#so there was no way for THREE STUDENTS TO CANCEL A CLASS IN ONE MINUTE

[somuchstrdst]

i think i just caught a colleague doing something wrong with a class i assigned him a couple of hours ago just so he could avoid teaching it and i'm shooketh with his audacity but i don't want to rat him out because the class will go back to me but really i'm completely baffled that he did it

[raven-cincaide]

Post-Canon! Megumi is a university student. His friends think he needs a break from all the curses and fighting so he can finally heal. Yuji says its a chance for Megumi to find the person who'll Megumi want to live for. Nobara says that even if he doesn't find anyone, they've already sacrificed so much; they need some kind of backup plan in case they ever need to leave the front lines. In truth, Yuji and Nobara just want to spend their youth exploring normal human things, and Megumi honestly can’t fault them. He doesn’t understand it but he doesn’t want to be left behind. So he tags along because.. well.. what else is he supposed to do?

Post-Canon! Megumi doesn’t know what to study. So he picks up a little bit of everything. He creates a schedule that fits his self-applied expectations and overachieving tendencies, going well above and beyond full-time studies. He keeps his mind occupied so he doesn't have to think about how hard it is to blend in, make new friends, and be human. (Un)fortunately, Yuji and Nobara don't let him avoid the campus life forever. 

Post-Canon! Megumi builds a routine he finds satisfactory which includes studying, gym, late night parties and nerdy book clubs. Hell he picks up anything that makes him forget about curses and being a sorcerer. He promised himself he would be 'normal' while at uni and he promised his friends. University life may not be Megumi's calling but he wasn't about to let his friends down. So he does everything to avoid things that would tempt him back.  

Post-Canon! Megumi notices you the second you enter one of his classes. He can tell you are a sorcerer and instantly determines he doesn't want anything to do with you. He tries to make himself invisible, hunched down, reading a book. Despite his closed body language, his eyes flicker over to you occasionally, although he quickly catches himself and goes straight back to reading. 

Post-Canon! Megumi is surprised when you approach his desk- one of the few remaining seats near the front. How you politely ask if you can sit beside him even though he doesn’t own the seat makes him unsure, fascinated, yet flustered. “Sure”, he replies, then a second later, grabs his bag, stands, and walks out of the class minutes. He leaves minutes before the start, skipping his first class ever. He knows he’s being rude; he knows he undoubtedly embarrassed you. But he can’t get mixed up with Jujutsu- not when he started liking uni.

Post-Canon! Megumi swears he sees you everywhere and avoids you like the plague. Yet his eyes always seek you out, and his brain takes note of every little thing about you, from the casual sweatpants and hoodie you wear to morning classes to how you’re dolled up at late-night parties. Your laugh, your make-up, the perfume you wear, depending on your mood- he notices it all. He feels all sorts of emotions when he sees you yet squelches those in the far back of his mind. No, he keeps his distance even as you get close to Yuji and Nobara. If you three are eating together, he’ll skip lunch, if you three are hanging out, he’ll cancel last minute. Sometimes, his friends let him get away with it- but more often than not, Yuji or Nobara see right through him and force him to sit beside you. And the awkwardness can be cut through with a knife. 

Post-Canon! Megumi notices when you’ve been out hunting curses. It’s the faint linger of cursed energy and the distinct smell on you that he pickles up. He notices when there’s a tiny limp in your step. He notices when you’re tired and when you’re practically burned out; the way your eyes drop during the teacher's lecture; the way you scribble down your homework mere minutes before submission, or the way you stress about not being able to buy the course literature before the first assignment is due by poking at your lunch and not answering Nobara. So he leaves his books out before going to the bathroom, knowing Yuji and Nobara will push you to take pictures of the few pages you need.

Post-Canon! Megumi swears he is done with being a sorcerer and that he doesn’t want to have anything to do with curses. Yet when he sees you stumbling out of your dorm room, in your jujutsu get up, barely able to keep your eyes open, he can’t help the pang of worry in his chest. He swears he is done being a sorcerer, even as his feet carry him to follow you.. 

[pomefioredove]

I'm not sure exactly which day counts as "weekend" bc of cultural differences lol but you can ignore this if it's not on the permitted day!!

But for the brief Rollo x reader thing that's you're doing, can I please have something with him and a reader that is generally very tactile? One day they grab his hand to pull him somewhere as they absentmindedly ramble, and they don't realize it until he speaks up about it (or not....? <w<)

hii anon!! ofc this is a very cute request

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ cold hands

type of post: short fic characters: rollo additional info: platonic or romantic, reader is gender neutral, reader is yuu

Winter in Fleur City is as unkind as it is beautiful.

Autumn's colorful embrace was short and sweet, giving you but three weeks of cozy, lukewarm mornings before the trees were bare and bending in the breeze that carried along the Soleil.

The first snow of the winter season had completely frozen over the river.

It had also kissed everything in frost, blanketed the streets, and canceled classes at Noble Bell College for the morning. It was heavy and restless.

It became no wonder to you that the people of Fleur City were eager to put up their tinsel and candles. The smell of cinnamon and pine is an effective distraction from the icy wind, after all.

And so, without classes to attend to, you find yourself walking through the city on crushed snow, already muddy with boot prints and animal hooves, to a seasonal cafe which had just opened.

Oh, and the Student Council President has offered to escort you.

It's, apparently, quite an ordeal; the few Noble Bell students you pass by in the streets stop mid-snowball fight or nearly drop their to-go coffees from their mittens when they see you, bundled up in Rollo Flamme's scarf, walking hand-in-hand.

You honestly hadn't even noticed you had grabbed him. It had been somewhat of an impulse, your cold, undressed hands feeling out for something to hold.

And usually, that would have been a quill, or one of those artisanal wooden blocks this city so loves, just something to run your thumb over while you think, not the Student Council President's hand.

But he doesn't say anything, and, more presently, doesn't pull away.

"You really ought to have dressed warmer," Rollo says, fussing over the scarf he'd given you off his own neck. "You'll catch something, and missing class over a frivolous venture such as is unacceptable."

"I suppose I didn't think of it,"

"Then next time," he says. "I don't know what I would do with myself if you were ill. It's the busiest time of year."

Right. Finals are coming up.

"I won't do it again,"

He sighs. "I know. Now, come along. Morning classes may have been dismissed, quite unnecessarily, I might say, but we'll both be expected on campus at noon,"

His hand tightens around yours, and his pace becomes brisker, cutting through the myriad of tourists and laughing children and pigeons. He shields you from the falling snow and blistering wind, holding you behind him until you reach the cafe.

It's bustling and loud inside, busier than the annual cafes you're used to visiting, but Rollo somehow has you in and out with a warm drink and a pastry in no more than five minutes.

You have the treat outside, your hands already cracked from the dry cold in the air, and once you've finished he slips his hand into yours and begins walking again.

There's not much conversation. Rollo is a strange man; some days, he's happy to talk about the history of Fleur City or what he's studying in Noble Bell's prestigious law class, and some days he's like this. Quiet.

His hand is surprisingly warm, though, despite the cold he seems to maintain a high body temperature all on his own. He runs a thumb over the back of your hand, feeling the dry skin there.

"You're freezing,"

"I'm okay,"

"Honesty is a virtue," he snaps, his sharp way of reminding you that he can always tell when you're lying, and he doesn't like it.

"You'll catch your death of cold. And then what would I do?"

For a fleeting moment, you can swear he gets a little warmer; or, at least, his hand does. You must be imagining things.

The silence lingers like the cold in the air, but, finally, he gets you to start talking about your favorite class subject, which you do until you've reached the gates of the school.

Rollo stops you, bids you an overly formal good-bye, and takes his hand, too, leaving you with the cold.

Hm. He seemed so off today. You wonder what that could be?

You won't realize that you'd been holding his hand all morning until later, but for now, you're content with the mystery and the warm scarf he left on your shoulders.

[wonbonie]

Twisted Games

warings : smut, mdni, college students reader and jake, inexperienced Jake, reader is menace to the society, unconcentual (a lil bit)

a/n : this is a random blurb and if I feel like writing more of this then I will. I'm not the best writer so might not be good enough...

Whistling sounds echoed in the hall as you made your way to the class. It was eight in the morning and no one was here, of course there were other students but students from your major weren't here as today's the first lecture got cancelled, you saw email informing that when you entered the building so you decided to go to the class where usually the lecture is held. You opened the door of the class and were welcomed by a completely unexpected surprised face, Sim Jaeyun a.k.a Jake. The guy almost everyone simps on. Him being this early wasn't that much of surprise as much what he was doing was. It's eight in the morning! God damn eight!! And he was holding his dick in his hands staring at you with big eyes just like a deer reacts when caught in headlights. It took him less than a minute to fix whatever he was doing but it was enough for you get a good look of his not so long but thick as fuck dick loaded with precum. Poor guy, couldn't even complete his deed because of his classmate. That's unfair, you should help him.. and you did. "What were you doing?" You asking didn't make the situation any less awkward for him, he quietly stared at his phone. One could clearly tell by looking at the screen that he was playing a chess match on some online platform and was busy maturbating to maybe his opponent. As if something like consent or manners ever existed you took one his earpods away from his ear and fixed it in your ears just to find out that your assumptions were right. He was indeed masturbating to his opponent's sexy voice. Who would've thought that Jake who could sleep with the whole campus if he tried to was jerking off to a random girl's frustrated voice. Boy could've watched porn maybe but he was masturbating to a girl crying over some goddamn chess match? You couldn’t decide if he was a loser or a pervert or both. Whatever the case was, you clearly didn't care about that. All you cared about was that thick juicy monster he hid in his pants. "Hey!" He tried to stop you but was taken aback by your actions. The game was long gone as you were on your knees in front of him and your hands were busy suffocating his member in his pants. He could barely keep his eyes open as you rubbed him. It was surprising to you how pleased he looked when you have barely done anything. Isn't he one of the most popular guys then why is he so easy? All the possibilities clouded in your head as you watched him shake beneath your hands. He was huffing, shaking; his dick twitching inside his pants, you could feel it all. You were more than feeling, you were enjoying. You were enjoying the power you were feeling, you were enjoying the authority had over him, it was pretty unusual. Unusual because he was everyone's favourite, even CR in three of of your mutual classes and was completely unapproachable. Having authority over him was unusual and tempting. Seeing him all weak was weird as he usually had his guards up. Talking to him was a rare occurrence let the thought of holding his dick. But here you were doing it, he lift his crouch up helping you to lower his pant and boxers, revealing the monster you were able to glance at. Slowly, taking your time to make him hiss and tremble, and carefully, not to make that poor thing suffer more, you moved your hands up and down. The size of his dick wasn't that big but its girth was far more than normal. Your hands started slow but eventually found its own rhythm in which it was moving now. You could see on his face how hard he was trying to supress his moans but was failing miserably. It was as if he never experienced such thing before. "Oh god" he managed to speak between his whispers and shaky breath. The whole situation was getting you excited and intrigued to see how things would unfold but it all came to a sudden end when Jake came on your hands, some of his cum managed to fly upto top of your tanktop and collarbone (which you didn't complain about). "That was the first handjob I've ever received in my lifetime"

[gureumz]

the thinker

rating: explicit

member: sunoo

premise: after someone on your dormitory floor dies, your professor, sunoo, seeks out to solve it himself. concerned and bearing responsibility, you offer to help (in more ways than just gathering evidence). what you discover is more than what you bargained for.

notes: MAJOR DEPICTIONS OF VIOLENCE AND DEATH, graphic retellings of murders, dark themes, again this is a dark fic pls if you can't stomach it don't force yourself, thriller/suspense, fem!reader, law student!reader, law professor!sunoo, student x teacher relationships (all concerned parties are legal), dom!sunoo, slight breeding, dirty talk, light gagging, mentions of pregnancy (unrelated to the reader), lmk if i missed anything i'm fading

a/n: second of my 1k follower special! this was a doozy. changed a little of the premise because the story just took a life of its own oops ! also a late birthday thing for our boy sunoo. longer than the last one please enjoy (responsibly).

ANOTHER DISCLAIMER: i do not, by any means, claim that this is how the person depicted in this story acts or is in real life. this is a work of fiction with a made-up persona. please consume RESPONSIBLY.

a figure stands silently outside her door.

all is quiet. the occasional laughter is heard, but nothing is amiss.

the figure knocks, bowing his head low. he knows about the eyes. the eyes all over the walls.

she opens the door. effortlessly beautiful. a swan blessed in grace.

the figure embraces her. cradles her in his arms. holds her in his hands.

the swan falls.

---

you couldn't wrap your head around it.

a murder. right down the hall from where you slept, where you studied, where you bathed, so oblivious to the carnage taking place just a few doors down.

you heard the guttural, terrified scream of her roommate. everyone on the same floor did. rushing out of your room, your own mind racing with thoughts of the unthinkable, you see yunjin sobbing on the floor in front of her dorm room.

the one she shared with kazuha.

the door was wide open, light spilling out onto the dim hallway. yunjin was still crying, clutching her stomach as if physically pained by what she's seeing.

"s-someone call security, police, anyone!" yunjin shrieked, hands reaching out towards her doorway, hesitant.

some students have rushed to her side to see what she's hysterical about. all of them recoiled once they saw what awaited them in the room.

"she's dead! kazuha's been attacked!"

you blink, unaware that your heart rate had picked up in the few minutes that you recounted the events of that night.

it's been a week now since the school announced an immediate lockdown of the campus. classes were canceled, no one was to leave their dorms unaccounted for. those who live in the university accommodations were not permitted to exit the campus unless personally picked up by their parents or guardians. those who had family in another district, another province, another country lamented feeling trapped.

'what if the killer comes back? isn't keeping us here the wrong move?'

'what if it's one of the students? they need to question us all. especially those on the same floor.'

you had the same thoughts. but you knew how important the first seventy-two hours of the investigation were. so, for the first three days no one left. every floor of every dorm building was guarded. no one was allowed to move about alone. always in twos or more.

you fidget now, unable to focus on the voice droning from the front of the lecture hall. you raise your eyes to see professor kim, pointing at a slide projected on the screen, explaining something about warrants.

he catches your eye and you immediately shift your focus to his presentation.

it's as if nothing happened. a funeral was held, a memorial erected for kazuha in the lobby of the law building, and eventually, classes resumed.

you've heard whispers that yunjin opted out of university accommodations altogether. no one has seen her since.

"right!" you hear professor kim bellow from the front, clapping his hands together and startling everyone in the lecture hall.

for someone with such an amicably handsome face, professor sunoo kim was a ruthless criminal law instructor. he was particular about punctuality and never entertained any suggestions regarding extra credit. he was, by all accounts, as stiff as a board inside the classroom.

"that's all the time i have for you all today. read up on the cases i gave you because i'll be expecting the digests by thursday," professor kim calls out, gathering his belongings.

a hushed chatter falls over the lecture hall as the students start to leave. there haven't been any memos or reminders put recently regarding the murder but it's still the same. in twos or threes. no one is comfortable moving about alone nowadays.

you start to follow, mindlessly collecting your papers and your laptop, but a figure approaching your desk causes you to stop dead in your tracks.

"________," professor kim's voice glides through your ears smoothly. he smiles down at you as you sink back into your seat.

"hi, professor kim, " you greet, nodding briefly in acknowledgment.

"how have you been doing? you've been uncharacteristically quiet today," professor kim points out.

it's true. you're usually one to participate in discussions, always caught up or ahead on the readings. but with the events of the past days, you couldn't bring yourself to care much about anything.

it's not as if you were particularly close to kazuha. she lived on your floor and you've had small talk with her in the common lounge. nothing ever went beyond polite chatter.

"i think everyone's kind of out of it, professor," you reply. "ever since...you know."

you look up to meet professor kim's eyes and his gaze softens when he realizes what you're referring to. he nods understandingly, watching as the rest of the class files out of the lecture hall.

"and whoever did it is still out there," you say lowly, voice dropping to a whisper.

"i know," professor kim agrees, voice suddenly gruff. you watch as his eyebrows pinch together.

"i've been...looking into it," professor kim continues.

you eye him curiously, your back straightening as professor kim perches himself on the table in front of you. you get a whiff of his perfume; sweet but still subtly masculine.

"the police are on the case, but of course i've worked criminal cases like this before, and with my knowledge of the school and its people...i couldn't help but pry a little," professor kim explains, shifting so he could look at you better from his vantage above you.

"what did you find?" you ask, feeling small under the watchful eye of your professor. he grins down at you, reaching over to squeeze your arm briefly.

"i can't tell you," professor kim deflects. after a few moments, he stands, walking back to his desk now but it's too late. you're intrigued, stomach churning in anticipation.

"you can't or you won't?" you call after him. professor kim stops and glances back at you.

"there's the ________ i know," he says, chuckling. he continues on to his desk, packing up the rest of his things. you watch with steely eyes.

"i don't want any rumors about this. it's a tragic event that has no business being turned into campus gossip that will most likely devolve into some urban legend decades from now," professor kim says pointedly as if berating you. you shake your head, unable to contain your curiosity.

"i won't tell anyone, professor kim, i promise," you implore. you rise from your seat, startling the professor.

he regards you for a moment, eyes traveling down your body and only now do you see professor kim. truly see him.

he towers over you, standing tall at a 5'10 or 5'11 based on your estimates. he dresses crisply, but you don't miss the brightly colored socks beneath his perfectly pressed trousers. you take note of the broad expanse of his upper body underneath the short sleeve button-up he has on.

his face, one that you've looked at two times a week for the past six months, fully came into focus now. striking eyes, a sharp nose, lips that were redder than your own. thicker, too. so thick and plump and always shining with what you could only assume was lip balm.

"sunoo," professor kim says after a moment. "call me sunoo when we're not in class."

you swallow, confused. "sir?"

"wrong," sunoo laughs. "just sunoo, please. i can't be any more than five years older than you."

that, too.

his age. so close to his students' that it's not uncommon for a lot of you to wonder if he'd ever messed around with one of you. you vaguely remember thinking that you wouldn't mind being that person.

"sunoo," you repeat. the name feels foreign on your tongue, as if you're stepping over a boundary you're not supposed to cross.

"okay, sunoo. i promise not to tell anyone what you know about the...the incident."

you catch yourself before you blurt out the word 'murder'. fear grips at you, as if saying the word out loud would bring down bad fortune.

sunoo takes a deep breath, slinging the strap of his messenger bag onto his shoulder. he approaches you again and with you standing, you're relatively eye to eye.

"you know what my consultation hours are. come by right after," sunoo says. you nod and seemingly satisfied, sunoo smiles, walking out the door of the lecture hall.

you linger for a moment before you realize you're all alon. a chill runs up your spine. you dash out of the hall faster than you've ever moved in your life.

---

"they're looking into the professors now. it's kind of fucked up, don't you think?"

you lift your eyes from the book you're reading, regarding your friend in confusion.

"what do you mean 'looking into the professors'?" you ask, scooting closer to hear better.

jake sighs, motioning for your whole table to squeeze in tighter. you scan the library quickly, to see if the coast was clear. your other friends press their shoulders against yours, waiting for jake to reveal what it is he has to say.

"they've cleared most of the students on kazuha's floor. it wasn't one of them." at this, jake turns to you and you nod.

you're brought back to the day after the murder. policemen knocked on everyone's door, questioning and taking witness statements. you had held your roommate's hand the whole time while you were being pressed for answers. you remember crying that night in fear for your own life.

"it only makes sense they widen their search," you supply. "they started with the professors teaching the classes kazuha was taking, correct?"

jake nods. "exactly."

"how is that fucked up?" sunghoon asks from your left, directly across jake. the latter rolls his eyes, tapping the table in mild annoyance.

"think about your own professors. do any of them look like the type to murder you? to want to murder you?" jake says in a whisper-shout. the whole table falls silent, nervous eyes meeting each other.

"no," sunghoon finally answers.

"right?! but what if one of them was capable. we wouldn't know. and if it was one of her professors, i'm sure kazuha suspected nothing, either" jake explains, emphasizing every word with a finger to the table.

you shiver, suddenly overcome with a dreadful fear.

"i need to go," you say, pushing yourself off your chair. you glance at your watch and realize it's time for you to meet sunoo, anyway.

you bid a quick goodbye to everyone before storming out of the library. the hallway seems even chillier than the freezing library. you wrap your arms around you protectively.

---

"you look shaken up. what's wrong?"

you swallow thickly as you shut the door behind you, eyes downcast. your breathing is labored, having run all the way from the library to the building that housed the professor's offices.

you look up to see sunoo standing by his desk, a look of concern on his face. he crosses the room in a few wide strides, fingers gently prying your chin up so you could look at him.

"did you run?" sunoo asks, reaching into his pocket. he hands a handkerchief to you, gesturing at your forehead.

"it's chilly in here. dry off before you get a cold," sunoo advises.

you take the handkerchief, absently dabbing at your forehead. you lean against the heavy wooden door.

"sorry, prof—i mean, sunoo," you begin, trying to steady your breath. "i came from a class and didn't want to miss you here."

sunoo smiles. "i was going to wait for you, anyway."

you meet his eyes but you say nothing, opting to straighten yourself up instead. this is the closest you've been to sunoo, and the way he looks so worried for you nearly threatens a smile out of you.

"you know, we could both get into big trouble for this," sunoo points out, walking back to his desk. he eases himself onto his chair, motioning for you to do the same on one of the two seats provided for his consultees.

you sit, suddenly nervous about what sunoo could possibly have figured out. you watch him rifle through a folder of papers before pulling one out.

"did you know kazuha had a boyfriend?" sunoo begins, setting the paper down and pointing to it. it's a copy of someone's student file.

you lift it to see better and a familiar name is typed at the very top.

yoshi kanemoto.

another post-grad getting his master's in anthropology or some other. part of the post-grad and law school varsity basketball team. he's a friendly enough guy, if just a tad bit shy. he and kazuha haven't been going out long, or so you've heard. you've seen him around your floor a few times and he didn't seem to ring any alarm bells in your head.

"it's always the boyfriend first," you observe.

when violent crimes against women are committed, the first place law enforcement looks into is any present or past relationships.

"accomplished young man, if i do say so myself," sunoo declares. "totally cooperative and was said to be devastated with the news."

"but...?" you ask, anticipating a caveat with the positive introduction.

"reports say they were fighting the night of the murder," sunoo expounds, shrugging.

"was there ever a history of violence? abuse?" you question.

sunoo shakes his head. "none that i've heard. but i was trying to pull some strings at the detective's office the other day. i guess i pulled one that put this whole thing into perspective."

you suck in a breath. "what did you find?"

there was a pause. sunoo purses his lips, exhaling.

"kazuha was nine weeks pregnant when she was killed."

you blink. it takes you a moment to realize what you just heard. you fall back against your chair, a hand coming up to cover your mouth. the hairs on your arm prickle.

"so...you think the fight was because of that. a-and yoshi killed her to get out of the responsibility?" you ask, voice trembling.

sunoo shrugs again. "maybe. maybe not. but it definitely puts kanemoto in a bad light."

you don't say anything, a weight in your chest rendering you speechless. you and sunoo sit in silence for nearly a minute, with sunoo carefully studying your expression.

"no one else knows this. only the detectives and me. and now, you," sunoo informs. "so, i need you to be very quiet about this."

"of course," you immediately agree. "i won't tell a soul."

sunoo smiles sympathetically, pushing himself off his chair. he comes around the desk, moving to sit across from you. he holds his hand out to you, waiting.

you place your hand in his, relaxing as he runs a thumb over your knuckles.

"i'm sorry for dragging you into this," sunoo says, patting the top of your hand with his other one. "but when my top student asks, it's hard to refuse."

you laugh at this, eyes landing on your clasped hands.

"thank you for entertaining my...unusual request," you say, chuckling lightly.

"anything else you've discovered?" you ask, averting your eyes to the papers on sunoo's desk.

"if...i'm allowed to ask," you add, peering back at sunoo momentarily.

sunoo hums, reaching over to the scattered papers on his desk.

"yunjin is taking the rest of semester off, i hear," sunoo says, idly toying with the files.

"smart move," he adds.

you nod, throat thick once again with uncertainty. you stand, pulling your hand away, much to sunoo's surprise.

"leaving so soon?" sunoo questions. you smile, nodding politely.

"it's getting late and i don't really trust the campus nowadays after dark," you reason.

sunoo nods. he gestures for the door and you follow.

"let me walk you to your dorm, then," sunoo offers, smiling. a flash of something passes his eyes and you recognize it as hesitance.

"you don't have to," you automatically answer. you pause, realizing that you'd be walking alone at dusk through paths and hallways where a killer may have potentially walked.

the thought alone fills you with a visceral fear.

"i know," sunoo agrees. he hurriedly rushes to his desk, grabs his phone and keys before returning to your side.

"and i totally understand if you don't want me to, but i would feel much more at ease if i did," sunoo says, eyes pleading.

you nod, already reaching for the knob. "alright."

sunoo seems relieved as the two of you walk out of his office. he locks it before you start your way down the hall.

the journey is quiet, with sunoo's hands in his pockets and yours clasped tightly around the strap of your book bag. the night is chilly as you cross the courtyard to get to your dorm building, with barely anyone out at this hour. the walkways are lighted up to the extreme, illuminating every corner of the campus that the beams of light can reach.

you arrive at the entrance to your building and sunoo turns to you.

"now i can go to bed later tonight without any worry," sunoo says with a smile, eyes shaping into crescents. you can't help but grin back.

"please be careful on your way back," you remind. "and go straight home, if you can."

sunoo chuckles, reaching over to lay a hand on your arm. you inhale, the warmth from his palm bleeding through your thin sweater.

"i will," sunoo reassures. "i'll see you thursday, okay?"

you reach up shakily to grasp sunoo's outstretched arm, your own fingers curling around it.

"i'll see you."

---

somewhere, in a shadowy corner behind a bundle of brush, the figure stands, unmoving. concealed by the darkness, he watches through the windows, etching onto his mind the little details.

someone is playing the guitar next to an open window, puffing out smoke despite the building's prohibition on any narcotic substance. someone else is reading, the thick tome in their lap illuminated by a nearby lamp.

and someone else is merely looking out into the night sky. a pretty bundle of hair on their head billowing in the soft breeze. they seem nervous, shaken. lines appear between their eyebrows. like they're deep in thought.

the figure in the dark watches the thinker a little bit more, entranced by their beauty. eventually, they're satisfied. they stalk off into the night, the image of that one person's hair burned into the back of their eyelids.

---

"now, i understand midterms are coming up so i need you to be more attentive with your grades," sunoo eyes the lecture hall, staring pointedly at everyone's faces.

"don't wait until finals to scramble for that passing grade. i try to be gracious, but it's not a free-for-all," he continues. sunoo closes his laptop and the screen behind him goes black.

"remember, pre-test next week. you have tomorrow, the weekend, and monday to study," sunoo says with an air of finality.

"you may leave," he concludes with a wave of his hand. the room lets out a collective breath.

a few students stay behind as the rest trickle out of the doors, hounding sunoo with questions. he answers, face stoic and eyes focused as he gives curt, direct answers.

you stand from your seat, hovering around your desk, unsure when the others would leave. finally, they seem satisfied enough with their ambush on sunoo and they walk off, letting the door slam behind them.

sunoo spots you and his expression brightens. he beckons you over and you approach him, watching his slender fingers work on the stacks of paper in front of him.

"i must say, i'm excited to read your digest later tonight," sunoo admits, a bashful look in his eyes.

you laugh. "who gets excited to read a case digest?"

"i do," sunoo responds abruptly. "only when it comes to yours, though. you're always thorough, including all the details but organizing them in a way that's quick and easy to understand."

"that is an impressive feat, _______," he adds.

you feel your face heat up, your stomach giving way as if falling to the floor beneath you.

"you give me too much credit," you answer meekly, avoiding sunoo's eyes.

"you're a talented student. and i'm sure you'd be a talented lawyer eventually," sunoo reassures, shrugging on his bag. he steps in front of you.

"do you have a class after this?" sunoo asks. you shake your head 'no'.

sunoo nods, eyes trailing off to the side momentarily, as if pondering on something. he turns back to look at you, his signature bright smile returning.

"do you want to grab a bite together?"

you're taken aback by sunoo's offer, unsure what to do or say. the automatic response making its way up was a polite refusal. but sunoo has done you a favor and you think that this might be him asking for something back.

"are you sure?" is what you opt to say. sunoo's eyes narrow but he's smirking, as if this wasn't what he was expecting you to say.

"yes, i'm sure," sunoo replies. "don't worry about all that ethical stuff. i'm only taking you out for coffee and some snacks. besides, we're done with my class now, aren't we? i'm just plain old sunoo to you."

you giggle. "you could never be plain to me."

sunoo's head bows, his cheeks rounding even more as a blush creeps onto his face. you watch, amused, as sunoo obstructs half of his face with his hand.

"just say yes, _______," sunoo says from behind his hand.

you laugh fully this time, noticing as sunoo's ears turn red as well.

"alright, yes. i'd love a coffee with you."

---

the campus cafe stays open until midnight on most days, but since the incident, they've bumped it down to 9 pm.

it's now 8:30 and no one else was at the cafe but you and sunoo, seated at a booth tucked away near the back. the baristas have started to discreetly clean up for the night, emptying the pastry case little by little, but neither you nor sunoo had the heart to suggest leaving.

"that's some gnarly stuff," you comment as you try to digest the story sunoo had just told you about one case he worked on recently involving one woman literally stealing another woman's baby from her womb.

"it was sad overall," sunoo counters, leaning back in his chair from across you. you feel his legs shift against yours and a shiver runs up your spine.

at some point during the hours you've spent talking, sunoo had managed to sandwich your leg between both of his under the table. he held it there, rubbing against your ankle from time to time with his own, like your very own version of footsie.

"the trauma the actual mother got from it was unimaginable. and as for the woman who took her baby away from her, it was clear that she was not right in the right state of mind. those around her refused to see it as that and withheld proper care for her," sunoo recounts, staring directly into your eyes.

his brown irises seem brighter under the yellow-tinged light of the cafe, dancing with something you can't quite put your finger on.

before you could say anything in response, sunoo reaches over the table to where your hand rests. he takes it in his, slowly intertwining your fingers together.

your heart hammers against your chest. sunoo is still looking at you, silent, but a thousand words poring from his intense gaze.

"i'm parked not far from here and my apartment's just a short drive away," sunoo begins, his thumb drawing patterns onto your palm.

your eyebrows raise, your chest heaving as you take deeper breaths. your body seems to seize up.

is this really happening?

"gonna tell me more about your cases, professor?" you ask, purposely taking up his title again in conversation.

sunoo smiles knowingly, digging the nail on his thumb a little deeper into your palm. your breath hitches and you nearly quiver.

"i can. but i'd like to know more about the stories you have to tell if that's okay," sunoo says, rubbing over the little crescent-shaped dent he made.

"what do you want to know?" you question, raising an eyebrow.

sunoo grins.

"everything."

---

true to his word, sunoo seems to want to know everything.

everything about your body, that is. but he reasons that your body can tell a million different stories about yourself, too.

"like how you like being kissed," sunoo says, pulling away momentarily from your lips as he slams the front door shut behind him.

he presses his mouth against yours once more and you groan, pulling him closer by the front of his shirt. sunoo slips his hands under your own blouse, nails dragging down your back as he guides you to the couch.

sunoo distances himself again, kissing down your neck, still clawing at your back. you squirm, whimpering pathetically.

"your body can tell me what your pain tolerance is," sunoo whispers lowly next to your ear, catching your earlobe between his teeth.

"and i have a feeling it's pretty high, sweetheart."

you moan, pressing yourself closer to sunoo. he retaliates by shoving you down onto the sofa. your hair is a mess, your blouse skewed and wrinkled on your body.

"it is," you confirm, quickly pulling your shirt over your head and tossing it to the floor.

sunoo bites his lip, fingers working deftly on his belt. he gets it undone and hurriedly unbuttons and unzips his pants, pulling it down along with his underwear.

"show me," sunoo commands, reaching down to grab your jaw, lining your face up with his half-hard cock.

you sit up, grabbing onto sunoo's firm thighs with one hand to steady yourself. you grab the base of sunoo's cock in the other, pumping slowly. gathering spit in your mouth, you envelop sunoo's length with your mouth, a hiss escaping the man standing above you.

"god, that mouth," sunoo begins, threading his fingers through your hair. "i knew it did more than give me the right answers in class."

you moan around him, peering up at sunoo through your lashes. sunoo's eyes darken as he watches you take more of him, going down all the way to the very base.

you pull back, coughing. sunoo tugs you closer by the hair and you yelp in surprise.

"come on, i know you can do better," sunoo urges.

you wrap your lips around sunoo again, sucking in hard. you start to move, bobbing up and down, taking more and more of sunoo in as you go. he doesn't shy away from noise, moaning and groaning as you repeatedly let his tip hit the back of your throat.

"fuck," sunoo mutters, yanking you off him.

"bend over the back of the couch, baby. keep that cute skirt on."

you wipe the spit from your chin, tears pooling at the corner of your eyes. despite your debauched appearance, looking as if close to crying, the wetness between your legs is undeniable. you reach down to pull your panties off, and a dark spot is clearly visible on the fabric.

sunoo takes it from you, grabbing your chin.

"open," sunoo says. you oblige, letting your jaw fall slack. he shoves your panties in your waiting mouth and you gasp in surprise. the sound muffles around the damp cloth.

"bend over," sunoo barks. "don't make me repeat myself."

you lean over the back of the couch, sticking your hips out as far as they would go. you hear sunoo give a sound of satisfaction, his hands moving your skirt up further your body and exposing your ass and drenched pussy.

without a word of warning, sunoo plunges in half of himself and you cry out. you breathe through your nose, your underwear constricting any airflow through your mouth.

sunoo eases the rest of his way in and your eyes roll into the back of your head.

'yes! god yes! feels so good, sunoo!' is what you want to say but it comes out a garbled mess.

sunoo starts moving, shallow at first, as if pacing himself. slowly, he moves more and more of him out of your pussy before roughly thrusting back in. eventually, he finds a suitable rhythm, his hands gripping at your waist tightly.

"feels amazing," sunoo compliments. "my favorite student. so good for me, so obedient, always doing what i tell her to do."

you whine, looking back at sunoo. you'd give anything to see his face up close at this moment.

sunoo leans down, kissing your temple. he reaches in front of you, pulling the panties from your mouth. drool drips from your lips and you sob in embarrassment.

"dirty," sunoo comments disapprovingly. "drooling all over my couch like some whore."

"i-i'm your whore," you croak out weakly. despite the wetness in your mouth, your throat had seemingly dried up.

sunoo seems impressed by this, chuckling darkly. "yeah? you're my whore? mine to use?"

you nod, moaning wantonly as you feel sunoo deliver a particularly hard thrust.

"yes. d-do anything to me, please," you continue. sunoo grunts, movements speeding up.

your head spins, a knot in your abdomen tightening with each drag of sunoo's cock against your walls. you press your face against the couch, sunoo's name falling from your mouth like a mantra.

"gonna cum? gonna cum all over my cock?" sunoo taunts, pressing his chest against your back.

"yes," is all you can reply. sunoo' bites into your shoulder and you shudder, the sting adding to the sensations coursing through your whole body.

"me too," sunoo says. "gonna pump this pussy with my cum."

you whimper pathetically and this eggs sunoo on. his thrusts turn erratic and you're thrown into another level of pleasure.

"sunoo, i-i'm—!"

your sentence is cut off as your orgasm rocks through your whole body, a high-pitched moan echoing off sunoo's apartment walls. he continues to stretch you out, despite the sensitivity, chasing his own high.

"just like that, sweetheart, so tight, so goddamn tight," sunoo chants. a moment later, he shudders, finishing deep inside you, his whole cock buried in your pulsating hole.

soft whimpers continuously escape you, too dazed to form a coherent sentence. sunoo pulls out moments later, replacing his length with two of his fingers. you protest but it falls on deaf ears.

"i know sweetheart, i know," sunoo coos, kissing down the expanse of your back. you slump against the sofa, weak and panting.

sunoo gently moves you to face him, a soft smile on his face, a total contrast to the filthy act you just participated in.

"feel good?" sunoo asks, kissing your nose.

you nod, eyes suddenly heavy. "s'good."

sunoo chuckles, wrapping his arms around you.

"come on, we need to get you cleaned up."

---

the figure observes through glass tonight.

some of the thinker's hair is pinned up, the other half of it flowing down their shoulders. they laugh at a joke.

the thinker's phone goes off. the figure in the dark gives a start, fingertips tingling in excitement.

the figure slinks back into the shadow.

the thinker will finally be theirs.

---

"they made an arrest today."

you look up nervously from your phone, having just read the local news reports.

"the boyfriend, right?" sunghoon continues, holding his own phone up for everyone to see.

just as he says this, the rest of the bar's chatter slowly turns grim and quiet as patrons, mostly students from your university, discover the new development in kazuha's case through their own social media.

"she was pregnant," jake says in disbelief, eyes glued to his screen.

"he probably thought getting rid of them was the easiest way out," sunghoon deduces.

"but on campus? by stabbing her?" you counter. "he could have gone about this differently."

"maybe he panicked," jake offers. "or wasn't thinking straight."

"they're still going to put him on trial so he still has a chance to be proven innocent," sunghoon says.

you shake your head, leaning back in your seat. "i'm not convinced, is all."

jake snickers. "you have a better theory, ms. law student?"

you give him a look and jake holds his hands up in defeat. your phone suddenly vibrates on the table, momentarily distracting you. picking it up, you see a notification.

you're at paradoxx bar right?

you suppress a smile, realizing it's a text from sunoo. you type out a reply confirming your location and he responds just as quickly.

come meet me outside for a bit? i'm in the alley out back.

you take a quick glance around the table at your friends, but it seems as if jake and sunghoon were engaged in another topic. you pocket your phone, clearing your throat.

"i'm gonna go meet a friend real quick outside if you don't mind. i'll be back before you know it," you say, sliding out of your seat, ignoring the curious looks from your jake and sunghoon.

"want us to come with you?" sunghoon asks.

you wave him off. "i'll be fine. it's a busy night. lots of witnesses."

jake snickers at this but a look of discomfort washes over sunghoon's face. you pat his back reassuringly.

"i won't be long, i promise," you say, already walking away.

you exit the bar and the wind immediately whips your hair around. you sweep it out of your face, making your way to the alley between the bar and the building beside it, the designated smoking spot for the bar patrons or any other people passing by.

you're startled to see that it's completely empty. worrying for sunoo, you rush the rest of the way, footsteps bouncing off the walls.

"sunoo?" you call out as you round the corner.

true enough, your criminal law professor is standing there, partially concealed by the shadows, but you'd know that strikingly pale face from a mile away.

"hey," he responds, stepping fully into the glow of the bar's back door light, the only source of illumination in this little corner. he's wearing a black hoodie and black jeans, making him look younger, possibly passing as a student himself.

"i missed you," sunoo whispers just as you step into his arms. he pulls you into an embrace, kissing the top of your head.

"we saw each other at class earlier," you point out, beaming up at him. sunoo chuckles, leaning down to kiss you square on the mouth this time.

he pulls away barely an inch, your noses still touching. his breath fans against your face.

"yeah, but i missed you," sunoo reiterates.

your mind flashes back to the night in his apartment, yet to be repeated. a fire ignites in you at the thought of having sunoo to yourself like that a second time.

"so much that we're agreeing to meet behind dingy bars now?" you tease, kissing a spot on sunoo's jaw.

sunoo hums, a large hand resting loosely around your neck. his grip tightens and you gasp softly, the first hints of arousal appearing within your core.

"exactly," sunoo responds.

you laugh lightly as sunoo backs you up against the bar's back wall, a knee pressing between your legs.

"here? really?" you ask, a hint of amusement in your voice. you wanted to berate him playfully for his choice of a quickie location but his hand around your neck tightens even more.

"s-sunoo—"

sunoo clamps down even harder on your throat and your eyes grow wide. you open your mouth to utter something, a safeword, but you belatedly realize you don't have one. not with sunoo.

"yes, here," sunoo confirms, smiling sweetly. you shake your head, tapping rapidly on his arm to signal that no, you need to stop.

but sunoo digs his fingers deeper into your skin. you gasp, but no sound comes out. your head starts to feel light and that's when you see sunoo pull something out of his back pocket.

the smooth glide of metal against metal reaches your ears. a moment later, you feel a sharp prick on your side.

a switchblade.

"do you get it yet?" sunoo asks, looking down at you with the same look he gave you whenever he asks a question in class. as if quizzing you on details of a case.

"i am the same height as kazuha's boyfriend," sunoo begins, piercing your torso deeper.

you tremble. you feel the urge to throw up.

"he doesn't dress a particular way, either. a mask, a hoodie with the hood up, and plain pants would do it. any camera that would have captured me going in and out of her room would have been fooled."

you claw at his arm now, frantically swiping at any part of him that you can reach, but you know that the oxygen is rapidly decreasing in your body, rendering you weak.

"you want to ask me 'how?'. 'why?'" sunoo continues. you wrap your hands around sunoo's arm that's holding you down instead, scared that any more movement would lead to the knife plunging even deeper into you.

"she was my closest colleague's student," sunoo says. "i saw her exit his office one time and i thought she was the prettiest thing i've ever laid eyes on."

"after you, of course," sunoo adds, kissing your cheek. you jerk away but pain shoots through your head.

you're losing too much air.

"it wasn't hard for me to gather enough information about her. you saw how easily i could weasel information out of the police. the university registrar is a walk in the park," sunoo explains with an amused laugh.

"now, why did i do it?" sunoo repeats. he smiles, placing another, longer kiss to the side of your mouth.

"just because."

what follows next is a blur to you.

you feel pain rip through your torso and you feel it repeatedly, over and over and over again. you want to scream. you have to scream.

but you can't.

the damp ground greets you like an old friend, slamming into you as you fall. there's a pain in your face as you lie facedown, in your head, too, but nothing compares to the burning you feel in your stomach, climbing up and down and all around all at once.

the pain disappears moments later, replaced by a dull, numbing throb. you feel cold but warm at the same time.

you feel sleepy.

you hear footsteps fading somewhere behind you but you don't give them any mind.

at this point, you just want to sleep.

the wind blows. your hair flutters one last time.

and then, you sleep.

[silentstyx]

request where Benny Weir gets set up on a blind date with the reader

"300 Awkward Blind Dates Later ~ (benny weir x fem!reader's version)

tw! idk cursing ig

i forgot abt my inbox's ngl also guys putting the same req in my inbox twice is not going to make me do it faster!! also ive alr had to delete some reqs too PLEASEEE read my rules befire requesting any songs

It was Rory's fault he was doing this. He complained ONE TIME like a week ago about being single and so Rory put him on a blind date?! When Rory had told the whole friend group about setting up a blind date tonight for Benny everyone laughed, except Benny of course.

It was way too last minute to cancel the date so he had to just suck it up and go on this date with someone he had no interest to know about. Great.

"Hey Rory, next time you set someone up on a date don't you think the people going on a date should know about it?" Benny says, with an annoyed tone, sarcastically.

Rory's eyebrows furrowed, "she knew about it, she's going on the date. So by your rules... it's fine!"

He then walked off before Benny could hit him. Ethan turned to look at him with an amused smile, so did Sarah and Erica.

"Well, we're gonna go to class. Have fun on your date tonight." Sarah said teasingly before the two girls walked off laughing.

Ethan just patted his shoulder, somewhat comfortingly but also so Benny wouldn't see him laugh.

He was sitting in class, not paying attention. Just thinking about tonight. Rory wasn't known for having the best type in woman for example: Debbie Dazzle. The evil fucking doll that was turning the entire student body, and part of their friend group, into dolls!

"Mr. Weir! Whats the answer?" The teacher yelled across the room.

He was awaken from his daydreaming, he looked at the bored and it was blank. Nothing. Shit.

"uh, France...?" Benny asked with his confused smile.

"that might be correct," the teacher begun, "if this were Social Studies, but Mr. Weir... this is Science! Care to share with the class what you were dreaming about that was so important you can't pay attention?"

The look the teacher had on his face of sarcasm and a smug annoying smile. But Benny just shook his head in response.

"Then pay attention to the lesson. If I have to get on to you again I'm writing you up." Then the teacher got right back to teaching the class.

He made it through the rest of the school day without thinking about the date, but when he was walking with Ethan home it is alll he could talk and think about.

"Why would Rory set me on a date and not tell me until that day! Who does that ya know? And it'd be too rude to cancel this last minute... wait... Rory never even told me where!" He ranted about this whole thing the whole walk home, Ethan not really being able to get a word in at all.

He went to his house, found somewhat nice clothes. Three buttons at the top sorta shirt, and jeans. It was different from the shirts he usually wears because it wasn't just vertical lines across the shirt with a bunch of colors. It was one to two color max kinda shirt. He even brushed his hair.

He called Rory and found out where this date was, and he took his grandma's car. His brain then started filling with all of the positives that could come out of this date.

What if you're smokin hot?

What if you've seen every star wars movie?

What if you were nice?

His mind was just filling up with "what if". He got to the Restaurant you two were meeting up at, not super romantic but not McDonald's kind of casual.

He spots a really gorgeous girl sitting by herself at a booth, that has to be you?

He walks over, "Hey are you here on a blind date? Set up by Rory?"

You nod at the man, "Yeah... I don't really know him that well he kind of just started telling me about his single friend..."

He laughs at that before adding on, "I didn't know we were going on a date until today. He also did not tell me your name?"

You smile at him before responding, "(Y/N), and you're... Benny right?"

He nods in reassurance.

You were both there for hours, laughing and chatting. Until the restaurant was starting to close. You had both had appetisers, main dish, milkshakes, and then more dessert.

They told you they were closing and you both realized how long you had been there.

"It's been really fun talking to you... could I get your number?" Benny asked you, with a nervous undertone in his voice.

You smile and nod your head in agreement, taking one of the napkins and a pen from the checkbook, writing your number down to talk to him more often. You hand the napkin to him, as he grabs the pen and checkbook out of your hands. He had gotten the money from his grandma before the date but you didn't have to know that obviously. He actually told her to give him more incase he wanted to buy a video game.

He wasn't expecting to stay long, just get mac 'n cheese and then decide you two won't work well together. But he didn't want the video game and the amount he brought perfectly covered the check with tip.

"Do you want me to drive you home?" Benny asks after signing the checkbook and putting the cash on the table.

You looked at him with somewhat a shocked look, "oh, uh yeah if you don't mind. My dad said he was going to be a little bit late."

He heard the nervous chuckle at the end of that, and that is when he realised he fell for you. Hard.

[thebestandworstdayofjune]

everybody’s goin’ off the deep end (s.h. x reader)

A/N: Long time no see! I wrote this in the midst of Steve Harrington brain rot, I hope you enjoy! If you prefer, you can find it here on Ao3!

Summary: Your life has always been simple. Not necessarily easy, but simple. You know your way around the world you live in. You love your dad, your friends and your exceedingly nerdy babysitting charges. When you’re assigned to be Steve Harrington’s tutor because he is one step away from being kicked off the basketball team, you can feel things beginning to shift in your small town. And that’s just the beginning.

Friday, November  4, 1983

“I think it’s time we admit that this is hopeless.” Steve Harrington looked positively morose, hunched over his Hawkins High School issued copy of Macbeth for the third Friday in a row.

You did your best not to laugh, but he just looked so ridiculous leaning back in his chair far enough that the front legs rise off the ground, shoulders slumped and pencil tapping against the table rapidly. “It’s been ten minutes, and we’ve only made it through two pages.” If you hadn’t been anticipating the slam of the front two chair legs on the floor, you would have jumped out of your seat. You had several times in the past few weeks, even. 

But by now, you had the routine down. For the first fifteen minutes, Steve would joke and grumble, hoping that you would offer to cut your session short. Had he been assigned any other mandatory tutor during the meeting with Ms. Chen, the school counselor, and two out of three of his basketball coaches, he would have had a shot. But you’d had one too many reluctant students stuck in front of you at a library table in your time to give in to his whining. 

“Exactly!” He tapped his pen against the copy of Macbeth in front of him on the desk, accentuating his point. “Two pages in ten minutes is a horrible track record!” His eyebrows drew together, as they always did when he was particularly pouty. “Besides, Mrs. Brown already spoiled the whole thing.” You raised your eyebrow, continuing to make notes in your already  extensively annotated copy. “Calling it a tragedy in class kind of ruins the ending, you know?” You missed the way Steve’s eyes sparkled as you threw your head back in laughter. 

“That’s just the type of play, Steve. There’s comedies, tragedies, like Macbeth, and histories.” You glanced over to see Steve slumped over the table, his cheek resting on his hand. “It might be helpful to write that down.” He blinked, seemingly confused for a moment. “For the test?”

“There’s going to be a test?” Steve looked mournful. 

“I know that Mrs. Brown went over the syllabus on the first day of class. And there have definitely been tests over the other two books so far. What do you mean what test?” You looked up from your folder, where you had been shuffling through past syllabi to find a lopsided smirk on Steve’s face. “You can’t do that, Steve!”

“I’m offended you bought that! You know I’m taking this seriously.” He looked slightly sheepish at the realization you might not believe him. You took a moment to consider. You’d started studying together a few months ago, and Steve had been remarkably punctual, and had yet to cancel a session. He’d only forgotten to bring his work once and remained apologetic the whole session, even when you’d reassured him that it was fine. You’d spent the hour hunched over your notes with him beside you, you providing insight into the short story from class while Steve did his best to make you laugh. 

“You’re right, I’m sorry.” 

Steve’s eyes grew wide, mock astonishment clear on his face. “An apology?” 

“Oh my god, shut up, Harrington.” You playfully roll your eyes, before sliding your own copy of Macbeth towards him. “Trade me.” 

Steve glanced down at your copy, grinning. “Do they know you’re defacing school property, Ms. Clarke? I’m not sure that your father would approve.”

“My dad spends all day trying to convince middle schoolers to retain information about layers of the Earth’s crust. He’d just be glad I am taking an interest in an academic pursuit.” 

“Even if it’s English?” 

You smile to yourself, remembering the year you had to admit to your dad that your Science grade was not what it should be. You’d built being that daughter of Scott Clarke, science enthusiast and Earth and Biology Teacher extraordinaire of Hawkins Middle, up in your mind to be a heavy burden to bear. You’d been so afraid to hand your report card over, but he’d diligently ignored your C- and instead waxed poetic about your perfect English score. “Finally, someone to round out the knowledge base in this house!” He’d beamed and loaded you into the car for ice cream with an urgency unbecoming of the situation. 

“Especially if it’s English.” You leaned over the table, quickly finding where you and Steve had left off in your copy and pointing it out to Steve. “Start there, let’s try again.” You made it through the next two scenes, with only minor detours, usually when Steve found one of your annotations particularly amusing. 

The door to the library squeaked open, breaking your focus. Nancy and Barb hurried over to your table, crowding around your study materials. “Macbeth cannot possibly be so interesting that you forgot we had plans.” Nancy joked, Steve’s arm settled over the back of the chair. Nancy insisted it ‘wasn’t anything serious’ but you caught them making moon eyes at each other the last few times that your tutoring sessions ran over, and you could have sworn that last week he slipped his number into her notebook when he thought no one was looking. 

You glanced up at the clock, cringing internally when you realized you were, in fact, fifteen minutes late to meeting your best friends in the parking lot. Across the table, Steve let out a heavy sigh. “We were a little too into the ghost of Banquo in here.” 

Barb gave Steve a weird look. You were almost sure that she was going to say something, her eyebrow was quirking up in the way it usually does when she is about to be snarky, but the moment passed, somewhat awkwardly, but passed all the same. “I’ll see you next week, Steve.” You stood up from your chair,  Nancy and Barb following your lead. Steve started to slide your copy of Macbeth back to you across the table. “Keep it, maybe you can get through a few chapters on your own before I see you again.” 

“You firing me, Clarke?” 

“I don’t think I have the power to fire you from mandatory tutoring, Harrington.” 

Steve gifted you a rarity, one of his genuine smiles that makes the corners of his eyes crinkle slightly before standing up and heading for the library doors. “See you on Monday, Ladies!” He offered the three of you a joking salute and a wink before heading for the parking lot. 

“Doesn’t he know we are all going the same way?” Barb said, breaking the silence of the library. The three of you dissolved into giggles, and you took your time packing your book bag, not not in the hopes that you would avoid running into Steve again in the parking lot. As much as you loved Nancy, it was almost painful for you and Barb to watch her try to keep whatever is going on with her and Steve from the two of you.

______________________________________________________________

“What about this?” Nancy held up a pink blouse off the rack, eyebrows raised. 

“It’s nice, Nance, but I just can’t understand the urgency.” You laughed. The three of you’d had plans to head to Benny’s for milkshakes, as you did every Friday, but on the way Nancy had begged to stop at Pam’s, the clothing store downtown. Reluctantly, you’d parked your dad’s car out front and let her drag the two of you inside. Nancy ducked her head, blush taking over her cheeks as she put the shirt back. Her dismissive muttering could barely be heard over the store’s speakers, blaring the new Cyndi Lauper single. 

“Oh come on, Nance.” Barb rolled her eyes, snatching the blouse off the rack again. Nancy’s eyes were wide as her head snapped up to meet Barb’s gaze. “You are horrible at this. Just tell us what’s going on with Steve!”

Nancy grabbed for the shirt, but Barb was holding it over her head while you did your best to hold in your laughter. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Nancy grabbed for the shirt, looking back at you over her shoulder clearly asking for help. All you could do was shrug. 

“We saw him put his number in your notebook, and the last two times I called your line was busy! It’s never busy!” Nancy’s blush was creeping down her neck. She gave up the fight for the blouse, looking at you accusatorially. Another shrug, and a nod had her looking like she was going to stomp her foot. 

“I just-“ she paused, taking a deep breath “I need to make sure that Steve Harrington isn’t going to steal both of my friends.” 

“Barb what are you talking about?” On some level, you could understand why she was worried about Nancy. It wasn’t typical for the three of you to have secrets. But you’d tutored countless people, or joined different after school activities, and she’d never worried about the state of your friendship before. 

Barb hesitated, suddenly looking ashamed. “Nothing, it’s-” she dropped the hanger back on the rack, her hands twisting together nervously. “It’s nothing, swear.” Her smile didn’t reach her eyes. You and Nancy shared a look, not entirely convinced. 

Without a word, the two of you wrapped your arms around Barb sandwiching her between the two of you as you had done since preschool whenever someone was having a hard day. It had been a while since you’d had reason for a best friend sandwich, but when Barb wrapped her arms around the both of you, leaning her head on top of Nancy’s, you knew you’d made the right choice. “You should get the shirt, Nance. I think Steve will really like it.” Your voice came out muffled, and you couldn’t see Nancy’s face because it was smushed into your arm, but you would have sworn that you felt her smile.

______________________________________________________________________________

You pulled into the Hawkins Middle parking lot doing your best to keep your smile from turning into a grimace. Nancy had been stuck debating between two options at Pam’s for a solid twenty minutes, and after Barb’s minor breakdown, you hadn’t felt it was the time to rush anyone. You threw the car into park and barely managed to stop yourself from sprinting as you headed for your dad’s classroom. The tension left your chest when you heard the screaming from down the hall. In any other situation it would have had the opposite effect, but hearing the AV Club chattering away meant that even if you were running late, your dad is running later. 

“Like I said boys, it should be here next week but there is just no telling for sure.” Your dad had run the Hawkins Middle AV Club for as long as you could remember, but he had never had such an enthusiastic membership. In years past, you’d stop by a meeting or two after outgrowing the appropriate age for club participation, but you’d babysat for a few of the kids before, and you had a special soft spot for them. The unanimous, synchronized exclamations of “Bea!” as you rounded the corner led you to believe the feelings were mutual. 

Bea was a nickname that had pulled double duty since you were little. Bea, as in short for Beatrice, your middle name after your grandmother who had passed long before your arrival, and Bea as in bumble bee. You were a Bea to everyone, but when your dad used the name, you both knew the difference. You gave everyone a warm smile and a small wave, plopping down in a desk close to the door. 

“As soon as it comes in, you all will be the first to know.” 

“And the only ones to care.” Mike muttered, causing you to hid your smile behind your hand, in an effort not to encourage them. The boys almost instantly began to speak over one another, calling dibs on who got the first go, where they should call first. Your dad gave you a smile that said ‘there’s nothing I can do about this’. 

You coughed a few times, gaining the boys’ attention. “You guys do know you are cutting it close if you want to be somewhere with cable, so you can catch the new episode of that Dungeons and Dragons show. It comes out on Fridays, right?” The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, before they started hastily shoving books into backpacks and tearing out of the room. You stuck your head out of the doorway, calling after the boys to remind them you would see them at the Wheeler’s on Sunday. You were planning on studying for your chemistry test with Nancy. You had probably fifty vocab words to make flashcards for, not to mention the equations and elements you needed to know for your test next week. They waved without turning around before sprinting out the doors of the school. 

______________________________________________________________________________

Sunday, November 6, 1983

You’d been able to hear the boys screaming in the basement from your spot on Nancy’s bed for the last few hours. You had a rare weekend off from babysitting, as most of your regulars were currently 9 hours deep into a Dungeons and Dragons campaign in the Wheeler’s basement. Weekends without a babysitting gig were more frequent now that the boys were old enough to bike home from school alone. You would watch Lucas’s little sister on occasion, and Holly more regularly, but it was far more common to end up at the Wheeler’s with Nancy for a while and then offer give the boys a ride home. They would take you up on it if the weather is bad but more often than not, they preferred to race home. 

You and Nancy had been pretending to study for the same amount of time. You’d arrived with the best of intentions, your bag heavy with notecards and textbooks, but Nancy had a new copy of Tiger Beat, and then she’d launched into an hours-long grievance against Steve having yet to take her on a real date. Apparently, grabbing a milkshake after school didn’t count, “we do that all the time anyways”, and a makeout session in his care was not cutting it either, “besides it was only like, one time”. Ever since Barb had weaseled the confession out of her at Pam’s, it was like the dam was broken. You’d managed to corral her into focusing on studying for all of ten minutes  while you secretly contemplated if it was over stepping to bully him into just asking her to go steady if it meant you got your study partner back, when her new blue phone started ringing on her bedside table. She popped up to answer it, and you resisted the urge to roll your eyes. You’d made double the note cards she had and you still had two chapters to go. You’d largely tuned her out until you heard Steve’s name. 

Your eyes snapped to Nancy’s, a blush already having taken over a vast majority of her face. You heard some murmuring from your spot across the bed, but nothing that you could make out clearly. Maybe he was finally working up the nerve to invite her on a proper date. Her shoulders deflated, and the blush was quickly receding from her face when she looked at you. Without a word, she held the phone out to you. 

You frantically shook your head, she shoved the phone farther across the bed, causing the base to tumble onto the floor, pulling the handset out of her grasp with it. You both scrambled for the phone but Nancy was quicker, snatching it off of the floor and holding it up to your ear. “Hello?” You asked, wincing when your voice came out squeakier than you were used to. 

“Hi, I, uh, I called the number you gave me but your dad answered. Said you’d be here.” Steve sounded almost bashful, which was not something you were used to hearing from him. 

“Did my dad say something to you?” Nancy leaned her head closer to the receiver, and you adjusted to make more room for her. 

“Just that learning is a voracious and exciting river, and you have to give yourself over to the current, or something.” Nancy started to giggle, you gently shoved her back against her pillows. 

“Yeah, that sounds like him. Did you,” you pause, struggling to sound less surprised than you were, “need something, Harrington?” 

“I just,” he paused, and you could almost see the way his gaze gets stuck on the ceiling while he tries to work up the nerve to say something he is worried will make him sound stupid. “I needed to know what was up with Lady Macbeth’s weird bloodstain monologue. All you had in the margins was that she was ‘wickedly fucked’. Don’t get me wrong, you’re right, I think anyway, but why is she so crazy all of a sudden.” 

You sighed. You’d given him your number after he’d canceled a session during lunch after you and your dad had already arranged the car schedule one too many times, and begged him to call if he knew he wouldn’t be able to make it as soon as he could. It wasn’t exactly for study emergencies, not that you had ever really expected Steve Harrington to have one. “She and Macbeth have swapped how they were at the beginning. Remember how you said he was being a bitch and she was a badass for plotting Duncan’s murder?” You could hear his hair rustling against the speaker, and you could picture him nodding through the phone. It didn’t seem like the time to remind him there was no possible way you could see him. “Well, now she is regretting rushing in and being brash, and he has fully accepted what the witches said at the beginning.” “That it’s his destiny to be the king?” “Yep, you’ve got it. The whole thing is about how power and ambition is corrupting.” More rustling. “Steve, are you nearly done with the play?” “I finished it, that one part was bugging me that’s all.” 

“You finished it?!” You winced at the surprise that was clear in your voice. Nancy had not looked this confused since the time you told her the boy’s campaign had actually been interesting the last time you watched them as a group after Joyce got called in for a last minute shift, and Jonathan had photography club, rendering him unavailable. You shrugged, not sure how to explain it. 

“Your notes were really helpful, and funny. I didn’t mean to but, yeah.” 

“Oh.” 

“Oh?” 

“I just, you said that reading Macbeth was worse than taking sandpaper to your eyes.” He’d looked like Mike when he was ten and realized that you had tricked him into finishing the steamed broccoli his mother had left for dinner, the picture of theatrical disgust. 

“I said your notes made it better, didn’t I?” 

You blinked a few times as Nancy scooched back to your side. “Well, I guess we will have a lot to talk about on Monday, then.” “Yeah, yeah. Um, tell Nancy to have a good night.” He went silent for a moment, and you searched for the right words. “And you too.” He added, derailing your train of thought. 

“Sure, Steve, goodnight.” You placed the phone back on the base as if it were a live bomb. “What was that?” 

“What do you mean what was that? You’re the one he was calling!”  

You gasped. “If one of us is more accustomed to receiving phone calls from Steve Harrington, it’s going to be you!” 

Nancy rolled her eyes, a signal as clear as ever that she was gearing up for what she liked to call a lively discussion, and you hated to admit was an argument. Before she could, the phone rang again. You held your breath, preparing to hear Steve’s voice through the phone. Thankfully, it was Barb calling to ask if Nancy needed a ride to school tomorrow, she did, and if they had been studying for Kaminsky’s test, sort of. The conversation quickly devolved into talking about Steve after Barb asked if Nancy had heard from him. Nancy was recounting the awkward conversation you’d just finished and you were doing your best not to help when there was a knock on the door frame. 

You glance up to see Dustin standing at the threshold of Nancy’s room, holding a pizza box. He shook it enthusiastically. “There’ two slices left if you want ‘em, sausage and pepperoni!” 

You are about to nod enthusiastically when Nancy tells Barb to hold on. She leaves the phone on the bed and shuts the door in Dustin’s face. “Nance!” You frown at her, and you’re off the bed and out the door before she can respond. “Dusty, wait up!” You call when you get to the top of the stairs, catching a glimpse of his hat disappearing around the corner. You find him in the kitchen, depositing the pizza box on the counter. “Did you finish the campaign?” 

“Nah, we just got to the fight with the-”

“With the demogorgon? Mike was telling me about it when I was here watching Holly last week. He seemed pleased with the planning.” Dustin shrugged, looking unusually gloomy. “Is this about Nancy?” Another shrug. You throw an arm around his shoulders, walking him to the backdoor. “She didn’t mean it, she’s having a weird night.” 

“Seems like she’s been having a weird year.” He mumbled, pulling the door and stepping outside. “There’s something wrong with your sister,” he announced, making his way over to his bike, where it sat in the Wheeler’s garage. 

“What are you talking about?” Mike huffed, exasperated. 

Lucas was quick to chime in. “Yeah, it’s because she’s been dating that douchebag, Steve Harrington.” His gaze shifted to you, looking guilty. 

You held your hands up in the air in surrender. “Don’t look at me, I’m just trying to keep him from getting kicked off the basketball team on account of his English grade.” A touch of mirth made it’s way into your eyes. “Didn’t you hear, we might actually have a shot at State this year.” The boys dissolved into giggles, kicking up the stands on their bikes, fully aware that you had never the willpower to know anything about the school’s sports teams. 

“The day that you care about the basketball team is the day that Will rolls two nat twenties in a row.” Lucas laughed. Will was a notoriously bad roller. 

You ruffled Will’s hair, discreetly checking to make sure all of the boys had their bags and the flashlights on their bikes turned on. You’d been called late at night over forgotten homework one enough that you did your best to confirm they had anything before they got too far down the street. Lucas rolled his eyes. “We have everything mom.” The rest of the boys shook with laughter. 

“Let’s see how you feel being woken up at eleven o’clock over missing math homework, and then we can talk. Are you sure you guys wouldn’t rather have a ride home?” The boys shook their heads in unison, rebuffing you when you asked fi they were sure.

They confirmed one more time that you had no updates about the new radio your dad had ordered for the AV club, before beginning to pedal away. “Be safe, boys!” You called, stepping inside, leaving Lucas and Dustin’s unified “We will!” And the sounds of Mike and Will talking softly drifting in from the garage behind you. 

You quickly said your goodbyes to Mr. And Mrs. Wheeler, stuck your head in to say goodnight to Nancy and gave Holly a hug before heading out to your car. By the time you got home, your dad was in bed, a note on the fridge reminding you about your early wake up time for tomorrow, so that he could be at Hawkins’ Middle to receive a package. You were thoroughly tired by the time that your head hit the pillow, but somehow, a pit had formed in the bottom of your stomach. It wasn’t often you tossed and turned, but when you did, you were an old pro. You lasted fifteen minutes before crawling out of bed and setting yourself up on the couch, a cup of tea and a worn old copy of A Wrinkle in Time your dad acquired in high school. It was your favorite bedtime story growing up and it usually did the trick even now. You read until your eyes got heavy and your tea grew cold, before dragging yourself back to bed in the hopes of feeling more like a well rested, responsible, functioning human in the morning. If you were being honest, the chances of that were slim. 

next chapter

[hwaslayer]

project: make you love me (jyh) | three.

♣︎ spotify playlist | series masterlist

—summary: yunho can’t stand how you’re so wrapped up in the notorious campus fuckboy, park seonghwa. he would gladly love you the way you deserve, despite being shy, awkward and the complete opposite of seonghwa. thus, when he finds himself spending more time with you over literature reviews and random study sessions, he decides to take on the challenge to win you over.

—pairing: jeong yunho x f. reader x park seonghwa

—genre: (18+ - minors dni) strangers/friends to lovers, college au | fluff, angst, (eventual) smut

—word count: 4.8k

—chapter content/warnings: cussing/mature language, we all know seonghwa is a dick but he pulls something that makes him even more of a dick (if that's even possible?), yunho 🥺, we finally say hello to yeosang!!

"Thank god lab was cancelled today. Can finally eat a meal in peace." Soobin sighs. "Here." He shoves his fries over to Chaery. "Too full now."

"Yay!" She claps as she takes the plate and begins to chow down on the rest of Soobin's curly fries. "They're so good. I can't believe they're already out of this when the cafeteria barely opened 30 mins ago."

"There's visitors on campus getting lunch so—" Seungmin shrugs. "Visitors getting free food and leaching off of us poor college students."

"At least the frozen yogurt machine is working!" Chaery adds.

"For now. They'll probably eat that shit up and end up breaking the machine, too. You know, visitors doing what visitors do best."

"Stop. Be nice." You scold him. "They're literally just high school seniors."

"Yeah.. so, visitors?" Seungmin furrows his brows. "I said what I said." You snort just as you finish up your frozen yogurt cup and place it down onto your tray.

"I heard that new mochi donut place opened in downtown." Soobin nonchalantly adds as he scrolls through his phone. "We should go before practice."

"We should." Chaery squeals. "I wholeheartedly agree with you for once!" Soobin furrows his brows at her before [playfully] threatening to take back his fries.

"Are you driving? I'm kinda low on gas." Seungmin asks.

"Yeah, why not?" Soobin shrugs, being the first to stand and drop off his tray. "Meet us at the library after class, Chaery?" The rest of your group follows and agrees in unison.

"Mm, sure. Guess I'll just wait around there, then. I do need to get some homework done so I can study all night." Chaery adds before looking at you. "Hey, you're seeing Yunho in class today right?"

"Sure am."

"Gonna sit next to him?" You chuckle.

"Chaery, sorry to break it to you, but that one time was a coincidence. He just didn't have anywhere else to sit."

"Whatever you say. I'm sure you'll find him in the same seat today."

"What are you, cupid?"

"Whatever you want me to be. As long as I can get you the fuck away from Park Seonghwa." She pretends to gag, making you laugh.

"You're too much."

"Call it what you want, I just care about you." She swings her arm around you as your group walks over to the library. It's quite busy at this time— lots of foot traffic, with people in and out of classes or hanging out. You, Soobin and Seungmin bid farewell to Chaery as she heads into the quiet section of the library to get work done, while the three of you head upstairs to your classrooms. There's still about 5 minutes to spare, more than enough time for you to head to your seat and settle in before class. So, you do just that— head to your seat and settle in. 

Except to your surprise, Jeong Yunho is sitting in that same seat next to you. 

You pause in your steps for a second before continuing to walk over, observing as he types away at his laptop. You're sure he can feel you coming, but he doesn't do much to acknowledge you until you take a seat. He glances over at you with a small smile, muttering a soft:

"Hi." 

"Hey Yunho."

"How was the rest of your walk?"

"My walk?" You raise a brow before it clicks in your head. "Oh, right! With Chaery. Yeah, it was good. How was yours?" You chuckle as you take out your notebook. "Were you able to get some sleep that night?" You remembered. Such a minor detail for Yunho, but you remembered.

"Uh, yeah. Enough to suffice." 

"Good." You chuckle. "By the way, thanks again for sending me that stuff. It's super helpful."

"Glad it is." Your eyes glance up to Dr. Nelson walking in and setting his things down on the front desk. Your smile fades when Dr. Nelson begins class and starts talking all this nonsense about a major paper assignment.

"Might have to bother you again for more help with this later." Yunho chuckles a bit and shakes his head.

"You're not a bother. I don't mind." He says close to a whisper. You give him one last smile before diverting your attention back to Dr. Nelson, jotting down some notes about his topic of the day. 

Class goes by as it typically does, with you being able to work with Yunho on another in-class assignment. He asks about the rest of your afternoon, and you tell him about your plans with friends, dance practice and your evening class. He simply nods before explaining that he'll be working on some other projects for the remainder of the day. It falls silent a majority of the time you're working with him, however you don't mind keeping up the conversation. He's easy to talk to, and quite frankly, you don't find Yunho the least bit intimidating or awkward.

At least, you couldn't pick up on it during your interactions with him.

You're just hoping he's fond of your company, too. Hopefully, you don't annoy him— especially when you ask for help.

"Don't work too hard, okay?" You say as you pack up your things and start to head out of the classroom. Yunho follows shortly after, slinging his backpack strap over his shoulder.

"Mm, I'll try. I do have lots of things to cross off, though."

"Would you like me to get you a mochi donut to give you some energy?" He laughs.

"That's very nice of you, but no thanks. I'll be good."

"Okay. Suit yourself." You tease before waving at him one last time. "See ya around?"

"Yeah." Is all he responds with. He watches as you meet your friends and head downstairs, with Chaery waiting for your group at the bottom of the steps. He smiles a bit when he sees you hug her like you haven't seen her in years, becoming fond of how good you look being happy.

You should be happy.

He doesn't know much about you yet, but he does appreciate your energy and how kind you are around him. 

Meanwhile, you're enjoying the walk down to the lot with your friends. You're happy to be reunited with your bestfriends, class wasn't too bad for the first time in ages and you're off to get some good mochi donuts. But of course, you've come to learn that these things don't last, and they don't last for one reason only—

"Hey." Seonghwa says, catching you as he walks out of the gym. "Can I talk to you for a second?" You sigh as you slow your pace, letting your friends walk ahead.

"Seonghwa, I don't have time. We're literally about to leave."

"Just 2 minutes." Your friends look back at you, Chaery making it very obvious of her distaste for him. He doesn't care much though, because what Seonghwa wants is what he gets. He won't stop until he gets it. "Please, 2 minutes."

"Fine." You cross your arms. "What?"

"You're still upset?"

"Why wouldn't I be, Hwa? Tell me one good reason."

"I said I was sorry. We were just talking. I didn't know I couldn't talk to my classmates."

"Right. Just talking even with your other classmate who stepped out of your car that morning, too?"

"Baby." He groans a bit. "She just needed a ride. Why do I have to explain all of this to you? You know I wouldn't do that."

"Unfortunately, no. I don't know. I don't know what you're up to when we aren't together."

"And I'm telling you now. Stop listening to other people and assuming. Just talk to me and ask me." He says. "I hate when we're like this. I don't want you mad, and I just wanna move past this." He actually sounds a bit worried, but you know better than to just let your guard down right away because he has hurt you before. He has done things 'behind your back.' He has made it very clear what you were to him. "Besides, it's not just me. That whole thing with Yunho—"

"No. You don't get to do that. You don't get to drag him into this." You shake your head. "This is such a waste of time, and we're just going in circles. I need to go." You turn but he gently grabs you by the wrist to stop you.

"Okay, okay. Baby. I'll stop. I'm sorry." There he goes again. At this point, all you can do is stare at him. You have nothing else to say, and you're not sure what else to do. Seonghwa is going in circles and you know it's because he's sorry that he got caught;

Not because he is truly and genuinely sorry about being a dick and treating you this way.

"Y/N, let's go. We don't have much time before practice." Soobin calls out, his eyes glued on Seonghwa.

"I really need to go."

"I'll come pick you up tonight then, okay? After practice." You don't say anything— don't do anything really— besides give Seonghwa one last look before turning on your heel to head back to your friends. "I'll be there." He says as you continue walking, letting out a deep sigh.

"Sorry." You climb in next to Chaery in the backseat and buckle in, with Soobin driving out of the lot.

"It's cool. We should just go so we can get back in time. Hyunjin will never let it go if we show up late." Seungmin says.

"We'll just shove a mochi donut in his face, he'll be okay." Chaery responds, texting away before turning her attention towards you. "Babe, what was that about?"

"He was just trying to apologize for how it's been."

"How.. what's been? He's always been this way so what's the difference?"

"I don't know."

"Are you seeing him later?"

"I guess."

"He better make that the best damn apology anyone has ever seen." 

"Let's hope so." You give her a pursed smile and shrug. 

Soobin takes the quick drive into downtown, pulling up to a parking spot just around the corner from the new mochi donut shop. There's a few people waiting in line outside, but it moves quick. The four of you fall in line, each chiming in about how the day went and anything new that's happened. Soobin starts to discuss plans for Christmas break that'll soon peak around the corner— explaining how he plans to go home and spend time with his baby cousins who will be in town. You find out Seungmin and Chaery also plan to go home every now and then. For you, you're not really sure what your plans are. Perhaps you'll fall in the middle since you do love seeing your mom and older sister, however the space and freedom is always nice.

The line continues to move bit by bit until your group is finally at the front. Seungmin orders two boxes to bring to the studio, while the rest of your group orders individual donuts to try out. Before eating your donut, you snap a picture and immediately think about Yunho. You second-guess texting the photo to him, but you do it anyways— hoping it will give him some kind of boost of energy for his evening.

Which, is fair. Because Yunho is in the library already struggling to get through some of this project. 

you: here's your donut! i'll eat it on your behalf.

Yunho chuckles a bit to himself before responding.

yunho: thanks. 😊 really appreciate the support.

you: hopefully you can feel the boost of energy from here!

yunho: already do!

You giggle and set your phone into your pocket before continuing on with your friends, mentally preparing for your own evening of practice and class.

Yunho makes his trek to the back parking lot like he usually does at this time, not expecting many people to be around. It's exceptionally chilly tonight that he sucks in a sharp breath to prevent his teeth from chattering too much. He does a little shimmy too, hoping it'll shake the feeling off from his bones until he gets to his car.

God, this walk couldn't be any longer.

As he finally arrives to the back lot, he catches you sitting at the same bench that he saw you sitting at last time. He lets out a breath and shakes his head, slowly walking to his car to give Seonghwa some time to make it to you before he climbs in.

Too bad that doesn't fucking happen.

He tried, he really tried to walk as slow as he could in this cold weather, but he couldn't prolong it any further. He pops his trunk and tosses his bag in, contemplating what his next move is when he sees you wiping away at your face. You're crying, and sitting in the cold— it's a damn shame he can't molly-whop Seonghwa's ass into the next lifetime right at this very moment.

"Fucking dick." He mutters to himself when he climbs into his car and drives over to the entrance, quickly hopping out to jog over to you with his extra jacket in hand. You don't really notice him though [and he doesn't wanna scare the hell out of you], so he stops at a certain distance before clearing his throat. You turn to him with watery eyes, but you manage to put on a tiny smile for him anyway. Probably to try and hide the fact that you're crying over Park Seonghwa, but it's too late. 

He knows.

"Yunho, hi." You wipe at your face once more. "What're you doing here?"

"I was just about to leave, but I saw you sitting here."

"Oh, no. Don't worry about me. My ride is.. coming." You pause a bit in between words.

"You sure?" Yunho cocks a brow up and you nod. No.

"Yes." You lie anyway. Truth be told, you know Seonghwa isn't coming at this point but you still hold onto hope. It's been close to a fucking hour and you ridiculously hold onto hope. You glance at Yunho but his facial expression shows that he doesn't believe you one bit. 

He knows, he knows.

So, he gestures towards his car and purses his lips together.

"It's freezing. If you really wanna wait for him, you can wait in my car until he gets closer." Is all he says. Wow, he really knows. "I just can't let you wait here any longer by yourself." You look at him and immediately know through his look alone that he's not gonna let this one go. You simply give him a curt nod before standing. He extends his arms out when you get a little closer, draping his jacket over your shoulders. It's a thick zip-up, and Yunho's scent lingers on the fabric. He smells good, you think— hints of an earthy, woody cologne he uses, mixed with laundry detergent. "You can wear my jacket for now to warm up."

"Yunho, you really don't have to."

"I do." He says in a gentle tone. He swings his passenger door open, allowing you to settle in before hopping in the driver's seat. He instantly turns up the heat before sitting back and scrolling through his phone, picking a song on his playlist to play softly in the background.

"He's not coming." You say close to a whisper as you fiddle with your fingers on your lap, Yunho cocking his head to the side to look at you.

"I'll take you home then."

"No, it's alright. I can call my roommates—"

"We live in the same community, it's not a problem Y/N." He chuckles.

"Right. Thank you." You look up at him and he gives you a toothless smile before driving off. It's a little awkward, embarrassing even, that you were caught crying over somebody who didn't deserve the tears. Somebody who stood you up and left you in the cold, somebody who didn't even care to text or call. Somebody who is probably getting busy as we speak—

Yeah, definitely undeserving.

You almost wanna cry again as you look out the window, feeling so incredibly small and stupid for this shit. But, it's like Yunho knows what's going on in your head, what you're feeling like. He doesn't have to ask, and quite frankly, he's pretty pissed himself that Seonghwa could just continuously leave you out in the cold like that. Who the fuck does that?

"You deserve better." Yunho says, running his finger across his bottom lip as he continues to keep his eyes on the road.

"I know."

"I don't know the whole story, and I can't say I understand, but you can't keep hoping Seonghwa will change for you. He's an absolute dick."

"Yeah, he is." You admit it with a whisper. Yunho won't say anything more though, he didn't necessarily pick you up to lecture you. 

"Is there anything you need before going home?" You shake your head.

"No, just wanna get home and get comfy." 

"Okay."

"I definitely need to get you lunch now." He chuckles and shakes his head.

"You don't owe me anything."

"So, you don't wanna have lunch with me tomorrow?" You look at him all doe-eyed and he can't help but smile bigger. You're cute.

"Never said that. I just don't want you to repay me for anything."

"Just this once?" You pout a bit. You're so cute. "We can go to that new brunch place in town."

"If you wanted to hang out, you could've just asked." He smirks and you let out a small snort.

"Funny." You turn to him. "Seriously. If you're free, let me buy you lunch. At least something to say thank you for keeping me warm and out of the cold." He nods.

"Sure. I have a good break in between classes tomorrow."

"Okay. I'll just text you when I get out of my class then." You lean your head back against the headrest and stare out the window, exhaustion slowly starting to hit you. "By the way, that literature review you helped me with? I got an A on it."

"Sweet. Nice to know I can be of help." You chuckle.

"You're a lot of help." Yunho smiles to himself as he continues to drive, a comfortable silence falling in the car for the rest of the way. 

When he pulls into the lot, he snags a parking spot near his building just because he knows he'll walk you over to yours. It's a small, tightknit community, and the walk to your building is merely across the parking lot, but it's his priority to make sure you get home safely. He does a slight jog to open your door before popping the trunk to grab your things, handing you your bag with a soft smile on his face.

He's cute.

"Well, I'm there, so.." You point towards your building. "See you tomorrow?" He shakes his head.

"Come on, I'll walk you."

"Yunho—"

"It's a quick walk."

"You do too much for me." He looks at the ground and lazily kicks at the fallen leaves.

"I don't think so. This is the bare minimum, and it's quite obvious someone hasn't been putting in the effort." He sucks on his bottom lip while looking at you.

"You can say that."

"I don't mean to say this in an attacking manner or anything."

"No I know, Yunho. I know you wouldn't do that." 

"Good." He stops in front of the stairs that'll lead you up to your unit.

"Thanks for everything tonight."

"Anytime."

"Goodnight Yunho, walk safely." He lets out a small laugh.

"Goodnight Y/N." He watches as you slowly walk up the steps, only turning when he feels satisfied enough to leave you. 

"Oh, Yunho!" You call for him around the corner of the steps and poke your head out. "Your jacket?"

"You can just give it to me tomorrow."

"Okay. Goodnight!"

"Night." He chuckles, digging his hands into his pockets as he walks off to his apartment.

Per usual, he steps in and hears his roommate yelling at his computer screen while locked away in his room. His roommate is cool and all, but they talk here and there; not too often. Yeosang is usually minding his own business with his own group of friends, in and out of the apartment with the occasional guest over. Other times, he's locked in his room while playing games. He cooks ramen a lot, and he typically asks Yunho if he wants some— which is nice of him, and he's grateful. Yunho is okay with being in his own company for the most part. As a matter of fact, it's less of a headache that way since he doesn't have to worry much about others around him. He's always been quiet and more reserved, moreso just for the sake of his own peace. He doesn't go out of his way for people, so he finds himself chuckling at the fact that he pulled all that shit for you. Not saying you weren't worth the trouble, but it felt so out of character that he wasn't sure what he was trying to do here. Though, he can say he does find comfort in your company and he can't say that for a lot of people. It's easy for him to feel relaxed around you even though he hasn't spent a lot of time with you outside of the classroom. It's just who you are and how you carry yourself. Your aura, your personality.

It's nice, refreshing really. You don't have to try to be these things, it comes naturally.

Suddenly, Yeosang's door swings open and he's walking out in a baggy black tee and sweats. Yunho decides he'll cook up some spam.

"What's up, dude." Yeosang grabs a water bottle from the fridge.

"I'm about to cook some spam, do you want some?" Yeosang shakes his head.

"I'm good, thanks. Had dinner earlier." Yeosang looks at him with a brow cocked up. "Surprised you didn't grab anything on your way home?"

"Was gonna but got caught up with something as I was about to leave."

"Something or someone?"

"Someone." Yunho shrugs.

"Are you seeing someone?"

"What, no?! I just ran into Y/N and she was having a rough night."

"Y/N? The junior messing with Park Seonghwa?" Yeosang says and Yunho rolls his eyes. Unbelievable. You can't even spell your name without Seonghwa nowadays.

"Uh, yeah her." 

"Surprised that's still a thing." Yeosang does a slight head tilt. "He must have some feelings, right? I've never seen him hold onto someone for so long the way he does with Y/N." Yunho shrugs. He doesn't really wanna talk about this right now, let alone think about you and Seonghwa. Because what does Yeosang even mean? Feelings?

The truth is that Seonghwa is a dumbass and that's that.

He doesn't do feelings.

"He left her out in the cold for close to an hour, so. Highly doubt it's that." Yunho says with a subtle hint of venom in his words. Yeosang catches on though, even when Yunho tries to avoid eye contact and continues to quietly cook away at his spam.

"Poor girl. She really deserves better." Yunho finally looks at him for a brief moment, but gives him a quick nod before returning his attention to the pan.

"Sure you don't want any?"

"Positive. Thanks." Yunho shrugs just as Yeosang begins to head back to his room. "Alright, calling it a night." Yunho nods in acknowledgement before Yeosang can shut his door. Once he's finished cooking, he shuts off the heat, cleans a bit and takes his bowl into his room.

The only lights bouncing off of the walls are from his computer screens. There's something soothing about sitting in a dimly lit room at this time of night, especially when Yunho finds his mind wandering. He's eating and catching up on his show, but he's not really catching onto anything that's happening or what's being said. Before he can even think about what he's trying to do, he picks up his phone and pulls up your message thread. He chuckles to himself a bit re-reading the message you sent him with a picture of your mochi donut.

Cute.

He doesn't really think much about other people, but he's wondering if you're okay. He still can't believe Seonghwa left you out in the cold, and he knows you have been crying.

No, he needs to give you space. You give him some attention and now he's acting up.

No, Yunho.

Chill the fuck out.

He sighs to himself and shoves his phone to the side, erasing every possible text he could draft in his head because he won't send you a text. He'll let you be. He'll give you your space, let you be in your own peace.

Besides, you might prefer to recover alone. Recharge alone. Be alone.

He hopes you are okay.

He hopes you are warm and comfortable, and that you aren't crying over Park Seonghwa's dumbass.

Hopefully, sleep finds you.

But tonight, he doesn't think sleep will find him.

"Hey." You shuttle into the apartment and toss your things aside. "Chaery and Soobin aren't home yet?"

"Hey, no. They have some studying to get done and wanted to do it at the library." Seungmin's eyes glaze over you. "I thought you were gonna be with Seonghwa?" He asks as he cooks himself a cheese quesadilla.

"Well, he never picked me up."

"What?" Seungmin furrows his brows as he angrily shuts off the burner and turns to you. "I swear I'll fight him. It's freezing outside. Doesn't he know that?"

"I know, Seungmin. Please don't tell Soobin or Chaery, I don't wanna hear it right now." He sighs heavily and shakes his head as if to dismiss his thoughts.

"Fine, whatever. I just hope this finally gives you enough of a reason to stop messing with him." You look down, feeling like a child being scolded by their parent. "So how did you get home? Whose jacket are you wearing?" He comes closer to inspect you.

"It's.. Yunho's."

"Yunho? How did you get Yunho's jacket?"

"He saw me waiting out in the cold and gave me his jacket."

"He took you home?" You nod.

"Yeah, when I told him Seonghwa wasn't gonna come."

"I'm really glad he was there."

"I am too. He even walked me to the steps before leaving."

"God, Y/N. You've gotten so used to the way Seonghwa treats you, and to be honest, I hate it. He's a piece of shit. Just date Yunho." You sigh. 

"Not you, too."

"I mean, I'm partially joking, but Yunho has already done more for you in these past days than Seonghwa has the past months. You're my bestfriend, and you know I love you. You're way too good for him."

"Yunho and I are just friends, classmates even. We don't really talk like that."

"Still, he manages to help you when you need it the most without asking for anything in return. Says a lot about his character."

"I'm just gonna go shower." Seungmin sighs when he sees you hauling your things into your room. "I still have some homework to get done."

"Do you want me to make you some food?"

"Sure, whatever you whip up, I'll eat." You give him a small, but somewhat defeated, smile. "Thank you."

"Of course." And with that, you head in for a long, hot shower, unsure of how to feel tonight. You knew you needed to stop messing with Seonghwa, but you weren't sure why it was hard for you to cut him off. Maybe it was the attention you received behind doors, Seonghwa being a different Seonghwa that showered you in love, care— even though you knew he didn't entirely mean it. That he didn't genuinely care or feel for you, that he can't commit to you and only you.

He likes the idea of you the most, not you.

But Seonghwa wasn't the only thing occupying your thoughts, it was definitely Yunho, too. You couldn't help but wonder where all of that came from when you didn't know much about him and he didn't know much about you.

Maybe you were used to the way that Seonghwa treated you. It's not that Yunho was doing too much, it was the fact that you already expected less.

You were used to less.

Not even the bare minimum.

Hopping out of the shower, Seungmin has a hot bowl of rice with a sausage and egg omelett sitting on your desk along with a piping hot cup of green tea [drenched in honey, just the way you like it]. You smile and dig in, scrolling through your phone to see a notification from Seonghwa—

seonghwa: fuck baby, i'm sorry. something came up

seonghwa: where are you? 

seonghwa: i'm so sorry about everything, i know we've been fighting lately and i haven't been my best towards you. i'll make it up to you, i promise

seonghwa: baby please, talk to me. can i come get you now?

You roll your eyes and toss your phone aside, pulling out your laptop so you can finish up your homework. You don't feel like responding to Seonghwa, and you don't feel like thinking about him any longer.

He's already taken up too much of your time and effort.

You slip on your headphones and power through the rest of the assignments you had left. It wasn't much, and it doesn't take long, so you begin to draft out bits and pieces to your literature paper. 

Suddenly, you think of Yunho again.

A small smile is etched across your face when you remember his company tonight. You really are truly grateful he stepped in and brought you home.

Maybe he's on his walk, you're not sure. But, you don't want to be a bother.

You just hope he's okay and that he's taking care of himself after tonight. 

He deserves it.

♣︎ taglist: @s-nsanshine @soupbinlily @tyongff-ff @jiminiscricket @g1g1l @staytinyinmybpack @woomyteez @gfksz @bitchwhytho @savluvsmingi @thisisntmyrightera @hyukssunflower @miriamxsworld @tmtxtf @kuromibabe04 @lmnhead @carrietwrites @tournesol155 @persphonesorchid @txt-yaomi @marsattacks @mxnsxngie @h-nji [bold = can’t tag 🥺]

[anonymousauthorsblog]

Turning Passions

chapter 5 pixels and pirouettes

this chapter has writing in it

lowercase intended

race - alex g

•.•.••.•.•.•.••.•.•.•.•.•.•.••.•.•.•.••.•.•.•.•.•.••.•.•.

y/n pov 3rd person

“friday” y/n looks at her calendar sighing. she bends picking up her backpack for her classes as today is her first day of not having dance, leaving her to try to focus mainly on her school work. she settles down putting her backpack on as she walks down to the bathroom to check her appearance one more time before leaving for the day. when she starts to pick up her brush to brush down the few strands of hair sticking out she hears her phone ring. she looks down taking her phone out of her pocket seeing that her professor sent out an email to her and her other classmates in her class. she opens the email to see “class is canceled today, came up with the flu” y/n smirks as she glances towards her dance bag sitting on her nightstand next to her bed. usually y/n would still be practicing on her off days, especially with her tryout date coming up for the black swan. but in respect for her friends stream today she wasn’t going to go. that’s until the opportunity opened up for her with her last class being canceled, giving her enough time to practice for at least an hour before coming back in time to hop on to her friends video. she grabs her backpack in a new addition of her dance bag, making her way out to the kitchen where she’s stopped by her roommate maki. maki walks in front of her stopping her way in leaving out the door. “you look like shit you know”, y/n’s head shoots up giving her friend a nasty glare. “y/n why do you have your dance bag, i thought today you didn’t have the class today?”. y/n looks over to her side to avoid the dazing stare from her friend “yeah i just have in just in case” she lies. maki sighs and takes a seat “im worried about you, you’ve been coming home late, you’re staying up until who knows long doing what and you’re just not the same”. y/n is taken aback- yeah she’s been home later then usual because of dance and staying up to practice a little more, on top of that to finish homework but she hasn’t noticed a difference in anything. maki continues after seeing y/n taking forever to reply back “y/n you have bags under your eyes,you’ve been snapping at everyone due to the lack of sleep and last time i’ve checked you been ignoring your basic necessities!” she raises her voice at the last three words. “i haven’t seen you like this since you tried out for the role of “Aurora” what’s going on? you’re slowly losing yourself y/n you need to start taking care of yourself again.” y/n slowly gets irritated, understanding the worries of her friends but doesn’t understand why she’s making such a big of a deal about her situation. “nothing maki you’re making a big deal of nothing, i need this part so i can show my teachers that im a good student for lead roles and i could make it big out of college!”“that’s what you don’t understand y/n you’re already a amazing dancer, you don’t need to prove anything to anyone.” maki is suddenly cut off by y/n “then why are they better than me!” she yells as she walks off towards the front door and sighs “you just don’t get it i’ll be back later” and slams the door. maki sits in silence after the aftermath of y/ns anger, she slides both hands over her face and mumbles under her breath. “this is what i’m talking about with the fucking outburst and snapping at everyone.” she droops her shoulders as she sits there in silence feeling confused.

megumi pov 3rd person

megumi walks into his class 30 minutes early again. he’s slightly irritated as yuji started talking his head off right in the morning about a new idea for a stream and nobara asking if he wanted to shop before the stream. he slowly gets a headache- forcing the college student to leave his dorm and to enter the classroom earlier than he would’ve wanted to. he sighs and looks around before putting his head down on his desk again. luckily for him he doesn’t sit next to anyone so this class is peaceful for him. getting some quiet time before having to go back after his college day is over. he sits and waits until more people comes in the classroom, before finally setting up to write notes for this statistic lecture. megumi continues to distract himself and passes time until 5 minutes before class makes its way. looking up he locks eyes with someone. this someone isn’t really a stranger as it’s y/n, the girl on the stream that created the chaos that deals with on his online life. she looks at him as she gives a small smile and walks over to her desk. he continues to stare, following her until she sits down. he quickly puts his hands over his face as this interaction made him shy- it’s not a everyday occurrence where megumi is interacting with someone else out of his close circle. this situation also reminding megumi that later that night he would be streaming with the very own y/n l/n.

y/n pov 3rd person

y/n looks at the message before entering the dance studio, it’s 4pm and if she can make it back to the dorm by 5:30 then it’ll give her 20 minutes to get ready and 10 to get on and stream. she changes into her usual clothes for ballet before leaving to go to a practice room. until running into kai. kai recognizes her until kai finally speaks up. “y/n right?” kai asks. y/n nods and kai continues. “i expected you to be trying out for a role, but anyways i got to go, good luck!” she says as walking into the practice room right by y/n. y/n’s face drops after seeing kai. it had to be expected that someone that dances to her level would to trying out. y/n starts to look around before taking a breath of air then she then walks into the practice room panicking as she starts to believe her efforts weren’t enough. seeing kai there was a confirmation that she wasn’t the only one practicing or even putting in a effort to be the best in class. she stretches as she tries to calm herself down. “focus” she repeats as she closes her eyes. for about 5 minutes later she finally gets up, turns on her music before practicing her solo for the hundred time that week.

minutes pass until it turns into an hour. y/n breathes heavily until seeing dancers walk in and out of the room. in that moment y/n loses track of time before remembering about the stream. “fuck” she yells before running down the stairs into the dressing room to grab her stuff and running out the doors. she pulls out her phone seeing it’s 5:50. she runs not aware of anything, not even noticing how she’s running down campus with her pointe shoes on, slowly ruining the soles of them. it suddenly starts to rain making it harder to run and focus on making it back in time to the dorm in ten minutes. 7 minutes pass and y/n makes it to her building, forgetting the elevator she runs up stairs before blasting through the doors. “you’re late” toge says staring her down, standing as if he was expecting her presence. “and you’re in your ballet clothes..” y/n attempts to explain before toge sighs and cuts her off. “forget it y/n just hop on if you want, i don’t care” y/n nods her head before going to her computer she grabs a hoodie to pull over before joining the video. then a blink of an eye each streamer pops on her screen. “hey guys! she says trying to hide her unsteady breath” “hey y/n!!” the streamers reply.

3rd person pov

the clock hits 6, toge sighs and gets frustrated that one of his friends aren’t at the dorm. “let’s just start” he says to maki. he turns on his live to see the other three streamers on. “Finally!” yuji yells “sorry y/n is going to be late” “noooo” nobara replies. “hey! i’m still here” maki replies making the girls burst out in laughter. each streamer then greets the camera and they interact with their fans joining the screen. then out of a sudden the door is heard opening. toge gets up and waves to the camera telling his viewers he’ll be back. he sees y/n drenched and panting, he shakes his head in disbelief. he begins to tell her off before seeing she’s been in ballet clothing knowing she was at the studio practicing. he gets irritated before telling her to get on or dont- as he doesn’t care about the situation in play because he has over 10 thousand people on live waiting for him to start the video many were waiting for. as he sits down he sees y/n joins and finally starts the game. the streamers begin the stream as they play roblox. from switching from dress up games, simulators then settling for a fighting game as their last. each player is paired as it’s yuji and toge, maki and nobara and megumi and y/n. “hey megumi!” y/n says. “hi y/n” he replies. he glances at the camera seeing his comments go through the roof. they start to interact more playing and defeating each team. “MEGUMI HELPP” y/n yells. “i’m coming for ya” yuji laughs evilly chasing after the dancer with his weapon in hand. megumis character then comes in protecting y/n as his character is now chasing his roommates tearing up each of their characters to pieces. the battle ends with megumis team winning. nobara yelling how the match was unfair and her team deserved to win. “we’re the best fighters on this server” y/n excitingly tells, flexing her muscles to the camera. megumi playfully scoffs replying “you mean I am, because i carried you. y/n has a shocked face to her then burst out in laughter as megumi is seen with a small smile. behind the screen megumi finds himself enjoying this stream and this game- finding the joy in this online life again, reminiscing as playing with y/n feels as fun as playing for the first time. yuji and nobara start to side eye the camera because for once in a long time this is the quickest they seen megumi connect with someone. hoping he doesn’t mess this up as this could be a long time friendship.

author notes:

WELCOME TO CHAPTER 5!! today we are paired with the aftermath of what perfection can do for a person AND MEGUMI AND Y/N START OF AN FRIENDSHIP??? HELLOOOO?? i also wanted to point out that uploading for this story may take a bit starting now since i am starting my summer school classes trying to get #ahead! and after that school just starts for me :P. but i will continue to upload just with the expectation with school! but i hope you enjoyed this chapter and see you for the next one 😈

fun facts:

• toge got really mad not really because of the stream but the toll of how much dance is effecting his close friend

• megumi and y/n clicked fast but y/n starting most of the conversation. megumi enjoyed y/ns energy through this game.

• nobara and maki focused on tag teaming yuji and toge not seeing megumi coming in to kill their character- being the reason why they lost to the group.

tag list!

@catobsessedlady @cloudnaiii @notveevee @1l-ynn @xcalkenf @heyheyitsurdaily

[magz]

Palestine summary for April 24 to April 26, 2024 from LetsTalkPalestine.

[Lets Talk Palestin Link Tree, with ways to help and sources.]

April 24, 2024.

Day 201:

• 79 Palestinians killed, 86 injured in Gaza in last 24 hours

• IOF bombed home in Gaza City, killing a mother & her child and injured 6

🇪🇬 Egypt detained 10+ women, among them lawyers, journalists & civil society leaders, protesting in solidarity w/ Gaza & Sudan

• Beit Lahia, Beit Hanoon & Jabalia in north Gaza under continuous Israeli strikes since ordering evacuation in Beit Lahia, giving them minutes to flee

🇯🇲🇧🇧 Jamaica & Barbados officially recognize a Palestinian State

• Israel built 6 new military outposts since Jan, totaling 9 outposts each within 3 miles of Gaza + plan to transfer 2 combat brigades (4-10 thousand soldiers) from Lebanon’s border down to Gaza — fueling fears of a looming Rafah invasion

🇩🇪 Germany to soon resume coordination w/ UNWRA after Israel failed to provide evidence on its allegations against the agency’s employees

🇺🇸 Biden signed to law aid bill giving $26bn to Israel

• IOF abducts 15 Palestinians including former detainees overnight in West Bank

April 25, 2024.

Day 202:

• 43 Palestinians killed, 64 injured in the last 24 hours

🇺🇳 UN to investigate Nasser Hospital mass graves as Israel denies reports of 392 bodies showing severe signs of torture and mutilation

• Hundreds of Israeli settlers storm Al-Aqsa Compound under IOF protection as raids across West Bank cities intensify

🇧🇪 Belgian aid worker & his 7-year-old son killed among 7 others in targeted bombings on Rafah despite disclosing his location to Israeli forces; 6 aid groups affected by recent attacks

🚢 Freedom Flotilla Coalition delays from departing Turkey due to Israeli pressure on Guinea Bissau in an effort to prevent aid delivery to Gaza

• Israeli forces abduct three 13-year-olds from Ramallah, West Bank as 200 children remain captives in Israeli jails

🇫🇷 France to expand sanctions on Israeli settlers involved in violence against Palestinians, with recent EU sanctions imposed on settlers and organisations for similar reasons

April 26, 2024.

University encampments going global 🌍🔥

🎓 Encampments for Palestine which started in US universities have now spread to France, Australia, and the UK, advocating for divestment from companies & arms manufacturers complicit in the Israeli occupation.

The 42 encampments are mostly in the US, but include 2 in Australia, 1 in France, and 1 in the UK, with more expected.

🤐 Arrests at Columbia (100+), Yale (50), Emerson (100+), NYU (dozens), USC (93), Uni of Texas in Austin (55) & more as US political & corporate elites fear the surging power & popularity of the Palestine solidarity movement.

Columbia canceled in-person classes, NYU built a wall around the encampment.

👩‍🏫 Many faculty have joined in protest of their administrations’ Zionist stances.

Biden admin. & Netanyahu, a foreign leader, released statements condemning the students.

🔥 In 1985, students forced University of California to divest $3.1bn from South African apartheid

Inspired? @ pal_actionus posts advice on starting one 🫡

Day 203:

•⁠ 51 Palestinians killed, 75 injured in the last 24 hours

•⁠ ⁠Rising temperatures in Gaza worsens condition of displaced Palestinians in tents, UNRWA added 2 kids so far killed by the heat

•⁠ Former head of HRW accuses Israel of obstructing investigation into Nasser Hospital mass graves

🇳🇱 Netherlands to consider resuming UNWRA funding after Israel failed to provide evidence on its allegations against the agency’s staff’s complicity in Oct 7

•⁠ Eastern Rafah under continuous Israeli shelling, targeting homes, injuring at least 2 Palestinians

🇺🇸 US puts halt on potential sanctions against 1 Israeli military unit, despite allegations since before Oct 7 of severe human rights abuses in West Bank

🇱🇧 2 killed in Israeli strike on a car in south Lebanon

🇪🇺 EU announces $73m in essential aid to Gaza despite refusing to sanction Israel

⚖️ ICJ to soon announce ruling on Nicaragua’s case against Germany, seeking emergency measures to halt German military assistance to Israel

[boyfhee]

⋆ INSOUSIANCE · ksn

synopsis · four times you choose him, one time you didn't. ( 5k )

genre · hs au

warnings · angst, unrequited love

note · hahaha we love reposting!

when you chose sunoo as your project partner in middle school, his world flipped over. no, you weren’t someone with bad grades, and neither was he. middle school sunoo, if anything, didn’t expect you to pick him, out of all the remaining thirty-four students in the class. and when he asked you about it later that day, your response was rather astounding. 

“i want to get to know you.” that’s what you had said to him in front of his house before proceeding on the way back yours. your worlds left him dazed for days. he wondered if you meant it— of course, because usually, people don’t really want him as their project partners, for he’s too ‘child-like.’ sunoo simply couldn’t bring himself to believe your words. ‘i want to get to know you,’— okay, you can. he doesn’t mind. in fact, he’d love to be friends with you, but choosing him as your project partner was what surprised him the most.

“why do did you choose me?” he asked again, on the day before submission, and you shot him a didn’t-we-go-through-this look. “i mean, people usually don’t—” 

“because you’re annoying.” you blurted out, catching him with surprise yet again; and you went on about how he’s so loud— which made him frown a bit as a chuckle rolled off your lips— but, he’s loud in a good way; in a way where a single smile from his lightens up the room. you tell him about how you admire him for his positivity, and sunoo opens up to you about his antics when he’s sad, which you thought was an exaggeration until you actually found him under the blues outside the choir room three days later. 

days transitioned into weeks and weeks into months, sunoo found himself spending every minute by your side. he had never met someone like you before. you didn’t tell him to shut up whenever he got loud, but instead, you’d scream with him in the middle of the streets, laughing obnoxiously in convenience stores, hoarding candies to spend your nights watching concert recordings on youtube and fuel his obsession. you’d spent hours listening to his story about the one artist that he listened to as a kid and how he grew an interest for music. you indulged yourself into conversations you knew nothing about. you talked about his interests as if they were your own, sunoo never had someone like you. 

the second time you chose sunoo was at a middle school graduation party, when your friends forced you to bring someone along and the first name to cross your mind was his’. you spent three days wondering how to ask him— it’s not a date. you’re not my date. we’re going there because my friends forced me. sunoo, are you listening? this is not a date, don’t get me wrong— that was the most nervous he had seen you in seven months. he had a blast, watching you struggle with words for thirty-minutes; and you occasionally slapped his arms for laughing but he simply couldn’t stop, especially with the adorable pout resting on your face. 

you thought asking him to be your plus one would ruin things, for one’s plus one is supposed to be their date, and sunoo was simply your best friend. you considered cancelling your plans until the last moment, worried that something unfortunate would happen, but sunoo didn’t seem to care. on the noon of the day before the party, you found him standing at your doorstep, asking your mom if you could help him pick an outfit for the graduation party. it was late, almost eight in the evening, and sunoo said something along the lines of, ‘i promise to walk her back home by nine-thirty,’ before your parents finally gave in, letting you spend time with him. 

that night, all your worries and baseless concerns flew away with the autumn winds. you and sunoo did everything except picking an outfit for him. the moment you stepped into the sunoo household, his sisters stole you from him for fifteen minutes sharp, wanting to see the girl their brother has been talking about restlessly; and if sunoo hadn’t barged into their room, dragging you away, they wouldn’t have let you talk to him that evening. ( he also got hit with a pillow on his face for storming into the room but that’s for another day. )

the goal was to pick an outfit for him, but as soon as you entered his room, your mind remembered everything, but the reason why you were at his house in the first place. you spent the next few minutes fawning upon his photo cards and album collection, talking about all the concept posters in his room while enjoying the snacks his mother offered along the visit. sunoo showed you his stamp and hello kitty sticker collections before you both got down to watch the repeat telecast of your favourite show together. 

you reached home that day, around ten. sunoo came to drop you, of course, and your parents literally had to stop him from kneeling and apologising because he thought they wouldn’t let the two of you meet again. it was a sight to see as he blabbered about how he was so scared when his mother reminded him that it’s ten pm and he needs to go to bed in twenty minutes. you sneaked into your living room at two in the night to talk to him over telephone, as the two of you had planned before, and didn’t get a single ounce of sleep that night. 

long story short— you didn’t attend the party, and neither did sunoo. you both were found passed out in the living rooms of your respective homes, finally going to bed at around seven in the morning, only to sleep until three in the noon. your blood ran cold when you woke up, realising that you overslept. afraid that sunoo must be waiting, you ran to the celebration venue, only to see the texts he sent you about oversleeping and forgetting about the party. the two of you surely did miss the graduation party, but spent the whole day together, visiting almost every arcade store just to kill time. 

the third time you chose sunoo was in highschool, as your seatmate. he didn’t see you for months after that day at the arcades. you caught a really bad fever, one that had you admitted in the hospital for two weeks after it turned out to be anaemia. when you were in the hospital, sunoo was busy writing finals and highschool entrances, and by the time exam season was over for most of the students in the country, you were busy giving the tests you missed because of your illness.  

sunoo never thought you’d attend cheongshim international academy with him. you had always talked about attending highschool overseas, or perhaps anywhere, but not a boarding school. elite academies weren’t the best choice for you, as informed to your parents by your homeroom teacher, because you don’t work well under pressure. you even talked about dropping schooling and pursuing something else, something that you liked to do instead of studying things out of obligation. sunoo was convinced that he would possibly never see you again, until you showed up on the first day of highschool as his classmate, catching him by surprise just the way you did for the very first time in middle school. 

“what? don’t tell me you forgot me already.” you scoffed, and sunoo didn’t leave your side that day, not even for a brief second. he stuck to you, saying he would take you around the school and help you get familiarised, as if it wasn’t the first day of his school. you both were almost lost before a senior escorted the two of you back to your class.

you both got detention on the first day of school for fooling around the campus, spending two hours cleaning your classroom ( most of which was just a waste of time) his parents blew up his phone with texts and calls, and you were waiting for yours to do the same. when you informed your mother that you'd be late, it didn't take her a second to ask if you had met sunoo. 

it was obvious, really. you never were the type to stay out late with friends, but sunoo has always been an exception to your rules. you dislike overly talkative people but you listened to him as if he was a synchrony of a melody and a melancholy. you looked at him as if you saw the whole universe in his eyes. you didn't think twice before violating your own boundaries for him, offering sunoo an open invitation into your life. 

and just like that, the first half of your junior year passes by in a blink. they say distances bring people close, maybe it's true because you and sunoo seem inseparable. you had started sneaking into each other’s dorms, spending nights and watching movies, speed writing your incomplete assignments a few hours before school started. the day sunoo was selected as the school's head choir boy, he saw you cry for the first time. 

he had seen you cry several times actually, but that one time was different. it was just teary eyes with soft sniffles, not just a few drops of tears rolling down your cheeks. sunoo has seen you cry, but it was the first time he saw you break into a heavy sob with tears streaming down your cheeks as you pulled him in your arms, telling him how proud you are. it was his first time seeing you cry for someone else.

you talk about his interests as if they are your own, so watching him make it to the school’s choir as their leader felt like being an ace. you started attending his performances and sunoo always reserved the front seat for you. watching sunoo never felt boring because he sang for both of you. every note, every tune, every song, it was for both of you. the melodies were his, the praises were yours, for sunoo believes he wouldn't have pursued music so desperately if you didn't support him back in middle school. 

things were amazing, and the second year rolled in with an unexplainable feeling blossoming inside sunoo's heart. your touches started leaving him breathless. every hug made his heart skip a beat or two. everytime you cuddled, sunoo wondered if you could hear his heart beating crazily, and whether your heart did the same. to take his mind off these things, sunoo introduced you to one of his new friends— park sunghoon. 

despite being a year younger than sunghoon, the three of you clicked well. well, tried to, for sunghoon seemed stoic most of the time, making you wonder if he hated loud people. after all, you and sunoo had always been a little handful together. 

but sunghoon was a nice guy, you knew it. your eyes never missed the way his lips curled into a smile whenever sunoo laughed, or the way he always offered to help sunoo with the tiniest of things, and especially the way he gave into the boy’s eccentric behaviour. park sunghoon was like a spark, and you saw sunoo's whole world on fire. 

you pulled the vice head boy into the pit of detentions as well. sunoo called it a tradition, that every person joining the two of you would have to suffer a detention to be an official member of sunooyn circus— his words, not yours. you thought sunghoon would be mad, for he isn't the type to get into troubles especially since he’s the vice head boy, but instead, you saw him at his highest, laughing as if he had never been happier. as though, if happiness was a thing, it would be that moment, and he's waiting for the word to catch up to the feeling. 

when sunghoon asked if you wanted to be his partner for the inter-prefectural debate and represent your school, your world flipped over. 

it was at that moment when memories from middle school slipped inside your head. a look at sunoo, and you thought— so this is how he felt. 

the fourth time you chose sunoo was on the day of the debate. he'd be lying if he said the idea of you and sunghoon travelling together didn't bother him, so sunoo offered to drive you to the venue himself, since you both lived closer and he had a sister with a driving licence. when he saw you present your argument on the stage with the same passion he had for the sport, he felt as if he fell for you all over again. in fact, he unknowingly fell a little deeper for you ever since he met you and when he realised, sunoo was already at the rock bottom, ready to fall even deeper. 

that was the first time sunoo chose to accept his feelings, wanting to make you first and hopefully, his last as well; because once upon a time, there was you and that's it. that was his story, because anything less than you wasn't true and anything more didn't make sense. 

when you didn't win the first prize, sunoo cried his heart out. there were tissues all over your hotel room as he reassured you that no matter who won the contest, you had always been the winner in his eyes. his hands slid in yours as he told you to not cry, while the tears were streaming down his face like a waterfall. he held you in his arms and recited words about how you did your best and despite the result, the whole was proud of you for getting second position in the entire province. 

you nodded, thanking him for his words, and then you disappeared— completely— never returning to your room for the next forty minutes. you said you’d be back soon, but it had been forty minutes, the sun’s setting down, and you hadn’t returned. sunghoon’s name didn’t even cross his mind. on this way to the lift, sunoo didn’t expect to hear soft strings of your voice from sunghoon’s room. eavesdropping wasn’t something he condoned but he found himself standing against the ice prince’s room, hands hesitating to unlock the door and when he finally did, the sight of you cradling sunghoon in your arms reached his eyes. 

it was understandable, of course, sunghoon was hurting more. you looked at sunoo and told him to shush because you didn’t want to disturb sunghoon, who possibly dozed off in your arms, his head on your shoulders. sunoo didn’t mind, taking a mental note to apologise to sunghoon later for crying like a child when he should’ve been there for both his friends. he left without saying a word, leaving you and sunghoon alone since sunoo understood the need, though a part of him ached at the sight of you having letting sunghoon sleep in your arms when you didn’t even hug sunoo when tears brimmed his eyes. 

maybe this is what it feels like to share, sunoo thought, because his life, he had you all to himself, and the same applied to you. he wondered if you felt the same after letting someone, who was not him, in your arms. sunoo was convinced that the ‘two of us’ is no longer valid, for he’d have to include sunghoon. he didn’t mind, sunghoon was his best buddy, and he almost slept with the newly established thought until you showed up outside his place, asking if the two of you could have a run down to seven-eleven. 

all this thought vanished at the sight of you, and the only thing flooding his mind was the way your hand occasionally brushed past his’ as you both strolled down the neighbourhood. you talked about people’s interests as if they’re your own, but that night, you talked about sunghoon as if he was a part of you. your words flowed along the lines of how similar the two of you were, and the way you both have identical approaches to various issues. he had seen you compliment sunghoon a thousand times but sunoo didn’t understand why a part of him wanted the night to be over quickly. 

events followed along, first term examinations arrived and after that, time seemed to fly even faster. sunoo would rush to the library for study sessions and he’d see you with sunghoon, talking about a book he recommended to you and how much you enjoyed it. during group outings, you’d share theories with sunghoon and he’d expand them beyond the canon plot. all with sunoo walking one step behind because he didn’t know anything about your conversations with him; or rather, you never told him. 

you’d spend nights texting sunoo about everything you and sunghoon talked about as if he wasn’t there to listen. and no matter how much it pained him, sunoo loved to see you happy, so he played along right into your games. you’d ask and he’d tell you all about sunghoon’s antics and habits as if no one knows them better than him. sunoo would tell you everything he knew about sunghoon and hope that one day, you’d go back to how you both used to be. because even with having you by his side, he missed the days and nights you spent talking about him. 

when the third year arrived, sunoo thought it’d all be over soon. no, he didn’t hate sunghoon— he couldn’t— but he envied him. he envied him when sunghoon walked between the two of you on your ways back home. he envied the way you smiled at sunghoon even at the silliest actions and treat him as the centre of your world. he envied how sunghoon started being the person you’d look for during hard times, or way you started cancelling plans with sunoo to visit bookstores with sunghoon. he envied the way you looked at sunghoon— because you looked at him as if you saw yourself inside his eyes.      

but sunoo wasn’t a coward. he never learnt how to give up. when sunghoon was in incheon for one of the literary contests, you started zoning out in broad daylight, as if you suddenly didn’t know what to do. that’s when sunoo called you over to his place. as much as he wanted to spend time with you, the offer was selfless. sunoo would rather have you crying in his arms than watch you spend the day alone in utter despair. it came to him as a surprise when you started talking about how much you were missing sunghoon, even though it had only been two days since he left. he bit his inner cheeks when you said you wanted to hug him. and before you could say more, sunoo’s words cut in like a knife.

“i like you.” that’s what he said. it was purely unintentional. he didn’t want to present such a wacky confession. there was a pause as sunoo looked at you, anticipating an answer. you didn’t say a thing; and the next second, there was a text from sunghoon on your phone, and you ran out of sunoo’s apartment as if you never heard his confession.   

he was proud of confessing to you but in just a few months, the pride morphed into sadness. because back then, the now nineteen year old sunoo didn't know you had other choices. he didn't know he'd have to be in love with you and leave it at that, because his first choice has always been you but, you chose sunghoon over everything else. 

[dontknowmanijustworkhere]

When Happens In The Fencing Room Stays In The Fencing Room

Today was an unusual day in that classes were canceled because quite a few of the teachers came down with the flu. It was initially assumed that in a couple days they could recuperate enough to resume class as normal, but that didn’t happen. For right now, the students were highly encouraged to keep up with their studies and not slack off during this time. Wednesday rolled her eyes during this speech by Principal Weems. She doubted that many would take it to heart. These people would do anything to have more leisure time. 

Well, Wednesday wasn’t going to let herself fall behind in her skills. No one would likely be in the fencing room at this time, so she forced Enid into coming along with her. Enid had not wanted to, she had a date planned with Ajax and didn’t want to be tired afterwards, but Wednesday did not care. 

Bright and early Saturday morning, they went. Enid was yawning the whole way. It was her own fault for being tired. She should have gotten off her phone sooner and went to sleep. As soon as she pushed the door open, Wednesday saw the very person she could have gone without seeing. 

Barclay. 

“Seems we had the same idea,” Barclay was wiping down her sabre. 

“I didn’t tell her!” Enid said defensively when Wednesday shot her a look. “I didn’t even know she was going to be here, otherwise I wouldn’t have come.” 

Barclay stood up. “There’s enough room for all of this. Unless you can’t handle me staying here.” 

Wednesday sneered. “I couldn’t care less if you’re here or not. Just stay out of my way.” 

“Believe me, I’d rather do that,” Barclay scoffed. “But I need a partner. Divina bailed on me and I obviously can’t do this by myself.” 

“You and Wednesday can be partners,” Enid suggested. “We don’t need three people here...” 

“Stay,” Wednesday commanded, then addressed Barclay. “I suppose you can stay if you prove yourself useful. I’m not expecting Enid to be a formidable fencing partner.” 

“Hey!” Enid whined. 

“And you’re saying I am, Addams?” Barclay smirked. 

“Hardly. However, you can keep up, which is more than I can for most.” 

“I’ll take the compliment,” Barclay said. “I’m sure we can all manage to get in a shot.” 

None of them were wearing their uniform or gear. Coach Vlad wasn’t here to enforce it so Wednesday didn’t care. She’d thrown on a t-shirt and a pair of leggings while Enid had dressed herself in a bright ensemble that should’ve come with a warning sign. 

“If you’re ready,” Wednesday held eye contact with her. “Let’s begin.” 

“Wait!” Enid bent down. “I need to tie my shoe.” 

Wednesday wasn't going to wait any longer. She took a step forward, holding out her sabre. Barclay did the same. They circled each other, never once looking away. Then, at once, they attacked. Their sabre’s clashed, clanging loudly. Wednesday ducked, avoiding what would have been a blow to her face. Barclay would never let her live it down if she lost this early. 

Enid was back on her feet. She watched them, clearly nervous that one of them would strike the other on purpose. “Guys, be careful!” She squeaked. “We’re not even in uniform! Coach Vlad will be super mad if he finds out.” 

Wednesday discarded the warning. She was confident in a matter of minutes, she could beat Barclay. 

Barclay jumped forward, looking frustrated when that did not achieve what she wanted. Wednesday was easily able to get away from her. 

Their sabre’s smashed together some more. 

“Hang on!” Barclay stopped suddenly. She panted, holding a hand up to signal to Wednesday to cease. 

Wednesday refrained from rolling her eyes. Did Barclay think she was stupid? 

As predicted, the siren was bent over for only a few seconds, leaping up to try to get her. Wednesday got her instead. 

“That was brand new!” Barclay shouted at the hole in her shirt. It wasn’t big enough that it would need to be replaced, but she was aggravated nonetheless. 

“And yet you wore it to fence in?” Wednesday drawled. “Your stupidity astounds me.” 

While Barclay fumed, Wednesday was pleased with herself. She didn’t notice Enid coming up behind her until she felt warm fingers on the back of her neck. 

“Sorry, your hair was coming out of your braid and it was bothering me,” Enid said, fixing it for her. 

Unfortunately, she didn’t account for Wednesday scrunching up her neck to rid herself of the sensations on her sensitive skin. 

Her sabre dropped to the floor with a clang. 

“Get away from me!” Wednesday said quickly, stepping away, putting on a fierce glare. 

Enid was confused, but only for a second. She looked delighted. “Are you ticklish?” 

“No!” Wednesday lied. 

“What’s this about?” Barclay’s ears had perked up. 

“Wednesday squirmed when I touched her neck,” Enid told her. 

“I did nothing of the sort,” Wednesday could feel her face going red. She’d never liked tickling. She didn’t like being out of control and at the mercy of someone else. She really didn’t like the idea of Barclay finding out about a weakness of hers. 

Barclay looked like Christmas had come early. “Addams here is ticklish? Oh, this is too good.” 

“I’m not!” She snapped. 

Barclay and Enid shared some kind of silent communication. It made Wednesday feel uncharacteristically nervous, knowing nothing good could possibly come out of this. With grins on both their faces, they advanced towards Wednesday. 

“Don’t,” she warned them. 

“If you’re not ticklish,” Barclay said with a wicked grin, “then just prove it, Addams. It’s not that hard. Unless you’re scared.” 

Wednesday knew what she was trying to do. She was goading her into it. If she refused, it would be a dead giveaway. Plus, Barclay would use this as a means to gloat. 

And if she ever spoke of it in front of others... 

“Fine,” Wednesday relented. 

Barclay softly tickled her stomach. It was over her t-shirt, which should have provided some protection. But it was no match for the siren’s nails. She didn't laugh, but she did suck in her stomach. This was noticed by both girls. 

“I knew it!” Enid said. “You're totally ticklish.” 

Barclay smirked. Wednesday couldn't fight the blush that erupted over her face. She pulled herself away, clearing her throat. 

“Let us get back to work. Enid, I will duel you next.” 

“What’s the matter, nervous?” Barclay mocked, getting a quick tickle under Wednesday’s chin. 

She slapped away the siren’s hand, dread piling up in her stomach. 

Enid snuck up on her, taking advantage of Wednesday being temporarily distracted by tracing a fingernail down the side of her neck. Wednesday yelped, body jerking out of instinct. She knew she was done for it when Enid and Barclay smirked at each other. 

She didn't even have the chance to get a word out; one of them, Wednesday didn't even know who because it happened so fast, gripped her by the shoulders,  yanking her closer to them to keep her still. From there, several fingers poked at her ribs and abdomen. The shirt she was wearing did nothing for her, and worse, she was boxed in between them. She couldn't escape, could hardly move much or do anything about the undignified giggles that got stuck in her throat. It made her panic; she wiggled her hips to dodge the pointed nails and all too soon, the pokes turned into grazes that nearly made Wednesday jump out of her skin. 

“Well, well, what do we have here?” Barclay said slyly. 

Wednesday cursed to herself. 

“What was that?” Enid walked her fingers up Wednesday's side. She didn't go underneath her shirt, but it didn't tickle any less. 

Wednesday squirmed involuntarily. 

Barclay copied Enid; Wednesday was trapped, her sides being attacked simultaneously.

 “Aww, look at her!” Enid grinned, taking great enjoyment in watching Wednesday try to avoid the tickling but to no avail. 

Her knees buckled on her, she fell into a heap on the floor. The girls followed her there, and now Wednesday was on her back on the floor. 

Barclay took it up a notch, rolling up Wednesday’s shirt. They had her pinned down here, adamant on ensuring she wouldn’t escape, not that Wednesday thought she could. 

Against her will, her arms were lifted up, giving them access to her underarms. Wednesday’s eyes were squeezed shut, a smile rapidly appearing that she couldn’t stop. They stroked their fingers down her forearm and into her underarms. It shocked her how ticklish she was there. She’d never been tickled in that spot before. Wednesday desperately tried to wiggle away but could not. She'd underestimated Enid and Barclay’s strength. 

“You're smiling!” Enid said.

They dug their fingers in, pushing her shirt sleeve down just enough to grant them access. Their fingernails scratched in the middle of her underarms. Wednesday’s wiggling became worse but she could not get away. 

“You better not laugh, Addams,” Barclay teased her. 

Against her will, she whimpered.  Everything- her resistance, her body, was weakening. Laughter was building in her chest to the point of no return. She couldn’t fight it much longer,  not even by clamping her mouth shut, lips pressed together as tight as she could make them. 

“I can’t believe how ticklish you are,” Enid said, giddily. Somewhere in the midst of this, Wednesday cringed, knowing Enid would use this to her advantage whenever the opportunity arose. With her werewolf strength, Wednesday didn’t stand a chance. 

“Where else are you ticklish at, Addams?” Barclay said slyly. It was the kind of tone that let Wednesday know she was in trouble. 

Their fingers slowed down. 

She was able to take in some air, still squirming a little. Wednesday kept her mouth firmly shut. She wasn’t about to spill any more embarrassing secrets. 

“Not talking?” Barclay grinned. “Hmm...” 

She let her fingers wander, gliding them down from her underarm to the bottom of her waist. It was like hell on her skin. Those same fingers trailed up and down the side of her body, the siren humming nonchalantly. 

“Bit sensitive there?” She said without any sympathy. 

Enid followed suit, but only for a couple of times. She decided to give Wednesday’s side a devastating squeeze. It made an embarrassing sound escape from the goth girl’s lips, one that had her face burning with shame afterwards. 

“Oh,” Barclay said devilishly. “Nice one, Sinclair.” 

The siren winked at Enid, silently conveying yet another plan. Wednesday was given a brief reprieve, the tickling stopping altogether, her body slumping down in relief. 

It didn’t last long.

She was attacked yet again. Both of her underarms were helpless against the fluttering Barclay’s hands were doing. “Aww,” the other girl said cruelly, smirking at the squeaks Wednesday was making. “Is this too much for you? Do you want me to stop?” 

Wednesday nodded her head frantically, hating herself for doing it. 

“Too bad,” Barclay smirked. 

Enid was expertly swiping at her bare stomach, alternating between that and her lower ribs. She teased her too, cooing out, “Aw, someone’s a bit ticklish, huh? What about there? Or there? Is this a bad spot?” 

Somehow, it made it worse. It drew out high-pitched laughter from Wednesday, who could do nothing but endure the torture. She writhed on the floor, but only somewhat, still immobilized for the most part from the added weight of both girls. 

Enid’s colorful claws scraped down her sides all the way down her hip bones. There, her leggings were pulled down only slightly, just enough to give Enid a chance to poke at that area.  

Then, came some relief. 

Barclay was holding down her arms but wasn’t tickling her anymore. 

“E...enough,” she panted. Her face was flushed pink, tears gathering in the corner of her eyes. 

“You’re in no position to demand anything, Addams,” Barclay tickled her under the chin. Wednesday giggled tiredly, moving her head and scrunching her neck to make it stop. “Wait ‘till everyone hears about this.” 

At once, panic rippled through her at other people knowing her secret. 

“We shouldn’t tell anyone,” Enid disagreed with this, frowning. Then, it was replaced with a grin. “But it can be our little secret. Right, Wednesday?” 

She tried to glare but was forced into soft laughter she couldn’t bite back; Enid drummed the tips of her fingernails on the top of her stomach. 

“Right?” Enid repeated. 

She would not lose any more dignity. She would not...

“Don’t make me bring the tickle monster out again.” 

Oh, how she despised being talked to like a child. Enid tisked when the only expression Wednesday made a scowl. 

“Uh, oh. Someone’s grumpy,” she singsonged. 

“We better cheer her up,” Barclay said. 

Wednesday braced for it, the swirl of fingers in her most sensitive spots, but she didn’t account for the new spot Enid sought out instead. 

She’d leaned back, reaching with her arms to the backs of Wednesday’s knees. Her body spasmed at the surprise attack. It didn’t tickle as much as her abdomen or underarms, but she still didn’t want Enid’s fingers there, scribbling away. 

“Rihihihight!” 

Enid stopped, beaming. Wednesday’s body sagged. 

“You know,” Barclay said, a smile of no good could be heard, “there’s one place you haven’t tried.” 

Wednesday felt her heart sink. 

Enid understood immediately. “That’s true! Are your feet ticklish, Wednesday?” 

“No,” she said quickly, her words coming out breathy. 

“I don’t know, Addams,” Barclay said nonchalantly, “you said you weren’t ticklish either and you lied. You’re probably lying about this too.” 

Enid pinned her legs down, sliding off her shoe in a matter of seconds. It did no good to move her foot around, it was grabbed and held still too. 

“Last chance to tell us the truth, Wens!” Enid called. She let fingernail trace on her big toe. Wednesday gasped involuntarily. 

“Looks like we know the answer to that,” Barclay hummed. 

How could this be happening to her? Never in a million years did Wednesday think she would be at the mercy of Enid and Barclay. And for them to be so ruthless, she didn't know whether to be impressed or horrified. 

“This is a pretty bad spot for me too,” Enid said, deciding to trace along underneath Wednesday's toes. She scrunched them, hoping to detour the blonde but that didn't work. Not when she could scratch the middle of her foot instead. Wednesday's body jerked. “Dang, Wens. That must be a bad spot.” 

“Take her sock off,” Barclay suggested. 

There was nothing Wednesday could do to stop her. Her black ankle sock was pulled off effortlessly, exposing her foot for Enid to torture some more. 

Before that could happen, Barclay must have been bored just keeping Wednesday still. She dragged her fingers up and down the goth girl’s underarms again, the tickling softer this time around but no less agonizing. 

Wednesday's laughter was unrecognizable to her own ears. It was frantic and helpless. 

“Plhehehease sthahahop!” 

“Hear you beg, Addams, is like music to my ears,” Barclay cackled. 

Wednesday was humiliated to be in this situation, and to have Barclay taunting her like that. Maybe it was a good thing she could hardly think at the moment, what with Enid’s torturous fingers stroking down her bare foot, driving her wild. 

“Is this why you’re never barefoot in our dorm?” Enid giggled. “You don’t want me to tickle you?” 

Wednesday’s laughter went up a notch. Barclay reached down to tickle her upper ribs, meanwhile there was little room to convulse with the way her arches were being explored. 

“Have you had enough, Wens?” Enid asked her cheerfully. She still hadn’t stopped. Her feet were still being tapped and grazed, her toes being the current victim of her misfortune.  

Through a peal of laughter, Wednesday squealed out, “Yhehehes!” 

“Hmm,” Barclay thought out loud, scratching the part of Wednesday’s stomach she could reach without straining herself. “I don’t know, Enid. maybe Addams wants to keep going.” 

The sound that came from Wednesday could not be described as anything but whining. She didn’t think she could take much more of this. 

“We don’t want to torture her,” Enid said. 

“Maybe you don’t,” Barclay said with a shrug. “I think Addams needs to be taught a lesson.” 

For the final time, the tickling came to a stop. Wednesday breathed in and out deeply to pull air back into her lungs. 

“I think she’s already learned it,” Enid noted with a mischievous grin. 

[moonlight0934]

Self Destruction

Charles can hear everything. Every morning he wakes up to everyone’s thoughts and feelings. Everything rushing into his mind unfiltered. Most of the time he has no issue blocking everything out, but sometimes it gets too overwhelming too fast. That leads to trouble putting the walls up, and migraines later in the day.

Today is one of those days with everyone’s thoughts flooding his brain. Charles clamps his hands over his ears, squeezing his eyes closed again. When it finally quiets into a buzz in the back of his head, he squints his eyes open. It’s still dark outside, so he immediately turns to his alarm clock which tells him that it’s only three thirty.

He drops back down, tossing an arm over his eyes. The buzz starts to grow into full fledged words and feelings anytime he gets close to falling asleep again. It only takes half an hour before he’s pulling himself out of bed and into his wheelchair. He heads down to the kitchen where he unlocks the cabinet with the alcohol.

Soon he’s settled at the table with a glass in his hand. He stares at it, wondering if he should really drink it. The voices continue to get louder as he blankly stares at the glass in his hand.

It’s been a long time since I drank for this reason. If I start, this is not going to be the only glass. I really shouldn’t, there are students everywhere. Though they’re kind of the problem. There are just so many dreams everywhere, and I can’t… why can’t I just shut them out? I never have been quite good enough even for myself.

He takes a gentle sip of the bourbon with a sigh. The first sip doesn’t help, nor does he expect for it to. Though one turns to two, then the whole glass. After that he just continues drinking until the voices in his head disappear all together, and he can finally relax.

Knew this was going to happen. Oh well, can’t control myself, so I can’t be anything other than self destructive anyway. I should have known that I was going to end up here again.

Eventually he puts his arms folded on the table, then lays his head down on top of them. Each blink is slower than the last, and eventually he ends up drifting back to sleep. Charles is woken up by a clatter to his left, and he opens his eyes in just enough time to see the kid scurrying away with a water bottle. His head is pounding and his vision has dark spots in it even as he fully wakes up. It’s only a few minutes after that when Hank walks in.

“One of the kids said that you were passed out in the kitchen. What happened?”

Charles shrugs, not looking Hank in the eye.

“Oh,” Hank says after a minute, his eyes softening. He looks around before sitting down beside Charles. “Is there anything that I can do?”

Charles shakes his head, grabbing the table when the motion makes him dizzy.

“They were just all so loud,” Charles says, his voice shaking, and his eyes starting to get misty.

Hank puts a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

“Maybe it’s too soon. There are a lot of people here, and it might be too much for your mind to handle.”

“No, I… I can’t close the school again. They need my help, and I- I know I’m broken, but I can help them. I’m fixable, I just have to try a little harder.”

“Charles, that’s not how that works. I’m not saying that you’re broken. I’m just saying that maybe you need some kind of help. You’re struggling with your telepathy, and that’s ok. Maybe there’s something that we can do while you’re getting back to your normal level of control. You never had these issues before, right?”

Charles nods.

“Then maybe we can find a way to block your room off, because we know that you can get back to that level of control. We just have to let you get there without this,” Hank says, glancing at the bottle of alcohol that’s still sitting on the table.

Charles feels a tear trace its way down his face.

“Yeah. Can you just cancel my classes for today? I don’t feel up to it and it’s Saturday so they’re non-essential classes anyway.”

Hank nods.

“Are you going to your room?”

“Yes, I’ll see you later, Hank.”

Charles rolls out of the kitchen, making his way back to his own room. He shuts and locks the door as soon as he gets in, then buries his face in his hands. The whispers start creeping back in, but he’s awake enough now to push them away. That doesn’t mean that tears don’t start rolling down his face anyway. He should be the only one in the teacher’s wing, but he still tries to make himself as quiet as possible.

He rolls into the bathroom that’s connected to his room, looking at the mirror with a frown. He looks a mess with bloodshot eyes, messy hair, and dark circles under his eyes. He hates everything that he sees in the mirror, and he feels helpless. Here he is drinking to take away his gift and there are people out there being killed for theirs. Erik’s words echo in his head, telling him that he abandoned all of their people. That it’s basically his fault that they died, because he didn’t do enough to help them.

He grabs his migraine medication out of the drawer before taking one. Then he closes the curtains and goes back to bed. He feels like he can see Erik, but he’s also aware that it’s probably just a dream. Especially when his speech diverts from what it normally is.

“Charles, you keep doing this, don’t you? You would tear yourself to pieces just for people who don’t even appreciate your sacrifices. You’re never going to get better.” He tries to ignore Erik’s voice in his head, but he can’t seem to.

Eventually he manages to get some actual sleep despite Erik’s voice on repeat, and he wakes up to find that the sounds of children have replaced Erik in his head. Except this time it’s soft and all goes together in a way that isn’t overwhelming. They’re happy doing some kind of activity together. Charles smiles for the first time that day, pushing his face against his pillow.

If only Erik could see this place for what it actually is. It’s a safe place for everyone, and I would gladly tear myself apart to keep this place safe for them without any notice or praise.

[kenmjiro]

Secrets after class

¡Teacher!Rick Grimes(Aus) x ¡student! fem reader

inspiration: Secrets after class by comino inc.

Summary: you find your teacher sleeping peacefully in his office. While you wait you stumble upon a manuscript. A manuscript where the writing style seems awfully familiar...

TWS: Dramas, age gap, provocation,suspense, Romantinc comedy, Schoollife, Taboo, HighSchool

love is one of those thing that people can't really control.

One day you meet someone and the next you are hit with the realization that you are in love with them.

Being in love is a wonderful thing;however,what do you do if you fall in love with someone who is off limits to you?

I'm a book loving Junior in High School.

my love for books led me to join the Literature Club. The club is of course the best thing ever! It's full of exciting adventure,dreams,books,smiles! It just lacks one thing ...members. Yeah, sadly there are only two members in the club. My teacher and myself. But this year, I will changer that!

Have l mentioned that l'm head over heels in love with my teacher?

Moving right along! New year, new style!

“That's all for today, class. Be careful on your way homer everyone!” hearing my home room teacher's dismissal, l shot up from my desk.

“I have a meeting with the Literature Club today so l got to got” l thought as ready to leave, they give mee a slight touch on the shoulder

“Y/N”

“Whoa, maggie, what's up?” lt's my childhood friend Maggie Greene. We've been in the same classes since Kindergarten.

l have few friends, but she is one who truly gets me and is also a total bookworm. She is like the sister l never had. “Lemme guess, club meeting?”

“Yup! Today, l'm going to get permission to recruit new members!”

“Oh, that's right, you gotta have permission now because of that one incident, huh?”

Scrunching up my face, l nodded bitterly. “Yeah, unfortunately.”

*Sigh* “That teacher is unexpectedly tough, given his sweet appearance.”

“lt just didn't end well last time... However!Today is the day that l will get permission!” Speak decisively.

“ohhhh...well...l guess, you cant't come then.” Maggie shoulders drop.

“Huh? Come where?” l frowned.

“They cancelled basketball practice because they are using the gym for something else. So l wanted us to go to the bookstore with glen.” Glen is another classmate and childhood friend. the three of us are often together.

Glen and Maggie are couple.

They often worry that l'll be left by myself so they invite me along to wherever they go. But l am fine not joining them since l always feel like the third wheel.

“Nah, l'm good. You go ahead.”

“Wait, why? l need you go to with. You chose a great book for me last time. l want you to choose another one for me! so you really can't” Maggie dipped her head and stared up at me with big puppy eyes.

“That doesn't work on me anymore, nice try though.” Maggie puppy eyes turned into a full on pout.

“l ready promissed my teacher that l'd show at the meet today. l can't just ditch las minute.”“Besides, l want to get permission to recruit new members as soon as possible.” l thought as l bit my lower lip and looked at maggie back.

l don't know how long it is going to take to convince the teacher to get that magic ticket. So, it's a no from me dawg. But have fun with Glen”

“You know... l had hoped to hear about Andrew Lincoln's work from you today...”

“Staaaph! You know Andrew lincoln is my favorite author!”

“Ok,ok. But next time will you go with?” Maggie looked serious waiting for an affirmative answer.

“Yes! l promise.”

“Alright! l'm gonna hold you to that!”

“l won't let you down! For now, l have to go convince this teacher!

“Haha,good luck!”

With a last wave at maggie, l took off for the language department where my teacher was expecting me.

*knock knock*

“Huh? What's going on?” l stand with my hand still in the air after knocking the door. “l thought l told the teacher that l was coming today” l knocked on the office door again, but there still was no response.

“whats should l do?.... should l go inside” The teacher has never been late before. l wonder if something happened to him.

“Well, if anything, if he's not there, l can check the teacher's lounge. if the door is unlocked l can just wait in here.” l carefully opened the door

“Hello? mr. grimes?” The room was fairly dark, so l turned on the lights. That's when l saw a person slouched in chair at the back of the room

lt is my language teacher, Rick Grimes. He is also an advisor and a member of the Literature Club to which l belong. “Um... teacher rick?”

“ls he sleeping? During school hours?” Looks like he's asleep. “Wow, he looks completely out of it” Seeing his sleeping face, only one thought occurs to me: this is a side of him l never get to see.

“His skin is so fair and his eyelashes so long, He looks so peaceful. He's always calm and smiling. No wonder he's so popular with the ladies.”

But it's not just his looks that makes him popular. He is also an amazing teacher and cares for his students. lt's amusing though, before class starts, you always see all the girls batting their eyelashes at him. Heh

l really shouldn't be talking though...

.... Because l like him too.

l might even go so far as to say it was love at first sight.

l remember the day when l first requested to join the Literature Club. l looked up and saw his sweet smile. His first words were, “Thank you for coming, l'm happy you are here.”

“...Of course my teache does not know about my crush.” Since l'm a student, l need to make sure l keep these felings in check. “l don't want to cause any problems.”

l sat down in a chair across from a sleeping Rick. “He's sleeping so soundly, it doesn't look like he's going to wake up any time soon.”

“Hm... what should l do?”... “Since he's sleeping so well, l guess l'll let him be and just hang out a while.” “ln the meantime, l can think of how to persuade mr. grimes and how to recruit new members!”

“Actually lemma write the ideas down.” As l'm reaching for my bag, something catches my eye. A stack of papers is randomly placed on my teacher's desk.

lt seemed to be a manuscript of some sort that belonged to my teacher, given that the handwriting was similar. “ls this novel professor wrote... l didn't know he whote novels”

“l want to take a peek, but l really shouldn't read it without permission...But...just a teensy tiny peek shouldn't hurt, right? Just a page or two? l glance over at rick. He is still sleeping soundly.

“...Dear literary gods, please don't strike me down for being unable to contain my curiosity. Teach, forgive me, l just must know!” As l prayed for forgiveness from every deity, l picked up the manuscript.

The shorts story written from a male perspective was about 4000- characters long and spanned about 10 sheets. l of course read the entire thing in one go. “Did he write this”

Suddenly, l saw a movement in the comer of my eye.

“Ahem...”

The manuscript was lifted out of my hand. when l looked up, l saw that Rick had woken up at some point.

“Y/n, well, what's going on here? Do you always go around reading other people's private work... Perhaps l shouldn't have left it out in the open, but that's besides the point. ”

“l'm sorry. That was really rude of me.” As l apologized l was still staring at the manuscript that my teache was holding. “Not to impose even more, but can l,um, ask you about that? Did you write that?

“I did...-

“Sr. rick! lt' s phenomenal!!

“Wha-?”

Excited l stepped up to mi teacher “The world is so enveloping and you can feel the anguish and pain of the protagonist! It's written absolutely beautiful way” “the writing style resembles my favorite author, Andrew Lincoln, in every way!

Andrew Lincoln is a romance novelist who is very popular among the younger generation. He mainly writes young adult romance novels from a male perspective. Many of his works are very emotional and sad.

“On, that's right, you are a fan of Lincoln” l excitedly clapped my hands in front of me and rapidly nodded my head.

“Yes!!! A thousand times yes! l absolutely love that author! His work is incredible and has me in tears every time! l also love the fact that everything surrounding him is so mysterious. There is nothing about author himself anywhere. All we know is that he writes beautiful novels.”

“l see...” Whenever Lincoln is mentioned, Rick doesn't show much enthusiasm.

“Sr. rick, do you not care for this author? Whenever he is mentioned you seem very uninterested.”

“Ah, l'm sorry. l didn't mean to give off that impression.” Rick put the manuscript away in his desk drawer and turned to look at me. “ By the way, wasn't there something you wanted to discuss”

“Oh! Right! Right! l came to get permission!

“ls it for recruiting new members?”

“Yes!!!” nod frantically.

Rick sighed and nodded. “We discussed this before, but l will remind you that l will only accept motivated and interested students. l do not want the Literature club to become a ''Resume filler'' or hangout for unsavory people.”

“l know, l know, that's why l'm here to talk about that”sighed and nodded

“lt's not going to be easy to convince me.”

“But if we don't recruit more members the club will go extinct.”

“l understand this, but it is still better than having students not take it seriously.”

“Well, if you say so...

The teacher's words reminded me of the incident that happened previously.

Soon it was only teacher and myself.

The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop

“l just want to have a few more members and be able to advertise for the club”

“Y/N, l think just the two of us are perfectly fine. We don't need a lot of members to make the club interesting. Don't you think so?”

“lt's not that...”

In fact l love having Rick all to myself.

We haves so much fun every meeting that l look forward to them. But l wanted new members as much as l wanted to spend time alone with rick.

Because... “l really want other people to talk to about the books l read. l want someone who love Andrew Lincoln's work as much as l do and is enthusiastic about discussing it!”

Reading is something you do on your own, but discussion about a book is something that requires other people. l enjoyed talking to my peers about the books l read.

Of course l can talk to Rick but it's different. with him, we can discuss everything BUT Andrew Lincoln's work. And that is something l really, really want to discuss with others.

Since rick isn't interested in Lincoln's work, there is no point talking to him about it. “So l really want new members!”

“l see. l didn't realize how much you wanted to have more students in the club.” Rick sat deep in thought looking at me.

“l think l almost have him. Just a little more persuasion...” l was ready to fire off another reason as to why we need new members when..

Ding! Ding!

“ Rick Grimes, you have a phone call, please come to the staff office.” Rick was called over the school intercom, which effectively ended our conversation.

“alright. l understand why you wish to have new members. Let us think of ways to recruit members who are enthusiastic. l need to take this phone call. l will be right back.” With a smile, Rick took off.

“Great! looks like l got through to him, but damn that interruption!” “It's a step in the right direction though! Well, while he is taking his phone call,l'll just wait there for him to get back.” While waiting, l decide to take a look around the room.

A large bookshelf stood against the wall. lt was overfilled with books. There were so many in fact, that they were stacked in front of other books in little towers.“ The departament buys so many books that they are running out of room to store them”

Looking around a bit more it occurs to me that rick is not very tidy“ perhaps professor is just too busy to take the time and straighten up”

Since we use this as a club meeting room, l also tidy up every so often, but since it is the teacher's office, l can't straighten up and throw out stuff as much as l want. “Well, l guess for now l can get rind of this... Why is there a big cardboard box blocking the entrance anyway? lsn't some this some sort of fire code violation?”

l try to pick up the box, which is full of envelopes and documents. lt is much heavier than l had expected. “Good grief, what is in this thing?” l manage to lift the box into the air, but as soon as l did several envelopes that were on top crashed to the floor. “Ah crap“

One envelope wasn't properly sealed and the contents spilled all over the floor. “Crap,crap,crap!! What if this is some super duper important doc and l just got all the pages mixed up! I'm like so dead!”

“Huh? What is this” l took a closer look at the scattered documents. The handwriting seemed familiar. There was no doubt that these documents were written by Rick. “Oh! rick, did you actually write a full length novel?!”

l had just read a short story earlier that was written by my teache. l absolutely loved it. Needless to say l was dying to read this!

“Ugh.. but the JUST scolded me for reading his papers without permission. l would feel violated if someone did this to me so l'm going to go ahead and put this back. Alright, in you go buddy!” As l was sliding the manuscript into the envelope the author's name sprung out at me.

“What the hell? Andrew Lincoln? l slid the manuscript back out of the envelope and quickly flipped through the pages. The handwriting was all the same. “No way...” A million thoughts went through my head all at once.

Nobody knows anything about Lincoln's private life or where he is based out of. why is one of this manuscripts here?. There has to be logical explanation. “ Is my teache--

“What are you doing y/n”

“AHHH!!”

l was so shocked at reading my favorite author's name that l didn't hear the door open behind me. When l turned around l saw Rick stantiong at the door with a faint smile on this face.

l felt like a hundred flashing neon arrows were pointing at me blinking “GUITY!”“GUILTY”.

How the hell was l going to explain myself out of this one? Rick stepped in front of me, l made a desperate attempt as l turned to face my teache.

“Uh... h-hi! Um... you see, what had happened was. l was trying to clean and the box tumbled and spilled the manuscript everywhere... l'm sorry. l tried to collect it all...”

“And then?” Rick looked at me in a serene but threatening way.

“Then?”

“What did you see?” My teache closed the door and stepped in front of me.

“See? what did l see?” l stepped back instinctively as Rick comer closer.

“y/n, please be honest, what did you see?

“Well... the manuscript... the name... Er.. well... could.. you.. maybe be the novelist Andrew Lincoln?”

“......” The silence felt endless and l quickly regretted blurting out that assumption.

A thought occurred to me..l have been fawning over Andrew Lincoln to my teache for how long now? l practically confessed my love for him in front of my teache. l spilled everything from how much l love Lincoln's work, how much it makes me cry, how my heart absolutely longs for him.

lt is stuff would absolutely never ever tell the actual author himself “But... l mean that'd be ridiculous, right? Him being Andrew Lincoln... At least l really hope it's not him... l would be mortifiel and could neve show my face at his school again.”

l swallowed thickly and meekly looked up at Rick who was staring intensely at me. my teacher's demeanor had completely changed.

“Hmmm....” Rick let out a small sigh which made my bangs ruffle.

as l loocked at my teacher through my bangs, it occured to me that he was acting completely different front usual. “What if was Andrew Lincoln? What would you do then?”

Rick tone changed. He no longer presented himself like my teacher. lt was more of a predator having trapped its prey.“l...l don't know if l would... believe that.”

“Ah.. Well you see... l am Andrew Lincoln”

“No... way...” He stared at me.

“Why would l lie to you, you're holding the proof right in your hand.” l glanced at the manuscript in my hand.

“Whoa!”

l'm so aghast that my hand involuntarily loosens around the manuscript. Rick grabs my hand. “Don't drop that. lt still needs to be delivered to the publisher today.” l nod like l'm on autopilot. “Well then, y/n”

“U-um...yes?”

Rick steps closer towards me. l instinctively step back, but my back hits upon a solid surface. l forgot the bookshelf was right behind me.

my teacher takes another step towards me. “What's happening?”

l glance at the door and make a movement towards it. Suddenly Rick arm is in my line of sight. He has trapped me between himself and the bookshelf. “Not so fast, y/n. So... the teacher you admire and novelist you worship are the same persona... what are you going to do now?

l look up at my teacher who has an imperious smile on his face

My day started so ordinary.....

what have l gotten myselft into?!?

part 2???

[auroracalisto]

stupid for you

modern!eloise bridgerton x gn!reader, 1.3k words tw: cuss words. a/n: this is a college au!! title is from the song by Waterparks. it came on while i was writing this so,,, felt like it fit. reader and eloise are stupid for each other and we love them for it

There was just something about that girl in your feminist literature class that you couldn't quite get enough of.

The lilt of her voice as her excitement gets the better of her when she speaks to the teacher, the way each and every thought of hers bodes well and earns each student a new way of looking at the passage. The feminism in her was strong, and her adoration for literature was even stronger.

She was exactly what you wanted to be in life—talented, educated, and outspoken. Effortlessly beautiful, effortlessly incredible.

Or maybe, she's just the person that you really wanted.

To be with. To wake up to after a late night together. To drink iced matcha lattes and eat overpriced bagels while talking about your lives.

Every Tuesday and Thursday, as three o'clock rolled around, you found yourself waiting for the moment you could hear her voice. See her beautiful face. And you hadn't even learned anything about her other than her name—not to mention her gall, but that’s not important.

What’s important is the fact that you hadn't even talked to her. You hadn't asked her for notes or asked for her help with your many essays for the class (even when you knew you truly could have used it). You couldn't tell if you really did like her or if you didn't want much to do with her. After all, if you really did like her, you would have said something.

Maybe.

Maybe you would have.

God, you don't know if you would have.

Just the thought of seeing her sweet face made your cheeks burn and your palms grow sweaty.

You were down bad, but you hadn't a clue as to how you were going to tell her.

Every Tuesday and Thursday, as three o'clock rolled around, Eloise Bridgerton found herself more and more excited to be in the same room as someone as profound as yourself.

She had never been one for superficial things such as someone's appearance, but my god, did she think you were beautiful. She had never liked someone as much as she liked you, and she hardly knew anything besides your name.

Her mother had told her to go for it—ask you on a date. Because after all, the semester would be up in a matter of weeks. You would no longer have classes together unless the Universe decided that's exactly what you would need.

Her elder sister told her she was being silly, and if she really did like you, she just needed to say something. After all, despite the apparent shyness Eloise had at times, she quite truly was an outspoken woman. She could do anything she put her mind to.

But the more she thought about it, the more she became nervous.

Did she need to even tell you?

You probably had a partner. Someone like you surely would.

Right?

Right.

She was down bad for you, and she hadn't a clue as to how she was going to tell you.

But maybe the Universe knew exactly what to do.

Class had been cancelled that Thursday.

Your professor had sent out an email earlier that morning, so you had been running around, getting things done. But it seemed as if things only multiplied as soon as you finished something else.

You found yourself standing in line for a coffee at the campus Starbucks, needing whatever energy it would give you. Or maybe you would get a tea. Hell, you didn't know. This week had beat your ass, and really, you didn't care what you ended up getting.

You told the barista—the guy who sat behind you in your psychology class—what you wanted, and it only took a few minutes to make your drink. After, you made your way over to sit in a booth, tossing your backpack to the side.

Did you even want to do your work?

You had so much you needed to do before the semester was up. You were up to your eyes in Google documents and peer-reviewed journals flooded your tabs—you counted 19 just the night before, out of curiosity.

As you internally debated yourself, you spotted Eloise in the corner of your eye.

She was with her friend, Penelope, and someone else you recognized from your feminist literature class—but you hadn't bothered to remember his name. He never really spoke much. Maybe it was Timothy? Thomas? Something with a 't.'

Penelope scanned the room with joy-filled eyes, a smile growing on her lips as she moved to nudge her friend's arm. You couldn't make out what she was saying, the noise of the student center not helping the fact you couldn't read her lips.

Eloise rolls her eyes, looking back at Penelope.

Thomas—Timothy?—gently pushes Eloise forward, saying something about getting a table.

And then the two left Eloise standing there, alone.

The woman fiddled with the straps of her backpack before she finally looked over at you, her shoulders relaxing almost instantaenously.

She began to smile.

Wait.

Was she smiling at you?

No. No, she wasn't. She couldn't—oh hell, she was walking your way.

Shit, shit, shit, ran through your mind as you sat up straighter, eyes growing wide.

Eloise stopped in front of your table, lips parted in a soft smile. Her hand gripped tighter onto the straps of her yellow backpack, knuckles faintly turning white as she stood just a few feet away from you.

"Hi," she softly said, her voice just as sweet as you remembered.

"Hi."

Shit, say something else!

"You—we have lit together, yeah?" she began, anxiety getting the best of her. Of course, you had lit together! That's how she even knew you to begin with. Eloise silently berated herself, her breath hitched in the back of her throat as she watched you.

"Yeah.. yeah, we do." you paused, looking towards the seat across from you. "You, uh, do you want to sit down? I'm alone and it's not like I'm waiting for anyone, so… I mean, if you want to go to your friends, go ahead, please don’t think I’m gonna make you—"

The smile on her face made you pause.

"I would love to," she said, sitting down across from you. She stuck her bag beside of her, looking over at you from where she now sat.

Your cheeks flushed, a steady burn reminding you just how real this was. It wasn't a dream. She really was right in front of you.

"I'm… sorry for not talking to you, sooner. I always love hearing you speak in class, and I suppose I've just… chickened out every time I've tried to speak with you," Eloise said.

You blinked slowly. "Every time?"

"Yes," Eloise said with a soft laugh. "You think I’d be better at this sort of thing, I know, but you are just… amazing, as far as I can tell. I didn't want to mess anything up. And I tend to do that often, so I just… wanted to be sure."

And with that, her cheeks begin to burn. Panic settled within her and she folded her hands in front of herself, averting her gaze.

"Uh, I mean—"

"—honestly, it's the same for me," you interrupted, unable to hide your smile. "I've been meaning to talk to you ever since the semester started."

She looked up at you with wide eyes. Slowly, her smile returned.

"Well, then. I’m so glad to finally meet you," she said. “Perhaps… perhaps we could plan to hang out sometime soon? Not on campus. Get away from it all for a little bit.”

“Really?” you countered, tilting your head with a smile. “I would love that.”

Eloise only smiled more, and in the corner of her eye, she saw her friends give her equally big smiles and thumbs up. She bit the inside of her cheek, eyes falling back on yours as the prospect of getting to know you better became apparent.

She couldn’t wait to tell Daphne.

[wolfiemcwolferson]

i dont know what trick or treat is but i wanna do it too 🥺❤️️

Hi Akira! I wanted to save this for my pre-race drabble and so here it is! Piarles, obviously.

It's too cold when Charles packs his bag for the day, but he knows that by the time he gets a coffee from the cart at the corner and walks down to the park, there will be a patch of sun that he can sit in on his favorite bench.

He could have slept more - he could have gone straight to class, but it's the first sunny day in far too long and he needs to enjoy it.

The coffee warms his hands enough that he pulls his phone out of his pocket, hoping for a last minute cancellation for his orientation this afternoon, but instead he gets distracted by a long thread of whatsapp messages from his brothers about the two of them coming to see him soon and he isn't paying attention to the fact that there's an asshole spread out across his bench.

Charles doesn't mind sharing the bench. He actually loves to share the bench with people as long as people are respectful and don't have things spread out all over the bench - as long as they aren't taking up all the space by manspreading and -

"Excuse me," Charles says in English - possibly a bit too harshly because the man looks up in surprise and oh. His eyes are...blue blue blue.

Charles clears his throat and points to the bag that is taking up the other side of the bench.

He's about to ask if he can sit when the guy leans back, one hand smoothing down his thigh and sitting lower. Cocky.

"There is a bench," the man points across the walkway to the bench that is not in the sun. His accent is French and Charles is surprised. He doesn't often meet Frenchmen here. "I am refreshing for a work thing currently. These are my notes."

Charles turns to look at the bench and turns back, watching the way the man's eyes are looking at him. Charles could flirt, but he's tired and he doesn't want to flirt to have this guy extend some basic human decency.

"Yes," Charles agrees, but his voice is whiny. "But this bench is in the sun and I left Monaco to live in a sunless place to study here and I would very much like to -"

But then the man cuts him off - in French. "Settle down, princess. I will move my things so you can sit."

And then he winks.

Charles hates that he's pretty and that he is flirting with him now and that he's calling him princess and Charles is blushing uncontrollably, so he tries anger.

He turns away and instead of stopping at the bench just across the walkway, he keeps walking until he is two benches down, throwing himself down into the seat and glaring at the man on his bench.

"Suit yourself," he calls out with one hand cupped around his mouth and Charles wants to throw his coffee in his direction, but he needs it for warmth and also to get through this training.

He glares again and gets a smile back and he's really mad because that man is beautiful and definitely Charles' type, but he's an asshole who doesn't share benches in the sun.

He pulls his book from his bag, tries to ignore the beautiful man on the bench and read.

He manages. Mostly.

He finishes his coffee and he reads three chapters of his book and then he takes the long way around so he doesn't have to walk by rude man again and then when he's sure he's out of earshot, he sends Arthur a three minute voice note about the shade of his eyes and how much of an asshole he was and then as he's walking into the place where all the grad students are gathering to start their six week training course before they're let out onto their own next semester to teach their own courses, Arthur texts back mate when is the last time you got laid?

Charles is typing back an even ruder reply when the front door of the lecture hall bangs open and in walks rude asshole from the park.

"Hello," he greets them in English and Charles starts to wonder if it's not too late to drop out entirely and return home and work for Lorenzo. "I have been drafted from the education department to oversee this course."

Charles wants to sink through the floor because his eyes have started to roam over the 17 participants in this lecture series and he's nearing Charles.

"My name is Pierre Gasly and -" he pauses looking right at Charles, one side of his mouth tugging up into a smile, "I have just spent the last hour sitting in the sun and I'm in a wonderful mood, so we can skip straight to today's objective before I release you back into the world so hopefully you all can get some sunshine as well."

And then he winks.

Pierre.

Charles barely contains his scoff. It's going to be a long six weeks.