#so nice and sincere and perfected my squat!

[cidiliabra]

Done with CrossFit. Got some shawarma and baklava. Walked around downtown ATL (yes, I am an Atlanta resident) and enjoyed the sights. Heading home now, gonna do my laundry. Work on my music more. Should I share my demos here? I know people barely interact with my posts but it's nice to try.

[alevolpe]

☆☮️ Minako and Ami!!!

Alrighty!!!

Ami ☆ - happy headcanon

I think everyone knows Ami has always struggled with understanding people. She loves to learn. She cherishes and strives in environments where applied learning is the one true key to happiness and success. Ami studies, Ami gets a perfect score, Ami sees the perfect score, Ami gets praised. Ami receives praise and knowledge. So, why couldn't it stay that simple?

She had secretly always found excuses. She was meant to be THE top tier student, she has to study, there's no time and she's only human. So when faced with the impossible decision of trying to find a balance for her life, she dove head on. Sleep, Study, Social Life. She convinced herself, that was her happiness.

The harsher truth was, trying to understand others, making friends, and learning how to become more approachable was just not worth it. She tried that once, she gained was a group of 'friends', but Ami wasn't stupid. A few study sessions in, Ami was nose down on a large stack of books, the only one at the table, homework abandoned. Everyone else walking around, chanting, TV blasting, various drinks spilling. That was the last time Ami spoke to those people and the last time they spoke to her, but not the last they spoke about her.

So yeah, those very few experiences had made it even harder for Ami to understand, even harder to care.

But sometimes, the hardest of problems have the most simple of solutions. And her answer came in the form of a simple and sincere smile. For the first time she saw a person smile and truly felt the happiness take a hold of her, before she even knew it, a tender smile growing from her own lips.

The sincerity of Usagi and Mako's friendship, I think, is what finally convinced her that maybe, maybe some people are truly worth it. It's worth to put in the work, because they'll happily and openly show you the results. No trickery, no roundabouts, just straight to the point. I want to make you happy. I can try to make you happy. You look, act and feel happy. It makes me happy.

it was a start, at the very least.

Minako ☆ - happy headcanon

I truly feel like Mina is on a constant high of Ultra Dopamine. Not to say she doesn't have her low moments, but you'll find her dead and buried into her 869th incarnation before she's willingly to openly acknowledge the misery of her own existence. That just ain't Venus, that just ain't Minako Aino.

She has duties, both as the leader and as a friend, but fuck if she isn't gonna find a way to make it fun for herself.

A friend is sick?! Minako 'the sexy nurse' Aino is coming over full throttle and full costume making sure that spotlight doesn't dare to stop tracking her for even one second.

Senshi training tonight?! She's the shot caller, arranging all the set pieces, challenging herself with mixing important senshi duties and important 'I must be entertained, me, Minako Aino duties'. Yes, Mars, 3 more sets of single leg squats, cause of course that is very important. For both duties.

My friends are dating, but they are soo awkward?! Nothing that a Firefly 5 Inch Glow In The Dark Dildo can't solve, all nicely wrapped in a surprise box so graciously gifted during dinner (spoiler: it didn't end well...).

Long story short, if Mina has to do something and that something isn't fun, she'll make it fun. Most times at the cost of whatever victims friends she has brought along.

Although there is one thing that has consistently granted Mina with an almost inexplicable sense of sole contentment: Exercise. Mina loves, loves, loves working out. While I see her as having more a gymnast body type, so preferring more cardio and mobility workout, she's not one to turn down any type of workout; Being for Sailor Business Training or just for herself to experiment.

Where these 2 aspects of her meet the best I think is her love of volleyball. Training her body, mind, hand-eye-coordination and team coordination in a beautiful package that still allows her to snatch that spotlight for herself and make sure the people's eye are glued on her for the rest of the game, if she so wishes.

Minako and Ami ☮ - friendship headcanon

Welp, I've actually written about this before, right here. But, basically out of all the inners I think the MinaAmi friendship is def the weakest.

For the longest time, they just straight out didn't like each other, they just never admitted it out loud, I even have them beating the shit out of each other one time. I hc Ami as autistic and that makes it quite difficult for her to understand Minako's intentions from her lack of a clear response in both expression and tone. Her actions really speak to Ami as bullying behavior and that's not totally off. Mina thrives on getting a reaction, so she's willing to go to places where a lot of people wouldn't, just to get a reaction out of people and the times she does it on Ami, it just ends up making her feel very uncomfortable and quite angry. The others do try to stop this from happening if they catch what Mina is onto fairly early.

TLDR: Ami doesn't like Mina because Mina acts like a bully, has unclear motives on why she acts the way she acts and is very much willing to make people uncomfortable to get a reaction out of them (this last one is quite skewed from Ami's perception, since she sees Mina teasing the others the way she does with her, but never puts together that the others 'most of the time' consent to the teasing and are even willing to bite back playfully). Mina doesn't like Ami 'cause she's boring. Ami is very simple on the outside, and while that can be quite the entertaining show, the well runs dry as soon as Ami stops giving Mina what she's looking for, attention.

All that said, I can see them becoming closer as the years run by and mostly as Ami opens up to new expressions of affection and care. Most of the merit going to Michiru, whom I can see making a genuine effort, in her unique Michiru way, to befriend Ami. And sort of succeeding?! Michiru is in now way direct, every word that departs her lips is carefully refined before being handpicked to form the most enigmatic phrasing any human being could ever hope to comprehend. Her expressions, a total enigma. Never has one seen a smile hiding so much mystery since the Mona Lisa herself. And yet, something grew, they are quite content in calling it a friendship.

Beginning to understand emotion without a direct and clear response was definitely a step forward in understanding the blonde leader, since I never see Minako giving up her teasing I think Ami would grow toward more of a competitive side in their late teens and early adulthood. Minako wants a reaction? My turn. I'll practice this new Sailor V game at the arcade until all the top scores look like this:

Mizuno A

Mizuno A

Mizuno A

Mizuno A

Mizuno A

"Wow, Ami I didn't even know you played this game. You filled up the leaderboard" Usagi gawked with staring at the old arcade screen.

"Oh, I had some spare time yesterday, so I spent a couple of hours playing. The game is quite easy once you understand the enemy AI and get a sense for the tempo of the platforming"

Mina was quiet. The expression of horror plastered on her face. One to rival her encounter with the Galaxy destroyer Warrior Sailor Galaxia. A couple of hours, I REFUSE! ICAN'T BE! Endless afternoons spent sweating money, tears and MORE MONEY, MY MONEY!! on achieving that leaderboard, just for a couple of hours to

… she dared to peek. Out of the corner of her eye she could see a sight of true defiance and treachery.

Sitting on the worn out leather stool. The genius, her teammate, her friend, sparing her a look. A barely perceivable grin.

Truly the start of a miracle friendship.

[tough-girl9]

Five Moments of Feeling

Summary:   Five moments in which Data experiences emotion and becomes just a little bit more human. A "if Data hadn't gotten the emotion chip" AU.  

Part 1: Humor

Part 2: Contentment

Part 4: Offense

Part 5: Saudade

Also posted on AO3 and FFN

A/N: Keiko and Data’s friendship is criminally underrated, so I am fixing that wrong :)

Five Moments of Feeling Part 3: Pride

The third moment was in the Arboretum.

Keiko O'Brien was tending the finicky Talbroan fern that she had picked up at the last star base. The poor thing had been on the brink of death, its pale pink stems nearly translucent and the foliage withered and brittle. It needed precisely a fourth of a liter of water a day; just a few milliliters too much or too little would send it spiraling back into a state of disarray. No wonder they were practically extinct in the wild, Keiko thought as she carefully trimmed off a dead frond and continued her search for other signs of unhealth from the bushy plant.

The sound of the Arboretum doors whooshing open distracted her from the fern and she glanced up to find Data making his way around the potted bushes and shrubs towards her. She bounced up from her squatting position and gave her android friend a cheerful wave. "Data! Over here!"

He acknowledged her with a little nod and crossed the bridge that spanned the artificial stream that watered the main plot of the Arboretum. He stopped beside her and examined the Talbroan fern, making a small sound of interest. "It seems that your fern is recovering admirably since it came into your care. Are you pleased with its progress?"

Keiko grinned at the sincere interest in his voice. Tugging at the cuff of his sleeve, she encouraged him to kneel with her in front of the plant. "She seems to be doing wonderfully. You know, I wasn't sure for a little while there if she was going to make it, but look." She lifted up a large frond, revealing a small green bulge at the fern's base. "Talbroan ferns need to be in nearly perfect condition before they grow pods. If everything goes right, in a month or two, I should be able to harvest the seeds and incubate them in the botany lab. By this time next year, I could have four, five, maybe even more new ferns. It'll be a wonderful opportunity to study their life cycle and maybe even start a project to reintroduce them to Talbroa II."

Data nodded solemnly and looked at her with soft, serious eyes. "I am quite sure that under your competent care and with your passion for the project, it will be a success."

Keiko couldn't help the broad grin that spread across her face, and she pushed his shoulder fondly. "Well, somebody's been learning the human art of flattery."

Data gave her a mournful look of confusion, his lips curving into a slight frown. "My intention was not to offer unfounded accolades. The sentiment was entirely sincere."

"I know, Data." She patted his arm, still smiling. "I was just giving you a hard time."

"Ah," he responded, still looking mildly confused but no longer visibly concerned that he might have unintentionally insulted her.

Keiko stood and Data followed suit. "And how about your project?" Keiko asked, brushing off the knees of her gardening trousers. "How is the Vendikarian orchid doing?"

Data tilted his head to the side, his expression non-committal. "The orchid is in fact the reason why I decided to 'stop by'. Although it is not showing any signs of deterioration or wilting, it has yet to produce a blossom, which by my calculations based on the research I have done on this particular breed, it should have done three days ago. I wished to ask your advice on what I might be doing wrong. Would you be willing to examine it?" "Of course, Data." Keiko smiled warmly at him. "But I suspect you're being too hard on yourself. Actual botany isn't nearly as nice and neat as in a book, and plants don't do exactly what they're supposed to do exactly when they're supposed to do it any more often than people do. Isn't that why you wanted to look after the orchid yourself and get a taste of caring for a plant? To have the first-hand experience instead of just reading about it on the ship's computer?"

Data nodded. "That is true. So far, the act of researching versus engaging in the actual experience has been significantly disparate."

They headed over to the far side of the Arboretum together, following the winding stone path between the alien flora until they reached a row of potted plants by the side wall. Data knelt by one of them. "I have been watering it the recommended every third day, all well as providing it approximately fifteen to seventeen hours of artificial sunlight each twenty-four hour period. What is your opinion on its health?"

Keiko knelt beside her friend and examined the orchid, noting the rich, dark green color of the stem and the paler green of the large flat leaves with deep purple veins. "It looks perfectly healthy to me, Data," she said, squeezing the stem to test its firmness and running the leaves between her fingers to check for dry or wilted spots. "From everything I can see, it looks like you're doing a wonderful job with it."

The corners of Data's mouth perked into a little, pleased smile. "Do you truly believe so?"

"Yes, I do," Keiko replied with a smile, still checking for any signs of ill health, though she expected to find none.

Data gave a decisive nod. "Then I will trust to your superior personal experience on this particular topic and proceed with my watering and sunning routines as I have been doing so far."

Keiko was about to reply when she felt an object different than leaves or stems hidden behind the back of the plant. "Data," she said, pulling the leaves back, "look at this."

As she gently parted the leaves, the hidden growth was revealed. The orchid had produced a delicate stem, on the tip of which was a small bud with lovely pale orange petals peeping through the green casing. Data reached out to touch the bud with a gentle, almost reverent, brush of his long fingers. "It is preparing to blossom," he said softly.

Keiko gave him a fond glance and put a hand on his shoulder. "See, I told you not to worry," she teased gently. "It was just a late bloomer is all. I knew you'd be as good a plant parent as you are a cat parent. It looks like you've done a wonderful job with her, Data."

Data didn't reply, his hand still outstretched with his fingers just barely touching the plant, his body completely still. Keiko tilted her head and rubbed his shoulder. "Data? Are you OK?"

Data closed his eyes and shook his head slightly. "I…" he began slowly, "I…believe that I am experiencing a new emotion. One I have not felt before."

Keiko grew still, her face serious, knowing how much an experience like this meant to her android friend. "A new emotion? What do you think it is, Data?"

He shook his head again, eyes still closed, a look of intense concentration on his face. "I am uncertain. It…seems to be a positive emotion. I am happy that I have been successful at my endeavor in this area, but it is more than happiness. I respect your abilities and knowledge as an exobotanist and therefore place a greater level of gravity in your opinions on this topic than I would my other friends. The emotion seems to somehow be related to this respect I feel for you. I feel that I have been successful at accomplishing a goal, that I have done something that I set out to do and that I have done it well. Within the current context, I am unsure which emotion might be the best fit for what I am experiencing."

Keiko's smile had steadily grown as she listened to Data talk. As he finished, she leaned over to him and spoke in a quiet voice. "Try 'pride', Data."

Data's eyes flickered open, though they remained thoughtfully lowered, his head still tilted curiously. But after a moment, his golden gaze darted up to her face, his own features calm and content. "Yes," he said slowly, "yes, that feels right. I am proud."

Keiko hooked her arm around his, grinning. "As you should be, Data. As you absolutely should."

[shootingstarwritings]

Couples Therapy

Marcus glanced at his client before going back to his notes. As usual, it was a young woman who looked as though she was on the verge of tears after giving him a mile-long list of grievances towards her husband. For the first few years, everything was like an eternal honeymoon until the two began to drive the other crazy. From the little info Marcus had, the blame seemed to rest on two personalities that didn't feel like compromising—as it usually was.

However, compromises didn’t put food on Marcus’ table, so it was in his best interest to pin the blame all on the husband. “Like my services advertise,” he told the wife, Julia, while sliding a sheet of his talents over to her, “I can fix your marriage to be as blissful as it was on your wedding night. All I need is your consent and I can shape your lover as you need him to be.”

The tears soon dried up. "Um, huh…?" Julia grew sheepish as her eyes skimmed over the sheet. Not good. "Shape him? My friend said your type of work was unique, but changing my husband…? I didn't hear anything about that."

Tilting his head, Marcus said, "Did you not notice how your friend's partner changed? He was happier, more agreeable, and far more pleasant overall. Always carried a strong conversation and had the manners of a perfect gentleman. Don't you want the same for your husband?"

“I-I thought you just gave them counseling!” Julia stood up from her chair, hands clasping her purse as though Marcus was a violent, money-hungry criminal. “This is crazy. A-And, honestly absurd. I'll have no part in this lunacy!"

“So you’re okay with your husband’s divorce?”

Julia stopped just before her hand reached the door. Though she didn't turn around, she said, "What do you mean?" Her voice was tinged with fear despite her attempts to hide it.

“When you made your appointment, I did a little digging on your husband,” said Marcus, lying as naturally as he breathed. “Digging into his soul, of course. My abilities allow me to do so.”

He stood up and strode over to Julia. “He’s growing increasingly dissatisfied with your union. Every little action, every little word, every little annoyance from you pushes him more and more towards the arms of another.” While Marcus remained stone-faced, he was smirking inside as beads of sweat cascaded down Julia’s brow. 

Perfect.

“A young woman your age already divorced? What will the neighbors think? Your friends? Your family? But,” he shrugged and made his way back to his desk, “if you insist that you don’t need my services, I can do nothing about that. I sincerely wish the two of you a happy marriage. However long it lasts.”

Julia excused herself to go to the bank but promised she would return with the payment.

Marcus’ target was a man by the name of Trevor. Attractive, admirable, and breakable. All it would require was a few weeks in his body and Marcus’ job would be finished. Julia had signed the contract, so his body was completely available.

That was the limit to Marcus’ powers. Without some sort of consent from one who at the very least shared the name or a bond with his target, he was unable to do anything. Now, all Marcus had to do was take over Trevor’s body.

But first, Marcus was curious about what was going to happen in their ordinary lives. While Julia had given him a whole list of things that she wished Trevor would do, Marcus skimmed it before throwing it away. For the most part, his clients didn't know what they wanted—and what they did was something ridiculous like 'makes me breakfast in bed every single day.' It was all nonsense straight out of a soap opera. Marcus preferred to just take a look at what pissed his client off and doing a few favors here and there. The only part of Julia's list that Marcus even remotely paid attention to was, "Being more open to pegging."

Other than that, Marcus would just sit by and watch how a typical morning went for the couple. He made his way to the address Julia had provided him during their meeting in an astral form and peeked into their lives.

“God, another spill, Jules?” Trevor groaned as he looked down at his stained pants. “C'mon." While Julia let out a stream of apologies, Trevor just rolled his eyes and said, "I'm trying to get a goddamn promotion here!"

“I-I’m trying…!” Julia said, backing up as Trevor grabbed the empty mug and smashed it on the ground. “Th-That was mine...”

“And so’s the mess,” Trevor shot back. “When you’re the breadwinner in this relationship, you can decide what does and doesn’t get broken.” With that, Trevor left to get changed while Julia cleaned up the kitchen.

That was all Marcus needed to see. The bastard needed a major attitude adjustment. His wife was a complete klutz, but there was no need to bite her head off for making a mistake. Marcus didn't feel any particular sympathy for Julia, but assholes like Trevor pissed him off to no extent. "Only natural," Marcus said to himself. "Assholes hate assholes. Don't like pricks like him on my turf."

Floating over to Trevor and Julia’s room, he admired the assets he would borrow for the next few days. Trevor’s pants were off, allowing Marcus to get a nice glimpse of the package he would be showing off for the next few days. Along with that were nice, juice thighs and a good chest peeking out of the nice polo shirt he wore. No longer able to resist, Marcus just dove towards Trevor.

"HNNG! What the fuuuuck?!" Trevor moaned as Marcus phased through his back. Entire body tensing up, Trevor stood in place, his back arching while his head was thrown back. Feet planted to the floor, he moaned in pleasure and panic. "Wh-Who the hell?! What the—HAA! Ahhh…! What the fuck are youuuu?!" Unable to keep his balance amidst the barrage of pain and pleasure mixing, Trevor collapsed onto his bed, convulsing uncontrollably as the foreign intruder wore him like a suit.

“Mmm,” Marcus moaned, rubbing his hard-on against the mattress. “Oh, that’s niiice. Thanks, Julia.” Still face-down on the bed, he spread his legs and let his hands wander towards a certain untouched hole. “Don’t worry, I’ll turn your hubby into the subbiest bottom in town.”

Purposefully ignoring Julia, Marcus left the house and headed towards Trevor’s place of work, relying on muscle memory and the information Julia had given him for navigation. Eventually, he arrived at some fancy insurance firm full of suits who looked like they could use a healthy dose of Viagra.

Once more, Marcus relied on Trevor's muscle memory to guide his way through work. And once settled into Trevor's impersonal cubicle, Marcus began his work. At once, he worked on smiling more in Trevor's body. Man was a creature of habit and the human mind was a sponge for information and mannerisms. Because of that, Marcus would adopt certain behaviors for the week or so he would be in his hosts' bodies. The end result was a spouse that would compliment their partner far more.

On all levels, it was wrong. However, Marcus continued without losing a wink of sleep.

After making sure Trevor was smiling more, Marcus also stretched and relaxed his muscle. "God, you're so tense," he mentioned as he rolled his shoulders back. "Or, I'm so tense." Grinning, Marcus continued chatting to himself. It was always fun getting into a role. Perhaps it was his theater kid days, but adopting a new identity was always fun. "I should get more into yoga," he said, stretching as much as he could in that uncomfortable suit. "Do some squats. It'll help me make my ass all nice and firm. Flexibility'll be nice in the bedroom for Jules," he proclaimed, repeating it to himself to make sure it remained imprinted to Trevor.

To make sure those thoughts remained in Trevor's head, Marcus headed off to the gym after each workday. He worked until Trevor's already well-developed muscles were pleasurably sore by the time he arrived back home. "Keep acting as though I'm Trevor," Marcus had texted Julia before. "It'll make it easier for these thoughts to stick to your husband." His words didn't ease Julia's awkwardness, but Marcus didn't mind. Working with pathetic actors wasn't anything new for him.

By the final day of Marcus' planned stay, Trevor's boss called him into his office. "You're not in trouble," his boss, a man by the name of Arthur said. "Just wanted to catch up with you, is all." His words were even, but Marcus noticed that his gaze was not. Arthur's eyes kept traveling and his fingertips kept grazing Trevor as much as they could while retaining that facade of professionalism. "I've noticed your recent change in attitude. Rumors travel quickly throughout the office."

“When there’s not much to talk about,” Marcus began, “it’s easy to become the talk of the town.”

Arthur cocked an eyebrow. “Your attitude and your tongue’s changed, Trey. I'm surprised but pleased. Productivity for the whole office has gone up this week. And your more positive attitude has really helped with that. I've noticed the environment in general is a lot less toxic."

“Sorry about that, sir,” Marcus said with a curt nod. Yet, he made sure to keep a cocky, inviting smirk on his face. The blood was rushing to Arthur’s cheeks despite his stony expression. “Hadn’t realized how much my attitude had an impact on the office. But I’m sure you’ll be just as satisfied as my wife about the new me.” By now, Marcus was happily rubbing his thighs, making sure they stood out alongside his bulge in those tight slacks he had purchased for Trevor. During the week, he had made a habit of dropping his things and bending over to reach for them in front of his various coworkers. If his eyes didn’t deceive him, he was certain about the office spent more than half a second staring at Trevor’s assets.

Arthur cleared his throat. “Yes, well. Nonetheless, just wanted to show my appreciation for this sudden turn. Always happy to see my workers in a relaxed, pleasant environment.”

Standing up, Marcus leaned in close to Arthur’s lips. “I can think of a few other ways you can show your appreciation, boss,” he whispered, unbuckling his belt. This same scenario had played out so many times Marcus was certain his gaydar was impeccable. “Why don’t you bend me over your desk and show me who the boss is?”

Arthur hesitated for about a second before locking the office door and tying Trevor’s mouth shut with his own tie. “Take! This! You! Slut!” Arthur roared as he pounded Trevor’s ass raw. Marcus, back arched, face pressed up against the cold desk, just moaned like a slut. He eagerly met each of Arthur’s thrust with his strong workout for his hips.

This is my favor for you, Julia, he thought as Arthur pulled on his hair. Your husband’s hole might not be as tight as you want it to be, but he’ll definitely be up for stuff up his ass by the time I leave.

"Make me your bottom bitch," Marcus begged, trapped in a nirvana of pleasure and pain.

The next time Marcus saw Julia and Trevor the two of them were walking down the back, arms linked. Both were smiling and laughing so animatedly that Marcus was certain the songbirds were jealous. On occasion, he spotted Julia lightly slapping Trevor's ass and her husband reddening like a tomato at the sensation.

Marcus returned home satisfied at another successful trip.

[lostinthewiind]

Sorry for already requesting again, I’m just slightly obsessed with your writing. Could I request another Poly!Matchablossom where they take care of the reader when they are on their period and in pain? If you want to keep the reader more neutral, I totally understand and would change the request to the reader just generally not feeling well. Thank you in advance!

Polyamorous Relationship w/ Joe & Cherry: Period Pains

A/N: okay so I love this request because I'm single AF and every time I get horrendous cramps during my period I wish I had someone to take care of me, but alas, I just have to curl up in my heated blanket alone :( Anyway, I shall now live vicariously through this fic. If anyone would like a gender neutral fic with the reader just being sick or something, let me know!

Rating: PG13

Warnings: mentions menstrual cramps and general period problems that some of us unfortunate souls have to endure once a goddamn month, mentions nudity, tiny bit spicy 

All things considered, it was shaping up to be a good day. The sun was shining bright, the warm rays peeking through the curtains of the apartment you shared with your boyfriends. Birds were chirping happily outside, waking the city with their beautiful song, and it was the weekend, so you didn’t have to go to work. 

It was going to be a great day . . . well, it would have been a great day if you weren’t currently experiencing some of the worst period cramps of your life. Because of this painful monthly inconvenience, all the things that would normally make you smile were thoroughly pissing you off. 

The sun shining through the crack in the curtains and the chirping birds acted as a taunting reminder that it was morning and that you hadn’t gotten nearly enough sleep that night thanks to your uncomfortable cramps and aching body. Sometime during the night, you had been forced to sneak your way out of the bedroom and set up camp on the couch for fear of waking your boyfriends with your constant tossing and turning.

This, however, wasn’t nearly enough to sooth you to sleep. If anything, it only made things worse because you never slept well without Joe and Cherry by your side. So, after popping a couple painkillers and downing a glass of cold water, you resigned yourself to lying awake on the couch for almost the entire night, staring up at the ceiling and trying not to break out into sobs due to pain, frustration, and exhaustion. 

Hearing the bedroom door open, you tilted your head slightly and watched as your boyfriends emerged from the bedroom dawning housecoats on their bodies and happy, sleepy smiles on their faces. At least they were enjoying everything this wonderful Saturday had to offer.

“Good morning,” Cherry greeted you with a quick peck on the forehead as he passed you on the way to the kitchen to start the coffee maker. “You’re up early.”

You winced and squinted as Joe threw the curtains open, flooding the room with blinding light. “That assumes I went to sleep at all,” you scoffed, your eyes slowly adjusting to the sun rays shining directly in your eyes. 

“You haven’t slept?” Joe walked over to the couch, squatted down in front of you, and placed the back of his hand to your forehead. “Are you feeling okay?”

You grimaced and swatted his hand away, knowing deep down that he was only trying to be nice but being bothered nonetheless. “No, my body is trying to rip me apart from the inside out!” You grabbed a throw pillow from the couch, pressed it firmly over your face, and groaned loudly. “I’m in pain!”

Joe and Cherry, who were familiar with how intense your periods could be by now, shared a knowing look from across the apartment. As much as you tried not to, you tended to lash out a little when the cramping kept you from sleeping or doing any of the daily activities you were used to. 

“Cramps?” Joe inquired despite already knowing the answer. When you nodded from underneath the pillow, moving the pillow along with your head movements, Joe placed his large hand on your lower abdomen and pressed down firmly. Then, without hesitation, he began to massage the internal muscles that were causing you such distress. “How’s this?” he checked to see if his actions were helping or hurting.

You sighed, your entire body relaxing into his touch as he massaged away some of the discomfort. “Feels good,” you mumbled, finally lifting the pillow from your face and setting it to the side. “I took medication but it didn’t help at all. It’s really bad this month.”

“Do you want any coffee?” Cherry called softly from the kitchen, pausing after he opened the cabinet until he knew if he needed two or three mugs. 

At the thought of drinking anything that wasn’t water, your stomach turned. “No, thank you.” You shook your head. 

After setting the mugs atop the counter, Cherry shuffled over to the back of the couch and leaned over it to caress your cheek lovingly. “Nauseous?” he asked.

You nodded. “And I have a headache,” you added, “but that could be from lack of sleep or because I haven’t eaten anything in a while . . . or simply because the universe hates me.”

“The universe doesn’t hate you,” Joe assured you as he moved your legs a little so he could sit on the couch with you before laying your legs across his lap and continuing his massaging. “But even if it does, we love you so it doesn’t matter.”

You chuckled slightly as Cherry returned to the kitchen. “Thanks.” You tried your best to sound sincere but due to your exhaustion-induced monotone voice, you sounded more annoyed than anything. 

“So you spent most of the night out here?” Joe questioned, his rough hands shooing the pain away one skilled movement after another. 

“Yeah,” you answered. “I couldn’t get comfortable and didn’t want to wake you guys. No sense in all three of us not getting any sleep just because I was born with an organ that is infused with the wrath of Satan himself.”

Joe laughed under his breath. “You really do reach new levels of anger during this time of the month,” he commented. “Good thing you don’t take it out on us . . . most of the time.”

“I’m sorry,” you shot him a sheepish look, apologizing for all the times you had treated him and Cherry rudely because of your mood swings and pain. “I don’t mean it.”

Joe noticed the guilty look on your face and immediately felt bad. “I was just kidding, love.” He pulled your close to his body and pressed a soft kiss to your temple. “We know you don’t mean it.”

“Good.” You tucked your face into the crook of his neck. 

Removing his hands from your stomach, Joe ran his fingers through your hair and kissed you again. “Do you feel any better?”

“A little,” you forced a small smile. “Thank you.”

Just then, Cherry appeared before the two of you with two mugs of coffee in his hands. After handing one to Joe, he looked down at you with a sympathetic look on his face. “You should eat something, darling,” he told you. 

“I know,” you agreed. “I’m just not hungry.”

Taking a sip of his coffee, Cherry lost himself in thought for a few moments while he tried to brainstorm a way to get you feeling good enough to be able to put some food in your body. Then, without saying anything, he turned on his heel, walked away, and disappeared inside the bathroom.

Seconds later, you could hear water running and could smell the faint scent of your favourite bubble bath wafting into the living room. “A warm bath sounds wonderful,” Joe whispered in your ear, catching onto what Cherry’s plan was. “Take a relaxing bath with Kaoru to ease your muscles and by the time you’re done I’ll have breakfast ready. How does that sound?”

“Perfect.” The thought of soaking in hot water was nearly enough to put you to sleep right then and there. “The only way it could be better was if we had a bathtub big enough for the three of us.”

“I agree.” Joe kissed the shell of your ear. “I’ll join you next time.”

“Okay.”

Minutes later, the sound of running water ceased and Cherry emerged from the bathroom. “Come now, beautiful.” He lifted you out of Joe’s arms and into his own, years of skating at S gifting him with muscles that hid beneath his slender frame. “Better get to cooking, Kojiro.” He eyed the other man.

“Okay, damn.” Joe held up his hands in defense as you and Cherry headed for the bathroom. “Let a man take a few sips of coffee first.”

You chuckled lightly, seeing through Cherry’s remark and knowing he did it just to coax a laugh out of you like you did whenever the two bickered about nonsense, which he had achieved. 

“There’s that beautiful laugh,” Cherry commented, smiling at the sight of your amusement. “I wish I could do more to ease your pain but I hope this helps even a little.”

“Of course it will help,” you told him as he set you down and closed the bathroom door behind the two of you to keep the heat inside the room. 

After stripping and setting your clothes to the side, you stepped into the warm bath and let out a relieved sigh like you had when Joe had massaged you. As you sank down into the water and the beautifully scented bubbles surrounded your body, you felt your muscles begin to relax. Letting your eyes flutter shut, you basked in the euphoric feeling of being comfortable for the first time in hours.

“You look content.” Cherry’s voice was soft and quiet, careful not to startle you out of your happy daze. “Can I do anything else?”

“You can join me.” You extended your hand toward him. “Will you? Please?”

Cherry smiled as he too began undressing. “You don’t have to ask me twice,” he assured you, and as you slid forward to make room for him, he sank down behind you and the water sloshed against the sides of the tub as the two of you maneuvered into a comfortable position. 

As Cherry wrapped his arms around you from behind, you leaned back into his chest and smiled happily when he rested his chin on top of your head. The two of you stayed like that in complete silence for a while, just enjoying the time you had to spend with each other.

 “We should do this more often.” Cherry spoke after a while, sounding like he was enjoying the bath even more than you were. “I could almost fall asleep like this.”

“Don’t tempt me,” you warned. “I’m so tired.”

“You just close your eyes and relax.” He held you tighter. “I wont let you drown.”

“Promise?” you joked.

Cherry scoffed and rolled his eyes at you. “Yes, I promise.” He dipped his head down and began peppering your cheek, jaw, and neck with kisses, nips, and kitten licks. “I’m here for you. Whatever you want . . . I just want you to feel good.”

“That definitely feels good.” A small moan escaped your lips as you tilted your head to the side to allow your boyfriend easier access to your neck. “Very good.”

Once Cherry’s mouth reached your shoulder, he slid his tongue along your skin as he moved back up to your ear so he could work his way down again. “You know what else would feel good?” You felt him smirk against your flesh, but before he could elaborate, the bathroom door opened and Joe strode in with a spoon of something in his hand. 

Stopping halfway between the door and the tub, Joe narrowed his eyes at the two of you. “You know, I’m feeling very left out right now.”

“It’s not always about you.” Cherry scowled, clearly upset about being interrupted. “Ever heard of knocking?“

“I’ve seen you both naked before. Many times. I don’t need to knock.” Joe brushed off Cherry’s concern and approached with the spoon held out toward you. “Does this taste good?”

Now that your nausea had subsided and you were actually beginning to feel hungry, you happily opened your mouth and tasted whatever it was that Joe had created in the kitchen. You didn’t know what it was, but it was some sort of sauce and it was sweet. 

“It’s very good,” you assured him. “But everything you make is good.”

Joe’s face lit up at the compliment. “Not too sweet?”

“No.”

“Good.”

“Ahem,” Cherry cleared his throat. “I’m here too, you know. Do I get a taste?”

“It’s not always about you.” Joe threw his own words back at him before smiling sweetly at you. “Breakfast will be ready soon. I’ll call you.”

“Okay.” You couldn’t help but return the smile, feeling much better than you had earlier. 

Before Joe left, he pressed a kiss to your lips and a peck to Cherry’s head as a peace offering to make up for the two’s nattering at one another before. Then, he was gone and the sound of him working in the kitchen filled the apartment.

“What did he feed you?” Cherry questioned, running the tips of his slender fingers up your arm and leaving goosebumps in their wake.

You shrugged. “I have no idea, but it was delicious.”

“Mmm,” Cherry hummed, his mouth quickly finding its way back to your skin and sucking on your shoulder. “You know what else is delicious?”

You giggled when he grazed his teeth across a ticklish spot on your neck. “Breakfast is soon. You aren’t allowed to eat me.”

“But you taste so good, I just want to-”

“Kaoru, could you come help me?” Joe called from the kitchen, almost as if he knew what the two of you were up to and was interrupting again on purpose. 

Cherry’s head fell back and he huffed. “Oh, my God. Is five minutes alone too much to ask?”

Dropping your head back onto Cherry’s shoulder, you pressed an open-mouthed kiss to the nape of his neck. “Don’t go. Pretend you didn’t hear him.”

Cherry squinted down at you quizzically. “What’s gotten into you? You’re usually the one encouraging me to be nicer to him.”

“I know . . . but just this once, please?” You batted your eyelashes at him. “If he thinks we didn’t hear him, he’ll come to get you and then we can convince him to let us stay in the bath a little longer. It’s just so warm . . . I don’t want to get out yet.”

“But the food will get cold.”

Your eyes grew as wide as dinner plates at your sudden idea. “Do you think we can eat breakfast in the bath?”

Cherry laughed heartily at that. “Well if you ask Kojiro with the same wondrous expression you just gave me, I don’t think there is any way he could say no. He might even feed you if you say please and kiss that spot behind his ear that he really likes.”

“I hope so.” You felt like you were in heaven with the thought of being fed delicious food in a warm bubble bath. “It’s worth a try, at least.”

“Indeed it is.” Cherry kissed the top of your head, truly happy with how much your mood had lifted in such a short amount of time and proud of himself that he had helped make that happen. 

With your eyes glued to the door, waiting for your other boyfriend to walk back into the bathroom, you exhaled contently. Maybe today was shaping up to be a good day after all. 

[olenoname]

Obey Me: Mammon with a Chubby Fem MC That's Insecure About Her Weight.

Warning: NSFW, swearing, angst

Hope you like it.

It was the end of the school day and you had to put away the last of your books. As you approach your locker, a couple lower-leveled she-demons walk beside you and knock your books out of your hands. "Oops, look at how clumsy you are" one of them sneered. You ignore them and squat down to pick them up, "Ugh, what does Mammon see in a sack of fat like yourself, let alone the fact that you're a human" the other one remarked, making the first one laugh.

You tried not look at them to make you appear unfazed by her comment, but you started to shake a little trying not to let your tears flow. "The hell is goin' on here?!" you heard a familiar voice call out from the end of the hall behind you followed by angry stops coming towards you. Before you get a chance to turn, Mammon comes in to embrace you and turn his head towards the girls, "You broads messin' with my girl?" Mammon questions them angrily. You can't see him, be he was staring daggers at them with his eyes glowing yellow, putting fear into their hearts.

"N-no Mammon, honest, we didn't-" "Get outta here. Now!" he shouted not letting them finish their lies, making them run out of site. He takes a sharp breath to calm himself down before he turns you around to see you teary eyed, causing him to feel sad. "Are you alright babe?" He asked sincerely, "...no Mammon" you start to breathe shakily, "I'm not okay" you say as you let a tear trickle down your cheek. He holds your face and kisses you all over before pulling you in for a tight hug, "Hey, don't listen to those bitches, alright? They're just jealous of you because you're with The Great Mammon here." You look up at him, "But-" "But nothing! You're beautiful, who are they to tell you otherwise?" You wipe your tears and sniffle and he holds you gently by your chin, "Come on, let's go home, I'll show ya how beautiful you are."

(Skip forward to when Mammon pulls you into his room)

He brings you over to his bed and you moan his name as he kisses you passionately. You both sit up on your knees in his bed as you continue to making out, he starts to remove your shirt exposing your plump breasts cupped in a white-laced bra. Just as you were getting real into it, you start to remember what those girls back at the school said, and it showed. "Hey, what's wrong" Mammon asked downheartedly, "It's just.. those girls back at RAD..." "I told ya not to listen to those broads, they got nothing on ya" he stated endearingly. "Let's take a look atcha" he pulls down your skirt to show your black panties and your rump.

"Ya know what I see?" He says as he takes his hand and firmly cups one of your breasts, "I see some nice and full perfectly shaped pair of titties on ya" he brings his hand down lower to your stomach trailing your stretch marks , " and your stretch marks, don't see any here. These are tiger stripes, babe, you earned 'em" he smiles and reaches around you to gently squeeze your butt, "this ass right here, it's so voluptuous, it's worth killing over" he squeezes it harder before giving it a proper smack and moving his hand down even further to your thighs. " And these thighs, so thick and plump, can just bite into them like a dense cake, om!"

He brings his hand up and slides it into your panties to caress your rose, making you squirm a bit, "Oh, and you have", he bites his lower lip before continuing "the juiciest... wettest... sweetest... tightest... most beautiful pussy I've ever seen. And finally" you both lock eyes on each other fully aroused, "this body is attached to the most gorgeous face I've seen, with those pretty (insert eye colored) eyes, the cutest little button nose, those soft-squishy cheeks of yours, and you have the sexiest, most juicy lips I ever laid mine on." He gives you a long-deep kiss before he slowly backs up to finish his list. "You're perfect, babe, and if you're not happy with yourself, than we can fix that."

You look at him with mixed feelings, processing everything he said to you, "No one's ever said such things to me before" tears roll down your face and he wipes them away with his thumbs and giving you another passionate kiss as you fall back on his pillows and let him make sweet love to you with cuddles afterword.

The next day, you and Mammon arrive at school with his arm around your shoulder. You see those girls that bullied you the day before and turned your nose at them. Mammon looks over you to spot the girls glaring at you, he looks at you and says, "Hey, let's give them something to look at". Before you can even process what he means by that, he pulls you in for a steamy kiss and grabs your ass to flex what's his. "Don't nobody mess with my girl" he gives them a cheeky grin and flips them off where you can't see as you both walk away.

Beelzebub with chubby MC

Here

[ellieswhoreeee]

It’s you. [1/2]

authors note: Hellooooo lovely’s! this is new short story that has been in my notes for a while so i thought i’d post it. The first part is short but the second part will be way longer. Give me two days max to actually post it tho, anyways enjoy! :)

Summery: In which Ellie crushes on the daycare worker, aka you. She and Jesse invite you to a party and things get pretty intense at said party.

Pairings: ellie williams x fem! reader

warnings: swearing, alcohol, marijuana, ect.

-

“So, are you going to tell me where we’re going?” Jesse questions curiously as he follows Ellie along the road. He wasn’t sure where she was dragging him, but she seemed to know the way like it was in her nature. She picked him up from the tipsy bison and gave him a quick, ‘follow me’ and that’s where they are now. Jesse could never say no to Ellie. Being her best friend was rough sometimes.

“Will you just follow me? I’ll tell you when we get there.” Ellie insisted, continuing to lead Jesse towards the schools. After a couple of minutes of walking, they finally arrived at Ellie’s preferred destination. Ellie and Jesse stopped a couple of feet away from the school; waiting. Ellie leaned into the fence and kept her attention on the door.

Suddenly the door was forced opened. The force behind it was caused by a bunch a little kids. They ran out the door like a pack of runners, and made their way towards the playground. A woman, who was carrying a child on her hip and had another child was clinging onto her cargo pants walked out of the door calmly.

“Guys, you guys shouldn’t run like that. You guys could get seriously hurt.” She scolded lightly at the kids who were already playing. The children looked in her direction and nodded.

“Yes, miss y/n!” They chorused in sync. It’s almost like these 7-11 year olds practiced together just to get it right. You placed your hand on the Ronnie, the boys head and messed with his hair gently. He continued to hide behind her and clung onto her pants.

You then squatted down to his level. Ronnie’s sweet innocent eyes looked at you. “Why don’t you go play with everyone else?” You asked the little boy in concern. Lately the little boy had only been with you, following you around. You were worried about him.

He shrugged his shoulders, his eyes then fall onto the ground. “You look lonely…” He responded innocently. “I know how that feels, so i don’t want you to feel that way.”

You smiled, and patted his head once again softly. “Ronnie, i’m okay. I promise. I want you to have fun with kids your age. Me and Chelsea will be watching, okay?” He hesitantly nodded, and ran towards the sandbox where Lily and Esteban were playing. You looked at Chelsea and kissed her on the forehead. She coo’ed happily like the child she was and started to play with your necklace. You stood up and continued to watch over the kids in your care.

“Isn’t she pretty?” Ellie asked, almost starstruck by your appearance. She was watching your whole interaction with those kids. Though it might not seem impressive to other people, it was impressive to her.

Jesse chuckled lightly, and nodded. “So, you’re crushing on y/n?”

“Crushing is a strong word-“

“Oh, come on! You just dragged me over here just so you could stare at her.” Jesse interrupted with a smirk on his face. This would be useful in the future. “Well, i can’t say i’m surprised. She’s really amazing.”

Ellie’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “You know her? I thought she was new here?” Ellie didn’t know much about you, only bits and pieces from people around town. It seemed like everyone had something to say about you- all nice things of course. She hasn’t even heard one negative thing about you.

Jesse once again nodded. “She came from the neighbouring settlement a few weeks ago,” He then noticed her eyes trailing towards the baby. He pointed at the baby on your hip and then crossed his arms over his chest. “Not her kid, or even remotely related. Currently 19, volunteers for everything except patrol and… is single.”

“Let me rephrase my question… How do you know her? When did you guys ever talk!?”

“Cool it, soldier. We got to know each other when Maria asked me to give her a tour around Jackson. We’re just friends.” Jesse explained to his best friend in the calmest and most sincere way possible. Ellie hummed, and only nodded.

“Look it’s Ellie!” A kid squealed happily and started running towards her. Ellie smiled widely and hopped over the fence so she could hug the kids that were running towards her. 5 kids crashed into her and started a dog pile.

“Ugh, you boogers are heavy.” Ellie joked in a rough voice, just so the kids would believe her. The kids screamed as Ellie gently ticked them. It took a could of seconds for you to actually notice.

“Alright guys, leave the poor girl alone.” You walked up to them slowly, and started to shoo them away.  You noticed the commotion so you decided to help. You’ve seen her around, but haven’t spoken to her before. She was always around someone which intimidated you. You couldn’t help but be interested in the girl. Everyone you spoke to liked to bring her up. They always mentioned something amazing she did. You thought she wouldn’t have noticed you.

But here she was, and this was the perfect moment to talk to her. The universe was definitely on your side. Ellie was sitting on the ground and looked up at you. You noticed her freckles first, and then her soft green eyes. She was even prettier up close. You held out your left hand towards her, and hoped she’d take it.

“So you’re the famous Ellie that my kids love talking about.” You inquired, a small smile on your face as you looked down at the girl. Ellie took your hand, and you helped her get on her feet.

“That’s me… Guilty.” You laughed lightly at her reply. The both of you stared at each other with shy smiles on your faces.

Chelsea’s cooing broke you from your trance, so you looked down. “Sorry for not introducing myself sooner, i’m-“

“Y/n… Yeah, i know about you.” You raised your eyebrows, which she took for as something negative. So she wanted to save it. “I mean, me and Jesse were just talking about you.”

You looked at Jesse who just shrugged his shoulders. You chuckled. “Nice to see you too, Jes.”

“Howdy, y/n. I didn’t want to ruin your eye fucking fest.” Jesse smirked, and nodded towards you and Ellie.

You rolled your eyes. If he saw anything different then he would probably use it against you. So you opted to not show your true reaction. “So what was it that you two were talking about? Right, me. Spill.”

Ellie looked nervous, which Jesse noticed so he decided to help her out. What kind of best friend wouldn’t? “There’s this bonfire that i’m having tonight and I was telling Ellie that we should invite you… Which explains why we’re here.”

You hummed, and nodded to what he was saying. It was all making sense to them. “And where is this bonfire?” You asked.

“My place. My parents aren’t going to be home tonight, so i decided to throw a little party. You interested?” Jesse explained confidently. Everything that was happening was such a coincidence. Luckily it was going in their favour.

“So, will we be seeing you tonight?” Ellie questions with a cute smile.

You thought about it for a moment, and only looked into her eyes. She didn’t look away which told you a lot. You subconsciously bit your lip, which Ellie payed attention to. “Yes, Ellie. You will be seeing me tonight… Crap, i gotta go. Bye guys!” You turned on your heel and walked over to a kid who just got hurt. “Micheal, what happened buddy?”

Ellie could still distinctly hear your voice as you continued to talk to a small boy. She turned to Jesse. “Nice going, Jesse. You really saved my ass.”

“Thank me by actually hooking up with her tonight.”

-

[freakynct]

「 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝟏 」

— 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟐 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 —

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: sugar daddy!jaehyun, slight mention of sexual harassment, alcohol, daddy!kink, degradation, dirty talk, choking, oral [fem receiving], spanking, hair pulling, unprotected sex and a little angst at the end

𝐚/𝐧: this one shot was heavily inspired by this anons ask and some of the lines they suggested were used, so a especial thank u to this person!

when you started this all you wanted was an easy and quick way to pay for your college since your relationship with your parents has never been the best and they wouldn't help you pay for one cent of your studies, and if you really wanted to have a better life than theirs, you need this. but when you signed for the website all you got were messages from disgusting old men with the sole purpose of fucking a much younger girl because their wives weren't able to satisfy them anymore. and as you were about to give up and just accept the fact that you would have to keep working at the store where you were constantly sexually harassed by your boss and were the salary barely covered your food expenses, you got a new message, but this time from a much younger man that approached you with a kind line instead of a dick pic. you read his name at the top of his profile: jung yoon-oh. and at that time you didn't know just how much your life would change because of that man.

‏‏‎ ‎

this was already your fifth time meeting up with jaehyun. that's what he had told you to call him on your first date with him, when he took you to the finest restaurant you had ever set foot on. you thought about the memory and how much he had done for you since then, as you stood in front of the big rotating doors of the hotel where you always met him when it was time to thank him for all the money he spent on you. you let go of the hem of the expensive dress you had been nervously picking on since you got there. it didn't matter how many times you met him and did this with him, you always felt a shiver inside your stomach at the thought of seeing him in front of you again, at the thought of his fingers touching your skin again. you finally took the courage of stepping forward and walking inside of the big building, making your way to the reception.

"hello, i'm here for jung yoon-oh." your voice couldn't help but to shake as you tried to deliver your only line, watching as the receptionist's face lit up at the sound of your words.

"miss [y/l/n], yes. he's expecting you at the presidential suite on the 20th floor." she said with the brightest smile on her face while handing you the room's card key and you figured she must've only been this nice because it was part of her job. 

you thanked her and made your way to the elevator, pressing the button to the 20th floor and making the whole journey in silence, alone with your thoughts and the soothing elevator music. you found yourself hesitating as you stood in front of the door where you knew we would be waiting for you. you fixed your hair and dress, preparing to face him but before you could unlock the door with your own key, jaehyun did it for you, standing tall and proud in front of you, your eyes meeting for the first time that night.

"you were planning on just standing there?" his deep voice sent shivers down your body and even though you were still confused as to how he knew you were already there, you didn't dare to question him, walking into the hotel room as soon as he made way for you to pass. 

you nervously stood there, your back turned to him as your eyes scanned over the luxurious and spacious room, already so familiar to you.

"is everything ok?" his voice sounded now closer to your ear, as you felt his presence right behind you, his hands caressing down your arms and his warm breath fanning certain strands of your hair away from your neck.

"hm, yeah. everything's fine." you slowly turned around to face him, a small smile on your lips as you finally had the time to admire his perfect facial features. he was indeed one of the most handsome men you've ever met.

"come." his voice was almost soothing to you, making your body relax as you took his hand that he had extended for you, pulling you across the room to sit at the end of the large king sized bed decorated with fine red silk sheets and small rose petals. you admired the way he moved in his all black suit, his hair pushed back and a shiny silver watch on his wrist as he holded the champagne bottle in his hand, pouring the liquid inside of two tall glasses. he handed you one of them, sitting next to you in bed and you noticed how his eyes ran through your body.

"you look so beautiful tonight." he brought the glass to his lips, taking a sip of the bitter drink.

"thank you. you bought me this dress." you smiled as you looked down at the detailed dress that you modelled, sexy but so sophisticated at the same time, accentuating every curve on your body perfectly, it had become one of your favorite dresses you've ever owned.

"i know. and it fits you perfectly." you lifted your head back up as soon as you felt his warm hand on your thigh, his thumb rubbing gentle circles on your skin and as your eyes met his, you saw the dark sparkle in them and suddenly you were reminded of why you were there in the first place. 

"how's college going? have you paid your tuition yet?" you nodded your head, now being your turn to take a sip out of the champagne, frowning your face at the bitter taste.

"yes. thank you, you know, for the money." he could see how sincere you were and jaehyun felt his heart warming up in a way no one has ever done.

"you're endearing." your eyes widened slightly at his comment, not expecting such compliment to come from him. "you're always so grateful for everything i give you." his thumb came up to caress your cheek and you couldn't help but to lean against his hand, admitting to having missed his touch.

over the couple of weeks you spent together, surprisingly he had become more than just your sugar daddy. you had found yourself talking for hours on the phone with him about your problems and even laughing with him. you found a friend and someone you could open up to without feeling any judgement and you felt happy and safe by his side. you saw him leaning closer to you, his hand taking the glass from your hand and placing it down on the floor next to his own. his lips carefully brushed against yours before involving you in a deep and passionate kiss, his soft lips moving perfectly against yours and you had forgotten how much you missed his taste of mint and alcohol against your mouth. your hands found their way to his shoulders as his bigger ones moved over your bare thighs, his fingertips brushing ever so slightly under the hem of your dress and you longed for the moment when they actually reached where you wanted him most. he moved his lips away from yours and you almost whined at the lost of contact, watching him getting up and extending his hand to you and as always you did has he commanded, taking his hold and getting up from the bed, his agile hands turning you around abruptly by your waist so that your back was now facing him and you felt by his rougher touch that you were in for a long night.

he brushed your hair out of the way and over your shoulder, unzipping the back of your dress slowly, helping it slide down your body as his lips pressed a warm kiss to your shoulder, making you close your eyes at the touch, the only piece of clothing covering your body now being a very thin and small pair of white panties. his fingers ran down your exposed back while he continued to press gentle kisses all over the surface of your neck. he turned you around one more time, and if it wasn't for his tight grip on your arm you would've lost your balance. he pushed you to sit down on the bed, squatting in front of you and placing your foot on top of his thigh as he unbuckled your heels and carefully removed them from your feet. you couldn't help but to feel butterflies in your stomach at how gentle he was being with you, knowing that that was about to change in a few minutes. 

"my accountant told me there was a very big expense made at a clothing store in my name." you immediately felt your cheeks burning up, remembering the shopping spree you decided to do with your friend when jaehyun so kindly handed you over one of his cards. you were never someone to just spend a large amount of money like that but you couldn't help but to feel excited when such possession was in your hands. "care to explain?" you avoided his eyes as much as possible, too embarrassed to even look at him after being caught like that and you cursed yourself mentally for being so dumb. you couldn't seem to be able to find your words and you could feel his eyes burning down on you and suddenly you were surprised by the small chuckle he let out.

"i just wish you would've told me. i thought someone had stolen one of my cards." he got up again, his big and strong body hovering over your practically naked one. you were surprised he wasn't mad at you. you thought you would get the biggest scolding of your life but no. all he wanted was for you to tell him that you would indeed spend all of his money on overly priced clothes. you looked up at him with doe eyes, his thumb brushing against your bottom lip and applying pressure for you to part your lips for him.

"my spoiled little girl." he slowly introduced his digit inside your mouth, your lips wrapping around and sucking gently at it, gaining a satisfying grunt from jaehyun and you could feel the wet patch in your panties growing bigger. "what should i do with you?" he tilted his head to the side, slowly removing his thumb from your mouth and moving his hand down your jaw until his fingers were perfectly wrapped around your neck and before you know it he had you pinned down to the bed, his larger body over yours and the way the fabric of his suit rubbed against your exposed skin made you squirm. he applied a little more pressure to your neck and you parted your lips, trying to gasp for air and watching as a devilish smirk appeared on his face.

"you like spending all of your daddy's money on clothes? hm?" he let go of your neck and you were able to breathe normally again, biting on your bottom lip as his fingers made their way down your body, raising goosebumps underneath them as he created a trail of kisses from the top of your neck to your chest. your eyes fluttered shut as you felt his soft lips wrapping around one of your nipples, his warm tongue soothing over the hard bud and he sucked a little harder on it, your hands quickly finding their way to his hair as he worked on your breasts. your legs wrapped around him, wanting to feel him closer to you and to feel his bulge rubbing against your covered core, letting a soft moan escape between your lips at the combination of his wet mouth on you and the friction on your clit.

"you're such a greedy little girl. you have to learn to be patient." his voice was calm but stern at the same time as he sat up on the bed, looking down at your naked body sprawled out on the bed for him, his hands undoing his tie and throwing it somewhere on the floor, his blazer following right after, only unbuttoning two or three buttons on his dress shirt to give him more freedom but he still insisted in being all dressed while you stood there naked, it gave him a feeling of power over you.

he came down to your breasts one more time, giving them quick little kisses before making his way down your body, kissing over your ribs and stomach until his lips where the closest they'd ever been to your core that night, only the little barrier of thin fabric dividing them. he looked up at you as he hooked his fingers on the sides of your panties and you lifted your hips slightly so he could pulled them down your legs. you were officially naked in front of him and you felt vulnerable as you felt his eyes burning holes on your skin. he got up and kneeled at the end of the bed, grabbing your ankles and yanking you down towards him, your dripping core now standing face to face with him and you had the urge to close your thighs together, being interrupted by jaehyun's much stronger hands that holded your legs apart.

"don't be shy, princess. don't you want daddy to make you feel good?" your body shivered as you felt his lips trailing kisses on the insides of your thighs, so close that you could feel his warm breath against your core. you whined when he sucked a small hickie on your skin and your fingers came down to caressed his hair as his mouth got closer and closer to where you were burning.

"please…" your words came out almost as a whisper and a small smirk formed on his lips.

"how bad do you want daddy's tongue?" he pressed a gentle kiss to the outside of your lips and you arched your back slightly, wanting to feel more of him, a deep sigh leaving between your lips. 

"i want it so bad… please daddy." the words rolled out of your mouth without much effort and you finally felt his warm tongue lick up at your wet slit, sucking gently at your clit and you couldn't help but to moan as he worked his mouth on you in such a skillful way. his hands grabbed tightly at your thighs that rested on his shoulders and his eyes looked up at you, his cock getting harder in his pants as he examined the fucked out expression on your face every time his tongue flicked your clit. your fingers tighten on his hair and you received a grunt from his part, sending vibrations down your spine. you whined when his lips left your sensitive nub and he stood up again, standing so tall over you. his fingers worked on unbuttoning the rest of the buttons on his shirt and you took the opportunity to raise your foot up his leg, brushing it against his boner and he quickly grabbed your ankle, groaning at the feeling as you let go of a little chuckle.

"didn't i just say you had to learn to be patient? hm?" he raised an eyebrow at you and let go of your ankle to take off his shirt, exposing his perfectly toned abs to you. but because you weren't particularly in the mood to listen to him tonight, you decided to keep teasing him, applying even more pressure over his boner with your foot and he flinched away from your touch, causing you to laugh at his reaction, a deep sigh leaving through his nostrils as he grabbed your ankle again, pushing it away from him.

"oh i see. you wanna act like a little brat? is that it princess? you want me to treat you like the fucking brat that you are? alright then." and without giving you time to even react to his words he had you flipped to your stomach, your body jolting forward and a whine escaping your lips as you felt a stinging pain where jaehyun smacked your ass. a cheeky smile made its appearance on your lips as you heard the sound of his belt being unbuckled and your body burned with anticipation. you were never like this but jaehyun somehow brought a different side of you out, a side that only he got to see.

"daddy, are you going to fuck your little girl or what?" you asked in a whiny tone, pushing your ass up slightly but only getting a harder smack on it in return.

"my little girl is not here, only this greedy brat." you let go of a soft moan as you felt his body being pressed against your back, his hard cock brushing over your ass as his fingers wrapped firmly around your neck, pulling your head back, his lips touching the side of your ear.

"and since you wanna act like one, i'll fuck you like one." and suddenly his body wasn't over yours anymore, his hands grabbing your hips to push your ass up and the tip of his cock brushing against your entrance, his length sliding inside you slowly as you whimpered from finally being filled with him. you moaned loudly as soon as he started moving inside you, missing him more than what you would like to admit.

one of his hands came in contact with the back of your neck, pressing the side of your face into the mattress as his other hand kept its place over your ass, grabbing and kneading at the flesh as his pace got faster and rougher, a overwhelming sensation running through your body.

"yeah… you like my cock inside you just like you like my fucking money? hm? greedy brat." all you could do was moan into the silk sheets, your fingers holding tight to them. you felt jaehyun's fingers on your hair, pulling your head back once again and you noticed that you had forgotten to breathe for a second, gasping as his cock hit deeper inside you. "answer me, brat. or have you forgotten your manners too?" you tried to gather your words before answering but you probably took too long doing so because you felt jaehyun's hand smack your ass as his movements got even faster and rougher, wanting you to spit out your words for him.

"yes… yes daddy… i love it… i love your- i love your cock." you spoke between moans, your voice equally as weak as your body was. you clenched around him at the feeling of your orgasm approaching, drool falling from the corners of your mouth into the red sheets from having your mouth open for so long.

"that's my pretty girl." he groaned, grabbing both of your hips in his hands, thrusting inside you fast, he also feeling his orgasm coming closer. "are you going to be a good girl and come all over daddy's cock, princess?" you thought you were going to explode at any moment and you couldn't hold it in any longer.

"yes, i-i'm gonna…" you felt your orgasm finally washing over you, your pussy clenching hard around him and your body shaking as jaehyun's hand caressed the small of your back.

"there you go. let go for me, baby." you cried out into the silk sheets as you came down from the intense feeling, your mind completely blank. you heard him groan loudly and suddenly he wasn't inside you anymore, making you feel unpleasantly empty as you felt his warm cum hitting your back, painting it white.

you couldn't hold yourself up anymore and as soon as jaehyun let go of your hips, your body fell weak into the mattress, your breathing heavy and your eyelids way too heavy to keep them up. 

your body squirmed when you felt a warm wet towel against your back, cleaning up the mess that jaehyun had done. you just layed there, in silence as he carefully brushed the fabric between your legs and your heart warmed up at his kind gesture that he never seemed to miss at the end of a heated session like the one you just had. it didn't matter how rough he was with you during sex, you knew that at the end of it he was always going to take care of you. the rough fabric of the towel was replaced by the soft skin of his hand that now caressed every part of your bare body as he remained seated next to you, his eyes soft as he stared at you.

"you're ok?" his sweet voice spoke and you were brought to reality, slowly sitting up on the bed, nodding your head and jaehyun was quick to hold a soft white robe around your naked body, encouraging you to put it on, his thumb caressing your cheek and a beautiful smile making an appearance on his lips and suddenly you found yourself lost in his deep brown eyes.

"oh wait." he spoke, getting up and walking towards one of the tables where he grabbed a white envelope, joining you on the bed again and handing it over to you.

"what is this?" you spoke, still confused at what was going on and that's when he said the words you never thought could be this painful.

"it's money, for tonight." you couldn't help but to feel your heart break as you were reminded once more why you were there in the first place. you were there for money and you were stupid to believe that for a second he would look at you as more than just an exchange of favors. "what's wrong? is everything ok?" the concern was evident on his voice as his thumb brushed away the one tear you had allowed to fall, shaking your head and forcing yourself to put on a smile on your lips.

"it's nothing. i just… remembered something." you chuckled to push away your feelings and you felt his arms wrapping around your body and pulling you closer to his chest.

"you know you can always tell me everything, right?" you looked up at him, a sad smile adorning your lips as you were once again met with his soft brown eyes.

"i don't think i can tell you this." it was your turn to caress the side of his face, pulling him closer until your lips met, moving against each other gently and you knew how that kiss didn't mean nearly as much to him as it did to you.

[teabooksandsweets]

A City of Bells

Chapter I — Part VI

Jocelyn followed Grandfather’s squat black figure and bald head up to the final stairs to the spare-room. It was a perfect panelled room with three windows looking out on the garden. Old oak beams crossed the whitewashed ceiling and in each of the four corners of the room was a carved wooden seraph with two wings covering his feet, two folded across his breast and two outspread behind him. There was no carpet on the oak floor that rose and fell like the waves of the sea, and no pictures on the walls, and the furniture was limited to the barest necessities.

“This is perhaps more of a monk’s room than a soldier’s,” said Grandfather, “but you must remember that Torminster was once a monastery and the Close is the coffin that holds its bones. Some people find this house frightening. The bones of the skeleton show through too clearly, they say, and the damp smell makes them think of death.”

“How old is this house?” asked Jocelyn.

“It belongs to all time. The hall and kitchen and larder are Norman, the tower is fifteenth century and this room has an eighteenth-century powdering powdering closet … But my greenhouse is pure Victorian … Have you everything you want?”

“Everything but peace of mind,” said Jocelyn unexpectedly and blushed crimson.

He remembered of old that Grandfather’s effect upon him was always to make him say exactly what was in his mind … An embarrassing effect … Such people as Grandfather, possessed of a sincerity as catching as measles, shouldn’t be allowed about loose in a world where the wearing of a mask was good form.

Grandfather sat down at the foot of the bed and folded his hands across his stomach, always a sign that he was giving a subject his serious consideration. The expression of his face changed from one of trouble to one of deep attention, as Ferranti’s disappearance passed from his mind and Jocelyn’s mental condition took its place.

“Peace is as essential to mental health, dear boy, as light to human life. What has happened to yours?”

“Mislaid it in South Africa,” said Jocelyn bitterly. “My work’s gone and I don’t know what to do. How can a man be peaceful when he has no future?”

“Don’t talk nonsense,” said Grandfather almost sharply. “We’ve all a future. You don’t know in what direction yours lies, that’s all, and you’ve not the patience to wait and see which way the wind blows.”

“The wind?” asked Jocelyn.

“Our destiny is like a wind blowing,” said Grandfather. “It carries us along. But now and again the wind seems to drop. We don’t know what to do next. Then it may be that a blade of grass growing in the road beside us bends slightly. It is a tiny movement, slight as a whim, but enough to show us which way to take.”

Jocelyn smiled at Grandfather affectionately. “If we were all to yield to our whims,” he said, “we’d do some pretty crazy things. I, for instance, would start a shop in Torminster.”

“Would you like to start a shop in Torminster?”

“It’s an idea that occurred to me as I drove up the High Street.”

“Then start it.”

Jocelyn laughed. “I was only joking, Grandfather. How could I start a shop with no capital and no experience and no business capacity?”

Grandfather unclasped his hands and rose sighing to his feet. He feared that Jocelyn was in a difficult frame of mind, depressed and restless, and this was hardly the moment to induce him to see reason.

“Stay here and do nothing,” he advised him. “Stay a year if you like. What does it matter? It’s often necessary in life to do nothing, but so few people do it nicely. And as for peace, there’s plenty of it in this house and in this town. They are so weighted with age that they have, as it were, fallen below the surface of time, like a buried city below the sea … Fall with them … Dear me, I must go and say evensong or I shall be late for dinner, and that distresses your dear grandmother.”

Left alone Jocelyn unpacked slowly, discovering the powdering closet, hardly bigger than a cupboard, where long ago some hooped and panniered lady had silvered her hair with powder, put a round black patch on her chin, rouge on her cheeks and rings on her fingers … What a fuss about nothing her toilet must have been! … But perhaps she was one of those people who do nothing so nicely that it becomes something. As he arranged his books on the shelf in the closet he pictured her to himself, slim and golden-haired, clothed in silk that rustled like autumn leaves, tremendously absorbed, as she powdered and patched and laced, in the creation of beauty.

nd longer ago still his room was part of the monastery. Some monk sat here, perhaps, making a missal, painting into it purple pansies and ivory roses and queer little animals with long legs and scarlet, tongues, the great-grandfathers of the dragon who pranced on the signboard in the Market Place. And the monk, as he painted a blue sky behind his ivory roses and put golden scrolls round the animals’ legs, would have been as absorbed in the making of a beautiful thing as the lady with her rouge-pot and her jewel-case … And on them both the winged seraphim would have looked down, and for them both the time that in Torminster did not pass away but only stepped into the background would have been measured into golden lengths by the chiming of bells.

Jocelyn realized that for him too bells were ringing, for the Cathedral clock was striking seven and he must change for dinner. On the last stroke Sarah knocked at his door and entered with hot water. She did everything by the Cathedral clock. When it chimed half-past six she put the kettle on. When it chimed a quarter-to-seven she slowly filled the cans and toiled up the stairs to the room where Grandfather and Grandmother slept, where she laid out their evening things on their fourposter and dumped their hot water into the basins with resounding bangs, just as the first stroke of seven rang out … On the last stroke of seven she knocked at the spare-room door … It was all a very serious ritual and she stumped across the room to Jocelyn’s washstand with the solemnity of a priest approaching the shrine of the oracle.

“You’ve laid out your own things,” she said severely. “I do that.”

“I’m sorry, Sarah,” said Jocelyn meekly. “But you see I was unpacking and I thought it would save you trouble.”

“Trouble!” snorted Sarah. “That’s what I’m here for. Life’s made up of trouble. You must expect that … I expect you find the master and mistress sadly changed?”

“I don’t see the slightest difference in them, Sarah,” said Jocelyn. “They never change.”

“Ah,” said Sarah, “you don’t live with them as I do and see them going down ’ill steady. I ’ope the dinner will be eatable, but Ellen’s very ’eavy-’anded with the pastry owing to ’aving been thrown over by the butcher which, as I tell ’er, it’s not to be expected that a man should keep faithful to a woman of ’er age, but it takes a light ’eart to make light pastry and it’s we that are the sufferers, as is only to be expected when you remember that in this world the innocent suffer for the guilty … Dinner’s at a quarter-to-eight, sir.”

She stalked away again and Jocelyn was left to embark upon the second shave of the day. It was quite unnecessary, but he was fastidious, one of those people whose private as well as whose public moments are controlled and decorous. Without consciously realizing it he liked to make each trivial act of life a thing of individual perfection, and in this he was linked to the monk and the lady.

He was immersed in white lather when there was a sudden pattering of bare feet outside his door, which burst open with no preliminary knock to admit a small boy with freckles and flaming red hair. He cast one glance at Jocelyn and dashed out again, leaving the door open and shouting at the full force of his lungs, “Come on, Henrietta, he’s shaving!”

Before Jocelyn had time to draw breath Hugh Anthony was back again with Henrietta. They had evidently arisen from their beds, for they were clothed in white nightgown and nightshirt and were barefooted. They leapt on to his bed with the agility of young rabbits and leant over its foot as though it were the front rail of the dress circle, their eyes bulging and their mouths ajar. Jocelyn realized that, for the first time in his life, he was an exciting entertainment. The parental toilet was, he had heard, as good as a circus to the Edwardian young, but these children, fatherless and with a bearded grandfather, had up till now missed one of the chief thrills in life. He flourished his razor and prepared to do his best. While he did it there was no sound but deep, ecstatic breathing, and when he had finished there was a long-drawn sigh of satisfaction.

“There! He’s done!” said Hugh Anthony. “Did you think it would be like that, Henrietta?”

“I thought it would make more noise,” said Henrietta, “like when Bates cuts the grass.”

“I expect he hadn’t got enough beard,” said Hugh Anthony. “Now if Grandfather started shaving I dare say it would be more noisy.”

Jocelyn put on his coat and turned round to survey the couple.

Hugh Anthony at eight years old was compact and rounded like his grandfather. His blue, astonished eyes were also like his grandfather’s, but his circular face, dusted all over with golden freckles, his turned-up nose and flaming red hair were all his own. Quite his own too was his look of perpetual inquiry. His whole body seemed at times to be curved into the shape of a questionmark and the word “why?” was seldom off his lips. The house rang with it from the moment he woke up in the morning until the moment when he fell asleep with his final question still vibrating in the air of the silent, unanswering night.

“Why don’t you grow a beard?” he asked Jocelyn.

“I’ve been a soldier,” said Jocelyn, “and in the Army it is the fashion to have a moustache only.”

“Why?”

“To distinguish soldiers from sailors, who are either clean-shaven or have beards.”

“Why?”

“It’s just the fashion.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

“Why don’t you know?”

Henrietta pushed Hugh Anthony face downward on the bed and seated herself upon the small of his back where, enthroned in grace, she smiled sweetly at Jocelyn. She was a child of few words, but all her actions were quick, decisive and to the point.

She was an astonishing creature, not conventionally beautiful, but with a grace and certain luminous quality that were far more arresting than the usual nine-year-old female chubbiness. She was small and thin with long-fingered hands and slender feet. Her brown eyes were curiously changeable with her moods, sometimes blazing with light and sometimes opaquely dark, as though the spirit behind them were a newly lit flame so sensitive that a breath of joy or sorrow could fan it into a blaze or extinguish it altogether. Her face, small and pointed, rising from the Toby frill of her nightgown like a flower from its calyx and very pale against her straight dark hair, made Jocelyn think of white jasmine.

“I hope we are not intruding,” she said politely to Jocelyn. Her voice was curiously deep for a child, with a ringing note in it that was very beautiful.

“Not at all,” said Jocelyn. “I am honoured.”

“Grandfather says Hugh Anthony is to call you uncle,” she said. “Do I call you uncle too even though I’m only adopted?”

“Please,” said Jocelyn. “Until now I have had no niece. It’s a dreadful thing, you know, to have no niece.”

He came close to the bed and smiled down at her, and instantly, with her answering smile, her whole being seemed to come flooding into her face. She was giving him her friendship with the lovely abandonment of childhood that has not learned yet to hold back for fear the love given should be scorned. Jocelyn, in this his first close contact with a child, felt not so much touched as stabbed. This trustfulness and fragility were almost terrifying, for how in the world, as children grew from childhood to maturity and the bloom was rubbed off them, did the sensitive spirit itself escape destruction? … Well, sometimes it did but sometimes it did not … And the man who destroyed it? “It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” Heaven above, what an alarming thing it must be to be a parent!

But at this moment Hugh Anthony, whose ordinary temperament was always a relief after Henrietta’s emotional one, became tired of lying on his face with his mouth full of eiderdown and abruptly heaved up his posterior. Henrietta rolled off the bed to the floor on one side and Hugh Anthony on the other.

“Did you bring your sword?” he asked, while still in a recumbent position.

“No,” said Jocelyn.

“Why not?”

“I didn’t think I should have any use for it.”

“But we could have played at St. George and the Dragon with it, you being the Dragon and me George.”

“I’m sorry,” said Jocelyn. “I never thought of that.”

“Then you should have,” said Hugh Anthony severely. “You should have remembered when you packed that I should have wanted to see your sword. Grandfather says that every morning in one’s cold bath one should say to oneself, ‘Now what can I do for others to-day?’”

The gong rang.

“Hadn’t you two kids better go to bed?” inquired Jocelyn.

“We don’t go properly to bed till it’s dark,” said Henrietta, sitting up on the floor and re-plaiting her hair. “We’re put there and then we get out again. Come on, Hugh Anthony, we’ll go up to the top of the tower and see the stars come out. We’ll take Uncle Jocelyn’s eiderdown.”

They departed as suddenly as they had come, trailing the eiderdown after them like clouds of glory.

[wannabe-fic-writer]

All Over Again - Chapter 11

Summary: What was lost can be found. 

Warning: 18+ Smut, Language, Violence. 

Ch. 10

* * * * * *

Sweat builds with each second that passes. 

You wring your fingers together nervously as your leg bounces up and down. 

Calling a team meeting was the fastest way to get this done so here you sit, in the common room of the compound, waiting for everyone to show up. 

Just two weeks ago you’d come to the decision to move to National City with Lena. In the time that passed after that you spent three days there, mostly hanging with Lena but also visiting the DEO. You weren’t surprised to see Alex there, the woman being the director. While she hadn’t welcomed you with open arms, she was impressed with your initial interview(which was just her kicking your ass up and down the training room). After being assured you’d have a spot at the DEO by the Director herself, you came back to NYC. 

The team had yet to handle the enhanced individual situation but the moment you got back, or at least the day after, you all organized a mission to capture them. With the whole team’s collective strength and skill, you were successful in capturing the enhanced which you were glad for. It made this part all the more easy.

“Y/Ln what’s the reason for this meeting?” Steve asks, stepping around the couch with his arms crossed over his chest, a mask of strictly business written on his face. 

“I-I’d rather wait for the rest of the team before I say anything. Could you sit?” You gesture to the couch, ignoring how your hand shakes in nervousness. 

Steve clearly catches the involuntary action, eyebrow quirking in the slightest. He sits nonetheless. 

Much like Steve, everyone eyes you curiously or straight out asks what the point of the meeting is as they come in and you tell them to be patient. Until finally everyone is seated on the couches around you, all of their eyes trying to look through you to figure out what’s going on.

They’re the people you’ve grown to love and care for over the years. People you’d give your life for without question. Your family. And you’re about to leave them. 

E/c eyes land on familiar green ones. The two of you have yet to talk again, after the engagement situation and all. Admittedly you’d miss the hell out of her. Sure things haven’t been great the past couple years but that couldn’t write away all the good before that. She’d given you a love like no other for three years. She cherished and loved you and there was no denying that.

You then look over to the other set of green eyes. Ones that belonged to the young woman you’ve loved and will always love. You claim her as your best friend but she’s your sister, a blessing you hadn’t had before the Avengers. God, leaving her is going to be the hardest. Looking at her soft, reassuring expression, it’s already tearing you up inside.

“Um-” you clear your throat, hating the sting of fresh tears that starts in your eyes,“ I guess there’s no easy way to say this but I- I’m moving to National City.” 

. . .

. . . 

. . .

“No you’re not.” Natasha is the first to speak, voice hard with determination. That same emotion in her eyes. 

But the look you give her makes that slip away.

Steve frowns, sliding to the edge of the couch,“ why?”

You have to look away from Natasha. You can’t say why if you’re staring into those already hurt green eyes.“ My girlfriend lives in National City. I think it’d be best for our relationship and quite frankly myself if we were closer.”

That answer triggers a wave of mixed responses from everyone. For the most part they’re upset but some of them, Bucky and Bruce, are fairly calm about it all. Sam is damn near shouting at you, not understanding why long distance couldn’t continue to work since it had obviously been before. Steve can’t believe you’d give up saving people to go to National City and you can’t even tell him that that’s not what you’re doing since Natasha is mean mugging you and damn near spitting at you that you need to think on this more and it’d be stupid of you to just up and leave for a relationship that’s just begun. 

In their anger, no one notices the single tear that slides down your cheek, almost no one. Before you can swipe it away and pretend it’s not there, a gentle hand rests on your cheek and an equally soft thumb brushes it away. 

You already know who it belongs to and you can’t bring yourself to look at her. 

“Y/n,” Wanda’s quiet, honey like voice hits your ears.“ Is moving going to make you happy?” 

Out of all the things you’d expected her to say, that wasn’t it. It makes you look at her. 

She’s squatting in front of you, one hand resting on your knee and the other still on your cheek. The look in her eyes, though distorted by unshed tears, is pure and sincere. Your best friend/sister just wants you to be happy. To her, you deserve it more than anyone she’s ever known. She’s seen how happy Lena makes you and if going to be with her is going to further that she sure as hell isn’t going to stand in the way of that.

Nodding, you take a shaky breath,“ yeah it is”

“Then go and don’t feel bad for leaving.” Now she’s the one letting tears fall.“ Just promise to come visit.”

Both your hands cup her face to wipe the now quickly falling tears,“ you know I could never leave you for long.” The two of you, moving in near perfect harmony, wrap each other in a hug. 

Wanda’s arms loop around your neck, face pressed into your neck, as yours tightly wrap around her waist. 

“I’m gonna miss you so much Wan.” Your voice is a whisper against her neck.

The two of you remain in your embrace, completely forgetting the team around you. They all looked on, seeing you like that with Wanda makes them realize that as hard as this is for them it’s the same for you. You may be the one making the decision to move but that doesn’t mean you aren’t hurt by leaving them. 

Pulling away, Wanda grabs your hand. At this point she just needs to be close to you.

“When are you leaving?” Steve asks.

You take one more steadying breath,“ about a month from now. I want to get everything squared away here.” His eyebrow raises.“ If it’s okay with you I’d like to stay as a remote member of the team, I’d be more than happy to come help if need be but I’ll be working with the DEO in National City.”

Steve nods, already knowing of the organization, while the rest of the team waits for an explanation. 

“Department of Extranormal Operations.” 

“So you have everything set then?” Bucky asks.

You nod, a small smile playing on your lips,“ yeah. Job is set and I’ll be living with Lena. Plus it’s nice to already have friends there so-”

“You’re living with her?” All gazes more to Natasha.“ What if things don’t work out?”

Instead of getting angry with her, you take a deep breath in. She’s upset which you take into consideration before replying,“ well for one I’m hoping things do indeed work out and if they don’t I’m very capable of making it on my own if need be.”

Her eyes narrow at you and the second Bruce’s hand brushes her leg she shoots up and walks away. E/c eyes follow her as she leaves the common room and you look back at Bruce,“ you mind if I-”

“Sure sure.” He nods and gestures after her. 

Giving Wanda’s hand a gentle squeeze, you smile softly at her nod, and follow after the upset redhead. She can only be one of two places and when you check the first(the gym) and she’s not there, you head straight up to the roof. 

As expected you find her there. She’s sitting on the ledge, legs hanging over, as she plays with her fingers. For just a moment you allow myself to take in how beautiful she still is, especially with the sun accentuating the brown specks in her green eyes and her hair, unusually, in a ponytail. You look away before you can begin to feel guilty.

“Hey.” Your voice is deliberately soft as you sit beside her. 

When she looks over, you can feel her eyes bore into the side of your head.“ I knew when you told me that I wouldn’t lose you it wasn’t true bu-”

“I meant it when I said you wouldn’t lose me-”

“Yet you haven’t spoken to me since that day and now you’re leaving so how am I not losing you?”

“I’m not leaving forever Natasha. And I’m sorry we haven’t spoken but things have been insane between us and I don’t want it to be. I just got frustrated with the engagement and your need for an answer.” 

“I’m sorry okay I didn’t want to frustrate you.” Seeing tears glisten in her eyes breaks your heart.“ If you’re leaving because of me- because of how I’ve been acting then don’t okay I can-” 

Hating that the usually strong woman is so deeply affected by this, you wrap an arm around her without thought, and pull her into your side. She’s quick to bring her arms around your middle and hug you back. 

The deep sigh you give makes her tighten her hold a bit.“ Tasha I promise you I’m not leaving because of you. Like I’ve said, things haven’t been perfect with us but that doesn’t mean I’d run from it. I just want to be closer to Lena.”

Those words make Natasha pull back, her hands running up her face and over her hair.“ Is this real- with her?” Honestly the woman is trying her damndest to come to terms with you, quite obviously, loving someone else.  

You nod, making sure to look into her eyes so she knows how serious you are,“ it is. I truly love her and I know she feels the same. It’s why this move is so important. We’re going to have issues and the distance would just make that worse. And I don’t want the distance to be the problem either.”

“I understand.” She nods, her bottom lip settling between her teeth as she looks away.“ Just be careful I- I don’t want to see you get hurt again.” 

“Trust me I will be.”

Silence creeps in and you both stay up there for a little longer. It’s the most untense the atmosphere has ever been between yourself and Natasha in years and finally, after all this time around her, you can smile. Natasha, upon seeing the expression, does so herself. 

But around the compound moments never last. This particular one is cut short at the quiet, almost inaudible, sound of a jet. 

Looking ahead reveals the all too familiar red and gold color metal suit. Iron Man hovering up and over onto the roof. His thrusters stop and he power poses as he hits the ground. His helmet disassembles from his face to reveal the glare he’s fixed at you.

Taken aback by it, you lean away just a little,“ hey Tony.”

“You’re leaving. I don’t recall giving you permission to do so.” You open your mouth to speak but he continues,“ as an original member of the team and a long time friend I hereby forbid from leaving. Glad that’s settled.” He shrugs as if to end the conversation.

With raised eyebrows, you reply,“ Tony, it’s best for me to go to National City, and it’s best for-”

“Miss Luthor. Yes I’m aware. Lena’s a lucky lady but we have dibs so. . .” His eyes scan your face before flicking away to some random sight.

Sighing, you step toward the man and rest a hand on the nanotech suit. You aren’t at all surprised by his reaction, especially after the way everyone else reacted. This is his way of telling you he’s going to miss you without saying anything.“ Tony I promise I’m gonna visit. And I’ll be on call for whenever I’m needed.”

“Then you might as well just not leave.” 

A pointed look from you and Tony knows to not fight it any further. Not that he really thought his words would make you stay. 

“Don’t think you’re escaping without a party.” He says as the helmet forms again.“ I’ll send you the details, make sure the schedule’s clear.” And with that he shoots off into the sky. 

Over the next few weeks you find yourself more busy than you have been. For the majority of the beginning you focus on dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s of your business with the Avengers, filing mission reports, working on weapons that could be needed, and finishing missions that were previously assigned. 

The very second that was all done, you went straight to Wanda. Your first night with the young woman, you didn’t sleep a wink, even though it was a sleepover. 

Between the endless movies, random dance/singing sessions, pigging out on food and sweets, and just talking to each other about any and everything, you’d ended up spending four days with her and only her. After which you promptly, and rightfully, dedicated time to your entire team. 

Your impending departure drew you closer to every member of the team, yes even Bruce who, while not your best friend or anything, proved to be a truly cool guy. The time spent with him pushed you over that line you’d been hesitant to cross. He’s what Natasha needs and what she wants. Acknowledging that she’s going to be more than fine with you gone makes this whole thing that bit easier.  

Before you know it, your last month is up.

“Hey, you ready?” 

Smoothing your hands down the button up you’d chosen for tonight, you raise your gaze to Wanda through the mirror and smile.“ Is anyone ever ready for Tony’s parties?” You refrain from bringing up that it’ll be your last for a while.

Your best friend shakes her head,“ no never.” She makes you chuckle.

Easily looping her arm around yours, she walks you both out of your now empty room and down the halls to the common room.

With Tony having planned this whole thing, you weren’t sure what to expect but what you find doesn’t surprise you. 

Across the front windows are big golden balloons spelling out “Later Traitor” and you nod, suppressing a laugh. More gold and silver balloons and streamers decorate the place. The table is covered with food and the bar is just barely decorated but still in theme. 

“Ever one for tact mister Stark.” You joke as you approach him. 

His head rises, brown eyes locking with yours,“ I wouldn’t be me if I weren’t honest.” The man hands his drink over to Pepper,“ I’ll need daily reports of your time in NC,” the billionaire says, leaving no room for a rebuttal as he adds,“ and if you need anything at all let me know.” With that he’s pulling you into a hug. 

Admittedly it’s been a long while since you’ve hugged Tony and you missed it. It wasn’t much of a common occurrence but for him to now show his care for you through the action warms your heart. 

Gentle pats to each other's backs make you pull away. You exchange a few words with Pepper who’s as sweet as she’s always been, making you promise to visit often, before hugging and then heading to the bar. 

Much like every party you’d been to here, your eyes are met with the sight of an incredibly familiar redhead. Her hair is down, curls falling over her shoulders in complement to the fitting black dress she sports. 

“Fancy seeing you here.” You instantly tease, leaning against the bartop.

Green eyes land on you, a large amount of restraint used to not let them linger your form,“ I figured if anyone would be serving you drinks tonight it should be me.” Red lips curl into a little smirk.

Head tilting ever so slightly as you smile a bit, you nod,“ than I’ll have the usual miss Romanoff.”

As she makes your drink, you’re approached by a number of people: Rhodey, Carol, Steve, Bucky, etc. Everyone makes mention of seeing you soon, wishing you luck, and promising to not be strangers. You’re hugged more now than you’ve ever been.

A coaster is placed right beside your arm, your usual sat on top in a glass.“ Enjoying all the attention Y/Ln?”

“In every way I’ll allow myself to yes.” You answer cryptically, knowing Natasha understands.

Martini glass raised to her lips, she takes a sip and maintains eye contact,“ if you need to step away feel free to find me,” another smirk,“ or if you need another drink.”

Walking away with her statement lingering in the air, Natasha ensures she doesn’t look back at you.

You chuckle softly, a slight shake of your head your way of accepting her small flirtatious comment. It’s Natasha, you expect nothing less. 

Over the next few hours, surrounded by the people you’ve spent almost half your life with, stories are shared, jokes are told, and more memories are made. By the time you take Natasha up on her offer to step away, your stomach and face hurts from laughing and smiling seemingly too much. 

The redhead eyes you while walking up the stairs,“ you’re not gonna die on me on the way up are you?” She teases about your rapid breaths and slightly flushed face. 

“Are you implying you wouldn’t try to save me?” You quirk a brow.

The so-so tilt of her head makes your jaw drop and she laughs at you,“ you know I’d stop at nothing to ensure your safety Y/n.” 

Her words make you smile softly and you goodnaturedly bump your shoulder against hers,“ ditto Romanoff.” 

Your time on the roof with her is spent in scattered silence. Every so often one of you brings up a memory or some random topic. Reconnecting with her feels really good and it’s a shared sentiment, made known as the two of you turn to head back inside.

“Hey uh,” she reaches out, grabbing your hand and stopping you from walking further,“ I- I’m really going to miss you.” 

Eyes softening, you think nothing of pulling her into a hug. Her arms wrap around your middle and yours take place around her shoulders. For the first time in years, Natsha’s head rests against your chest, ear pressed to your heartbeat. 

“I’m gonna miss you too Tash.” Giving her a good squeeze, you pull back, still holding her shoulders,“ you make sure I get a wedding invite.”

Smiling softly, she nods, and hugs you once more. 

After that things seemed to move faster than you’d wished. You say goodbye to everyone who’d come to see you off, grabbed the things you packed to take with you on your flight, and climbed onto the quinjet. 

Wanda had insisted she be with you until she absolutely had to leave your side, which is why Sam offered to fly. The man now pilots the jet as you sit beside your best friend in the back. 

Her body presses into your side, arms wrapped securely around you as you reciprocate her cuddle. 

“I’m moving, not dying.” You joke lightly even though your emotions match hers exactly.

She sighs and snuggles closer as if that’s possible,“ I know but this is different than before. It’s permanent. No more random sleepovers and throwing popcorn at Bucky during movie nights. I won’t be able to have your breakfast in the morning or be able to train with you just to get distracted halfway through.”

The sigh you now give is just like hers,“ I mean, we’ll still be able to do that stuff, just not as frequently as we used to. I promise I’ll visit often.”

Your promise lingers in the air until you’re flying into National City. The closer the jet gets to the ground the more visible the awaiting black sedan. It pulls a smile to your face when you land and see the gorgeous woman waiting at the front of the car, her gaze clearly locked on the jet. 

As the doors open and the jet sits idly, Sam gets up to help carry your bags and you stay back to have one more moment with Wanda.

“Call me when you guys get back home, kay?” You give the younger woman a pointed look and she nods.“ I told you I’d always be there for you and that won’t change cause I’m moving.”

She nods again,“ I know, I know.” Then pulls you into a tight hug, face buried against your chest like Natasha’s had hours ago.

“I love you Wan.” You whisper against her hair. Wanda replies with the same sentiment and a tight squeeze before stepping away. 

From her you give Sam a quick hug, jokingly telling him not to waste the imbued bullets you’d left for him, and then back step as they climb back into the jet. 

Reaching Lena’s side, the woman wastes no time slipping her hand into yours as you watch the jet take off. 

It’s quiet for a moment, then Lena asks,“ you okay?”

You turn to face her and smile brightly,“ I am yeah.” Stepping closer, you rest your forehead against hers,“ I missed you.”

“I missed you too.” Her voice is just as quiet is yours and she draws closer to kiss you passionately. 

Having her lips against yours after a month sends a swirling feeling straight to your stomach and you sigh into the kiss. 

“Let’s get home shall we?” 

A simple nod later and you’re climbing into the car and pulling away from the private airstrip. The whole drive to Lena’s apartment, you damn near feel the excitement radiating off of her. From the way her hand squeezes yours to the taps of her fingers against the steering wheel and the little smile that seems permanently on her lips. Admittedly it makes you just as excited, seeing how clearly important it is to her that you’re here and moving in just makes your heart flutter. 

Just when you think she can’t get any cuter, the instant you’re in the apartment a brilliant smile is on both your faces.

The usually calm and collected CEO takes you around the place in an adorably giddy mood, showing you all that she’d changed to insure you are comfortable moving in. She’d cleared off spaces on her bookshelves for you, converted one of her guest rooms to a mini lab/office just for you, and what she seemed most excited about, having cleared space in her closet and had a new dresser brought in for your clothes, plus making sure there was room for your things in the master bathroom. 

Her words seemed to escape her faster than the Flash as she walked you through the entire place and showed you everything. You’d spent more time looking at her beautiful face, green eyes lighting up like stars, than you did actually paying attention to the tour of your new home. But you’ll have plenty of time to learn the place so it doesn’t matter.

Your welcome doesn’t stop there either. Once you both have unpacked your essentials, Lena has dinner, the usual takeout, and champagne waiting for you at the table. As you eat and indulge in more than a few glasses, you express your appreciation for all that she’d done and you both share in your excitement about this whole thing.

Laughter and smiles continue as you share about your little quirks and pet peeves when it comes to living with someone. There weren’t many and truthfully most of them were shared so you didn’t think this would end in flames. 

All that excitement leads to pure nervousness as you both realize how tired you are. In the rush of it all, neither of you really gave thought to the fact that you’d be sharing a bed tonight. It seems as though you both try to procrastinate a bit, taking longer than needed to wash the dishes and bring in the last of your bags and having showers that go just a little too long. 

By the time you're both ready, Lena is biting her lip nervously as you stand side by side staring at the large king size bed. 

Silence sits far too long for your liking, resulting in a soft chuckle from you. 

“Can we admit that we’re being a bit childish here?” You ask, looking over at her green orbs. 

Seeing the light in your e/c ones and hearing your teasing tone make her laugh a little,“ yeah I guess we are.”

But when she doesn’t move you figure it’s on you, so furthering the childishness, you jump onto the bed. Bouncing back until you’re resting against the headboard, you pull the covers back and pat the other side of the mattress while looking at Lena.

“Let’s not lose sleep because we’re being awkward.” 

At your words, she shakes her head and climbs into the very space you’d just patted. After you’re both comfortable under the cloud-like comforter, Lena presses a single button on the remote on her side table and the lights go out. 

Another button push has the curtains drawing closed, the room going dark, aside from the slivers of moonlight.

It takes a couple hesitant twists and turns for you to find a position that's just right, only to realize that in a bed beside the woman you love, this position(facing the windows away from her) isn’t at all how you wish to sleep.

With a short inhale, you shift once more, turning around to face Lena who you find staring up at the ceiling. Subconsciously you bite your lip. It’s not lost on you how cliche it is to say that she looks breathtaking in the moonlight but you can’t possibly ignore it.

The white rays sneak through her curtains casting this incredibly angelic glow on to her skin. You’re so lost in her that you don’t even notice when she turns to look at you, that is until you look back up to her eyes and find that green you’ve grown to love staring right back.

“Am I being creepy?” You whisper into the silence inciting a quiet giggle from the woman. 

She shakes her head,“ no you’re not.” Her eyes search your eyes and the cutest little frown and pout covers her face,“ what’s wrong?” Whatever she found made her ask. 

“I don’t know. Nothing’s really wrong it’s just-” You pause to think of what to say and how to say it. Lena’s soft eyes remind you of how honest you can be with her, free of judgment, which leads to you blabbing what’s running through your head.“ I don’t want to make you uncomfortable but I can’t help but want to hold you or your hand at least. And I can’t just roll over and do that cause what if you don’t like to be held or you aren’t ready for-”

Your girlfriend, amidst your rambling, doesn't withhold her smile. She’s seen the confidence you hold while speaking to investors or members of “high ranking society”, she’s seen the incredibly sweet you that’s portrayed in your dealing with her friends and Wanda, and she’s obviously seen the nerdy side of you that could convert alien engine energy into clean reusable energy. 

Each side of you she’d fallen in love with. And now she has the privilege of seeing this, slightly flustered and still partly dorky side, and falling in love all over again. 

Mid rant, Lena scoots closer, runs her gentle fingers up your arm to cup your neck, and kisses you. The soft plump muscles melt against yours making you sigh in pure euphoria. 

“I was talking too much huh?” You ask once having pulled away. 

A chuckle falls against your lips from hers,“ not necessarily. I just found your rambling cute.” Heat rushes to your face at her admission.“ And for the record, I would love it if you held me.”

“Yeah?”

She nods and smiles softly before turning over, grabbing your arm, and lying it over her waist. 

You take her consent and encouragement to scoot closer so as to press against her. Lena sighs happily at the soft warm breaths that fan her neck and wiggles ever closer, not that it’s possible. 

It’s right there with your arms around her body that you wonder why you’d had any doubts to begin with and it’s in your arms that Lena sees how perfect this truly is. 

* * * * * * 

Taglist: @username23345 @depressed-bi-bitch @fayhar @trikruismybitch @marvel-wlw @aznblossom​ @chicken-wang09​ @bitchtits15 @coxmicbabygirl​ @blackluthxr @starlingelliot @vxidnik

[inliar]

timing

word count: 5.3k

jinhwan x reader

you have the uncanny knack of running into kim jinhwan exactly when he needs it. he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t intrigued.

a/n: support ikon on kingdom!

-

the first time you meet him, it’s at your friend’s debut stage. once upon a time, you and your friend, yerin, had been trainees together in a decently small company. but while her skills only grew over time, morphing into something fascinating and breathtaking that deserved to be shown to the world, yours had stagnated. it wasn’t for lack of effort – you had put just as many hours into dance and vocal lessons as the others –  but it was, probably, for lack of passion.

at some point, you had stopped emphasizing with your fellow trainee’s heartfelt speeches on their dreams of debuting, and it was around then that you realized you weren’t meant to be an idol in the same way they were. it was alright, though, because if anyone out of the two of you deserved to debut, it was her. you’d never felt any regret after terminating your short trainee agreement with your label.

but your friendship had never ceased, and you’d kept in regular contact with yerin, as well as the other trainees set to debut in the rookie group. you often took to reminding them to eat their meals, or to take breaks in between lessons, because you’d experienced first-hand how thoroughly unchecked passions can blind a person to their obvious needs. 

finally, their efforts had culminated into a debut, and you wouldn’t miss their first stage for the world. their manager, minseo (who, in a different timeline, might have been your manager as well) was kind enough to let you visit them face-to-face in their waiting room for the music program.

“nervous?” you ask, taking in yerin’s brightly-coloured romper and her bleached, curled, strands of hair. it’s such a far departure from the tracksuits and messy ponytail you’d often seen her sporting during early morning dance practices, but it somehow suits her better than anything else you’d ever seen her wear.

“excited.” she responds instead, with a frightening degree of certainty. it must be nice, you think, to have something you want so desperately and unfalteringly. but watching your best friend get to live out her dreams is almost just as nice.

you nod, feeling the corners of your lips quirk up. “have i ever told you how proud i am of you?” you say, lightheartedly, suppressing the urge to ruffle your hand over her well-styled hair.

“no, but since it’s coming from you, i know you mean it.” she says with such sincerity that you feel an unexpected surge of pride lodge itself into your chest. 

you clear your throat. this won’t do. she hasn’t even performed yet and you’re already turning into a sentimental mess. “i’m going to go get myself something to drink,” you say, excusing yourself. “do you want anything?”

her eyes brighten. “ooh, can i have an orange soda?” she asks, before pausing and turning around. “wait, manager-nim, am i allowed to drink soda before a stage?”

minseo tears her eyes away from her phone and straightens up. “as long as it’s not something that will rapidly stain your teeth, it should be fine. are you thirsty? do you need me to get you something?”

you pipe up. “oh, it’s fine, i can get it. you should stay with the group, unni, you’re the manager.” then, you raise your voice and direct it towards the rest of the girls. “hey, guys, i’m getting yerin a drink from the vending machine. does anyone else want anything?”

“oh, can i have a canned coffee?” you hear one of the members – jiyoung’s – voice ask.

“me too!” hyemin’s voice adds.

“vitamin water, please!” mirae’s voice calls.

you tally the drinks up in your head. two canned coffees, an orange soda, and vitamin water. you hold up an ‘okay’ sign with your hand and nod. jiyoung jokingly salutes in return.

“can i pay you back?” minseo offers, pulling out a credit card that most definitely won’t work on the rickety vending machines you’d seen on your way to the waiting room.

you shake your head dismissively. “it’s just a couple of drinks, and besides, i have a ton of coins i need to get rid of. you can buy me a meal later, yeah?” you offer, and minseo nods. “at this rate, i’ll have to hire you as my assistant.” she jokes, lightheartedly, and you smile. you wouldn’t mind that at all.

you recite the list of drinks to yourself as you make it out of their waiting room and towards the vending machine. two canned coffees, an orange soda, and vitamin water. two canned coffees, an orange soda, and vitamin water. two ca—

thud.

the small sound shakes you out of your mantra and, instinctively, you turn towards the noise. judging by the obvious frustration radiating from the person in front of you and his relative position to the vending machine, you figure he just kicked the poor thing.

“are you alright?” you ask, tentatively, and the person in question turns to face you. 

oh. it’s kim jinhwan. from ikon.

you try your hardest to suppress a smile. yerin loves ikon. she’d be so jealous to know that you ran into one of the members today, and in such an innocuous way at that.

“yes, sorry.” jinhwan offers, looking almost sheepish. “the machine stole my money, and-”

almost on cue, you hear a voice call out in the distance. “hurry up, hyung! you said it’d only take a few minutes!”

jinhwan’s expression instantly sours, and you nod in understanding. “what did you try to get, sunbaenim?” you ask politely, turning towards the machine and scanning its contents.

“just an energy drink. but i guess i’ll be fine without it.” he explains, trying a little too hard to sound lighthearted and unbothered. 

you identify the drink in question and punch in its code. after feeding your coins into the machine, you watch as the suddenly functional appliance pushes the energy drink out of its row and into the bottom of the machine.

squatting, you grab the drink and hold it out. “please, take this.” you offer as you stand up, suddenly noticing how heavily the foundation under his eyes is applied. you inwardly frown. he must really need the boost. “it’s the one you wanted, right?”

he doesn’t take it, instead opting to stare at it instead. “i couldn’t, i don’t have any more change on me right now.” he says, despite eyeing the drink longingly.

“hyung! we have to go!” the voice from before calls out again, insistently. he turns towards the voice before turning back to you, conflicted. you put on what you hope is a reassuring smile before pushing the drink with a little more force into his hands. instinctively, he takes it.

“please don’t worry about it, it’s just a drink. good luck with your stage, sunbaenim!” you cheer, gently. 

he looks at the drink, then looks at you, then glances behind him at what you presume to be his waiting room before looking at you again.

“jinhwan hyung!” the voice demands with an intimidating undercurrent of finality, leaving no more room to stall. you tilt your head towards it meaningfully.

“i.. thank you.” he finally says, tightly, before turning around and running away. satisfied, you turn towards the vending machine. what did your friends ask for? right, two canned coffees, an orange soda, and vitamin water. you punch the drink codes in, methodically inserting all of your loose change you had been trying to get rid of for so long, and add an extra coffee in for minseo for good measure. if she’s going to make good on her dinner promise, and you know she will, she should get a little something in return.

(you would have gotten her something even if you didn't coerce her into buying you food. a part of you thrives at the feeling of taking care of others, and you dimly wonder if that means anything.)

-

the next time you meet him is yet another case of being in the right place at the right time, for lack of a better phrase. 

you’d spent a good portion of your school days active as a trainee. so, when you’d eventually exited the entertainment industry, you were strikingly behind all the other students your age in the cruelly competitive system that was korea’s education system. you were planning on taking a gap year to figure out exactly what you wanted to do with the rest of your life (which was generally frowned upon, as students were expected to naturally know these things), but minseo had saved you from that fate. “since the girls have been getting a little bigger recently, i’ve been given the permission and the budget to hire an assistant manager.” she had explained through a spontaneous phone call, her voice crackling over the receiver as you shifted your cellphone to your other ear. “if i can trust anyone to care for them the way that i do, it’s you.”

“will it be okay?” you had asked, not against the proposition but not wanting to get her in trouble. “i have no managerial experience, and i’m in the same age range as the members. i don’t want the company to come off as unprofessional.”

she had reassured you that you wouldn’t be working on anything that she wouldn’t teach you to do first, and that, as long as you didn’t boast about your age, it would be fine. “i was allowed to write the hiring criteria, and if you just happen to be the perfect candidate, then so be it.” she had said, and you could almost imagine the conspiratorial wink she would have shot in your direction if you were talking face to face.

and so your reentrance to the entertainment industry had begun; except this time, you were on the other, more secluded, side of the stage. you’d be lying if you said you hadn’t considered being a manager before; you’ve always been the type to take care of others, and when minseo had joked about taking you on as an assistant before, a secret part of you had taken it a little too close to heart. but you had never actually expected her words to become a reality.

the job isn’t too hard to pick up. you’re assigned a lot of small yet useful tasks, like calling the salons and confirming hair appointment times, or writing the minutes for meetings about comeback concepts. sometimes, your only role for the day is simply coaxing minseo unni into stopping and taking a lunch break. you’re busy, for sure, but not yet at the juggling-octopus level of the senior manager, who is somehow able to coordinate every other task and responsibility that involves the group simultaneously and all without fail. while you just have to confirm the things she’s already set up, she has to do all the preparation work.  you’ve seen her meticulously arrange and assign each member’s schedules, all the while keeping an eye on album sales and concert venues and security payroll and feedback from their vocal or dance instructors. just by looking at her essay of a to-do list that’s propped up on her desk, you understand why the company gave her the permission to hire an assistant.

the most important responsibility she had given you, however, was to be the first line of contact with the members of the group. “you know them better than i do, so i think you’d do a better job of helping them out. they’re not too fussy, so it shouldn’t be too hard to work with them? just keep an eye on the members, and check on them every now and then. of course, let me know if you need any extra help.” a very harried minseo had told you, while on hold with the videography company who, annoyingly, hadn’t confirmed what time they were coming in tomorrow to film the dance video for the group’s upcoming comeback.

“yes, of course.” you had replied, fully intending to not do just that. you were going to avoid adding any responsibilities to minseo unni’s workload at all costs.

there wasn’t much that you needed to do. occasionally, you needed to get the members drinks or snacks while they were in their waiting rooms before music show performances, or make sure that they checked in with you before they went out anywhere. to help with this, you had gotten into the habit of carrying a backpack with you at all times, fully stocked with the necessities: an assortment of the member’s favourite snacks, an epipen for hyemin’s peanut allergy tucked in a small first aid kit, extra hair elastics, pads and tampons, and various sets of phone chargers. 

“you’re already, like, one of those overprepared asian mothers that carries everything in her massive purse, and you’re barely an adult.” yerin had snickered one day while you reorganized your bag in their dorm.

you had grinned, teasingly pushing her away. “it’s this overprepared asian mother that has your precious pocky at hand, so watch it.” you’d warned, shaking the snack box in the air. 

“don’t shake it!” yerin had yelped, cradling the cookie sticks protectively against her chest. “you’ll break them.”

it was the last week of promotions for the group’s third mini album, and you had just finished supervising the stage hands as they finished setting up the stage. satisfied, you grab your backpack from the chair it was lounging on, thank them for their hard work, and beeline for the exit, wondering if you can run into the girls before they get called down for their pre-stage interview.

“—ust going to have to wait, we don’t have any on hand right now.” you hear a gruff sounding voice say, and subconsciously, you look towards the source of the noise.

just across the hallway from you is what appears to be a very tall manager and a very short idol, judging from the casual apparel the taller is wearing and the shiny, glittery jacket the shorter one has on. the one in the glittery jacket is clutching at his shoulder in obvious discomfort. 

“how long do you think it will take?” the shorter asks, letting go of his shoulder and rolling it back, and you’d recognize that voice anywhere. yerin had recently been studying his stage habits by watching his fancams on repeat, and at this point, his voice was engraved in the back of your mind. it’s jinhwan, again. (“i can’t believe you got to meet jinhwan sunbae before i did,” yerin had pouted when you had told her about your previous encounter. “but why did you call him sunbae? he’s not technically your senior anymore.”

“so i used to be a trainee, and old habits die hard. sue me.” you had defended yourself, protectively, before making a mental note to stop doing that.)

“i’m not sure. i’m not supposed to leave the shooting site, and no one else has answered my calls yet. do you think you’ll be able to do the stage without a patch?” the manager asks.

the idol who you now recognize as jinhwan winces, and you take that as your cue to dig through your bag. after finding what you’re looking for, you take a nervous breath and walk towards the pair.

“hello,” you greet tentatively, bowing. the two of them turn to face you, and politely bow back. you don’t miss the way jinhwan’s face grimaces ever so slightly as he does so.

“i’m really sorry if i’m being invasive, but i happened to hear what was going on.” you start. at that, you offer him the pair of pain-relief patches you were clutching securely with both of your hands. “please, take these.”

the two of them pause, taking a second to read the upside-down text on the packaging. in hindsight, you probably should have held it so the text was facing them. “won’t you need them?” the manager asks, eventually looking back up at you.

you shake your head in denial, eyes wide. “no, no. i always have extras in my bag. besides, the ones my members use most often are the ankle patches, so i won’t miss these.” you explain, taking a short, meaningful glance at jinhwan’s shoulder before pushing the packages into his manager’s hands. 

he takes them. “thank you,” he says, gratefully, and you smile. 

“yes, of course.” you reply, taking another quick glance at jinhwan. he’s staring at you, expression carefully blank, but, upon making eye contact. he bows his head. “thank you,” he says as well, and you pause. there’s something in his tone that sounds off, but you can’t quite pinpoint what it is. 

you don’t have time to stand there and think about it, though, because your group is going to get called down for their interview any minute now. and while you don’t technically have to be there, minseo said that it would be a good idea for you to monitor them. “just so you can get used to your job,” she had said, and you agreed. it would be entirely selfish to back out on that now, just to stand and meaninglessly analyze a person you had no connections with.

“i … have to go now.” you begin, tentatively, ignoring the pressing feeling in the pit of your stomach thats begging you to stay and figure out what feels so wrong. “good luck on your stage, sunb- i mean! jinhwan-ssi, and i hope your shoulder feels better.”

you bow, reflexively, trying your best not to make a weird face out of embarrassment, and jinhwan bows back. “thank you, again.” he reiterates, and you turn to leave.

it’s only after you’re absolutely sure that you’re out of their line of view before you let yourself cringe. sunbae? you tried to call him sunbae? you really, really, need to get out of that habit. what kind of interaction was that?

‘but is he okay?’ a smaller, more insistent, voice in the back of your head asks, and you frown. you don’t know. 

- 

in between your last memorable encounter and the next one, you see him a few times. your group passes by him in a few music programs, you run into their group at a hair appointment, and a few other miscellaneous encounters as such naturally occur. but you never interact. as a manager, it’s not your job to play buddy-buddy with other idol groups, especially if they’re not even in your company. you’ve always done a very good job of staying out of the spotlight, and, as a manager, most people don’t spare you a glance. jinhwan doesn’t even look in your direction.

you’d be lying if you said you weren’t disappointed.

the third time you meet him is not, for once, at a music program. you’re in hapjeong-dong, meaning to visit a friend who’d recently moved into the area. but she’d last-minute changed her housewarming party time to a dinner party instead of a lunch meetup. by the time you’d got the memo, you were already halfway across seoul on the subway. since you hadn’t eaten anything yet, and you no longer had lunch plans, your first stop is at the first ramen shop you see after you exit the terminal.

“i’m afraid we’re a little full at the moment, ma’am, and the only seats available are at the counter. will that be alright?” the hostess asks, smiling warmly.

“yes, that’s great.” you say, and you let her escort you to the counter and hand you a menu. you prop up your purse and your housewarming gift on the chair next to you before taking it, thanking her.

as you’re flipping through the menu, mentally calculating how much more you’ll be able to spend this month, you hear the tinkling of the bell at the front door signalling another customer. a cursory glance around the relatively full counter area lets you know that there’s only one seat left, and you’re hogging it with your bags. you quickly take them off the only available chair and bend down to set them on the ground below your feet.

“... and here you go, sir, i’ll be back with a menu shortly.” the bubbly hostess says, smiling politely at the customer whose face you haven’t seen yet. you straighten up, taking a quick look at the hostess and the customer before turning back to look at your menu. 

“yes, thank you,” the customer says, and you freeze. you must be hearing things. there is no way that you are eating lunch next to kim jinhwan in a random restaurant.

the customer sits down next to you, and you shoot another quick look at the man who is taking off his mask. who is most definitely kim jinhwan. 

do you … do you say anything? idols deserve to eat in peace, so should you pretend not to recognize him? but won’t sitting in a stony, awkward silence as you eat next to each other be even worse? you contemplate burying yourself in your phone for the entire meal, before realizing that you left it in your purse. and there’s no feasible way that you can grab it without having to scoot back your chair, get off the stool to open your bag, and sit back up on it again. 

unfortunately for you, he looks in your direction as you’re gaping at him, panic-struck. the resulting eye contact is unbearably awkward on your end, but he looks at you as if he’s trying to remember who you are.

“pardon me, but are you the one who … with the pain-relief patch?” he asks, gesturing slightly with his hands as he sits dodwn. it’s vague and awkward, and if he did that to anyone else they’d be very confused, but you know exactly what he means.

you blush a little. there’s nothing else you can say now. “yes, uh, i think that was me.” 

“and … the vending machine?” he ventures.

your eyes widen a little at that. that was so many months ago. he still remembers? “the energy drink, right? that was also me. hello, jinhwan-ssi.” you offer, tentatively, bowing your head slightly. at this point, there’s no use pretending you don’t know his name. he bows his head in return.

“may i ask for your name?” jinhwan asks, tentatively.

“oh, ah, i’m ______.” you respond. “it’s nice to meet you, officially.” 

jinhwan nods in agreement, seemingly taking in all the new information for a few seconds. after a short pause, he continues. “do you also work in the entertainment industry?” he asks, slowly. 

“yes, i’m an assistant manager for kyubie, a new girlgroup at AB entertainment,” you introduce yourself. it still feels a little strange to say that title out loud. assistant manager. you’re an assistant manager.

“ah, i see.” jinhwan says, smiling a little as he processes the information, and you politely smile back. a part of you wants to help him carry this conversation out, but the other, more dominant part of you is just as socially awkward as he looks like he feels and is absolutely incapable of doing such a thing.

“you look quite young for a manager,” he offers, as an odd semblance of a compliment, and you take it in stride.

“i get that a lot! i actually used to be a trainee at AB, but i ended up becoming a manager inst!—ead …” you start, mouth running itself as it struggles to fill the awkward silence, before you register what you just said. 

“i, uh, i wasn’t supposed to say that.” you mutter, loudly enough so its audible but quietly enough to express your regret.

jinhwan, for what it’s worth, only looks placidly amused. “don’t worry, i won’t say a word,” he assures you. he doesn’t ask for any more details or for an elaboration on why it would be a secret. you’re grateful for that.

“thank you,” you say, trying not to let the relief show itself too heavily in your tone. if he notices it, he doesn’t say a word.

“i should be thanking you. for the drink and for the pain-relief patches, before. i don’t think i could have done my stage without either.” he assures you, kindly. “i didn’t get to thank you properly before.”

you shake your head in denial. “no, no, don’t worry about it. i get what it’s like to always be running low on time. and you did say thank you! i didn’t feel underappreciated, or ignored, or anything like that.” you explain, letting out your first real smile since the beginning of the conversation. 

(you miss the way his eyes linger on it for a beat too long.)

“i’m glad that you think that, then,” jinhwan says, faintly, as the hostess comes back with his menu that he barely even scans before ordering. you, too, order, ignoring the meaningful glances she’s throwing at the two of you. that’s a misunderstanding that can be resolved in the unlikely chance it becomes an issue.

“so,” jinhwan starts, “tell me about your group.”

and you’re gone.

conversation flows surprisingly easily once the two of you find your common ground. as a manager and as a friend, you have a lot to tell him about your members and how they act. “one of them, my friend, actually, she’s a really big fan of yours.” you mention, offhandedly. you’ve gone long past the point where you’re trying to filter yourself. 

“is that so?” he asks, calmly, and you grin.

“yeah. she was really jealous when i told her that i met you before,” you laugh, “and she’ll probably be a little bit jealous that i met you again today.”

“what about you?” he asks, and then looks a little bit startled. almost as if he hadn’t meant to say that out loud.

“i’m sorry?” you ask, despite knowing perfectly well what he’d meant to say. you do your best to not blush.

jinhwan, having seemingly decided to just go with it, smiles. “are you a fan of mine, too?” he asks, and oh, your cheeks are not supposed to feel this hot.

“i, uh—” you flounder, trying to think of a way to answer this professionally, before a strangely brave crevice of your mind tells you to be honest.

“before? i don’t know. but now? probably.” you admit, which is good enough for jinhwan.

he doesn’t push it (probably because you looked like a tomato just then and he wants to save your blood pressure), and instead steers the conversation back to your life as a manager and his funny anecdotes in the entertainment industry. for someone who is so soft spoken and looked so thoroughly awkward when you first met, he tries incredibly hard to keep the conversation flowing and comfortable. you’re half in awe at his easy going nature.

you eat slowly once you get your food, selfishly wanting the conversation to last longer, but eventually there are no more noodles left in your plate and half of the lunchtime rush has already cleared out. jinhwan excuses himself to pay, asking you to watch his jacket, and you grab your purse and your housewarming gift from the floor while you wait. your phone tells you that it’s been nearly two hours since you entered the restaurant, and you must have suddenly forgotten how to read time, because there’s no possible way you had spent that long talking with jinhwan.

he eventually comes back. he puts his mask on and grabs his jacket from the back of his chair, and you take that as your cue to head to the payment counter. “i’m here to pay for my order,” you say, pulling out your wallet, and the checkout man shakes his head. 

“you’re already paid for,” he explains, and you frown. “pardon me?” you ask, unsure if you heard him right.

“the gentleman who sat next to you has already paid for your meal,” he clarifies, and you stand there for a moment.

“are— are you sure?” you ask, confusedly. the checkout man nods. “here’s the purchase receipt if you want to be sure.”

the sound of the front door bell tinkling draws your attention, and you turn to see jinhwan’s figure leave the shop. “thank you!” you exclaim hurriedly to the counter, mindlessly stuffing the receipt in your left pocket before booking it out of there.

by the time you get to the outside of the shop, jinhwan is a good ten meters away. “jinh—!” you start, and then stop. yelling an idol’s name in public is most definitely not a good idea. 

you’ve never been the most active, but you run after him anyway. thankfully, he’s not making an effort to run away from you, because you wouldn’t be able to catch up with him then. 

eventually, you catch up with him as he’s waiting for a pedestrian walkway to turn green. “jinhwan-ssi!” you call, furtively, and the man in question turns around to face you.

" ______.” he says, curiously. “what are you doing here?”

“you paid for my meal.” you state, and he looks at you like it’s obvious. 

“yes, i did.” he says, frowning a little. the pedestrian walkway turns green. he doesn’t make any effort to move.

“can i pay you back?” you ask, hand instinctively going towards your wallet in your right pocket.

he laughs a little at that. “why would you pay me back? this is my thank you for the favours you did for me.”

“you don’t have to pay me back! i did those things because i could. besides, a vending machine drink and a pain-relief patch costs much less than a meal.” you argue.

“then, consider it like i’m doing this because i can.” he counters, and its very hard to object to your own logic.

“can i at least buy you coffee or something as thanks?” you ask, as the pedestrian walkway turns red once more. 

at this, jinhwan pauses, before he sighs. “i have vocal practice in half an hour, so i can’t right now. but—” he continues, seeing the look of disappointment you already knew was on your face, “did you get the receipt from the checkout guy?”

“the what?” you ask, confused.

his face pales. “oh no, did you not take it?” he asks, suddenly looking scared, and you remember mindlessly snatching the receipt from the checkout man’s hands. you clumsily pat through your pockets a little before pulling a slip of paper out from your left pocket. “no, i have it,” you say, holding it up, “but why?”

jinhwan sighs. “turn it over,” he says, and you do.

in pen, a phone number is scribbled over the back of the receipt. “jinhwan,” it says in neatly printed letters next to it, and you fight back the urge to smile. you probably do a terrible job of it, too.

“text me when you’re free, and we can do coffee sometime, yeah?” jinhwan offers. you can’t see his face well because of his mask, but the tips of his ears are red. it’s stupidly endearing.

“i will,” you promise, because how could you say no to that?

the walkway light turns green once again. jinhwan waves as he crosses the street, and you wave as you stay behind. its only after you’re absolutely, positively sure that he’s out of sight that you let yourself grin, burying your too-hot face into your hands. 

if you just played your cards right, you have a date with kim jinhwan.

-

(you text him the very same day, and make plans for coffee the next week.

you treat him to crepe cakes and lattes, and he pouts, claiming that the crepes were too much and now he just has to take you out to make up for it.

before you can tell him that no, it’s fine, it’s your treat, he has movie tickets for two booked and emailed to your account.

you agree to go, but only if you get to buy the popcorn.)

[firebrands]

Naaaaaadine! Please do Evil Exes for Bingo!

!!!!!!!!!!! I FINALLY DID IT

bad blood, T, 2.7k | stony bingo prompt fill “evil exes” | on ao3

Pepper chokes on her iced coffee when a tall, blond, beautiful man strides up to Tony and envelopes him in a hug.

“It’s been too long, Tony,” he says.

Tony has colored considerably, and looks a little disgruntled. Pepper tries to be as subtle as possible when she elbows him, waiting for an introduction.

“Pep, this is Steve. Steve, Pepper.”

Pepper composes herself and shakes Steve’s hand. This was Steve Rogers? The worst man Tony had ever met? Impossible. Steve Rogers was a common enough name, she thought. Tony must have meant someone else.

“Nice to meet you,” Steve says, grinning. “So what brings you to the gallery?”

Pepper blinks, still reeling from the introduction. “I told Tony that there was a new artist displaying his work,” she says. “And I guess… you’re him?”

Steve laughs. “Really?” He turns to Tony. “I’m so glad you came, Tony. I’ve missed you.”

Tony looks up from his phone, doing his best impression to look disinterested. “Pepper didn’t leave me much choice,” he says, which isn’t actually a lie. Pepper had pulled the best friend card and offered to pay for lunch, and Tony had only agreed when she had promised to stand up and protect him from his ex, whose art was being displayed.

Pepper takes a sip of her coffee as Steve tries to engage Tony in conversation. Tony had used words like awful, horrible, terrible when he had explained why he didn’t want to go. Worst of all, he’d never told Pepper (or Rhodey, or anyone) why they’d broken up. When Pepper had tried digging, Rhodey didn’t have any answers for her. Back in college, he said, they were the picture of a perfect couple. Then… they weren’t. Tony didn’t talk about it. Ever. Something about this was fishy, and Pepper was going to get to the bottom of it.

“How long are you in town for?” Pepper asks, smiling at Steve despite Tony very obviously stepping on her shoe.

“Just two weeks,” Steve says, still smiling and looking absolutely charming. “I have another exhibit in a different gallery, and I might hold a quick workshop.”

“That’s lovely,” Pepper says, sliding her toes from under Tony’s. “Maybe we can all grab dinner, if your schedule isn’t too full.”

Pepper doesn’t need to look at Tony to know that he’s frowning at her; she can feel his irritation come off in waves.

“Or not,” Tony says.

“I’ll make time,” Steve says. “But for now, I have to go—my curator’s been waving at me for the past minute and I don’t want to piss him off any more than I have.”

Pepper nods and smiles. “It was really nice meeting you, Steve.”

“You too! And it was great bumping into you, Tony.”

“Yup.”

“Well, here’s my card. Just let me know when and I’ll be there.”

“I will!”

“Or not!” And at that, Tony stomps away.

***

“Okay, tell me what happened,” Rhodey says, sighing as he sits down on Tony’s couch.

Tony’s pacing around the room, looking close to tearing out his hair, and Pepper is perched on the armrest beside Rhodey, sipping on a cup of tea.

“She—” Tony whirls around and points at Pepper. “Asked my ex to dinner.”

“He’s just so nice, Tony! I want to get to know him,” Pepper says. She has the good sense to look chastened, but Rhodey wonders how much of it is sincere.

“Whose side are you on, anyway!” Tony whirls around and points at Pepper as he speaks. “And you!” He turns to look at Rhodey.

Rhodey holds his hands up—a practiced gesture, as he’s used to these outbursts from either of them.

Pepper sighs. “It’d help if we just knew why you broke up, honestly.”

“Why does it matter?” Tony asks, deflating all of the sudden and sinking down to sit beside Rhodey. “Why can’t you just believe me?”

Rhodey slings an arm over Tony’s shoulders. “It’s not that, and you know it,” he says. “We’ve always got your back.”

Pepper sets her cup aside and wedges herself beside Tony. “I’m sorry,” she says, hugging Tony and kissing his cheek. “I was just curious.”

Tony nods, still looking a bit put out.

“It’s been five years, Tones,” Rhodey says, rubbing his shoulder. “Guess we figured you’d be over it.”

“Yeah. He just doesn’t seem all that bad.” Pepper rests her head on Tony’s shoulder, and Rhodey playfully tugs on her ponytail after she speaks. Don’t bring it back there. She disregards him and continues. “What did he do, anyway?”

Tony rolls his eyes and groans before burying his face in his hands. “Exist,” he says, voice muffled by his palms.

“Hey man, if you really don’t want to go we won’t force you,” Rhodey says, gently pulling Tony back up. He gives Pepper a warning look over Tony’s head.

“I know.” Tony sighs.

Pepper purses her lips, trying to hide a smile. “So do you want to?” She asks, before pulling Tony into another hug.

“Shut up,” Tony whines, half-heartedly trying to get out of her grip. After a short tussle, Tony rights himself up and scoots closer to Rhodey. She looks close to pulling him back into a hug, but her phone beeps.

“Dammit, that’s me.” Pepper dusts herself off. “See you tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” Rhodey says. Pepper leans down and kisses them each on the cheek before leaving.

Tony sighs. “That woman.”

“We just don’t understand,” Rhodey says, fiddling with one of the buttons on the couch. “But you don’t need to explain if you don’t want to.”

“Yeah, well,” he says, draping himself over Rhodey. “I don’t either.”

Rhodey pets Tony’s hair and makes a small, inquisitive sound.

“Just.” Tony sighs again, long and deep. “Who gave him the right, you know?”

“Huh?”

“To look so good,” Tony murmurs.

Rhodey lets out a small laugh. “Well, Tones, you don’t look so bad yourself. At least, most of the time.”

Tony flips over and glares at Rhodey. “I resent that. I am the picture of perfection at all times.”

Rhodey nods sagely, and smooths down Tony’s hair. “Yes, always. My apologies.”

Rhodey tips his head back and stares at the ceiling, and he’s about to fall asleep when he hears Tony whisper, “I don’t trust myself around him.”

“Why?” Rhodey sits up and looks down at Tony. “What do you mean?”

“I just can’t, okay?” Tony covers his face with his hands again. “I can’t.”

Rhodey shifts and moves Tony to sit up so he can look at him properly. “You know, even back then he never seemed like a bad guy,” he says, trying to catch Tony’s gaze. He tilts Tony’s chin up and looks at him sternly. “But I swear to god if he hurt you—”

“No.” Tony ducks his chin and looks away. “That’s not it.”

“What?”

“I really don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

“Okay.” Rhodey leans back and pats his lap, and Tony lies back down. “But promise me that if he did hurt you, you’ll let me punch him.”

Tony laughs softly and closes his eyes. “Yes, I will, honeybear. Now it’s nap time.”

Rhodey sighs, settles in, and wonders what on earth Steve could have done all those years ago that Tony’s still affected.

***

Natasha knows that she has this power over people that make them spill their secrets. She uses it wisely, most of the time.

Tony slides into the booth with their drinks and says, “Please do not ask me about what happened with Pepper yesterday.”

Natasha takes a sip of her drink. “Okay.” Of course, Pepper had already filled her in over what had happened, but Natasha respected Tony’s boundaries and didn’t want to pry—it was unbecoming.

They’re silent for a moment, and Natasha’s just about to bite into the olive of her martini when Tony sighs very loudly and snaps.

“I just don’t understand why she’d ask him to dinner!”

Natasha chews, swallows, and dabs her lips with a tissue. “Who?”

“Steve!”

“Who is Steve?”

“My ex!”

“And we hate him, yes?”

“Yes, Nat, he is the fucking worst okay and we bumped into him at an exhibit and Pepper made googly eyes at him and said we should all catch up over dinner.” Tony takes a deep breath after his tirade, then deflates. He sips on his whisky sullenly.

“Did she really?” Natasha asks, leaning over the table. “Where are you going?”

“No she didn’t,” Tony mumbles. “I mean, I don’t know, she has his card or whatever, but it’s the principle of the thing.”

Natasha nods. “I agree. Especially after what he did.”

Tony looks up with a start. “You know what he did?”

“Well, no. But it must have been awful for you to still be so salty about it.”

Tony huffs. “Yeah.”

Natasha sips her drink and pops another olive into her mouth. Yes, she was curious, but she knew better than to push; Tony was more hyper-verbal than usual tonight, and she always liked being people’s sounding board.

“Well—” she starts.

“I can’t believe—”

They both stop, and Natasha laughs. “You can’t believe…?”

Tony sighs again, and downs his drink. “He asked me to marry him, it was awful, and I hate him.”

It’s a good thing Natasha decided against taking a sip, else she would have choked on it.

“What?”

Then Rhodey and Pepper arrive and Rhodey offers to buy a round and Natasha stares at Tony as he and Pepper talk about what to get for dinner.

***

Tony had gotten home so late last night that he still feels a little drunk when he wakes up. He downs a glass of water and crawls into the shower, the world still spinning when he steps out, and digs around his closet. He curses himself for forgetting to have his laundry done, and reaches into the recesses of the cabinet in the hopes of something decent to wear.

His fingers catch on something, and he pulls it out with a sigh of relief—only to yelp and drop the shirt when he sees it.

He stares at the hoodie on the floor, faded a little in the collar and at the cuffs, from how often he’d tug them. Tony squats down and picks it up, his heart clenching as memories come unbidden.

Even if he’s all alone, he can’t say why he hasn’t thrown out Steve’s favorite jacket. It didn’t even fit him properly, and stopped smelling like Steve years ago. He does remember—quite shamefully—that it’s the one thing of Steve’s he didn’t give back. After what had happened he’d packed up everything that reminded him of Steve and given it to him, except this.

And Steve, ever the considerate, kind, loving man that he was, never asked.

He remembers when Steve first leant it to him, months into their relationship. They’d gone out for a walk, and despite Tony’s own jacket he was shivering. The leaves had turned gold and red, and the breeze brought the reminder that winter was on its way.

Steve had slipped it off and given it to Tony, and after a token protest, Tony had put it on. He’ll never forget how brightly Steve smiled at him then—not that he ever wanted to.

The memory leaves a sour taste in Tony’s mouth. Even now, after all these years, he can’t fathom why he reacted the way he did. They’d talked about the future often enough, daydreamed about living together, about moving back to New York and starting a life.

They were good together. Great, even, now that Tony has had a fair share of relationships to be able to compare. Still, the years he spent with Steve were some of the happiest in his life, but the way they ended only served as proof that maybe the best things weren’t meant to last.

Tony sits down on the bed, still holding the hoodie. He was wearing it that day that Steve had upended everything.

He had just finished his dissertation defense, and Steve had invited him over for the weekend to celebrate. Steve had prepared a picnic for lunch, and the spring air was cool as they lazed on the blanket and ate sandwiches.

Tony remembers lying down and staring up at the trees, blinking as the sun peeked through the leaves.

“This is literally the happiest I’ve ever felt in my life,” he said.

“More than all the other times you’ve said that?” Steve teased, lying down beside him but propping himself up on his elbow so he could look at Tony.

Tony turned to him and smiled. “Yeah, definitely.” He pushed himself up a little and kissed Steve, his heart feeling so full it could burst.

“I love you,” he said.

Steve brushed Tony’s hair away from his face, smiling dopily at him. “Marry me,” he said.

Tony jumped up so quickly he ruined the artful arrangement of food in front of them.

“What?”

Steve sat up and looked just as panicked as Tony felt.

Then Tony ran.

 Tony sighs, fiddling with the cuffs of the jacket. “God,” he says, and feels his voice echo around his apartment. The hours that followed Steve’s proposal were some of the worst in Tony’s memory, and he decides to make himself some food to get his mind off it.

Rhodey arrives a little before lunch, and looks surprised to see Tony awake.

“Well, that’s a look,” he says, setting down two cups of coffee.

“Thanks,” Tony says. He’s been in a dour mood since he’d stumbled upon Steve’s jacket. What’s worse is that he didn’t have anything else to wear, and he felt a little unhinged by virtue of his outfit: Steve’s hoodie and a pair of very old jorts, fraying at the hem.

“You making lunch for two?”

“Guess I am now.”

Rhodey stands beside him and watches as Tony sullenly pokes his omelet.

“We gonna talk about—”

“I had nothing else to wear, okay.”

“Okay.”

They’re silent for a moment, and Rhodey leaves to set the table.

“I guess Nat told you,” Tony says.

Rhodey freezes, the dinner plate in his hand hovering just above the table.

“I know it’s dumb.” Tony sighs and brings the dishes over. “At this point it’s just embarrassing.”

“Frankly, Tones, I’m surprised you even know the meaning of the word.”

Tony swats Rhodey on the back of the head. “You’re welcome for lunch, asshole.”

Rhodey laughs, and for a while they’re quiet as they eat.

“So why’s it embarrassing?”

Tony frowns. “Are you asking because you don’t know, or because you want to psychoanalyze me?”

“Ugh, please. I’m not Natasha.”

This shocks a laugh out of him. “Okay, fine.” Tony takes another moment to gather his thoughts, scattered as they are. “I just kept saying he was awful because it was easier that way. I never wanted you to know why because well, it’s dumb and I know you liked us together.”

Rhodey levels him with a look. “I don’t care who you’re with, Tony. I don’t think anyone’s ever going to be good enough for you. But you were happy, so I was happy. Simple as that.”

Tony bites down on his lip, which feels dangerously close to wobbling. “Rhodey, you are honestly my favorite person in the whole world.”

“Well, don’t let Pep hear you say that,” Rhodey says, laughing a little.

They don’t talk anymore about Steve after that, instead recount the shenanigans they’d gotten into the night before. Rhodey leaves after helping clean after lunch, and before Tony realizes it, he’s alone again.

Under the carrying tray of the coffee Rhodey had bought is a slip of paper, and Tony picks it up. It’s Steve’s card.

Tony sighs. A few days ago, when they’d bumped into Steve, he’d felt a shame so deep that he couldn’t even face him. But Steve had looked so earnest and sincere, like there was no bad blood between them. If Tony’s being honest, it’s not like there ever was any, anyway—it was just easier to paint Steve as the bad guy rather than ever admit that maybe Tony was wrong. After all, he’d never met anyone quite like him, never met anyone who understood him the way Steve did.

Tony bit his lip and pulled out his phone. He typed in the number on the card and held his breath.

Maybe they could just try and be friends. Like Rhodey said, it’s been five years. Besides, he’s probably married already anyway, or at least dating someone; it’s unfathomable that no one would snap him up.

The line rings, and the automated trill is cut when it’s picked up.

“Hello?”

“Hey Steve, it’s Tony. You free tonight?”

---

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[ppangjae]

e2l!au + “try to read my mind” + johnny :’) ty and have a lovely day/night!! ps. this is like my third request now 👀 i hope you don’t mind 🙈

author’s note. omg a johnny request! also, let me just say that i’ve gotten 30 requests in one day and i am just mindblown! yall really love the prompt drabble game sm :’) maybe opening it up again was a good idea after all!

this is a request from a prompt drabble game i opened! the game will only be open until Sunday, August 2nd, 2020, 9:00 PM est! if you’re interested in sending a request, send it here!

There are two things you should never associate each other with, and that is enemies and love. It’s a combination doomed for failure. But to Johnny, it’s the perfect combination. 

Johnny’s always had a soft spot when it came to you and he never dared to show it. He would always act the complete opposite of how he felt towards you because it was just... how he is. But he sure dug up a hole for himself because ever since he’s been like this towards you, you’ve grown to hate him.

“Johnny has the biggest ass on the team.”

You scoff, shoving in another earphone into your ear to drown out Jungwoo’s voice. The two of you decided to eat lunch out on the campus field. It’s a beautiful day, Jungwoo had simply mused. But it’s a shame that a beautiful day to eat lunch outside is ruined by the baseball team’s practice. 

They’re scattered all over half of the campus field. You assume that Jungwoo meant that it’s a beautiful day to sit outside and watch the university’s baseball team practice and not a beautiful day to sit outside and have lunch. 

An earphone is tugged away from your ear. You’re close to scolding Jungwoo but he raises a hand. “It’s a shame that Jaehyun’s ass is flat.”

“Are we here to eat lunch or talk about plump butts?” You frown.

Jungwoo shrugs his shoulders. “We can do both.”

“I’m not interested,” you mutter, ready to put your earphone back into your ear until you hear someone call out your name. It’s a voice that can never be mistaken. You let out a frustrating sigh, lying your back against the grass.

A couple of seconds later, the sun that hits your skin is blocked by a tall guy. He’s looking down at you with a shit-eating grin. You roll your eyes, shooing him away but he barely moves an inch.

“Nice seeing you here, Y/N.”

“I’m not in the mood to play your stupid games, Johnny.” You scowl.

“Come on, I’m just trying to talk.” He frowns.

“Are we not talking right now?” You test him. “What do you want this time? Do you want my daily suffering? Homework? Notes? Name it.”

He squats down and you could see his muscular thighs that are so close to ripping his baseball uniform. You gulp nervously, trying to avoid his gaze. He’s looking down at you with a sincere gaze and you can’t help but wonder if it’s truly sincere or just his usual antics.

“What do I want this time?” He asks himself. You. I want you. 

You mutter a curse under your breath and Jungwoo can’t help but look at the interaction with amusement. 

“Try to read my mind.” Johnny shrugs his shoulders, grinning at you. He sends you a wink before heading back to practice with his team. “I’m sure you could figure out what I want!” 

All of his teammates—including Jungwoo—start hollering and whistling at Johnny.

[yejixan]

summary : : ye-jin sees his mother for the first time in over ten years. she apologizes, ye-jin forgives her. hyeri feels a bit better, ye-jin feels empty on the inside. content warning for AWKWARD DIALOGUE WITH KASHIA OH MY GOD. 

This was, well, awkward. Extremely awkward.

Freya had finally left, telling Ye-Jin that she’ll meet up with them later and telling Hyeri that it was nice to meet her. Honestly, a part of them wished that the other had stayed, to help with the tense atmosphere caused by the two. Maybe it’s for the best, they thought to themself, gently picking up their cup of tea and sipping from it. I need to do this on my own. I have to.

“Ye-Jin.” They looked up, instantly meeting her eyes. It was both strange and relieving, a part of them thought she wouldn’t look at them. The last time she did, Hyeri held nothing but fear and disgust in her deep, brown eyes. Now, her eyes held shame and regret. Good, they thought to themself, she should feel ashamed and regretful. Sinister and dark words, things that will stay in their head. Because they didn’t have the courage to speak them into existence. “You’ve grown so much. What a handsome boy you turned out to be.”

A half-assed smile slipped onto their face, fighting the urge to sink into their seat or to slide away. “Thank you,” Ye-Jin said. “Luckily for me, I look more like you than Zeus.”

“Zeus. Your father.” Her words were strained and curt. The word “father” sounded so odd and foreign leaving her lips, or maybe it was just Ye-Jin hating the fact that she referred to the God like that. Zeus was more of a sperm donor than anything else. “Have you met him?”

“No,” they answered. “None of us have met the Gods.” He hoped that it would remain that way too.

“Oh.”

Silence fell over them. Hyeri holding tight onto her drink and Ye-Jin looking up at the sky. He wondered what the others were doing. He thought of Grace and Vera, imagining his sister’s enjoying the day with their parents. A perfect family they were, more perfect than whatever he had with Hyeri. He even thought about Alessio, wondering whatever that idiot was up to. Probably terrorizing some poor person, rip. Better them than Ye-Jin. Hell, he even thought about--

“The woman from earlier-- Freya, is it? She’s your… friend?”

He doesn’t look at her for a second, using that moment of silence to figure out if that was the proper way to describe the other. He couldn’t tell his mother that the two of them were enemies with benefits, she would probably lose her mind. Also, Hyeri didn’t need to know that part about him. They weren’t close like that. “Yeah, she’s my friend,” Ye-Jin said, just settling with the safest description, even if it was a lie. “She’s one of my many friends here.” Another lie.

While it was a lie, Hyeri didn’t need to know that. Not when she was slowly beginning to smile. “That’s good,” she said. “I was-- I was worried. That you were lonely here. You didn’t have a lot of friends when you were younger.”

Lips were sealed shut, the demi-god unable to tell his mother that it was because of her that they didn’t have any. Because Ye-Jin had to be the adult and take care of the house and make sure she was okay. No time to hang out with the other children or to go to the park. Their duties as a child consisted of doing homework, completing the shopping for food, and making sure the house was clean. “I didn’t like the kids at my school, they were a bunch of jerks.”

A lie after lie, just to make her feel better. They wondered if Hyeri was able to pick up on this, hoping that she would see through their façade, to prove that she was their mother. That she knew them better than anyone else. But they were met with more silence, more awkward and heavy silence. How did a woman who used to smile so brightly and laugh with such glee lose that spark? Now she was replaced with someone older, a shell of a former self. Was this their fault? No, no, it wasn’t their fault. They couldn’t take the fault for something like that.

That camping trip was not Ye-Jin’s fault, they had to understand that.

Their right hand fell on their knee, cupping it gently. There was pain, it was hurting just like that day. Exactly like that day, as if they were losing their leg for the first time. Not good, not good at all. They needed to leave, go to their apartment, their office, anywhere but here. “Mom, maybe we should--”

“I’m sorry.”

Ye-Jin’s words fell short, the pain and anxiety put on pause, all focusing on Hyeri. Focusing on the pain in her eyes, the tears that were falling, the determination that she held. “I’m sorry, Ye-Jin. I’m sorry for everything. For being a terrible mother, for pushing you to grow up, for leaving, for blaming you.” Her words started off soft before building in volume and confidence. “I should’ve been there for you. I should’ve stayed by your side. Because you were hurting, you were hurting more than me that day. But I pushed you away because I’m selfish and inconsiderate. Ye-Jin--” She stood to her feet, stepping over to the side before she bowed. “I’m sorry and I hope that one day you can forgive me.”

They were speechless. Jaw tight and heart racing. Just a few people were watching them, confused by what was happening, why the older woman was bowing, why Ye-Jin wasn’t telling her to stop. And they should, they wanted to tell her to stop but at the same time… they wanted her to continue bowing. For her to realize how she fucked up, for her to prove that she was sincerely sorry. They wanted to be selfish, they wanted--

“Mom.” They were standing too, their feet moving without them realizing and hand falling onto the woman’s shoulder. “Come on, stand up. It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay--”

“It’s okay, I--” A deep inhale, Ye-Jin squatting to hopefully meet her eyes. And when they did, they could see the tears that were falling like raindrops. “I’m not angry, not with you. Not anymore at least.” They were years ago when Hyeri pushed them away and they were alone. But after a while, the anger shifted into deep sadness before smoldering all together. “We were both hurt and were trying to handle that pain in our own ways.” She sniffled, Ye-Jin felt the tears well in their eyes. No, they couldn’t cry. Not here, not now. “You pushed me away and that… that hurt. So much. I needed you back then, no one else. I needed you, my mother.

“But I’m not angry nor do I hold a grudge against you. Why would I? You were hurting too, not just me.” A beat, as they attempted to smile. “It’s okay, mom, you don’t have to apologize to me anymore.”

They were both silent. Hyeri who was squatting with her arm covering her eyes and Ye-Jin who held onto her free hand. It felt as though they traveled back into the past. To a time Hyeri was crying after a long day of work, of people who looked down at her and disrespectful customers. To a time Ye-Jin, so small and so gentle, took her hand into his and said ‘ it’s okay, mommy! ye-jin will take care of you! ‘. Back when life was simple and they were close. So, so, close.

And maybe they were close again, just for a few minutes. As if their bond had never been broken. As if things were normal again.

Minutes went by before Hyeri finally stood to her feet, though her hand still held on firmly to Ye-Jin’s. Her eyes were puffy and cheeks flushed, Ye-Jin was sure that their face would look like hers later on. “Come on,” they said. “Let’s look around. I’m sure you’re curious to see everything too.”

“Okay.” A beat. “Ye-Jin?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you,” she said. “For not hating me.”

He smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Yeah,” he said. “And thank you for coming to visit me. I… I’m glad that you’re here.”

[hustlinhufflepuff]

I’ll Remember

Draco x Hufflepuff Reader 

A/N: Reader shares dorm with a girl but other than that it is pretty gender neutral... I think. Crazy how I struggled to write a 1500 word paper but wrote this fic while procrastinating. Kind of fluff, kind of angsty at the beginning. 

Description: You’re a brave Hufflepuff who has had to stand up to Draco Malfoy for the entirety of your time at Hogwarts. You decide to face the problem head on and... befriend him? Draco quickly warms up to the idea of becoming friends, and eventually crushes on reader.

Word Count:  4657

The Hufflepuff House is extremely underrated. We’re made fun of and thought of being not smart enough for Ravenclaw or not brave enough for Gryffindor or not as aspiring as Syltherins. All completely wrong. Hufflepuffs are also expected to be nice all of the time and never defend themselves, but Hufflepuffs will defend themselves and others. As a hufflepuff yourself, you’ve had to defend others from Draco Malfoy. You could see straight through his facade, he wasn’t a mean bully, just a misunderstood kid who was forced to grow up too fast.

Hufflepuffs and Slytherins shared Care of Magical Creatures together. “This right ‘ere is a niffler. Careful wit the fellers, they like ‘old and will take it from ye” Hagrid explains showing the cute thief off. 

“Is that why you’re able to take care of it? You have nothing valuable you oaf, you’re the perfect caretaker” Draco scoffs as the Slytherins erupt into laughter. You could see Hagrid was hurt by the comment and the laughter that ensued. “Actually, he’s the perfect caretaker because he’s actually an empathetic person and not an absolute twat!” you yell from the opposite end of the group. The entire class began whispering and murmuring, taken aback from the bold rebuttal. “Oh? Look it’s the little wanna be Gryffindor, y/ln” Draco began walking towards you. He looked you straight in the eyes and his face was no farther than an inch away. You could feel his hot minty breath on your face as he began speaking again “still feeling brave y/l/n?” You furrow your eyebrows and look down and see a niffler going into Draco’s robes. You can't help but laugh. “Something funny, is it?” he says aggressively. “Yep,” you say squatting down and picking up the niffler. “I believe this is yours Malfoy'' you dangle his replica of a golden snitch he keeps for good luck. He snatches it out of your hand and struts back to his friends. 

You hand the niffler back to Hagrid, “thanks fer that y/n, fer all of that” you smile and nod and go back to your place surrounded by your classmates who were impressed by your bravery. Class continued and you wrote your notes down in your notebook, you sketch out the niffler and decide to make it hold the snitch in your drawing. You feel a set of eyes staring at you. You raise your head and look around and realize it’s Draco staring at you, clearly upset at you. You give him a friendly smile as to which he rolls his eyes and looks away. 

For the rest of the week, you would find Draco staring at you everytime you were in the same room. At the start of the new week, you got tired of him staring and decided to confront him. You didn’t want to do it publically so you could have an actual conversation. You ask Professor Sprout to ask Draco to stay behind after class, this was the only way you could figure out to get him by himself. 

“Mr. Malfoy, please stay after class” Professor Sprout asked as the class got up to leave. “I’ll see you at dinner,” Draco tells Crabbe and Goyle. You stayed behind as well. “Mrs. y/l/n would like to talk to you privately Mr. Malfoy '' Professor Sprout informed him once you three were the only ones there. Draco scoffed as he looked back at you “Are you joking? You’re wasting my time, I’m leaving” Draco said heading towards the door. “Draco, please!” you plead and to your surprise he turns back around. “You never stop, do you y/n?” he walks closer to you and Professor Sprout takes it as her cue to leave and give you two privacy. 

“Don’t stop what?” you ask genuinely confused. “That! Constantly talking back to me!” he points at you, his finger in your face. “Look Draco, I’m not scared or intimidated by you because —“ Draco crosses his arms “because what?” he scoffs. “Because I know you’re just acting tough Draco”. you lay your hand on his shoulder. He quickly grabs your wrist tightly, “You don’t know anything about me y/l/n”.

He’s staring into your eyes intensely, you ignore commenting on the death grip he has on your hand. “That’s because you don’t let anyone get close to you” you continue staring back at him. “Because no one wants to and I don’t blame them” he lets go of your wrist leaving a red mark where he wrapped his hand around. “I want to,” you say. “Why? So you can use everything you learn about me and humiliate me?” he scoffs. “No. I want to because I want to see if I’m right that everyone is inherently a good person.” you say. “Fine. We can talk occasionally, don’t expect to form an actual friendship or an acquaintanceship for that matter and don’t tell anyone or I’ll make you regret you ever looked in my general direction” he threatens, turning around and leaving. 

You look down at your wrist and see the bruise his ring caused. In order to avoid questions, you put a thick bracelet to cover it up. “Did you talk to Draco?” Lili, a fellow Hufflepuff and friend asks. “Yes, it went as you would expect” you lied. “Well, you tried your best, y/n ” Draco is staring at you from across the dining hall, you lose your appetite immediately. 

“Why did you stop eating y/n?” Draco approaches you before you enter the common room. He leans against the dungeon wall. “It’s not healthy to skip meals, y’know?” he says tossing an apple up in the air and catching it repetitively. “Are you worried about me, Draco Malfoy?” you ask, surprised. “No, I have more important matters to worry about”, he tosses the apple at you and you somehow manage to catch it. He laughs and walks away. You stare at the apple for a long time. You laid it on your bed and just sat there inspecting it. “Did Draco manage to poison this?” you wonder. You decide to risk it and eat the apple. After an hour of reading Advanced Potion Making, you decide to sleep, hoping not to die in your sleep from the apple.

The apple wasn’t poisoned, either that or it took over a week to take effect. 

You were in flying class and so was Draco. He of course was an expert flyer as the seeker and captain of the slytherin quidditch team. You consider yourself as a good flyer, but definitely not nearly as good as Draco. Draco always had the newest broom whereas you had to use the school’s old brooms. “I think you’d be better if you had a newer broom y/n” Draco says flying beside you. “I can’t afford a new broom, my parents were barely able to afford our books this year” you tell him, passing him. He frowns, he realizes he brought up a sensitive topic and he wishes he hadn’t. “You’re still a great flyer y/n, you should try out to be on the Hufflepuff team. They might have a chance of winning if they have you.” he says when he catches up to you. You look up and see his sincerity in his face and shrug, “Maybe I will” you reply which brings a smirk to his face. 

Quidditch tryouts were that upcoming week, you kept replaying Draco suggesting that you try out. For once you were actually considering it. Madam Hooch did often tell you you’d be a better seeker than Michael who was last season’s seeker. She also said that you'd be able to train every day that week after dinner, you wouldn’t have the field to yourself of course, everyone else would be practicing as well. After dinner, you were eager to arrive at the training grounds to improve your flying skills before the try outs. You get the old school broom and head on before you go off you see Draco watching the younger slytherins. He sees you and approaches you “Hello y/l/n, did you decide to take my advice?” he motions to your broom. “I’m considering it, I'm not completely convinced, you’re already guaranteed to be in the team so why are you here?” you question. “What? I can't decide to fly on a beautiful day?” he replies as you raise one eyebrow in suspicion. “Fine, I'm here to scope out the new recruits for the team, as the captain it’s my responsibility to see who has the most potential” he says pointing in the direction of young slytherins. You smile “See? It's not that hard to tell the truth” you wink at him as you take off. You couldn't see it, but that wink made Draco’s face turn red. He scratched his neck and sat down on the grass with the intentions to watch the slytherins but got distracted by watching you. 

Feeling confident, you headed towards the quidditch field to attend tryouts. Unbeknownst to you, Draco was watching from afar. He tried to convince himself it was solely for the sake of observing the ‘competition’, but in reality he really wanted to know whether you tried out or not. Once you arrived, he contemplated leaving since he got the answer he was looking for but he decided he didn't have anything better to do so, why not? 

Your tryout went better than you expected, you actually felt like you had a good chance of being chosen. You were drained and needed to eat to regain your energy. At dinner, you didn’t even talk for the first half, you were busy stuffing your mouth and chugging water down. Once you finally felt full you sighed in relief and decided to join the conversation around you. You looked up and saw Pansy mock you by acting like she was stuffing her face, and she then pushed her nose up as if to call you a pig. Her table all burst into laughter, except Draco, who saw how annoyed you were. He shoved Pansy, “Shut it, Pansy”, “or what, Draco?” she stopped laughing but still looked amused. “Or I could do this” he swished his wand and jinxed her with a pig tail. She gasped loudly and cried. “God, just when I thought you couldn’t be more annoying, you cry!” Draco rolled his eyes and reversed the jinx. Everyone around was laughing at Pansy including you and the rest of the Hufflepuffs, she deserved it after bullying everyone for so long. You laughed so hard you snorted which caused you to laugh even more. Draco heard your laugh and the little snort, it made him happy that he was the reason behind your laughter. Whereas, you wondered why Draco would defend you, perhaps he began liking you now… you brushed the thought off and decided just to enjoy the moment with your friends. 

The quidditch teams released the new roster for the new season, everyone huddled around their house’s paper to see who would be on the team. You jumped with joy when you saw your name written on the page. Your friends celebrated with you patting you on the back and giving you high fives. “Congrats.” a voice says from behind. You had just now finished staring at the page and began walking towards the common room. You spin around and see Draco leaned against the wall. “Thanks, and thanks for giving me the courage to try out” you walk in his direction. “Oh, and thanks for defending me against Pansy… I know she’s your friend and all” you say with your hands behind your back. “Oh Merlin no, Pansy is most definitely not my friend - she’s more like a parasite I can’t get rid of,” you tilt your head a bit confused at the declaration that Draco and Pansy weren’t friends. “but you’re welcome”. Draco says acknowledging your thanks. 

“Have you told your parents?” he asks. “Not yet but I plan on writing a letter to them tonight via my friend’s owl.” you inform him as you both start walking to the Hufflepuff common room. “You ought to get an owl, they come in handy quite often” he says as you stop walking. You glare at him, “I’ve told you Draco, my family is not wealthy.” Draco blushes. “I truly am sorry, I forgot you had told me.” he apologizes. “It’s fine, I just don’t like being reminded.” you say as you start walking again. “Wanna come in?” you ask. He looks hesitant, “uhhhhh, are you sure that’s alright?” he asks. “Of course it is, so long as you have permission from a Hufflepuff and it’s before curfew.” you assure him. He still looks hesitant but takes your word for it and walks inside. He looks around and admires the room, “wow, very… yellow.” he states. “Yes, that is our house color after all.” you tease. “Yellow is the color of the sun and the sun makes you happy, it’s been scientifically proven” you tell him as you sit down on the couch. “Seriously? Perhaps that’s why Snape is so moody, his room is incredibly dark” he jokes as he sits besides you. “I just wanted to say that I really am sorry for telling you to get an owl again” you smile and roll your eyes “It’s fine, I forgive you.” 

“So, tell me y/n, what’s the y/l/n family history?” he asks, getting comfortable on the couch. “Is this your way of asking if my family is pure-blood?” you question. “..Yes” Draco says after a brief silence. “Is that how you judge someone? Whether they're pure blood or not?” you ask. “Not me, persay but my father would kill me if he found out i was friends with anyone other than a pure blood wizard” he says. “Friends?” you ask. Draco blushes, “I.. never said friends..” he lies. “Sure you didn’t” you say. “Whether I did or didn’t is besides the point, can you answer the question?” he says defensively and you look shocked and upset at how aggressive he sounded. “Sorry, can you answer the question, please?” he corrected himself. “Yes, my family is pure-blood but we do not believe it makes us superior to other families that are not.” you say crossing your arms. “I don’t either!” he says pointing a finger in the air. “Really?” you say with your arms still crossed, “Is that why you call people a mudblood every chance you get?” you ask and Draco’s face turns red. “I don’t believe it makes me superior but calling them that makes me feel as if I am.” Draco pouts, “That’s what father told me call them anyways” he adds on looking away from you. Draco was embarrassed by you calling him out but he surprisingly wasn’t mad at you, instead he was hoping you would forgive him for things he did to other people! He couldn’t help but be confused as to why he was thinking the way he was. 

“Look Draco, there must be other ways to make you feel better than putting others down.” you say laying a hand on his shoulder, he raises his hand and hovers over yours. You gulp, expecting him to roughly grasp your wrist like he had before, but he just moves your hand lower so he could hold it. Your heart rate increased and your hands became sweaty so you let go of his hand. “Sorry, I didn't mean to cross a boundary” he says scooting further away from you. “No, it's just that, you and I, umm well it’s because I didn’t want my, errr..” you fumble on your words and Draco giggles at you. His giggle was so cute, you had never heard it before so you were taken aback. “God, you are so funny, y/n” he says pushing lightly on your shoulder, you laugh along with him. You begin discussing school assignments and he groans, “I forgot all about that!” he throws his hand up in defeat when you mention homework that’s due on Tuesday. “It’ll be alright!” you say, “I’ll help you if you want?” you offer. “That sounds good, but it’s way too late to start on it right now.” he says looking outside the window. “Speaking of it being late, I should really go and make up an excuse as to why I’ve been missing for so long” he says standing up, putting his hand out to help you get up off the couch. You take his hand and get up. “Alright, I’ll talk to you after class to discuss when we can work on that homework” you say, walking Draco out. “Bye” you wave and he waves back and walks away. 

You close the door and skip towards your dorm. Your friend Lili was waiting at the door, “Y’know I saw you and Draco talking out there..” she says with her hand on her hip. “It was strictly academic” you lie and sit on your bed. “Sure, is that why you didn’t realize the dozen people walking in and out?” she asks. “People walked by?!” you say surprised. “Exactly.” she says. You blush and lay down realizing that she was right. You were so infatuated with Draco that you were oblivious to your surroundings. Lili was already dressed for bed, “Are you going to bed already?” you ask. “It’s 9pm y/n…” she looks at you confused. You panic when you see the time. “How is it so late?” you ask aloud. Lili shushes you. “I’m going to bed, try not to make so much noise, please.” she requests. You get off your bed and begin taking off your day clothes and change into your pajamas. You go to bed and dream of Draco.

It’s sunny and you’re laying under a tree with Draco by your side. You’re holding hands and looking up at the sky, pointing out clouds and telling each other what you think they look like. “I know you said the sun makes you happy, but I think it’s you that makes me happy, y/n” he says turning his head to look at you. You turn to face his and his face is so close to yours. You smile and begin dragging your face across the grass to kiss him. Your lips are about to touch, when…

Lili is shaking you. “GET UP Y/N” she yells with your alarm blaring in the background. You sit up and rub your eyes, “why are you yelling” you ask upset that she ruined your dream. “Because it’s almost breakfast and I’m not leaving you here to sleep the day away” she says fully dressed. You groan and roll out of bed to get ready. The only good thing about waking up is that you’ll see Draco in a little. 

Once you feel presentable, you go into the common room where Lili looks annoyed, “About time!” she says. “Let’s go already, my stomach is growling” she says rushing you out the door. During breakfast you make eye contact with Draco occasionally, his eyes were so beautiful, you wanted to stare into them forever., but you don’t because you didn't want to scare Draco away. Finally, it was time for Caring for Magical Creatures and you hopped outside with your bag hanging off your shoulder. “Now, t’day we’re lookin’ at the bow truckle” Hagrid said walking the class near the Forbidden forest. “I ask of all of ye, do not try to come up ter bowtruckles without my permission and supervision!” Hagrid announces, standing next to a tree. “They like ter eat woodlice, or fairy eggs” he informs as he offers woodlice to the tree, the class looks confused until the bowtruckle moves to eat the woodlice. “They’re the tree’s guardians, ye see in order to get the wood for some of ye’s wands, we have to distract these fellers to get the wood” he says as the bowtruckle climbs on his arm. “This one ‘ere trust me, but it takes years to gain their trust” he says, continuing to feed the bowtruckle. 

“What’s so dangerous about them? That thing is the same size as a quill!” Draco asks. “Does anyone ‘ere know why bowtruckles are so dangerous?” Hagrid asks the class. You raise your hand eagerly, excited to teach the pretty boy. “Let's hear it y/n” Hagrid encourages. “They are peaceful until you try to get wood from their tree, in that case they are known to try and gouge your eyes out, which is why you have to offer them woodlice or fairy eggs to distract them!” you say. Your class nods and begins writing it down. Hagrid claps “Good job, y/n!” you smile up at Hagrid and glance over to Draco who is smirking at you. 

it was time to go to the library to help Draco write his paper, you sat at a table with a stack of books by your side. “Please tell me you do not expect me to read all of those books tonight” Draco says upon his arrival. You smile and shake your head. “Good.” he says sitting down besides you. “Now your paper is meant to be on why Knotgrass is used in polyjuice potions and what role it plays in the potion” you ask Draco and he nods. “Okay, this shouldn’t be too hard.”

After reviewing the polyjuice potion and the ingredients and reading a book about Knotgrass, it only took you two hours to write a well written paper on Knotgrass in Polyjuice Potions. “Wow, thanks so much y/n” Draco thanks as he looks up from his paper, he’s probably read it dozens of times at this point. “What was your paper on?” he asks. You yawn and take your paper out, “How does Sneezewort cause recklessness in the Befuddlement Draught and cause energy boosts in the Strong Invigoration Draught?”. “Do you mind if I read it?” he asks. You hand him your paper and watch him as he reads. You see his eyes moving across the pages, “You understand herbology and creatures so well y/n” he hands you your paper back. “Thank you Draco, that was really nice to say. I heard you’re really good at potions and I know you’re good at flying too” you compliment him back in return. “By the way, is there any way I could repay you for your help?” he asks. “Yes,” you say and his eyes widen, eager to fulfill your request, “walk me to my dorm, I’m falling asleep as we speak!” he smiles and walks you to the Hufflepuff common room. “Thank you, your debt is cleared” you joke and he waves goodbye as you enter. You practically collapse on your bed the second you’re changed into your pajamas. 

It was Wednesday and time for Quidditch practice, you were in conversation with Cedric when you heard your favorite voice, “move over Cedric, I need to talk to y/n” you glared at Draco, trying to tell him that he was being impolite. “....please?” Draco adds confused but when you smile and nod he relaxes. “Why are you here Draco?” you ask. “Because you never told me how I could make it up to you last night” he responds. “I already told you—“ you’re cut off. “I got you the Nimbus 2001” he says bringing forth the broom he was hiding behind his back. You gasp, “Draco, this is.. too much! Why would you do this? Are you mad?!” you scream at him as you hold the broom in your hand. “I thought you’d be happy?” he says confused. “I am but I’m not because I’ll never be able to pay you back for this!” you hand the broom back. “I don’t want you to pay me back, I just want you to have it,” he says smiling. “Why?” you ask, extremely confused by his kind gesture. “So that you have no excuse when I win against you!” he laughs and walks away. You’re completely thrown off but your teammates are shouting for you to join them. You run over to share the news, they’re amazed, not only at how great the gift was but amazed at who gave you the gift. 

It was the day of the first match: Slytherins vs Hufflepuffs. “Look y/n, this is going to be a fair game,” Draco says before you go and join your teams. “I’m not gonna let you win on purpose,” he tells you.

 “You don’t have too, I am not going to go easy on you either, I am going to destroy you!” you scoff. You shake hands and head off. 

Slytherin has a lead, a pretty big lead, your team is struggling and you know their only hope right now is for you to catch the snitch. You’re scanning the sky and squinting your eyes hoping to find the flying snitch. You catch a glimpse of the snitch and dart in its direction, Draco follows behind, looking for the snitch you found first. You push Draco away and try to lead him the wrong direction. You turn quickly and reach your arm out to catch the snitch, Draco is trailing behind, desperately trying to catch up. You catch the snitch and the crowd becomes loud, cheering your name. It was the first game Hufflepuff won against the Slytherins in years. Your team huddles around you and celebrates. 

A party is planned to celebrate the big win, everyone is invited. The Slytherins obviously decline, upset at their loss, you figure one Slytherin might be interested. “Want to come to the party tonight?” you invite Draco. “I’m not really much of a party person, but is it really a party if Hufflepuffs are hosting?” he says accepting your offer. 

Everyone is out of their school uniforms, wearing something casual. Draco walks in wearing all black and is thrown off by how many drunk people are in attendance. You approach him, “I thought you weren’t going to come anymore” you say slurring your words, hugging the confused boy. He awkwardly chuckles as you walk with your hand around his neck. “Want a drink?” you offer, “Depends, how many did you have?” he asks. “Uhhh, like 7!” you giggle taking another sip, “this will be number 8.” you add on. “Sure,

I’ll have one drink” he grabs a cup and begins drinking. 

“I’m so tired” you whisper in his ear. “Do you need help getting to your bed?” he asks. You nod and he wraps his hand around your waist to help you get to your room. You lay on your bed and Draco begins walking out, “Don’t leave” you ask. “What’s wrong?” he asks, kneeling besides you. “I said I was tired, not sleepy. You just got here, talk to me.” you say smiling at him. He smiles back at you, “You know, I let you win” he joked. You laughed, “As if!” 

“I would’ve won the game if you weren’t so distracting” he said twirling your hair. You furrow your eyebrows, “What did I do?” you ask. “Nothing, you’re just so pretty it’s hard to focus” he says, giving you a warm smile. “Why are you saying this to me, Draco?” you ask, confused by him being so loving. “Because you won’t remember this in the morning, sweetheart. You are far too plastered” he says. Your heart flutters when he calls you sweetheart. “I will Draco, I will remember” you tell him, as his hand caresses your face. You yawn and stretch your arms, “Sleepy now?” he asks, you nod and he stands up. “Goodnight y/n” he kisses your forehead and turns the light off as he leaves your dorm. You’re going to remember this, there’s no way you could ever forget how Draco just made you feel.

[fatrainbowmermaidunicorn]

The Other Girl (Jungkook X You) (ONESHOT)

A/N: Its a bit short but I hope you will like it <3

MASTERLIST

A/N : And also, I’m trying a new thing here and you are in no way obligated to do it but if any of you like my stories and want to give some support, why not buy me a coffee? ☕💜

Jungkook and Rissa.

They are the ultimate couple that everyone want to be. That everyone envy. They are the definition of perfect, romantic, lovable. Everything you want to be as a couple. And everyone always thinks, no, know, that they will end up together forever. There is no way one of them would love someone else, theres no way one of them would leave the other for anyone else.

Y/N smiles and looks into Jungkook's eyes who staring back at her. And she is sure as hell that no one could have ever thought she would be the one who would steal's Jungkook's heart from Rissa.

Thats right, shes the other girl.

Jungkook has always been her dream guy. She has had her eyes on his the moment he step on stage on his debut day. But Y/N is just a trainee, and as Jungkook and his group grew more popular, she knows her chances with him are slim to none. Y/N's heart broke to pieces when she found out that Jungkook also has a long time childhood girlfriend whom he loves so much. Everybody favorite's couple.

Rissa.

It doesnt help that Rissa is the definition of a perfect girl. Beautiful, soft spoken, intelligent, funny, kindhearted. Everything a girl wants to be. And every guy wants to be with. Everybody tells Jungkook thats hes lucky to be with her. That he should hold on to her forever.

They are the perfect couple in everyones eyes.

But all that never once stop Y/N from continuing to crush on him, falling in love with him. Once she debuted herself, Y/N slowly make her way to be friends with Jungkook's hyungs, his friends and slowly, very slowly, make his way into Jungkook's heart.

And now, here she is. In Jungkook's embrace, lips locked with each othet like theres no tomorrow. They have been seeing each other in secret for almost six months now, and it was the most wonderful time for Y/N. The best moments of her life.

"I love you Kookie," she giggles and hugs his neck.

"And you know I love you too baby," he smile and leans in to kiss her. A long, deep, passionate kiss. "I have to go," he pouts. "But I promise I will call you before you go to bed?"

Y/N pouts playfully.

"Do you really have to go home to her, Kookie?"

"You know I dont want to baby, but you know I have to. For now. Okay?" Jungkook smile and stroke her hair. "I love you Y/N,"

"I love you too, so much Kookie. We are going to be together for real, soon right? You promise right? That you will choose me?"

"You know I do baby. Just give me some time yeah?" Jungkook smile and kiss her one last time before leaving.

Y/N pouts alone. Thats the promise Jungkook keeps on giving her ever since they got together. That he will leave Rissa. That they will be an official couple. That he never loves Rissa. That he loves her so much more.

All those promises, they are nice to hear, but deep down, Y/N knows that Rissa will always be Jeon Jungkook's first love and he will always, always love her.

/////

"Hey bunny, you are back. Hows practice?" Rissa smiles and gives him a quick kiss.

"It was okay. Just the usual. Hyungs bickering, Jin hyung fell and all thay," he laughs. "How about you? How was your day princess?" Jungkook smile and kiss her back.

"Same old, same old. Nothing interesting like yours, Im sure," she giggles. "I cooked your favorite for dinner today bunny. Why dont you shower, since you are all sweaty and smelly, and we can have dinner together?"

"Yah, you like it when I'm sweaty," Jungkook grins and winks, making her blush. "But yeah, I'll take a quick shower and I'll be down in a bit okay princess?" Jungkook smile, gives her another kiss and head to the bathroom.

As her usual routine, Rissa went over to where Jungkook throws his clothes and collect his dirty laundry for washing. And just like every single day since the last few months, theres the same perfume smell lingering all over his clothes. A women's perfume. The same one. And of course, stain of lipstick in random places on his clothes. She doesnt want to believe it. Its so unreal that Jungkook would do that to her. But it has been months. Theres no denying it anymore.

Rissa sighs.

Jungkook is still cheating. And she dont know how long her heart can pretend otherwise

/////

"How is the food bunny?" Rissa smile, looking at the man sitting from across of him.

"Delicious as always princess," he smiles and to show he meant it, shoved a large amount of food inside his mouth, making his cheeks blows up like a chipmunk. Rissa giggles. Shes going to miss this mam so so much.

"Im glad you love it bunny. You deserve the best after a tiring day at work,"

"I dont know what I do to deserve you princess. Im the luckiest guy in the world," Jungkook smile and hold her hand from across the table. Rissa stop chewing. Something in what Jungkoom said hit a cord, and it just hurts. So much.

"Jungkook?" Rissa looks up at him.

"Yes?" Jungkook frowns. Its unusual for her to call him by his real name. "Is everything okay?" Jungkook is confused. They were happy just a second ago. What could have happened?

"You know I love you very much right?" Rissa asked, eyes softly looking into his.

"Of course I do know princess. Whats wrong? Anything bothering you? Want to tell me?" Jungkook stops eating and frowns heavily.

"And you. You love me right Jungkook? Just as much as I love you?"

"Rissa, princess. You already know the answer. Of course I love you. You are my life. Now, can you tell me whats going on?"

"Nothing really," she smile and looks down at her plate, slowly playing with her food. "I just want you to know, that it has always been you for me Jungkook. No one else. And Ive never wanted or look at anyone else either. You are my dream come true, and I'm sorry..." she sniffles.

"Sorry? What for? Hey, why are you crying princess?" Jungkook stands up and walks to her side, squating down to her level, startled by her sudden tears.

"Im sorry if I bore you. If my love for you isnt enough. If I am not what you wanted. What you still wanted. Ive tried my best to love you. Im just sorry Im just simply not... enough," she sniffles harder, looking down at her lap.

"Hey, what are you even talking about? Not enough? Where did all this even came from?" Jungkook smile and lifted her chin to look at him. "I love you. Only you. Forever and always right? You are ny everything. You are everything I wanted and everything I could ever dream of. Theres nothing to worry about. I promise. Okay?"

Rissa nodded weakly, knowing everything he said is nothing but empty promises.

They make love that night. Love so passionate, that one could never thought that theres a third person between their love. But there is. And even after a passionate night together, Rissa will never forget the fact.

/////

It has been a few months since that night. And the same thing still happens every single day. Late night texts, whispered calls when Jungkook thought she was sleeping, perfumes and lipstick stain on his clothes... its even worse now because Rissa now knows whos Jungkook is actually cheating with.

Enough is enough. Enough time and chances has been given. Its time. Its time to finally do something about it.

/////

She looks at her. Her beautiful face, with a tired smile plastered on, but still beautiful nevertheless. Y/N can tell right now why Jungkook loves her. She never gets mad, she never raises her voice at him, whenever hes tired, mad or upset, whenever he yells at her for no reason at all, she will say she understand. Her love for Jungkook is unconditional, and Y/N is the reason why Jungkook is hurting her.

"Rissa," was all she could choked out as she looks into her eyes.

"Hello Y/N," she smiles. "Its nice to finally meet you in person. Come, have a seat,"

Y/N feels her throat dries up nervously. Not really sure know what Rissa meant by that. What she being sarcastic? Sincere? What is it? Why did she ask to meet her? Does Jungkook knows about this?

"I- uh yeah, its nice to finally meet you in person too. I-I have heard so much about you," Y/N smiles nervously.

"I'm sure," she laughs. A beautiful sound. How can she still smile brightly at her? Knowing that she has been with her man for so long? Y/N is sure Rissa knows.

"I-uh.."

"Im kidding!" She laughs. "Dont worry Y/N, you dont have to be nervous. I dont bite," she laughs again. "Lets just talk  is girls. Yeah? I think we have so mich to talk about, dont you?"

Y/N nods again, nervously.

"Listen Rissa. Jungkook and I..." Y/N stops her words, not knowing herself what she should be saying. Apologize? Beg her to give Jungkook to her? Ask her to share? Explain to Rissa her feelings towards Jungkook? She has no idea. No idea at all what to do or say.

But lucky for her, she doesnt have to think further as Rissa cut her off.

"Im leaving Jungkook,"

Y/N looks at her, mouth slightly gapped open. Out of all the 1001 scenarios in her head, she never expected this to come out from Rissa's mouth. Y/N had imagined Rissa would yell, scream, hit her, slap her, laugh at her, throw a tantrum, everything anf any possible reaction, but not this. Never this.

"What? Rissa you-"

"Im leaving him, and thats my decision," she smile and take a sip of her tea. "Dont get me wrong Y/N. Iys not that I hate him, or stop loving him. I love him. I love Jungkook so much. More than anyone can ever imagined," she smiles softly. "We have been together since we were teenagers. We grew up together, and I always thought me and him are destined to be together till the end of times,"

Y/N clear her throat awkwardly. She wish the earth would just swallow her right now. The pain and hurt in Rissa's voice pierced right through her heart. She has caused another woman pain. When did she become this? What has she done?

"But I cant make something that doesnt work anymore, work... I tried. Oh god, believe me, I tried," she smile again, but a sad one. "You know... I have known about you two for the longest time,"

"Y-you did?"

Rissa laughs, a beautiful one.

"Of course silly. I think everyone knows," she smile again. "You two are always together. And when you two are together, you guys dont really keep it subtle. And it doesnt help how nervous his hyungs were went I asked them where Jungkook went when I surprise him at practice," she giggles but Y/N knows Rissa's heart is breaking. Memories with Jungkook flashes through her mind. The kisses, quickies, secret dates between shows, practices, asking his hyung to lie for them eventhough they know they didnt approve. All those days that they thought were subtle enough and kept a secret.... every little thing they did, her happiness, all at the expense of this beautiful girl's broken heart. What has she done?

"But I thought, maybe Jungkook just need a distraction. We have been together for so long, and in his line of work, he meets pretty girls like you every single day. Hes a man afterall. So I thought, maybe after he gets it out of his system, he will come back to me. That our love was still intact,"

"Y-you knew... and you are willing to let him cheat?"

"I love him Y/N. Ive never love anyone. Hes my everything, my first and I thought, if being with someone else makes him happy, makes him come back to me eventually, Im willing to," she sighs. "But I was wrong. I dont think his love for me is the same as before,"

"Thats not true Rissa! Jungkook loves you! I know he does!" Y/N raises her voice. She dont know why shes trying to protect Jungkook's and Rissa's love when Jungkook has been everything she wanted. With Rissa gone, she shpild be happy. Jungkook is all hers. But something doesnt seems right. Their love is too beautiful to destroy.

Rissa smile softly and stroke Y/N's hand across the table.

"I know you want to believe that Y/N. Maybe so that you wont feel so bad. But truly, its okay. Havent you heard the saying, if you love two people at the same time, choose the second one. Because if you really loved the first one, you wouldn't have fallen for the second one? You are the second one Y/N,"

"B-but Rissa. Jungkook-"

"Stop," she raised her hand and shakes her head. "Stop trying to change my mind because I wont. Y/N, I think I owe it to myself to leave. I have done everything to love Jungkook and I dont think its fair for me to share his love when I have given my everything to him," tears finally falls down her soft cheeks. "I finally found the courage to leave, to let go of this fairytale that I wanted so much to come true and finally give myself something I deserve. Someone I deserve. I believe that I deserve someone who will love me for all that I am, and who will give everything he has for me, just like I will do for him. And thats no longer Jungkook," Rissa slowly wiped down her tears and takes a deep breathe.

"So, do me a favour yeah? Love him, take care of him and show him the same kind of love that I have been giving him all these years," she flashed a small smile as she took of the ring from her finger and placed it on Y/N's open palm. "This... Jungkook gave me this when we first met. Its a promise ring he said. We fell in love at first sight," she laughs. "Stupid, I know. But we were young and he promised me, that one day, when hes finally made it when he found everything hes chasing all this while, he will marry me, he will propose with a proper ring," she laughs. "Jungkook is always so dramatic, dont you think?"

Y/N looks at the ring and without realizing, tears has streamed down her face too. Jungkook truly loves her. And Rissa, shes willing to let go so that hes happy. Thats how strong their love are. And here she is, a monster! A home wrecker! What has she done? What has she done?!

"Hes all yours now Y/N. And thankyou for making me realize my worth," she smile one last time and stands up. Without looking back, Rissa walks out, leaving her painful love story for a better future without Jeon Jungkook in it.

/////

"Jungkook?" Y/N walked into their messy apartment after walking aimlessly for a few hours, thinking about her earlier meeting with Rissa. Furnitures are upside down everywhere, vases are broken, books are strewn across the floors. Y/N quickly try to look for Jungkook, hoping hes alright, not sure whats happening.

"Kookie??" She ran to their bedroom and found Jungkook in the dark, at the far corner hugging his knees. Y/N immediately went over and sits besides him, hugging his shoulder. "Kookie? Are you okay? What happened? Did we get rob? What happened? Tell me? Are yoi okay?"

"S-she left. She left me. She left...."

Y/N feels her heart beats faster. Okay, Jungkook has found out then. Rissa must have moved out from their apartment.

"Kookie, baby....I-I know,"

Jungkook looks up with his tear strained face.

"Y-you knew?"

"I-" Y/N paused for a moment. Not knowing if she should proceed. "R-Rissa... she asked to meet me earlier today..."

"She what?" Jungkook immediately perked up and turns to look at Y/N. A part of her feels hurt that Jungkook cares so much about Rissa, that he showed it, especially in front of her. Didnt he say that he loves her? That he wants a future with her? That he will leave Rissa for her? Then what is all this? Shouldnt he be happy instead? Y/N shakes the thoughts away. This is not the time to think about herself. Right?

"She asked to meet me Kookie... and I didnt know what its for until we met," Y/N looks into his eyes whos looking at her, confused. "Rissa... she uh.. she gave me this," she slowly and reluctantly gave Jungkook the ring. Jungkook just stare at it, as if its some poisonous snake that he shouldnt touch.

"Kookie?" Y/N whispered slowly. "Y-you okay?"

He jolted from her the sound of her voice, like someone shocked him and grab the ring, surprising Y/N, and threw the tiny ring across the room.

"She thinks she can just leave me like that?! No fucking way! We promised forever! She promised she will be with me until forever!" Jungkook suddenly screamed. Y/N was taken aback, both by his sudden outburst and whats hes saying. Doesnt Jungkook remember who is with him right now? Doesnt he remember that he promised her forever? That hes supposed to love her, to be with her?

"Kookie p-please calm down," Y/N pulled him tight into her embrace, trying to calm him, immediately making Jungkook burst into tears. "Im sorry Kookie. Im sorry, Im really, really sorry,"

Im really sorry I fell in love with you.

/////

Y/N knows. Oh she knows Jungkook is only staying in the relationship with her, being with her all because of guilt. Just to prove that he made the right decision, that he didnt regret what he did, that he didnt regret he cheated, that hes happy with her. Because, if he didnt... if hes not happy... then he just threw away Rissa, his love, the greatest thing that could have happened in his life, for... her.

The other girl.

Y/N knows, everytime Jungkook thinks she wasnt looking, she saw him staring blanklessly out the window. And Y/N knows hes thinking about her. Her smile, her laugh, if shes thinking of him too. But Y/N also know, that she isnt. Y/N knows that Rissa have moved on. That she would probably have found another man that would love her woth all his heart, make her happpy. The kind of man she deserves. A man that would appreciate her. Why would she think about a man so stupid, a mam who broke her heart like its nothing, so idiotic, a man who would threw out a girl like herself, for a girl like her...

The other girl.

After Jungkook calmed down that day, he asked Y/N to tell hin everything that Rissa told her. Because Rissa left without saying goodbye, without saying anything. Jungkook came back from practice to find all Rissa's things gone. Her stuffed animals, their photos together, her shoes, her books in the side table. Everything. All traces of her... gone.

And thats when Y/N knew how much Rissa was hurting from what she did. Maybe she didnt show it, she didnt say it, but it shows. Y/N also finally knew how much Rissa loves Jungkook. Because she cant even bare to see him one last time. She cant even say goodbye to him. Because she knows she will give in. She will give him another chance and he will break her all over again.

And Y/N finally knew how she has ruined a love so great.

And as years goes by, yes, Y/N and Jungkook are together, exchanging little smile here and there, a dull how are you at the end of the day instead of laughter and love. But Y/N knows, from the dying glint in his eyes whenever he looks at her that whatever they have is not love, never love. She stole away his love story, his one true love, hoping that she can be a greater one, a better one. But she was wrong. Dead wrong.

But is she the only one to blame? Jungkook fell in love too, didnt he? He betrayed their love too? Didnt he? Both hers and Rissa. So she guess they are both to blame. The dark storm in a beautifil love by a beautiful girl.

And for hurting her.

For making her cry.

For breaking her heart.

For making her loose the love of her life...

This is what Y/N deserve. To forever be with the man she loves, the man she long for everyday, the man she wants to love her back as much as she loves him, but he never will.... the man who will forever see her as.. the other girl.