to wet your lips, he’s staring intently, and his heart is thumping too fast. “I thought so highly about him. I didn’t think he’d do something like this.”

“You expected too much?” he asks stupidly.

“Yes,” a rueful smile now. “I always expect so much from everyone. I feel like they won’t do shitty things to me—that they’d be more considerate towards me. I’m always so nice and boring. I’m—I’m now the girl who—” your words break off with a sniffle. Shit, your eyes are shiny. Tears.

Baekhyun panics, lifting a hand as if to brush them away but you shake your head and wipe them away with the back of your own hand, instead. “I just want to be treated nice for once.” It’s barely a whisper—but it’s there, in the open. It is vulnerable and perfectly raw, and Baekhyun’s heart clenches.

“I don’t want to feel like this again,” you say, voice shaking with another sniffle. “I—I do think you’re a good person, though. You’ve been kinder to me more than anyone has been this year.”

“Sweetheart, you’re not boring.” he coos, coos. He didn't even think that he could speak like that. “You bake cakes with elves, you’re in the Ancient Runes Club, and you can drink five butterbeers and name every star we learnt during Astronomy, drunk!”

A choked laugh falls from your lips. “Thanks, I suppose. For not finding me boring.”

“Yes, nobody thinks that you’re boring, you know. Jongdae and Jongin talks about how funny you’re all the time. And sometimes, I feel like your jokes are funnier than mine. And that’s saying a lot,” Baekhyun adds in a soft voice.

Another laugh.

“I’ll guess I’ll add that to my resume. Skills: funnier than Baekhyun, sometimes,” you say lightly, but you’re smiling so that’s good. “But… they probably wouldn’t believe me either.”

Baekhyun scowls. “I’ll tell everyone that you’re wonderful, lovely and funny and that anyone who says otherwise can find out firsthand how Peanut feels up their ass.”

The joke falls flat. “Uh, Peanut is my broom.”

A blink, and then you laugh.

“We really wouldn’t want that happening.” You tell him, with a smile that’s just for him. It makes him feel good, and he smiles back.

“So, do you want me to beat up that guy? Chanyeol and Sehun aren’t called the best Beaters in Hogwarts for nothing, you know.” He gripes.

“Merlin—no! Tell me you won’t,” your giggles are so contagious that he can’t help but laugh. The ringing melody hugs his soul with warmth. Baekhyun wants to touch you, to hug you, and to pull you into his arms—

“We have class in a while,” you say, wiping at your eyes again.

“Alright then, tell me how good looking I am and we can go to class,” Baekhyun teases.

You laugh, and shake your head. “You’re such an attention seeker.”

“Only for your attention, though.” A wiggle of his brows, and you scoff.

“Wow, Baekhyun. Just wow.”

“I know that you’ve thought about my dashing looks a few times,” he says with a wicked smile.

Your response is a softer, warmer smile.

“No I don’t. I hear the girls talk about it though, and come to think of it… I agree sometimes.” You say with a shrug.

The statement leaves him confused. Did you just…? By the time he thinks of a proper sentence, you’ve already gotten up and walk towards the Common Room.

“Hey, wait! Do you really think I’m good-looking?” he asks, a beaming, wide smile on his face.

Baekhyun is ready to find out.

—

Baekhyun is annoyed.

A little at Jongdae. More than a little at Chanyeol. And slightly more than that at Professor Snape. But mostly—it is at how you were sitting in front of him and laughing silently at Chanyeol’s jokes, and he’s sure he sees angels flying around you.

Did you know that he finds it most endearing when you let down your hair and yet, tuck it behind your ear once every while? And especially when you tilt your head back and laugh when you hear something funny… what’s so funny about what Chanyeol is saying?

That’s part of liking someone, Jongdae and Chanyeol chimed in last night—he didn’t even say anything about you, he was just eating a cookie you got for him from your Elf friend.

Anyway, Baekhyun thinks it’s stupid. He doesn’t like you. Plus why would you like him—you only see him as a friend. Right?

But that’s not the point. Baekhyun is feeling particularly annoyed today. He hasn’t felt this moody since… he can’t remember how long ago it was. Two weeks ago?

That didn’t matter, because he was gonna uplift his mood by doing well in Potions—his favorite subject. If he weren’t so crazy for Quidditch, he thinks he would become a Potions Master or something.

“Many of you hardly understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with shimmering fumes…” Professor Snape goes on about how he was given the task of teaching a bunch of dunderheads.

Baekhyun rolls his eyes and zones out as he focuses on brewing his Wit-Sharpening Potion instead.

“Does he shut up? God,” Jongdae says and Baekhyun snickers.

“He doesn’t.”

He is stirring the brew until it turns purple. It hopefully won’t blow up on his face like Chanyeol’s did last time.

Baekhyun’s eyes wander around: everyone is busy chatting and focusing on their potion. But he still thinks Snape could blow up in anger a few seconds so he waves at Jongin when he catches his eye.

He doesn’t expect to hear Jinyoung run his mouth, though.

“She’s a good lay. You can get her too, if you want.” Jinyoung from Hufflepuff. Your ex-boyfriend.

Baekhyun’s stomach twists just as the boy next to Jinyoung laughs. He dumps his textbook on the table, and takes a deep breath. His heart is already starting to pound, and he catches a whiff of your perfume. Warm and cozy.

Before he could calm himself down, a series of laughter echoes through the class. Jinyoung and his friend are staring at you—still mumbling to each other.

Before he knows, he rushes over to Jinyoung, his fists in readiness as his knuckles come in contact with Jinyoung’s face. There’s a grunt, a soft crack, and a hiss from Baekhyun—Jinyoung falls onto the ground, clutching his face.

“Don’t ever talk shit about people again,” Baekhyun seethes, but he is barrelled onto the wall before he can say another word.

Professor Snape holds up his wand, a scowl on his face. With a grunt Baekhyun looks over at you. Mouth covered by your hand, a look of disbelief flashing from your eyes.

He wonders if you are mad, but that didn’t matter because Professor Snape is boiling and has on a scowl on his face as he commands left and right.

“You! Take Mr. Min to the Hospital Wing,” he glares at Baekhyun. Hopefully, he won’t expel him considering he is one of Snape’s best students. “And you, Mr. Byun. You will clean every nook and cranny of the Trophy room until I say I’m satisfied.”

Fuck. He is mournful, but he still thinks he would punch Jinyoung if he heard him speak about you again. His knuckles are ringing in pain, and his skin is way purpler than he wants it to look.

It is an extraordinarily annoying day for Baekhyun.

—

After a series of meetings with Headmaster Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape, Baekhyun is glad he made it out alive in one piece.

They are, however, making him clean the Trophy Room for a month. They almost stripped him of his Quidditch Position, but decided against it.

His stomach grumbles as he tries not to breathe in the dust. He had to leave his wand back in the dorms, where Chanyeol and Jongdae bombarded him with their worries.

It is quieter than he wants it to be—and he feels a tad bit lonely. He wished he had some company while he was scrubbing off years’ worth of dust piled onto the trophies… it could take him all night until he got to the second row of trophies.

Soon, the noise starts to quieten in the hallway. He started at eight, and he’s sure it’s very late now. He can hear a few ghosts chattering to each other nearby. He keeps on cleaning, tuning his ears in to their conversation.

Finally—the ghosts stop talking. He hears your voice tread down the hall, and he guesses that you are alone. You peer in your head from the door, and wave somewhat shyly at him.

He’s not quite sure what he should do, so he smiles at you, hoping your anger from the last period had simmered down.

“I, um, I got you some food,” you say, handing out a paper bag at him. “We missed you during dinner. And lunch.”

“Thank you,” he says, and takes the paper bag from your hand. Inside it, there’s copious amounts of food, under the Extension Spell so all of them fit into the paper bag. He sets it on a side, and begins cleaning again.

“Don’t go.” The plea is so soft he thinks you won’t hear it. He turns back at you, and you’re staring at him, eyes blown wide and lips parted. You nod, catching him by surprise when you tug at his wrist, pulling him close.

He doesn’t protest or say anything when your arms wrap around his middle, and instead, he blankets you with his body, pulling you in even closer.

“You could’ve gotten expelled,” you say softly, hands tightening around his waist. He’s sure you can hear his pulsing heartbeat, with the side of your face squished onto his chest.

Baekhyun swallows, and admits in a hoarse voice. “I know, but I couldn’t care at that moment. I just can’t stand to see you sad.”

“But why’d you do that… for me?” your eyebrows are furrowed as your eyes search for an answer.

“You’re my friend. I thought we’ve established that by now.” He says, ruefully. He wishes you were more than his friend, right now.

“Thank you,” you reply, and his gaze is held by the sight of your pretty lashes spreading across your cheeks as you lower your gaze—and your voice. “For having my back every time.”

Baekhyun smiles. “Me too. Uh, thank you for having my back too.”

You lips twitch as you pull away.

Staying back for a little happens to be the both of you cleaning the trophies, now stained forever with a loving desecration at the back of Baekhyun’s mind. Jokes and smiles are traded over the food he gobbles down. It is a brushing of fingertips as he shares food with you, even if you claim to be not hungry.

“So,” you say nearing twelve a.m., “Shall I bring your food every night for a month, then?” Your eyes twinkle under the dimly lit candles, and Baekhyun laughs.

“Do it,” he challenges. “So you can officially become my detention partner for a month.”

“Professor Snape will hex me into oblivion,” you chortle. “At least you’ll be coming along with me.”

It’s all wishful full thinking; all made up. But Baekhyun can’t help but feel the longing twist in his heart as his smile stiffens. The weight of his secret, the desperation he has to pull you in for another hug.

Later that night the sky is inky black apart from a million stars—but he’s only concerned about the lights in your eyes when you talk with a classmate at the 2 a.m. Astronomy Class.

He wants to pull you in for a kiss under the blanket of stars, before class ends and you both go to your respective dorm rooms. Baekhyun could kiss you forever.

But he doesn’t, because he can’t.

#baekhyun x reader #byun baekhyun x reader #baekhyun x you #byun baekhyun x you #baekhyun fluff #baekhyun angst #exo imagine #exo fic #hogwarts au #series: stamtb

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kpop-scenarios-theaddiction · 6 years ago

Text

Red - Part 5 (Jungkook stripper au!)

Y/N was having a hard time trying to walk in her new high heels, it was nothing new, she wore then since she started dancing at clubs late at night, but these high heels were so different from the ones she used to wear. This one was classy, clean, discreet, totally the opposite of the ones she buried somewhere at her closet in Jungkook’s house. Yes, another thing she was having a hard time was calling that place hers, it still felt so weird getting used to this new everything.

But she tried to concentrate in other stuff to get her head clean, also a deep breath would be nice. She was at Jungkook’s workplace, he wasn't answering his phone, so she got worried, maybe he was just at a reunion or he could be seriously injured, just in a few months with him, she got to see him getting little injuries here and there.

He was kind of clumsy and distracted, Y/N always telling him to be more careful, deep down she thinks that certain trait of him as cute and slowly they were getting to know each other, she was liking find this new side of his that was so much different than what he shows to the world, he wasn’t so bad as she thought before. She smiled with that thought, while holding a bottle of soju that it was meant for sharing with Jungkook to commemorate that they were doing so well despite everything

Y/N knocked on the door, but no one answered, maybe he wasn’t there? Well, the door was opened, so she entered the place, the first one seemed to be for his secretary, but she wasn’t there either. It started to look weird to Y/N, then she went ahead and opened the next door, this one had Jungkook’s name on it, surely it was his office.

The scene before her got her so shocked that all her nerves collapsed, the bottle of soju went straight to the ground, shattering in a million of pieces, making a sharp sound and spilling all its content on that shiny floor, also making her fall on her knees, cursing herself at her mind for not being able to quickly recover her senses and prevent the accident, and started feeling a bit of pain on her ankle.

“Y/N! What are you doing here? I said I would go meet you for lunch!” Said Jungkook.

Y/N was so shocked that she opened her mouth and no sound came out of it, the only thing that she could concentrate was on that girl wearing a super short and tight skirt sitting on Jungkook’s desk in front of him, her stiletto nails scratching his tie and her legs lots more apart than necessary, like some animal desperate for attention.

She didn’t know what to do, so she did the first thing that came to her mind, she ran away, while hearing Jungkook screaming her name. She got out of there faster as she could, many people tried to greet her in the way, but she answered to no one and no one would know why because she kept her head down so her hair would cover her face and no one would see her eyes filled with water.

Y/N was feeling horrible, almost in panic, so she wanted to go somewhere where she could feel safe again, and in the time, it wasn’t Jungkook’s huge mansion. In that moment a familiar place showed in her mind, it was a tiny apartment where she spent the last few years, first as a waitress and then as a stripper.

She walked through those alleys absentmindedly because her foot already knew the way, she wasn’t looking at the street boards, her mind was still at the office. she couldn’t believe, all those pretty words he said, now she could see, he really didn’t mean it, they were just worthless words nothing more than that.

She stopped in front of the door, it was dusty, the paint was cracking apart, but still was her apartment. The girl got the old key that she refused to throw it away and tried to open the door, but she couldn’t cause the key she had didn’t even entered the lock. She was confused, “what the hell?” she thought.

Obviously, she wouldn’t open that door so fast and she wanted to know why. So, she walked some more of the corridor and knocked on another door. She heard chains being moved and after that someone opened the door, it was a guy, black hair as black as the circles around his eyes.

“Y/N? Is that you? Sweetheart you look awful, what happened?” Said him blinking his eyes, probably lost his lenses again

“Hi Baek, hm, it been a long week” Said her.

“Honey, it’s Monday” Said him inviting the girl in with a gesture.

“Like I said, its been a long week”

“What happened, you got fired again?” Asked him

“No, it’s kind of worse” Said her “I think I wouldn’t been feeling so bad if I just got fired” Said her.

Baekhyun looked at the girl from head to toes and saw her feet bleeding and her ankle was light purple. He made her sit at the sofa before that thing got worse.

“Ok, calm down, I’ll fix that for you” Said him quickly bringing ice and band aids

“Thanks, Baek, you always took care of me so well”

“Ok, What the freaking hell is going on, you visit me on a week day, you're injured, you're dressing fancy and you’re crying. What is going on? Are you on your period?”

“Yes, but that has nothing to do with what’s happening” Said her.

“Ok, so tell me what it is” Said Baekhyun.

“Ok, so I met this guy and he is everything I wanted and more, He's kind and polite and handsome and he's awfully friendly for a not boyfriend, also totally husband material. And he said beautiful things to me and I was dumb enough to believe” Said her crying harder now.

“Ok, so why don’t you take a deep breath cause you're talking really fast and take a sip of water?” Said him “You know what I always told you about boys and how you couldn’t let anyone break your little precious soft heart, Darling”

“I know, that just makes feel even worse. I tried not to fall for him, but it was impossible. And he was having something with me and another girl, and she is so much more than me, prettier and to get him like that I must admit she's smarter than the dumbass that I am.”

“No, no, don’t say things like that, you know you are better than that, you achieved so much, even with what happened to your parents. You may not have this guy you like so much, but remember that you'll always have me, darling” Said him hugging her

“Thanks, Baek, you always know the right thing to say, that’s why you are my best friend, my brother” Said her feeling a bit better in this embrace she knew so well, where she felt so well.

“Okay, now that you remembered that you are an amazing woman, what are you going to do next?” Asked Baek

“I don’t really know, I just want to get him out of my mind, maybe I’ll get my job back” Said Y/N

“What? You got fired?”

“No, actually I quitted” Said her

“What? No way, why?”

“Because of that idiot, he said he had money enough for us both, but since he has a mistress I guess he doesn't needs me anymore, so I’ll move on with my life. Because that’s what I do, I try to get my life back together and everytime I think I got it, actually I was fooled” Said her

“Don’t worry, sis, everything’s going to be fine” Said Baek “Whatever you chose, I’ll support you totally”

“good, cause I’m going to need a few stuff, cause I left part of my stuff at the jerk’s house and the rest is in my apartment, but my key doesn’t opens it anymore” Said Y/N

“Oh, that’s why you were out for some time and the owner wanted to rent the place for some other people, and since you weren't here he wanted to throw all you stuff out, but don’t worry, I kept them all” said the guy

“seriously? That’s great, thank you so much baek, you’re the best”

“So that means you’re going to work tonight?”

“Of course I will, I need money to eat” Said her

“”Well, then I’m going to work too, you motivated me, seriously, the place went boring after you left”

“But now I’m totally back in” Said her opening all the boxes and looking at that huge high heals, tight dresses, mini skirts and other stuff a stripper could have.

Later that night Y/N and Baekhyun went to the club, she much rather being partying but the reality was that she went to work. Everyone greeted her and said how much they missed her.

The atmosphere was the only thing that hasn’t change at all, the same drunk people, loud electronic music, people grinding on each other right there.

But something that changed for sure was Y/N. This time she wasn’t going to stay just at the bar, She was going to pole dance, something that she was insecure before, but something happened and that changed, tonight she was feeling confident, she felt powerful in those high heals, her wavy hair was on point and her dress had a crevice that made her legs super sexy, not to talk about the cleavage that made men wish they could see more.

She started to dance, spinning around the pole, going up and down, dancing like she was flying, felling free from the chains of those bourgeois and their rules, labels.

Y/N wasn’t like that and she even tried to fit in that world, but now she knew that for sure that she would never belong to that world. Her world was here, at the streets, at the bars, at the club, at the most dark nights.

Soon some men gathered around her and started throwing money at her, or putting at her bra strap when she gave them the privilege to get near her.

Jungkook knew she wanted him to be more than just her boss and ignored, he wasn't interested, he had Y/N and she was all he wanted and needed. But the girl was insistent to the point that started to annoy him.

But he thought that if he didn't show interest she would give up, he was wrong, instead of doing that she did the exact opposite and insisted even more, leading Jungkook to get more annoyed, the worst proportionality. But now he was trying to calm down.

That girl was gone, probably choosing her next target, now wasn't the moment to think of how much he hated her, he needed to concentrate and use his dumb brain to formulate some coherent thought to get to Y/N and pray to her to forgive him. Things were going so well, why did this had to happen?

Where she could be right now, he tried her phone, but of course she wasn't answering, he was already expecting that. But with a little hope that she would answer, he would be happy even if she screamed at him and called him names.

But she didn't do any of that, and he started feeling bad again and he didn't like it, it bring memories he rather forget forever, if only existed amnesia for bad memories he would be the first one in the line to experience it.

But technology didn't reach that point yet and he had to deal with that and deal alone. But he knew he was strong enough to do it. managing his life like he did required being strong, especially since a young age as it was his case.

He turned his chair from the window to his table, grabbed his phone and started tapping fast, someone of that city had to know where Y/N was. He got even more nervous thinking about the possibility that she could have left the city. If she did that his chances of finding her dropped significantly.

And he waited for anyone to answer, he was getting desperate, he would follow any trail he received. Finally his phone ringed and he read the message right away. He couldn't believe the words, it was the least place she could be and he even didn't think it was possible and he was wrong, not surprisingly, again.

He ran to his car and drove crazily fast, every red light made him want to shatter the window besides him. He entered to the club, giving means glances to security asking who he was and the surprise look on their faces when they recognized him.

The place was insanely hot, forcing him to get off his suit and loose his tie, he couldn't believe owned such a property.

But this thought vanished quickly, being replaced with shock when he saw one of those pole dance girls, it wasn’t any girl. It was his girl and many guys were looking at her with predators eyes, which made Jungkook very pissed, blood boiling in his veins.

He went to the stage and grabbed her by the arm, hearing lots of boos from the disgusting men that was old enough to be her dad. He went straight to the back door and in his car, trying to arrange the seatbelt, which Y/N seemed to be very against of it.

Everytime the seatbelt was ready, she pulled off, being very pissed herself. She was drunk, but that didn't mean her mind was messy and that she forgot anything. So she slapped sharply his face and scratching it with her sharp nails.

The silence between then was fast, but it seemed to last an eternity.

“let me go!” screamed her trying to open the door, but it was closed “Open the door”

“No, we’re going home” Said him starting the engineer

“mine or yours?” Asked her

“what do you mean? We’re married, it��s our house, our hearts belong there” Said him

“My heart has no home, just dumb me thought it had” Said her managing to unlock the door and before getting out she said “And I want the divorce”

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alittletournesol · 5 years ago

Text

A super spooky night {SHINee/SuperM}

[In this story, the conditions and rights of the LGBTQ+ community in South Korea are completely altered to make same-sex marriage and adoption legally possible. An alternative universe I wish to become reality someday.]

Pairings: OnKey / JongHo Additional characters: kid!Taemin and kid!SuperM’ (except for Baekhyun)

A super spooky night

The clock shows half past five above the dining table when Kibum places the last small bat made of sugar paste on the tremendous cake. He spent his whole day off baking and drawing the most impressive dessert up, also with the help of his boyfriend for the past two hours. Both men take a few steps back to contemplate their work, holding their breath for a minute as if worried they might make the structure fall with just a sigh. But it stands.

Built with three round layers of different circumferences, the cake is all about black and purple homemade frosting. Every decoration is made of almond or sugar paste shaped to represent various characters from a famous animated movie, The Nightmare Before Christmas. The “icing on the cake” actually has nothing to do with icing ; it’s a massive, round bubble of white chocolate with sculpted holes that create the face of Jack Skellington.

Kibum is particularly proud of this part of the cake, for it took him four tries before reaching this impressive result. He had to look for some videos to get that special technic, so he could perfectly pour melted chocolate on a blown up balloon, let it harden with time before delicately sculpting the holes and remove the balloon without breaking the whole thing. The fourth result is perfect, placed on top of the cake and surrounded by little sugar pumpkins. It’s all ready.

“I thought we wouldn’t finish it in time.” Jinki comments, finally allowing himself to sit as he removes his apron. “What are you doing ?”

“Taking pictures of course !” His boyfriend replies as he draws his phone, his enthusiasm showing in the way his eyes sparkle. “That shit took me a day, I won’t let it be engulfed within ten minutes and be forgotten just like that.”

“Sure, but careful with those words once we’ll be there.”

“I’m always careful. Speaking of that, what time is it ?”

“Half past five, more or less. When are we expected ?”

“Half past six.”

“Shit.”

Ignoring Kibum’s laughter at his cursing word, the older man stands up and leaves the kitchen to take a quick shower. They barely have an hour to get dressed and show up at their appointment’s place, which sounds like an impossible mission. However, both men have a certain thing in common : they’re organized. Before time runs out, they’re both all clean from any trace of baking and wearing their costumes ; as they look at each other in the large mirror of their bedroom, Jinki can’t help but snort.

Since they started dating almost four years ago, they’ve been into couple clothes and items, but this year marks their first real couple outfit for this spooky occasion… and he definitely got scammed here. Standing next to him and adjusting his dragon-like horned headdress, Kibum looks stunning in his own version of Maleficent — the recent one, not the one from the very old movie. It has been an idea from their friends’ son, who thought from all of his five years of age that his uncle’s face somehow looked like the dark fairy’s.

The man had found the concept way too appealing to ignore it. That’s how and why he’s now standing proudly in front of the glass, his realistic and expensive costume fitting him as if he was the original character himself. He fully played the game, making his cheekbones look even higher and his jaw sharper by using an easy makeup method with silicon — he’d tried it numerous times before that day, to be sure he wouldn’t mess it up when time would come. And he didn’t.

“Can you remind me about the reason behind my costume ?” Jinki asks, drawing the other man out of his self-contemplation. “Didn’t you tell me that Maleficent has a whole people of her own kind ? Why am I just… a semi-crow and not one of them ?”

“She does, but the crow is more significant.” His boyfriend replies, always serious when it comes to a universe he loves. “The crow was like the part of her she was missing when she became the shadow of her former self. He helped her and always stood by her side, even when she technically didn’t need him anymore. There’s a long lasting affection between them, they’re like… partners in crime. And I wanted to see your handsome face so I went for the crow’s human version.”

“So… I’m your other half and handsome partner in crime ?”

“Exactly. See ? Perfectly fitting us.”

Smiling, Kibum steals the other man a gentle kiss and adjusts the collar of the latter’s black jacket, covered with feathers to remind of the bird. If there is something he loves to see, it’s Jinki wearing black clothes… which is rare, much to his displeasure. But this day, the older man is even wearing a quality wig to imitate the mid-length dark hair of the character, and damn, how good looking it makes him. His boyfriend is about to forget the real purpose of their costumes when his phone rings, interrupting his contemplation.

Cursing under his breath, he plunges his hand in Jinki’s pocket, surprising the latter, and takes his device.

“Yeah ?” He says when he picks up, the deep but loud voice on the other side extremely recognizable. “What are you saying, we’re not late yet. (…) We’re about to leave but don’t expect us to drive fast, we have a whole damn piece of art to preserve before it fills kids’ stomachs ! (…) Alright, see you there. I’m hanging up.”

As soon as he isn’t hearing his best friend’s voice anymore, the horned man makes a face and sticks his tongue out towards his phone, making his partner laugh. Before they’re really running late, they both head to the kitchen to carefully place a huge glass bell cover above the cake, with small metallic ties on its edge to keep it attached to the plate. Thanks to his work in the fashion industry, Kibum sure has a lot of contacts in this world, but he got lucky enough to be in love with a man who, unlike him, knows professionals chefs personally. He has been lent this high cloche to cover and protect their dessert during the short travel from their house to the school.

Once everything is ready and safe, they lift the cake together to place it on a low trolley and pull their coats on before pushing it out of their apartment. They quietly thank some higher entity for equipping their flat with an elevator as they’re being taken to the private parking lot in the basement. With one last, careful effort, they place the imposing stuff on one of the backseats, even fastening the belt on it. While Kibum takes place next to it to hold it just in case, Jinki takes the wheel and finally, they leave.

On the road, the younger man sends a message to his friend, warning him that they’re on their way and will join them within ten minutes. He smiles when he receives a picture of an excited little boy as an answer, the kid wearing fake fangs that gives him a terrific smile… softened by the way he places his arms above his head to shape a heart.

“Taemin is a vampire this year.” He says, more to himself but loud enough to be heard by his boyfriend. “And I think one of the kids is a ghost, I can see a piece of white sheet on the picture.”

“How many kids will be there, again ?” Jinki asks, mentally trying to count.

“Six with him. Seven if you add Minho.”

“Oh please.”

The driver can’t help but laugh, this constant game between these two adults never failing to amuse him despite how old it’s growing. Kibum and Minho have known each other for more than fifteen years and their friendship only grew stronger by time passing ; though, just like when they were teens, not one day goes by without one of them sending some random attack at the other. At first, Jinki had been startled by this strange behaviour but he quickly got used to it as he spent more and more time in their company.

It’s actually by means of knowing Minho through a few classes in common at university that the older man got to meet the man he now calls his boyfriend. And as if heaven had wanted to kill two birds with one stone, Jinki had been the one introducing his classmate to his own childhood friend during an outing, Jonghyun. Since then, the four young men had become inseparable… and while Kibum had asked Jinki out, Minho had found himself disconcerted by how he had been asked the same by Jonghyun only a couple weeks after.

Years passed and they’re now grown adults, reaching the age of thirty one after another. But time hasn’t altered their friendship, nor their respective love relationships ; the first couple is living under a same roof, as they bought their very first apartment two years ago and got engaged a few months after. If they took their time and planned their wedding for this winter, their friends had tied the knot immediately after leaving university. Their family had quickly been joined by a baby, not even five months old, who had looked at them in the eyes at the adoption agency.

The orphan little boy found two loving, caring parents in the persons of Jonghyun and Minho, who raised him from then. Taemin, as is his name, is a cheerful and always smiling child who makes his dads’ happiness and never misses the chance to overwhelm his soul uncles with his catching laughter. He turned five only a few months ago and is becoming more and more interested in life’s little things, which makes him even more adorable.

Though the first days of separation were difficult for his oldest dad, he’s now going to preschool and enjoying every ounce of it. Kibum remembered his friends’ worries about the matter, since the little boy isn’t of the calm and obedient kind… however, it seems he understood pretty well that school and home are two different environments. For this new school year, he is even showing a new quality of his : patience. His school opened a special class to welcome three foreign children who must improve their Korean, and in order not to make them feel excluded or different, their young teacher managed to bring three native kids in their class.

This is how Taemin is now one of the six students of a small class bringing children from three to five years old. Minho used to fear that the extra attention paid to the three foreigners by their teacher would annoy his son, but his husband was clear about it : it would actually be rewarding. And sure it is, the boy is showing a lot of patience when he is trying to communicate with his classmates who only know the basics of his language for now — even the youngest one is brilliantly improving from all of his three years of age, a talkative one.

Tonight is the first time Kibum and Jinki meet their nephew’s friends, though they already caught sight of them when they occasionally got requested by their friends to pick the kid up from school. The only one they know by name is Jongin, a shy-looking boy who tends to transform himself when being in Taemin’s presence. Both adults feel excited and apprehensive at the same time, for they never spent time with so many children at once…

“We’re there, should I park where teachers park ?” The oldest man draws his fiancé out of his thoughts. “I don’t think it’s open.”

“It’s not but Minho gave me a beeper, I put it in your pocket.” Kibum replies as he takes the gadget from the feathered clothes himself and presses the button. “There you go.”

“Why does he even have a beeper ?”

“The teacher gave him a spare one for tonight, I guess I’ll have to give it back.”

Jinki makes the car slowly move forwards, driving in the parking lot until he recognizes his friends’ vehicle and parks next to it. Once he cuts off contact, he’s the first one to get out and goes to open the boot, taking the folded trolley and giving it his real shape back. He’s about to open the back door when he’s stopped by his boyfriend, who got out through the other door. The semi-crow is told to keep his “clumsy little hands” in his pockets and just giggles as he keeps an eye on the way Kibum is delicately taking the cake out of the car.

They’re not even done placing it on the trolley that they hear a way too familiar voice yelling, growing louder by milliseconds passing. Both men look up and have the reflex to shout “freeze !” to make Taemin stop in his race like for the game they often play. The boy laughs but respects the rule and even poses weirdly to make the thing funnier ; Jinki smiles and makes sure the dessert is safe before he crouches and stretches his arms, welcoming his nephew with a hug.

“Don’t bite me, I wanna live !” He whines before making Taemin move backwards, holding his arms to look at him. “How scary you are, are those real teeth ?!”

“Daddy said to say yes so yes the toothies are real ones !” The boy replies, lisping a bit, before he stands in awe when he sees his other uncle. “Woah ! You look like the real one !”

“That’s the secret, kiddo.” Kibum winks at him before he crouches in his turn, whispering at the kid’s ear. “I am the real one.”

“Stop lying ~”

Their nephew is still laughing and inspecting Maleficent’s horns on his uncle’s head when the three of them are eventually joined by an incredible person. Both men have to look twice before they recognize the man wearing a long, grey toga with shattered tails, his skin painted in a sick-looking shade of grey and his usually blonde hair raised on his head… sprayed with a blazing blue colour.

“Jonghyun, is that you ?” Kibum opens his eyes wide before bursting into laughter. “How the hell did you make your hair stand like that !”

“Lots of gel.” Taemin’s father says before hugging his friends. “Look at us, Bum. Hades and Maleficent, two dark villains !”

“Dark and sarcastic, for sure you chose well.” Jinki comments as he grants the kid’s request and holds him on his hip. “Are we late ?”

“Not at all, the teacher was about to tell the rules and Minho is busy putting make up on one of the children. Taemin, you’re old enough to walk by yourself so get back on your feet. Uncle is old you know.”

“Oh really ? Taeminnie, let’s show your dad I’m not old. Let’s race !”

“Yeeeeeeees !”

The boy keeps screaming as he’s being put on the ground and starts running towards the school, followed by a giggling adult losing black feathers on his way. Remaining alone in the parking lot, Jonghyun and Kibum roll their eyes and laugh together, as the latter closes the car and pushes the trolley. Led by the eldest one, both men peacefully reach the building and head directly to the kitchens where a fridge was emptied beforehand to welcome the cake. Carefully, they place it in the cool and finally join the only lively classroom in the whole place.

The room is small, for it’s made to welcome only six children, but it’s nicely arranged. The desks are gathered to make one big table with six chairs around it, two on each side so students sit by pairs. The last side is empty but overlook the board so it would have been stupid to place people here. In a corner, there are a few small shelves filled with books for every age, and comfortable couches and mats on the floor ; Kibum smiles, remembering his own hometown’s preschool that had a similar calm space in each classroom.

But the place is far from being calm at this moment, half a dozen of kids expressing their joy and excitement by running here and there, making the most of their costumes. Only one is sitting without moving, and the horned man holds on his laughter when he sees his tall best friend so focused on the white skull he is painting on the kid’s face. Minho is so busy he doesn’t even notice his friends arrived, but the latter surely notices his costume : a well-done monster of Frankenstein, with old rags as clothes, scars drawn on random spots of his body and fake nut and bolts popping out of his head and neck.

“Good evening, you must be Mr. Kim ?” A young man dressed as an enchanter with night blue clothes welcomes Kibum with a bow and a smile. “I am Mr. Byun, teacher to this little bunch of kids.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, I think you met my partner once ?” The other man returns the greetings. “He picks Taemin up sometimes.”

“Oh, yes. I had to speak with him once because his nephew had fought a little that day. But let’s not talk about school tonight, we’re here to have fun after all !”

“That’s right, and I’m done with everyone’s makeup !” Minho speaks in as he approaches the men talking while wiping his hands. “Look at you, how comes you’re always giving your utmost with Halloween costumes ?”

“Halloween is my time of the year, dear.” Kibum laughs, giving his friend a hug. “I see you’ve been busy, did you help every kid ?”

“Yup ! They came with only their costumes in a bag so everything was done here. How long did we take to get everything ready, Baekhyun ?”

“Two hours I would say.” The teacher replies, glancing at the window while the newcomer gets surprised at the sudden informal talk. “But the sun is setting now so we should get started.”

Saying this, the young man claps his hands a few times to gather the six kids, who immediately stop their races and games to sit on their respective chair — Jinki, who sneakily joined his boyfriend’s side, shows him how each chair has a name written on its back. The two couples remain quiet as they watch Baekhyun explain the rules to respect once they will be outside for their sweets hunt. All children are looking at him, paying attention and showing their best side. Jonghyun and Minho can’t help but stare at their son with pride, although Taemin isn’t that calm and silent when they’re home.

When the teacher is done, Kibum starts moving as he expects the hunt to start, but he’s surprised by a language he doesn’t know. Looking up with raised eyebrows, he realizes Baekhyun is repeating himself while looking at a particular kid dressed as a ghost — quite tall for his age, his doe eyes staring at the adult’s lips.

“This one is Yukhei.” Minho slightly leans on to whisper to his best friend’s ear, Jinki listening as well. “He is from Hong Kong but he arrived only three months ago so he can’t understand Korean yet, except basics salutations and a couple of questions you ask a teacher during class.”

“I see…” His elder nods. “How old is he ? He’s tall…”

“He’s four years old.”

“You’re kidding ?”

“I was the same when I was his age, it doesn’t really bother me. Jonghyun is bothered.”

“I’m not.” The flaming blue haired man retorts though he keeps looking at the kids.

“So… Kibum told me there are three foreign kids ?” Jinki asks. “Who are the other two ?”

The oldest man just has time to finish his question when Baekhyun switches languages again, this time looking at the boy who chose to be dressed as a particularly notorious clown — Pennywise, character from a not-really-for-children movie. This makes Kibum frown.

“Does he know the clown he’s dressed as ?” He can’t help but ask. “I almost pissed my pants watching that movie and I’m twenty-seven, don’t tell me he knows about it ? What is he, four ?”

“Five, and he only asked me to paint his face like a clown in a horror movie.” His tall friend laughs. “He doesn’t really know what I did to him, but I’m glad you recognized the character. I might have some talent.”

“Sure, Frankenstein. How did he ask, since the teacher is talking to him in another language ?”

“He’s been here for two years now so he speaks a bit more than basic Korean. Enough to ask me something without stuttering ! He’s doing well but he’s already bilingual, he speaks English.”

“That explains why the teacher is speaking in English now…” The crow man wonders. “Why not the kid’s mother tongue ?”

“He is from Thailand, but Baekhyun doesn’t speak thai so. I would love to tell you his name but I can’t memorize it. Taemin calls him Ten, and the other kids too.”

Both men nod and keep listening to Baekhyun, who’s lifting his fingers one after another as he announces the rules to the kid nicknamed Ten. Kibum mentally bets on the next and last kid he will addresses… but finds himself completely wrong. The young teacher crouches before the smallest, and certainly the youngest kid of the group and asks him if he understood what he just told his classmate. The child seems to hesitate but he eventually shakes his head, what makes the adult smile and repeat his words, in English as well. Slowly, using hands gestures as well.

“English again ?” Jinki raises his eyebrows.

“Mark is Canadian.” Jonghyun replies, beating his husband to it. “But he’s only three so even in his mother tongue, it’s still a bit difficult. Even more when he’s also learning Korean.”

“Three years old… is it good for him to be in this class ?”

“More than you think, because since he’s learning two languages at the same time, it’s better for him to be in a smaller class with few other kids who also are in his case, than in a big group with only kids who talk better, if I can say.”

“You got a point.” Kibum agrees. “He’s so cute, look at him pouting while listening…”

“Taemin is taking this habit, he thinks it will work the same with us and we will give him everything he wants.” Minho quietly laughs. “He wanted to have red eyes to go with his costume and when we explained him that he was way too young for lenses, he just pouted, thinking we would give in to him.”

“And then he said that uncle Kibum would let him, so we were mean parents for around ten minutes.” Jonghyun adds, smiling.

“Since the day I bought him an ice cream behind your back, he thinks I would give him absolutely everything without you knowing.” Their friend rolls his eyes with a smile. “I don’t know if he’s smart or a cute dummy.”

Before they can go on with their not so discreet conversation, the four adults get interrupted by Baekhyun clapping his hands once as he’s done with his speech. The six kids get up all together and go to the low coat rail next to the door, putting their jackets on — with their teacher’s permission, they keep it open so their costume isn’t hidden. The couples smile at the way two kids quickly offer their help to their youngest friend, the little Mark struggling to slip his small coat on because of his pumpkin costume.

“We’re ready to go.” Baekhyun tells his fellow adults as he catches his keys. “Kids must stay all together during the whole outing, but I’m not worried, they have no struggle sticking together.”

“We’ll just make sure they don’t run everywhere.” Jonghyun replies. “Do they have bags ?”

“Yes, I bought some. They have each a pumpkin shaped bag so there’s no jealousy !”

“Excellent.”

Following the teacher’s instructions, Jinki and Minho leave the classroom and wait at the school’s door. While Jonghyun and Kibum will bring up the rear, the six children catch their respective bag and line up by pairs, holding hands — this cute show causes a nervous giggle from the Hades-dressed man.

“Don’t forget, while we’re outside, you keep your friend’s hand in yours !” Baekhyun reminds the kids before letting them leave the classroom two by two, pretending to count them to keep the habit. “Taemin and Jongin, check ! Taeyong and Mark, check ! Yukhei and Ten, check ! We’re free to go.”

The last two adults follow them, switching the lights off, and the whole group is finally heading to their mischievous sweets hunt.

__________________________

Half an hour passed and the streets are full of children wearing various costumes, their adult relatives not always playing this game but showing their involvement in other ways. For sure, the joyfully spooky group wandering with five grown adults disguised for the occasion and six kids blathering around them draws people’s attention. Among them, Jonghyun and Kibum definitely catch a few children’s eye, to the point they even took pictures with perfect strangers… making their own bunch of monsters jealous.

But these little mishaps are quickly forgotten as the pumpkin shaped bags are getting filled more and more by time passing. People opening their doors always come with their hands full of sweets, some with homemade pastries containing pumpkin or lollipops with ghosts, bats or spiders shapes. What makes the school’s group more special is the way three voices stand out when shouting the famous trick or treats, their respective accent or light pronunciation mistakes easy to hear. It only moves whoever they visit to ask for their sweet treasure, the cute little Mark often getting an extra piece.

But night is falling and it becomes darker outside, which forces the teacher to gather his students and keep them around to always have an eye on them. If they were given some freedom at the beginning, though they were well watched, it isn’t possible anymore and Baekhyun earns some pouts and whines in return. Fortunately, a simple stare from him added to Jonghyun and Minho’s quiet, disapproving look is enough for all children to stop any attempt of protesting. It is announced that they will resume their hunt for twenty more minutes before heading back to the school, and it’s Kibum who soothes the sudden tensed atmosphere.

“Kids, what’s with those faces ?” He asks, crouching to be at their eyes’ level. “It’s like a race, isn’t it ? Let’s gather as many sweets we can within twenty minutes, then you will all be rewarded by the biggest cake you’ve ever seen !”

“Cake ?” Yukhei’s eyes seem to light up as he perfectly understood that word.

“Yes, a cake I made especially for you, but it grew a head on our way to the school ! What if we spend too much time outside and it grows legs ? And runs away ?”

“Oh no !” Jongin and Taemin cry out, making the adults giggle since they’re the oldest children in the group, yet the most oblivious about the trick.

“See ?” Jonghyun smiles while he leans on to wipe some dirt on his son’s cheek — how did he even get it ? “We must be fast if we don’t want the cake to escape. So no more talking, it’s wasting time ! Go, fetch some more candies !”

The previous disappointment makes space for a whole new excitement, five little heads bouncing away as they start running to another house. Despite him calling them back to respect the rule, Baekhyun finds himself completely out of the picture ; as he follows them close, he’s joined by Minho who tends to have a well-needed authority on all these kids. The only child who doesn’t follow is Mark, the boy holding his bag of candies with both his small hands and yawning.

“Are you alright, sweetheart ?” The Hades-dressed man asks him, making the kid look up at him with innocent eyes.

“You okay ?” Kibum asks in his turn, choosing English and pointing at the bag. “Want me to hold this ?”

“Ho’d me pwease.” Mark answers as he stretches his arms towards the horned man and drops his treasure.

Surprised at first, the adult hesitates but is quickly defeated by the child’s adorable pout ; instead of taking him in his arms, he crouches and lets Jinki place Mark on his shoulders.

“Hold there.” The oldest man says as he motions the boy’s hands to the horns. “Don’t let them go !”

Once the kid is safe and resting on Kibum’s shoulders, his little face fitting perfectly between the horns with his chin on the top of the adult’s head, the latter’s boyfriend picks the bag up and puts some fallen sweets inside before the four of them join the group of monsters threatening neighbors with evil tricks and laughters. Although one of the children isn’t with his friends, Taeyong is always making sure to ask for extra candies, showing their younger classmate behind with his polite hand to prove he’s not asking for himself.

The twenty minutes go by rather quickly, neither the kids nor the adults realizing it. At some point, Minho is holding Ten on his back and Yukhei’s hand in his, while the other three are still way too excited to stay still. It’s almost chaos, but the return to school isn’t as bad as it could have been. The five men manage to make the whole group walk back without even telling them it’s the way back. It’s only when they recognize the building’s yellow door and stickers on the windows that they understand.

Before any of them can protest, Baekhyun opens the door and calls each of their name, telling them that to enter they must show their treasure. He pretends to inspect the bags’ content and to hesitate to let some enter… what makes them even more eager to actually go inside. Eventually, they’re all back in the classroom, sitting around the gathered tables and showing each other their finds. During the meantime, Minho and Jinki bring an extra table for all adults to fit — though they must sit on the floor since it’s quite low.

Within a few minutes and before some of the kids can start bickering about their respective amount of candies, their improvised dinner arrives on the table and leaves them in awe. It’s only a few sandwiches, but cut in pieces that form the shapes of several Halloween creatures and objects — pumpkins, bats, witches’ hats or ghosts. The flavors are different to suit everyone’s taste, and both kids and adults don’t need to be asked twice before they start devouring whatever is under their reach.

The whole table is a joyful mess of chit-chat and sharing of food among the children ; Taeyong keeps grabbing new pieces of sandwiches and gives them to his friends before taking one for himself, which touches the adults’ hearts. So young and already so caring… while Taemin is literally kneeling on his chair and almost throwing his body on the table to catch what he wants, to the despair of his parents.

“Are you behaving like that at home ?” Minho frowns at him, making his son immediately sit properly and offer both his open hands so his father can give him the sandwich he wants. “That’s better, eat well. Babe, what do you want ?”

“I’m saving myself for later, don’t mind me.” Jonghyun smiles, though he blushes at the way he’s called by his husband in front of so many people. “Eat, I’m waiting for the cake.”

“Yah, will you ask me what I want ?” Kibum suddenly teases his boyfriend, the latter immediately straightening up and swallowing his own food. “No, Jinki, I’m kiddi—”

“There, a whole plate for you !” Jinki offers him a few pieces at once and pouring water in his glass. “Want more, baby ?”

“You asked for it, why are you even blushing.” The tallest man laughs heartily, nudging his best friend whose face turned red.

“Can I have ?”

Mark’s sudden intervention as he pokes Kibum’s arm and points at a sandwich is welcomed with quite a relief from the latter. The horned man immediately grants the kid’s request and makes sure to give him all the attention he needs to forget about his annoying friends — sometimes he hates himself for indeed asking for it and not owning up to what he’s done. He’s so sweating after a few minutes that he makes the huge mistake to remove his headdress and scares the youngest children, what obviously is another occasion for him to be kindly mocked by his friends.

He finds a way to escape and breathe some fresh air when no more sandwich can be seen on the table and it’s thus time for dessert. As he stands up and heads to the kitchen, Jinki following him to lend a hand and stealing him some kisses to make up for earlier, all kids pile their plates up and put all rubbish in one, just like they’re taught at the canteen. As soon as they’re done, they can’t help but stand gaping with their eyes sparkling, when the trolley with the cake finally makes its entrance.

In fact, it’s the biggest cake they’ve ever seen ! And just like Kibum said, there is a big head on the top !

“It didn’t grow legs !” Taemin shouts with his tiny, excited voice as he applauds, imitated by his classmates.

“No, it didn’t !” Jinki smiles. “That’s because you went fast earlier, it didn’t have time. It takes almost an hour to grow two legs !”

“Woah, that’s long !” Jongin widens his eyes and stares at his own legs. “Mine are short, I think it wasn’t as long.”

As soon as Taemin answers his best friend, adults know it’s a lost case ; they take advantage of the smart-like discussion that has all other kids staring at the two talking, to cut the cake. It’s quite a hard task, for the dessert is big and its creator wants each child to have a similar portion to avoid jealousy. It takes a few minutes but every plate is eventually filled with a big slice of cake, a few sugar paste characters and a part of the white chocolate skull. Naturally, adults get a bigger portion but it doesn’t seem to bother the kids.

They’re too busy covering their chin and cheeks with sugar and chocolate, filling their mouths before they even empty them. Just like them, Jonghyun is not hiding himself behind his “responsible parent’s status” anymore, as he devours the cake like he hasn’t eaten anything in weeks.

“I still can’t reduce his sugar consommation.” Minho sighs, pretending to be out of patience. “How can I make Taemin understand why he can’t eat so much sugar if I have this person doing the opposite ? How ?”

“You’re exaggerating, I only eat candies when he doesn’t look.” His husband retorts, filling his mouth again. “It’s too good.”

“I can grant you that. It’s really good, but damn… must have been long to bake that.”

“Tell me about it !” Kibum laughs. “I got up at eight to do the groceries and started baking right after I got home. I’ve been in the kitchen all day long, it’s a relief that Jinki came back from work early.”

“You were almost done when I came to help.” The latter smiles, rarely comfortable when being praised. “My part was only the decoration.”

“It’s a success, that’s for sure.” Baekhyun comments, showing the kids. “Though I don’t know if we’ll finish it today. Do you mind if we keep it in the fridge and I’ll serve the rest tomorrow for dessert ?”

“Of course I don’t ! It’s better here than at my place, we’re supposed to be on a sugar diet.”

“Teach Jonghyun, please.”

Minho’s comment was welcomed by a gentle hit on his shoulder, his husband frowning and his cheeks filled with cake — which made the whole scene laughable. All adults keep talking, giving the children a bit of freedom as they’re done eating ; they wander around the classroom, playing with the available toys or digesting in a calm way. It was quite a big day for them, tiredness starting to make its presence felt as the clock shows half past eight.

It’s at around that time that the kids’ parents are supposed to come fetch them, and Baekhyun keeps alert to hear the intercom. As a way to wait and also to thank the four men for their help, he offers them a cup of coffee to finish this great dinner. Minutes flow by, the teacher occasionally standing up to go to the front door, letting a parent — or two — enter and come to the classroom. Jonghyun, Minho, Kibum and Jinki receive a lot of thanks for their volunteer job, letting Taemin’s parents know that he is always welcomed at their place for a sleepover.

The room is slowly getting empty, and while Jonghyun is holding his son against him, the latter feeling sleepy and sucking on his thumb as he’s being rocked, the other three men help with the cleaning. Taeyong is the last kid to leave and only Jongin remains since he’s sleeping at his best friend’s home tonight. Once everything is as new, more or less, it’s time for everyone to go home and get a well deserved rest. Minho struggles a bit to get Taemin dressed with his coat, the boy half sleeping in his other dad’s arms and not really responsive.

When they’re all warmly dressed and standing in the hallway, Jonghyun holding his now asleep son and his husband keeping the other boy’s hand in his, Baekhyun respectfully bows to express his gratitude.

“The kids really enjoyed this little party.” He says. “It wouldn’t have been possible without you so I thank you with all my heart. They’re working so hard during school days, I’m glad they could have this break for such a good occasion.”

“There is no need to thank us.” Jinki answers, smiling. “We had fun too.”

“They’re all adorable, it was nice being here.” Kibum nods. “Don’t hesitate if you ever need help again, I’m not sure we can be available but you can always ask.”

“I will. And I might see you again, if you ever come for Taemin at the end of a day ?”

“Certainly !”

“We will go, now.” Minho says, a tint of mischief in his eyes. “Should we expect another little party once we get closer to Christmas ?”

Laughing, Baekhyun puts his finger against his lips to keep the secret, before he leads his guests to the back door. With one last goodbye and bow, they separate and head to the parking lot. Taemin and Jongin get in the first car, sitting well in their car seat — there is always a spare one in case — and the adults hug each other.

“Thanks for coming.” Jonghyun says as he hugs Kibum. “It was really good, you didn’t have to do so much though.”

“It was my pleasure, don’t worry.” The other man winks at his friend. “And I was sure it wouldn’t only please the kids so I’m proud.”

“Do you want to come over this Saturday evening ?” Minho asks. “It’s been a while since we had dinner together.”

“Hmm… Alright, but I’m bringing the dessert.”

“That’s fine with me !”

“Perfect. Go, you’ll catch a cold, standing here. See you, text me when you’re home.”

“Yes dad.”

Shaking his head, the tallest man gets in the car, imitated by his husband who takes place behind the wheel. Both Jinki and his fiancé get in their and they leave all together. On their way, Kibum looks at the few pictures he took on his phone during the whole evening, never missing an occasion to make precious memories with his nephew — and tonight, with five other kids he kinda wants to see again sometimes.

“I will send this one to Mr Byun.” He says, showing a picture of all kids with their treasure to his boyfriend when they stop at a red light. “It would be great if he can hang it in the classroom.”

“Send it to Jonghyun too, he will like it.” Jinki smiles, hitting the road again once the light turns green. “Did you have fun ?”

“Yes, lots of fun. You didn’t talk much, though.”

“I enjoy things rather quietly, you know that. But I will certainly come forward if we’re being invited again. These kids are really kind.”

“Did you see how the little one always came to me ? I thought I was going to melt.”

“Does it make you want to have a child of your own ?”

“I’ve wanted one for a while, even since Taemin arrived in our life… But let’s get married before, okay ?”

“Of course, love. And until then, we might see these five again for Christmas… who knows ?”

“Who knows…”

Smiling, Kibum keeps looking at his phone during the whole way back. Even when they get home, he tells his fiancé that he will join him in the living room later, as himself goes to his room. There, he takes his tablet and stylus, sending himself the picture of the children and opening his favourite editing application. Meticulously, he decorates the sober photography by drawing Halloween ornaments here and there, without making it too overbearing.

He makes sure to write each kid’s name above their head or under their feet: Taemin the vampire, Jongin the skeleton, Taeyong the cute Darth Vader, Ten the terrific but adorable Pennywise, Yukhei the ghost and Mark the little pumpkin. He then notices the perfect empty space on top of the picture.

There, after a long reflection, he finds the words he wants. After he put the date in the bottom right-hand corner, he writes a title in a funny font that suits the occasion : “A super spooky night”.

End

#shinee #onew #jonghyun #key #minho #taemin #superm #baekhyun #kai #taeyong #lucas #mark #ten #halloween #kids au #fluff #exo #nct

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