#small advantages of them playing on my old university campus

[radioactvunicorn]

saw the mountain goats a few weeks ago and of course mash was on the brain

lyric is from international small arms traffic blues

[recentadultburnout]

Info for writer in Thai series fandom: University life

First meet

Many faculty will have seniors (mainly 2nd year) arrange an optional meeting before the start of the semester for first-years to get to know each other and familiarize themselves with the location. It may have some games and activities also.

Dormitory

Student dormitories can be divided into inner and outer dormitories. An inner dormitory (หอใน:ho nai) refers to the dormitory provided by the university specifically for the students of that university, while an outer dormitory(หอนอก:ho nok) refers to the dormitory that is owned by outsiders who are not affiliated with the university.

The inner dormitory has the advantage of being in the campus, making going to class convenient and it is cheap, but the downside is that the dormitory is usually old, the gate has strict opening and closing times, and it is crowded. When I was in the inner dormitory, there were five people per room, all of whom were randomly assigned. Three regular beds and one bunk bed. Everything in the room is close together. Everyone has a bed, a table, and a locker, one each. Other than that, there will be only a narrow path. I mean, I live in the oldest dormitory, and it's the one they say is the worst, but it's really small.

For the outer ones, it varies, but most are more expensive, have better rooms, and since the number of people in the room depends on our own management, it is likely less crowded.

The inner dormitory has a clear division of male and female dormitories, while the outer dormitory usually does not, but some only accept female tenants as well.

In some universities, first-year students are required to live in the dormitory first (But some will pay for both the inner and outer dormitories and stay in the outer dormitory for most of the time.). Maybe for the convenience of doing activities that first-year students will have more than in other years or maybe for safety reasons. After that, everyone was free to move to whichever outer dormitory they wished. But, for those who wish to live in a dormitory after their first year at the university, they may not be able to stay if there is not enough room, as all first-year students will be prioritized since it is a requirement.

Oh! And I'm not sure if other universities are different, but for mine, all first-years in a faculty will be moved into inner dormitories at once on the same day with the help of their seniors (mostly 2nd year). You are on your own when it's time to move out, though.

+bonus

For some reason, inner dormitories often have ghost stories. And one of the popular ways students used to keep ghosts out of their rooms is by writing a sign telling them the room is already full and there isn't anything the ghost likes inside the room.

Example

Inner dormitory - Star in my mind

Outer dormitory - Bad Buddy, Theory of love

รับน้อง (rap-nong) to welcome first-year students/hazing ritual

When we say Rapnong, it can mean a fun game to get to know each other or a pathetic attempt to show off the power of a college kid who's just one to three years older than us. And, because the former can sometimes escalate into the latter, many people have attempted to eliminate the overall rapnong.

The common activities are: self-introductions among first-year, learning to sing college/faculty songs, making name tags, remembering information about college/faculty/friends, dancing and singing to songs like those in ch.10, hunting for seniors' autographs, playing games or doing whatever "test" the senior can think of.

After we pass the "test," there is often an attempt to create a touching atmosphere between seniors and juniors, welcome to the institute fraternity speech, tying wrist rap khwan ceremony, or something like that.

The duration of the event may be several days, It could be a continuous period or it could be several but short periods of time.

Example

Sotus

Contest

A Dao(star-girl) and Deun(moon-boy) contest is a beauty contest. Usually, it takes place around the beginning of the first semester. All entrants are first-year students. In some universities, trans people can enter the contest with cis people; in some, trans have a separate contests called Daothiam(satellite); and in some, trans people cannot participate at all. The Dao and Deun contest was the most basic one, but it is not the only one. There are other contests carried out at the same time too. What the contest is varies by university. For example, a comedy star contest.

All of the entrants will have to prepare for the contest and that needs quite some time. They usually have an overnight stay for a few days together at some point. They also might have to miss out on other activities that other first-year students attend a little in the process.

The winners of all these contests are responsible for publicizing various matters for the university.

These days, the contest has begun to be cancelled in some universities due to its association with beauty privilege and beauty standard issues.

Example

2Moons, Star in my mind

Volunteer-ish? activities (for society or university)

There are numerous volunteer activities in which the organizer anticipates that the participant will be a student, organizes specifically for students to participate, or organizes by students themselves. And while that could be because university is a time when we have both time and energy to give these new activities, or because it's a time when we can easily find friends to go with us, half the reason there are so many is that it's not actually purely voluntary.

At some universities, these activities are included in the curriculum. In order to graduate, students have to choose an activity that meets the college's requirements to complete and report to the university. In some universities where dormitories are in short supply, people with a history of participating in these activities may have the right to stay over those who do not. And in addition, some scholarships require recipients to undertake some service in order to make social contributions as well.

Trip

I will separate it into two types: a volunteer trip and a study trip. Sometimes one might get to go on a trip for their volunteer activities. Those are usually funded by whoever recruits people. And sometimes your department will get a budget, and so you get to go on a trip for learning purposes. But from my experience, you only need to have enough learning part for a report that someone will need to send in for a budget, so not really that much learning happens

.

Sports event

There are countless sports events if we count alluniversities in Thailand. For example, there is the Freshy Game, where freshies from each faculty get to compete. The University Games of Thailand are where a ready and voluntary university gets to compete. Isan relations sports event in which members of Thailand's Northeastern Student Union compete in folk sports. The Thailand University League is a football match between universities in Thailand. The CU–TU Traditional Rugby–Football Match is a competition between CU and TU teams to win the trophy given by the King or royal family member. This one is quite famous and even outsiders give it attention. CHEM ENG GMES, ATOMIC GAMES, ConneK DAY, and so on.

Cheer

Cheer is one of the sports that Freshy Game is likely to have, and it can be quite a high percentage of scores too. Unlike other sports, cheer is all about making a show. It has dancing, singing, a stage that we have to make pretty, a dress, a queue rehearsal and the like. People on the same team will have different responsibilities, which can be divided into four categories: cheerleaders, people on the stand, music, and props. On competition day, a cheerleader will dance in front of the stand, and people on the stand will sing, clap, and do a little dance in some cases.

Sai Rahat(สายรหัส)

Sai means line and Rahat means code. In many universities, each senior is assigned to take care of one junior at random. The senior will be called phi sai or phi rahat, and the junior will be called nong sai or nong rahat by other parties. Sai Rahat is what we will have when such an assignment is carried out continuously. Typically, each year does not exactly have the same number of students, so sometimes the line will get merged, two seniors for one junior. Or split into two, one senior for two juniors. And by doing that, you will get an indirect phi sai or nong sai.

At the beginning of the first semester, first year students will be assigned a senior or two as their phi sai, but they won't get to know who it is yet. They have to try to find that out by themselves first, and if they still didn't know when it was time to reveal, then they are considered to have lost the game and will get punished, usually by doing something embarrassing.

After that, each Sai rahat will usually pick a date to gather and eat together. The chance that everyone since the first generation can come in is really slim to none. It's kind of a tradition to make the oldest who come pay at least part of the youngest and possibly for others too. The older you are, the higher your chances of paying. The younger you are, the higher your chances of getting free food.

Example

Ink and Pa in Bad Buddy

Yiwaa, Mark and Nuea in Love Mechanics

Fake first year

We call them phi nian(พี่เนียน). Nian, in this context, means stealthy, blending in. It's quite a popular activity for other years and always gets many volunteers. The job is to pretend to be a first year in the beginning, when everyone just started meeting face-to-face, for First Meet, for example. The main aim is to help ensure that first-year students get along, make friends, and that overall activities can run smoothly.

Orientation

Most of the time, the university will host a large orientation for all new students once a year, and the faculty will have a sub-orientation for students in their own faculty in addition. The purpose is to welcome, Rap Khwan, and provide important information students must know.

Freshy Night

A party that starts at night. The activities vary, each university is different. Usually, there will be a Dao and Deun contest and a concert performed by actual professional artists.

Uniform

Most Thai universities, as seen in the series, have a uniform. However, whether we have to use it every day or not, and how strictly we have to dress according to the code, depends on the university and the faculty. But there are times when a uniform that follows the code to the tee is a must for everyone everywhere too. like, orientation and examination.

Wai Khru ceremony

I've already mentioned this ceremony a bit if you read the previous chapter. Usually the ceremony takes place on Thursday. For the Wai Kru in school like this, what we will do is chant, sing, and give flowers, incense sticks, candles, and Pan (พาน-a tray with a pedestal) that students help prepare to the teachers. Participation is voluntary. This is the only difference from elementary, middle schools, and high school, where participation is semi-compulsory. Other than this point, the rest of the ceremony is the same.

English exam

Many universities will require their students to pass an English exam (Their own exams or a certain score on widely accepted ones like TOEFL or IELTS.) before they can graduate, regardless of what their major is. So, if a person is given the opportunity to attend a university, it is reasonable to assume that they understand English to some extent, at the least.

*As you can see, the majority of the things I mentioned are activities for the first year, so many of them will happen around the same time and they can get kind of fused together. **The participation of most of the activities is voluntary, but peer pressure is a thing, so....

Index

[ariadnewhitlock]

The Very First Night || Sofie & Ariadne

PARTIES: Sofie @sofiedupont & Ariadne @ariadnewhitlock LOCATION: UMWR campus TIMING: Mid-April, evening CONTENT WARNINGS: N/A SUMMARY: Sofie needs help finding the library. Ariadne is happy to play tour guide. Conversations in the dark lead to discoveries.

The library seemed as good a place as any for Sofie to look for some books. And she figured the local university would have the greatest selection of old books for her to select from. It was late enough that she didn’t have to worry about the sun, but not so late that there was no one around. The campus was still relatively active, and Sofie managed to blend right in to the students. One of the perks of getting turned so early in life was that she still looked as though she could be a graduate student. The only issue, she realized as she walked briskly across the college campus, was that she didn’t have the slightest idea as to where the library was. 

Sofie had a new objective: to find the first person who looked like they would actually know where the library was. She spotted a student (at least, she assumed they were a student) and made a beeline for them. “Pardon me,” She called, her shoes clicking against the sidewalk as she jogged to catch up. “I’m sorry, pardon me- do you happen to know where the library is? I’m completely lost.”

Even at night, the campus wasn’t entirely quiet, and Ariadne appreciated the fact that it didn’t look weird when she stayed out late studying. Given everything, more time to study and review homework was certainly not a bad thing.

She had an essay to finish for one of her art courses, and doing work late at home didn’t always really work. Chance was there, and even if the worst that would happen would be him remarking on how wild it was that she was up late, Ariadne felt the need to get out, and this was a way she could be out and not cause anyone else harm. “I -” she turned toward the sound of shoes against the sidewalk. “It’s okay, hi. Yes, I do - I was actually headed there myself, if you’d like to walk with me? The campus can be big and confusing, so I don’t blame you.” She offered a small smile.

“Oh, that would be wonderful.” Sofie couldn’t help but wonder if she’d been born in a different time, if this would have been her life. Classes and papers and parties. Football games and exam seasons. When she was these people’s age the most she could hope for was a job in a good household or some advantageous marriage where she wouldn’t have to work as hard. And children, she supposed. The only part of the choice she made that she regretted, even if just a little bit. 

“I feel like I’d get lost here no matter how much time a spent on campus,” Her footsteps fell in sync with the young woman beside her. “What do you study here?” Sofie asked, wondering if she could guess before she heard the answer. English? Mathematics? Quantum physics? Did this campus even have a quantum physics department?

“Of course!” Ariadne chirped, “I mean, I’m not a tour guide, so this is just my own advice, but I do know where a few things on campus are.” She paused, “or more than a few, I guess. Perks of having lived in town my whole life.” She looked over at the woman, “sorry, I wasn’t trying to brag.”

Ariadne offered a shrug, “it is a big campus. But you get used to it. I think, at least? I don’t want to speak for everyone.” She looked over to the other woman, “oh. Dance and art history. I - I just like those. I’m not sure what exactly I’ll do for a job, once I graduate.” At least not anymore. “Do you study here? Can I ask you what you study?”

She was a sweet little thing, Sofie thought as they walked along. Chirping like a little bird. Her smile was probably a bit too nostalgic for getting told about her not-a-tour-guide tour guide’s connection to the town, but Sofie couldn’t help but wonder if this was how she had been to Seraphine. Although this girl didn’t strike Sofie as the social climbing sort. “You’re fine, ma colombe, no need to apologize.” The words felt both strange and correct in her mouth. They said children turned into their parents over time. Perhaps vampires turned into their sires. 

“Someone with taste!” Her eyes glittered with amusement. “There’s an art gallery in town, no? You could work there, perhaps. Or go off into the world and work for a big fancy museum in New York or London. It’s a big world to explore.” Sofie grinned. “Ah, I’m not a student here. Just someone with a bunch of old books looking to see if the library here would be willing to make a trade. Some of my dusty old tomes for some of theirs.”

“Parlez-vous français?” Do you speak French? Ariadne looked over to the other woman. “I - sorry.” She winced. “Working on the apology thing. I’ll try to not do it as much.” Maybe she could hold off on the excessive apologizing for at least the rest of the night. She doubted that it would go exactly as planned, but it didn’t hurt to hope, right?

“Yes, I think so.” As they made their way toward the library she continued, “I could - maybe - I’ll have to see if they’re hiring, and depending on the sort of art they have, if I’d be of use to them. But thank you.” Ariadne fiddled with the strap of her bag. “That’s true - the world is so big, and I mean, curating a museum in a big city? Wow.” Her eyes grew wide at the thought, “oh - well, that is very nice of you. I’m sure the library will be very grateful. Can I ask what sorts of books you have?”

A delighted smile broke out across Sofie’s face. “Oui!” Oh this was excellent! “Et toi?” And you? The corner of her mouth slanted down into something between a frown and a smile. “No need to worry, you’re just fine.” She put as much warmth into the sentence as she could. The poor thing sounded like she could use a kind word. 

“I’ve not been in yet, but I believe the artist deals with themes of horror.” She explained as they walked along. Sofie patted a heavy looking tote bag she had slung over her shoulder. “Of course. Old ones. Mostly fiction, and in a few different languages. Dickens, Austen, Brontë… a few works of poets and enlightenment thinkers. They’re well loved, but I’ve run out of space”

“Oui,” she nodded, “la famille de ma mère est française.” My mother’s family is French. Ariadne offered another cautious smile to the other woman. “Thank you, that’s very kind of you, especially since we’ve only just met.”

Her eyes grew briefly wide. Themes of horror. “Oh wow, that’s - well, sometimes I get skittish, easily,” despite literally being a monster, “so I don’t know if they’d want me around, but it means a lot that you already are suggesting things to me.” Ariadne nodded, “that is incredible. Can I ask if you have a favorite book?”

“Ah,” she nodded. “Not a fan of the things that go bump in the night.” Ironic that she was walking side by side with a vampire, then. “Noted. I can’t say that I blame you. I enjoy the beginnings of the genre, but horror today? I will pass on the Hollywood budget slasher flicks, thank you very much. I’ll take Mary Shelley over ‘Midwest Chainsaw Whatever Three’ any day.” Sofie shooed the thought away.

She hummed in thought at the question. “Oh, I have many.” Sofie contemplated the question, her brow scrunching up in concentration. “While I adore a good happy ending- Jane Austen’s Emma for a happy ending choice, mind you. But while I love it when everything ends happily, I do love a bit of drama. I highly recommend Anna Karenina  for that. And then if I’d prefer a play, Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. What are yours?

Only because I am one, Ariadne bit her lip, “I mean, bats are cute? But I - uh - I guess I’m just a bit jumpy at times is all.” Even though she was the cause of plenty of people’s jumpiness, given the whole being a literal nightmare and everything. “Yes, the slashers today can be really over-done. I think what I like least is the pain that it causes other people, probably.”

She looked over to the other woman. “Oh, those are all classics.” Which, duh. Not all ones she’d read, save for Twelfth Night in English class in high school. “I love The Little Prince. Little Women?” She shrugged, “I did love Twelfth Night when I read it. Also the Summer Dream one? Sorry, I forget what it’s called.” Ariadne sighed. “We’re nearly to the library.” And it was growing darker, which mean that she had to at least somewhat attempt to avoid looking at the other woman, given the whole red-eye thing.

“Oh I loved Little Women.” Sofie began happily chattering as they went along. “I remember reading it when-“ she caught herself. “Well, for the first time, and thinking Amy was a vastly misunderstood character. Did you have a favorite of the sisters?” She nodded when the girl brought up another of the Bard’s works. “Another classic A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” She certainly wouldn’t be bringing up how long ago she’d first seen that particular work. 

She looked over to the young woman in the dark and paused in her discussion. Sofie had caught a glimpse of her eyes for a moment, and how they glowed red in the darkness. Whatever the girl was, she wasn’t human. “There was a particular quote I liked from the ending of that one,” she said, letting her own eyes shift from their usual dark brown to the deep red that marked her a vampire. “Give me your hands, if we be friends, and Robin shall restore amends”. 

“Amy or Beth was always my favorite. It’s a lovely story, even if it is super sad at times.” Ariadne nodded, “yes, that’s the one. I just love the mischief and magic in it, I think. The idea of coming into another world, I don’t know, it felt like an advanced princess movie to me.” She winced, briefly. “That’s not me being disrespectful, I promise, just how I guess I saw it, the first time I read it.”

Ariadne couldn’t help but look back over to the woman - just time to see her eyes shift. She wasn’t the mare that Ariadne had created, she was fairly certain, though a part of her felt filled to the brim with doubt regarding that. “I can’t quote things as well as you can, but - wow. Have you done acting?” She looked at her, head turned just to the side - not entirely sure if she should bring up the whole eye similarity or not. “You seem to know so much about books - that’s - I’m very impressed.” She offered her a shy, somewhat sheepish smile.

She let out a delighted laugh. “An advanced princess movie,” Sofie echoed, contemplating it for a moment. “I rather like that, I think. I might have to use it the next time I’m waxing philosophical over Shakespeare’s comedies.”

Ah, there it was. That look of recognition. The knowledge that Sofie was not merely another human. Sometimes that expression struck panic into the vampire’s heart. Other times, like this one, a pleased grin spread across her face. She kept her eyes red, so it couldn’t be excused as a trick of the light. “Acting? No, no.  I’ve just read it about a hundred times since I got a copy of it in the seventeen-eighties.” No point in hiding just how old she was now. “I didn’t have the wonders of the internet up until recently, so reading was a preferred pass time. “And what about you, ma colombe, are you much of a reader?” It wasn’t the question she was really asking. She really wanted to know just how many years this girl had had to read. 

“You do?” Ariadne’s smile grew, “I’m glad you don’t find it stupid or ridiculous or something like that.” She felt more relaxed, even if only for a moment, that someone who clearly seemed to know so much, thought any idea of hers was even halfway decent.

The seventeen-eighties? Ariadne stared at the other woman, simultaneously alarmed and impressed, though she really (really) hoped that it only came off as a state of awe to the other woman. She offered another tentative smile. “Well, I think you’d be a good actor - just like, you seem to know things and you’re super pretty, so I think that means you’d be all set.” At the next question, she paused. “I like reading - but I like listening to stories more - reading during school was sometimes hard, but now that I’m in college and can sometimes choose what I get to read, I like it a lot more.”

“I do,” The young woman needed some confirmation to bolster herself, or at least Sofie thought she did. Otherwise she’d apologize again, and Sofie had not lived for three centuries to see clever and capable women apologize for taking up space, or for thinking in a unique way. “New ways of thinking and explaining things are one of the reasons civilization has continued on and we haven’t devolved completely back to the paleolithic era.”

Sofie grinned. A flatterer. Oh, she liked this one. She was going to have to keep her around. “I’ll have to give it a try one of these days,” She chuckled. “That is one of the best damned inventions. Those books you can play on devices and just listen. Completely genius.” She wasn’t completely technologically inept, though she probably would remind the girl of  her grandmother with how analog Sofie was. “What is your name? I feel as though you’re going to be seeing more of me, and it would be nice to have a name to put to a face. I’m Sofie.” 

“Well, I’m glad you feel that way, because I really don’t think everyone does.” It was doing wonders for setting Ariadne’s mind at ease. “But that’s a good point. Guess you can’t really have progress without thinking in new ways.” 

Ariadne nodded enthusiastically, “I also like it, because as much as I like learning and I like books, sometimes the actual physical reading of them is tough for me. So I’m really happy to be able to just listen to them, and you can even sometimes change the speed that they play, which is sort of extra-bonus-neat.” They were nearing the library now. “Oh - you want to see more of me?” Ariadne couldn’t keep the smile from covering her lips. “I’m Ariadne. I’d love to see you more. You seem really smart. And nice. And all sorts of other good things.” She nodded up at the library as they approached. “I’m also from town, so like, if you ever need to know where stuff is, I sometimes know that.”

There was something delightful about someone being enthusiastic, even about the smallest of things. Sofie preferred people like Ariadne- those who could find the genius in the tiny details. If you could find the beauty in the little things, Sofie found you could find beauty in anything. It was like watching a younger version of herself. “Of course- I don’t have a great many friends in town. And I take it,” she let her eyes flicker red again for a moment. “You’re a fairly young woman. I may not have all the answers for you, but I may have some.” She winked at the girl and her eyes faded back to their normal brown. 

“It’s been a pleasure talking with you Ariadne,” Sofie slipped a hand into her pocket and fished out a card, pleased she’d finally taken the time to invest in a business card. “You can reach me any time.”

[ameonds-dragonn]

Hotd modern au

I got inspired by @sansaorgana she made me fall in love with this au 🥰

For warning, this was something quick I made on my phone so probably ain’t great. But enjoy 💚

We’ve agreed that the Targaryens are rich as fuck, i think it’s old money like the Kennedy’s. Visryes is a huge lawyer and Daemon gives me Wall Street investors or CEO vibes. And Alicent is stay at home mommy that loves her kids. Nrya is Sahm as well but she modeled some I think, not runway model thou.

Aegon is a pothead/frat boy obviously, he only parties at college. Not caring if he graduates or not, Vis probably pays the uni a shit ton of money. Every once in awhile he puts an effort for classes :) He dresses like a frat boy and a stoner had a baby. Slides 99.8% of the time, hoodies that have his frat house name Or university name on it. He owns one part of jeans and slacks(they stay at home 99%). Smells like cigarette smoke, small vanilla notes and whiskey. Knows he can get away with failing school, getting pulled over, screwing girls. He knows Alicent loves him bc he’s her first baby. He’s not dumb as people think he is. He loves his mama too but kinda takes advantage of it.

Aemond is a Harvard baby through and through! Most likely an English major, but he also gives me medical school vibes(personally for me). He puts school first, he knows not everyone can get into Harvard so he appreciates that he did. Ameond is the campus mysterious heartthrob. Girls and gays love him! He’s 6’5, blonde with shoulder length hair, wears leather and black clothing w/sliver rings. Little whore! Also he has his scar on his eye. Obviously dragons aren’t real for us. So Aemond and Luke didn’t fight each other over Vhgar. I’m thinking he lost it on accident, maybe Vis took him and Aegon knife throwing or one of the neighbors kids and him were playing with sticks or something. Personally the scar is what made fall in love with him. It’s him no matter what au it is. It shaped him to who he is as a person. He’s a huge mama’s boy! He don’t hide it either, he loves Alicent.

When he comes home from school for the summer and Christmas, he brings gifts for her and Heleana. Stuff he saw while he was out one Saturday, little trinkets, shoes, books. Anything that reminded him of his mom and sister. Also does this for his S/O, he’s just a sweet emo boy!

Heleana still loves her bugs and other creepy crawlers! We stan Helena the bug queen in this house 💚 she’s the quiet girl that is always reading a book, drawing in her sketch pad. Has earbuds in, but will take them out if anyone talks to her. Loves old English literature and plays. She loves NYC and broadway, she gives me NYU vibes. Definitely lives in NYC but goes upstate a lot bc of nature. Also I think she would be a witch or at least into paganism. Aemond is close to Salem, MA so he goes and gets her stuff from the shops. He has 6 tarot decks that he plans on taking home along with crystals and books he got for her. TSA workers hate Aemond bc he goes over the weight limit with his suitcases.

Alicent, my favorite mom! Okay so, Alicent was Vis’ sugar baby when she was 20ish. Went to school with Nrya and ended marrying her dad. But I don’t think they hate each other in this AU, probably not each other’s fans. I think Nrya and Harwin are together, probably met on a photo shoot set. Harwin was definitely a model or an actor in his day. Anyways! Alicent got pregnant with Aegon before the wedding, you could see her bump in her dress. Vis works 24:7 so Alicent got very close with Aegon as a baby. Aegon looks after her always has! She was very involved with school when the kids were little. PTA mom, sports mom, art/theater mom, she always supports her kids and their activities. Calls them each everyday to see what’s new, are you sick?, how’s the money looking? She used to feel insecure about being a young mom, but now she’s 43 and her kids are in college. She has so much free time now! Definitely the hot mom, also the cool mom(mean girls hey!). Alicent was meant to be a mother, she truly loves her kids and wants the best for them. She don’t give me toxic mother in law vibes

Nrya is the first child of Vis, so he is crazy over her. He’s still in Nrya’s lane, but he talks to the other kids moreish. Nrya became a model her junior year of college. Has been covers of vogue, vanity fair, a bunch of wedding mags. It’s how she met her husband, Harwin. They fell in love and had Jace, Luke, Joff, the twins. Definitely a boy mom but she loves being a mom.

[xpeachesncream]

how many drinks? | one shot (jjk)

summary: the question is - how many drinks would it take for you to sleep with your bestfriend?

pairing: jjk x reader

genre: (18+) college au, dance group au, bestfriends/bestfriends with some benefits au | fluff, smut, sprinkle of angst

words: ~12.2k

warnings: cussing, mature language/implied sexual content, kind of crack-y, dancer!jk to fulfill my needs, unprotected sex, sprinkle of dirty talk, fingering, sprinkle of a handjob, slight biting, nails digging into skin, oc almost gets taken advantage of/forced into doing things she doesn’t wanna do, rough handling, song kang is in this too because i’m also a hooch for him but he’s an ass here, alcohol consumption, intoxication, mentions of blunts/smoking, house parties, cuddling, kissing/makeout sessions, straddling, breast/nipple play, hickeys, fucking on the edge of the bed, multiple orgasms, fingering, licking/neck kisses, oral (f. receiving)

note: one shot title is taken from miguel's song ‘how many drinks’ + a couple of things--

both hoseok and jimin’s piece mentioned below are inspired by real-life pieces my old dance mentor has choreographed and taught. this is the inspiration behind hoseok’s couple piece; this is the inspiration for jimin’s piece

i’m a hooch for all three of them in this video

enjoy imagining koo and oc dancing part of their couples piece like this 🥺

"Y/N." You picked up Jungkook's call as you sat at your desk in your dorm room. You had been finishing up your bio homework until the interruption came blaring through on your headphones.

"Yes?"

"Can I nap in your room?"

"The fuck I look like? A hotel?" You snorted.

"Yeah, a 5 star at that with how good you take care of me." He tries to butter you up, causing you to roll your eyes.

"You're lucky I like you."

"Yesssssssss!" You hear him faintly exclaim on the other line. "Be there in a sec."

"You know my doors are always unlocked." Which, it was true. So many of your friends had decided to live off campus that you and your other bestfriend [and beloved suitemate] were probably the only few left on campus. And that meant people were constantly in your room, hanging out or using both of your rooms, [with permission] or the couches in the shared living room space of your suite as a place to nap. College, amirite? Why the fuck would you lose your parking spot to go back to your apartment when you have friends who lived right on campus? You weren't just good for smuggling free food from the cafeteria to your broke ass, struggling off-campus friends.

Sooner or later, you're greeted by a fluffy, black-haired Jungkook, looking like his shit must have air-dried with how wavy and voluminous it was. He swings your door open so aggressively that you jump a bit in your seat, swinging off your headphones like you weren't even expecting him. You watch as he flings himself onto your neatly made bed like he hasn't felt a bed in years.

"Ugh, yes." He moans as he belly flops onto your bed and stays in that position.

"When's your next class, you little baby?"

"In like an hour or so, I don't know." He says sleepily. "Wake me up, please?"

"Sure." You realize it's Wednesday, and he definitely has Ecology lab later at 3:00PM. You figured you'd wake him up by 2:30 just to give him enough time to groggily walk his ass back over to the science building.

You and Jungkook weren't really close before college. It was moreso that you knew of each other since high school because of mutual friends. You'd see him at parties and he'd see you, but it was never more than the casual hi and bye and small talk. Maybe the occasional comments on facebook pages and the likes on pictures on instagram. But foreel, other than that, that's as real as your friendship got for awhile. You didn't mind it though, you were good with your set of friends and he was good with his. A lot of your friends attended the same university as you two and then your groups intertwined even more. 

But, it wasn't until the past couple of months or so where you both unexpectedly got really close - simply just by talking more and being around each other more. You both had similar interests and Jungkook wasn't the most vocal in his group, but with you, he seemed to talk endlessly. He loved comics and he loved raving to you about Marvel and DC superheroes. He loved to draw, and he'd draw you things every now and then - his most recent being you as a scientist superhero saving the world from overgrown malaria-infected mosquito monsters. It was the cutest thing you had ever seen, and you tacked it against your cork board near your desk. Then, small things like that turned to bringing you food or boba, being stuck at the hip where he'd only go to a certain place on campus if you were there; texting each other inside jokes and funny ass tweets all day turned to facetime sleepover calls and then late hangouts eventually turned to actual sleepovers in your bed, where he'd drape his arm around while you both slept but it never escalated into anything more than that in bed. Although he did fucking hate your medium-sized Olaf plushie that took shelter on your bed - he'd always hike it across the room and talk about how annoying he is and how he's always taking his spot. You never understood it, really.

And then soon, it turned to small displays of affection behind closed doors, where Jungkook would hold you close. Hold your hand if you two were in the room watching a show, or movie. Small kisses exchanged. Big kisses exchanged, making out sessions. But, that was literally it. Nothing else. No sex. No pressure. Lots of unspoken feelings, obviously, but you weren't gonna be the one to bring that up. Because you were comfortable, and if anything, you didn't wanna ruin what you guys already had going.

Like, is this a friends with benefits thing? Maybe? Maybe not? It was hard to label it because it's not like you both determined so, it kind of just fell together that way. And there was really no pressure to fuck every single time you got affectionate. It was cute, sweet. And no one really knew it was like that behind doors - possibly your suitemate Kass and her boyfriend, Jimin, but that's only because you shared the dorm suite with her. Jimin was also one of Jungkook's roommates and his really good friend, so whenever they had slept over on the same night, it was pure and utter chaos. But honestly, if Kass and Jimin hadn't been around you two much, they most certainly wouldn't have the idea.

Whatever it was, it was a comfortable closeness that you both experienced and appreciated. However, the both of you were afraid of discussing what this really was, afraid it'll ruin the dynamic. The atmosphere. Having to come to terms of what it might, or might not be. Neither of you can fully admit that you like the other. Although, it got hard. People did lightly tease you two because you both always looked for each other and were stuck by the hip out on campus.

Oh, well. Bottom line is that you liked your relationship where it was at, but it doesn't mean you haven't thought about the what if's. Jungkook was insanely attractive, and it's no lie that girls swarmed him left and right on campus, but he didn't give a shit [either he didn't give a shit or he was dumb as hell?]. Okay, rewind — to be fair, he would have a fling or two, flirt once or twice. He'd tell you so and so was cute and that they've hung out or texted, but that's it. He just wasn't necessarily looking for anything cause he too enjoyed where he was at with everything.

It doesn't take long before Sleeping Beauty is snoring face down on your bed, looking like Patrick Star with the way he's sprawled out. But, you continue to do your work until it was time to wake him. You gently shake him, his puppy eyes looking back at you after being face down all nap.

"Class time."

"No." He groans. "Can't I just stay here with you?"

"No, dude. Get to class." You chuckle. "You already skipped last week."

"Yeah, but this is a new week Y/N."

"Jungkook." You almost say in a scolding manner.

"Fiiiiiiine." He whines as he shoots up and hops off from your bed. "Are you going to our party on Friday?"

"I said I'd think about it right?"

"Yeah, like on Monday. It's Wednesday."

"And I'm still thinking about it." You snort, making him pout.

"Just come for a little bit."

"Why? You know parties aren't my thing and you'll be too drunk anyways. I'll end up wanting to go right the fuck back home as soon as I step outside."

"I'd like to be drunk and have you there. It'll be more fun!" He pouts as he holds your hand and swings it back and forth.

"I mean, to be completely honest, I'll probably end up going because of Kass anyways."

"Because of Kass." He rolls his eyes. "Oooookay. Not because of you, Jungkook, no." He says sarcastically, brows furrowed.

"Ew. You're such a fucking whiner. Leave." You laugh, throwing an empty water bottle at him.

"I'm kidding." He chuckles. "Wanna grab dinner with me after practice?"

"Sure. If you pay." He groans

"Fine. I'll see you later." He puckers up his lips to blow you a kiss, which you automatically reject by giving him a look before turning your attention back to your homework. You were hoping he'd offer to go to In-n-Out because you were craving that #2 with animal fries and a neapolitan shake, plus there was a Target in the same plaza that you wanted to drag him to for new pens and clearance sale shopping. And you wouldn't even warn him about it. He would tag along, no question.

Hoseok stands in front of the mirrors in the studio, pacing back and forth as your dance group learned a couple of 8-counts from this new piece he had been brewing up. Apparently, it was supposed to be a couples piece but he wasn't sure if he was going to keep it that way. He watched to see if this would be better as a group, or if he should stick to his original plans.

Your college dance group was a small group formed by people with pure, genuine interest and love for modern hip hop choreography. Hoseok was the dance lead, with Jimin being the back up lead. The group came together, taught each other pieces, taught workshops for those interested on campus and performed at the various talent shows and productions the school had throughout the year. It was just your group's way of showcasing your talents, something you all purely enjoyed, and it was nice to see the love and support given by the audiences.

"Okay, run that from the top one more time please. We'll take break after, swear." Hoseok chuckles and gives Jimin the cue to start the song back at the starting point. Jungkook makes a funny face at you as he huffs and puffs, trying to catch his breath from the last time you went through the counts.

"Ew." You giggle, slightly pushing him aside. Miguel's How Many Drinks begins to blast through the studio speakers, Jungkook doing his best to sing along and match his tone all while focusing on his steps. Once you're done going through the counts, the music continues to play, Jungkook twirling over to you just to sing—

"Cause I ain't leavin' aloneeee, I feel like I could be honest, babe." He spins to your other side. "We both know that we're grown, that's why I wanna knooooow - how many drinks will it take you to leave with meeeeEEeeeE?"

"You can give me all the drinks in the world and I swear I still wouldn't." You snort, making him frown and click his teeth.

"Too bad that's not really how you act when I ask to sleep over, though." Silence as you stick your tongue out at him. Cause, yeah. You really do tell him to sleep over without hesitation. You loved his company, you can’t lie. "Yeah, fraudulent as hell. I never taught you that." He jokes.

"Shut up, Jungkook—"

"Okay!" Hoseok says, clapping his hands. "This'll be a couple piece. I honestly think it'll work better that way, just like I envisioned it. I'll work with the couple to clean this up before the performance, but to whoever isn't casted for this, Jimin still has a piece to teach the rest of you, so don't feel discouraged!" Hoseok chuckles a bit, giving the rest of the group a small smile. "So with that being said - Y/N, Jungkook, I want you two to do this piece."

"Ouuuuuuuu." Jimin teases you from the sidelines, causing you to put up your middle finger.

"We won’t let you down, cap." Jungkook swings his arm around you.

"I'll teach you the rest of the piece next practice so we can start polishing it up and making it clean before the talent show."

"Sounds good with me." You flatly say, even though 100%, you're pretty excited for many reasons. One, you had been wanting to do a solo or couples piece for awhile, and two, your partner was Jungkook. Your best friend, your ride or die, the dude you've spent so much time with and gave your affection to behind closed doors. It made you giddy just thinking about it, even if you'd blatantly lie to his face later on when he'd tease you. And Jungkook felt the same. You missed the way he subtly bit on his bottom lip when you were named his partner, just so he wouldn't smile too big in front of you.

After practice, you egg him on enough to agree to take you to In-N-Out, without hinting at the plan you had drafted out in your head earlier.  The plan that says you're gonna drag his ass to Target afterwards and he had no choice but to come along.

"Y/N, you liar." He groans. "You said you weren't gonna go to Target." He pouts as you follows behind you anyway.

"Kook, I literally just need to get one thing."

"What's the one thing that you couldn't get on your own time?"

"I don't know, I'll have to find out when we get in there." You giggled, causing him to groan again. "Plus, we're here already. Killing two birds with one stone."

"Ah shit, I suppose I can get some bottles for the party."

"Yeah, make yourself useful Jungkook."

"Yeah, make yourself useful Jungkook, aheh." He mocks your tone and does that really weird and ugly ass laugh that dudes always do when they try to mock girls, however, you ignore it because you've just stepped into Target and bitch, this was Disneyland to you. Heaven. Paradise.

"Hm, what are we drinking on Friday?" He says his text outloud as he follows you around the dollar section where you begin to pick up really unnecessary items that you're probably just gonna store away in or around your desk somewhere.

"Should be holy water because you all need it."

"Mmm, I don't know, I don't think they have that but we can check." He responds ever so seriously, causing you to chuckle.

"How many people are you expecting?"

"Honestly, I don't even know. We said we'd keep it to close friends only. I don't really have any friends, so that's all on them."

"Ah, makes sense as to how the entire class was invited." You fire back sarcastically. "Your upstairs neighbors are really gonna have a blast."

"They're invited too."

"You guys are so dumb." He laughs when you hit him against the chest. After walking a bit, the two of you head towards the alcohol aisle, Jungkook grabbing what his arms will allow him to grab since alcohol is a little cheaper here than other grocery stores. "Isn't there a limit as to how much alcohol you can buy?"

"I don't see anything anywhere." He hauls about 4 big bottles back to the cashiers. "Besides, I'm giving them business compared to Safeway and those other grocery stores."

"Grab the coupon at least, genuis. It could save you some money." You take off the coupons from the three bottles.

He looks down at the coupon attached to the 4th bottle. "Sign up today and get 2% cash back on every bottle you buy." He snorts after reading the coupon outloud. "More like sign up today and get 2% cash back turnt." He looks at you. "This doesn't sound like a coupon, miss. Where's the ‘get 5 dollars off’ bullshit?"

"2% cash back turnt? Really?" You furrow your brows at him and hand the coupons to the cashier. "Here. God, maybe you shouldn't be hosting parties with your roommates."

"Maybe not." He holds his bags, even grabbing onto yours as you both walk out to his car. He turns up the radio, the both of you singing along to the songs coming through. When he pulls up to the lot of Edgehill Village, he parks in someone else's marked spot only because it's technically next to your door and he doesn't anticipate to stay long. But honestly, that never goes as planned. He grabs your bag from the trunk, silently following behind you as you unlock your door to an empty suite - just as you expected. Kass was most likely at Jungkook’s, spending the night with Jimin, and you'd be alone for the night. It didn't matter to you though, the peace and quiet was always nice.

"You sure you're gonna be okay here alone?" You nod.

"Yup. It's kind of nice actually." You lean forward onto your bed since it's raised a little higher than usual with bed risers, and open up your laptop. Jungkook sets your Target bag down and wraps his arms around you from behind, planting a kiss on your cheek and on your jawline.

"You sure you don't want me to sleep over? Cuddles sound nice."

"It sounds like you want to."

"Only if you want me to." He nuzzles his head against your neck, waiting for your response.

"Kook, please." You chuckle. "If you wanna sleepover, then go ahead."

"Yesssss! I do."

"Well you need to find parking, or else the person that owns that parking spot will be highly upset."

"You got it, captain. Pull up a movie!" He says, dashing out of your room to move his car. He's most likely going to come back in another 5 minutes, being that the only free parking at this time of night is probably on the other end in the gym's lot, or somewhere on the streets [if he got lucky].

And so that 5 minutes sure does go by before Jungkook is breathing heavily when he walks into your room, duffle bag swung over his shoulder with a big, dorky ass smile on his face.

"I'm back!"

"I see." You snort, still going through the movies.

"Hey, let's run through what Hobi taught us first."

"Ugh, I'm so tired though."

"Cooooome on, just once." He pulls you by the hand, his body pressed against yours as his his other arm wraps around your waist. "Please." His puppy dog eyes look down at you, causing you to push him away because fucking hell, that shit makes you weak. Makes the pussy throb just a lil, you know? Christ.

"Only if you watch 10 Things I Hate About You."

"Sure, I don't mind." He pulls up the song on your laptop. The both of you face the mirror in front of you, careful not to hit each other since you had such limited space to fully move around. Running through it once was a full blown lie, being that you both are doing it for almost 5-6 times before you're laughing at how out of breath you already are. You're so out of it and winded by the last time around that you accidentally hit Jungkook in the face, causing him to whine and stumble off to the side.

"Oh shit!" You laugh. "I'm so sorry, Kookie!" You run over to cup his face. "Are you okay? You good?"

"Shit, Y/N. You have a heavy hand." He keeps his hand against his cheek.

"I'm sorry." You lean in to plant a kiss on his cheek, but Jungkook being Jungkook, he looks to the side to have his lips meet yours instead. He picks you up in one swift motion, your legs wrapped around his torso as he sits you on your bed, your hands still cupping his face. And honestly, you really wanted him. You've always wanted him since this whole thing started. God, he was attractive to you - every little thing about Jungkook was a fucking weakness, but you weren't gonna let up first. Not tonight. The scar on his cheek, his soft, fluffy hair, his toned body, his muscular ass arms, the way he held onto you when you both slept, the way he kissed you.

Lord, he was truly going to be the death of you.

Before the kiss could get any deeper, you smile into it and back away, keeping your gaze on the small, dazed smile Jungkook has on his face.

"Can we watch now?" You ask, subtly biting onto your bottom lip.

"Yeah, good idea."

"Actually, after all that, I need to shower first."

"Can I join?" His eyes light up.

"Sit your ass down. You can go after." You laugh as you hop off the bed, grabbing your pajamas for a quick shower. You literally take 10 minutes, walking back into your room with wet hair and an oversized shirt and shorts underneath. Although you had been completely comfortable with Jungkook, the both of you have never really seen each other fully naked like that. Whenever he slept over, you were both always fully clothed. You've seen him hop out of the shower and come in shirtless, but that's probably about it. You start to brush your teeth as he rummages through his emergency duffle bag full of shit that he holds in the trunk of his car, grabbing a fresh pair of clothes to change into after his shower. You already know his ass is gonna use your shampoo for everything because he loves the smell of it and always talks about how good your hair smells.

While waiting for him, you slip yourself under your covers and pull the laptop closer to you, scrolling through your phone aimlessly to see what's new on instagram. Which, is absolutely nothing, so you let out a dissatisfied sigh.

"Ready!" He comes in, tossing his towel aside and shutting off the lights to crawl into your bed with you.

"You smell just like me." You chuckle.

"It's great, isn't it?"

"Your hair isn't bothering you?" You run your hand through his incredibly wet hair as he shakes his head.

"No, I'll be good."

"Okay." He wraps his arm around you to pull you onto his body, the movie already off to a start. As the movie goes on, you find yourself getting sleep as both of your bodies sink deeper into the sheets, Jungkook still not letting you go. The laptop rests on his belly, while your head is on his chest, his heartbeat the one thing putting you to sleep pretty quickly. He's comfortable, just as you are. He's warm, you're warm. He's content, you're content. You drift off to sleep while he continues to watch, knowing your bodies will be pressed tightly against each other in the morning.

"Kook there's so many fucking people here. The cops are gonna come and shut this down quick." Jungkook shrugs.

"Oh well, wasn't my idea." He snorts. "Shot?!" He hands you a shot that you take with ease, feeling like you aren't drunk enough for all this shit and all these people. "Atta girl."

"Yuck, though." You slightly make a sour face as you feel the warmth trickle down your throat and into your stomach.

"Heeeey, whyyyyy do you look so FaMiliaR?" This girl asks Jungkook in a weird, flirty tone, where every other consonant goes up and down. She's obviously really fucking drunk and out of her mind because for one, she definitely goes to the same school as you two, and she has definitely been in class with Jungkook before.

"Oh uh, my name's Justin Bieber. I used to sing from time to time." He says nonchalantly with you furrowing your forehead at him because what kind of response did he just give her?! What did he just tell her? You're so embarrassed that you slowly turn on your heel and walk out of the kitchen as you hear him sing One Less Lonely Girl hella out of tune, with the girl completely smitten over his drunk ass.

"Where's Jungkookie?" Kass asks as she sits on Jimin's lap.

"Over there, pretending to be Justin Bieber apparently."

"Oh, nice. You don't come across that often." Jimin says sarcastically. "Are you staying here tonight?"

"Yeah, stay here tonight, with Kookie." Kass wiggles her eyebrows, her cheek resting on top of Jimin's head. "It's not like that's anything new."

"Um, I'd rather much be back in the dorm."

"That cold, lonely place? When you could be here, in such a pretty apartment with such a pretty boy?" You shake your head at her.

"Unbelievable." You mutter. Suddenly, an incredibly tall man walks into the apartment, reaching about 6'1 and almost hitting the ceiling with his tall ass. You've never seen him before, but he walks in with Hoseok and Namjoon and for whatever reason, you can't peel your eyes off of him. "Woah, who's that?"

"Who's what?" Jungkook finally comes to your side after being Justin Bieber for a good minute or so, his eyes following yours. Who was he and why were you looking at him so intensely?

"That's Kang! You've never met him?" Jimin says, doing a slight nod to greet him as he passes by. Kang and his fine self looks up at you, a small smirk creeping up at the corner of his lips as he continues through to the kitchen behind Hoseok and Namjoon. "He's a transfer and on the basketball team."

"He's fiiiiine." You and Kass swoon over him a bit, Jungkook giving you a look.

"He's alriiiight. I've seen better."

"Shut up, no one asked you." You lightly punch him on the side, making him lightly groan while Jimin and Kass laugh. The rest of the party, you suddenly have a goal to find out more about Kang and see what he's about because you and Jungkook weren't official. You both didn't really know what this was, but one thing you knew for sure was that it wasn't anything exclusive. You wouldn't bring it up, so wouldn't Jungkook - so was this really something all that meaningful?

Whatever, you didn't wanna keep going in circles about it.

Jungkook fucking hates it though, and he's honestly really jealous that you're suddenly trying to be all cute and woo the new, tall, handsome [but he's not really that fucking handsome to Jungkook for christ's sake] basketball player. Jungkook almost wants to mock his every move and how suavé he is, almost looking like a try hard with the way he's leaning against the wall and talking to you.

Wait— he's talking to you?! You were literally right next to him 2 seconds ago.

"What the fuck?" He squints, trying to make sure he's actually looking at you.

"You're so full of shit." Jimin laughs.

"What are you talking about?"

"Why don't you just admit that you like her and stop being childish about it?"

"I don't like her. She's just my bestfriend."

"Um, okay?" Jimin snorts. "When you sleep at her place every chance you get and vice versa? When she has a ton of your shirts and hoodies in her own fucking closet? When you always get so affectionate with her in the dorm? Sure, you don't like her."

"How do you know that?"

"I just do, you've done it in front of me and Kass before but you both tried playing it off. I don't understand you two."

"Well, I don't like her. She obviously doesn't either with the way she's trying to be all up on him." Jungkook glares at you, his teeth biting the rim of the cup harshly as he brings it to his lips to take a sip.

"Whatever, I'm just saying dude. Probably better to be straight up about it than not."

"Kaaaaaaay." Jungkook responds sarcastically, trying to play off how butthurt he was right now. Cause yeah, he did fucking like you. He was just scared to admit it though because of reasons like this - the fact that you possibly didn't like him back killed him. The fact that you could possibly be using him to feel wanted, needed. It made his stomach turn.

He just really liked you, and god, did he want to be the one in your bed tonight. Whether or not that ended up in sex, whatever. He just wanted to be the one to touch you, be on you.

Meanwhile, Kang was attractive as hell and ouwee, were you feeling him tonight. You were, you really were - except, you could literally feel the holes Jungkook was burning through you from across the room. You'd occasionally glance over due to how distracting it was, Jungkook literally have no shame with eyeing you, almost glaring at you, from across the apartment.

"Is it too forward if I ask for your number already?" Kang licks his lips, his teeth lightly piercing his bottom lip as he looks down at you.

"No." You smirk at him, taking his phone to put your number in.

"We should kick it soon. I'd love to hang out with you and get to know you better."

"Yeah, just let me know when." You blush, until you're suddenly pulled out of your daze by a loud 'ahem,' the loudest throat-clearing you have ever heard in your life. You turn to see Jungkook making his way back over to the shots, knowing damn well he's calling you over. "See you around?" Kang winks before he tips his cup to you and gives you a single nod.

"Sure thing, cutiepie." You bite onto your bottom lip, making your way over to Jungkook at the shot station, instantly pinching his arm.

"What the fuck?"

"Nobody was calling you over." Jungkook smirks.

"Shut the fuck up, yes you were. I know that was you clearing your throat like that."

"I'm sorry, does it bother you?" He blinks cutely, tilting his head to the side. "Besides, why come over here when you're too busy with your man?"

"Are you jealous?"

"Why in the hell would I be jealous, Y/N? Do you." The words sting you, even though part of you still wants to believe that Jungkook may actually like you. All you can do is sigh and brush it off, placing your cup down in front of him as he pours himself another shot. "You sure?"

"Just give me the damn shot." You say, making it your 7th.

And the 7th turns into 8, 8 turns into 9, 9 turns into 10. And at 10, you're pretty fucking drunk even as the party is starting to die down by the time it's close to 2am. All 10 were a good combination of shots and mixed drinks.

10 drinks.

10 drinks is what it took for you to lay in Jungkook's bed at the end of the night, hands tangled in his fluffy hair as your makeout session intensifies by the minute - all due to this sexual tension, frustration, whatever the hell it was brewing between you two after all this time. The both of you are drunk as hell, and it's pretty evident with the way you can still taste the alcohol on his tongue, both sloppily touching up on each other, kisses getting wetter, clothes coming off like there's no tomorrow.

"Wait, are you sure?" Jungkook says, about to unhook your bra.

"Jungkook, god, just fuck me." You plead drunkily, the room spinning around you. He continues to unhook your bra, tossing it across the room where your other clothes lay, peppering kisses along your neck before licking up a stripe to meet your lips again. He hooks his fingers across the band of your panties, tugging them down and letting them get lost within his sheets. You take this as leverage to tug his boxer briefs down, already stroking his hardened member the moment you come into contact with it. The sad thing is that you both are so fucking drunk, you can't even appreciate the fact that you both are naked in front of each other for the first time ever.

You can't even come to terms with the fact that you both are about to fuck each other and cross that boundary completely.

But, hell, what do you care? You were drunk. You got a cute guy's number. You're getting dick at the end of the night.

"Oh shit, Y/N." He moans into your mouth as he feels you stroking him. "Need to feel you." He quickly runs his finger down your fold, slipping in two digits to pump them in and out, quickly prepping you for his dick.

"Hnnng--Kook." You bite onto your bottom lip as your eyes shut close momentarily, your head digging deeper into the pillow the more he tries to stretch you out. "Want you inside of me."

"I got you." He says. You almost whine at the loss of contact until you feel his tip poking at your entrance. He slowly continues to slip himself inside of you, Kook letting out a small groan while your mouth was left open, a soundless moan releasing before you hiss and take in all of him. He fills you up so well, so completely. He was so big that you felt full, bloated, with him being inside of you the way he was.

"Ohhhhhgod." You whimper as he starts to steady his pace, the lewd noises of his cock slipping in and out of your wet pussy filling his room - god forbid if Jimin or their other roommate Yoongi heard this right now. It would be nothing short of pornographic.

"You're so wet. Is that all for me?" He says, causing your eyes to roll to the back of your head as he begins to aggressively thrust into you.

"Y-yes." You whine.

"Say it again."

"All for you, Kook."

"I fucking thought so." He drunkily responds as one hand grips onto your hips tightly, the other in your hair as he digs his head back into the crook of your neck, his tongue messily licking near your jaw before he nibbles onto your earlobe.

"Hmmmmgggh, Jungkook. Fuck." You moan as you start to work your hips upward into his, your clit rubbing against his pelvis, causing the pleasure to pool quickly within the pit of your stomach. It causes goosebumps to pierce through the surface of your skin, your hands gripping tighter on his hair. "You're-you're gonna make me cum. Faster." You plead. He does just so, hammering into you, the sound of his hips slamming into yours bouncing off of the walls.

"Ahhh—Y/N." He groans.

"Just like that, just like that, just like that!" You repeat, your clit feeling incredibly stimulated by the way it rubs against his skin while he fucks into you. "Oh shit! Jungkook!" You moan loudly, biting his shoulder as you feel yourself trembling hard in his grip, your orgasm taking over your entire body.

"Shit, shit, shit—Y/N, Shiiiit." He says into your neck, followed by more curses and groans as you feel him coat your walls warmly. He stays inside of you until the both of you come back down to normalcy, your breathing becoming more regulated. He slowly slips himself out, plopping next to you on the bed, but doesn't welcome you into his arms.

The night goes on, the both of you sleeping on your own sides of Jungkook's bed, not really saying a word to each other. Because the both of you, although still pretty drunk, are more aware by the time it's over and it's become so clear how fucked up this got.

You were hurt. Completely hurt. Because you didn't expect Jungkook to just fucking ghost you after that night. You wanted to talk about it, maybe come to the conclusion that you two should just distance yourselves from each other to figure this out, even if it would hurt you a lot to do so.

No.

That morning, Jimin and Kass had to take you back to campus because Jungkook had darted out of his room, nowhere to be seen until later that night. The next week or so, there were no texts, no calls. No visiting your dorm, no asking to sleepover.

Nothing.

Just radio silence, white noise, if you will.

The one thing he could come up with was a stupid response to your text when you finally caved and asked what you did wrong mid-week.

Something along the lines of 'what do you want me to say, Y/N? do you want me to force myself to feel a certain way?'

Followed by a 'i'm sorry, fuck. that came out really wrong' even though you thought it came out perfectly fine. You understood loud and clear.

Even though this wasn't really an exclusive thing, or even a 'thing' if we wanna be straight up, you still couldn't help but feel like Jungkook had just dumped your ass with no explanation and you were still waiting for that explanation to come, whether it would or not. And because of this, you started to see Kang, hangout with him more often. He even took you out on a dinner date and you really enjoyed his company. He seemed genuine, caring, supportive - even if a lot of the basketball boys were the complete opposite. He was different, you liked to think.

And so you stand in front of the mirrors in the dance studio, you and Jungkook awkwardly running through the piece with Hoseok watching, confused as to why all of a sudden the two of you have this weird tension going on. It hasn't entirely ruined the couple piece, but it hasn't brought it together, either. The both of you could barely look at each other, barely get into the movements, the emotions behind the motions. Hoseok had to correct a few things, his 'pah pah pah's' echoing in the room constantly with how many times you and Jungkook had to be set straight for your sloppy steps today.

"Okay, I'm not saying it's bad, cause it's not. But can you both please act like you at least like each other or something? What's going on with you two? You aren't normally like this." Hoseok says, coming down to a crouch in front of the mirrors.

"Nothing, we'll do better. Don't worry." You brush off the entire question with your quick response. Jungkook looks at you, his hands on his hips, lightly frowning at how much you're distancing yourself even though he knows its entirely his fault for running from his feelings and not being honest with you.

"Okay, let's do it from the top." The music starts, you getting into the piece without making any eye contact with Jungkook. Even the steps that cause you to be close and near Jungkook, you look anywhere but his eyes, and your touch is light, trying your hardest not to let any feelings pass through the motion. Hoseok is a little more pleased this time around, but it still doesn't sit right with him, so he lets you two take a break while he heads to the other studio to check on Jimin and the rest of the group.

"Hey. Are you okay?"

"Jungkook, you don't get to ask me that." He sighs and runs his hand through his hair, not sure if he should continue on or not.

"Y/N—"

"Save it, and let's just get this over with, okay? I don't wanna be here just as much as you." Your words cut him deep because dear, you have gotten him completely misunderstood and yet, he still can't speak. He still can't talk about his feelings. He still can't save this even though he wants to, even though he loathes seeing you the way you are with Kang.

"I never said—"

"Kay, ready? Let's run this full out and make it a good one so we can call it for today." Hoseok says, clapping his hands to hype you two up somehow. The music starts and you're finally able to get into the steps. The emotions. And god, it's only because you're so hurt by your own bestfriend. You're hurt that he fucked you so good, and then dipped. You're hurt that he couldn't even face you the day after. You're hurt that after all this time, he made it seem like you still didn't matter enough - at least enough for an explanation, for some kind of reasoning, conversation, behind what just went down between the both of you. Between what has been going down between the both of you.

Besides the stupid ass responses he gave you through text.

You get so into your feelings that you don't even realize you're tearing up by the time the piece is over, and Jungkook catches it even though you face away from him as soon as the music cuts out.

"Nice, okay! That was so much better! Let's pick it up next session, yeah? We'll keep cleaning it up. Thanks guys!" Hoseok says. You immediately head towards the wall, grabbing your things to avoid any confrontation from Jungkook, but he grabs your arm as soon as you slip through the door.

"Y/N, wait. Stop."

"Let me go." You yank your arm from his grip.

"Why are you crying?" He stops in front of you, his hands placed on your arms to prevent you from moving any further.

"I'm not." You blatantly lie while you aggressively wipe away the stragglers coming down.

"Really? Just gonna lie like that?"

"Why do you care? You haven't said shit to me all week." You snap back, and Jungkook is taken aback from the tone in your voice. You remove his hands from your arms, and take one last look at him before shaking your head and walking off.

Next mistake? He doesn't come after you.

This was a waste of fucking time. If he truly cared about you, he wouldn't let you hurt like this.

You let out a deep sigh before clutching onto your things and walking back to your dorm. The walk from the gym/fitness center was damn near on the other end of campus compared to your dorm. It would be a good 10 minute walk if you really took your time. A good 10 minutes to ponder on your thoughts.

Yes, you liked Jungkook. You really liked him. Having sex with him solidified those feelings even more. How could you not have feelings for your bestfriend after all the moments you've shared? Was it your fault for assuming that? Was it your fault for walking through that door when it seemed to be completely open for you?

"Sup." Kang comes out of nowhere, pulling you out of your thoughts. He swings his arm around your shoulder, gently pulling you closer to his body.  "Just got out of practice?"

"Sure did." You give him a toothless smile. Yes, he was attractive as hell. He always will be. But, even with the time you spent together, the date he took you on, he still couldn't make you feel the way Jungkook has been able to make you feel.

"How was it?"

"Um, it was alright. Nothing new really, just cleaning up the piece before the show. You're going right?"

"Why wouldn't I?" He smiles down at you. "Listen, I don't know if you've heard, but there's another party tonight."

"A party? It's Wednesday." You snort.

"Yeah, I mean, one of the boys on the Lacrosse team is throwing it at his family house because his parents will be gone. Wanna come? I'll pick you up. We don't have to stay for long." You looked at your watch.

"What time is it at?"

"Like 9ish?" Enough time for you to shower and get a quick dinner in your belly. Why the hell not? You were caught up for the week. You didn't have any pressing assignments that were due asap.

"Sure. I'll come."

"Cool. See you later then?" He says, about to part ways with you. You simply give him a nod before walking deeper into Edgehill village. You hoped you wouldn't regret this tonight, and you really hoped he meant it when he said you two didn't have to stay for long. You drag yourself into your room, seeing Kass' door wide open, revealing her packing up her duffle bag.

"Hey, where are you headed during the middle of the week?"

"My two classes got cancelled for tomorrow so me and Jiminie are heading out for a mini getaway for our anniversary." You cross your arms and smile. "He's just gonna catch up on shit when we get back I guess." She laughs.

"That sounds cute. I hope you have loads of fun this weekend, babe."

"What are you gonna do?" Kass and Jimin were obviously aware of everything happening between you and Jungkook being that they had to be the ones to take you home. They never pressed on it though, knowing you both were still pretty upset about how things were playing out. They figured you two would eventually work it out, but until then, they would just sit back and keep their mouths shut. You two were being completely stubborn, but it wasn't their relationship to fix.

"Well, there's this party Kang wants to take me to tonight."

"The Lacrosse party? Messy." She laughs. "Be careful, but also have fun, yeah? I still don’t know if I trust him.”

"Yeah I know."

"Tell me how it goes!"

"I will." You wave her off as you head into your room and shut the door. You figured you would just grab dinner on campus to avoid spending more money than you should; after all, dinner seemed to be pretty bomb tonight. You didn't mind going alone, sometimes Namjoon would join you, asking for you to bring him a plate of food while he does the hard job of sneaking inside the cafeteria through the back door. He usually waits for you at a free table and ends up staying there to have dinner with you, updating you on how life has been, how school has been. Sometimes Hoseok would join you, too. Either way, you didn't mind if no one joined. It was nice to have dinner by yourself from time to time.

You get there on time to be able to grab some food, eat quietly and head out before the cafeteria gets way too busy for your liking. You slip into the shower and throw on a mini skirt, a crop top and a denim jacket, lightly fluffing your hair in the mirror and adding a dab of lip gloss to your lips before Kang is calling you to tell you he's outside your dorm. He's wearing something similar to your color palette, however, you don't make much out of it since this also wasn't really an exclusive thing and you sure as hell weren't going around telling people you and Kang had a thing going on.

To him, you two might be a thing. You've definitely overheard people talking about you two in passing.

To you though, you two definitely weren't. And it was a big fuck you to Jungkook for that.

The house is packed from end to end already, and you're surprised being that it has barely hit 10 minutes since the party was expected to take off. Kang is having to park down the hill, allowing you to hop onto his back for a quick piggy back ride up until you reach the front of the house. There's people already fucked up out on the lawn [you figured they fucked themselves over during their pre-game session cause that shit really happens from time to time], either laying there drunkily or yacking on a free patch of grass.

Gross.

Messy, indeed.

Some people are posted, smoking blunts and offering it to people who were passing by. You and Kang both pass up on it, the idea of not knowing where it has been not sitting right with you. You both head straight to the bottles, taking shots and downing mixed drinks to chase it with so that you can catch up with majority of the crowd. Kang has his arm around your shoulder throughout the night, keeping you close to him, even when he's getting pretty drunk. You realize he's a little more handsy than usual, a little more touchy than you expected him to be. It doesn't bother you for a minute, until he really tries to hike up your skirt while you sit on his lap. You gently shoo his hand away, playing it off while he nuzzles his head against your neck.

"Let's go upstairs, babe." He says, the pet name sounding incredibly off coming from him. Maybe you were drunk, maybe you really just weren't in the mood. It just didn't sound cute, if that even makes sense?

"Okay." You respond stupidly, not wanting to cause a scene at a lacrosse party. You intertwine your fingers with his as he leads the way up the stairs, eyeing the doors as they come into view. He leans forward towards each door, making sure it's clear before opening it. You assume he finally finds one that he's satisfied with when you catch the small smirk that grows at the corner of his lips when he turns the door knob and brings you inside. He pulls you into a deep, rough kiss, one that doesn't even allow you to breathe and process what the fuck is even going on. You can't get into it for the life of you, no matter how hard you try to back away. "Wait, wait."

"What's wrong, baby? Isn't this what you wanted?" He says, kissing down your neck as he drops his jacket to the floor. He gently pushes you onto the bed, his hands traveling up your skirt as you lay there trying to push him off.

"Wait, stop." He doesn't listen. He continues until his hands are literally hooking onto your panties, his finger swiping down your clothed folds. You try fighting him off, but he's way stronger than you. He continues to be aggressive, forcefully trying to shove your panties down until you muster up all the energy you have to finally push him off of you completely. "Stop!"

"What the fuck? I thought you wanted this?"

"Who the hell said that?"

"Are you serious? The way that you're dressed and the way that you look at me. The way you approached me at your friend's party - isn't it all because of this? Because you wanted me? Why are you backing out now?"

"Jesus, get over yourself." You stand, fixing your skirt back down. He furrows his brows at you before his hand grips your arm tightly, shoving you against the wall.

"The fuck, you can't just leave without giving me anything. I brought you here to this party."

"Let me go! You're fucking sick. No one even told you I wanted this to go down. I don't know who you think you are, but you need to get yourself together and stop assuming every pussy is yours to take." He attempts to pin you, his hand holding up both of your hands against the wall while the other tries to pull up your skirt. Someone accidentally opens the door, distracting him and giving you leverage to shove him off and get the fuck away. You dart down the steps, fixing your skirt as you head outside and away from the house.

Fuck, you're far from campus. And Kass and Jimin aren't around.

God.

You groan and run your hand through your hair as you continue to walk down the hill and into the neighborhood to get as far away as possible from that house and that gross ass dude. He was literally just like the rest of the basketball team. You've heard stories and they weren't nice. Looks like he was trained well already, and that shit was sad. What a waste. A beautiful human being with such a nasty, sick mindset. You hoped other girls hadn't fallen for his shit.

Ugh, it sends shivers down your spine. Bad shivers.

"Hello? Y/N?"

"Kook, can you come pick me up please?"

"Yeah, yeah. Of course. Where are you?"

"I'll drop my location. Please hurry." You say, looking back to make sure your coast was clear. You drop the pin into your text thread with Jungkook and sit on the curb until his arrival. It's getting pretty chilly out, and the denim jacket you're wearing fails to provide you with the warmth you're looking for. Sooner or later, Jungkook is pulling up, damn near hopping out before he can shift the gear into park.

"You okay? What happened?" He says, opening the door for you before rushing over to the driver's seat.

"Nothing, can we just go back to your place?" He nods silently, and doesn't press any further after hearing your tone. He watches from his peripherals how you fiddle with your fingers and constantly reach to pull your skirt down even though he doesn't think there's any other way you could pull it down even more. He watches as he parks the car on the curb in front of his apartment how you simply undo your seatbelt and hop out to walk straight into his apartment. He watches as you welcome yourself into his closet and pick out some clothes for you to change in.

You were hurt, and his blood boils thinking about who could've done this and what they could have possibly done.

I mean, no. He knows who did this, but the question was what exactly did he try?

He hears the shower turn on, then quickly get turned off after a good 5 minutes. You had stepped in for a quick body shower, using Jungkook's bodywash just to rid yourself of feeling gross. Feeling gross from being shoulder to shoulder all night long, people breathing down your neck. Kang touching you inappropriately. You slip into Jungkook's clothes, his scent wrapping around you entirely. When you head back into the room, Jungkook has his headset back on as he faces his computer, logging back onto his game of League of Legends. You silently toss your dirty clothes to the side of his room, making a mental note to grab it tomorrow morning and toss it straight into the laundry.

Straight into a fire, perhaps. But you loved those clothes so much, it was unfortunate it'd have such a horrible memory to go with it.

Jungkook slowly removes his headset again and removes himself from his game before he heads over and sits on the edge of his bed. You simply look at him, pursing your lips tightly together to prevent yourself from crying.

But he can tell.

"What happened Y/N?" The question triggers you, making you cry into your hands as he sits there, dumbfounded and worried at how he can fix this and make you feel better. "Look, you don't have to tell me all the details but please tell me how I can help. At least tell me if I need to beat Kang's ass." He says, pulling you into his arms.

"He tried to fucking take advantage of me." You mumble as you remove your face from your hands.

"He did what?" He manages to ask even though he has a hard time swallowing the lump that formed in his throat. He already assumed you had placed him in the same category as Kang even though he never intended to take advantage of you. He really took that night as something special [even drunk], and he never meant to make you feel like you were a used object. Not like Kang.

"He-he," You sniffed. "He tried to force me into having sex with him. He took me upstairs at that lacrosse guy's party or whoever the hell it even was, and he started to aggressively kiss me. And then he tried to force my panties down and touch me there, and—"

"Okay, please don't go on or else I'll literally go over there and tear his ass apart right now. I promise you." He says sternly, his jaw clenching tightly. "God, fuck. I'm so sorry Y/N. I can't apologize on his behalf but fuck, you didn't deserve that." He uses his sweater to wipe your tears.

"I don't even know why I'm crying, this shit isn't even worth it." You groaned. "It's just overwhelming to process, I guess."

"That's okay." He says, letting out a sigh as he brushes his hand through your hair and continues to wipe the stragglers falling from your eyes. "Anything I can get you right now?"

"No, I'm probably just gonna go to bed." He nods. "Thank you for picking me up."

"Of course. You know I'll always be there." He says. You slip yourself into his sheets, watching as he makes his way back to his desk. But fuck, the only thing you needed right now was him. You didn't want this distance anymore, and you just wanted to be comforted in true Jungkook fashion.

"Wait."

"Hm?" He hums as he has a hand placed on the  head of his chair while he turns to you.

"Can you just lay with me?"

"Yeah." He says, shutting off his computer before making his way over to you in the dark. You feel him slip in next to you, his arm snaking around your shoulders so he can pull you close and onto his chest. "Better?"

"Yeah." You say, shutting your eyes as you listen to his heart beat.

"Y/N."

"Yeah?"

"I never meant to take advantage of you, or make you feel like I used you that one night." Silence. "It was dumb of me, but I just— I had trouble coming to terms with my feelings. I was scared that you wouldn't feel the same way, but I thought fuck it, at least you would know, right?"

"What are you talking about, Kook?" You ask, close to a whisper.

"I'm saying that I really fucking like you, Y/N. No, that's not right." He curses himself. "I-I uh, I'm in love with you. And I don't know if I messed this up already with the way I acted, god I hope not, but you at least deserve to know that I truly do value you and that you mean alot to me. That night, even though we were pretty plastered, it meant a lot to me. It was more than just sex and I'm sure you felt that too." He waits for your response as his fingers rake through your hair. "Please say something, anything."

"I feel the same way, Jungkook. You're an idiot for running off, but I couldn't even stay mad at you. You just know how to hit my soft spots and I can never say no to it. Can never turn my back on it." He presses a kiss against the top of your head.

"Fuck, I'm really glad to hear that cause I don't know what I would have done besides cry if you rejected me." You playfully hit his chest.

"You're annoying." You jokingly say as you chuckle.

"I'm sorry. I really am. I never wanted to hurt you."

"It's okay." You look up to press your lips against his before laying back down.

"And Kang better be fucking glad you're pressed against my body right now because I'm still looking to beat his ass."

"He's not even worth it." Is the last thing you say before you find yourself drifting into a deep sleep, in the comfort of Jungkook's arms.

"You two feeling okay? Nervous?" You and Jungkook shake your heads. "Good, you guys got this. You've been looking amazing during practice, the audience will love you two, no doubt. Just remember to show emotions through expressions and hit every beat sharply." Hoseok nods in unison with the both of you.

"Got it, thanks Hobi." You smile at him toothlessly. You and Jungkook patiently waited for your turn backstage, the talent show already off to a wild and fun start. So many students came by to showcase their talents - from beatboxing, open mic, freestyling [like Yoongi did], dancing, singing, you name it. It was always a fun time at the talent show, and it was always nice to see people getting love for the shit they loved to do.

"You're up next." Hoseok says. "I'll be in the front row. Kick ass and have fun!" He says as he rushes off towards the opposite end to head back out to his seat in the theater.

"Ready?" Jungkook holds out his hand for you to take.

"I think so." You playfully respond as the backstage crew is rushing out the previous talent and rushing you two in to take your places on stage. The lights pick up as soon as the music starts, Kang's big ass head already in full view for you. He's definitely not smiling, no, he has a look of pure disgust because he simply couldn't get what he wanted from you.

And boy, who's fault was that? Not yours, no sir. It was his fault for thinking he had it like that.

But anyways, you're feeling the music, you're feeling the piece because you're dancing with your bestfriend and there wasn't this grey area anymore. It was easier to get into the motions, to get into the feeling, especially when things felt right between the two of you.

And God, what else is more attractive than Jeon Jungkook hitting his 8 counts so smoothly, with just enough umph to make it pop but make it pop cleanly.

Yo, please. I beg. Send some help. You could literally melt on stage.

The moments where Jungkook has to be close to you, where he has to touch you - you let him, and you touch him with meaning. You don't stray away this time because you have no reason to. The crowd is cheering, lots of 'ou's' and 'aw's' erupting from various places in the theater.

"Pretty lady." Jungkook whispers in your ear as the move requires his hands to be placed on your hips for a quick moment. You hear him slightly singing along to the song as he parts from you, causing you to blush.

Sooner or later, the couple piece is over and the song is transitioning to Jimin's piece, you and Jungkook rushing off the stage so the next group can take their positions. Jimin wanted to test his limits, creating a piece a little different than his usual taste - Chris Brown's Came to Do begins blaring through the theater speakers. You immediately jump into Jungkook's arms once you both reach backstage, the both of you immensely happy and pumped that you got through the piece without messing up one step or beat. It went so smoothly that Hoseok was standing in the front row, clapping and cheering in typical Hoseok fashion. You intertwine your fingers with his, slipping through the side door to catch Jimin's piece on stage. You and Jungkook are cheering them on, always impressed by the shit your friends can come up with. You both loved dancing, but you couldn't even imagine coming up with your own pieces to teach people.

That night after the show, everyone heads to a nearby restaurant for dinner with everyone. You all take up almost an entire section of the restaurant, splitting two long tables to accommodate the entire group with doubled the waitresses to take your orders. You settle for water, splitting an abnormally huge and filled deep dish pizza with Jimin, Kass and Jungkook. It was a good day, a good night, everyone at the table happily eating and chatting it up over dinner. You turn down any drinks because to be honest, drinks lowkey make you queasy just from the thought of how much you drank at Jungkook's apartment, plus the added bonus of that party Kang took you to. Jungkook declines as well, knowing he has to drive you back safely.

Jimin and Kass head back to the apartment because Yoongi says he's gonna hang out with Joon And Hoseok for a bit, and they warn you and Jungkook that things may get loud so the both of you decide to really stick to the plan of bringing you back to the dorm. Jungkook does his usual routine of dropping you off first before finding parking around campus. You hop in the shower and come out in Jungkook's oversized crewneck that he left in your closet, forgoing the shorts because you certainly thing that at this point, he'd love to see you in his sweater and panties.

And he does. He smiles as he pulls you close, his hands traveling up your sweater, only to find out that you literally don't have shit on besides some cute little boyshorts. He feels himself hardening in his pants quick because he's incredibly attracted to you and everything about you, always has been, always will be.

"You did amazing tonight." He says, gently kissing your forehead.

"You did too, partner." He gives you a slightly shocked look.

"Is that all I am to you? Your dance partner?"

"Yeah, why? Were you expecting more?" You joke as you smile up at him.

"Yeah, I was."

"Oh?" He gently swoops you up into his arms, your legs wrapped tightly around his torso as he sits you on the bed, his hands resting on your thighs while you continued to hold him around the neck. "Care to tell me what you were expecting?"

"Well, you know, my best friend—" He presses a kiss against your lips, thumbs gently rubbing circles against your hips. "My girlfriend."

"Hm, say that again?" Your fingers are gently playing with the ends of his hair, your lips barely grazing his.

"My girlfriend." He says closed to a whisper, kissing you softly. The kiss deepens quick, Jungkook's tongue lining your bottom lip as his way of asking for permission to take it further. You gladly take it and let him in, your tongues instantly fighting for dominance. Your fingers travel up his hair, tugging ever so slightly just to let him know you want more. That you need more.

And he gets that.

His fingers hook onto the band of your boyshorts, tugging them down and letting them fall down your legs and onto the floor. He breaks the kiss momentarily, his brown, puppy dog eyes looking straight into yours.

"Hey." He says, brushing the hair out of your face.

"Hm?"

"I know I said the last time was special, and it was. It is." He corrects himself. "But, I wanna do right by you this time around. So, is it okay if I keep going? Are you comfortable?" He asks properly, since the two of you are both sober and perfectly coherent, aware of your surroundings and the fact that you'll be seeing each other fully naked in a few minutes.

"Yes." You respond. "Yes, I want you to keep going. I want you. This." He simply nods, bringing his lips back onto yours. His hands climb up your sweater and gently gives your breasts a good squeeze, earning a small moan from the both of you. His other hand begins to travel down to your pussy, two long fingers slowly probing your entrance and causing your breathing to hitch.

"You okay?" He asks lowly. You nod, biting onto your bottom lip as you tilt your head back and rest on your hands, no longer able to keep up with the kiss due to all the pleasure starting to pile up deep in your core. Jungkook starts of slow, his head now buried into the crook of your neck as he works his digits upward, tickling at the right spot.

"Ohhhh, Kook." You mewl as his tongue swipes across the surface of your neck, biting gently beneath your jaw. He begins to pick up the pace, the sounds of him finger fucking you filling up the room entirely.

"Fuck, you're so wet baby." He groans into your neck.

"I'm gonna cum." You whine, teeth almost piercing through your bottom lip in between your whimpers.

"Need to taste you." He removes his fingers and sinks down in between your thighs, gripping onto them and pulling you just a teensy bit more off the edge of the bed so he can get a good angle. The sight of his eyes looking up at you in between your legs is to die for, and the sight alone is enough to make you cum. But, you hold on, you ride out for a little longer - feeling Jungkook's tongue swipe in and out of your folds before he's sucking endlessly on your clit.

"Ahhh, fuck, wait, Jungkook!" He slightly smiles while eating you out, signaling that he's not stopping even if you beg him to. "Hnnng—shit!" You moan loudly as you feel yourself toppling over the edge, your body shaking in Jungkook's grip. You twitch every time he continues to suck gently on your sensitive nub, letting you ride out the rest of your high. He comes back up to your lips, the taste of your own cum lingering on it as you kiss him deeply.

"You taste so good." He says, back to twirling your nipples in between his fingers.

"Wanna feel you." You fiddle with his jeans, undoing his belt and sliding the rest down as much as you could. Jungkook gets out of his shirt and tosses it aside before helping get the sweater above your head. His eyes glow at the sight of your bare body in front of him, wanting to do nothing but please you and please you well.

"God, you're so perfect." He places kisses down your collarbone, to the surface of your breasts before quickly swirling his tongue around your perked buds. You moan as you tug down onto his boxer briefs, immediately stroking his hardened member while he tended to you. Jungkook was a fucking beauty himself - his soft hair, his perfectly toned body, his long 'thick in all the right places' dick.

"Please." You plead. "I want you inside of me." You whimper, causing Jungkook's breathing to hitch when you slightly tighten your grip at the base of his shaft. He gently pushes your hand aside to take over, lining himself up at your entrance. He inserts the tip, watching your eyes roll to the back of the head as he slowly sinks into you.

"Mmmmmgod." He moans. "So tight for me, baby. So fucking wet and tight." He repeats, close to a growl. Your moaning begins to pick up, matching the pace of his thrusting. You're still on the edge of the bed, Jungkook keeping you steady by gripping your thighs tightly. He marvels at the sight of your titties bouncing up and down with every thrust, hissing and shutting his eyes momentarily to keep himself grounded and to prevent himself from coming too quickly. Cause god, he can literally blow any second now.

"Jungggggkooook, yessssss!" You moan loudly, whining even at this point with how good he feels fucking into you at such a fast pace. You're feeling slightly sore already from him hammering into you, but nonetheless, it builds more pleasure for you and you want nothing but to reach your high again. "I-I'm coming!" Jungkook moans in unison with you when he feels your walls pulsating against his cock.

"Such a good girl for me." He says, slowing his pace. The creamy sounds of Jungkook's cock slipping inside and out is music to the both of your ears. He finally gains the courage to remove himself, sitting next to your spot on the edge of the bed and pulling you onto his lap. You swing a leg over, your hands resting on the nape of his neck while you sink yourself lower onto his length. Your mouth opens to let out a moan, but the best you can do is let out a hiss. It feels too fucking good that you can't even process it thoroughly. Jungkook pushes your lips down onto his by grabbing your neck, his other hand guiding the movement of your hips as you roll into him.

"Mmmggg—Jungkook." You whimper in between kisses. "You feel so fucking good, god. You're gonna make me cum again."

"Yeah, cum for me. Cum all over me. It's yours." He grunts, his hands guiding you to work him faster. Your movements are getting sloppier, and you feel your wetness starting to coat his pelvis. He doesn't give a fuck though, and neither do you. This shit feels too good for you to worry about the mess you're making on him.

"Cum with me please." He moans at the sound of you whispering into his ear.

"Faster, baby." He says, almost making you cry at how awfully close you are to unraveling. You tug onto his hair, your head buried deep into his neck as you try and suck onto the surface, trying to find an outlet, some kind of release, until you let go. You suck harshly as you coat his cock with your cum, leaving a purple mark right at the base of his neck. You continue to ride out your high, rolling your hips sloppily as Jungkook finally lets himself go, his moan bouncing off of your walls as his seed fills you up warmly.

You stay in your position, slowly raising your head to cup his cheeks and kiss him deeply once more.

"Fuck, I love you." He says slightly pulling away.

"I love you too." You giggle.

"Didn't actually need any drinks to do this now, did we?" Jungkook jokes, softly pinching your hip.

"Shut up."

"Damn, you both couldn't even at least try to be quiet?!" Jimin yells from outside the door.

[augustmoon259]

"Unholy Blood" Pureblood!Fem!Vampire Reader x Hayan Park

Ten years ago, people who could transform into vampires began to appear in Korea. Ever since then, these morphing vampires have been slaughtering people while hiding their true identities. But there's something that people don't know. A secret, that if it got out, would change the world and the way that people saw vampires forever.

Pureblood vampires. Vampires who are stronger, faster, and more powerful in every way. How do I know about them? Because I am a pureblood vampire.

o - o - o - o - o

My parents were both pureblood vampires. They used to live in Korea, before they had me. They decided to move to the US and settle down in a small town.

My life was a peaceful one. Sure, it was hard trying to hide my identity as a vampire, but it wasn't that bad. I was homeschooled, up until I was ready to go off to college.

College was a new experience for me. I had fun making new friends, taking classes taught by different teachers, and being in a new environment. I went home to visit my parents during breaks.

I wish I had gotten to say goodbye to them, if I knew that I'd never be able to see them again.

o - o - o - o - o

It was winter break. I was excited to see my parents again and spend time with them during the holidays. I had plans for movies we could watch together, games we could play, and more.

The bus stopped in my neighborhood, and I got off, still brimming with anticipation. That is, until I saw the smoke.

The smoke was coming from the direction of my family's home. I ran there as fast as I could. When I got there, I saw the firefighters putting out the last of the flames.

Our house was a complete wreck. I frantically rushed past the onlookers and firefighters to dig through the rubble, and search for my parents. I was dragged away, still screaming and sobbing.

Later, the police told me about what had happened. It was reported that two explosions were heard from our house, and then a fire started not long after. The firefighters were dispatched, but it still took a while for them to get from the station to our house. They found my parents' bodies, unrecognizable as they were.

The explosions were written off as gas leaks, since our house was an old one. This may have been a reasonable explanation to anyone else, but not me. I knew better.

We were pureblood vampires.

Any regular vampire that manages to consume the heart of a pureblood vampire would become a pureblood vampire themself. We knew this, but we thought we were safe here in the US, when vampires began to appear in Korea ten years ago.

My parents must have sacrificed themselves to destroy their hearts, along with their attackers.

Our mailbox still had some mail in it. Bills to pay, letters for my parents, and letters for me as well. I expected this. What I was not expecting was the note left in the mailbox, addressed to me.

If you want revenge for your parents' deaths, come to Korea.

I crushed the note in my hand.

Whoever came after my parents didn't succeed, but it cost my parents their lives. Now they're after me. They know I exist.

Fine. If they think I'll be easy prey, I'll prove them wrong.

o - o - o - o - o

Living in Korea was different from living in the States.

I had applied to study abroad, and the university I applied for was Hanguk University. I managed to rent an apartment at a decent price in a modest neighborhood. I heard that there was a nice church in the area, run by a priest who also takes care of orphans from the nearby orphanage.

It was hard enough adjusting to life in another country, never mind one where bloodthirsty monsters come out at night. Lucky for me, I had the distinct advantage of being one of those "monsters".

Admittedly, not only did I feel guilty for not being able to prevent my parents' deaths, I realized what a privileged life I had been living. All my life, just on the other side of the world, there were innocent people being terrorized by vampires.

But now I'm here, and I have the power to do something about it.

I'd find whoever was responsible for my parents' murders, and I'll rid the world of vampires, one bastard at a time.

Between going out at night to kill vampires, and scrounging up information about their secret hierarchy and criminal underworld, I was also busy with my normal, "human" life.

I attended the orientation for my new university.

Yet it wasn't at the orientation that I'd meet the woman who'd change my life.

o - o - o - o - o

The first day of school was always the same: new students rushing to find their classes, old students saying hi to their friends, and teachers making note of who to look out for that year.

I greeted a few people I had met at the orientation, but there was one girl who was going around greeting...everyone. She was quite pretty, with dark brown hair and eyes.

She was so enthusiastic, bowing her head at every person she came across, that I couldn't help but smile.

With her friendly demeanor, I was sure she'd already have made plenty of friends, but I noticed later that she had no one to sit at lunch with. I myself was sitting alone, but that was of my own volition. I debated whether or not to go to her table and sit with her, but I opted not to, in the end.

Over the next few days, I kept seeing her around. She still greeted everyone cheerfully, and had earned the nickname "Miss Popular" around campus. I found it very fitting for her.

Things continued on like this. Her, greeting everyone with enthusiasm but sitting alone. Me, silently watching her.

I decided that I had done enough observing, and that it was time to formally meet her.

Bringing my lunch with me over to her table, I sat across from her. She had started eating her lunch by then, so when I unexpectedly arrived at her table, she choked on her food.

"Hey! Hey, are you okay?!"

I got up from my seat, prepared to do the Heimlich maneuver if necessary, but she waved a hand to stop me, and grabbed a nearby water bottle with the other hand to drink. She beat her chest a few times until she was no longer gasping, and I sat down when I confirmed that she was fine. Other people who had noticed the incident went back to eating their lunches.

We sat there, awkwardly gazing at each other, until she groaned and covered her face with her hands in embarrassment.

"Nice going Hayan...first person who decides to sit with you at lunch, and you make a fool of yourself..."

"Oh no, that was my fault! I'm sorry for surprising you like that...so, uh, your name is Hayan?"

Hayan took one hand off her face, before slowly removing her remaining hand.

"Yes, my name is Hayan...Park Hayan."

I introduced myself, and then we...shook hands. I decided to start a new topic of conversation, before Hayan had an existential crisis.

"Hayan...is it alright if I call you Hayan?"

She nodded her head affirmatively before waiting for what else I had to say.

"I hope this isn't out of line for me to say, but I've sort of been watching you for a while now. I notice that you always say hi to everyone, but you're still sitting alone at lunch? Um, Hayan, do you have friends?"

Hayan looked taken aback for a moment, before hanging her head in shame.

"It's...it's complicated? I've been trying to make friends, and since I didn't attend the orientation, I thought saying hi to everyone would be a surefire way to meet new people, but I haven't had much luck..."

"You didn't attend the orientation? So that's why I didn't recognize you. Hayan, if you're trying to make new friends, would you...like to be friends?"

"Seriously?! I mean, how could I reject?!"

Hayan enthusiastically slammed her hands on the table and jumped up, before sheepishly sitting back down when she noticed people's curious glances.

"Yes! Let's be friends!"

I talked with Hayan until lunch was over, and it turned out that we had a lot in common. Neither Hayan nor I were able to finish our lunches, busy as we were with chatting with each other. We decided to exchange phone numbers to keep in touch with each other.

After that, I wasn't occupied with just school and my nighttime activities. I hung out with Hayan outside of school. We went to cafes and coffee shops to get drinks and spend more time with each other.

She and I were the same age: twenty. When I applied to Hanguk University, I had to apply as a freshman, since not all of my credits from my previous college transferred over.

Hayan was looking forward to a get together that some seniors had organized at a pub. Students from every year would be there, and she hoped to meet other freshman besides me. I wasn't one for drinking, since vampires couldn't get drunk anyway, but I decided to go for Hayan's sake.

Gatherings of college students tend to go south pretty quickly, but it was what happened after that was a disaster.

o - o - o - o - o

The pub was crowded, noisy, and filled with the laughter and shouting of overexcited young adults.

I sat down at a random table with Hayan. When we sat down, I heard someone suggest a drinking game to lighten the mood. Next thing I knew, we were all pointing fingers at each other, and Hayan was the unfortunate person chosen to drink.

Two hours and several more drinking games later, Hayan was still unsuccessful at making another friend. I was surprised to note that Hayan was not a lightweight at all. She had drunk nearly twenty bottles of soju by herself! And If I was being honest with myself, I thought that made her even more amazing than she already was.

"Hayan, do you want to go home now?"

"Ah, yeah, I guess so...It seems my latest plan to make friends failed..."

In my head, I could see the comical tears of defeat in her eyes.

Hayan got up and grabbed her bag, but before we left the pub, a senior announced one last drinking competition. It was between a heavyset senior named Jang and anyone who dared to challenge him. If no one won, the freshman had to show off a talent during our start of year trip.

I knew what was coming before anyone else. I decided to take bets, and when the drinking match was over, I made a nice one hundred thousand won from people who had bet Hayan would lose.

Actually, calling it a "match" would be wrong. It was so one-sided, I almost felt bad for Jang.

Hayan finally got her wish granted. I saw two freshman asking Hayan for her number to join their study group. As I looked at Hayan's giddy face, and the admiring expressions of everyone else around us, I felt happy for Hayan.

Just when Hayan was making a toast to her victory, the sirens went off.

The joy of everyone around us immediately died out, to be replaced with worry and fear instead.

People scrambled to gather their belongings and leave the pub, and I hurried over to Hayan's side.

"Come on, Hayan. We'd better go. The sirens mean that vampires will be out soon..."

"Right! Um, let's go!"

We left the pub, prepared to follow everyone else in order to catch the last bus.

"Hayan! Let me walk you home!"

Before I knew what was happening, there was a random guy standing in front of Hayan. He completely ignored me. If that wasn't enough to piss me off, his condescending smirk and the arrogant way he held himself did. Let me guess, this guy's one of those idiots who try to act macho in front of girls to impress them.

"Um, no thank you. I already have a friend I'm walking home with..."

"A friend? Sure you do. Come on, what are you so afraid of? Me?"

"Hey buster, back off. She already said she's got someone to walk home with!"

I shoved him away. As he recovered from my unexpected interference, he quickly masked his anger with the same infuriating smirk. He gave me a once over, before his smirk widened.

"So this must be the friend you mentioned. Well, I can always walk you both home."

Great. Just great. Not only is he wasting our precious time, he's hitting on Hayan and me.

"Tch. Fine. Clearly you're invested in walking with us, for some unfathomable reason, so I'll deign to let you join us, but only if I'm between you and Hayan."

He seemed to be more interested in Hayan than me, so I thought putting myself between her and him would get him to stop talking. Instead, he kept blabbering on about how vampires are no big deal, and there's nothing to worry about.

He's extremely lucky that we finally made it to the bus stop. Otherwise, I might have punched him.

There were some people running to get on the bus before it left. The annoying guy was still flirting with Hayan, but my attention was diverted when I heard a crash. The three of us turned our heads toward the source of the noise.

It was a man who had been thrown on the ground. The other man standing above him was obviously a gangster, a loan shark out to collect his debt. My intuition told me something bad was going to happen, and not because of the loan shark.

Sometimes, I hate being right.

It happened faster than the human eye could see, but I could discern perfectly with my vision. The man on the ground thrust his arm straight through the loan shark's chest.

As he stood up and shoved the now dead body off himself, the vampire walked closer step by step to Hayan and I. The annoying senior had long run away. He really was just a coward in the end. I would deal with him tomorrow. Right now, I had bigger things to worry about.

Normally, I'd just transform and then kill this no-name vampire, but I had to worry about Hayan. She was digging through her bag, looking for something. If only the bus was still around. Then Hayan could have run away and escaped.

I made a split second decision.

"Hayan. Listen to me. Run away as far as you can and don't look back."

"What? But, what about you? I can't leave you here alone!"

"Damn it Hayan, please just run away!"

"And where do you think you're going, bitch?!"

The vampire lunged towards Hayan and grabbed her hair. Before he could bite her, I transformed and slammed him to the ground. I smashed his head in, and watched as his body scattered into dust.

With the immediate threat out of the way, I checked on Hayan. She had fallen on the ground when the vampire let go of her hair. I helped her as she stood up weakly. Hayan blinked, as she alternated between looking at the crater where the vampire used to be, and me. I spread my arms out to either side, and gazed steadily back at her.

"This is me. This is who I really am. I'm a vampire, a monster that people want dead. Hayan...do you hate me too?"

I waited with bated breath for her answer. The truth is, I could erase her memories. Make it so she never remembered what happened this night. But I didn't want to.

Ever since my parents died, I had no one else who knew the truth of who I really was. I was good at pretending. I've been doing it my whole life. But I needed just one person I didn't have to pretend with, and I hoped that person could be Hayan.

Hayan studied my white hair and blue eyes. She looked pensive.

"No...no I don't hate you. Because you're my friend."

She hugged me, and if I noticed that her hold was tighter than normal, I didn't mention it.

"Hayan...thank you."

I hugged her back.

We remained like that for a while, until I offered to take her home.

"Wait, you want to...you want to carry me?! In-in your arms?!"

"Well, yes. I could also give you a piggyback ride, but since I'll be running and jumping on rooftops, this should be more comfortable for you."

"O-okay."

Putting one arm under Hayan's legs, and the other supporting her back, I made sure Hayan was securely in my hold when I leapt from the ground. Hayan kept her eyes closed the entire time, until I landed with a thump in front of the church.

"Good night, Hayan."

I smiled softly and gave Hayan a small wave, before hurrying home.

o - o - o - o - o

Hayan and I grew closer after that night.

Since I no longer had to pretend I was human around her, I invited her over to my apartment, and vice versa. She introduced me to her "father" and her "siblings".

"It's nice to meet you sir. I mean, Father Michael. Um, Father-Michael-sir?"

As it turns out, Hayan was an orphan. I knew she lived in the same neighborhood as me, but not at the orphanage next to the church that I heard about when I first rented my apartment. The neighborhood ladies were always giggling about Father Michael, but he was more intimidating in person, even to a pureblood vampire like me.

"At ease. You're the friend Hayan has been talking about?"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

Hayan was fighting back laughter behind me, while I kept on sweating nervously.

"It's good she has a friend like you."

"Thank you, Father!"

I barely held back a sigh of relief that I seemed to make a good impression on Hayan's adoptive father. It was time to meet the younger siblings now.

"Woah! This is all for us?!"

Hayan's adoptive siblings, Yerim and Yunsu, bounced around eagerly when they saw I had brought bread for them. Hayan told me her siblings really loved bread, especially sticky rice bread. I had bought a couple for them from the school dining hall, and then went to a bakery to buy some more bread (mochi, sesame, tapioca, etc.) Since I couldn't eat any of it myself, I bought what was recommended to me by the baker, and hoped for the best.

"Hayan! You need to bring your friend by more often!"

"You are my new favorite person!"

"I thought I was your favorite person?!"

I chuckled as Hayan chased her siblings around in order to catch them and tickle them.

Hayan has such a lovely family. It's no wonder she's also a lovely person.

o - o - o - o - o

It was a normal evening at the university. I had stayed behind at school to work on homework and assignments with some classmates.

The student body was abuzz today with new gossip about the "super senior". He was the senior who had entered college nine years ago, and still had yet to graduate. This was none of my business. What was my business was that he was rude and a bully. In fact, just that afternoon, he had bumped into Hayan and insulted her instead of apologizing. If I saw him, I'd give him a piece of my mind, regardless if his family was well off or not.

After finishing our assignments, I accompanied my classmates on their way to get the last shuttle bus. To my displeasure, we had the misfortune of running into the aforementioned "super senior" Byungsu.

My classmates greeted him, but when he gave them no reply, they said goodbye to me and ran off to catch the bus.

I noticed that he seemed to be in a daze. Hayan did tell me that it seemed like he was sick, and looking at him now, I could tell that she was speaking the truth. Regardless of any beef I had with him, if he was feeling unwell, he should go see a doctor.

"Hey, Byungsu. Do you need to go to the hospital?"

He didn't answer, instead just glaring at me, and clenching his fists. Whatever was going through his mind at that moment was not pleasant. I wanted to ask him more questions, but we were interrupted by a man on the phone.

It was Professor Donggyu Park. He was not one of my professors, but Hayan said he's one of her favorites. He's very dedicated to his job, has memorized all of his students' names, and even speaks to students on days he doesn't teach. It looked like he was in a hurry to get home, judging by how he greeted us quickly and then got into his car.

I was too late to stop what happened next.

Byungsu threw Professor Park's car into the air. It flipped over and landed on its top with a crash. I dashed toward the car to check on Professor Park. He was bleeding from his head and unconscious, but he was still alive.

I was the one who was clenching my fists this time. Well, I had the perfect target to vent my anger out on.

This side of the school was deserted at this time of the night, and the security cameras were down for maintenance today. With no one watching me, I could kill Byungsu.

He was heading this way, no doubt to murder the professor.

I opened the car door, gently took Professor Park out, and placed him on the ground. Then I transformed.

"What the fuck, you're a vampire too?"

"Shut up. You won't be alive for long anyway."

My hand was enveloped in blue flames as I disappeared and then reappeared in front of Byungsu. I grabbed his face, and watched as it melted away. The fire burned everything and left nothing behind, not even ashes.

After de-transforming, I performed first aid on Professor Park and called 119.

When the ambulance arrived, I was questioned by police officers about what had happened. I told them the fake story I made up: I was with some classmates on their way to catch the last bus home, and then we ran into Byungsu. I went back inside the university to get something I had forgotten. When I came back outside, I saw Professor Park's car turned over and him inside unconscious.

I was held in questioning until the police contacted my classmates to confirm I was with them. Professor Park woke up after receiving emergency medical attention, and told the police he had also seen Byungsu. That, coupled with the sudden emergence of footage showing Byungsu had caused a traffic accident and killed the victims, all but cemented the fact that Byungsu the vampire had attacked Professor Park.

Byungsu was put on the national wanted list, and around campus people started calling me "The Lifesaver".

o - o - o - o - o

To recap, since school started, I became friends with Hayan, saved her from a vampire by revealing my secret, met Father Michael and Hayan's younger siblings, and also saved another person from a vampire attack.

My life in Korea had been extremely eventful, and it only became more so with the introduction of Detective Euntae Hwang.

It was another day at the university, and there were students outside of the school protesting the recent vampire attacks. I was irritated, but I could also understand where they were coming from. Recent examples like Byungsu had shown that it was all too easy for vampires to hide on campus.

I was with Hayan, and the two other freshman she had met at the pub.

"Excuse me, are you Hayan Park?"

We all turned around to see a handsome red haired man. I looked at Hayan, and from her reaction, she recognized him.

"Hayan," I whispered to her, "you know this man?"

"Yes," she whispered back, "he saved me and my siblings from gangsters this one time."

Well, if he helped Hayan, he could be a good person, but he could also be faking it...

"Oh, and you must be the other person I'm looking for!"

I pointed at myself in surprise. "Me?"

"Yes, you! Let me introduce myself..."

He smiled, before proceeding to tell us all how about how he graduated from the police academy at the top of his class...and how he was made captain of the criminal investigations unit...and how he was the superstar of the vampire task force....and...

I sighed and facepalmed.

"We get it, you're a detective. Please, we don't need to hear your entire life story..."

"Oh, silly me! I chattered on for too long, huh?"

Hayan's friends said goodbye before leaving us with the detective, blushes still present on their faces. As Hayan and I walked to the dining hall with the detective to continue our conversation with him, I noticed a lot of attention on us. Or rather, the detective.

By the time we got to our destination, Hayan and I had begrudgingly learned more about him.

He wasn't kidding when he said he was an expert about vampires. He had even invented a method to kill vampires: paralyzing them and then burning them alive in a furnace. To create such a brutal method, this man...he was dangerous.

I was on my guard while waiting for what else he had to say. He had ordered an entire table's worth of food, while I ordered drinks for Hayan and I. He insisted on buying food for us as well, but I rejected him quite firmly.

The detective, Euntae Hwang as he called himself, asked us about the vampire who had killed the loan shark. Apparently, that was what Detective Hwang was investigating. The police were trying to figure out how the vampire died, and if it was related to the recent case of Byungsu...

I could tell that Hayan was nervous around the detective. He must be bringing up bad memories of the vampire attack.

Detective Hwang didn't let up in his interrogation though. If anything, he got more extreme. Did he suspect Hayan and I were vampires? Well, that wouldn't do. I pondered how to get out of this mess, when something unexpected happened.

The detective cut his hand with the knife he was using for his food.

It was quite a deep cut, and the blood flowed steadily from the wound.

"Ouch! I cut myself! I guess my fingers were too tense..."

Was he that desperate to reveal us as vampires? I'm glad I had the foresight to order a drink, so that I had something else to focus on instead of the blood. But it made me upset that Hayan seemed to look even more uncomfortable now.

"Detective, why don't you go to the nurse's office and get a bandage for that cut?"

"Are you sure? I can always get a bandage at the police station..."

"No, no, you should definitely go and get that checked out. The sooner the better."

"Alright then. I suppose this is goodbye for now."

'For now?' I hope that's 'forever' instead. The detective left after packing up the rest of his food, and I wanted Hayan and I to go home as quickly as possible, but Hayan insisted on buying some sticky rice bread for her siblings. I was going to object, but caved after Hayan gave me her best pair of puppy dog eyes.

The line for the baked goods was long today. We waited for a while, until we finally bought the bread and left the dining hall. But, we ran into the detective on our way out.

"Hey, we meet again!"

I facepalmed, for a different reason this time.

"Yayyyy...so glad we keep running into each other."

If he noticed my sarcasm, the detective didn't comment on it.

"Well, we'd love to stay and chat more, but Hayan has to go home and take care of her very sick siblings..."

"Huh? But my siblings aren't -"

"Yep! Very sick! Oh the poor little ones!"

I grabbed Hayan's hand and we speed walked away from the detective...

....

....

"It's time for us to takes matters into our own hands! Let's prove that we're not vampires!"

Damn it.

The protestors from earlier were now cutting people in order to prove that they weren't vampires. It was chaos all around us. Some students were willing, but most thought that the student council protestors were taking it too far. I thought about going back inside and waiting for the chaos to die down. There had to be teachers who would stop this madness, right?

I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked back to see it was Detective Hwang.

He leaned down to whisper to Hayan and I, "Just start walking." So we did exactly that, until we were stopped.

The student council members were blocking our path.

"Have you done the test to prove you're not a vampire?"

They weren't backing down. Hayan raised a complaint, but that only seemed to make them angrier. One of them grabbed Hayan's wrist, and I prepared to brush it off, but when he pulled back Hayan's sleeve, we all saw the bandage on her arm.

It was still wet with blood.

But whose? Is it...the detective's? From when he cut his hand earlier with the knife? When and how did he get the bandage onto Hayan's arm?

"You see? We already did it. Do you need more proof?"

Detective Hwang was calm and collected as he slid Hayan's sleeve back down. That should have been the end of the matter, but a new obstacle stood in our way: the student council leader.

"She could have gotten that bandage anywhere. I wasn't able to see her do the test, so I need her to do it again."

This was getting ridiculous.

The student council leader made a go at grabbing Hayan's arm again, but Detective Hwang caught him midair.

"It's a crime to go around using a blade on people against their will. Unless you want to be charged, I suggest stopping."

He flashed his police ID at the student council members, which was finally enough to get them to leave us alone. The three of us were able to get away from campus unimpeded.

I was reluctantly grateful for the detective. Hayan and I could have waited inside the university, but then the council members would have kept accosting other students outside. With the threat of police intervention, they'd be unlikely to continue.

"Thank you...Detective Hwang."

"Oh please, call me Captain."

"...Captain Hwang."

He added his number to Hayan and I's contacts, before the three of us parted ways.

o - o - o - o - o

I had gotten a text from Hayan.

I...I need you. Please...please come. I'm sitting in front of the pizza restaurant...

I knew exactly where Hayan was referring to. I grabbed my umbrella and my rain jacket, before quickly heading out to find Hayan. I had no idea why she'd send me such a strange text, but whatever the reason, it sounded urgent.

The rain was pouring, and Hayan was absolutely soaked.

"Hayan! You're going to get sick like that!"

I gave Hayan my umbrella to hold, while I went into the nearest store to buy a towel for Hayan. I came back out and gave her the towel to dry off while still holding onto the umbrella. After she finished drying off, Hayan looked...dejected.

"Can you tell me now why you called me out here?"

Hayan kept her head lowered as she explained what happened to her.

"Father Michael...he...he and I got into a fight."

"You got into a fight...? About what?"

"He...he's not letting me go to school anymore."

"What?!"

I was flabbergasted. Then, my astonishment turned into indignation.

"He...he can't do that! You haven't even finished the semester yet!"

"I know...I tried arguing against it, but he...he's made up his mind."

"Hayan..."

I was still aggravated on Hayan's behalf, but seeing her appear so defeated dampened my mood.

"Maybe you need to spend some time away from Father Michael...that could do both you and him good."

"But...where would I stay?"

"Don't be siily! You can stay with me!"

"Really...? You'd do that for me?"

"Of course!"

I gave Hayan a hug. She was no longer frowning, but grinning in relief instead.

Hayan stayed over at my apartment that night. She went home briefly to get her things and her scooter, and to tell Father Michael she was staying over at my place. That made him more upset, but Hayan didn't care. She was still mad at him.

My apartment was relatively small, so I didn't have a guest room for Hayan to stay in. She told me it was okay, and decided to sleep on my couch instead. I was embarrassed I couldn't get Hayan a more comfortable place to sleep.

The next day, Hayan and I decided to go on a walk in the neighborhood to cool off. It was raining again, and we saw a bunch of people gathered around the street gutters. They were panicking, and when we peeked inside the gutter to see the source of all the commotion, we saw a cat close to drowning.

I wanted to help the cat, but I didn't want to reveal my alter ego. Then, I came up with a brilliant idea.

"Attention, please! Does everyone here know what tug of war is? Yes? We can do something similar! Everyone here line up behind me, and hold on to the person in front of you! Then, pull with all your might!"

They did as I instructed, and with the help of my vampire strength, we were able to pull the lid off of the gutter and save the cat. Someone had called 119 beforehand, but since we all saved the cat, there was nothing left to do but get our picture taken in the newspaper. Hayan and I were one of the people who received the "Good Samaritan Award".

Hayan wanted to go home and tell Father Michael about how we saved the cat. I didn't think it was a good idea, but I conceded in the end. Surely Father Michael couldn't be mad about saving an innocent animal's life?

I was disappointed to find that I was wrong. Hayan came to me in tears. She had another argument with Father Michael. So another night passed where Hayan stayed over with me.

Father Michael called Hayan the next morning to tell her that he, Yerim, and Yunsu moved to another neighborhood. He sounded apologetic about the day before. He told Hayan that he moved her stuff to their new home, and if she'd like to come over to see it.

"Go ahead, I don't mind. You should check up on your siblings too."

I gave Hayan a thumbs up, and encouraged her to go. I'd still be there for her when she needed me. Hayan gratefully thanked me, and went over to check up on her siblings, and Father Michael. She called me later, in better spirits.

"I patched things up with Father Michael. It's still kind of rough, but we're making progress."

"Hayan, that's great news! Why don't you stay over tonight then?"

"Okay...."

Hayan stayed with Father Michael, Yerim, and Yunsu for the rest of the week, while I was busy with school. I had mostly accepted the fact that Hayan wouldn't be going to college anymore, but at least we could still hang out together outside of it.

o - o - o - o - o

I got a request from Hayan to come and watch over her siblings for her, while she went out.

"Thank you so much for coming over! Yerim and Yunsu are in bed, but if they wake up and need anything, I feel much better knowing you're there with them."

"It's no problem at all! But just out of curiosity, what do you need to go out for?"

"Father Michael still hasn't come home, even though it's already night time. He's never been this late before..."

"Oh, I see. You'll be going to the church then?"

"Yep!"

"Okay, I'll see you when you get back!"

I expected Hayan to come back with Father Michael, after dealing with whatever was keeping him busy at the church.

But instead, Hayan came back with a police officer and a coroner.

"Unnie, what's going on?"

Yerim and Yunsu were rubbing the sleep from their eyes after they had been woken up by Hayan.

"As Ms. Park requested, the three of you present, sans Ms. Park's friend, are the next of kin of Father Michael. It is with a heavy heart and our deepest condolences that we announce the passing of Myeongsu Choi on this night. We are sorry for your loss, and offer you all our deepest sympathies."

After the coroner announced the death of Father Michael, the police officer and the coroner left to allow Hayan and her siblings to grieve. Yerim and Yunsu were quiet, before tears started falling from their eyes.

"U-unnie, what did they mean? F-father Michael is dead?"

"Yerim....Yunsu..."

Since Hayan arrived earlier, she had tried keeping up a strong front for her siblings. But as she embraced them in her arms, I saw her shoulders trembling. I enveloped Hayan in my arms as the four of us stood there, the quiet of the apartment interspersed with the sniffles and sobs of Hayan and her siblings.

Three days later, Father Michael's funeral was held. Captain Hwang came, along with everyone in the neighborhood, to pay their respects to Father Michael.

I stayed with Hayan and her siblings the days after the funeral. Hayan and her siblings had to prepare to move out, because of the death of their adoptive father. I helped them pack their things back at the apartment, while Hayan visited the rectory to get Father Michael's belongings.

She later told me about the letters Father Michael had written to her.

"He wrote all those letters...for me....he wanted to give them to me, but never found the chance to..."

'And now he never would', was left unsaid.

"I found this too...a business card from the Red Bomb Club."

"Red Bomb Club?!"

That was a club I had found out about during my nighttime excursions. Vampires frequented the club, and even worse, they lured unsuspecting humans in to become their prey, by posing as a safe haven.

"Why did Father Michael have a business card?"

"I don't know, but I overheard police officers at the funeral say a bunch of them had been stuck in Father's pockets."

"Could this be related? You don't think...they killed Father Michael?"

"Not just think...I know they did."

Hayan looked absolutely enraged.

"What will you do now?"

"I want to get revenge. But there's something I have to tell you first...at the church tonight."

o - o - o - o - o

Hayan and I snuck away to the church after making sure Yerim and Yunsu were safe and sound.

The roof and the walls of the church had burned away, leaving gaping holes for the moonlight to stream in.

"Okay, we're at the church. What did you want to talk about?"

"Remember that day you saved me from a vampire? You were truthful with me then, so I want to be truthful with you now."

"Truth? What truth?"

"I'm...also a pureblood vampire."

Before my very eyes, Hayan pulled her hair free from her ponytail, and I watched as it lost its color. Her eyes that I loved so much turned blue, like my own eyes when I transformed.

"This...this is...."

"I'm sorry for not telling you sooner, especially when you told me first..."

"....Amazing!"

"Huh? You're not betrayed? Upset I kept this from you?"

"Why would I be upset, dummy? You're the first pureblood I've ever met aside from my parents."

"Your parents? You never talk about them..."

"That's because..." I hesitated before forcing out the words. "...they died."

"Oh...would it be alright if I asked how?"

"They died in a fire after sacrificing themselves."

"Just like Father Michael..."

Hayan and I contemplated our losses, and the tragedies that led us to where we were at present.

"Is it okay now if I asked about your life? How did you end up with Father Michael?"

"Father Michael...took me in when I was ten. I had no one and nowhere left to go. I hated myself so much that...I even tried to turn myself in for being a vampire."

"And Father Michael stopped you?"

"Yes...Father Michael became a second dad for me."

"What happened to your birth parents?"

"I can't remember. My memories of before I met Father...are unclear."

"Well, I'll help you get your memories back! After you get revenge on Father Michael's killer."

"Thank you...thank you so much..."

Hayan hugged me tightly, just like the day I saved her from the vampire.

After she and I let go of each other, I took Hayan's hands in mine.

"Hayan...I'll always be by your side. And I'm not just saying this because we're both pureblood vampires. Even if I wasn't a vampire, I'd support you no matter what. You're my friend, and I'll be there for you, through whatever hardships may come."

"And you can depend on me too. You don't have to shoulder your burdens alone."

Hayan and I left the church, our hands still interlocked.

[ikeromantic]

Friends and Frenemies

A Mitsuhide Akechi fanfic - approx. 2800 words. This scene takes place after the events of the romantic epilogue. Mostly fluff, slightly spicy.

First: Mitsuhide and the Maiden

Previous: Kitsune's Day Out

Mitsuhide sat on the floor with his little mouse in his lap. His fingers stroked the nape of her neck as he listened intently to Sarutobi.

Sasuke and Miyake sat across from them on the edge of the bed. Miyake’s expression was somewhere between awe and exhaustion. He wasn’t saying much, just staring into empty space with a confused grin.

The ninja looked mildly pleased as he talked. “My professor took a little convincing. We had to call in the history department chair to talk to Miyake.”

“What did he want to know?” The chatelaine’s eyes were heavy with sleep. They’d spent the day walking around Kyoto, looking at historical sites - things Mitsuhide should recognize.

Of course, everything was so changed from his time that the places they visited may as well have been new. Even if they were the same structures, what lay around them had changed so much as to render the buildings and monuments unrecognizable.

Sasuke shrugged. “Details. It was like watching a verbal exam in a master class. And then he made Miyake pick out his own sword from a room of Sengoku period weapons. It was impressive watching him look each one over.”

At this, the warrior chuckled. “I almost didn’t. It was strange to see Kichihiroe looking so old and worn.”

Mitsuhide smiled. “But you did. So all is well.” He turned his attention back to Sasuke. “What is the benefit of bringing these men in on our secret?”

“Well, first off, this.” He handed Miyake and Mitsuhide campus ID cards. “You are both now officially visiting professors, with a stipend and everything. There was a small . . . additional favor they requested from you.”

“Which is?” Mitsuhide raised one eyebrow.

Miyake answered. “They want you to come in and answer questions. A lot of questions.” He wiped his brow. “They started in on me today and there is just no end!”

Sarutobi nodded a confirmation.

“So . . . they want to pay you to answer questions about the Sengoku era? And that’s it? That doesn’t sound so bad.” The chatelaine grinned.

Mitsuhide shook his head. “I am not sure it’s so simple. This interaction - couldn’t it cause -” he thought for a moment, trying to find the words. “A complication? If I let slip something they don’t know, or they tell me something that will happen?”

“A paradox.” Sasuke’s mouth curled up in the slightest smile. “I considered that. But we are already living in a parallel timeline. One in which you and Nobunaga live, as well as some other changes.”

“So the things they tell us, those aren’t things that will happen?” Miyake sounded a little tense as he asked the question.

“Right,” Sarutobi replied. “Or, mostly right. We can’t be sure how far apart our timeline is from the original, so I encourage you to forget anything you may hear.”

Mitsuhide snorted. “Once a truth is heard, it cannot be so easily forgotten.”

“True enough. Can’t unring the bell, as they say. But are you willing to take that chance and talk with the history professor anyway?”

“I will.” Mitsuhide stroked his little one’s neck with gentle fingertips. “It will be interesting, regardless. And you have gone to a lot of trouble to arrange things. It’s the least I can do to play along.”

“I appreciate that.” Sasuke gave a little bow. “So what did you two do today?”

Miyake elbowed him and gave the two lovers a knowing wink.

Mitsuhide’s little one blushed and covered her face. “No! Nothing like that! Miyake! We just went shopping. Oh - and there were these men -”

“Who kindly helped me pick up our bags when I dropped them. We were very appreciative.” Mitsuhide interrupted her before she could give away any more information about their run in with the modern day bandits. Not that he didn’t trust Sasuke and Miyake. He did - as much as he trusted anyone. But it was always wise to keep information to yourself until there was a reason to share.

Sasuke blinked. “Ok. Well. Tomorrow, I’d like to take you up to the university, Mitsuhide. If that’s alright. You can both come if you want to.”

“Oh! But I needed to run by the office for my job tomorrow! I wanted to give them my apologies for disappearing so suddenly, just when they offered me a position.” She bit her lip. “I guess it can wait though.”

“I can go with her to do that, if you want me to,” Miyake put in.

Mitsuhide nodded. “Yes, I think that’s a good idea. You two can run errands tomorrow while I satisfy the curiosity of some modern scholars.”

“Are you sure?” The chatelaine looked uneasy.

“I am.” Mitsuhide kissed her cheek. “Absence makes the heart grow fonder, does it not?”

After they made arrangements for the coming day, Mitsuhide and his little mouse trekked back to her flat, leaving Miyake and Sasuke to themselves. It wasn’t that he minded the company, but he wanted to have her to himself tonight.

They stopped at a ‘small’ grocery on the way home to pick up something for breakfast. While Mitsuhide had noticed the number of foodstalls, he had not considered an entire store with shelves full of food. He wanted to ask if this was normal, but one look at his little one’s face gave him the answer.

She was not surprised at all. With barely a glance at the stacks of fresh vegetables and fruits, she led him further into the store.

There were at least five types of vinegar, he noted. An assemblage of noodles that defied sense. Several types of rice. Beans. And a variety of things with names he couldn’t identify as food, all wrapped in bright packages. “Masamune would love this place,” Mitsuhide murmured.

“You think? Maybe we should bring him something back.” She smiled. “I’m surprised you thought of him just now.”

“He’s a -” Mitsuhide paused at the realization he was about to say friend. Not ally. Not colleague. Friend. He bit back the word and finished with, “man who loves his food.”

His little mouse didn’t appear to pick up on the omission. “He really is. And he wants everyone around him to enjoy it too.” She picked up a package of rice, then added, “I wish I was such a good cook.”

“I think you’re amazing.” Mitsuhide settled his palm lightly on her low back, reassuring.

She smiled wryly. “Says the man who doesn’t taste his food.”

“Kyubei thinks so too. And his taste buds work fine.”

“Mhmm. Kyubei would eat a pile of rocks and tell me it was delicious if he thought he was supposed to. But I appreciate the compliment.” She leaned against Mitsuhide and sighed. “I wonder how he’s doing right now.”

Mitsuhide considered. There were a number of things he wished he’d had time to tell Kyubei. And of course, he hadn’t counted on Azuchi being attacked but, “I’m sure he is well. Kyubei is resourceful, talented, and I’ve left him the tools he will need. You should worry less about him, and more about yourself.”

“What should I be worried about?”

He grinned and leaned down to place a kiss on her cheek. With his lips almost touching her ear, he murmured, “You should worry about what I will do if I don’t get you alone soon.”

His little one inhaled sharply, cheeks heating. Her eyes were bright and full of desire as she replied. “Then we’d better hurry.”

They got back to her flat soon after, and unpacked the groceries. With the last items put away, she sat in a kitchen chair and looked up at Mitsuhide shyly.

It never failed to amuse him how innocent she could be in moments like these. As if she couldn’t admit what she wanted no matter how badly she wanted it. Of course, he’d take full advantage.

“How should I use your bath, little mouse? Can you show me how it works?” Mitsuhide already had an idea, but what fun was that?

“Oh! Yes. Sure. It would be good to clean up.” She led him to her small bathing room. “This handle is hot. This one cold. And if you press this, it will activate the shower. Just be careful where you point the nozzle.”

Mitsuhide leaned over her, pressing close. “So this one is hot?” He turned the handle.

“Umm . . . yes but, I should probably . . . get out of the way . . . the bathroom isn’t big enough-”

“And this one is cold?” He turned the other handle.

She nodded. “Yes. So. Ah, first rinse off with . . . with the shower. And . . . and th-then fill . . .”

Her distraction was deeply amusing. Possibly caused by his breath on the back of her neck and the way her hips met his. Not that he was unaffected. The press of her hips against him was maddening. The slight friction of cloth, the denial of skin to skin touch he ached for. But this was his game, and he knew what came next. Delay only made victory all the sweeter. Mitsuhide pressed the shower, and water fell like warm rain over them.

“Mitsuhide!” She gave a little shriek as he pulled her to standing under the flow. Her clothes clung to her skin, revealing as much as they hid. He could not wait to peel them off her.

“Oh dear. What have I done? Now you’re all wet!” He smiled widely and slid his hand under her shirt, popping the buttons open one after another.

She playfully swatted his other hand as he reached for her skirt. “You totally did that on purpose! I know you did!”

He shrugged. “Perhaps.” Mitsuhide slid her shirt off and enjoyed the sight of water pearling over the rise of her breast. Her soaked bra looked a deeper blue than it had when dry. A good color for her. His hands slipped around behind her, reaching for the clasp.

“You know, if you wanted to bathe together, you could have just said so.”

“Mmm, but this was more fun.” His fingers fumbled with the odd hook-and-eye catches, finally releasing them. Her bra fell away. Mitsuhide relished the sight. “You should probably help me get the rest of these clothes off. I’m fairly certain you don’t bathe wearing them in this age.”

She laughed softly and reached up to cup his cheek. “My wicked kitsune. No. We don’t.” And then she kissed him.

***

Kyubei frowned at the short, dark-haired man in front of him. “You can cut the act, Ranmaru. I’d recognize you anywhere. Besides, your work on that scar is atrocious. Who taught you disguises? Were they blind?”

The page - spy and ninja as well - sighed and set down the basket he was carrying. “I thought the scar was pretty good. It really changes my face. What gave it away?”

“Your fingers are still stained with beetjuice, for one. And you didn’t blend the edges well enough. I can see bits of raw paste at your hairline.”

“Well damn. Alright. You caught me. Are you here to kill me?” Ranmaru’s tone was light, joking, but there was nothing funny about the way his fingers curled around the hilt of the short blade he wore at his hip.

Kyubei rolled his eyes. “If I was going to kill you, you’d already be dead. I came to find out what you know - and how you know it. Are you willing to have a conversation with me?” He left out the alternative, which was knocking the page senseless, dragging him back to Azuchi, and putting him in the dungeon. He wanted to avoid that outcome. It wouldn’t do anyone any good.

Ranmaru shrugged. “Alright. Fine. But you’re buying us something to eat. I’m starving!”

“I can do that.” He led the page out of the alley they were in - a spot chosen in case things got ugly - and back into a market street. Kyoto was full of people selling things. He had his pick of at least a dozen stalls and shops for food, but made a beeline for one in particular. The proprietor was one of Mitsuhide’s informants, someone Kyubei could trust if this chat went sideways.

The two men sat down at a back table and ordered sake and food. Ranamru’s preference for sweet things had not changed in his absence. They were getting stewed peaches, peaches with rice, and peach-jelly stuffed mochi. Not to Kyubei’s taste at all, but then, he hadn’t come here for the food.

“What do you know about the attack on Azuchi?” Kyubei wasted no time getting to the point.

Ranmaru shrugged. “Would you believe I didn’t know it was going to happen?”

“No.”

The page giggled. It was a high, false sound with no real mirth. “Well, I don’t blame you. I wouldn’t believe me either. But I really didn’t know that was coming. I knew something was . . . my - my Master was working with some people. And they were coming to Azuchi so I knew they had something in mind. I thought . . .”

Ranmaru’s throat bobbed, stuck on the words. He looked away and wiped at his face.

Kyubei sighed. “So you weren’t sure what was planned. What did you think might happen? Is that what made you run?”

“Yes.” His voice was strained and he hadn’t looked up. “I thought . . . maybe they would try to kill him. Nobunaga. A direct attack. Or, poison? I - I didn’t want . . . but I was . . .”

“You were afraid they might ask for your help. Or participation.” Kyubei’s voice was pitched low, for Ranmaru’s ears only. This was not a subject to be discussed lightly.

The page nodded.

“So you ran.”

He nodded again.

Kyubei rubbed the short growth of hair on the top of his head. It was coming in, full and dark, but it itched some days. Especially after spending time on the road, with no rest. Touching it had become a habit for him when he was anxious or unhappy. This conversation was not making him happy.

“I didn’t want to be the one to - you know. Nobunaga has - he’s always been good to- to me. I thought, let them do their own dirty work. I would g-go back to Kennyo. Offer to be, to do a-anything else.” Ranmaru finally looked up. His expression was one of abject misery.

“I don’t blame you. It can be hard to serve two masters. Even when their goals usually align . . . often the methods do not.”

Ranmaru smiled bleakly. “I guess you understand a little.”

The tea and sweets came, and for a brief few minutes, the two men ate and drank in silence.

Finally, Kyubei asked, “So why aren’t you with Kennyo now?”

“I can’t find him. I know he’s working with . . .” Ranmaru’s jaw clenched. “I can’t say. But, I don’t know where they went. Or what they are planning next.”

“I need you to tell me the names, Ranmaru. Assume that I already know them, and from you, I only need confirmation.”

“Fine. Then you say them. I’ll nod if you’re right.”

Kyubei smiled. “Kicho.”

Nod.

“Motonari.”

Nod.

“The ‘shogun’ in exile.”

Nod.

“I was hoping the last one was a no. We worked so hard to set that boy up, but I suppose Yoshiaki’s allies got to him.” Kyubei took a deep breath. “And you really have no idea what they will do next?” He watched Ranmaru for tell-tale signs of a lie.

“I wish I did. I’d find Kennyo and get him away from those stray dogs.” The page almost spat.

“So what will you do now?”

Ranmaru tugged at his darkened locks, twisting them around his finger. “I don’t know. I am afraid to return to Nobunaga’s side. Afraid they will ask me to betray him. But that makes me a traitor to my Master. I am damned either way.” His voice was flat, empty of self-pity or any other emotion.

“You could work for me.”

The page raised an eyebrow. “You know I turned on both my masters. That I am a coward. What would you trust me with?”

“Well, not disguises, clearly.” Kyubei caught the curl of a slight smile on Ranmaru’s lips. “I’d want you to gather information from the daimyo loyal to the shogun. Nothing to do with either of your masters directly. No need to dig yourself a deeper grave.”

“I’d report everything to the Ikko Ikki too.”

Kyubei shrugged. “I’m fine with that? If Kenny’s monks act on the information, I doubt it will be to prop Ashikaga up further.”

Ranmaru chewed at his lip, thoughtful. Finally, he nodded. “I guess I can do that. Just until I find where Kennyo has gone and what he needs of me.”

“Then we have a deal. But I do have one more question before I leave you.”

“What?” The page eyed him, suspicious again.

Kyubei tapped his finger on the table, almost afraid of his own question. Asking it would be giving information away, but he needed to know. “Have you seen or heard from Akechi since the night of the attack on Azuchi?”

Next: Uncomfortable Questions

[eutaerpe]

the escapades (m)

pairing — jimin x reader

genre/warnings—  smut (oral, fingering, orgasm denial) & college!au, fratboy!jimin, brief e2l, brief ewb, acr universe

summary —  the one where there’s a lot of unresolved sexual tension, until there isn’t.

notes — 8.3k words of the happiness before the storm i couldn’t write. i realised halfway through this there’s a slight plotwise change in comparison to what i wrote in acr so. yeah. sorry. kudos to you if you find it lol

The first time it happens, you’re pretending to be someone you’re not.

You’re sitting near the end of the table, crossing your legs and playing with the hem of your dress, your lips twisted into a frown. The real reason lying behind the simple decision of having a single, almost infinite table of guests doesn’t, in the slightest, cross your mind; why your idiotic brother would see this as a delightful idea really is above you, but you suppose the valuable genes in the family runs all in your DNA.

You’re playing with the table decorations while waiting for the guests to come, and it’s so fucking boring you regret telling Seulgi no, babe, what the fuck - you even shook your head and decided to sound extra mad at the idea - I won’t sneak in weed.

Too bad for you, she had answered, a cute pout on her lips, I’ll give you an hour before you’re bored out of your mind.

The truth hangs above your head, with a sheepish grin: you just needed ten minutes to be absolutely, drastically bored.

In hindsight, sneaking in weed wouldn’t have been the worst idea: your mother is talking to the in laws, gesticulating excitedly at the idea of kids right after marriage. What the fuck, you text Seulgi, at home trying to get out of bed, my brother has been married for an hour and there’s already baby talk going on at the table.

 Seulgi

[12.49]

With the baby talk comes the dick talk

 You

[12.49]

Oh no the dick talk

 Seulgi

[12.50]

man how can you survive your relatives talking about nonexistent boyfriends without my weed, damn???

 You

[12.50]

option a: I’ll tell them I’m dating you

 Seulgi

[12.50]

we kissed ONE time

 You

[12.50]

option b: I’ll tell them I’m in a relationship with Jeon jungkook

 Seulgi

[12.50]

bitch we both know you’re not in a relationship with the hottest guy on campus. he has dimples and long hair and piercings. my sources can even confirm he has a big dick. what do U Have

 You

[12.51]

i was talking about my vibrator but go off lmao

anyway I’ve had that D ;)

 Seulgi

[12.51]

you’re officially cancelled

when did this happen? I can’t believe you’re telling me over text!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 You

[12.51]

last semester!!!!! why do you think I’ve named my vib after him!!!!!!

 Seulgi

[12.52]

because you’re lusting after him like the rest of us mortals!!!!!!!!!!

 You

[12.52]

I’ve upgraded since then. I’ve leveled up. I’ve seen things People Can’t Even Imagine

 Seulgi

[12.52]

just say he got u off and go

 You

[12.52]

;p

anyway option c: I scare them away by saying controversial things. Id est: I don’t believe in love. I am choosing my partner solely judging their abilities to finger me under a table when people are around. I am secretly lusting after my brother’s wife. I am trying to get impregnated like in The Sims 2 aka I am waiting for that alien dick.

 Seulgi

[12.52]

hate to break it to you babe but that’s literally who you are

 You

[12.52]

i

I literally compliment joohyun’s boobs once and this is the treatment I get

 Seulgi

[12.52]

are we not gonna talk about your alien dick kink

 You

[12.52]

no kink shaming in this house lady

option d: I listen to their complaints and run

 Seulgi

[12.53]

option dick

man sorry I meant option d

 You

[12.53]

you didn’t

 Seulgi

[12.54]

ur right I didn’t

 Option e, also known as I’ll entertain the other guests so I don’t have to talk to you, presents itself in the form of one very hot, very ripped young man sporting the most expensive shirt in the room. You’re only human when you admit to yourself, mental sigh, that he ticked all the let’s get y/n horny requirements in less than fifteen seconds.

You can’t believe Joohyun has kept him hidden for so long from you. Such betrayal ends when your brother, Kim fucking Seokjin, hugs him tight and brushes with utter affection the nape of his neck, gracing him with a warm smile and a heartfelt laugh.

You can’t believe Seokjin has kept him hidden for so long from you.

Well. Scratch that. You can.

Suddenly, the ticked requirements disappear and a giant neon sentence with a very cheap background music impose themselves in your head. WHAT A TURN OFF! they read, the neon red words mocking you; you steal a glance at your brother’s acquaintance one more time - one last time - before slipping your phone in your hands and dedicating yourself one more time at your Instagram feed, scrolling through the most recent pics.

(You stumble upon an extremely rare Jungkook selfie, and you hate to admit you spend the following thirty seconds admiring him before tapping twice on the quality content you’ve signed up for when you joined the social)

You suppose that, even though your brother’s friends with fuckboy tendencies are signed off your let’s get to know each other better ;) list, it doesn’t mean the same goes for them.

So, when the dark-haired young man with a jawline sharper than Seulgi’s retorts after her third beer sits next to you, you reckon you shouldn’t be that surprised.

He acts all casual, you notice while discreetly looking at him; he’s busy taking off his jacket and flexing his muscles, all of this while pretending not to notice you, and you find it immensely cute.

Ah, fuckboys.

“Fuck,” he rasps, lips twisted in a crooked smile, “I didn’t think it would be this hot today.”

“Yeah, sorry, the heat is on me.”

He chuckles in disbelief at your words, eyes turning into crescents.

“Right, there’s always the girl stealing the bride’s spotlight at weddings.”

“Oh! That’s me,” you nod enthusiastically, “That’s one hundred percent me.”

“Groom or bride?” He asks, pointing at the couple with his chin.

“What do you think?”

He looks at you funny, pressing his back on the seat, pondering in silence. Cute.

“Bride. One of Bae’s sorority sisters, maybe? You seem too young to be her age, though.”

“Damn,” you exhale, crossing your arms under your chest, “I can’t believe you got it all wrong. The expectations were low, but I’m still disappointed.”

He ducks his head, still smiling. “Then it’s the groom. How do you know Seokjin?”

Your eyes twinkle with excitement at your next words, but honestly, who can blame you? You’re having fun with this lost, cute chick.

“What’s your take, officer?”

He erupts into a laugh, and you drink in his handsome features; fuck you, Seokjin, for being friends with fuckboys only.

“Alright,” he punches the bridge of his nose, scanning the room, which is slowly filling with other guests. “I’m his friend, and I know all of his friends, which can only mean one thing: option a, you’re one of his ex-girlfriends; option b, you’re one of his secret hook-ups; option c, you’re an old friend from high school.”

“Oooh,” you beam, unrealistically intrigued, “You really suck at guessing, don’t you?”

He laughs, passing a hand through his dark locks, messing his perfectly styled hair. “Ok, fair. Which one was the closest, then?”

“Option d, of course.” You nod, relaxing your features into a sheepish grin, “I’m his much more beautiful and smarter sister.”

You exam his face, now twisting into some sort of what the fuck, such betrayal look, and you take in, for the last time – really the last, this time – his attractive, sculptured face, his full lips, the smoothness of his skin. It’s awful and unfair knowing you two won’t cross paths ever again in your lives, but at least you had some fun messing with him before things could worsen.

“I’ll be sitting in the middle of the table, with my family, if you want to avoid me.”

You wink at him for good measure, and you swear to god he blushes.

 Half a wine bottle and two flutes of prosecco down, you realise you underestimated your resident fuckboy.

It happens when you’re grabbing your napkin and channelling your dreamy, happy looks towards the newlyweds, dancing in the middle of the room, their eyes gravitating only towards the love of their lives.

You sigh, pouting for the smallest of fractions, when you feel someone sitting at your side.

“You know,” Fuckboy begins, and you picture him licking his lips as he pauses, “Now I get why he never told us anything more than: I’m not an only child.”

“I know,” you exhale, turning to face him, “Seokwon is the real catch of our family. We’re really protective of him.”

“He’s married. With kids.”

“I was there when the twins opened their eyes, thank you.”

“We thought you were either a small kid or a forty years old woman.”

“Wait,” you tilt your head, “How did you know about us then? And who’s we?”

“We dug into his stuff and he caved in, admitting he had a brother and a sister.” Fuckboy looks at you, eyes dark but reflecting the dim lights of the function room, “Us. The frat guys.”

“Right, the fuckboys.”

He looks taken aback by your statement, bewildered, and you take advantage of his reaction to stand up and head away from him. It’s his words that stop you from doing so, though.

“You don’t know us—”

“—except I do know your pledges and your brothers.”

“But you don’t know me.”

“Maybe,” you shrug, “I prefer to steer away from my brother’s friends, though.”

“Right,” he says, tightening his lips in a hard line, almost hurt, “So, who am I to interfere with your judgmental thinking?” He clicks his tongue, then, a resolute exhale slipping past his lips, smothered by his own tingling despair.

The words hurt.

You don’t know what exactly pinched your senses hard, if the tone or the wallowing sadness swimming in his expression, but, as he stands up and leaves, you’re left facing the cold, hard truth.

The words hurt, you hurt, and you feel guilty.

You say nothing, glancing in the direction of the first alcoholic beverage around, and you fill yourself a glass.

Had it been someone else – had it been another sentence, another less sickening scenario, you would’ve felt proud, righteous. You’re, instead, on the other side of the feelings spectrum, all filled with crippling guilt and a nauseous, pervasive feeling you can’t quite name and pin down.

The guests are dancing around you, moving hand in hand to the rhythm of the pop love song now playing; the ballroom is packed when you let your impulsive side make a choice, eyes following the guy’s composed figure. You can drastically feel the sweat, and the heat the people are radiating, when you stand up and move towards him, the only smiling boy passing his glass from a hand to the other.

You’re close enough to tap his wrist and brush your fingers, which you do; it elicits a gasp from him, all soft, not scathing around the edges yet able to bite you, anyway. It’s the guilt, you remind yourself, looking for a sign of some sort of inclination to accept your apologies between the crease of his brows and tight jaw, and everywhere in between.

It’s sickening—this boy didn’t exist four fucking hours ago. It didn’t even cross your wildest dreams, someone like him. His shape – his silhouette – has left a print in your mind, and no matter how hard you try focusing on something else, someone else, your mind keeps going back to the shape itself.

But you’re a coward, so, while he lets you intertwine your fingers, you admit, voice loud: “I wanna dance.”

He handles you properly, kindly, before pushing you in the crowd and brushing your hips with his hands, all rings and jewellery adorning them.

He blinks twice, biting the insides of his mouth, but he manages,

“Who says I wanna dance?”

Which is a bit stupid, or hypocritic if you might, because he’s swaying you to the rhythm of a ballad the pop love song turned into. You break into the smallest of smiles.

“I want to apologize.”

He scoffs. “I don’t know you,” he says, funnily enough, “But that seems almost unlikely, coming from you.”

“Yeah, you got me there, officer. I was, uhm,” you stare blatantly at his neck, and you suppress the desire to stroke your fingers’ pads on his soft skin, “I was out of line. I’m sorry. You were right, I don’t know you. I do know your frat brothers, my own brother, but that doesn’t mean I know you.”

He hums, moving for a small fraction of instants his thumbs on your hips and it’s enough for your breath to catch into your own throat. He nods, which could mean anything, from I accept your apology to go fuck yourself, this is bullshit. You prefer the former option, if you’re being honest, which is the answer you settle for in your head, hazed and absolutely hazed and madly hazed because of his small physical contact.

To put this into the simplest terms, Seulgi’s words, you don’t like this.

“I like dancing,” his eyes tower you and gaze at the other people dancing; you wonder if he’s thinking about them, who they are to you, what role they played in Seokjin’s life, if they’ll show up to your wedding, too. These thoughts popped into your mind unannounced, before, at the table, before the not-really-fuckboy sat next to you and made you feel guilty. Such absurdity; yet here you are, in his arms. Oh god, what would Seulgi think of you if she saw you?

“Good to know, I’m awful at shoulder-hips coordination.”

“Shoulder-hips coordination?” he inquiries, lips parted.

“Uh, body rolls?”

“Oh,” he chuckles, “I see, you mean classy grinding.”

“I don’t do classy grinding, sorry,” you retort, head tilted to a side.

His smile his amused. “Too bad, shoulder-hips coordination is a nice trait to exhibit sometimes.”

“I prefer hips coordination. Well, hips rotation.”

“Hips rotation?”

“Riding? Is the term somehow unfamiliar to you?”

He flushes, biting back a grin and fixing his gaze somewhere in the crowd. How cute.

“Not at all, it’s nice to meet a hips rotation enthusiast here, though.”

“Statistics say at least a member in each family is a riding enthusiast, did you know?”

“Shit, talk dirty to me,” he licks his lips, pointing at Jin with his chin, “Didn’t peg him for a rider, though. Not at all.”

“I’m starting to think you’re not a STEM major, are you? You’re lacking basic intuition, my friend.”

“Is this your attempt of discovering my major?” – he eyes you, a flick of amusement burning in his orbs – “You’re not very smooth, you know?”

“I have my moments.”

He snorts, placing both hands on the small of your back. You’re at height level with the base of his neck, and it’s fun how your mind betrays you in such moments, providing mental images of your nose brushing against his skin, and you nuzzling in the crook of his neck. Such taunting, invasive pictures. Fuck off, you reprimand your own mind, fuck off.

“I’m Jimin.”

“Jimin,” you taste the name on your tongue, hitting the back of your front teeth. “Jin never talked about you. I’m Y/N.”

“Jin never talked about you either.”

“Of course he never did, I’m prettier than he is.”

His little dimples make an appearance. “You know, you could really steal the bride’s spotlight.”

“That was my ultimate goal all along, even though I prefer the dark side.”

“I,” he licks his lips, and you don’t know why you’re following the gesture, “I meant to say you’re beautiful.”

“Oh my god,” you whisper, eyebrows raising, “Are you a charmer?”

“I mean,” he begins, sheepish smile on display, “I never kiss and tell.”

“Touching.” He smirks. “How sweet of you.”

“You know what else is sweet?”

“Please,” you beg, meeting his eyes, “Don’t say my pussy.”

“Please,” he repeats, same mocking tone, “The possibilities are endless. Your mouth,” he scoots closer, words whispered on the shell of your ear, “Your mouth around my dick,” he almost nibbles your ear, “Your mouth screaming my name.”

“My pussy,” you add, trying not to lose your mind.

“I would never call sweet something I’ve not tasted.”

He raises a brow.

“Are you offering? You’re not very smooth, you know?”

He ignores the last question, tightening his grip. “In the middle of your brother’s wedding? Seokjin’s wedding? I’m not a dick, even though you sitting on my face would be a sight to see.”

“Right?” your voice doesn’t falter for a second, “That’s what I always say”

“Nice to see how we’ve got much in common. But I was thinking of something else, actually—” His face is once again inches away from yours, ear to mouth, hot breath fanning over you bare neck. “I wanna finger you.”

Oh.

“Under the table. Right behind you. Wanna make you whimper.”

It’s almost like being tongue-tied, fumbling for words, body flushing, but you gather somewhere the strength to form an actual sentence, which makes him smirk devilishly.

“I can be very quiet.”

He pokes his tongue into his cheek. “Bet you can’t keep your pretty mouth shut.”

“When I win,” you say, lying your words on an unrealistically high vote of confidence, even for yourself, “What do I get?”

He licks his lips, slow, savouring the moment. “You get to ride my face.”

“Not your dick?”

“I’m not a fuckboy, baby.”

A comeback of some kind is already on your tongue, but – there’s a kiss somewhere in the following seconds, all wet and tingling and perhaps filled with too many lip bites, but he can’t really blame you when you’ve been brushing your thighs together for the past minute, heat pooling down your belly. It’s enough for you to silently pledge for more, and for him to tease, because he takes a step back, smirk in place and lips reddened, and guides you towards his seat at the end of the table with a hand on the small of your back.

Downhill begins as soon as you sit down, legs barely parted, a minimum space not fitting for his plans, apparently, because the crease between Jimin’s eyebrows grows when he nudges them apart with his hand, the cold metal of his rings cooling down your flushed state. You want to gasp at the sudden intrusion, but the sound is swallowed entirely by his hot mouth on yours, distracting once again, incredibly soft and alluring. This kiss is slow, this time, like he’s taking his time tasting you and learning about the hums he draws out of you, the shyness of your previously biting tongue, and how fast you get lost in the kiss itself. You press a chaste kiss on his mouth, before creaking a space between you.

“I’m starting to think you’re all bark and no bite”

He doesn’t answer, but stares into your eyes with his hooded gaze, and he manages to sneak a hand furtively under your dress not breaking the contact. His skin is warm, but you’re warmer, and his destination is even hotter. He cocks his head, fingers brushing against the soaked, sticking material you used to call panties up until fifteen minutes ago, and he must notice—his eyes grow wider, his jaw tightens and his hand gains courage.

Fuck. This should be embarrassing, getting worked up over dirty innuendos and a kiss or two, but you’re instead feeling flushed and more. More sensitive. More open to the idea of him ruining you, even though that’s not what he’s offering. Or— is he?

The question lies unanswered when his digits rub with a sparkled intensity over both your clothed sex and your inner thighs. It’s a continuous, mellifluous melody, his fingers dancing between the two until he settles on your panties only, and that’s when you almost let out a soft moan; you don’t, he raises his brow, challenging, but you don’t, and instead glance around to notice if someone has his eyes on the both of you, sitting in the furthest region of the fucking smart, endless table.

He raises the stake, flushed: Jimin pushes your panties on one side, petting with his index your exposed self, and you suck in a breath. He continues to do so, face still, closing the distance between you two.

You don’t question the sudden kiss, instead you angle your face and close your eyes and let him press his lips on you. This feels like being drunk, or high, stretching underneath a sky dripping with stars. You cup his face with your hands, his lips so terribly soft and inviting, the smallest of smiles meeting your own chapped and curved upwards lips.

It’s when you’re merely inches away from him that he thumbs at your clit, sensitive and tingling, circling with utmost peace and no speed whatsoever. You pout at little, you realize, which makes him melt either cause of your cute frown -oh, how the tables have turned- or simply because he’s the devil himself, pressing a finger against your entrance and delving it into your heat.

“Cute,” he purrs, kissing you, “Is this okay?”

The crude, hot, nerve-wracking fingering has begun, which makes you, quickly enough, putty in his hands and ablaze with ardour for this man whose rasping voice could kill you.

“Yeah,” you breathe on his mouth, eyelids drooping closed, “Yeah, all good.”

You hum to yourself as he starts pressing kisses on your jaw and your neck, a trail of treacherous flames lighting up your skin, and you have the audacity to sigh under his ministrations, a tiny, strained sound not quite a mewl.

If he hears, he doesn’t show it. You’re biting your own lip when he enters a second finger, filling your searing emptiness.

“Want three?” he asks, voice husky and as desperate as you are under his touch. He adds it when you nod, the squelch louder than before, and you moan, rocking your hips against his fingers.

“Shh, baby,” he coos, placing his other hand on your hips, slowing your movements, “Be a good girl.”

He fucks you deep, fast, fingers clashing against the silky dress you’re wearing and sweat sparkling on his forehead. He swallows another moans of yours, sucking your bottom lip and tugging it between his teeth. You’re close. You’re so close, and it’s only been a couple minutes. You can’t hear anything that isn’t your wet pussy clenching around his fingers, his rhythm ruthless and burning.

“Too bad you’re not coming on my fingers, today,” he says before kissing your neck and emptying your dripping pussy, then proceeding to taste and lick his own fingers in his mouth. He lets them out with a small pop, and it’s the most terrifying sight you’ve ever had in front of your almost watering eyes. “I’m sorry I won the bet, though, your pussy is the sweetest I’ve ever tasted.”

That’s the high and dry story of how you first met Jimin.

/

 The second time it happens, it’s under completely different circumstances, and, substantially, against your every predictions, it really happens. It takes place, like a once in a lifetime event: there’s an orgasm involved, not due to the very charming and never disappointing Jeon jungkook the robotic version, and instead it involves a rather attractive asshole with a persistent smirk plastered on his face.

Except it’s a lot more complicated than what it sounds, and most of it is Seulgi’s fault.

Your roommate had pouted all evening, because that’s what semi adults do when they’re denied a companion for the night.

“I just wanna get wasted. It’s been one hell of a month, and you know how I get when I’m stressed.”

“I can suggest you a vibrator and a bottle of vodka. Do you settle for that, your honor?”

“The more you talk like this,” all self-absorbed and assertive and cautiously, like when talking to a kid, she begins, hands in her long, mahogany hair, “the more I just wanna push you up against the wall.”

“Sounds to me you just wanna get laid.”

“Maybe I do,” she huffs, hands on her hips, the light of your abat-jour highlighting her golden skin. “Maybe I don’t. What I know is that I wanna get wasted. Come with me, pretty please?”

“Look,” you raise your eyes from the book you’ve been holding, stretching a leg onto the unmade bed of yours, “I just wanna get this fucking paper done. I need,” you grip the phone on the bed table, checking for the white, large numbers on your lock screen, “an hour. An hour and half to edit it and I’m all yours.”

“This paper is due on Thursday, though.”

“Yeah, but I have a reputation to uphold in the family. Have to be the most beautiful and successful.”

“You’re full of shit,” are her last words, muttered with a smile as she grabs her jacket.

“Hey,” you call, stretching your neck towards her, “I don’t care if it’s two am and you’re already wasted. Call me and I’ll come to you with a whole bottle of vodka to make it up to you. Hell, I’ll even kiss you goodnight.”

“I don’t wanna make out with you, you freak.”

“You didn’t say that last time, baby!”

 Seulgi

[2.13]

wassup bitch

make out with meeeeeeeeeeeeee

[location shared]

com n get me littl nuggrt

 Not Sober Seulgi is probably the worst Seulgi you have ever dealt with. You let out a sigh, eyeing the frat dorm all lit up and vibrating to the trashy trap music the insiders are jamming to.

Of course, when it comes to Not Sober Seulgi, there’s boys involved. Frat boys involved. At first, you don’t pay attention to the details, the signs, surrounding you like blinding traffic lights signalling stop stop stop, all red and striking. The thought doesn’t cross your mind, the dots connecting in some hidden part of your brain not making your insides short circuit—instead you’re knocking on the door, then banging on the very wooden entrance until a face shows up; the dorm is dimly lit, and the face is partially lightened by a soft, hued red and, that, too, Future You pinpoints, should have been a sign.

It’s useless, anyway, because you hear the insider talk and you’re burning instantly, like after touching a steaming, hot cup of coffee, except that bitter coffee is still good coffee. Smug Jimin plus bitter you isn’t really sweet, nor a match made in heaven. It’s chaotic, a caustic explosion, and you both know it, judging from the sharp smile he offers you, after blinking lazily at your figure.

“This is a mixer party only,” his soothing voice welcomes you, “Do you have an invite?”

You press your tongue on your teeth, mouth carefully closed.

“Yeah, from Hell, I’ve come to take a fallen angel.”

“Sorry to break it to you, oh-kind-lady, but we didn’t give any invite to poor, damned souls.”

“Too bad I don’t give a fuck about your policies, then,” you move towards the small space between the door and Jimin’s body, but he interferes, placing himself right between the two. “Look, I don’t give a single fuck about this party.”

“Yeah, it sure looks like it.”

You roll your eyes. “My friend is here. She’s most certainly not sober and I’ve come to pick her up. That’s it. Do you think I want to be here, among these drunk, perverted jocks?”

He turns around, stretching his neck, his eyes darting through the crowd, inhibited by alcohol, smelling like cheap beer and weed. The moment his eyes bore into yours, though, it’s terrifying; it’s a rustled reminder of Seokjin’s wedding Jimin, and you don’t like it. You loathe it. You dread it.

“Maybe only some of us.”

He tips his head, lips curving into a timid, small smile, and you tear your gaze from his lips in a heartbeat.

“Yeah, keep dreaming of it. I just want my friend back.” You point your chin towards the amalgam of drunk party animals, “I’ll leave you to your immensely interesting activities, then.”

“What if,” he begins, “You don’t. Or—even better scenario, you leave with me.”

“Best case scenario, I leave with my friend. You stay here.”

“What’s the worst-case scenario, then?”

You cock a brow at him, crossing your arms on your chest. “I leave with my friend, you stay here. Sometime before me leaving, you’re punched. Or kicked. I don’t know. There’s a high chance I’ll throw a drink on you.”

“That implies you’ll be here long enough to grab a drink, doesn’t it? And you don’t have to ruin my shirt to get me naked, babe. Just ask nicely.”

You huff, and you’re mildly tempted to shove him against a wall. Or ruin him. Not in the funny way. More like the high and dry way, the one he knows so well. “I changed my mind, I’ll kick you.”

“Ask nicely?” His teasing tone makes your cheeks flush, and you hope the shitplace with subdued lightening can cover it. His expression shifts into an arrogant one, full smirk and little dimples out, so your cute guess is that he can see. He sees his effect on you, albeit completely unwanted and full of hatred from your side, and he enjoys it. Actually lulls in it, letting out a small laugh which, in turn, makes his eyes turn into crescents, all warm and cute—all things he’s not. All things you know he’s not.

“Ask nicely,” you repeat, rolling the words on your tongue, “Okay, babe. Let’s do this, babe. What do you want from me, babe?”

“Has it ever crossed your mind that maybe the answer is you?”

“Yes, actually,” you sigh, fingers brushing his neck, face comically close to his perfect, chiselled one, “That’s exactly what I thought when you stopped fingering me.”

“Right,” Jimin has the audacity to smile, craning his neck as if to close the distance between you in order to meet you for a kiss, “I’m a man of word, thought. You should be impressed.”

“I’m pretty sure the only thing that’s impressed is your face under the orgasm denial definition. Google it, babe, I guarantee you the meaning comes with your name and a brilliant review of one star.”

“Unlike you.” He licks his lips, eyes on your pretty pink ones, smeared with venom, “You’re not coming.” He explains, to further ignite your rage.

“And whose fault is that, babe?”

Jimin nuzzles into your neck, cupping your other cheek with his rough palm, and his thumb stills on your throat, right where your breath is stuck. He adds pressure on it, lips fondling your burning skin, his usual smirk plastered on them.

“Let me make it up to you.”

“You’re not fucking me,” you spit back, mouth now millimetres away from his, gently inviting you to kiss it, and cherish it, and biting it until you’re satisfied with the hot result.

“I’ll eat you out? Until you come.” He hums. “You’ll come.”

His voice is a mere strangled sound, wanting and dripping with need, and you snap out of it with a small smile.

“Nice offer,” your smile is wicked as you scrape his nape with a feathery touch, the slow movement rousing a flutter in your lower belly. “But get in line, babe.”

His shell-shocked face is the last thing you see before you fulfil the let’s rescue Seulgi! party.

 (“Why do you smell like softener?” Seulgi sniffs you, arms looped loosely around your neck, eyes completely shut down. It’s a nice sight, all things considered. You’re no angel, no saint, no perfect person, but you’re a nice friend, and that’s probably the most Seokjin trait you recognize in yourself. It’s your shared apartment, and it’s past 3 am and you’re the one good friend who keeps her promises. “It’s strawberry vodka, you heathen.”)

 The line turns out to be a real line, queue line, let’s get this coffee line, which, well. How can one word it, how can one phrase it fully catching the irony of it all, the distinctive je ne sais quoi of life without—

“Nice to see you here.”

It’s the perfect set for a rom-com, you notice, taking in the warm scenery around you. What else can one dream of, right? The campus coffee shop, the campus hot not-really-but-also-kinda fuckboy Jimin, partial jock to give him credit, full time attractive idiot with a tendency for orgasm denial. Really.

“What are the chances?” You exhale, voice devoid of emotions. For the sake of your parents’ integrity, you suppose, because they raised no impolite woman, of course, you turn around to face the angel-like human being, black hair partially covering his forehead, little dimples on full display. That’s—that is lack of integrity, or indecency or au-fucking-dacity. It might as well be a mix of the above-mentioned possibilities, all fitting and nurturing you because he’s gorgeous. He’s handsome. Jimin’s the most attractive human being you’ve ever seen in your life, and it’s not fair.

(Beside the fact that you’ve lived with Kim Seokjin, for fuck’s sake)

He pokes his own cheek, and you bask into the otherworldly scenario that takes place right in front of your caffeine deprived eyes. It’s a sight for sore, soft eyes, and it’s the end of the world as you know it, because it’s morning, too early to properly function like a normal human being, but there he is. There he is, Jimin, channelling his inner boyfriend material aura, oozing off boyfriend smell, nice, fresh, aftershave smell, rocking a stupid sweater and the messiest black mop of hair.

It’s honestly a tragedy, and you won’t stand for it. You will make a move—

“You’re squinting your eyes, like, real tight. Are you alright?”

Just ogling you, your drowsy mind offers, the fucking cheater.

“Yeah,” you reply, swallowing a lump in your dry throat, “Just need coffee. A latte. Anything.”

You move forward in the queue, and as you blink you realize it’s your turn, until it’s not anymore. Jimin carefully and gently moves you out of the way, brushing with the softest touch your side.

“A latte and an iced americano, please.”

The sweetened order for two turns into a hushed thank you, a tipped smile, a flutter of you heart. It’s drinks still half full, his curious gaze darting on your lips, your defences down. It’s unfair, because in a hot second all this pent-up tension shifts into a light, chaste kiss, your back pressed against the coffee shop’s restroom; your chest heaves under his tantalizing make-out session with your neck, followed by his frantic lips pressing on yours, his tongue licking lazily into your mouth, a gasp easing its way out of your warm and eager mouth. It’s a hot-blooded supercut, each frame announced by a starving moan, a content sigh, and, before you realise it, you’re on your bed, Jimin hovering on top of you.

It’s Saturday morning, you hum to yourself, fingers sliding into his hair, all’s in check. There’s a warm body slumped on yours, his tongue swerving on your lower lip and his hips shyly bucking between your open legs. Your panties are drenched, you can feel his hard on through the jeans and, really, all’s in check.

He nudges your nose with his. “Lemme eat you out.”

The answer lies sitting on the tip of your tongue, right next to an obnoxious remark that you hope will rile him up enough for him to rip your underwear, which you definitely won’t complain about. However, the words don’t come out, they slur in your craving mouth the second he gets up and shoves you toward the end of your unmade bed, spreading your naked legs open with his calloused palms.

“Nice skirt,” he comments, voice a rasp, eyeing the drenched, lilac underwear, skirt at this point gone up to cover your stomach. “I just want…”

He shuffles closer, enough for you to feel his hot breath on your core, and that’s when Jimin pulls the panties on a side, teasing you with little licks to your entrance. You’re responsive, too eager for anything to quench your thirst that you sigh happily at the barest of actions, gripping strands of his hair. Jimin chuckles, engulfing the throbbing clit in his mouth in one go and drawing desperate moans out of your cute, devilish mouth.

“Fuckboy move,” you emit, voice cracking at the pressure of his warm mouth, “Oh, oh. Fuck…”

He replies flattening his tongue on your core, then licking and lapping against your dripping folds. Jimin positively glows at the cries you let out, face slobbering with your arousal while driving you insane, fucking with his tongue like his life depended on it. It’s almost a spiritual experience, a crescendo of wails and sobs, his face drown in your pussy and his tongue paying reverence to your approaching orgasm. He can feel it in the way you writhe, in his hand splaying over your stomach, keeping you still while he eats you religiously, forehead beaded with sweat.

You come with a trembling hand in his hair, the other flicking your bare nipple, back slightly arched and a lewd mewl; Jimin takes in the way your body trembles, your breath all staggered because of him, and the sight alone is enough for him to cum in his pants with a grunt, completely untouched.

The second time it happens is, coincidentally, the first time Jimin knows there’s no turning back from this.

/

Complicated is a big word when it comes to relationship, you reckon, emitting something akin to a gasp, truly soap operas worthy material, but, for the first time in your life, you decide to name it this way.

Being with Jimin is… complicated, for starters. Especially because you’re not with Jimin, in the strict, relationship-wise meaning. He knows your favourite colour (“Why the fuck you only own purple underwear?” “It’s lilac, dick, watch your mouth.” “Watch your own mouth, babe. You’re the one on your knees.”), your favourite food (“But you like having your mouth stuffed with my cock, honey.” You sigh, blushing. “First of all, I’m talking about real food. That amazing steak kind of food—“

“I’ll show you real meat, babe.”

“Gross. Gross. How can I cancel the last five seconds of my life?”

“Come here, Jared, nineteen,” he half smiles, tilting his head, “I’ll get us fries.”), your favourite movie (“We can’t get each other off every time your ugly paper cap fits—oh,” you suck in a breath, Jimin flicking his tongue on your turgid nipple, “oh, god, don’t stop.”), your best friend’s name (“I condone you dicking her so good she sometimes cries, you know, I just don’t when I’m in the room next to hers and all I can hear is my best friend trying to formulate a single coherent word but failing because you’re pounding her mercilessly into the mattress.” Jimin chuckles, grabbing his jacket before holding the doorknob. “She begged, Seulgi.”)—so what? It’s not like you sat down and decided not to ask each other dumb questions, so that you could find out in the funny, kinky way. For fuck’s sake, you didn’t even decide on anything, didn’t even talk about talking, because the relationship related shit didn’t even cross your mind.

It’s even quite fucking hard for it to cross it, because half the time you’re together you’re either both naked – except for the time he pleaded for the tartan mini to stay – or stuffing your mouth with food—because, if there’s something you’ve learned after one too many hook-ups with him is that this kind of sex requires strength. Like, actual, physical strength, if we’re not talking about the this test is draining me please fuck me until I can’t walk sex. Which, yeah, 10/10 would recommend. That was the day Seulgi decided to invest in ear plugs while muttering capitalism, here I come.

You also came.

Funnily enough, guess who also came. Not in the funny, kinky way. Think about the grossest thing, imagine the beyond the bounds of possibility, sprinkle it with Jimin earnestly shoving his dick down your throat, stir it with a poor Taehyung brushing his teeth next to the both of you, a step away from the shower, and serve it on the most expensive plate in the kitchen, a recipe not approved by Kim Seokjin.

Yeah, you mentally roll your eyes, licking your lips clean, at eye-level with your sorta enemy with benefits’ pretty dick: the married brother of yours, former fratboy, taller than your current will to live.

In hindsight, maybe it is Seokjin’s fault. Once you’re married, you’re supposed to be committed to the cause, and sometimes, an angry little crumb in you finds the audacity to speak, the cause is made up of your four walls: ergo home, ergo your married life, miles away from the absurdity that once filled his university days. You’re being hypocritical, you realize, skin wet, body trembling. In the simplest, most hedonistic terms, you’re done with the chaos in this fraternity and just wished that hooking up was easier. It’s more than a stolen orgasm, a random spur of pleasure and free de-stresser; it’s also something not quite like art but just as peculiar. Sex with Jimin is more than nice, more than a fast rummage of clothes on the floor and panties teared, or condoms stuffed in every single pocket of his jacket.

It should also be noticed that it’s been one hell of a stressful week, okay, which means that it’s one of those times you seek for naked intimacy, in its least literal meaning. You’re looking for something sure, something silent, something earnest. Jimin gives you that in the simplest of forms, in the easiest of ways. It’s not fair for your brother to come unannounced and burst into the house with his adorable laugh and love for his own brothers. Way to ruin the moment, bro.

Jimin blinks attentively when Taehyung laughs, clapping his hands all happy and following the elder’s voice outside the bathroom.

“I’m getting you my clothes.”

“Wait, what?”

His lips part just enough for his tongue to wet them, and your eyes follow in silence the gesture.

“I mean,” he starts, grabbing a towel, “You either come out with me from this bathroom or you don’t.”

He’s concise, yet harsh, words uttered with those soft lips yet are just as hot as a slap in your face. He’s telling the truth, but you soon find out you don’t really like it.

There’s something abrupt and severe in those chosen words, so well picked out because they’re not meant to hurt, but at the same time they’re so worrying. So terrible, practically as hard as a punch in your guts.

You either come out of the bathroom with him — you had been blowing minutes before, hadn’t you? Quite the intimacy, huh? — or you don’t. You stay behind. Different rooms, a whole door to separate you while he’s out with the people he cares about.

Seems legit, but. It’s unfair. You know Jimin isn’t choosing for you, but it’s obvious he’s inclined towards an option between the two, and you’re terrified to discover whether it’s his own desire pushing or what he thinks you want.

You, instead, push the thought aside when you nod, taking the towel from his hands and covering your body from this terrific half hook-up.

Because that’s what it is—that’s what you are.

It dawns upon you like a cold breeze hitting your face in full December, suddenly, and that’s when you realize winter is near. In your mind, this hooking up scenario seemed nicer. Sounded softer, a cute bubble moving slowly in the air.

But now—well, now the bubble has burst, and it feels wrong, and this unexpected wrong doesn’t feel right in your chest, and that’s the story of how you leave the house escaping from his window, in his clothes, with vision blurred by hot, stupid, idiotic tears.

/

Seulgi is the first one to notice, and, obviously, the first one to speak.

“Something’s been bothering you,” she says, head tilted in a way that’s supposed to be emphatic and worried but comes off as stiff and terrified. “Care to share?”

It’s just a wholesome amount of terrifying stuff, isn’t it? First the shower incident, now Seulgi’s ways not working around you anymore. What’s next? Avoiding Jimin for a whole week? Blocking his number? Losing the smart and beautiful title to your obnoxious brother?

You wouldn’t be surprised, really. Shit like this always happens at the same fucking time.

“It’s nothing. A stressful couple days, maybe? Or maybe I’m getting sick. There’s a guy always coughing during Physics. Maybe it’s his fault, who knows.”

Seulgi unlocks her phone, an unreadable gaze studying you. She gives up a second later, though, her weak maybe reaching your ears when you’ve already looked down on your book.

One simply cannot be annoyed because of a half hook up. Christ. You deserve better than that. You have some dignity left, tainted by everything that’s not Jimin and his harsh, stupid words.

So, your mind offers, while you squint your eyes, I suppose there’s nothing else you could do about it.

Nothing else besides acknowledging it and moving on.

Sounds like a plan. A fireproof plan, an escape plan, something detailed and precise. Planned to work out smoothly; planned to be executed without pain or mistakes.

/

It’s seven sharp when he knocks, takeout in his left hand, eyes bulging because it’s fucking freezing outside.

“It’s fucking freezing, what the fuck.” He says out loud, indeed. What he receives as an answer is the sound of your tongue clicking, the biggest amount of interest you’ve shown towards him the whole week. He would finally exhale, weren’t it for the fact that this is still pretty traumatic, because if there’s something he’s learned while orbiting around you, is that you’re constantly awake and aware of your surroundings. Your body language says that you pay attention to him, or Seulgi, or whoever you’re talking to. You follow the guy with your eyes, and you listen and nod in all the right places during a conversation, and you search for his dark gaze when he’s fucking you in the dimly lit bedroom, the bed creaking under your sweaty sex making. He’s not admitting it, he never will, and he’ll pretty much deny this to everyone who will ask but: there’s something hot about it. Something burning with the way your body reacts to him, when your eyes follow his actions, while your voice falters when he fucks you right, and it somehow pushes him to the edge every time. It’s the equivalent of Jungkook getting a boner in the gym while catching girls and boys drooling at him, except he’s talking about you and your crazy moans, your magic aura.

And yes, okay, fucking blame him, the realization alone made him jerk off in his room like a teen, twice, yesterday. That’s a fact. That’s barely a fact, alright? This is a truth; a statement soon forgot by the knowers. Obviously.

You look spent, he thinks, if he had to choose a word, dared by some arrogant deity to define the current mess you were. He glances at your barely done ponytail, at the tiredness written all over your face. He takes in your baggy sweater, your quiet beauty, knowing this is gonna be one of those nights you take a step back.

He doesn’t say anything though, instead he brushes the hair on your forehead, not even making contact with your skin.

You grab the bag from his hands, shivering instantly and hoping he doesn’t read the signs. They’re—they’re there, you know, you’re collecting them slowly, one after another, grabbing one and looking cautiously for the following one, hoping it’s not there. Hoping it doesn’t exist.

You exhale a sigh, disguising it as cough, a noise, something distracting Jimin from his silent staring, which is, funnily enough, loud and cacophonic.

“Hungry,” you state, the single word weighting more because of the soft pout on your lips. Jimin hates that he knows what it means, that it’s gonna be just the two of you this time, no chill whatsoever, no bodies touching and melting against each-other. He’s not complaining, what the fuck, he’s not an idiot. He’s not even mad, he’s just—accepting, on a level. This is the point of no return, he guesses, following you on the couch and admiring the laptop’s screen reflected on your face.

He doesn’t say anything when you search for Brooklyn 99 on Netflix, because he’d say everything, otherwise. He’d mumble something along the lines of this feels real, we could do this all the time, or, worst of all: I like this. I like you.

So, in order: he tugs at your sleeves and scoots you closer to him, and you say absolutely nothing at the gesture. He’s ecstatic on the inside, partially terrified, mostly delusional. He pretends he’s something more when you lean on him, the slightest pressure of your head on his shoulder. He cares zero fucks about the show when he’s breathing your scent in and feels how warm you are and shuts his eyelids down when he pictures you adoring him. Liking him. Liking him a whole lot more—

He’s fucked, he realises, hours later, when you doze off and he has to carry you to bed, something you claim of loathing, which—what on earth. It’s an unfathomable absurdity, that’s what it is.

“You can stay.”

His voice falters. “What?”

You cough, eyes closed as you speak sinful words: “The night, I mean. It’s fucking freezing outside.”

His lips form a small o, and it’s hot all of a sudden. “Alright,” he manages, staring at you on your bed, hands fidgety and heartbeat accelerated for some reason, “Make space for me. Hey, fucker. I’m serious. Let me in.”

You do.

(to be continued. ily)

[the-great-escapist99]

It’s All in the Past - Zuko x Reader

Part 26

Summary: University is starting in less than two weeks and Y/n is in need of a new place closer to campus. Thankfully, she learns an old friend is looking for a roommate. However, this old friend and her might have a lot more in common than she anticipated, which brings up quite a few complications...

Warnings: swearing, violence, mentions of rape

Word Count: 4k ish?

A/N: hey lovelies!! Another part of IAITP is finally here! I’m so sorry for the wait but I had a bit of writers block and this part was a doozy. I know this is technically a smau but this chapter is written out because I didn’t feel the smau format would do it justice. Anywho, I hope y’all enjoy and lmk what u think because u kno I’m a simp for your love and support🥺🥺💕💕

Zuko left the apartment at exactly 8:50pm. It was in his best interest not to take his car, and luckily for him it wouldn’t take long to walk to the location anyway. Merchant Street was about a 7 minute walk away and he knew exactly where to find the broken building; it was an old bank, abandoned about 30 years ago, although, he’s not sure why no one’s bought the land since then. He assumed the rendezvous point was the parking lot behind the building since it was secluded: perfect for an ambush.

Zuko knew this wasn’t a perfect plan... he knew that. But, he only had so many options, and right now this was the best one. Whoever had contacted him had information on him and that meant it was his problem to handle alone. He could understand why y/n was upset with him, and he knew she was only trying to help him, but he wouldn’t put her in a situation like this if he didn’t have to. If they were looking to hurt someone then it would only be him, and he was willing to go through with that if it meant keeping her out of it. Zuko knew what kinds of information they could have found, most of them he assumed were linked to his dad and the company; another reason why Azula would be the perfect person to contact if something went awry. He trusted his friends to keep an eye out for him; they were intelligent and resourceful and he knew they could handle themselves in this situation. He just hoped they would keep their promise and follow his instructions in a worst case scenario.

He came across Merchant Street and the building was in view. Here we go, he thought.

He wasn’t aware of the person trailing him.

***

The girls knew she was going after Zuko, but y/n didn’t tell Sokka or Aang. She couldn’t exactly trust them to keep their mouths shut if they knew she was leaving, or not to follow along as well, for that matter. Zuko was stubborn, of course, but she was too, and she wasn’t going to let him steal the title of being the strong, brave one of the group. That was her job! Toph could fight her on that title, sure, but she wouldn’t let Zuko have it, no sir! It was hers and that meant she had to follow him. Not because she cared about him obviously, it was about the glory! Okay, no it was because she cared about him. She’d admitted that to the girls and to him earlier anyway so she couldn’t lie to herself. She was worried for him.

Y/n crept out her window about a minute or two after Zuko had left, just to be sure he wouldn’t notice her. After that it was a trek to Merchant Street and to the broken building a few paces after. The night air was chilly so she was glad she’d grabbed her hoodie before climbing outside. It was October now, and even in the dying light she could see the trees start to change colours. It would have been beautiful under different circumstances. Maybe she’d ask Zuko to see it with her when this was all over.

The scenery reminded her a little of autumn with Zuko when they were kids. They’d spend the day with each other at school and then they’d go home and play games in y/n’s backyard. It was always at y/n’s house because Ursa never allowed them to play near her own. Y/n can understand why now, although she didn’t at the time; it’s probably better that she’d stayed away from Ozai as long as she did.

Zuko was a troublemaker when they were younger. But, there was one day in particular that she remembers where Zuko got himself into pretty deep shit, and he almost brought y/n down with him. The school bully had been messing around with the other kids more than usual that day. Usually, he didn’t bother with Zuko or her since Zuko was known for his fiery spirit and could easily take down anyone who tried to mess with him, and because y/n spent so much time with him no one dared to come for her out of fear of what Zuko might do. But, that day the bully was feeling particularly bold...

***

Zuko reached the back of the building. Across the lot he could make out four figures. As soon as they saw him approach they made their way over to meet him halfway. Once their faces became clearer, Zuko couldn’t believe what he was seeing; or rather who.

“Jet,” Zuko sneered.

“Hey pal. Long time no see.”

“What do you want?” Zuko eyed the other three cautiously. He wasn’t stupid, he knew Jet wouldn’t have brought backup if he wasn’t planning something. Though, Zuko was confident he could take them in a fight if need be.

“Touchy touchy, so eager to get to the point. That’s fine, I figured you would be,” Jet smirked. “Where’re your friends?”

“Not here.”

“Too bad. I was hoping I’d have an audience when I beat the shit out of you,” Zuko stiffened. “Well, not me exactly. My friends here were happy to take up the offer instead.”

“Why’s that? Scared I’ll break your nose a second time?”

At that, Jet growled. He looked like he was about ready to rush in a take a swing at Zuko, but stopped himself.

“Don’t you wanna know what I found?”

“I figured this meet up was more than just a friendly hello, so yeah,” Zuko never let his guard down as they spoke.

“It’s pretty well known that your dad went to prison, I’m not surprised about that. He was a bastard after all, seems to run in the family,” even though he hated his dad, the comment still made Zuko’s blood boil. There were plenty of people in his family who he loved and respected, and he wouldn’t tolerate insults toward them from anybody, let alone this asshole. “But, it looks like there was some pretty illegal shit that went down in the company before he left. The same company you recently took over, am I right?”

“Get to the point, Jet.”

“I don’t think the public would much appreciate it if they knew the kinds of things your company did while your dad was in charge.”

“Like you said, it was when my dad was in charge. Things are different now.”

“It doesn’t make any difference. People don’t care who was in charge when scandals happen, they just care that they happened, and they’ll blame you for it. It’ll ruin you, Zuko.”

“You’re insane.”

Jet laughed, “That’s true.”

“I’ll ask again, then: what do you want?”

“I want my pride back. That night you took y/n away from me hurt, pal. It’s your turn.”

***

Y/n reached the front of the broken building. She was so caught up in her thoughts she didn’t realize she was already there. The place already felt foreboding, and she was hoping whatever she saw behind the building wouldn’t scare her. Not that she was scared; in fact, she was gearing up to tackle anyone who would dare to hurt her man. Yes, her man. Y/n crept around the side of the building, making sure to keep her body pressed against the brick walls. She could hear the commotion before she saw it, and she poked her head around the corner to watch what was happening.

Zuko, in all his glory, was taking on three guys in a fight while a fourth stood back and watched. Most people didn’t know this about Zuko, but he’d been taking different forms of combat classes since he was little, they both had. The difference was that y/n was much more open about it. So, y/n wasn’t surprised to see Zuko handling the three men with ease, though she was still worried. One thing she had learned was that it didn’t matter how well trained you were... one slip up could be fatal. In this case, she was more angry with him than anything else. She knew it would be dangerous and she had told him that, but he didn’t listen. She just wished she had gotten here earlier so she could understand what their motive was. That’s when she began to analyze who exactly these people were to Zuko, but she immediately regretted that decision when she really looked at the face of the fourth person.

Her heart stopped and her blood ran cold when she recognized him. It was Jet. That slimy bastard was the one behind this whole thing. Of course he was! Zuko must have humiliated Jet more than he let on that night, and while that put a bit of a smile on her face, she wasn’t any more relieved about the situation. Then, her heart stopped a second time, but for a different reason.

Zuko had made a mistake.

A small stone had caught underneath Zuko’s shoe in the darkening space making him stumble just slightly, but it was enough for the other three men to take the advantage. Jet laughed loudly as his ‘friends’ began to pummel Zuko. There was a sickening gleam in his eyes and y/n almost panicked remembering it as the same look he gave her the night of his party. Zuko fell harshly to the ground as the largest of the three men struck him on the side of the head.

No, she thought, fuck fuck fuck.

“Hey!” Y/n yelled running out of her place behind the wall of the building and into the open parking lot. “Stop it!” The men stopped their assault momentarily.

“I thought you’d said none of your friends were coming, Zuko,” Jet sneered. “I’m not mad about this particular friend showing up, though. Makes things more exciting, if you know what I mean.”

Zuko didn’t move much from his position on the ground, but he flicked his eyes up to y/n’s own when he’d heard her voice. At first, there was anger in his expression, and honestly y/n wasn’t surprised to see that, but slowly it turned to worry and regret.

“Y/n what are you doing?!” Zuko’s voice gave a hint of something almost desperate, like he wanted her to leave, but she wouldn’t give him that satisfaction. Even now, she was looking for ways to frustrate the shit out of him; this seemed like the perfect opportunity!

“Well, listen, I know you said not to come with, but honestly it was a little boring without you at home so... here I am!” She gave him a half smirk, Zuko just glared back. “Besides, if I’d known it was Jet who called you here I definitely wouldn’t have let you go by yourself.”

“Trust me, if I’d known it was Jet I wouldn’t have come myself at all.”

“Awe sugar,” Jet interrupted then, directing his words toward y/n, “I love that you’re still thinking about me. Although, I’m a little hurt you chose Zuko here over me, especially considering his history.”

“I told you! I wasn’t even in charge at the ti- argh!” Zuko’s sentence was cut off by a boot to his chest. He began coughing harshly. Y/n looked menacingly at the man responsible, striding forward a few steps.

“I told you to stop,” she growled.

“Or what? What are you gonna do, huh?” the man spoke to her with a chuckle. He was quite large, broad in the shoulders, and his voice was deep. Y/n wasn’t very intimidated, if she was being honest. She was more focused on Jet than the other three; he was unpredictable.

“I don’t think you wanna find out what I’m gonna do, so I’ll tell you one last time to lay off!”

The man drew his head back in a loud laugh, his friends snickering behind him.

“Jet, do you believe this bitch?” facing Jet, who didn’t speak, but stared blankly at y/n. The man then turned back to face her himself. “Your boyfriend didn’t stand a chance against us, what makes you think you could do anything?”

Y/n didn’t say anything further to the man. She stared him down, but with a relaxed form. This somehow made him incredibly angry. With one last shove to Zuko’s side, he stalked over to y/n with his chest puffed out. Still, y/n didn’t flinch or move from her position. When he was within arms distance he reached out to grab her, only for y/n to move out of the way just slightly, taking his outstretched arm and tossing him over her shoulder. Although he was much larger than she was, it wasn’t hard to shift herself into a position where he would be at her mercy. As his body flung forward and crashed onto the ground, he stared up at her in shock. He only registered his pain when she took his arm and yanked it to the side. At this point, the other two men had taken their focus off of Zuko to help their struggling comrade. Y/n took care of them just as easily.

Although Zuko had seen y/n fight before, he didn’t realize how much she’d improved since then. It was like watching a dance; a beautifully coordinated and mesmerizing dance. Her movements flowing and graceful, despite the fact that she was taking on three men twice her size. But, Zuko still felt the need to protect her with everything he had, even if she could take these men with her eyes closed. So, he tried to stand. The first thing he noticed was the pain in his chest like a sharp knife was gnawing at his insides; he must have broken a rib or two. Not the first time it’s happened, so Zuko shook off his discomfort and deemed it unimportant for the time being. His priority was y/n.

The second thing he noticed was the pounding in his head once he got himself upright. This made it difficult for him to focus properly, which is why when a figure came up from behind him he wasn’t quick enough to react. Jet pushed Zuko back down to the ground, Zuko landing flat on his stomach, his face pressed into the cement. Jet’s foot landed squarely on Zuko’s back, eliciting a painful groan from the pressure put on his ribs. His foot stayed there, pinning Zuko to the ground and ever so slightly increasing the pressure to his chest. At some point the pressure became too much and Zuko cried out unintentionally.

Y/n whipped her head around at the sound of Zuko’s cry. The fight was basically over and it didn’t seem like these men had much else to offer her, so she knew she could take her eyes off of them for now to focus on the real problem: Jet. As it so happened, he was the cause of Zuko’s shout, his foot pressed into the center of his back keeping him pinned to the rock-hard ground.

“Jet, get off him. Now.”

“Or what, sugar-tits? You gonna punish me?”

Zuko squirmed underneath Jet’s hold, fury emitting from him at the way Jet was speaking to y/n. He would not hesitate to beat the man again if he got the chance. Y/n just rolled her eyes, she knew what Jet was trying to do.

“You sure you wanna try that? Did you even see what I just did to your friends?”

As if in response, the three men groaned from the ground behind her.

“You know,” Jet spoke, “you’re a lot more capable of handling yourself than I thought you’d be. Guess it was a good thing I’d made sure you had a little extra to drink that night. Or maybe not. Could’a been more exciting if I didn’t.”

“Shut up!” Y/n screamed, her fists clenched at her sides. She didn’t want to react, she knew Jet was trying to rile her up so she couldn’t think as clearly. But, he’d hit a nerve bringing up the night he’d almost raped her. It was a topic she was trying to avoid at this moment.

“Awe. Sorry, we’re a little touchy on that subject, huh?”

“I said SHUT UP!”

Y/n went to move toward Jet, ready for a fight, but he had other plans. His foot pressed harder into Zuko’s back, making him cry out a second time, his fingernails scraping into the ground from the pain. Y/n stopped abruptly, her eyes widening at Zuko’s slight whimper.

“Okay, okay, stop. Please. Just-“ she hesitated for a second. “What do you want?”

Jet smiled. “It’s funny since I didn’t really expect you to show up. But since you’re here now, I guess it means something. This prick isn’t worth your time, y/n. He’s weak and he doesn’t deserve you. Why don’t you come back to me? I can take care of you, we can start over. And, I’d never hurt you, not like he has.”

Y/n stopped short at his last comment. How did he know about their past? How did he know Zuko had hurt her before? Jet must have noticed her expression because he continued...

“I know a lot about Zuko here, especially about the things he’s done to people he supposedly ‘loves’. There’s a lot he hasn’t told you. His sister isn’t the only one capable of doing a little research.” At that, he glared down at Zuko, increasing the pressure to his back ever so slightly.

Zuko gasped. So, he knew. He knew about everything; about how he’d asked Azula to look into his history, about his shared past with y/n... everything.

“I’m sorry about what I did to you earlier. But, I’m willing to make it up to you if you come back to me,” Jet spoke calmly to y/n. It was almost too much. Y/n looked down at her feet, unsure of how to go on. Zuko was only watching her with pleading eyes, hoping to god she wouldn’t believe what Jet was telling her.

After a brief moment, y/n looked up determined. She’d made up her mind. She walked calmly toward the two, stopping only inches away and looked straight into Jet’s eyes. Then, she offered her hand to him.

“You’re right Jet. I’ll give you another chance.”

Zuko’s heart sunk. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Just like that she’d left him to suffer at her feet. He was heartbroken, yes, but he supposed he deserved it. It wasn’t like he expected this to last - nothing ever did. He had hurt her too much to ever deserve her love, and y/n knew that. She could never be with him after everything he had done to her. She deserved better. She deserved someone who wasn’t weak like him, someone who could protect her. Zuko was a failure, and he should have known y/n could never love someone like him. His own father didn’t.

Jet smiled broadly, taking his foot off of Zuko’s back and grasping y/n outstretched hand. He walked a couple steps toward her, wrapping his arms around her waist, one hand travelling towards her ass.

“I knew you’d make the right choice, baby. You’re mine.”

Y/n looked him in the eyes, a small smile gracing her lips. Just as Jet was about to lean down for a kiss, y/n took that moment to strike, ramming her knee into Jet’s groin. He doubled over, wheezing, giving y/n the chance to strike his head, making him drop to the ground, his nose spurting blood down to his chin. Zuko was shocked, but immensely relieved. He felt like he could breathe again as y/n rushed over to his side.

“Are you alright? Where does it hurt?” She began asking him once she’d knelt by his side. Zuko just lay there captivated by her.

“You didn’t go with him,” he said finally.

“What? No, of course not! Zuko, I would never choose him over you... did you think I would?” She asked sadly.

“Well... yeah. I mean, kinda? I don’t know, I-“

“Zuko,” she interrupted him, “Look at me. I will always choose you. You’re important to me.”

Zuko watched her as she helped him to get on his feet, a small smile creeping onto his face. He was important to her.

The moment was interrupted by a glint in the corner of his eye just behind y/n. Without thinking, Zuko rushed to pull her behind him, shielding her from the impact of the knife which had just imbedded itself into his shoulder. Zuko yelled in pain, gripping onto y/n’s shirt while blood flowed freely down his back. Y/n was screaming. Jet backed away slowly, after having recovered from y/n’s attack and retaliating with the pocketknife he kept hidden in his shoe. He hadn’t meant for it to hit Zuko, and frankly he was surprised when it did, not fully registering the weight of his actions. He immediately turned and ran in the opposite direction leaving his comrades, as well as y/n and Zuko, on their own.

“Zuko,” y/n cried, “hey, look at me. Zuko, please-“

“Y/n, I’m fine,” Zuko forced out. “Just give me a second.”

“You’re not fine! You-“

“There they are! Guys over here!” A voice shouted suddenly. It was Sokka.

Behind Sokka was the whole group: Aang, Katara, Suki, and Toph. They all rushed to the couple, at which point Zuko began leaning heavily on y/n for support. Y/n immediately lowered the both of them to the ground, looking to her friends in desperation and placing her palm firmly over the wound. Zuko hissed. She maneuvered him into a position where his uninjured shoulder was leaning against her while they both sat on the pavement.

“What happened?” Katara questioned once they were close enough to see the damage.

Y/n looked to Zuko’s injury with regret, “Jet happened.”

“What?!” Toph yelled from behind the group.

“Guys?” Zuko spoke roughly, “What the hell? I thought I told you all not to come!”

“Zuko, I swear to god, now is not the time for this,” y/n looked to him deeply unimpressed. He glared back at her.

“So,” Suki jumped in, “is someone gonna call an ambulance or...? You know, for Zuko’s shoulder?”

“Wait, what’s wrong with his shoulder?” Toph asked, confused.

“It’s got a fucking hole in it,” Sokka put it frankly.

“What the fuck, Zuko?!”

“It’s not that bad! Seriously, it’s just my shoulder, I’ll live,” he glared at them, not wanting to make a big deal of the situation.

“You need stitches,” Katara glared back. “It won’t heal properly if you leave it.”

“Katara’s in nursing, you gotta trust her, Zuko,” Aang spoke for the first time since getting there.

Zuko looked to the ground, as if it would give him an answer to his problems. He never liked the hospital. It brought back too many memories from when he was younger. Then again, his friends were right. He needed proper care, and they weren’t even aware of the possible fractures to his rib cage.

“Fine,” Zuko relented. “But, you’re not calling an ambulance. We can just drive there.”

“Zuko-“

“Y/n, I’m serious. I just need something to bandage it and I’ll be fine until we get there.”

She said nothing, but nodded reluctantly. She looked to the rest of the group and they all seemed to be in agreement: they would drive. Y/n moved to stand, careful not to move Zuko’s shoulder the wrong way, and helped him to his feet as well. Once standing, Zuko seemed to sway a bit so y/n put her arm around his waist to steady him. She looked to him concerned, his eyes seemed unfocused and all his concentration went to making sure he didn’t fall over. Obviously, he was in a worse state than he was letting on, but he’d never tell them that. Instead, he leaned slightly onto y/n as they took a few steps forward. About a five steps in, however, his knees buckled and y/n had to jump in to catch him before he hit the ground.

“Zuko!” Y/n screeched. Sokka jumped in to help as y/n held Zuko in her arms. His eyes were shut tight, fists trembling. “Damnit, I knew it!”

“I’m fin-“

“Don’t.”

Y/n was at the end of her rope. She turned determinedly to the rest of the group, but before she could get a word out she realized she didn’t have to say much for them to get the message. Sokka and Suki were already running to grab Sokka’s car that was parked just down the road while Katara, Aang, and Toph helped in making a makeshift bandage for Zuko’s shoulder. Y/n turned back to him. His eyes were drifting and he felt limp in her hold. So much for being fine, she thought. In reality she was freaking out. She didn’t know what else to do, she wasn’t a doctor!

“Zuko...” she spoke softly but stern, cradling his cheek in her palm. He drifted his focus to her eyes, searching them, but it seemed like he was struggling. “You gotta keep your eyes open for me, ‘kay?”

“Y/n,” his words were almost like a whisper, “sorry...”

“Hey, no, don’t do that. This isn’t your fault.”

He stared into her eyes, contemplating on something. Then he spoke.

“You’re important to me too...”

“I’m- what do you mean?”

“Earlier you said I was important to you... you’re important to me too.”

He lightly grasped the hand cupping his face in his own, squeezing gently in hopes of conveying what he meant. Y/n got the message loud and clear.

“Zuko-“

“Y/n I need you to lift him up a bit for me while I wrap his shoulder,” Katara chimed in, unintentionally breaking their moment. Y/n did as she was told, lifting Zuko as much as she could while Katara fit the makeshift bandage around his shoulder and torso. Zuko groaned lightly in pain, his features twisted to try and hide how much it really hurt. Y/n did everything she could to help, even if it wasn’t much. Soon, Sokka pulled the car up next to them, Suki in the passenger seat.

“We won’t be able to fit everyone, so you guys are gonna have to decide who’s going first and I’ll pick the others up later,” Sokka stated.

“Y/n,” Aang turned to her, “you should be the one to go with him. I can stay behind.”

“I’ll stay too,” Toph said. “Katara should be in the car with you guys since she’s got the most experience medical-wise.”

Everyone nodded, Aang helping to lift Zuko into the back seat while y/n climbed in after, holding his body as close to hers as she possibly could. Katara got in on the other side of the car and they were off. Y/n never let go of Zuko the whole car ride, thinking of what he’d said to her just before. Of course he was important to her, she loved him and she would do anything for him.

Wait.

She loved him.

Oh god.

They pulled up to the emergency room, rushing to get Zuko help, and the whole way, from the car, to finding help, and finally to the whole gang sitting in the guest area waiting for some sort of update on Zuko’s condition, all she could think about was that... she loved him.

***

AHH Okok so finally finished and I’m sorry if the chapter kinda dropped off at the end🤭😬😬 but I hope you guys enjoyed, I know it’s been a whole long ass time so this was something I was looking forward too! Again, love you guys and I’ll see you at the next chapter💕✨💖🥰

Part 25 | Part 27

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[iraacundus]

Butterfly Lies - TWO

previous ✭ CHAPTER 2 ✭ next ✭ masterlist

mafialeader kun x reader

words: 4k

genre: fluff, smut (in later chapters), angst

warnings: injury, weapons, swearing

money makes people do strange things, is what people would say, it can even motivate them to murder. kun didn’t have people killed for the money, he had them killed for the power, he was a monster among men, is what people would say. in reality kun had only ever been motivated by one thing, his love for you

✭  ✭  ✭  ✭  ✭

You sat in the university lecture, not really listening, instead using all your energy to push Kun and the gun to the back of your mind. You didn’t really have to listen anyway; you had watched the lecture from last year online before you had even gotten there. You were a model student.

Your friend Yuyan nudged you, flicking her head towards a group of boys sitting in front of you.

“Is he new?” she asked, “I think I would have noticed if such a good-looking guy was on our course.”

“Which one do you mean?” you queried, no idea who she was referencing.

“There third on the left, brown hair, glasses,”

You pulled your own reading glasses down slightly so you could look over them to see who she was talking about.

You spotted him and for a moment felt slightly annoyed before a small smirk settled on your face. You had seen that guy before, standing behind Ten at the apartment, making a phone call to Kun.

“I think he has always been in our class,” you said to her, lying through your teeth. You didn’t know whether to continue to be annoyed or become reassured at the sight of Xiaojun sitting in your history of economics lecture. Either way you thought it was best to keep his identity somewhat secret.

You could have chosen to believe it was a coincidence, that Xiaojun really had just transferred to your class. Somehow you didn’t think he looked old enough to be in a final year class though. He was evidently not as old as you.

Therefore, you chose to be suspicious.

Kun had clearly sent him after your gun freak out. You were somewhat insulted that he thought you needed a babysitter, but you couldn’t be annoyed at him because you knew Kun always acted with good intentions.

As the lecturer droned on about the economic plans the Chinese government had after the war, you began to formulate your own plan.

If Kun wanted to play the game where he essentially sent someone to spy on you for what he considered your own safety, you were going to use it to your own advantage.

You hadn’t wanted to ask Kun questions because it was clearly uncomfortable for him. However, you had no qualms about trying to get the answers to those same questions out of Xiaojun. You just had to somehow befriend him first.

The difficulty of that task depended on two things. The first one being how loyal he was to Kun. You had to guess pretty loyal if Kun trusted him to make sure you didn’t get attacked or report him to the police. The second was if Kun had specifically instructed him to say nothing to you.

If that was the case, you had about zero chance of getting through to him. You had to hope the only thing Kun had banned them from was letting you into the apartment.

As soon as the lecturer began to wrap up you jumped out of your seat and half ran after Xiaojun who had left early, seemingly in the hope you wouldn’t have spotted him.

When it became very apparent you were jogging after him Xiaojun stopped and let you catch up with him. At the same time Yuyan texted you asking if you knew the cute boy and why you ran after him. A text which you sadly had to ignore.

“Hey, Xiaojun right? You were in the apartment behind Ten that day, right?” you asked, knowing the answer, but curious to see if he would try and lie.

“How did you even see me?” he asked, fixing the position of his glasses slightly.

“Good eyesight, well only the long-distance aspect of it but still,” you explained taking your own glasses off, realising you couldn’t see him properly with them on as you were no longer meant to be reading.

Xiaojun was clearly nervous, he was shifting his weight from foot to foot awkwardly, playing with the adjustment strap on his backpack.

“I didn’t know you were an economics student?” you said, smiling at him slightly deviously which only made him appear more awkward and maybe slightly fearful. Maybe he thought that friends of gang leaders were all worth fearing. You didn’t think that would have been an unfair conclusion to draw even if it didn’t apply to you.

Xiaojun looked down at his watch.

“Sorry, I’m busy right now, I have something I can’t be late for, can we chat some other time?” he said. You shook your head, linking your arm with his.

“That is not going to work as an escape ploy, instead I think we should go for coffee, any friend of Kun’s is a friend of mine.”

You began to walk him toward the nearest coffee shop to the university campus. He didn’t protest or struggle and seeing as you could tell he would have defiantly won in a fight; you took it as a sign he was willing to go along with whatever you were doing.

“How did you know I would know you?” Xiaojun asked, “Like that we knew what you looked like not just your name?”

You didn’t really know why you had assumed that. You began to laugh to yourself imagining a meeting with all these tough guys in which Kun just stood at the front with an A4 picture of your face.

Something along those lines must have occurred seeing as Xiaojun did know your face when he saw you. Still you didn’t answer his question. As you opened the door of the coffee shop and pulled him inside you changed the topic.

“What do you want? I’ll pay seeing as I dragged you here,” you said, Xiaojun didn’t bother to argue with you and just told you the one he wanted.

You paid and after an uncomfortable silence between the two of you as you waited for them to be made, the barista handed you the drinks.

You sat down in a chair opposite him and drank your coffee for a moment, waiting to see if he would say anything first, to judge how chatty he was.

Sadly, he didn’t say anything and didn’t seem like the chatty type which wasn’t the greatest start to your plan.

“What’s your job then?” you asked him, placing your drink back town on the table. Xiaojun looked in thought and for a moment you wondered if he would even answer at all, or if he just planned to sit with you silently.

“Management,” he replied, clearly deciding that was an appropriate response.

“Most managers don’t stalk their bosses’ friends at their university,” you raised one eyebrow slightly, “what’s your real job?”

When he didn’t reply and just began to fiddle nervously, you realised you were being kind of harsh on him, it must have been hard for him to work out what he could say and what he couldn’t,

“I’m just being annoying, I’m sorry.”

Xiaojun shrugged.

“I wouldn’t ‘stalk’ you as your calling it, if I had the choice, nor is it my usual job. It’s a personal favour I’m doing for your rather scary friend Kun.”

You chuckled slightly at his eventual response. You couldn’t believe that people were scared of Kun. While the situation frightened you slightly, you had never been scared of Kun, he was too sweet a person for that.

“In what way is Kun scary?” you asked, unbelievably curious about how he acted around the rest of the people in his life, the people who had the same kind of job he did.

“You are literally the only person he is actually nice to apart from Ten, well at least I assume. He is big on rules and doing well and when you fuck up, he is mad scary man. I mean he’s the boss that’s how he has to be to succeed in our business. He is a cold man with big plans, not the Easter bunny,” Xiaojun explained.

You struggled to imagine any other version of Kun than the kind-hearted one you knew who would watch cartoons with you and got sprinkles on his ice cream.

“He’s a good guy,” you said, for some reason feeling the sudden need to defend him, you for some reason wished that Xiaojun saw Kun the way you did.

“I never said I thought he wasn’t. Doesn’t make him not terrifying.”

Xiao Jun’s phone started to ring, the shrill tone cutting through the pause in conversation. You could see Kun was the caller ID.

“Sorry, I’ve got to take this,” Xiaojun said, standing up and walking a few meters away.

As soon as the call had started you could see that whatever Kun was saying wasn’t good. You heard Xiaojun swear loudly enough that other people looked around. You stood up and ushered him out the door, still on the phone, mouthing sorry to the people in the coffee shop.

“I will come right now, yes she is literally standing right behind me,” Xiaojun said, hanging up the phone by pressing the screen rather aggressively.

“What’s wrong, is Kun okay?” you asked him. He just shook his head.

“What do you mean no, is he in the hospital or something, what happened?” You started to panic for approximately the fourth time that week. Cool and collected was not your prerogative.

“In our line of work, we never go to the hospital, it’s not really an option, the hospital asks questions we cannot answer without being arrested…”

You don’t know whether he just didn’t have time to deal with your questions or if he had taken pity on the worried expression on your face, but he gave in.

“Kun has been stabbed, they’re at the office, it’s like a four-minute run from here, how good at running are you?” He said the words all seeming to explode out of his mouth at once.

Xiaojun didn’t wait for an answer, he just took off running towards the centre of town.

You were frozen for a few seconds. Kun had been stabbed and yet he wasn’t going to the hospital. If you hadn’t been so worried you really would have been inclined to kill him.

You realised that Xiaojun was fast, after only a few seconds he was already far ahead so you forced your body to run after him despite the shock.

After a few minutes you saw him run into the entrance of a building that said Qian Industries on the side. Which in itself was insane to you, but you didn’t have time to be surprised that Kun owned a building.

Thankfully Xiaojun had waited briefly for you inside so you didn’t have to guess which floor to go to in the lift. Xiaojun hurried you in and pressed the button for the fourteenth flour.

The short time in the lift gave you a second to think that you hadn’t yet had and for whatever reason tears began to well up in your eyes.

“Is he going to die?” you asked, looking up at Xiaojun, who was realising that had no idea how to comfort a crying girl in a lift.

“He will be fine, just try to look less upset, that will probably help,” he said, pushing you out of the lift when the doors opened as you hadn’t moved by yourself. He grabbed a tissue from a box that had been in the corridor and handed it to you, “just try and pull it together slightly before you come in, crying really won’t be helpful, it’s the second door on the left,” Xiaojun said, “Sorry I don’t mean to sound so harsh,” he added.

He walked away into the office where a heated argument was clearly occurring between a group of people.

You used the tissue to wipe your face. Xiaojun was right, if Kun saw you crying he would probably be concerned, and it wasn’t you he needed to be concerned about. You had to somehow convince him to go to a hospital.

You threw the tissue in the nearest bin and took a deep breath before pushing down the handle to the office and opening the door.

You were immediately met with the sight of Kun stitching up a rather large wound on his arm through gritted teeth. Luckily for you, you had never been squeamish. Next to him Ten was attempting to reset some guys nose. From the other man shouting at him you deciphered the guy with the broken nose was named Yangyang.

“Well shit,” was all you managed to say, causing them to all stop shouting at one and other and look over. Xiaojun who had just sat down on the desk could do nothing but put his head in his hands at the situation.

“y/n!” Kun said out of surprise, before groaning, his stitch had missed due to the distraction of your entrance. You walked straight over to him and crouched down in front of where he was sitting.

“You should really go to a hospital or at least get a doctor,” you said to him, struggling to see him when he was in so much pain. Kun just shook his head.

“That is not a viable option, I would die before I went to the hospital, luckily I was only stabbed in the arm, so I won’t be dying today.”

“I am so mad at you Kun,” you said, when really you were just upset that he was taking such a serious injury so nonchalantly.

“You can’t be mad at me, I’m injured,” he joked, flashing a smile at you before finishing the last stich, tying the thread and cutting it, “see… I’m fine now.”

He was right you couldn’t be mad at him.

“If I hug you in front of your associates,” you tried to think of the best way to refer to his fellow gang members, “would that be embarrassing for you,” you said, quietly enough that the associates as you were calling them, couldn’t hear over their yelling

“I’m the boss, I can do what I want,” he replied. With the go ahead, you carefully wrapped your arms around him, taking special attention not to touch his arm,

“Do you need pain killers or something, I don’t think the ibuprofen in my bag will help you much though?”

“You’re the only comfort I need,” he joked. You pulled away your lips settling into a firm line.

“While that would be a good line at any other time I admit, be serious, I’m worried about you.”

You crouched back down in front of him.

“Worry not, my work often involves illegal drugs and so always have a supply of anything I could ever need, in this case, local anaesthetic, I can barely feel my arm.”

You got up and went to the water machine you had spotted on the other side of the office and filled up a cup with water before bringing it back. Trying to do something to help.

“Drink,” you encouraged, handing the water to Kun, he smiled, taking a sip, “then talk… how the hell did you get stabbed Kun? You said there was nothing to worry about, that you could protect yourself.”

“Can we talk later?” he asked. You nodded understanding he had stuff to deal with.

“Stop shouting Lucas!” He called, focusing his attention to the chaos unfolding in the office. You stood up from where you were crouched and went to lean against the desk next to Xiaojun.

He was tapping a beat lightly on the counter, clearly not very invested in what was going on now he had ascertained that no one was going to die.

He had a wry smile on his face.

“I have never seen Kun smile, not in the three years I have known him, not before you talked to him just now,” he said, “are you magic, have you placed him under a spell or something?”

You felt like that was somehow an insult, but you laughed anyway in response.

“Not magic no, just an old friend of his.”

“So, you are seriously not dating? Like he clearly loves you, bro”

“We are not close enough friends for this conversation … bro,” you replied. Xiaojun didn’t seem to care, he just went back to tapping the table.

You turned your own attention to Kun sorting out the mess in front of him. He had managed to get them to stop arguing and listen to him straight away. Even if they found him scary you could tell they respected him more so than anything else.

You felt a weird sense of pride rise in your chest. Kun may not have been the same boy you had met at fifteen, but he had made something of his life. His line of work may have been illegal, but he had people who respected him and with a building this big, you figured he had to have been good at his job.

“If I hadn’t shown up in time, you and five other guys would have died Yangyang, you understand that.” Kun said to him. The boy named Yangyang nodded and hung his head slightly, his newly reset nose starting to bruise horribly.

So Kun had been protecting him? He had clearly gotten him out of trouble, even as a gang member he was a good guy.

“I would show up to save any of you, you all know that, but I shouldn’t have too, Yangyang you’re clearly too young for this position so you are gonna have to go back to working for Ten. I would shout at you more, but I think Lucas has done that for me, you should all just go home, get some rest. I’ll contact you sometime later this week,” he said sitting down in the chair behind the desk where you were leaning.

They all got up and walked out as soon as he asked them too. Yangyang leaving last, waiting at the door last, to personally thank Kun, who just told him to get some sleep.

You turned around moving a few items before climbing up and sitting cross legged on the desk facing Kun once again.

“So, you own a building these days Qian Kun? That’s slightly impressive I will give it too you,” you fiddled with the items on the desk, all the pens and all the paper with the name Qian Industries at the top, “yet somehow I don’t believe this is an engineering company.”

You were filled with nervous energy, unable to sit still so you began to draw a star on your hand slowly.

“We are good at forging documents what can I say,” Kun replied, eyes focused on where you were drawing on your hand, “I’m sorry I worried you,” he said, his gaze lifting up to look you in the eyes.

You stopped drawing.

“Only you are considerate enough to apologise for getting stabbed. I heard that you only were in that situation to help that kid. I might not love what you do but as I said, I won’t deny that you’re not impressive.”

Kun paused for a moment, searching through some of the papers on the desk before handing you and article he had printed out from the country’s biggest newspaper.

It referred to the unknown leader of Gang V, calling him a monster who killed people not for the money, but to make himself feel powerful. The article attributed many crimes to Kun, some that couldn’t ever have been him, as far as you knew Kun had never been to Sao Paulo.

“I’m never going to think you’re a bad person Kun, those writers don’t know anything about you, I’ve known you for over six years.”

“I am responsible for ordering most of the crimes on there to happen, apart from the ones in Sao Paulo, that makes no sense, I’ve never left the country.”

Which just confirmed that you knew him better than anyone.

“You also helped a random girl you met on the street find her way home and stood up for her against dickhead boys and watched Shrek with her more times than you can count. People aren’t just one thing.”

Kun moved his face closer to yours.

“That’s because I really, really like you, the moment I saw you I thought you were the most mesmerising girl in the world.”

You weren’t the biggest fan of when he said super cheesy things and couldn’t help making a slight face. Kun wasn’t offended by it, he knew you well enough to know it was the concept of being cheesy you objected too, not him specifically.

“You can see it from here,” he said, getting up and walking over to the floor to ceiling glass window. You followed him to see what he meant, “right there,” his finger pressed on the glass towards a street with badly working streetlamps.

“What is it?”

“The street where we first met,” he answered, before tucking a lose strand of hair behind your ear.

His eyes were fixed on yours, neither of you able to look away.

“Do I really have no chance? If it makes you uncomfortable, I will stop, we can just be best friends, I won’t flirt with you anymore. I just need you to tell me, that I have absolutely no chance of ever winning your affection.”

You paused for a second, staring back out at the street remembering the first day you met, how cute he was. The smartest choice would be to tell him to give up, but the thought of that made your heart ache. Equally you couldn’t say what he wanted to hear. You knew it was selfish of you really.

“It’s not that you have no chance,” you began, taking a moment to breath and compose yourself when you felt Kun’s fingers brush lightly against your own, his pinkie playing with yours.

His face looked so relieved when he heard your words.

“Then what, and please don’t say you won’t risk your friendship with me because I know that’s not the only reason.”

“Before… I knew what I know now, the distance between us due to what I didn’t know did mean that I thought it was best not to risk that. I could never have dated you not knowing a whole side of your life. I didn’t want to risk finding out though or asking you and you not wanting to tell me and that being an issue, its complicated, I don’t really understand myself fully my reasons.”

“And now?” he argued you to continue, you could almost hear his heart beating.

“You have turned out to be a powerful guy who most likely has powerful enemies. If you have a girlfriend then you have a weakness that those enemies will exploit, I’m not going to put either of us at risk like that.”

You could tell Kun wanted to argue with you so badly and tell you how stupid of a reason he thought that was. Poke holes in the argument you had given until you had no choice but to give in. He didn’t do that though; he was far to kind.

You were just thankful he didn’t comeback with some rather cheesy line about you being his weakness because you don’t think you could have handled that without throwing something at him.

“But I still have a chance?” he asked, his fingers still touching yours. You nodded.

“Then that’s good enough for me.”

You offered to drive him home because of his hurt arm, forgetting you didn’t have a driver’s licence or a car. When Kun reminded of that you settled on calling him a taxi instead. You wanted to go with him, to make sure he was okay, but you knew it was important for you both to have time apart, to process the nights events.

You caught the nearest bus back to your flat, drawing a star in the condensation of the window as you thought about your own words.

You were afraid to become Kun’s weakness, that’s why you somewhat distanced yourself from him by refusing to give into his charms and love him in that way.

Roads at night seem to lead to nowhere when you can’t see what comes beyond through the darkness. You were determined that you and Kun wouldn’t lead to nowhere, because the thought of him moving on from you was such a horrible one. So, you decided to do whatever you had to do, to become Kun’s strength instead of his weakness.

[ethereallchan]

A game we play - Han Jisung

Genre: Angst, fluff, College!au;enemy (or rivals) to lovers. not really a slow burn, but not that fast either. 

Pairing: Han Jisung x fem!reader feat best friend!Minho and Cousin/roommate!Changbin 

Word count: 16.4k 

Warning: Vivid depiction of one’s fear towards rain, language. 

Han Jisung hates you and the feeling is mutual. So when Minho offers both of his best friends to play a game, neither of them knows what exactly lies beneath his actual intention because love and hate is simply both sides of a coin that he easily flips.

The train abruptly stopped in its track, prompting out a curse from your mouth. Your footing almost lost its balance but a quick reflect of your hand to the seat protected you from planting your face to the train’s floor and saved your dignity. The action earned you a couple of stares from the old couple that was seated on where your hand has held the grab. There wasn’t even any ounce of yourself that cared as your focus was entirely on the watch encircling your wrist, showing that you might’ve been late for your daily run to the coffee shop.

You were indeed, late. Your frowned lips turn into a scowl as you opened up the latest text  that Jisung has sent you. A picture of his hand holding a coffee cup with the background of your uni, the text read out, ‘guess who’s gonna give Minho his morning drink, alone?’

When you furiously texted him as how he was being so unfair because he lived in a walking distance to the uni while you had to take the train to even get to the nearest station of it, a speaker inside the train beeped. Your finger was just finished at pressing send when the notification came out.

“Good morning passengers, we regret to inform that there will be a slight delay to our arrival as–”

You didn’t even bother listening. Another text is typed out from your phone, informing your other friend that you would be late to your first class. There was a slight pause before you suspected that your other friend was probably already seated on the your class near Jisung and your suspicion was proven true as another text was sent to you from the man himself.

Fingers hovering on the notification, you heaved a breath before mentally preparing yourself to open it.

‘boohoo who’s late and not getting a stamp today????’ was the text with a picture of a stamped paper.

’Shut up you prick’

'A prick who’s one stamp richer than you so who’s the real winner here ;)’ the image of him smirking while typing the text was projected in your mind and there was nothing that you wanted in this world than to wipe that look in his face as soon as you could meet him.

But for now, your plotted revenge needs to be refrained as you stuck inside the stagnant train.

[]

When your professor has told you to make any kind of dance project in pairs, your mind has already decided on one person and one person only. Lee Minho was the prodigy when it comes to dancing, the said person was notoriously famous over getting inside the campus with nothing but his awards from dancing alone. Snatching a chance of having a duet with him meant that snatching an absolute 'A’ along with a guarantee of passing the class. Only fools could turned down the opportunity and you weren’t dumb. Minho was also one of your close friends so it would be an advantage for you to ask him to be your partner. Based on your latest meetings with him, you were positive that he was going to ask you the same thing.

Or so you thought.

By the time the bell rang, the conference hall has erupted into balls of words. Conversations were exchanged and cheers were easily thrown into the air. However, you stayed still on your chair and tidied up your belongings, not moving until most of the class has already exited the hall.

Slowly you made your way to Minho’s chair, his was five chairs on your right and you found that a small crowd has already gathered. There was no choice that he would be a top candidate to be picked, but you could hear his polite refusal to some people and it lit up a small fire of pride within yourself.

The crowd dissipated once one of them caught on seeing you, your presence alone emitting all the unsaid reasons of why Minho is refusing to be someone else’s duet partner. The man cracked a smile upon your arrival, a small nod of acknowledgement was also given.

“So, do you have anyone in mind as your duet partner?” You smirked, knowing damn well about what was his answer going to be.

“Well,–”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

Both Minho’s head and yours snapped out to the source of the voice, the owner tilting his head ever so slightly to stare at Minho. Even his voice itself irritated you to the bone and you couldn’t help but scoffed lightly while rolling your eyes. He ignored your act altogether, before adding “We talked about this last night, right?”

Han Jisung was one of Minho’s closest friend as both of them shared schools from elementary to university. There was no point in arguing that he definitely has more memories of Minho in his life compared to you, but your memories with Minho was, albeit fewer, were equally as indelible, like that time where he suggested that both of you should try auditioning for a stripper job since your monetary problem weren’t getting better (and how you both actually got the job, but that’s a story for another time). The problem with your relationship with Jisung was it somehow become a competition between both of you as you two fight each other for Minho’s favouritism.

Since Jisung was a music major instead of dance, he despised the time where you both would share stories about dance and all your adventures together in college. While you found it extremely revolting when the men would start reminiscing the old days and mentioned the names you had no idea who they were.

In short, both of the parties refused to share someone as their best friend. Also, neither parties refused to give up because they were extremely mulish as a character.

“You’re not even part of the dance major, Han.” Also the fact that the kid didn’t allow you to refer to him with nothing but his family name had kept you on edge from the very first time. It was like he didn’t even try to fake being a nice guy in your relationship. It seemed like he clearly stated, implicitly that he wouldn’t even try and get to know you even better. “In case you have no idea, we need to use both our legs and hands in dancing, gracefully and powerfully. I fail to see anything about grace and power from yourself. Except probably your power to ruin someone’s eardrums everytime you sing.”

Minho snickered a bit at that and earned a hard glare from the other man. Of course Minho wasn’t stupid, he knew about the rivalry bond between his two best friends and he somehow found it quite amusing. The constant bickering was something he always looked forward to when the two of you met.

“Excuse me? You call flailing your arms everywhere without details dancing? What’s next? Moving one beat too fast on your first showcase a talent, now?” Jisung gibed you about that one accident that almost cause you your scholarship, knowing damn well that it was your weakness. “Holy shit, at least the Dean won’t have to call my name with a speaker for the whole uni to know.”

Your eyes narrowed at him, fingernails digging at your own flesh out of rage. “That’s fucking dirty, Han.”

The other boy gave you a shrug and a smirk, “I’ve never said anything about playing it fair and square, babe.”

Before you could respond, Minho stood up. His arms outstretched between both of you, trying to calm his friends down. “Okay, let’s end it right here.” Whatever the things that going to come from either of your mouth won’t be all playful and enjoyable. “Let’s all go and grab some coffee, how about that?” He didn’t need to wait for the answer as he knew just how much the three of you liked the drink. After all, it was something he learn to love as a kid with Jisung and something that caused the bond between both of you were possible in the first place.

Minho walked ahead, leaving both of you to follow him but not before giving each other stinky faces consisted of crossed eyes and tongue stuck out.

[]

There was no conversation exchanged between the two of you as Minho forced you to sit on the table facing each other while he went to the counter and ordered for the three of you. Jisung lazily scrolled at his phone, nothing caught his attention as he simply wanted to avoid talking to you. It was proven to be in vain as you started to speak as he could feel his body heaved a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“Han, for god sake what the fuck were you doing?” You leaned forward to hiss at the boy, eyes darting to Minho to make sure that he couldn’t listen. “It’s a dance project!”

Jisung rolled his eyes at you, his body leaning backward to rest at the back of the chair. “I’m not stupid, I know. The thing is I also have a project that I need to work on from Professor Jung. We were told to make a song based on a collab from the other art faculty students. And it’s just fair that I asked Minho to be my partner.”

Your finger moved to pinch at the bridge of your nose, eyes closing. “So you’re going to make a song that the both of you are going to dance with?”

He shrugged at that, “See, you’re not that stupid at all.”

Eyes snapped open to glare at him, you paused for a while before asking him about whether he already asked Minho to be his partner. What you got as a response was simply a scoff and a raise of one of his eyebrows, like he was taunting you. “What do you think?” he said, and in that moment you knew that there was a huge chance of Minho not being your partner.

The man himself returned with your ordered drinks to the table and both of your attention diverted into helping him so that he won’t drop the drinks. Minho mumbled a quick thanks before sitting beside you, earning another scoff from Jisung. “So, I’m sure you guys are confused.” He started, carefully looking at the both of you.

“She maybe is, but I’m not. I know exactly who my partner is.” The boy in front of you sipped at his drink, and it took everything of you to not throw the drink on your hand to his face.

It’s not worth it, you thought to yourself, making mental notes of happy thoughts like the way they told you to do in those yoga dvds your mom always blasted on the speaker. get it together.

Beside you, Minho gave a slight chuckle. It might be a mistake on your hearing, but you noticed a hint of nervousness in it. “Yeah, about that, I might have made some mistake?” even he was unsure of his own sentence.

“What?” It was Jisung’s, the shock evident on his voice somehow made you feel happy inside. He was caught off guard, just like you but the difference was the way it caught both of you. There was a hope in you becoming Minho’s partner.

“Well, you see. I knew that I said yes to Jisung’s offer and we-” he gestured to you, “-had some kind of unsaid agreement when it comes to project. Since it’s unfair to both of you because you two are my best friends, I feel like we should start over again.”

You voiced out your confusion, and by the look of Jisung’s face, you voiced out his mind as well. “Start over? What do you mean?”

Minho took a sip of his drink before leaning back to his chair, “I don’t know, I feel like I need to make the decision of who’s going to be my partner a little more objective. Unbiased and all, you know? To make it fair. I just don’t want both of you to actually hate each other.”

Jisung snickered at that, but he didn’t say anything.

“My point is, a little friendly competition between the two of you wouldn’t hurt, right?“ He paused a bit to look at the reactions, and when he realized the only thing he got from both of his best friend’s was confusion, he continued, “The person who could be someone that is extremely helpful to me will win.”

“So,” you trailed off, nose scrunching as you processed what Minho just said, “You want us to be your servant?”

The boy laughed, “Not to that extent, you’re making me look bad. You know, a person that would be willing to be woken up in the middle of the night to watch a video of my cat, sort of stuff.”

Everyone was met by the complete silence after that before Jisung asked, “For how long? I mean the project is due in 2 month. At least mine is, I don’t know about yours.”

“Yeah, us is also the same and as much as I hate saying this,” you heaved a breath, head cocking towards the boy in front of you, “He’s right, we’re kinda tight on schedule.”

It was Minho’s turn to scoff at your words, “Jisung could make a dope song and you could make a choreography in less than a week. Don’t expect too low from yourself, I know you two could do well.”

Was it supposed to give you some kind of encouragement? You weren’t the most confident one when it comes to dancing thanks to the fear of messing up, the trauma of the first showcase still haunting you. There was always a sliver of doubt within your heart, a voice whispering that you would never be good enough, and for now the voice happily sang the tune of mockery, that it would be better for Minho to partnered up with Jisung as both were known as prodigies in their own talent. You were ready to voice out your intention of pulling out from this 'competition’ when you felt Jisung’s look bore into yours. His brown gaze held yours for a beat longer and sharper than it usually were, making you slightly nervous and immediately drank your drink to free yourself from the captive that was his eyes.

“Well we’re certainly in, right?” Jisung looked at you and at that time you wondered if he knew that you were avoiding his gaze, too occupied with your own thoughts that you stayed quiet. “Right, babe?” He pressed on, a smirk on his face.

You snapped at the nickname, a frown formed on your lips as you despised hearing the nickname rolled from his mouth. “Of fucking course.” You said, your insecurities flied off the window for a short while. Right now you only wanted him to lose. “When will we start?”

“Great! We could start tomorrow then.” The mastermind of the plan snickered before finishing up his drink, “Also I’ve been wanting to do this, so I hope you guys have your notebook or paper prepared because I want to give stamps to the person that I deem helpful for every task.”

You wanted to say something along the line of “what do you think we are? Kindergarten children?” But then decided on how both Jisung and your banter usually consisted of something very childish and small, maybe that was the reason why Minho was doing this.

[]

The only class that the three of you shared together despite Jisung’s different major was English, in which all students need to take. In the beginning of the school year, everyone could pick the schedule they wanted, however it was far too late to ask for a slightly late class as every class was already taken so the three of you took the first class in Tuesday. A morning class in which Minho would have to sit between the two of his best friends that would argue about everything.

For now, it’s a Tuesday’s morning class in which both of you raced to be the first person that would give Minho his daily dose of caffeine. The fact that your apartment’s location was a hindrance to the task never seemed to faze you as you would try your best to set an alarm earlier so that you would still stood the chance of buying the coffee. It was mostly you that was able to do so except for the fated day that the train betrayed your prevision of time.

You came late to the point where you only had five minutes of class remaining, with all eyes turned at you when the door to the lecture hall was opened. Trying hard to show that it didn’t bother you in any way (It did, extremely), you made your way to the professor with your eyes trained at her, your breath heaving from the result of running. The professor shot her look at you menacingly but it softened when you handed her the paper from the train to notify that you were late because of things that were outside of your control. She sighed before motioning you to sit, the only place left was the seat in the very front that would need you to strain your neck in order to look up to the presentation.

Silently thanking about the remaining time of the class, you complied. You didn’t even got the chance to properly laid out your stationery (which consisted only of a notebook and a pen) when the bell rang, signaling the end of the class. The situation was so comical that you couldn’t help but laugh, your hands covering your face to suppress the sound. Your mind wandered at how you ran so hard from the station only to arrive when the class ended not to mention how you failed at getting your stamp from Minho.

You could hear him approaching your seat along with Jisung, the former immediately sat on the vacant seat next to you. “All that running for nothing, huh?” He snickered, patting you on the head.

“Not to mention the failure of acquiring any stamps.” Jisung’s hand replaced Minho’s and there was a slight moment where you thought that maybe he was being nice before your the pats on your head turned into small jabs. Groaning, you caught his hand before glaring up, finding the smirk on the boy’s face. There was a small silence in which you tried to shot a witty comment before he beat you to it, “If you really want to hold my hand then you could’ve just said so.”

“In your fucking dreams, Han.” You let go on his hand in an instant, your eyes rolling before turning to face your best friend. “And why are you looking at us with those dreamy look? Cut it off, it’s creepy.”

Minho chuckled, shaking his head while running his hand through his hair. “Do you ever think of dating each–”

“No.” was a stern answer delivered by the both of you simultaneously and in that moment, you felt grateful that Jisung shared the same opinion. Minho’s hands shot up, feigning defeat as he shrugged.

“Okay, so I’ll take it you don’t want any chance on doubling your amount of stamps?”

Your ears perked up at the word ‘stamps’. For the last three weeks that was all you strive to acquire, whether it was from the video call from Minho late at night when his cats decided to play with him and he forced you to ‘appreciate’ them (you actually did, they were actually very cute) to bringing junk food to his apartment in the time when he least expected it. Those acts wasn’t new to you since you’ve done that long before the who stamps is involved, but now it felt satisfying to do it knowing that you would be rewarded in the end.

No matter how childish it was for the reward to be just stamps, you were content with it.

“Say what again?” You said, immediately interested.

There was a slight smirk on Minho’s face, “So I have an eye for this girl that I met on the studio, right? I asked her out on a date yesterday and she said yes!”

“Wasn’t she the one that slapped you on the first encounter?” Jisung snickered and you bite your lip to stop yourself from laughing alongside him. He was telling the truth, there was some sort of misunderstanding that happened between the both of them and you couldn’t help but wonder what kind of charm that he used to be able to melt her heart.

Staring at how Minho glared at Jisung before mumbling a quick, “It’s an accident, I’ve told you guys that already.”, you came to a realization that well, Minho sure had the charm and the genes that supported him to put people on their knees. You were glad that you were on his side and not those who he planned to 'charm’ who knows what he might do to these poor people?

“Anyway,” he continued, his ears slightly turning red at Jisung’s words. “I asked her out and I’d figured that it’ll be fun for you two to join us.”

Your jaw dropped upon hearing his idea, a chuckle leaving your lips before you could stop it. “You’re joking.” You said, hoping to find any trace of humour in Minho’s expression only to find none. “Wait, you’re serious? Like a double date kind of stuff?”

“Dead serious. You guys don’t need to have real feeling or anything, just pretend.”

You couldn’t believe at how he could suggest it without any difficulty at all. Did he not realize how your relationship with Jisung was plummeting down after the whole competition that he made? Your tongue was getting sharper around him and he could effortlessly annoy you in any way possible. There was no way that you were going to go outside, pretending that you could tolerate him moreover pretending to have an interest on making him your boyfriend when the first thing that you wanted to do every time you saw his face was to pour any drink you held to his shirt.

However the thought of getting the stamps when you succeeded, along with the idea of making fun of him if he refused to do this fake-date. To top that, maybe you would be able to find his weak spot, using it to your favor.

The determination was clear on your voice when you said, “Sure. Why not?” Resulting in a widened-eyes Minho, a small smirk was formed moments later. Jisung could do nothing but stare at you wordlessly, his eyes seemed like it would pop out in any moment. “What is it, Han? You’re scared of a small date?” Taunting him felt so satisfying, getting him to a speechless figure was a rare occasion and you weren’t going to let this small moment of victory slip away ever so easily.

His Adam apple bobbed as he stammered over his words, “Wh-what are you saying? You’re crazy.”

“Oh I get it!” You blink as if an idea just popped off from your mind, smirking as you grab the collar of his hoodie and yanked it down towards you with both of your faces inches apart. From this angle you could clearly felt how his breath ragged and his eyes focused on anywhere but yours upon the close proximity. Biting your lip, you taunted him even more “Are you scared of falling in love with me for real, Han?”

Silence followed your words before the corner of Jisung’s lip lifted up, his entire body shook as he attempted to hide his laughter. You were a little confused but there was no way you were backing down from this tough persona of yours so you continue to stare at him, waiting for his response. As if hearing your thought, he stopped to suppress his laugh as his brown eyes immediately stared at yours. His lips were formed to a smile, before his hand moved towards your nape and slowly decreasing the distance of you two.

It was your turn to have your breath hitched on your throat as your grip on his hoodie tightened. You fought the urge to close your eyes, wanting to hold on to a small trace of control you had left even though the situation belonged to Jisung’s control now. He angled your head so that he could place his mouth right beside your ear, his huff of breath sent shiver down your spine along with his next words.

“Be careful for what you wish for, babe. It could turn against you someday..”

You failed to realize his smirk as you weren’t even able to hide your sharp intake of breath when his following words were spoken, “Because once you do, there’s no turning back.”

[]

You blamed your punctuality on your habit to arrive the fastest to the university or at least, faster than Jisung.

When you arrived at the theme park at 10 am in the Saturday morning, you soon realized that the amount of people that came would prevent you to experience the whole attraction without the pain of queuing. Mentally you thanked yourself for not wearing any high heels today, courtesy of your roommate slash cousin’s advice as Changbin was experienced on taking girls to dates in the theme park and he knew exactly what their first mistake was when he saw their appearance.

“At least you would be able to feel both of your legs when the day’s over.” He said, and that was all you need to wear your favourite sneaker today.

It was a lie if you said that you randomly picked your clothes on today’s occasion. You’ve spent a good amount of time contemplating the entire content of your wardrobe before settling on a pair of jeans shorts and a crop top, completely different from your usual attire of jeans and shirt that you usually wear for college. Partially because you thought that the outfit was cute, partially because you wanted to see how Jisung reacts towards it.

You’d like to think that it was because you wished to see Jisung’s facade crumbled down upon seeing you in it, resulting you to easily lead him into his eventual demise of not getting the rest of the stamps thus lending Minho to you (and your passing of the class). But God forbid you from admitting that the small part of you wanted him to think that you looked cute.

After that words that he whispered on your ear, it felt like a challenge to either one of you to see which one that would succumb first. It seemed that both of you realized that successfully making the other to fall in love would be an express ticket into being partners with Minho. After all, it’s not a secret that love or crush is indeed a person’s greatest weakness.

The logic was pretty simple, on your mind. Make the other party to fall in love, dump them and have Minho as your partner and best friend for yourself. See, it was pretty easy if you stick onto the plan.

Your plan started to quiver, however with your sight catching Jisung on his attire. An all black attire of skinny jeans, t-shirt and shirt that he didn’t even bother to button had you gulping and your resolve crumbling. Despite having his sunglasses on with a black mask, you were still able to recognize him, a realization that caught you off guard.

It must’ve been illegal for Jisung to thread his hair because he once he did it, your heartbeat increased as you fished for your phone, front camera opened to check how red your cheek was. You knew that you wouldn’t be able to admit it verbally but you realized now that he was indeed, a very good looking guy if you stripped away the whole attitude he had towards you.

You stole a glance at him once again, texting the boy as you informed that you already arrived with an attached picture of him to expose your location. The message was seen almost immediately, him throwing a glance at your position afterwards. Both of your gaze met as he took off his glasses and walked towards you.

Pretending to ignore the effect he had on you, you busied yourself with your phone, scrolling whatever Instagram profile that you had previously seen all in favour of calming your erratic heart. Jisung arrived in front of you, coughing to catch your attention and frowned after you decided to ignore him. Swiftly he took away your phone from your grasp, eliciting a whine that the both of you didn’t expect to make.

His laugh afterwards made your cheek reddened as your embarrassment grew.

“Oh my god, why did you whine like a child? Are you going to throw a tantrum as well, now?” Jisung dangled your phone in front of your face as you glared at him.

“Cut it off, Han!” You swatted him on his chest, “Give it back!”

He giggled as if he just delivered the best joke in the world as he handed your phone back with a wink. “Come on, don’t be mad at me. We have a date today, remember?”

Your eyes rolled at his statement, snatching your phone as you put it back to your bag. “Thank you for reminding me the nauseate situation we are going to experience! Oh how I can’t wait to be disappointed at you becoming my date just like how my previous ones have failed me.”

“Damn, you really underestimate me in this whole date stuff, huh?” He scoffed in disbelief. “Look, you might have bad experience on dating before but don’t go ahead and generalize everyone, especially me. Why do you think I was so reluctant on doing this before?”

You frowned at his question, how would you know that? “I don’t know, smartass. Because you’re a coward?”

“No, baby.” Jisung smirked, his hand moving to your chin softly before tilting it upwards to stare at your eyes. “I don’t want you to be too comfortable and ends up falling for me.”

“Really?” You cocked your eyebrow. It felt like Dejavu, this whole situation both of you were in. You learned that you should never let him has the last word so you smiled at him, your words rolling smoothly from your lips but not before shortening the distance between the two of you. “Then make me.”

You relished on the sight of his eyes widening, clearly caught off guard by the boldness of your words. A giggle escaped from your lips as you turned away from him, catching a sight of Minho and his date in an ocean of people (how you could recognize him immediately was also one of your concern, you played it as because you guys see each other everyday) before waving them over to you. The both of them approached you after waving back and that was when you felt Jisung’s cold hand on the exposed skin of your waist, pulling you flush to his side.

“Babe?” Jisung’s voice was low as he whispered on your ear. You controlled your body’s tendency to shiver under his touch as you didn’t want him to see the effect he had on you after his action. In the moment you couldn’t even care less about the nickname that you usually despise from him. Something told you that he was going to use it a lot in today’s occasion.

Two could play in this game, you thought. “Yes, Han?”

“You will experience the best date of your life, that once you have another chance to go in a real date with someone else, you would think that nothing could top this fake date with me.”

You held back a smile. At least you would feel what you’ve never had on your previous ones? “Really, now?” Your voice trailed off before turning to face him as you encircled your hands on his neck. “You sure we could go a day without insulting each other? A day in which we won’t try to wipe each other’s existence?”

He smirked, both of his hands found their place on your hip as he rubbed small circles on the flesh. “The date is going to be so great that you’re going to forget that we’re supposed to hate each other in the end of the day.”

You smiled at that, “I’m looking forward to it, then.”

–

Minho was lying when he said that the day was going to be a double date as he was gone from both of your range of view after the four of you went to the accessory shop, getting the four of you head accessories to wear later onto the day because Jisung deemed that it was necessary for every single theme park date. You didn’t miss the way he would pat your head everytime you gushed over the cute characters, or how he took out his polaroid camera once you’ve settled on the accessory and wore it in front of the mirror.

Jisung snapped a picture of your side profile and despite your protests of him taking a picture when you weren’t ready, he opted to keep the Polaroid to himself.

“Han please I look ugly in that.” You frowned, hands on your hips like you were scolding a child. “If you promised that you’re going to be a good date then you’re not going to let anyone see this ugly side of me.”

He scoffed, “Please, a good date is when they find you cute despite you think that you’re ugly.”

“That’s not a good date that’s just being blind.”

Your date looked at you dead in the eye before signing dramatically, his hands in his right chest while clutching his shirt. “Love is blind sometimes.”

Your face contorted into a mix of disgust and shock but you couldn’t lie that it got your heart beating slightly faster, “Ugh what’s wrong with you and your cheesy remarks today.” Faking a shudder, you went on, “Where’s my usual Han went?”

Except that he didn’t focus on your question at all, his lips formed a smirk as he repeated a particular line, “Your Han?”

“Shut up!” Your hand moved up to swat his shoulder, cheeks flaring up before realizing that it was only both of you in this part of the shop. You looked around for a bit before concluding the fact that Minho and his date was no longer there in the shop. “You idiot, we lost Minho!”

Jisung’s dumb look was the last thing you saw before you took his hand in instinct and dragged him out from the shop after putting the accessory back.

–

You were queuing for Viking’s ride with Jisung behind you when Minho’s text popped from your notification. He explained that he lost both of you as well and it would be best to just meet up after the day’s over. Your furious typing of scolding him for leaving you with Jisung all alone was refrained when you felt a head resting on your shoulder.

“Han, get off my shoulder.” You shook your shoulder in attempt to get him off it but he didn’t budge. “You’re heavy, please.”

“Just let them be.” He mumbled and you needed to ask him to say it again because you didn’t quite know what he was saying and implying.

“I said let them be, you know? It’s their date after all. The first one, even. I’m sure they want to be alone in their date.” Jisung continued, his head didn’t move from its place at all. He mumbled again but you catch his words, even though you didn’t really understand the means behind it. “I know I do.”

The angry text stayed on your screen as you contemplated about the situation. He did have a point and you didn’t want to risk the chance of not obtaining the stamps in the end. After all, it was his idea, there was also a probability that he planned this beforehand. Your finger hovered over the delete button before touching it, quickly typing out another response and putting it back to your bag.

You missed the way Jisung smiled a little  upon the text that you had typed out, staying still at his position on your shoulder despite your attempt, only getting off when the both of you needed to move forward. When you two stopped walking however, he was back on his previous position and soon you gave up after your efforts were proven to be vain, opting to rest your head on his as you waited in the line.

'yeah okay have fun I guess.’

'hes not that bad anw’

–

Jisung had a habit that you were starting to realize, and that habit was him absentmindedly just taking your hand into his, enveloping it every time you two were walking. The way his touch lingered there even after he, despite momentarily released his hold got you missing on his warmth. To think that it was summer, missing someone else’s warmth was a bold thought but that was exactly what you were feeling.

He let go of your hand to read the pocket map that he carried, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he flicked his gaze from one attraction to another, hoping to find an interesting one. You used this opportunity to feast on his visual from the side without the fear of his snarky comments ruining the mood, although you should’ve known better than that.

“A picture will last longer, you know?” His look didn’t waver from the map, opting to just bite his lips in attempt to hide a chuckle threatening to spill.

You rolled your eyes, lips curving into a smile. “Well what could I say? My date is indeed quite handsome for today.” It was your turn to stifle a laugh as his ears reddened, getting embarrassed from your sudden compliment. “Only for today though.”

He shook his head in disbelief before folding down the map on his hand and taking yours. “Well my date has always been beautiful, and today’s no exception. So you can’t blame me for previously taking picture of her, right?” His smile mirrored yours before not giving you any time to answer, his hand already tugging for you to follow him.

You were glad for that, though. It was your turn to have your face flushed just like his ear a few moments ago.

–

If your plan for that day was to find something about Jisung that you could use to your own advantage, you were definitely failing as the only thing that you discover from him was how he was being such an amazing date.

In the night when both of you ordered a junk food from the restaurant as you sat on a bench beside each other, shoulders brushing, you couldn’t help but think about everything that had happened for today.

His hand was never absent from his agenda of holding yours, even as you complained at how sweaty both of your palms had become. Not to mention that one time when he left you alone because he was going to the bathroom and a group of boys immediately came to your spot as you calmly waited for him. You knew that you could stand your ground, but the number of boys overwhelmed you as you stuttered to answer their rapid questions. Before you could even collect yourself together and told them to back off, you could feel an arm snaking to your waist.

The exposed skin shivered under Jisung’s touch and as you turned your head to look at him, it shivered again for a completely different reason. You’ve never seen Jisung that angry before with his jaw clenched and eyes glared to them. It was a delightful feeling, knowing that you weren’t the end of the gaze that he was holding. He pulled you flush beside him, “Babe, you okay?” It was menacingly sweet, his tone. “These boys aren’t giving you a hard time, right?”

The boys shrugged before backing off, saying stuffs that you couldn’t even bother listening because now the only sound that you could hear was your heart thrumming inside of its cage and the only sensation that you could feel was his hand that was still in your waist.

You could feel his touch lingered there as he used both of his hands to check on you, making sure that you were fine. His hands stopped at your jaw, tilting your face to look at him as his eyes were glistening with worry and all trace of the previous anger nonexistent. “Are you really okay?” Jisung whispered, more to himself because he immediately pulled you into a hug. “God I can’t let anything happens to you. I’ve swore it on Minho.”

There was a way at how his scent intoxicated you as you buried yourself on the crook of his neck. His cologne weren’t supposed to stay with him this long after the walk under the sun but it did. Jisung smelled like vanilla with cinnamon, and in that moment you realized that it might be your favourite scent.

It was quiet, you were waiting for Minho and his date to finish. The artificial lake that you were facing and the soft neon light from the restaurant’s wall coaxed you into a pleasant atmosphere. “Apparently without your insults you’re a pretty decent guy, huh?” You said to him as you stared at the lake, your food long gone. “Your real date would’ve been lucky”

“I know.” He smirked proudly, his head turning to face you. “A handsome face with a lot of boyfriend characteristics fulfilled, my real date is going to be spoiled.”

Somehow at that moment you couldn’t even bring yourself to respond on his self inflating ego comment because deep within your heart you knew what he said was true. The fact that his real date was probably never going to be you somehow put you on a solemn mood, you were actually enjoying today’s date, as fake as it was supposed to be. Your rivalry was temporarily forgotten as you found yourself staring up at him. “Han?” You called, voice above a whisper.

Jisung blinked, his smirk melting off his face. “(Y/N)? What’s wrong?” His tone was laced with worry, and you were hoping that at the very least this part of his feeling was real. “Did I do something wrong?”

Your lips etched into a smile at the absence of the nickname he has been calling you all day, and before you could process how your body moved on its own, you gave him a quick kiss on his cheek. “I had a good time today, thank you.” There was no way that your cheek could be even redder than now, but it was already nighttime so you were glad that Jisung wouldn’t be able to see it. You rested your head on his shoulder afterwards, eyelids closing to enjoy the small time that you had left before Minho came and your so called date to be over.

You didn’t expect any response from Jisung except the snarky ones that you thought he’s going to give, a sentence full of ego as he would say something along the line of “I told you before, didn’t I?” since you were only doing that because you were grateful of the promise that he kept, so when you felt his hands taking yours, you definitely didn’t see that coming.

Even more when he brought your hand to his lips, kissing each of your knuckles softly before intertwining it together.

“I enjoyed it too. Very much.” You could feel him smiling from his gentle tone of his voice. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but this is probably the best date I’ve ever been, despite its fakeness.”

You frowned at that, your voice coming out before you realising it. “Don’t mention the fake thing, you’re ruining it.”

“So you wished that this was real then?” He was definitely smirking now.

“In your dreams, Han.”

But then maybe his claim on his reluctance of doing this fake date was true. Because looking down to your linked hands, you weren’t surprised to find that you wouldn’t mind this day to happen again. At that time, you decided that your plan has crumbled into pieces, that Jisung might have snatched your chance on doing the project with Minho.

The beat of your heart quickly accelerated as your mind took you to a scary possibility of why it was happening in the first place. That maybe, Han Jisung has placed himself within your heart, realization seeping into your veins distracted you to a level that had you barely listening to Jisung’s response to your statement.

“If that so, then I’m not waking up.”

[]

Something changed after that date, you quickly realized. Both of you were still in a rivalry state that the both of you were in before, but the insults decreased or if it was really said, it wasn’t to the point where either of you would be offended. Both the quantity and quality of it weakened, at least on your part it was almost non existent anymore.

You couldn’t brought yourself upon replying on his insults verbally, mostly you would opt to roll your eyes or scoff as you realized that you couldn’t reply to any of it. You had hoped that Jisung and Minho would both see it as your new strategy of winning the competition, the whole 'talk less do more’ mindset but then again the latter was your best friend, he could see right through that.

So when Minho came to your dorm uninvited with a box of pizza and bottles of cola, you knew that he was going to talk about something serious. Him and Changbin did a small talk as your roommate was preparing to go out and work on his music project. By the time the boys were done you had already slumped on your sofa, a slice of pizza on your hand as your feet dangled from the sofa’s arm. Minho watched as you turned on the TV and started to search for any good channel for quite some time before he gently grabbed the remote from your hand.

“I’m not here to watch tv.” He said, muting the current channel. “I came here to talk.”

Rolling your eyes, you bit back a laugh. “No shit, Sherlock. We all know that you have something in your mind everytime you visit me.”

Minho smiled at that, “Well you’re laughing now so I guess I shouldn’t be too worried.”

“Spit it out, Minho.” You refused to make eye contact with him, eyes trained upon an episode of MasterChef. Your first slice of pizza were finished and you learned forward to grab another one, “Address the elephant of the room, whatever.”

It was more of a joke, on your part, really. You clearly didn’t expect him to say it ever so bluntly when you bite onto the junk food, “You have a crush on Jisung.”

You choked.

The cough that you let out was plenty as you had troubles in breathing. Minho was quick to hand you the nearest bottle of soda before bolting to the kitchen and took a water bottle in case you needed it. Immediately you gulped down the soda, the carbon burned on the back of your throat but it gave a way for the piece of pizza stuck there to be gone into your stomach.

Your breath heaved for a few moment as Minho rubbed your back, constantly asking if you’re okay and you gave him a thumbs up. All was quiet safe for your breathing before you said in a small voice, “I lost, am I?”

Your best friend’s gaze softened at your words, still rubbing your back this time for your emotional reassurance. “No, well not yet at least. You still got three more days.”

A groan escaped your lips as you buried your face on your hand. “I’m an idiot, am I? I told myself to make him fall for me and then it was actually the other way around.” You huffed, heads shaking as you finally confessed it to someone else rather than your mirror. “I used to hate him with all my heart and then one damned date changed everything.”

“You do realize that you said to me that he–” Minho air quoted it “was pretty cute without his mouth running around ruining his visual when I first introduced both of you? I’d say that you actually had a small crush already, the whole date just further strengthens it.”

“I do.” You mumbled, face still buried. “I just can’t believe that I’m falling for someone that couldn’t even stand me. The whole date was close to something like a skit. He was just playing his part as a charming enemy and I fell for that.”

Minho scoffed, “How do you know that it’s not his real character?”

“Because I know Han, and his attitude towards me in daily life is a hundred and eighty degrees of difference!”

“You don’t know him.” There was softness in Minho’s tone that got you peeked a bit to see his expression. “Both of you just started off in a wrong direction.”

You opted to stay quiet as you felt like there was no answer needed for that statement. Maybe Minho was right, if only he wasn’t being such an asshole in your first encounter you would’ve find yourself being friends with him already or perhaps more. There was a seed of hope in your heart that you let it died down upon experiencing his behaviour towards you, one that hoped that you would at least be in a good relationship with him.

The whole date just watered down the seed and now it was growing rapidly, its root finding their way to your heart and planted themselves there. You knew that it was stupid of you, to fall in love with someone that could use your feelings to their advantage. The one that could laugh on your face and humiliate you after you confessed at him, saying how he has managed to fool you into thinking that he will reciprocate whatever it is that you’re feeling.

Maybe it was one of his acts, a genius plan on his side that he carefully thought of. Incorporating your emotions into his final piece of the puzzle because let’s face it, Han Jisung would play dirty if he deemed it necessary. He said it himself.

But the hope that rooted itself in your heart has given you faith on him. If believing on Han Jisung that he wouldn’t make fun of you and your feelings were too crazy for your logic, at least you were putting your beliefs at Minho. He wouldn’t let his best friend getting hurt moreover letting his other best friend be a reason behind your pain. Minho wouldn’t befriended him if he was such a douche, too.

You sighed, taking another piece of pizza as you felt Minho’s gaze on your actions. “You know what?” you began, voice a little shaken and muffled after you ate it. “I may be saying the stupidest thing I’ve ever said now–”

Minho snickered at that, cutting you off. “That’s a hard title to beat, remember the summer when we went to our first party? You were crying as you brought the fish from the aquarium to the pool because you were scared that they wouldn’t breathe in the fresh water.”

He could feel your glare all over him but it didn’t stop his words, “Come on, it won’t be that bad, will it?”

“I was drunk, dumbass.” You bit a laugh when you watch him squirmed after you repeatedly poke his ribs. “Now are you going to let me say it or what?”

“Yeah only if you stop doing it!” He sounded so annoyed that you couldn’t hold the urge to tease him more so you poke him again. Soon it ended up with poke fights and continued down to tickle fights as you both fought on the couch. Both of you were breathless after a few minutes, limbs tangled with one another as you struggled to catch your breath and laugh in the same time. You were on top of Minho, your ear rested comfortably on his chest. It was probably very hard on Minho since you were basically crushing his lungs but he made no move on removing you, and for a while that was the only position you were both in.

You found your voice, albeit gravelly. “I’m forfeiting myself from this game. Go ahead, be his partner then.”

“And why are you giving up so easily? You have three more days before it’s over.”

Your laugh came out breathier than you expected, your head shaking. “In your game, yeah. In mine, it was already over the moment I saw him in that theme park.”

Minho chuckled at that. “I don’t want to say anything, but you two have more similarities than you know.” A smile followed suit, his hand came down to ruffle your hair. “FIne, but you still need to come for the last meeting when I declare the winner.”

It was a lie on your part if you said that you weren’t an inch curious about the meaning in the first part of Minho’s sentence was about. But you gulped it down, only hoping that it wasn’t anything bad. “Yeah, sure. You’re paying?”

“Yup. Now are we gonna finish this pizza or what?”

[]

It was raining hard and Changbin weren’t home.

Ever since you were little, storm and big rains were something that you despised. You couldn’t bear hearing the loud rattle of thunder and the sounds of water violently hitting the ground. Lighting gave you anxieties as you were scared that after that flash of light was gone, you would find something else staring at you. Everything was suffocating, in your opinion. The sounds of rain seemed like it slowly cornered you and you felt as if it was trying to drown you. In short, you hated them.

Changbin, figured your fear of rain ever since you were still a pre-pubescent teenager when you spent a night on his house. He was working on some school’s project so he didn’t really need sleep in that time of the night, hence the reason why he let you into his room when he found you crying while clutching onto your pillow. He let you slept on his bed that night and he opted to sleep on the desk instead. Your fear was also part of the reason why your parents wanted him as your roommate so that you could always have someone that knew about your fear and were willing to accompany you during the time it got bad.

It became a habit every time a huge storm happened. It was either you sleeping on his room or vice versa, with an air mattress getting dragged into either rooms so thet the other could sleep on it. You were forever grateful that he was willing to sacrifice a small part of his precious sleep time (or his producing time) to your comfort.

This time, however was different as Changbin were absent from your shared apartment.

He had told you that he was going to his aunt’s house from his mother’s family for dinner but he would be back before 9 because his aunt would told him to clean around the house as well. The first rumble caught you off guard when you were reading as its sound was deafening, causing you to reflectively closed your eardrums and froze as you stare at the floor. You swore that you could feel the floor of your apartment shook lightly under the massive power before you hurriedly messaged him, informing that a storm might’ve come on his way and for him to be careful to not get caught in the rain.

Changbin didn’t reply after roughly half an hour, when the rain started to pour.

‘Sorry I didn’t see your message lol too busy with the dishes’

‘It’s raining quite hard here but I think it’ll be over soon’

‘My friend is going to come to the apartment and we’re supposed to have a brainstorming session together so I hope you don’t mind’

It wasn’t a surprise that your roommate would have others come to your shared apartment for lots of stuffs. Sometimes it was a productive session, sometimes it would be just them playing games in his room. He always invited them when you were not around, so it was the first time for you to actually meet Changbin’s friend. After all, the both of you didn’t really interact outside of the apartment ever since you both went to college except for family occasions courtesy to the different major that you both took since Changbin was a music major.

Which reminded you to a fellow music major student that couldn’t escape from your mind lately. You sighed, your earbuds shoved in your ear to drown out the noise of the rain. It was getting better for you to deal with the sounds of rain especially the small ones like now, but certainly not the lighting and its friends. Still a long way to go for you, but it was an improvement.

‘Ok, I hope your friend ate already though bc I finished the whole chicken we had’

You stared at the ceiling after you texted him that, a melody of a song that you were planning to use in your project flowed freely inside of your ear, shadows of choreography formed in the darkness when you closed your eyes. It wasn’t long before the song ends and you were awakened from your trance upon the rapid sound of your doorbells. Groaning, you rolled on your stomach on the couch before rolling your eyes and starts dashing towards the door.

The sounds of the bell didn’t stop even when you screamed out, “Coming!” Fumbling with the keys, you grit your teeth as you struggled to open the door with the noise. “Hi, you must be Changbin’s—” words died down on your throat as your eyes fell upon your guest’s. “H-han?”

Jisung’s eyes were blown wide and his jaw dropped. It took a few moments for him to shook his head and stammered a “No shit, (Y/N)? What are you doing on Changbin’s apartment?” as he eyed you up and down before realization dawned on him, “W-wait, you guys are dating, or something?”

“Ew, No!” You were quick to object, disgust was written all over your face. “We’re literally cousins! Our parents wanted us to become roommates for.. reasons.” It was when you noticed his wet appearance and droplets of water that fell down from his hair. “Jeez why are you so wet? Come in.”

You opened the door wider for him to walk inside, your heart hammering behind your ribs. “I-I’ll get you some towel, or something. Just sit wherever.” Jisung nodded silently, opting on sitting on your kitchen’s stool as he watched you disappear to the bathroom before coming back with a fresh towel. “Here, use this.” handing him the towel, you prayed that your hand didn’t shake from the adrenaline.

It did, but either Jisung didn’t notice it or he pretended not to because he didn’t address it. He mumbled a thank you before wiping his wet hair with you awkwardly sitting on the couch, busying yourself with the book you left almost half an hour ago. “So,” Jisung began, slightly coughing. “You live with Changbin, huh? Can’t believe that you exist to snatch my friends away all the time.”

And the annoying Jisung was back again. So much for the guy that you fell for.  “Is this about you and your jealousy again? Because I’ve had enough of it with Minho.” You rolled your eyes, leaning back to the couch. “Anyway, isn’t it the other way around since the fact that I knew him ever since he was so little? I knew him first, Han. The difference is, I’m not going to be a baby and wail about how you’re ‘stealing’ my cousin from me.”

He didn’t really pay attention to the second part of your statement once he heard you mentioning Minho, his feet tapping the floor repeatedly as if he was considering something. “Did he…” Jisung was nervous, you could tell from his voice that lacked the confidence and playful tone but from what, you didn’t know. “I mean did he say anything about the game?”

Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion, “What do you mean? Like the one who win and all? I thought that he’s going to announce it in the day after tomorrow? ” You left out the part that you forfeited from the game as you didn’t want him to clown you right now. He might as well did that when he was crowned as the winner, anyway.

At the sight of your puzzled face, he sighed. “I see. Well, nevermind.” Jisung plugged his earphones in and you figured out that that was your cue to stop conversing with him.

You two ended up not saying anything for the rest of the night, him busying himself with his phone and you with your book. Well, at least he was being very serious about it while you were totally losing your focus on reading because you were too busy stealing glances to the boy. From your place, you could see the way his eyebrows furrowed in concentration, his lips pursued as he stared at his phone. Not to mention his half-wet hair that has gotten messier from his hands that ran through it. Your heartbeat increased as he did it again.

He was indeed handsome, you’ve admitted to that fact long ago but there was something about being together alone with the boy that got you to think that he has gotten more handsome and cooler, for some reason. Whatever that was, you hoped that he didn’t notice your staring or else you knew that there won’t be any end to his teasing.

The intensity of the rain increased as the night went on, and you were planning to check on Changbin when Jisung read out the text he got, “Uh, Changbin said that he couldn’t make it back. The storm was very big so he decided to stay on his aunt’s house.”

Realization dawned upon you in the mention of Changbin not being able to be your companion on this stormy night. You could feel your eyes watered and your lips trembled in fear of getting through the night all by yourself. Your vision blurred, and it wasn’t until you could see a dot of tear that fell on your book that you realized that you were crying.  Biting your lips to stop it from trembling, you wiped the tears on your eyes. You looked at Jisung only to found him already staring, his expression laced with confusion and worry but before he could ask you what’s wrong, you immediately shut him out.

“I’m going to sleep,” you blurted out, voice small and barely cracking. “It’s raining now so I guess you could sleep in Changbin’s room, whatever. You’ll get sick if you go home in this weather.” Hurriedly you close your books, standing up before bolting out to your room.

“(Y/N)?” He stood up from his seat, slowly approaching you before stopping after seeing your glossy eyes. There was hesitance in his actions, like he didn’t know what he has to do but he knew that he has to calm you, somehow.

“I’m–” you trailed off, stopping before the door to your room. Fidgeting with your toes, you tried to control your breathing before calling out in a small voice, “I’m fine–it’s not your fault.”

You entered the room, leaving Jisung and hopefully your fear on the living room.

–

You were wide awake in the middle of the night under the sound of the intense pouring of the rain. Agonized over the worry that when you close your eyes, you’d wake up with your room filled with water from the rain as it slowly increased in height, eventually drowning you. From the lighting and the loud rattle from thunder, you avoided them all as you buried yourself under the safety of your blanket. Suffocation was worth it when you finally gathered enough courage to close your eyes. At least that was what you were thinking until you found yourself gasping for air once a nightmare consisted of you drowning attacked your subconscious mind.

Sitting up on your bed, your eyes darted to the clock right above your desk. It was barely 2 am which meant that you were able to sleep for no less than an hour, a number too little compared to the time you spent actually trying to sleep in the first place. The rain’s intensity didn’t waver for one bit and you actually believed that it was getting even crazier. A flash of light couldn’t prepare you from the loudest rattle that you’ve heard for as long as you could remember, its sound made it seemed like the sky was tearing itself apart continuously with a loud rumble that sounded like a chuckle from Zeus himself.

You could make out a faint siren of a car’s alarm beneath a loud ringing from your ears as you tasted blood on your lips. Before your mind even processed on what you were trying to do, you swung your legs outside your bed, slightly running to open the door without even closing it to your roommate’s room. You knew that it wasn’t Changbin that slept there but you were so desperate for a company or something to distract yourself from your paranoia that you found yourself knocking the door repeatedly, hot tears streaming down your face as you called, downright pleading for his name.

The said boy opened the door with an intention to be angry as every other human being was when their sleep was disturbed, but all anger dissipated as his eyes were blown wide upon seeing your vulnerable form in front of him. He almost didn’t have the time to properly analyze your face as your hands immediately clutched to his sides, anchoring themselves there while you buried your face on his chest, your wails muffled by the fabric of his sweatshirt. Jisung could feel fear radiating off from your body and the thought of you having to deal with this on your own a few hours ago shattered his heart. He tried to soothe your trembling form by wrapping his arms on your body, gently rubbing it on your sides as he left small kisses on the crown of your head.

“Hey, I’m here now. It’s okay.” He would mumble every so often. “You’re safe with me.” And the boy meant it with every inch of his being.

The both of you stayed in that position until your wails decreased into sobs and the tremor of your body wavered. The sound of cloudburst outside were still very much audible but you forced yourself to focus on Jisung’s mumble of sweet nothings on your ear. It was comforting and you realized that you wouldn’t mind it to happen again. After calming down, you dared yourself to look up from his chest only to find his face inches away from you.

Your breath hitched on your throat as you were suddenly insecure about how much of a mess your state was. Your nose were running, you bet that both of your eyes were red because of your crying and how your lips must’ve swell from all the previous lip biting to suppress your fear. Insecurity came a moment too late but before you could bury your face again on his chest his hands already found its way to your cheek, gently wiping away some of your tears. There was a soft smile on his lips, but you were able to see the worry reflected on his eyes. “Hi there.” Jisung whispered.

You had no idea why your brain couldn’t form any sentence at all, but fortunately Jisung didn’t wait for any reply. “Feeling better, now?” He asked.

“A bit.” It was a soft whisper, but the proximity allowed him to hear what you were saying.

“Do you need anything? Drink, perhaps?” You shook your head at that, “Well, what do you want, then?”

Before you could stop yourself you blurted out, “Sleep with me, please.”

It was a second later that you realized that your words could meant something else entirely. Your cheeks warmed out at that, ready to explain yourself but you didn’t need to worry about his teasing because he nodded. “Okay. Your room or Changbin’s?”

“Mine?”

“Alright.”

You missed his warmth as soon as you released your hold at him, but the hand that linked the both of you could suffice for that. For a second, your mind went back to that theme park date. He closed your door once the both of you were already inside your room and you tugged on his hand, motioning him to follow you as you sat on the edge of the bed.

“I’m…sorry for your sweatshirt.” There was a wet patch formed out of your tears (and snot, probably) on his clothes, you noticed. “I’ll clean it up later.”

Jisung chuckled at your thought, he didn’t even realize it as he was too busy on making sure that you were okay. “No need to do it, it’s fine.”

“I insist.” You pouted, looking up at him and then he realized that there was no way that he could win against that. Instead he sighed, signaling you to move aside to give him a space on your bed before taking off his sweatshirt.

You didn’t press onto the matter, but you swore that you were going to clean it later. Your legs slipped beneath the blanket as you made yourself comfortable, waiting for Jisung to do the same when the deafening thunder came again. The immediate reaction from your body caused you to flinch before covering both of your ear as you closed your eyes, teeth gnawed onto your bottom lip fiercely. Not too long however, you found Jisung’s arms wrapped on you just like it did a few moments ago. You welcomed the warmth he offered gratefully.

“Let’s just sleep, okay? I’ll always be here.” He said afterwards, slowly laying the both of you down on the bed from your previous positions of sitting down. You let your hands down from your ear as you bring it in front of you to clutch on his shirt and his still wrapped on your body. Daring your eyes to look up, you found him already staring at you as heat spread across your face. However you couldn’t let your gaze stray away from his before he leaned in to give your forehead a kiss. “Always.”

The rain was loud but your heartbeat was louder.

[]

The first thing that you noticed was how the sun was shining very brightly that morning.

The second thing you noticed was how the rain has stopped on pouring now.

Third and final thing you noticed? How someone’s breath was tickling the back of your neck and this supposed person had their arm draped on your waist. It felt nice, you thought. The comfort of everything caused you to close your eyes again, ready to steal some sleep back.

Wait, you thought again, eyes snapped open. Changbin never cuddled with you.

You fought the urge to scream, thinking how you got yourself a stranger that had the audacity to cuddle with you on your sleep. After mentally preparing yourself to face the said stranger, you turned around with an annoyed look on your face. What you saw, however, got your expression softened right in an instant. A familiar scent of vanilla and cinnamon intoxicated your nose.

Right, he’s here.

Jisung has both of his eyes closed as he was breathing steadily, his lips ajar. The sun gave an impression that he was glowing beneath it, like he was some sort of angel that came from the heaven above. But then again considering the action he did last night, maybe he was. You couldn’t help but brush away the hair from his eyes, fingers twirling on the soft brown locks. He looked so peaceful this way, so beautiful in a way that you were beginning to question what did you do in your past life to deserve such sight presented right on your face.

“I could get used to this.” He smirked despite having his eyes closed still. This punk was pretending to be asleep this whole time? That’s very Han Jisung of him.

You scoffed, pulling your hand back from his hair. “Don’t. it’s a one time thing.” Obviously you lied, but you wanted him to know that. You hoped that your tone was playful enough that he knew you were lying.

“Sure you don’t.” Jisung opened his eyes to see if you were serious and immediately relieved when he was faced with your smiling face. He reciprocated it. “Since the next time we’re staying in the same bed, cuddling wouldn’t be the only thing we’re doing.”

Heat rapidly crept on your cheek before you swat his chest lightly on repeat. “you pervert! It’s not even 8 am!”

Jisung let you hit him freely as he was still too sleepy. “Why?? I was planning for a movie night!” you stopped hitting him at that, your eyes widened and your cheeks got even more red, if possible. The boy caught your speechless expression and a smirk sneaked its way back to his lips. “Unless our (y/n) has something else on her mind?”

“Shut up.” You mumbled, turning away from him so he couldn’t see your embarrassed face. He laughed at that, the hand on your waist pulled you a bit closer to him and then you could feel his breath on your nape again. “We’re supposed to hate each other.” you were glad your voice didn’t waver from the proximity.

Jisung lightly hummed at your words, like he was contemplating about something. “You really hated me that much?”

“Excuse me? I was actually looking forward to know my best friend’s childhood friend and then when you first met me you didn’t even let me shook your hand! You barely paid any attention to me and only focused on Minho while repeatedly interrupting my conversation with him!” You turned around again so you could face him, “After that, it was an endless banter between the both of us because hey, I actually don’t want you to feel like you’re the only one with the power!”

The boy in front of you went quiet after your outburst. “You were the one that hated on me first.” you added quietly, “I still don’t know the reason why you’d do that.”

The atmosphere was suddenly tense, all trace of previous playfulness dissipated to thin air. You waited for his response with bated breath, because despite having a crush on him (or falling for him, whatever you prefer to call your emotion) you still needed to know the reason behind his treatment on you.

Jisung laid on his back, sighing. His gaze was fixed to your ceiling as he tried to place the sentences he’s about to say together without sounding like he was stupid. “If I tell you, it still won’t justify my actions.” he finally said, “What I did to you was horrible and stupid, it’s just downright childish.”

“I don’t need your actions to be justified.” You said, “But I need to know why.”

“You’re going to hate me even more.”

“Try me.”

Jisung sighed again, the top of his ears turned slightly red. “You know how middle school students act in front of their crushes, right?” He didn’t dare to look at your expression but the lack of a response probably meant that it was one of a confusion. “Well, they kinda didn’t know how to act. And eventually embarrassed themselves, or making their crushes misunderstand their intention.”

“Okay? And the connection is?” You trailed off as you were genuinely confused.

The top of his ears turned even redder but he forced himself to stare at your eyes. “I’ve always liked you. And I was such an idiot because you thought the opposite.”

You were quiet, your mind was working its gears to understand his words. After a while, you found that you couldn’t say anything but a “You’re being ridiculous!” while shaking your head. “H-how? I mean What? Why? Huh?”

He needed to stop himself from laughing over how your expression was a morph of confusion and shock. So he took it upon himself to explain, “I think I’ve been liking you from the first showcase performance that you did–”

“The one where I almost lost my scholarship? You made fun of me because of it!”

“Yes, and I regret that everyday!” He bit his lip when the memory of your expression after he did it came to his mind. “I just came to cheer on Minho and then I saw you. Not going to lie, I couldn’t even pay any attention to Minho after that, which got him kinda annoyed before I said that I was looking at you the whole time. He then casually said that you were his first friend in campus and I was very jealous because of it.”

A chuckle slipped from your lips before you could even stop it, “Why were you even jealous?”

Jisung frowned, “I figured probably I wouldn’t have any chance since well, Minho is Minho. You know how charming that guy could be. I’m not even close to his level per se.” He shook his head, “And yeah I continued to stay quiet about this feeling since well, I decided that I wouldn’t stand a chance and we probably won’t have our path crossed at all.”

“Let me guess, Minho knew about it?”

The boy sighed again for the nth time in the morning, “He did. That punk teased me about it all the time about how I was being a coward and won’t ‘man up’ to get to know you so I, in my embarrassed and unwise state of being, said that he should introduce me to you. Minho said yes and that was the backstory of our first meeting.”

You hummed at his words, cheeks reddening out of his confession that he actually liked you even when you didn’t even know he existed yet. He was right about how it couldn’t justify his action towards you but you were glad that it wasn’t anything major nonetheless. You thought that he wouldn’t say anything else until he mumbled about something you didn’t quite catch.

“What?”

“I said,” He turned so he could face you, the gap between your faces were small. There was a hint of worry on the glint of his eyes, “Say something. You’re killing me here.”

You giggled at the idea of the Han Jisung worrying about the words that you’re going to say. “Still don’t understand the reason why you don’t want to shake your crush’s hand in the first meeting though.”

He covered his face with his hands, groaning. “I was an idiot, I told you.”

“Well, elaborate.”

“Let’s just say that you were so cute that day and I couldn’t believe I was seeing you so close so I lost a couple of my brain cells.”

“A couple? You kept on interrupting me, too! What about the whole thing of making fun of me and being rude? ”

“Okay, maybe most of them. Also my mind–mind you, it was dumb–thought that I should make a good first impression, but then I didn’t even shake your hand so I figured that I should at least have something you’d remember me as. So yeah, I pissed you off but at least you remember my name, right?“

You furrowed your eyebrows, "So instead of apologizing you just went on with the character of you hating me? Han Jisung you really are stupid.”

“That bit is true.” He peeked through the crack of his fingers, “Want to know what’s even stupider?”

You simply nodded.

“I was actually the one that suggested Minho to left both of us alone at the theme park. So it would feel like a real date for the both of us, you know? I mean at least if I lose the bet, i would still have a memory of you. Or us.” He paused to let out a breath, “No matter how fake it was.”

There was a smile on your lips without you even knowing it upon hearing that. “I actually have something to say too.” You heaved a breath, trying to hide how amused you were from watching how his eyes has gotten wider to your statement.

“Two days ago I told Minho that I quit this game.” You bit your lip, debating on whether you’re going to tell him the reason or not and decided to keep it for later. “You want to know what he said?”

Jisung was more curious on your first statement rather than your question but he held it back, opting to nod instead. “Well,” You began, “He said that we have more similarities than what we actually thought. I didn’t know what he meant by that back then but maybe I know it now.” a chuckle slipped from your lips to mask your preparation of saying the next words.

You could feel your heartbeat increased and how the blood rushed to the apple of your cheeks when you wanted to say it. But then again all words died on your tongue as you felt yourself getting suffocated from Jisung’s intense gaze at your eyes. Your mind went back to the day when Minho offered the game to the both of you. When he stared at you with the same intensity that got you feeling so fragile, out in the open for everyone to read. 

Back then you could easily ran from it with a sip of coffee, staring away into the distance that was anything except his eyes but today, you couldn’t do anything about it and you were forced to return the stare albeit with a weaker intensity before you tried to cower from his, only to met his lips before it flicked up to his eyes again.

He did the same.

“Stop me if you don’t want it.” Jisung whispered, slowly leaning in. His hand shot up to hold your cheek but he didn’t do anything just yet as he simply stared at you. That was when you realized that the tension was way too thick for you, the boy was way too ethereal and you wanted nothing but his lips on yours as soon as possible. So you close your eyes and closed the gap.

Kissing Jisung was something that you never thought would be able to do. It was just a flash of thought in daylights (or sometimes, at night) that you immediately shoved back to the back of your mind with an erratic heart and red cheeks because it was crazy. He didn’t like you. Jisung was nice to you at the theme park because he wanted to see you break beneath him. He would use your feelings against you and you swore to never let him see the faintest part of that.

But then again it was his lips that was kissing you right now. It was his hand on your cheek that tried to pull you closer to him even when it was physically impossible and it was your hand that clutched into his shirt because of the serotonin on your neurotic system because holy fuck you were kissing the Han Jisung, your sworn rival slash crush and holy fuck was he good at it.

He got confident for a second after he realized that it was you that kissed him first, his lips moving against yours in a way that got your toes curled out of excitement. There was a smile on Jisung’s lips once he pulled back and saw your lips chasing his. “Sorry, you were saying?” there was cockiness at his tone, but it was delivered ever so playfully that got you swatting lightly to his shirt.

And then it hit you. The stare that Jisung gave you was the one that he did when he tried to read you, attempting to dive into that complex mind of yours but also a stare he gave when he wanted to try something that he hoped won’t cross the boundary to help. Once when he noticed your insecurity over your own talent that you started to doubt whether you deserve to be Minho’s partner or not, and now when he knew that it was hard for you to express your feelings so he decided to help you out through the act of kissing.

Oddly enough, it worked. You didn’t mind at all.

“I think I like you, Han Jisung.” You whispered, watching how his face lit up and reddened even more after the kiss. “You win. You could be Minho’s partner now.”

“No.” He said, moving from his position so that now he hovered above you with a smile on his face, both of his hands supporting his weight on either side of your head. “You’re crazy if you think that I’ve won because I forfeited first from the game, hence the reason he said the both of us were actually more similar than we thought we were.”

Your eyes widened but before you could voiced out your shock, he gave you a lingering kiss on your forehead. “You won, (y/n). You’ve won the game, but more importantly, you’ve won my heart and probably my soul but hey, you already did it on that first showcase.”

“But now that I think about it,” Jisung trailed off, his gaze flickered on your lips again before staring back at yours with such ardor you felt your heart could burst. “I have my crush confessed that my feeling is reciprocated and I just kissed her so I think I win, too.”

You giggled, biting your lip as you cup his cheeks. “I think your crush wanted you to kiss her again.”

“Well with this lips of mine, that’s not a surprise.” He smirked and you rolled your eyes, groaning.

“On second thought,” You pushed him back lightly and he fell back to the mattress with furrowed brows, “I think I’ll brush my teeth instead because let’s face it. We’re both happy and all but that doesn’t stop our breath from being stinks.”

Jisung laughed at that, and you were looking forward to hear it more often. “Okay, princess. Let’s go.”

You liked that nickname better than his previous ones, but you didn’t want him to know it just yet so you hurriedly make your way to your bathroom with him following you close behind. After brushing both of your teeth you found yourself sitting on the bathroom counter and a confused Jisung staring at you.

“Kiss your girlfriend, you dumb.” You said, cheeks flaring.

He smirked, positioning himself between your legs with his hands on your hips. “Ooh, eager aren’t we? Are we really a thing now?”

“You should really kiss me before I change my mind.”

And kiss you he did. His lips captured yours sweetly, almost innocently and you enjoyed the way his hands rubbed soothing circles on your hips before you accidentally pulled on his hair a little harder that brought out a groan from him. Jisung pulled back before staring at your eyes, catching his breath. “Princess, if you do that again, I’m not going to be able to control myself.”

“Then don’t.” Was all you whispered before pulling him back to you. He smiled onto the kiss before pulling your body closer to him that prompted out a gasp from your lips, allowing him to slip his tongue in. You couldn’t help but tug on his roots and curled your toes from his kiss that lit up a fire on the pit inside your belly, making you feel light-headed and dizzy in all the best way.

You wanted to kiss him forever but the both of you were just mortals that needed air to breathe so you pulled back reluctantly, both of your breaths mingled into thin air as your foreheads touched. “I like you, Han.” You confessed again, enjoying the way he bit his lip shyly before giving you another peck. And another.

There was nothing but pure adoration and affection on his eyes. You believed that yours mirrored his, too. “You do realize you can call me Jisung, right?”

You hummed, pretending to contemplate his offer before shaking your head sheepishly. “No. I get used to it already and besides, isn’t it kinda special that I’m the only one that calls you that?”

“Well, you and dozens of other people that doesn’t really know me, I guess. But yeah–”

He didn’t get the chance of finishing his words when you learnt forward and kissed him.

Jisung liked the idea of him getting silenced with that. He’d make sure to speak a lot more often now.

[]

Safe to say that Minho wasn’t a bit surprised when he called both of you to the cafe and saw how you arrived together, hands entwined. He had a smug grin on his face, his eyebrow raised as if he’s asking you a question he knew the answer already.

“I called it.” Was all he said, leaning back to his chair while sipping the coffee he had ordered before. “You guys really need to thank me.”

“Yeah, yeah whatever.” You mumbled, rolling your eyes but silently agreeing to that. He deserve to be treated with food and everything be wanted for being the patient wingman for the both of you. “Anyway, who’s the winner?”

“Isn’t it clear?” Minho laughed, “it’s clearly the both of you. Go on and make your own group!”

You were confused with his answer, but Jisung beat you to ask him about it. “Wait, what do you mean?”

Minho’s smug grin made its way back to his face, “I mean clearly you two have the chemistry needed to do the group project, right? It’ll be fun to see what will the new couple come up with.”

You tried to not let the word 'new couple’ affected you despite the fluttery feeling it gave to your chest. It still hasn’t fully registered to you yet, the idea of Jisung as your boyfriend but here he was sitting beside you with a hand that you could always hold onto anytime you wanted. The days when the both of you would have your quarrels and petty conversation seemed so far away like a static white noise in the background.

But of course, you tried to focus on Minho’s words instead. “Wait, what about you? Who’s your partner’s going to be?”

“I mean, I kinda already know who’s going to be my partner from the start?” He giggled sheepishly, a little nervousness was evident there. “It’s never about my partner from the start, it’s mainly for the both of you.”

“Let me guess,” Jisung snorted, “It’s that girl that you got your eyes on?”

“Yeah, the one that slapped you in the face?” You butted in, a little annoyed but most importantly amused with his reddening cheeks. He was easy to read. “And have you finished the project already?”

“Kinda?”

Your eyes narrowed. “So you almost finish your project while the both of us hasn’t even started it yet?? And we only have like, how many month?”

“Short to 3 weeks.” Jisung added.

“3 weeks!!” You flailed your hands everywhere to signal your frustration. “What is this, a sabotage?”

Minho cringed, he clearly didn’t think that your reaction would be this big.  "I mean, I told you two that you guys could do it in a span of a week, right?“ His hands shot up, feigning defeat.

You nearly spat out swear words at him before Jisung held your hand to stop you. You stared at him confusedly but he went on, "Look, wanna bet at that? I mean, the one that would get the highest score in their project will win.”

In the mention of a bet, Minho had his eyebrow quirked up. “Are you sure about that? You guys aren’t even started yet.”

“Yeah? Are we even ready for that?” It was your turn that doubted Jisung’s words but the way he rubbed circles to your palm assured you.

“Yup. I’m sure that we’re more than ready for it.” Your–now–boyfriend smiled at you, a twinkle evident on his eyes. “After all, I’d say that the winner could get a free theme park ticket for two.”

The best friend of the both of you chuckled, catching onto what Jisung was offering. “The losers will pay for it, right?” He stared at you, waiting for your response.

“Okay then. In one condition.” You finally said, and it got both boys furrowing their eyebrows.

You grinned, “The date is real. Not a fake one.”

Jisung mirrored that, his hold on your hand tightened. “No need to worry about it, princess.”

Minho made a disgusted noise with a fake gag when he heard the nickname flew from Jisung’s lips but you didn’t found an ounce of care for his reaction. The only thing that got into your mind was how you were going to work hard for a theme park date with your boyfriend.  You couldn’t stop yourself from grinning upon imagining the things you’re going to do without worrying about some stupid stamps and a game.

Well, it was when the game ended for the both of you and this time, you hoped that it would be a start of something.

What exactly that something was, you didn’t know. But as long as Jisung was there beside you, you’d think that you’ll be fine, after all, he promised you that he was going to be there with you. Always.

And you believed it wholeheartedly.

***

waaah it’s finally here!! after 3 months filled with mental breakdowns and procrastination I finally finished this monster fic. The longest one shot i’ve ever written omg.

I wanted to post it in celebration for his birthday but i’m few days late so here’s a late birthday gift, i guess? Happy birthday, Jisung and Felix!!

Look forward to my future works and don’t hesitate to send me messages/asks !! 

-mine (mee-nay)

[avengerscompound]

The Frame Job - 5

The Frame Job: A Bruce Banner Fanfic

Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Buy me a ☕ Square: @brucebannerbingo​ - B4 James "Rhodey" Rhodes/War Machine

Rating:  G

Warning: Canon Typical Violence

Word Count: 1626

Pairing:  Bruce Banner x Reader (eventual), Bucky Barnes x Sharon Carter x Steve Rogers (Background)

Summary: When Bucky Barnes is taken from the compound and the only clue anyone has is a large damaged area of the compound and a faint Gamma signature, everyone suspects Bruce.  It is up to you and him to get to the bottom of the disappearance.

Chapter 5

It was sometimes easy to forget that Bruce Banner was actually in incredibly good shape.  He spent so much time in the lab and tended to wear clothing that was a little large on him, and when you put him next to Steve Rogers or Thor his soft human stomach was easily dismissed as dad bod because people forgot fit men didn't really look like gods.

But Bruce had lived a life on the run fighting to keep his freedom.  He worked out and stayed in good condition and there were times like this, as you chased him down the wide hallways of the Avengers’ Compound that you were reminded, he could outrun you if he really wanted.

He burst into the operations room and everyone turned to see what the commotion was.  “Rhodey,” Bruce said, ignoring the myriad of eyes on him and beelining straight for the Colonel who had obviously been in discussion with Captain Rogers and Agent Carter before the interruption.  “I need your help.”

“Is it important?” Rhodes said, with an obvious attempt not to be completely dismissive despite the fact that he was being just that. “We were just…”

“I know who has Barnes,” Bruce said, interrupting him.  “And I need you to get me close to him.”

“What?”  Steve said, stepping closer, like merely being nearer to Bruce would bring him nearer to his boyfriend.  “Where is he?”

Bruce looked at Steve, his face set.  “It was Ross.”

You sat in the back of the jet with Bruce while Rhodey piloted.  “So tell me how you connected the dots,” you said.

“Ross has always been someone I suspected.  But I thought I was being paranoid,” Bruce explained.  “I mean obviously the guy has had it out for Bucky and I.  He hunted me to use me as a weapon for years and already tried to have Bucky locked up.  He even tried replicating the experiment that made the Hulk in the first place.  But Bucky isn’t easy to catch and how would he be able to both catch him and replicate a scene that looked like a Hulk rampage, gamma and everything?  So my first thought was checking on Jen.  I thought maybe he’d done some mind control.  With him taking Bucky it didn’t seem like such a stretch.  But Jen was there and fine.  I went a little off track when Jen suggested Betty.  Particularly when she was attacked I thought it may have been me all along.  I’d already trashed that university campus once, I thought maybe there was someone trying to have me seen as a public enemy by setting off the Hulk again and again and have you all turn against me.”

You put your hand on Bruce’s and looked into his eyes.  “We’d never turn against you.”

He shook his head.  “I’m not so sure, but that’s nice to hear.”

“So how do you know it’s Ross?  And how did he do it?”  Steve asked.

“Betty said she was working on my old experiments by order of her father.  Don’t you see?”   Bruce exclaimed.  “He’s got his own Hulk and he used it to take Bucky and make it look like me.  You’d never forgive me for hurting Bucky.”

“I don’t know how far my clearance will get us,” Rhodey said.  “He’s above me and he hides shit from me.”

“Just do what you can,” Bruce said.  “Hulk can do the rest.”

The jet touched down in the middle of a military base and as your small group exited the jet you were greeted by General Thaddeus Ross and a group of soldiers, all armed and all with their weapons trained on you.

“Colonel Rhodes, Captain Rogers, you do not have clearance to be here,” Ross said, squaring up to Rhodes.

“We have the authority to search any government facility when there’s evidence of illegal human experimentation going on, General,” Rhodes replied.  “And we have evidence of that happening here.”

“What evidence.  You don’t have any evidence?”  Ross growled, there was a red tinge to his neck as his fury rose inside him and he balled one hand into a fist.

“We do indeed, in the way of your daughter,” Rhodes replied, holding his ground.

“Where’s Barnes?”  Steve snarled.

That was all it took, Ross doubled over and started to change.  His muscles contorted and grew and his skin turned red as his clothes tore and he quadrupled in size.  The soldier around him scattered, aiming their guns at him, but before they could fire Bruce charged forward, growing and turning green as he ran.

The two Hulks collided with a roar and a thud of flesh against flesh.  They grappled with each other, each trying to throw the other but neither gave any leeway.

A soldier ran up to Steve as the others opened fire on the battling Hulks.  “Captain Rogers,” the man said. “I know where they’re holding Sergeant Barnes.”

“Take me there,” Steve ordered. He turned to you and Rhodey, completely in leadership mode.  “Rhodey suit up, Bruce is gonna need help.  You -” he pointed at you.  “Stay out of the way until you’re needed.”

You nodded and you ran back into the jet followed by Rhodes.  He got into his War Machine armor and looked over at you before he closed the visor.  “You gonna be alright in here?”

You nodded.  “Hulk won’t let anything happen to me.”

The visor closed and he flew off out the back of the jet.  You sat crouched in the exit watching as Red Hulk fought green and the army attempted to put a stop to it.  Ross seemed to have the advantage of size and aggression, but what he lacked was your Hulk’s determination to be the strongest one.

Steve appeared in the door, Bucky leaning his weight on him.  You rushed to them and pulled out the stretcher, letting Bucky drop down on it.  “Can you take care of him, while I go help with what’s going on out there?”

“You really gonna fight a Hulk?”  You asked as you rushed to Bucky’s side.

“Looks like I’m gonna have to,” Steve said, taking his shield off his back and running out of the jet.

“Are you hurt?”  You asked as you looked Bucky over.

Bucky shook his head.  “Just tired, and dehydrated.”

“Right,” you said and got him a drink of electrolyte water.

“Ross took me,” Bucky said.  “He was that big Red Hulk.  Couldn’t fight him.”

“What did he want?” You asked, sitting next to him.

“He’s been trying to reimplant the triggers,” Bucky said.  “Doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing though.  Wanted to have me working as their arm.  Wanted to have the Avengers agree to lock up Bruce and do the same to him.”

There was a crash and a roar outside and you and Bucky both craned your heads around to watch as the green Hulk used Steve’s shield to choke the red into unconsciousness.  As his breathing became labored, the fight began to die in his body and he started to shrink back down.

“Hurry!”  Steve said as the soldiers began to move in.   “You’re gonna need to get him to the Raft before he regains consciousness.”

Hulk roared at them as they tried to approach and smashed his fist on the ground.

“Sounds like you’re up,” Bucky said.

You nodded and rushed out, but as you got to Hulk you slowed your pace.  “Hey Big Guy, you did a great job here,” you said gently.  “You gonna let them take him to prison?”

“He not Hulk!”  Hulk roared.  “Only me!”

“That’s right.  He’s a cheap copy of you,” you said holding out your hand to him.  He swung his hand wildly like he was trying to bat you away, but unlike the soldiers around you, you didn’t flinch.  “Big guy…” you scolded.  “You wanna fight him again, don’t you?”

“Hulk win,” he huffed.

“I know,” you said.  “You always do.  Bet it was fun having a challenge for once.”

He nodded and moved closer to you.  The soldiers around you backed off and raised their guns.

“Lower your weapons,” Rhodes ordered and they all looked around nervously.

“Big guy,” you said gently.  “You did so good.  But we need to get him locked up and you need to go home.  Betty is waiting.”

Hulk furrowed his brow and shook his head.  “Don’t want, Betty.”

“No?  What about Tony?  Or Thor?”  You asked.  “They’re there too.”

Hulk sat down in the dirt and looked at you shaking his head.  “No,” he grumbled.

Seeing the large green man sitting there looking so sheepish was confusing.  It was out of character for him and you weren’t quite sure what to do. Normally he’d have just changed back by now.  He didn’t normally argue with you, and he never reacted like this.  “What is it, Hulk?”

“Hulk like nerdy girl,” he huffed.

You smiled softly and stroked his cheek.  “I like you too.”

He nodded and started to shrink back down until you were just cupping the jaw of the scientist you had such strong feelings for as he sat on the ground in a puddle of ruined clothes.  “Oh,” he said softly as the soldiers all moved in to apprehend Ross.  “What happened?”

“Hulk said he liked me,” you answered as you helped Bruce to his feet.

A soft blush crept into Bruce’s cheeks and he ran his hand through the back of his hair.  “He’s not the only one.”

You moved closer to him, the heat of his body radiating out to you.  “Bruce…”

He looked into your eyes, a small, nervous smile playing over his lips.  “Yes?”

“I like you too,” you said and brought your lips to his.  He wrapped an arm around your waist and the world around you disappeared.

~ END ~ 

[smoljamswrites]

all is fair in love & war | bts x reader | chapter two

pairing: bts x female reader

genre: mafia!au, series fic, angst, fluff, (eventual) smut

warnings for this chapter: stalker-ish kinda? y/n is uncomfortable, mentions of abuse, my bad writing!!

a/n: hey, I’m trying my best to make the chapters longer than the previous and including more things, so please stay tuned!!

the fic playlist is here, if you wanted to hear it x

He flew down the stairs, eager to find the two at the bar and fulfill his ‘mission’. Well, if there’s anything Taehyung is good at, it’s distracting people. He was regularly sent out to divert people’s attention, and boy was he quite the distraction. With his boxy grin and beautifully sculpted face, it was hard to leave him. He couldn’t wait to see you properly! With all these years of staring at old photographs of you, he couldn’t believe this was his chance to finally talk to you. This, of course, only made him run faster. And it was at this great speed that Taehyung could barely see what was ahead of him and bounded straight into Jungkook.

“Watch where you’re going-“Jungkook started, “What? Why are you looking at me like that for?”

“Did you let her leave?” Tae deadpanned.

“…yeah, but I got her number!” he smirked, walking up the stairs smugly.

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

Your last 3 days have consisted of three things; sleeping, eating, and texting the bartender. He keeps asking when he’ll see you next and you want to see him too, you really do, but it’s too risky to leave again.

The lights behind you are blaring, good at hiding the blush forming on your cheeks. He leans in, mouth by your ear. He smells quite musky, with a touch of vanilla. It’s so sweet and hypnotizing and God do you love it! With his lips ghosting over your ear, he whispers “do you want me to take you back to your home later? Saves you paying for a taxi, I can drive you?”

You begin to fidget in your seat, squirming at the idea of him taking you home. Not because its him that would take you home - actually you find yourself trusting the bartender more as you continue to speak to him - but rather because what would happen if he did. Would he expect to come into your house? What if they notice he’s there? Would they hurt him? You can’t even get caught coming back in, let alone sneaking in another person! God how long have you been out for?

A small cough interrupts your inner dread, and you notice Jungkook beginning to stand up straight. After you quickly realise that he must have thought you had rejected him, you subconsciously reach out and grab his arm.

“um I’m sorry but I live in a dorm and you see the, um, university is very strict on having strangers on campus and so it’s not-“

“Hey, don’t worry about it, I completely understand!” he says, rather gently “but can I at least have your number?”

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

Your mind wanders back into reality as you hear footsteps heading towards the kitchen. Immediately your hands move to play with your bracelet, your eyes darting to the door of the kitchen, fingers twisting the metal on your wrist. 3 of the main members of Sin Syndicate enter the kitchen as an uneasy feeling sets in your stomach. You look up expectantly at the men, and they look down back at you. The one member, who’s name you know to be Ju-Won, walks around the table and stands directly behind you; as for the other two, one stands in front of you, on the opposite side of the table, and the other stands at the door. A tingly sensation creeps up over you, as you feel Ju-Won touching and twisting strands of your hair through his fingers. You hide the urge to cringe, as you think about the things those hands have done – the lives they have taken.

“So sweetheart, Yunseo says that you can’t keep scrounging off us anymore. You’re a big girl now, and we can’t keep paying for you, can we? You have to start working for your life now. Ju-Won suggested you could work in one of our brothels, but we don’t want you too tired for us when you come back home, so we have decided you’re going to be working at ‘Angels’. You start tomorrow!” the greasy smile in front of you makes you want to throw up.

As Ju-Won lets go of your hair, and you nod politely at the 3 members (much to your resentment) you head back into your room. It seems really out of place in this big mansion of the Syndicates. The room has a cream colour scheme and is filled by a single-bed and a small chest of drawers. Reaching around your socks in your drawer, you search for the one that hides your phone. The phone springs to life, with the brand logo flashing on the screen when you turn it on. Sitting down on your bed, notifications begin to come through.

Jungkook: Hey, how are you today? [11:34✓✓]

Butterflies arise in your stomach as you lie back onto your bed, smiling to yourself. Your fingers move faster than your brain, and before you know it you have already replied.

You: Hey, I’m alright thank you, I’m actually starting a new job tomorrow! I’m a little nervous about it to be honest, but I’m so glad to be getting out the house more! [13:26✓]

You reread the message you sent and panic. It definitely sounds like you’re being held captive, you think.

You: Yknow, getting out the house more than usual because of college and everything haha! [13:27✓]

You put your phone away in your drawer, feeling calm now that you had saved your little mistake.

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

“Um Joon?”

Jungkook, adorned in a complete black outfit, enters the living room, phone in hand. His eyes search the 6 other pairs in the room, until he lands on Namjoon’s. He nervously walks over to the couch and sits on the arm of it before continuing,

“as you know, I’ve been texting Y/N for the past few days, and well...she says she has a job?”

“A job?”

“Yeah. She said she starts tomorrow and she’s nervous. You don’t think-“

A shorter man, but equal in fierceness and determination, interrupts Jungkook’s fretting, ”Well they aren’t going to let her go and work for a legitimate place, that’d be stupid. And as the Syndicates only run drug chains, strip clubs and brothels, then she’s obviously working in one of them.”

Jungkook’s face morphs into one of outrage; almost disgust,” A fucking brothel!? They better not be sending her to work there Yoongi, I swear to God, I’ll fucking torch the lot of them”

Taehyung can’t stop himself for giggling at his younger’s outburst, “Why do you even care!? You hardly know her, and be realistic yeah? She’s probably working for one of their strip clubs to get her started, because it’s not like they’re gonna let her run riot on a drug chain. And sending her straight into a brothel? Unlikely.”

“Tae’s got a point. I’ll try and work out which one they have likely sent her too.” Their leader places his hand on Jungkook’s shoulder comfortingly, and then continues to head to his office.

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

A bright purple neon sign, declaring the title ‘Angels’ flickers above the bar. The ‘A’ has devil horns above it, completely ridding the name of its suggested innocence. Most of the place looks like it is following an open plan design. Yellow leather chairs meet black shiny counters; tacky turquoise poles stand tall on top of the surface. You are pretty sure, that just in the 2 minutes you have spent here, you have seen every colour existing.

It’s quite busy in here already to say it is only the late afternoon, you think. Men dressed in suits occupy most of the room, but you are surprised to see female clients lurking around. From all the movies you watched, you always gathered it was only men that visited these types of places. Clearly, you were wrong. Your eyes continue to search the place, whilst you are waiting for further instructions from Yunseo. On the opposite side of the room you see a raised platform, with black, leather seats and small, red, circular tables surrounding it. You quickly conclude that this must be the stage where main performances are given. Focusing on that area, you see the a few silver poles coming out of the stage. You gulp, wondering if they are expecting you to be able to pole dance. You could never do that, you muse, you can barely walk in a straight line half the time! As for the employees, they are absolutely stunning. Long hair swaying in sync with their hips, their golden skin hypnotizing every person to watch their every move. You really don’t know how you’re going to fit in here.

As you take a sip of your water, a gentleman joins you at the bar. You can’t help but to take notice of him as he orders himself a drink, engaging in conversation with the Syndicate Bartender.

“You’re new ‘round here, right? I haven’t ever seen you here before?”

“Yeah, a friend recommended me the club, said I should check it out, so here I am” the dark black hair of the gentleman is parted, allowing any lurking eyes a better scope of his handsome face.

Just as you begin to listen to the rest of their conversation, Yunseo taps your shoulder.

“Okay Y/N, you’re going to have to get practicing because I’ve booked you a performance slot ready for Saturday, and you better not disappoint us!”

“Wait? For Saturday? That’s just 3 days away! How am I supposed-“

“You’d watch your mouth if you know what’s good for you sweetheart”

And just like that your head tilts down, hands in lap. Yunseo has always scared you, and has always took advantage of this whenever he has a chance.

“Good girl,” he hums, hand moving to cup your face, “Come with me and I’ll show you where you can practice”

As you get out of your seat to follow Yunseo, through the pungent scent of sweat and arousal, the gentleman at the bar catches your eye once more. It’s the way he is looking at you that you notice the most. With a prominent frown filling his features, he seems to be thinking about something. But you don’t have time to ask him about it or continue to ponder, so you turn back around and walk after Yunseo.

The rest of the evening is filled by your frustration. Yunseo had left you in this room, filled with only a stripper pole, a speaker and leather sofa, and these 4 walls are now driving you insane. It’s not like you’re the worst dancer in the world, it’s just you don’t have enough confidence. Just when you were about to hit play on the music, someone bursts into the room.

“That’s enough for today! Yunseo told me to get you home” a member you recall being named ‘Seojun’ says.

That’s right, you smile to yourself, if Yunseo told him to fetch he’d do it – he’s like a little puppy dog, a follower, and he always has been.

As you exit the room with him, Seojun’s phone starts to ring in his back pocket. As he picks up the call, you can’t help but to watch and listen,

“Hello?......How long did he stay here for?.....I don’t think it’s too strange no…….He could have been telling the truth I guess……bring it up with Yunseo, he’ll know what to do.”

You wonder for a moment who ‘he’ was. But then you remember where you are, and that it literally could have been anyone. Seojun closes the door behind you and leads you out the back entrance to the car.

next chapter update: Saturday 1st February 2020 8pm gmt

tagging: @dearlydreadful @honeydewseoks @whimsicalwoodlands @toddsgirl27 @wendyiiwl @asifetch7 @barbyisafangirl @miraculyfe @btsxdoll @laluzdirectioner​ @slutkoo​ @bubbletae7​ @h5naaa​

let me know if you want to be tagged in future chapters!

Thank you so so much for reading!

all rights reserved © smoljamswrites | 22/01/2020 | reposting my work or modifying of any kind is strictly not allowed. Translations are also not allowed.

[ourkarlanicoleuniverse]

Sweet Nothing (MHA Staff AU Fanfiction)

Chapter 18

Warnings: None, swf. Implied history of abuse. 

Pairing: Shouta Aizawa x OC (Mai Montoya, Pro Hero Zion) 

If you want to read of the events before this chapter here is the Master List 😊

I was sitting on the ground while Midoriya was struggling with the exercises I gave him to do. They weren't extensive exercises by any means. They were just exercises that allowed him to put less strain on his arms and focus on other body parts, so he learned to utilize other fighting strategies that didn't involve his arms.

"Are you sure this is helpful? Shouldn't I just be focusing on ways not to break my arms when I use them?" Midoriya breathed out, irritation laced in his soft voice.

"You wanted me to train you. This is what you get." I shrugged. He huffed. It's been a few weeks since we've been at this, and he doesn't seem to understand that I want him to realize not to copy All Might's fighting style and find his own because copying isn't helping him. He needed to connect better with his quirk and his body before coming into his own fighting style. "Look, just because you are All Might's successor doesn't mean you have to fight like him. Look at me for an example. I know you have done your research on me, so tell me what I usually do when I am fighting villains." I leaned back on my palms while I waited for the boy to respond.

"Well, it's like a mix between Gran Torino and Mr. Aizawa's way of fighting. But it heavily depends on who you are up against. And then you also try your best not to have to use your full power because you don't feel like it's fair to anyone if you use it. It's very rare when you do." He continued thinking a little more. "You are a quick strategizer. And use your surroundings to your advantage."

"Do you know why?" I raised an eyebrow at the hero to be. He simply shook his head. I patted the spot next to me on my left, "Sit down and take a break." The boy sat beside me, grabbed a bottle of water, and looked over to me, waiting for me to talk more. "So I learned to distribute the energy from my quirk throughout my body so that way, I wouldn't overexert myself in the same way you end up doing. That's what you need to learn how to do. Another problem I had was that I didn't have trust in my own control over my quirk." I paused for a moment, looking across the sun setting on the campus and then at my hands. "I mentioned this to Todoroki. He told me that you knew about his family issues." I looked over at him, and he nodded with a grim look on his freckled face. "Well, for him to get more comfortable with me, I told him about my upbringing, which I don't mention to most people."

My lips tightened as I started to reminisce about my childhood. "Did you have a father like Endeavor?"

I let out a dry laugh, "I don't know if I wish that I did over what I had, or thank the universe that I didn't have a father like that around." I looked over to Midoriya, the sunset giving a darker forestry look to his eyes. "It was my grandfather, actually. I never knew my father. The most my mom told me about him was that he was a foreign exchange student in her program when she studied abroad in Japan for two years before moving back to the U.S. for medical school."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry. I've never been curious about him. Especially since he doesn't know, I exist." I sighed and went back, looking at the view of the campus. "I'm kind of the opposite of you. I was born with a quirk to a quirkless family, including my father, from what my mom told me at least. And my family wasn't so keen on the idea of quirks either. My grandparents grew up during a time where quirks were still new. So when the first grandchild ended up having one, it was horrifying to them." Midoriya listened intently to me as I continued to speak about my family.

My mom was a little naive and got in bed with a fellow student, that was only in Japan for three months. After the fling ended, she realized she was pregnant. She wasn't against terminating the pregnancy by any means. But something in her told her not to. She always said it was because when you grew up with the parents she did, you look at bringing up a baby that will automatically need you and unconditionally love you as a blessing. She decided to go with the pregnancy and stay in Japan for the rest of her abroad program. She got a little help here and there from my uncle and godfather Dave and his wife and her twin brother. She really didn't want to deal with her parents the whole time. Eventually, when it came to medical school, she decided it would've been best to go back to California and have my grandparents help her out, as they insisted from the beginning.

She regretted that after they all found out about what my quirk could do.

My grandfather was in charge of engineering weapons for the military in the United States. Part of the government's concern was the potential for people with powerful quirks creating an uprising and the country not having a way to defend themselves. He was a talented biomechanical engineer but struggled to find something that would help solve this problem that didn't exist. So, seeing his five-year-old granddaughter accidentally take the quirk of a maid while she was playing with her, it was like a sign from the universe telling him that he would have the answer.

"You're not telling me that..." Midoriya looked mortified. I didn't even get to tell him, and he already knew what my grandfather did. "How was any of that allowed? What about your grandmother? Your mom?"

"My grandmother was the type to just let my grandfather do whatever he liked because it made him happy. And my mom was in medical school, so it was hard to pay attention to what my grandfather was doing. But once she caught on, we both ended up being held in captivity." I shrugged. "My mom doesn't forgive herself for putting so much trust in him. She also feels like I have something against her because of her mistake, but I never blamed her."

"So, he used his granddaughter. He used you to build quirk erasing weapons. How did you get out?"

"I can't remember, actually. I just remember passing out in a hospital bed in a dark room and then waking up in a large bed with my uncle Dave holding a tray of food and water waiting for me to wake up." I remembered the worried but relieved look in his ocean eyes. He almost dropped the tray once he saw me open my eyes and sitting up, "I remember him telling me to slow down when I was sitting up, and he patted my head, nearly crying, telling me that I was okay and safe. Then he gave me the biggest bear hug filled with so much desperation and love it made me cry. I was eight, but I was so small and fragile and barely knew how to speak. But I was able to understand what he meant in his embrace."

"Where was your mom?" He bit his cheek.

"In another room with Dave's wife. She wasn't in a good state either. She was actually more traumatized than me, to be very honest with you."

Her parents always mistreated my mom. But after what we went through, it was a level so low that she was shocked to see them stoop that low. She became distant with me, but at the same time overprotective and refused to leave my side. It was confusing growing up with her; she would be cold one minute and then loving the next. I never knew what to do to help. We stayed with Dave and his wife Pamela for a while. Pamela loved having me around. She actually gave me a lot of the love and nurturing I needed that I wasn't getting from my mother. She didn't have a quirk, so for me, it was easy to get close with her without the fear of taking something away from her. She helped me catch up to my age when it came to my development and helped me learn to be a kid. Same with Dave, he saw my early interest in science and let me hang around in his lab and 'help' him out. He also spoiled me with all sorts of toys. But once I got too comfortable, my mom thought it was best to move us. And so the cycle began, where whenever I got too comfortable, we moved. She said it was because my grandfather was trying to find us. But I never truly believed it. Not until we moved to Japan.

"I begged my mom to let me go to school, and I don't know how, but she had some connection to UA, so she got me in, much to her dismay. She was paranoid about my grandfather, and I didn't take it seriously. So, one day, he found us, and I almost got locked back in that dark room." I paused to let the whole story sink in. Once I got a hint that I could continue, I finished talking, "I didn't want to be a hero, but Nezu and my mom talked about our situation, and he knew that I needed to train my quirk. I was mortified at the idea of using it or being around people that would want me to use it, so the hero course was a nightmare for me. But just like you, I got thrust into my quirk without prior training, and I had to learn how to use it to the best of my ability not to hurt myself or others."

"Did you keep your quirk a secret from everyone too?"

"I did, but it was my choice. I was too stubborn to use it. But one day, this dumb kid with fluffy blue hair told me his friend had a quirk erasing quirk, and I felt comfortable enough to ask him how he used it, and then the rest was history." I laughed a little, my shoulders bouncing lightly.

"So Mr. Aizawa knew about your quirk first? That would explain the similar fighting styles..." Midoriya mumbled.

"Technically, it was my friend Oboro who knew first. I actually accidentally borrowed his quirk without knowing, and I had to explain to him that I didn't have his quirk much to his delight to have someone like him." I smiled, remembering the exciting crooked smile plastered on Oboro's face when he saw me with his quirk. "That's why while I am training you, we are focusing on your mind and body and how your quirk needs both."

He nodded and played with the water bottle in his hands, looking down slightly, "You've been through a lot, but you are so... gentle. It's heartbreaking that you had to live a life like that."

I motioned for him to pass me the extra bottle near him, "'Tis life. I just try to remind myself not to take my life too seriously, which is hard to do. But I appreciate the compliment. I don't meet many people describing me as gentle. Maybe stubborn, brash, and temperamental? But never gentle."

"All Might talks about you a lot. He says that you are extremely selfless but that you aren't a pushover. I guess that's your stubbornness. He says you're strong-willed and that you won't be easily swayed away from your beliefs. But he also mentioned that you could be incredibly kind and have this magnetic force that pulls people to feel safe with you. I can see that. I mean, you have only been our counselor for a semester, and the whole class trusts and adores you. You even have Class 1-B loving you too! So, I would say any negative thing said about you can be turned around to something that's actually good." He brightly smiled.

I couldn't help but ruffle his hair and pull him into a side hug, "I see all of that in you, Izuku. That's part of the reason why I think All Might chose right when he decided on having you take over One For All."

He held me tightly back, "You think you could tell me how you and All Might got so close? He practically brags about you like you were his kid."

"Maybe another time, it's getting late, and I'm sure your mom is expecting you home." Midoriya nodded and moved away to start getting ready to leave.

I walked him to the entrance gate of UA and bid him goodbye. I left out a heavy sigh. Sometimes it's good to talk about things you normally hideaway. I felt like a small weight lifted.

I began to make my way over to my apartment as I looked up in the purple clouds. They reminded me of the person I wish could be here with me. The one person who's embrace and words always made me believe that I was truly as Midoriya says.

"I miss you, Oboro. I hope you know that."

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

Tag List 

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[edenkept]

❛                      NOW    I    KNOW    IT’S    NOT    YOU    ,    but    me    that    i'll    love    a    little    more    .

wish    i    could    use    emojis    to    express    how    i    feel    ,    but    jus    know    that    for    the    entire    day    that    ONE    PART    in    roman    holiday    has    been    playing    in    my    head    on    repeat    &    i    ?    couldn’t    turn    it    off    .    anyway    ,    my    intros    r    usually    super    long    SO    i    tried    to    keep    it    -    how    u    say    -    condensed    this    time    .    but    i’m    so    excited    &    i    am    so    hyped    to    write    w    all    of    u    !  @opalsmedia

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𝑭𝑼𝑵𝑫𝑨𝑴𝑬𝑵𝑻𝑨𝑳𝑺

full  name  :  baek  ye  -  seul

nickname(s)  /  alias(es)  :  eden  park  (  english  name  )

age  /  dob  :  twenty  one  /  march  3  ‘99

hometown  :  seoul  ,  south  korea

current  location  :  guildford  ,  england

ethnicity  :  korean

nationality  :  english  -  south  korean

gender  :  cis  female

pronouns  :  she  /  her

orientation  :  pansexual  ,  grayromantic

religion  :  agnostic  ,  raised  catholic

face  claim  :  jung  chaeyeon

language(s)  spoken  :  korean  ,  mandarin  ,  cantonese  ,  english  ,  some  french

speech  :  english  is  her  first  language  -  seven  years  spent  in  london  before  being  whisked  away  to  another  world  ,  she’s  still  got  a  hold  on  a  formal  accent  -  though  ,  doesn’t  sound  completely  english  or  american  ,  some  ambiguous  mixture  of  someone  who’s  practiced  the  language  with  someone  who  isn’t  a  complete  expert  .  all  being  said  ,  she’s  enchanting  enough  to  fool  even  the  wisest  into  listening  -  schemes  flinging  from  parted  lips  that  garner  attention  ,  though  often  what  follows  is  informal  &  laced  with  sour  intentions  .

hair  :  naturally  dark  ,  so  dark  its  comparable  to  a  moonless  sky  ,  though  ,  in  the  summer  &  constant  sunlight  it’s  known  to  lighten  (  just  -  barely  )  .  kept  just  past  her  shoulder  blades  ,  her  hair  is  naturally  straight  (  barely  wavy  )  &  not  often  styled  .  healthy  &  thick  ,  requires  little  uptake  at  current  length  ,  so  it’s  common  to  see  it  all  down  -  at  most  ,  will  be  swept  up  into  a  messy  up  -  do  to  be  kept  out  of  her  face  when  doing  something  important  .  entirely  effortless  ,  her  hair  is  often  the  least  of  her  worries  .

eyes  :  quite  the  defining  feature  ,  her  eyes  are  sharp  &  cat  like  .  the  same  color  of  the  earth  after  an  unforgiving  rain  storm  ,  it’s  easy  to  see  past  a  confident  exo  -  skeleton  to  see  the  unresolved  pain  in  her  eyes  .  holders  of  wisdom  &  excitement  ,  there’s  a  lot  of  sadness  that  reside  in  her  hues  -  a  lone  survivor  in  an  unheard  war  ,  she  doesn’t  let  enough  people  close  enough  to  ever  let  them  see  it  .  instead  ,  it’s  more  often  found  to  catch  her  sending  a  glimpse  from  over  the  edge  of  a  book  -  sly  &  clever  .

height  :  five  feet  ,  five  inches

build  :  athletic  ,  with  toned  limbs  &  a  toned  torso  .

tattoos  :  none  .

piercings  :  only  earlobes  .

scars  :  easily  hidden  ,  a  small  two  centimetre  scar  on  the  inside  of  her  right  wrist  ,  just  below  the  fleshy  part  of  her  palm  .  when  asked  ,  the  consistent  story  is  an  accident  when  moving  in  with  her  adopted  parents  -  a  child  throwing  a  tantrum  &  getting  themselves  hurt  .  nobody  knows  the  real  story  ,  she  doesn’t  seem  keen  on  sharing  .

clothing  style  :  academia  aesthetic  ,  she  surrounds  herself  with  like  minded  women  who’ve  the  same  ideals  &  personalities  .  distinguishable  by  their  clothing  ,  carefully  smoothed  high  waisted  a  -  line  skirts  ,  high  turtlenecks  &  long  coats  over  black  tights  .  looks  sophisticated  enough  to  have  a  butler  (  which  ,  she  does  )  but  intellectual  enough  to  debate  her  professor  (  which  ,  she  often  does  )  .

usual  expression  :  like  she  knows  too  much  ,  as  if  she’s  seen  too  much  &  she’ll  use  it  to  her  advantage  .  with  the  constant  curve  of  her  lips  &  the  glint  that’s  always  present  in  her  eyes  ,  she  always  looks  as  if  she’s  about  to  cause  as  much  trouble  .  devil’s  advocate  ,  it  wouldn’t  be  too  far  off  for  her  to  be  minutes  away  from  stirring  the  pot  .

distinguishing  characteristics  :  her  fleeting  laugh  -  it  catches  your  ear  as  she  passes  you  in  the  corridor  ,  always  red  nails  ;  deep  in  color  ,  it  matches  the  shade  of  blood  ,  a  walk  that  demands  attention  -  it  exudes  an  aura  of  importance  ,  cat  like  eyes  that  always  look  like  they’ve  caught  you  doing  something  you  aren’t  supposed  to  be  doing  .

𝑹𝑼𝑴𝑰𝑵𝑨𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵𝑺

exterior   :  ethereal  ,  she  holds  herself  to  an  impossibly  high  standard  that  everyone  can  see  .  is  it  intentional  ?  the  looks  sent  over  her  shoulders  ,  how  she  parts  the  halls  to  reach  a  friend  -  no  .  a  normal  girl  from  a  normal  world  ,  she’s  sat  in  the  front  of  the  lecture  hall  making  eye  contact  with  the  instructors  ;  the  kind  of  classmate  who  learns  everyone’s  (  everyone’s  )  name  &  collects  numbers  in  a  well  worn  notebook  to  send  out  guides  &  make  friends  .  even  if  you  don’t  know  eden  ,  you  know  of  eden  -  the  life  of  the  party  who  always  arrives  with  glowing  skin  &  a  passionate  argument  to  have  in  the  kitchen  .  elite  ,  the  rumors  of  a  heaven  fallen  girl  wrap  around  her  with  the  moonlight  (  her  journal  left  in  the  library  ,  she’s  god  chosen  )  -  passionate  ,  with  the  fires  of   both  heaven  &  hell  wrapped  in  her  .  almost  normal  (  not  quite  )  ,  the  kind  of  girl  to  greet  everyone  by  name  while  running  through  almost  empty  corridors  -  she  tugs  a  lifetime  of  sorrow  behind  her  ,  hides  it  behind  ambition  &  blind  loyalty  .

interior   :  war  torn  ,  a  victim  of  poison  dipped  claws  &  a  dip  into  the  river  styx  .  her  mind  doesn’t  match  her  body  ,  stuck  in  between  the  pages  of  a  grand  journey  where  she  views  the  world  as  a  story  .  a  punishment  for  early  childhood  ,  penance  has  been  found  in  intricate  metaphors  that  don’t  match  the  sharp  callousness  that  falls  from  her  lips  .  lost  in  a  universe  where  she’s  half  god  ,  half  devil  &  her  enemies  are  heaven  -  bound  ,  she  pushes  it  all  down  to  pass  as  normal  .  a  normal  girl  ,  with  normal  goals  &  normal  roles  .  poetry  in  her  dreams  ,  written  down  on  hidden  yellow  pages  that  aren’t  meant  to  be  seen  by  the  ordinary  .  found  hidden  away  in  locked  boxes  are  journeys  &  important  figures  that  only  her  mind  understands  ;  a  gaping  scar  in  her  life  that  she’ll  never  rid  herself  of  .

𝑪𝑯𝑹𝑶𝑵𝑰𝑪𝑳𝑬

this  is  NOT  gna  be  pretty  i  spent  too  many  brain  cells  on  my  app  .

TRIGGER  WARNINGS  :  abuse  

there’s  an  email  from  doctor  seong  ;  it  reads  of  baek  ye  seul  &  important  things  to  note  before  a  first  session  with  her  .  irreversibly  traumatized  from  early  childhood  captivity  &  abuse  ,  she’s  learned  to  cope  by  transforming  her  life  into  an  intricately  weaved  story  .  each  significant  figure  in  her  life  has  a  title  ,  an  assigned  metaphor  &  character  -  though  ,  outwardly  ,  she’ll  show  no  signs  of  trauma  .  in  fact  ,  the  opposite  -  she  shows  tremendous  progress  in  her  personal  life  ,  easygoing  with  peers  ,  approachable  &  passionate  -  keep  an  eye  on  her  movements  ,  if  anything  internal  ever  goes  external  ,  it’s  a  dangerous  sign  .

a  file  left  open  on  an  agent  prothero’s  office  -  MI6  stamped  &  redacted  but  he  knows  the  story  by  heart  .  poor  eden  ,  left  in  the  hands  of  a  capable  agent  that  chose  a  target  over  her  own  country  .  the  product  of  a  traitor  &  a  criminal  ,  whereabouts  were  unknown  for  the  first  six  years  of  her  life  ;  but  through  extensive  therapy  &  decoding  childish  messages  ,  he’s  learned  enough  to  swear  to  always  keep  an  eye  on  her  .  held  captive  on  a  london  penthouse  ,  had  her  life  threatened  &  well  being  always  held  just  out  of  reach  while  her  mother  &  father  stayed  hidden  .  not  much  else  is  known  ,  no  specifics  ,  just  one  instance  -  she  drowned  ,  almost  ,  she  says  .  held  under  ,  he  can  still  remember  her  asking  what  the  most  peaceful  way  to  die  is  .  he  sends  her  to  partners  in  south  korea  ,  people  who  want  a  daughter  &  promise  to  raise  her  the  best  they  can  .

pour  over  comments  left  on  old  social  media  pages  ,  she’s  a  hit  in  her  new  life  .  sheds  her  english  name  as  quickly  as  she  received  it  &  thrives  overseas  while  growing  into  a  formidable  woman  .  she’s  intelligent  (  reminds  someone  of  a  mother  who  had  it  all  once  )  ,  sharp  &  witty  .  filled  with  enough  passion  to  light  a  palace  ablaze  ,  she  strives  for  greatness  &  settles  for  absolutely  nothing  .  always  equipped  with  a  plan  &  a  way  ,  she  gets  everything  she  wants  (  &  she  always  earns  it  ,  there  isn’t  a  single  unearned  trophy  on  her  shelf  )  .  either  loved  or  despised  ,  she  shines  as  bright  as  stars  that  are  millions  of  light  years away  from  earth  .

in  her  planner  ,  an  acceptance  letter  carefully  pressed  &  laminated  .  someone  told  her  she’d  never  get  in  ,  but  she  sits  on  campus  &  smiles  -  she’s  capable  of  doing  anything  she  wants  .  next  to  the  letter  is  an  unblemished  business  card  .  agent  prothero  ,  who  found  her  ,  gave  her  the  means  to  burn  everything  down  -  he  hands  her  a  promise  &  information  that  always  swims  around  her  head  .  her  parents  aren’t  dead  ,  kept  hidden  by  everyone  in  her  life  ,  they’re  still  kicking  &  on  the  run  .  a  goal  formulated  as  he  reminds  her  to  finish  her  schooling  -  there’s  the  same  glint  in  his  eye  that  she  often  sees  in  the  mirror  -  a  promise  made  to  finish  &  return  .  some  people  deserve  a  downfall  ,  her  mother’s  will  be  her  .

𝑪𝑶𝑽𝑬𝑻𝑬𝑫

throuple  /  trio    :    hee  hee  ,  as  explained  in  my  app  ,  jus  three  prodigies  who  get  along  so  well  that  they’re  jus  the  best  of  friends  .  kindred  spirits  ,  always  found  together  ,  wearing  complimenting  colors  while  they  try  not  to  laugh  to  hard  in  the  library  over  something  rly  stupid  .  they  hold  hands  while  walking  through  hidden  corridors  &  keep  their  heads  down  to  the  wind  ,  but  it’s  always  the  three  of  them  .

unrequited  rivalry    :   i.e.  an  opal  who  sees  her  as  a  “rival”  (  or  jus  pushes  her  )  &  eden’s  like  haha  peepeepoopoo  in  response  cos  she  doesn’t  think  anyone’s  worthy  enough  to  be  her  rival  .  if  anything  ,  she  thinks  it’s  more  endearing  than  annoying  &  it  gives  her  something  /  someone  to  look  forward  to  when  the  time  comes  down  to  it  .

the  angle  to  her  deivl    :    anyone  who’s  a  lil  kinder  ,  a  lil  softer  &  not  as  annoying  around  the  edges  .  eden  consistently  plays  devil’s  advocate  &  will  stir  the  pot  it  if  brings  drama  &  a  little  bit  of  chaos  into  her  life  ,  this  muse  is  someone  who’s  always  the  ‘  eden  no  ’  to  her  ‘  eden  yes  ’

in  relation  to  her  circlet    :    fully  explained  in  my  app  ,  but  eden  unabashedly  views  her  coven  as  family  -  even  if  she  does  lean  into  the  role  of  annoying  cousin  .  she’s  no  leader  ,  more  of  an  antagonistic  side  kick  who  always  plays  devil’s  advocate  &  causes  trouble  .  that  being  said  ,  when  things  get  dirty  &  things  need  solving  ,  that’s  her  main  job  (  she  ?  thinks  )

in  relation  to  the  opals    :    opals  ,  shmopals  .  a  characteristic  flaw  is  her  disregard  to  authority  figures  (  always  seen  arguing  with  professors  ,  will  fight  the  p*lice  when  called  to  a  party  ,  has  tackled  various  figures  around  campus  )  ,  including  the  opals  .  respect  should  be  earned  &  besides  being  her  seniors  ,  she’s  seen  no  other  reason  to  respect  them  .  so  ,  she’s  outwardly  disrespectful  &  idk  what  to  say  .

[vanaera]

You Will Feel A Flash of Red

Synopsis | Seokjin colors your life with his outrageous ideas and unnecessarily wild adventures, along with his stupid mission to always scare you whenever you run into each other. Against your better judgment, you’ve already started to entertain foreign feelings in your heart concerning the certain boy. And it doesn’t help you already get scared easily without him adding his shenanigans in the mix. You just want Seokjin to stop…making you feel too much all at once. Genre | Fluff, semi-crack Characters | Seokjin x Reader (College!AU bc I’m soft and my uni life is mundane af) Wordcount | 2.7k A/N | Hi hons, this is something short and fluffy I came up with while I’m resting from my recent 21k-wordsmash-work Daffodil Rings. Hope you like this!

               Everything can be colorful if you will them enough to. Grocery shoppings can be filled with oranges and greens that warm you up as you push past the cold airconditioned mart. Laundry days can be cooled with the tranquility of blues and whites that coax your eyes to relax from such a fast-paced week. You learned to make this your coping mechanism ever since you started associating colors for everything that lived in your grey, mundane life.  

               Your study table and work station are your usual pliant canvases to your color imageries. However, your biggest coloring book has to be the people that surround you. For instance, your bestfriend, Park Jimin, is a golden drizzle of yellow for his unfailing optimism whether it be finals week or rush hour dashes. Meanwhile, your other friend, Kim Namjoon, is an inky indigo for his strange concurrent displays of placidity and chaos wherever he goes.  Your roommate, Wendy Seon, is an easy magenta for her innateness to attract attention wherever she goes. Unlike her, Min Yoongi, your batch representative, was a hard-to-determine cream white for his introvertedness and tough-bitch acts. But among these people you have met, there is one who stands out like a sore thumb: Kim Seokjin.

               Kim Seokjin is a friend of Namjoon and you only knew about it when you shared a general education film class with him in sophomore year. He was easy to say…a different story from anyone you’ve met.  

               “You’re Y/N, right?”

               Your eyes flit to your left to meet the eyes of the boy seated next to you and you nodded slowly. How did he know you? Much more your name? You’re sure you’ve never met him before and you’re much surer you’re someone everyone can easily miss.

               “Namjoon told me your name when I asked him about you. I’m Kim Seokjin,” he offers a hand. You shook it slowly, your head tilted to the side, still bewildered as to how he knew you. Unfazed by your questioning stare, Seokjin grins. “I didn’t know you’re also taking this class.”

               “I…I like films so yeah,” you shrug.

               “Me too!” Seokjin chuckles. He leans closer to your seat. “You’re in the biochemistry program right?”

               Your forehead furrows. “Excuse me?”

               “Oh, I am in the biology program and I saw you going out of the lab when our class was about to start in the same lab. Your blue scrunchie gave you away.”

                Your hand deftly reached up to your ponytail and Seokjin laughs. “Don’t worry, you look cute with it,” he waves off and the furrows on your forehead only grow deeper. What is this man spouting about? Is he outright hitting on you–  

               The door swings open and the professor barks the usual morning greeting. Your thoughts were immediately halted. A few minutes is all it takes for everything to settledown into a metronome of students whispering across each other and pens scribbling notes. You wouldn’t have found yourself bothered again by the strange man sitting beside you if Seokjin didn’t just open his mouth to say the stupidest thing you’ve ever heard in your entire life when the professor asked everyone what names they would like to be called in class.

               “Señorita. Call me señorita.”

               Needless to say, the class erupted into a hysterics and you’re left wondering for days (and oddly irritated) why everyone finds it so funny to bring that scenario up again and again until the next two weeks.

               Such small timeframe is also enough for you to say Seokjin’s a mess.  But oh, everyone will disagree. They will say “Oh my God, how can Seokjin be a mess? He’s like the university crush and he has damn good grades and have you seen him wearing those goggles during lab hours?! He’s the only one handsome enough to pull it off as a fashion statement! ” in their wistfully annoying voice. First of all, you don’t care whether he’s good in what he does or he has a really good-looking face. What else but a mess will be someone who’s all-over-the-place?

               Some days, Seokjin is a calm sky blue you can actually have fun with talking about film what-ifs and chemistry memes.

               “Yo Y/N, imagine if The Princess and The Frog was remade and instead of a frog, the prince is a pterodactyl.”

               “I don’t want to imagine that.”

                “The solution of the plot will still work though. You can’t kiss pterodactyls though, but guess what?”

               “I don’t want to guess.”

               “C’mon, just play along!”

               “Fine, what?”

                “They will peck you!”

                 “Have you ever wondered what Australia will be called if it suddenly finds itself abundant of silver.”

               “No. Leave Australia alone.”

               Seokjin doesn’t hear you and bursts out “Agstralia!” He guffaws at his own joke and you can’t help but snicker at his priceless face and laugh at yourself in pity for finding it even remotely funny.

               When his laughter dies down, Seokjin goes again, “Then what if it’s filled with copper?”

               You don’t want to answer him, already biting your lip in silent laughter.

               “Custralia!”

                 Most of the days, Seokjin’s a fiery orange of fireworks who drags you into the wildest rides of your life with his ever loud, but oddly inviting, “Yo, Y/N!” Like that one Monday afternoon he coaxed you (in some goddamn way you dumbly agreed to) to scavenge for some specimen of Bermuda grass to see it under the microscope and check if it has any semblance to the Bermuda Triangle (of course it has none). You accomplished nothing that day but run around like cockroaches with no heads when an old woman chased you for trampling on her “garden” which is just a plain expanse of grass. Or that one Wednesday morning he asked you to accompany him in his dorm just in case he managed to summon a demon when he tries to cook using an old Latin cookbook he found in some thrift store. You didn’t summon anything that day but you ended up with you two getting summoned by the condominium’s landlord because Seokjin accidentally set off the unit’s fire alarm.

               There are also times when Seokjin’s an endearing bloom of pink. Like those days when his hand casually brushes against yours as you walk side by side to your film class and he’ll send you one of his goofy smiles. Or those weekends where he’ll accompany you to study in the library, helping you make flash cards for your upcoming long quizzes.   Seokjin makes you feel warm at the slightest of stares and lingering gazes. Especially in those nights where he lays his head on your shoulder as you watch required films, and he’ll stare at you while doing kissy faces when you tell him his head is too heavy.  You never knew you would be able to fill something, no someone, in such a delicate color you know you have already started to reflect on your cheeks just at the sight of him.

               But all of that gets ruined because Seokjin always, always, makes you see blazing scarlet everytime he carries on  his life mission to scare you whenever you meet. It started when your professor assigned your class to watch The Shining for a horror genre essay and you, like the scaredy cat you are, begged Seokjin to watch it with you. Of course you didn’t tell him you’re not too fond of horror films, afraid of being called out. Obviously, it only takes one stare at your curled up form for Seokjin to put two and two together and realize you’re such a…coward. And of course, like the obnoxious boy he is, Seokjin takes advantage of such knowledge and decides you need a little spice in your life–a spice you didn’t really need, nor will ever need in your entire life.

               Whenever you’ll meet him on the corridors of your film class, Seokjin is now nowhere to be found. Instead, he’ll demand you to answer a quick survey first, a condition for him to show up, and you, like the exasperated idiot you are, answer it just to get on and over with it.  Like always, you end up screaming at a scary video mid-answering the questions and you never learn your lesson.  Everytime you’ll pass by each other in hallways, Seokjin bellows a loud “Boo!” with a thunderous clap of his huge ass hands and you always jump in shock like a cat on her hackles.  You never knew how to expect the shits he pull up because Seokjin always changes his patterns. One day, he even pulled up a Scream mask by your locker just right after you closed it shut, making you scream as you fall on your bum.

               At the end of the day, Seokjin always makes sure to apologize and assure you that it’s just his way to bond with you. “I just can’t get enough of your priceless face” he snickers and you start to chuckle too at his attempts – because even if you’re scared, his shenanigans actually helped you, in some way, get less scared of horror film jump scares.

               However today–today is a different straw.

               It was nine o'clock in the evening and you just got out of your building after an org meeting. The campus gate you usually take in your commute home was already locked closed at eight so you have no choice but to take the other gate–the one on the far left boundary of the campus. All would have been fine about that gate if you hadn't read the Facebook freedom wall post concerning it yesterday. Apparently, some student was jogging around the route towards the gate every night before he goes back to his dorm. In the entirety of his jog, he hears footsteps behind him that he didn't mind at first– until he passes by a guard who greets him and asks him what's he's doing alone so late. When he glances to the left, there was actually no one following him.

               At the thought of the Facebook post, you grab the straps of your bagpack tighter. All is well. You just have about twenty meters to go before the gate and after that, you'll get on a bus. Just a little bit more and–

               Step. Step. Step.

               Jesus fucking Christ. You bit your lip and walked faster. Your steps are frantic and you could feel cold perspiration start to form on your nape. You could feel yourself tripping on your shoes anytime soon but the only thought running in your mind now is outrunning the thing behind you.

               However, the steps behind you also quickened its pace.

               Fucking shit. You break into a run. You don't care about social conventions nor how ridiculous you probably look right now with your eyes teary, mouth dry, and hair frazzled. All you know is that you have to get OUT of there.

               But your effort is not enough because just five steps in, a hand shoots out behind you and you have nothing to do but scream. Scream, drop down, and cry.

               “Leave me a-alone please. Just let m-me go home. I'm to-too young to die!”

               “Yo Y/N. It's me, Seokjin.”

               You cried harder.

               In the next second, you feel him squat down and gesture toward your arms, tightly corded around your knees with your head still buried between them. But you didn't move. You can't move. Your fingers are still shaking, and your heart won't stop pounding too fast. And you feel like any second right now, you're about to explode.

               “Y/N, I'm sorry I scared you. I just saw you going out and I have something to say to you before you go home.”

               You couldn't hold it in. You pin Seokjin with the meanest glare you can muster. “WHY DO YOU HAVE TO COME AT ME LIKE THAT THEN?!”

               “I was just running after you! You were walking too fast and you didn't see me so I–”

               “I thought you were a ghost! Jesus Christ!”

               “A ghost?” Jin sputters before breaking out into a loud guffaw. “I'm so handsome to be a ghost. Seriously, Y/N–”

               “It's not funny anymore you know,” you whisper. Seokjin's chuckles immediately die down. “Can you just stop,” you hiccup, “scaring me everytime we meet? It's not good for my heart.”

               “I...I didn't know you felt like that,” Seokjin mumbles and he looks down, rubbing his nape. “I...I thought you were also having fun because you always laugh after it.”

               “It was fun,” you admit, “but it's also scary. I'm a coward you know. I have my limits.”

               “I'm sorry,” Seokjin mumbles. But before you can reply that it's alright as long as he doesn't do this shit again, he has already cupped your face in his hands, leaving you no choice but to look at him. Look at him in all your snotty glory.

               Seokjin however, doesn't seem to care. “I'm sorry I scared you that bad. I would not have started doing this scaring thing if I knew it will end up with you breaking down. I'm sorry I didn't know you get scared this bad. I don't like...making you cry.” At this, you feel his thumbs pressing on your cheeks and wiping away the tears that have streaked down in your panic. You can't move, this time for a different reason. You can't feel anything but the presence of the boy in front of you. His warm, beautiful eyes that only look like that when they meet your eyes; his much warmer hand that feels too big on your face–big and secure enough for your hand to hold with an assurance he’ll never let go. His cheeks are rosy, just like his ears and you feel oddly elated it has grown pinker just in five more seconds of staring at his eyes. And his lips–pink and plump and looking so soft–fills your senses into sensory overload that you honestly feel you're heating up like a boiling kettle by now.

               Good for you, Seokjin doesn't question your frozen stance and silently helps you up on your feet. “Sorry’s not enough. I'll make up for what I did. C'mon.”

               Before you knew it, he's already steering you away from the gate and back into the campus. And now at ten thirty, you find yourself munching on a strawberry ice cream cone with Seokjin beside you, your knees bumping into each other.

               “Why do you do it anyway?”

               “What do I do?”

               “Scaring me,” You answer, wiping your lips.

               “Are you...still angry about it? I'm sorr–”

               “No,” you wave off, “I'm just...curious, yeah. I've never had someone doing that to me and you're probably the only one crazy enough to do that. I'm just curious why you do it in the first place.”

               “Well, you already said it," Seokjin chuckles. “No one has ever done it to you yet. So I did.”

               Your brows raise, your forehead furrows. "Wh-why?”

               “Because I want to be different when it comes to you. I've seen you goofing off with Jimin on hallways and–I don't know why, I just get this feeling that I have to be unique when it comes to you.”

               “Why? I mean," you sputter, "I don't require you to be…different to be my friend.”

               “I just want to. It feels good that I get to be the wild adventure of your life. It feels good that I get you to look only at me like that–begrudging but curious, skeptical but willing, and," he smiles, "cute. Especially when I get you to laugh.”

               You look at him, mouth agape, but Seokjin just laughs and gestures you to eat your ice cream because it's starting to melt. You oblige, but you can't help but let your eyes linger on the boy next to you. The boy you didn’t know was like the biggest hotshot of your batch but was the one to actually remember you from the crowd just by your favorite scrunchie. The boy who used to be your greatest dilemma but now the best highlight of your life. The boy that annoys you to no end but oddly makes your heart flutter at the same time. Seokjin, the boy you can now begrudgingly admit you're definitely crushing on. Because you know there's no other answer to the overwhelming, warm flash of soft red you feel on your chest whenever you're with him.

               You know you're right because after that night, you start to associate Seokjin mostly with red. Fresh roses, picnic dates, heart-shaped promises, sweet laughter, cherry kisses–a plethora of everything your heart started to long for.

 A/N | HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BEST GIRL @sophrosinn!!! Thank you for being a stable shoulder I can lean on in times of problems, for being a great listener to everything I rant about, and for being one of my bestest friends who never failed to support me in my dreams.  (Thank you for also comforting me when I broke down in our live news presentation in our media literacy class. I’ll never forget that). I never imagined you’ll be one of my few friends I get to keep ‘til now since it’s only two years ago we got to really, really talk with each other. Remember how we just used to pass by and greet each other in our freshman until 11thgrade year in high school? Such a great plot twist. Time sure flies fast when you’re with the best people. Meeting you is surely a blessing. I wish you more amazing years ahead of you and may you accomplish all your endeavors. I love you!

P.S. I hope you liked this fluffy fic hehe this idea started to bother me ever since your birthday started to near. And yeah, I HAVE to include the pterodactyl joke because it’s your and Jin’s trademark uwu

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