#so tomorrow I get FIVE hours of sleep instead of THREE hours of sleep

[anashins]

Room 803

Pairing: university student!Jaehyun x kindergarten teacher!reader

Genre: fake engagement au, neighbors au, age gap, hate to love, drama, romance, smut

Word Count: 26k

Warnings: reader is five years older than Jaehyun; Jaehyun doesn't treat women very nicely in the beginning; there is a lot of scheming going on; some characters have a questionable moral compass (cheating, blackmailing, lying, traditional family arrangements); there is an explicit rated scene (handjob, mc gets hand over mouth) and two suggestive ones, all of which you can skip if you want

Summary: You hate your neighbor in room 803 to the core, because his raunchy and very vocal bed activities always keep you up at night. There is no scenario in which you can ever imagine tolerating a lousy brute like him—until you get entangled in a web of lies and your neighbor comes into picture to play along. Your raunchy, lousy neighbor, who, to your surprise, fits the role of your fake fiancé very well. Almost too well.

A/N: Hi! So this is the result of ring window shopping and the Unconditional MV. I drew inspiration for the opening scene from my very own fic "Sinned" that I've first published on Aff. Leave feedback if you want <3 Happy reading! (D-482 until Jaehyun returns)

Finding a suitable apartment in the downtown of a very busy metropolis was a challenge. 

There were many things to consider during apartment hunting: the location, the price, the layout, the facilities, and also the distance to the next station depending on your commute. Nobody wanted to live in a rundown one bedroom on the 10th floor with no elevator and paper thin walls for which you still paid a fortune.

You were very lucky to have none of that.

Your apartment consisted of two rooms in a new building and was located on the 8th floor. It had three elevators, a concierge service, and even a small convenience store connected to the lobby. It cost more than a third of your salary, but with all the benefits, it was worth it. You couldn’t have thanked your co-worker enough to have passed it on to you when she had moved away, so that you could finally live closer to your workplace.

You loved your new apartment. 

But you hated your neighbors.

A neighbor on the 9th floor liked to play the drums for at least two hours a day and usually chose to do that when you had already returned home from work. A neighbor on the 7th floor liked to discuss things very heatedly with his girlfriend right by the window. Three rooms away from you on the 8th floor, there was a dog barking constantly, and somewhere else in the building, a tenant invited guests over to throw a party almost every Saturday night.

But your next-door-neighbor living in room 803 was the worst. 

“Yes, right there! Oh my… yes, yes yes!”

It was 1am on a Sunday night and you were supposed to get up in five hours, not having found even a single minute of sleep until now since the noises had been going on for an hour already at this point.

“Oh… Jaehyun! Ahhh! Oooooh!”

You pressed your pillow against your face and muffled your agonized scream in it. Almost every night, it was the same. Sometimes earlier, sometimes later, and you were able to count yourself lucky if he paused these sessions for two or three days in a row. But then they came back even stronger. And tonight was such a night. 

“Yes, oh god… oh my god! Ahhh, Jaehyun!”

You clenched your fist, raised your arm and hammered against the wall. 

But instead of slowing down, stopping or even reacting to you, you now heard his bed pound against the wall that separated your rooms, accompanied by the woman’s constant screaming.

“Shut up, it’s in the middle of the night!” you yelled.

“Get lost, we’re done already!” he yelled back.

Following his words, you then noticed the silence that had suddenly filled your room, finally allowing you to welcome your well-deserved sleep as tomorrow, another long workday awaited you. But your neighbor, of course, didn’t understand as he would start all over again tomorrow night. 

He was a university student in his senior year, his naturally dark hair constantly messy and bleached blond to the brink of extinction, always dressed in joggers and hoodies, and apparently enjoying life to the fullest. 

He was your neighbor Jeong Jaehyun, living in room 803 and your personal enemy since day one.

____

After having tried to conceal the dark circles under your eyes with heavy makeup the next morning, you were late again as you let the entry door fall closed behind you and hurried along the hallway with your heels audibly clacking over the floor. You called for the elevator by pressing the button and waited nervously, praying in silence that you would still catch the next subway.

From behind you, you heard another door getting opened and pivoting around, you spotted a woman stepping out of apartment 803. Or better say, she was thrown out as she only stood in the corridor in her underwear, another two pieces of clothing falling to her feet that had come shooting from the opened entry door. 

“I don’t even get breakfast?” she sulked as she picked up her clothes from the floor. 

“I told you not to rummage through my home.”

Jaehyun emerged by the door now, his blond hair sticking out to all sides as he seemingly tried to block her away back in. He was wearing a bathrobe and was clearly still tired too. Even though you wanted to, it was so hard for you to look away as you were curious about what was going on. 

“You’re an asshole!” the woman ranted while gathering her clothes. “I was only looking for a toothbrush!”

“You can look in your own home.” Jaehyun then dropped something else next to her on the floor while she was still crouching down. “Don’t forget your purse.”

You thought you were fast in turning away from the scene without anyone noticing, but he was faster in catching your curious eyes before you were facing them with your back. You drew in a breath and hoped he wouldn’t call you out on that, but Jaehyun wasn’t that kind of person. 

“Hey, Miss Neighbor!” he yelled. “Next time, instead of complaining… how about joining?”

Bringing your bag closer to your body, you suppressed your embarrassment and looked back again to threaten, “Next time, I won’t be yelling only, but come over with my baseball bat!”

You hated the grin he then threw at you. “So you’re into that kind of stuff, huh? Come over and we’ll see about that.”

Luckily, one of the elevators reached your floor at exactly that moment and you were quick enough to get in before Jaehyun’s one night stand could make it to the door at the same time.

The entire commute to the kindergarten, you thought about nothing else than your lack of sleep and how to finally put an end to this entire nonsense. At this point, it was ridiculous. You had been enduring that kind of shenanigans for one month already, and you were slowly getting fed up. No, actually, you had reached your wit’s end already. In the beginning, it had been all good and quiet, and from one day to another, it had suddenly started.

You didn’t know who had hurt him so much that he needed to compensate for his pain in this manner, but you’d rather he wouldn’t drag you into it. It only forced you to interact with him when you wanted to be left alone altogether to focus on your career.

“What is it?” your class’ homeroom teacher asked you as you entered the common room that morning. “You look so tired again.” 

“Ah, it’s just that I can’t seem to sleep well lately,” you tried to budge as you placed your bag on the desk. “A weird planet constellation or something.”

You couldn’t bring yourself to tell her the truth. What were you supposed to say anyway? That your neighbor smashed different girls so loudly every night, it kept you up for hours? People would only laugh at you.

“Try lavender tea,” she recommended to you. “This always helps me.”

“I will. Thank you.”

On your way to your respectant classroom, you were greeted by the children who had just been dropped off and getting ready to start the day.

Teaching children had always been your dream, and being an assistant teacher at a reputable private kindergarten came with few advantages in comparison to public ones, a higher salary was one of them. The hardest part was not the amount of work or the long working hours, but the strict and high-demanding parents whose individual expectations you always had to meet.

But looking into these brightly smiling faces greeting you each morning, it was all worth it.

“There is something I need to tell you,” the homeroom teacher then announced when you reached the door of your respective classroom.

“Yes? What is it?”

She kneaded her fingers in reluctance, her bag clipped between her upper arm and body. “I’m going to transfer to another school.”

“Where would you go?” you asked, perplexed. “This is Shi-A kindergarten. There are no other more prestigious kindergartens in the entire district or even country if I dare say so. Except… It’s not a kindergarten.”

She smiled and nodded. “I’m going to transfer to Shi-A elementary school. A teacher will quit by the next semester and they offered the position to me.”

You grabbed her hands, excitement written all over your face. “This is such great news! I’m so happy for you!”

“Hold on, the greatest part is yet to come.” She was five years your senior, but you saw her more like a sister than your supervisor. “I recommended you to the school board as the new homeroom teacher. The principal has agreed already, we’re currently preparing your recommendation letters.”

You were too stunned to ask more than, “Me?”

She nodded and squeezed your hands back in encouragement. “There is no one better here for this position other than you. You’re compassionate, you’re helpful and intelligent. The kids love you and rely on you. You’re finished being an assistant only, I can tell. And the principal as well.” 

“Me, as a homeroom teacher?” It sounded like a faraway dream.

“Miss!” A girl from your class, Soah, tugged on your coattail. She was holding something out to you. A yellow flower. “This is for you! I just plucked it, it was the prettiest on the playground!”

You took the flower into your hand and thanked her.

“Like I said,” the homeroom teacher commented with a wink as you entered the classroom, “there is no one better for this position other than you.”

____

“Ahhh, yes!! Jaehyun, Jaehyun!”

BAM BAM BAM

“I swear to god, Jeong Jaehyun, it’s 2am now, I will come for you!”

You jumped out of your bed, only dressed in a pair of pajama bottoms and a simple t-shirt, not bothering about throwing your bathrobe on or slipping into a pair of shoes at this point. You would only go to Jaehyun’s door and ring the bell to interrupt whatever they were doing right now.

“If I’m not getting any sleep, you’re not getting nutted either!”

Tomorrow, you had a very important meeting with the school board members and wanted to be well rested. So at least, for tonight only, you had hoped to get a few more hours of sleep. You had studied possible questions and answers for days by now and were not only tired, but also mentally exhausted.

But, of course, a reckless university student like Jaehyun wouldn’t understand.

When you reached your entrance door, just about to exit your apartment, you halted mid-motion, interrupted by a sound you had never heard before in this apartment building.

The fire alarm.

You were petrified at first, unsure how to react in such a situation as your mind wasn’t able to grasp the entire meaning yet. As it slowly sank down on you that it most likely meant danger as the alarm hadn’t subsided by now, you reacted very fast by finally opening the door and looking to your left and right.

At first, nothing happened, and you questioned whether your neighbors would react according to emergency plans. But then, one door after another opened on your floor and out stormed the tenants, passing by you and running down the stairs like their lives depended on it.

“Damn it!” you cursed and left your apartment the next moment as well, thinking about all your electronics and important papers that were still inside. 

But in kindergarten, you also regularly taught the children how to behave during a fire alarm, and the first and most important thing was to drop everything and get the hell out of the building. So when you were about to run down the stairs, you remembered that there was one person who hadn’t come out of their apartment yet.

“Hey!” you hammered against Jaehyun’s door after you had returned. “Hey! It’s a fire alarm! Can’t you hear?!”

Your own voice didn’t drown out the signal tone, but you tried nonetheless - to no avail. Jaehyun and whoever was with him wouldn’t come out.

“Miss, what are you still doing here?” The middle-aged man whose dog was always barking on your floor approached you with his pet. “We need to leave! Who knows where the fire has spread already!”

“But Jae-”

But the man just grabbed you by your hand and dragged you along the corridor, his strength too overpowering for you to resist. Even with your head turned and your eyes fixated on Jaehyun’s door, you couldn’t spot him coming out.

Inwardly, you just prayed that he perhaps had reacted fast and left already, but as all the residents slowly gathered in the front yard one by one, you couldn’t recognize Jaehyun among the people storming out of the lobby.

You didn’t know why you cared about that brute, just enough to look out for him.

Perhaps, your job as a teacher had made you sensitive to your surroundings and responsible for the people around you regardless of age and behaviour. You wanted everyone around you to be safe and sound, and that didn’t apply to children only.

“Where are you?” you muttered more to yourself as you got on your bare tiptoes and looked over the crowd as the last people were leaving the building, still no sign of Jaehyun.

“Looking for someone?”

“Oh my-!” you called out and stumbled backwards against the person that had just addressed you.

When you turned around, Jaehyun was standing in front of you, fully dressed in checkered pajama bottoms and a black t-shirt, his blond hair reflecting the light from the street lamp. So he had really made it out without you noticing, even after getting dressed. God knew how this had been even possible.

“Mrs. Choi,” you dodged the topic quickly. “I haven’t seen her yet.”

Jaehyun pointed at someone only two meters away from you, an elderly lady from the same floor. “There she is.”

“Ah, I see. Thank god.”

You buried your hands deep into the pockets of your pajama pants and stepped from one foot on another to warm them up a bit. You indeed had left your slippers behind in a hurry and had only noticed when it was already too late, so your toes were now cold and your soles dirty.

“Here.” Jaehyun slid out of his slippers and then stood next to you with naked feet. “Take them.”

“I don’t need them.”

“Look, your toes are slowly turning blue, and even if it’s still warm during the day, at night it’s already chilly since we almost have October already. So take them.”

You crossed your arms to warm yourself up a little more and, with much hesitation though, slid your feet into Jaehyun’s slippers. They were way too big and didn’t protect your feet from the cool breeze, but at least you didn’t need to stand on the cold and dirty asphalt anymore.

“Thank you,” you said.

Jaehyun raised his head up to the building complex. “It doesn’t seem like there is a huge fire anywhere, otherwise there would be fumes coming out of an apartment already.”

Red and blue light caught your both’s attention that was coming from the firetruck currently pulling up into the lane. Different firefighters got ready and stormed into the building in full attire, but Jaehyun was right. You couldn’t detect a fire either.

“Maybe it was only a small one and they managed to put it out already. Or someone was illegally smoking inside the apartment and the detector still picked up the fumes.”

“Whoever that was, they robbed me of a night’s fun.”

You rolled your eyes. “Well, isn’t that unfortunate? If they hadn’t done that, then I would have come for you myself, because I have an important interview tomorrow. But unfortunately, this situation is worse. God knows when we can return to our homes.”

“What interview? Tomorrow is Sunday.”

“For my promotion, it’s in the headquarters. I want to be a homeroom teacher, and in my kindergarten, there is no such thing as weekends.”

“Sounds annoying,” Jaehyun commented.

You flashed your eyes at him. “Of course, for someone who sleeps until midday and whose only aim it is to smash different women every night, this sounds annoying. But I’m a full grown adult with a real job, and if only you knew about how hard it is, you wouldn’t be so reckless with your noises at two in the morning!”

For the break of a second, you had hoped that you could possibly hold a normal conversation with Jaehyun. That he wasn’t that much of a prick, that you could explain yourself and he would understand your standpoint. But he was nothing other than your expected player, and you had had enough of them during your own time in university.

You then fled to the very front of the crowd right by the lobby without Jaehyun following you, and luckily, not much later, the firefighters declared the building safe. The alarm had been set off on the fourth floor by the partying tenant and his guests who had indeed ignored the rules and smoked inside.

You hurried inside along with the other residents, taking the stairs instead of the elevator to linger around long enough until you weighed yourself in safety from Jaehyun’s presence. 

You only returned much later to your apartment than all the others and were back in bed by 4am without having to face your next-door-neighbor again. Too late to get enough sleep still after all.

_____

“We are very pleased with your answers so far, miss.”

“Thank you so much, sir.”

You bowed in your seat, all the weight from the past days getting lifted off your shoulders. Despite the night before being a total chaos and you running on three hours of sleep only, you had made it on time to the interview and had even been able to revise everything during your commute.

Screw Jaehyun, you were great on your own.

“But there is one thing we’re concerned about,” the director said.

As you looked up, you perceived how nervously he was fidgeting in his seat as were the other board members, throwing some meaningful glances at each other. You knew it had been too easy until now. A woman in her late twenties who had only been teaching for three years overall, becoming a homeroom teacher at this prestigious kindergarten that quickly? There was always a catch.

“We’re concerned the students’ parents might not be content with our choice if we decide to put you in that position.”

“What could they be discontent about?” you asked as the director showed reluctance to continue. “I have my degrees, the experience, as well as the homeroom teacher’s and the kindergarten principal’s recommendation letters. With all respect, I am very qualified for this position, sir.”

“We are not concerned about your qualifications, miss.” He paused. “But about your living circumstances.”

You raised a brow. “My… living circumstances?”

“You’re a young woman living alone, who’s also unmarried,” a board member then raised his voice to take the pressure off the director. For sure, they had talked about this in private before. This felt like an ambush. “This is not something that is likely to be accepted among the childrens’ parents as they put great value in traditional family arrangements. As you know, it’s one of the pillars our schools are based on: tradition.”

You scoffed inwardly, but remained expressionless on the outside. Luckily, you knew how to deal with ambushes. You had so much to say about what they viewed as traditional family arrangements, but you loved it here and didn’t want to lose the job on the spot, so you kept your lips sealed and responded as politely as possible,

“I don’t know why my living arrangements would be any parents’ concern. If I can afford a nice apartment close to the kindergarten where I spend many hours preparing everything for their children to receive the absolute best education, shouldn’t that speak for my living arrangement? I also put great value on tradition. Just because I’m not married yet, doesn’t mean I never want to or won’t get married one day. Everyone has their own timeline and this should not block my career.”

“We’re aware about that, miss. But as you might also know, the parents have a fundamental right of co-determination in our schools.”

“Because since it’s a private institution, they finance everything,” you wanted to interrupt, but kept that sentence to yourself only. Instead, you said, “I dedicate all my time and passion to cater to their children. I am one of the firsts to enter and leave the kindergarten, even working more from home. I volunteer to teach on the weekends and during semester breaks. Does this not count more than the fact that I’m an unmarried woman who’s living alone?”

You were pushing boundaries by demanding an answer, you knew that, but it was nothing very reputable board members couldn’t rationally reply to. The fact that they didn’t, only proved that you were right and they were mere cowards under the invisible whiplash of wealthy parents. Without them and their money, their schools’ reputation wouldn’t be where it was now.

“We can’t change the parents’ opinions, miss,” the director eventually spoke up, retreating into a defending mode and putting the blame entirely on the parents instead of standing up for you, an assistant he had approved of hiring two years ago. Again, such cowards. “We will forward your documents and records to them, but that means a background check as well. And, if I may be frank, I can tell that you’re going to get ruled out solely for that reason.”

“Then change it,” you interrupted him. “Change my status to engaged. This is what they want, right?”

“Miss… we cannot counterfeit your documents.”

“They won’t be counterfeited, because it’s true,” you said with a confident voice. “I wanted to keep my private life private, at least until I get officially married. But I have no choice now to announce it before I actually wanted to. Yes, I am engaged and we’re going to get married soon.”

All the board members seemed to be taken aback by your sudden confessions. Perhaps, their reaction was genuine. Perhaps, they also knew you were lying. But what proof would they have to actually ascribe this lie to you? They threw meaningful gazes at each other again, unsure of what to make of this change in the situation. 

“Very well, miss.” The director eventually spoke up and nodded. “I will mention this in your documents and you can hand in a copy of your marriage certificate later when the papers are through.”

“But is this enough time, sir? It has to be decided within two months, the principal told me. I don’t know whether it will be enough time since the engagement is still new and we haven’t set a fixed date yet.”

“That’s true. If you want to convince the parents of your skills and background, I would recommend you to organize the school festival together with them. Volunteer for an activity in which your fiancé can participate as well and show them what a great couple you are. When they’re convinced, the paperwork will only be formalities.”

You swore you saw one corner of his lip tug up, either in malicious glee or in pure relief. Did he know?

“I understand, sir.” You bowed deeply. “Thank you very much.”

“And one last thing… You can start wearing your engagement ring from now if you don’t want to make a huge announcement. It’s more convincing.”

Oh, he knew. But he couldn’t care less as long as you didn’t get him in hot waters.

You nodded in understanding. “Yes, sir.”

On your way home, you stopped by a jeweler and picked out a nice, but cheap ring, a replica of your own dream ring, just beautiful and sparkly enough to get this lie through.

____

You had dedicated your entire life to this kindergarten, not only neglecting your family along the way, but also your friends. 

In fact you hadn’t talked or even answered your friends in months. You didn’t know what they were up to nowadays except for what they were giving away through status updates in your texting app. You scrolled through your contacts in the messenger, but sighed whenever one of the rare male names popped up. Some of them were married already, two had children.

They had all been your friends in university, but you hadn’t talked to any of them in an embarrassingly long time, so there was no one you could ask. How awkward must that be for someone to suddenly get a message about going along with a fake engagement from an old classmate they hadn’t seen in years?

“I’m so screwed!” you groaned and stretched out in your bed, throwing your phone aside. “Oh god, why!”

Perhaps, it was time to look for a new job, even though you loved the children and Shi-A kindergarten was the best reference for your CV. There was no coming back from all your lies anyway. Until now, you couldn’t quite grasp what had brought you to tell them what they wanted to hear. You should have just accepted their answer and moved on. Why did you have to be so impulsive at times, needing to get what you wanted right away?

People did separate before their wedding, that was possible, so there was a way out after all. You could stay an assistant teacher for several more years, there was nothing wrong with it. But the shame and pity you would need to deal with afterwards… 

The next moment, you sat up, your train of thoughts getting interrupted by the door bell, and the person behind the entrance was someone you hadn’t expected that day as he had never come over before.

“My shoes.”

“Huh?”

“My shoes.” A barefooted, messy blond-haired Jaehyun pointed at the shoe rack behind you. “You still have them.”

“Ah, right.” You quickly grabbed them and dropped the pair in front of his naked feet. “Here.”

But Jaehyun didn’t slip in right away. Instead, he questioned, “How did it go?”

You tilted your head in confusion. “Did what go?”

“The interview.”

You growled and your tongue loosened over the newly awakened stress, “Apparently, they don’t want a young, unmarried woman, who’s also living alone, teaching their children, so it did not go very well. It went all downhill when I said that I was going to get married soon to save my promotion. They invited my fake fiancé to the kindergarten to help out at the festival so that the parents get a chance to bond with him.”

“So you’re getting married?” He sounded as perplexed as the board members. Why was it such a big deal to imagine you getting married anyway?

“No! I’m not! That’s the catch. Now I have to get a fake fiancé from somewhere.”

“Hm. So you lied.”

“A bit.”

“Hm. Doesn’t sound like a bit of lying in my book.”

“I know, okay? Thanks for pointing it out.”

You didn’t know why you had told him all that. Perhaps, among the path you had chosen for yourself, you had lost all your friends and now had no one you could talk to whenever you faced a problem. He was just there, at the right moment.

“Really sucks for you.” Jaehyun shrugged and slipped into his shoes. He then turned around and disappeared back into his apartment.

You could have also talked to a wall.

____

“You never told me that you were engaged! And what an amazing ring with such a big diamond!” Your homeroom teacher jumped up and down in excitement as you two made your way to the entrance gate in the late evening at the same time as club activities ended. “I didn't even know you had a boyfriend! All this time you were keeping it a secret!”

“It has spread quite fast, hasn’t it?” you laughed out shyly.

“Totally! Is he going to help out during the school festival? My theater class still needs volunteers and your fiancé can join as well.”

“Sure,” you lied. “I can’t promise anything for him though, because he’s so busy, but he’ll try.”

“Has he ever been here though?” she asked. “Have we ever seen him?”

“No, he hasn’t.”

She pursed her lips. “Then who’s that?”

“Who’s what?”

She stopped in her tracks and pointed at the entrance gate. “The dark haired man standing there who clearly doesn’t look like he’s here to pick up a child since he’s only staring at you.”

Shifting your head, you spotted your neighbor standing right by the gate. You had barely recognized him, because the light blond hair was gone and now dyed dark. No way! What was he doing here? And how was he looking?

“It’s him, isn’t it? Hello!”

“Hey!” You grabbed her arm and pulled it down. “It’s just… he’s an introvert. Wait here, please.”

With hurried steps, you approached Jaehyun who didn’t break eye contact along the way. Surprisingly, he was dressed business casual today, in a pair of slacks and a button up. In combination with his new hair color and the strands neatly combed aside, he looked… decently handsome. It was not like he hadn’t been attractive before, that was a thought you had always tried to push away. But now it was like a fact you couldn’t run away from any longer.

You wondered whether there was a reason. Maybe, he had a date set for later. Good for him to take the women finally out and not always straight to home. Good for him to have finally found a woman who didn’t put up with his former appearance.

“What are you doing here?” you asked him without a greeting. “This is my workplace, you can’t just appear out of nowhere!” Your gaze scanned the environment and you could tell that you two had already caught a few parents’ attention, so your expression softened. “What is it?”

“I locked myself out of my apartment,” he explained. “I kind of typed the code wrong into the system and cannot get inside anymore. So I need to open the door from the inside.”

“And how is that exactly my problem?”

“I need to crawl out of your window to get into my apartment since I’ve left it open anyway.”

You frowned. “Are you nuts? Just go to the lobby and let them call the landlord!”

“There was no one there.”

“There is always someone there!”

He heaved up his shoulders. “Maybe an emergency.”

“Then use your phone!”

“I left it in my room.”

“And that’s why you came all the way here instead of asking another neighbor?”

“I thought since I’m locked out anyway, I can just come here instead of waiting. I knew where the kindergarten was located because of an envelope that had once found its way into my mailbox by accident. And I didn’t know whether you’d return directly after finishing classes or whether you’d have a date with your imaginary fiancé.” He suppressed a chuckle. “Or other imaginary friends.”

“You find that funny, right?” you chided. “But this is the job of my life. This is my life.”

“Alright.” He lifted his hands up in defense. “Can we just go home then?”

“Yeah, let me just…”

“Excuse me, you’re her fiancé, right?” Your homeroom teacher had suddenly popped up next to you, apparently too excited to be kept waiting around. “I’m sorry to butt in, but I’m so happy to finally meet you, because none of us have known about you until today! She’s so secretive!”

Perhaps, because there was absolutely nothing you could tell about your boring life. And even if, Jaehyun surely was not included! You wanted to clear up this misunderstanding when suddenly, you realized that this was your only chance to go with your lie.

He was a man. 

And he was here. 

You had no other option.

There would not be another chance this easy.

You should thank the heavens that today was the day he had decided to leave his bleached hair and joggers at home.

“That’s true!” you then declared and linked arms with Jaehyun. “He came here today to pick me up since I’ve already come forward with the truth. I’m sorry that I haven’t introduced you sooner. This is Jeong Jaehyun.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Jeong!”

You pinched his arm and felt how he sucked in a rush of air. Given he knew the context, he understood. You only prayed to the heavens again that he would just go with it. The logistics of this all, you would figure out only later.

“Nice to meet you too! I’ve already heard so much about you,” Jaehyun greeted back politely.

You didn’t believe your ears. Even if you had hoped so, you hadn’t actually thought that he would play your imaginary fiancé so well from the spot. 

“I already suggested that you volunteer in my theater group for the school festival, but she said you’re always so busy. Nonetheless, I still hope for you to step by every now and then, or at least come by on the day of the festival itself. That would be awesome as many of the teachers’ families and the childrens’ families are also visiting. It’s a chance to get to know each other.”

Jaehyun smiled broadly. “Of course I will help out as well, that’s a given. I’ll make time, no worries.”

“Such a polite and kind man!” Your homeroom teacher beamed at you. “Where have you been hiding him all this time?”

That was a question you were asking yourself now as well. 

____

“Nice furniture,” Jaehyun commented when you walked into your apartment. “But a bit too tacky for my taste.”

“I didn’t ask for your opinion on my interior. I still don’t know why you just didn’t refer to the lobbyist who’s already back by now.” 

“Calling the landlord and setting a new code is just too much hassle and takes up too much time. This way, it’s quicker.”

You opened the window in your bedroom and dragged Jaehyun across the carpet by his arm. “Then, get out.”

“When should I be ready?” he asked instead and turned to you.

“Be ready for what?” You blinked in puzzlement.

“The theater activity.”

“There is no way I’m going to let you join me in school!” you quickly defied him. “You’re… loud, rude and reckless! Only this one time was enough, there were enough witnesses to prove your existence.”

Jaehyun cleared his throat. “In your teacher’s words, I’m a very polite and kind man.”

“Only to authorities, apparently.”

“I can be very nice!”

“But not to me.”

“You’ve never given me a reason to be nice to you.”

You halted. “And the women you throw out every morning? You’re not nice to them either.”

“That’s a whole other story. I only throw out the rude ones, sometimes they get breakfast.”

You snorted when he grinned. “What’s differentiating me from them?” 

“They’re an obligation. You’re a choice.”

“So you’ve chosen to be mean to me?”

“No.” Jaehyun climbed on the window sill. “I’ve chosen to act according to what you’re giving me. Have you ever been nice to me at all? All you’ve ever done was hammering against my wall and ignoring me whenever our paths cross. That’s not very nice. Today, I’ve chosen to do something nice for you. Can I expect the same from you? I’m not quite sure.”

And off he went, out of the window, leaving you behind with much food for thought over what had happened since you had moved in. With slow steps, you returned to your living room, taking a seat on the couch. You stared into nothingness, pondering over Jaehyun’s words thoroughly. 

What did you know about him, actually? Not very much, if anything at all. Where you had spoken to your other neighbors almost in an instant upon moving in, you had never given Jaehyun a chance to properly introduce himself. You had quickly written him off as a player who you didn’t want to get involved with. What could you have in common anyway since he was so much younger?

But as a preschool teacher, you knew how dangerous it was to hold such prejudices towards people you didn’t know. This wasn’t your philosophy. 

So two hours later, you stood in front of Jaehyun’s door. It was past 9pm already, but you had to do the deeds today, otherwise you were afraid that all courage would leave your body by the end of the day.

“What is it?!” Jaehyun barked, then stopped. “Oh, it’s you.”

You held out the plate in front of him, still not having gotten used to the dark hair. “Here.”

He raised his brows, looking at a simple chocolate cake. “What’s this?”

“A peace offer.”

You didn’t dare to look him in the face, but his hand finally moved and clasped around the plate, touching yours in the process. With a slight smile on his face that you encountered when you lifted your head, Jaehyun took the cake.

“Peace offer accepted. So, when’s the start?” 

You inhaled deeply. “Wednesday.”

“I’ll be there.”

“But why?” you still wanted to know. “Why would you do that?”

“Because I think there might be something you can give me in return.”

Of course, there was always a catch. “And what would that be?”

Jaehyun made a meaningful pause. “Tutoring lessons.”

You nearly laughed out loud. “I teach kindergarteners, not university students. I mean, yes I studied with the focus on elementary school, but higher education is not my forte.”

“Isn’t it the same? Teaching people, who don’t know stuff, stuff they must know?”

“I don’t even know your major, your courses! How am I supposed to help you?”

“I’ll send you my sheets beforehand and you can teach me to understand the essence of them.”

You stood there, totally flabbergasted as you couldn’t quite wrap your head around the situation yet. “And that’s all that you want?”

He nodded. “That’s all.”

“It’s not on par with what you offer to me.”

He shrugged. “For me, it is.”

You didn’t know why, but you quite didn’t believe him fully. Either he bore some ulterior motives or he was so bad in university that he was on the brink of failing his classes anyway. In regard to his lifestyle, you could very well imagine the latter. Why not hire a professional tutor then? What was the point of all this?

“Fine,” you then gave in. “When do we start?”

“Tomorrow right away. I’ll send you the stuff.” 

You walked out of the door, but not before shifting around to him one last time. “Your new hair color… I like it. It suits you. Though I was used to always seeing your hair first before your face.”

“I still have to get used to it as well.”

“Why did you dye it?”

“I thought it was time for a change.” Suddenly, his gaze fell on your finger. “That’s the ring I have supposedly given you? I should know about it.”

“Princess cut, two carats. Or so it seems.” You held out your hand and looked at the piece of jewelry. “Actually, it’s my dream ring, but it’s not real, just a cheap replica. I hope nobody will notice though as they surely wear diamonds much bigger than that.”

“Women… such an enigma. I never understood why they pay so much attention to an expensive engagement ring anyway. Triple the amount of the man’s salary it should be, no?”

“First, that kind of scale is already dated. Second, I share your opinion. But…” You were about to say something very private, but you felt safe enough to do it at that moment, “I haven't grown up being able to afford nice things myself let alone getting these kinds of things gifted. So the thought of me being so important to someone to invest in valuable jewelry for me means very much.”

“I see.”

He nodded acknowledgement and let you leave.

____

According to his papers, Jaehyun was studying business management. 

You didn’t know much about the subject, but the papers were quite clear with what they wanted their students to grasp, and as it was indeed your job to teach even preschoolers exactly how to study the material, you didn’t see a reason as to why it would be different with your grown up neighbor.

Of course, upon entering his apartment for the first time, you had also scanned the entire space that was exactly like yours in the layout, only mirrored. Against your expectations, he was furnished and equipped quite comfortably and modernly, not too spartanic as you had expected from a young man his age. The door to his bedroom was closed though. Too bad, you were curious about that one the most.

“That’s quite a delicious cake!” Jaehyun praised as he sat down next to you at the table, the plate with the slice in front of him. “You’re a good baker, I have to admit.”

“Having to participate in many kindergarten events, you’ll get the hang of it eventually.”

“Say.” Jaehyun put his fork back on the plate and leaned in to you. “Why do you love this job so much? Aren’t you annoyed by the children? The parents? The other teachers? Having people around you all day long?”

You flipped through his papers, marking the passages you deemed worth memorizing. “Of course it gets stressful and annoying when, for example, children won’t listen, when you can’t meet the parents expectations or when the teachers put so much pressure on you. But…” A smile spread across your face that Jaehyun still encountered even though you had kept your head low. “... the reward, when they all succeed in the end, is all worth it.”

“Hm.” He kept staring at you, and his unwavering gaze made you flush a little. “Sounds legit for someone like you who loves her job so much, she’s willing to put up with a fake engagement.”

“I’ve worked really hard to get to where I am now,” you explained to him with a calm voice. “I don’t want to throw everything away because I’m an unmarried woman.”

“What’s so bad about being an unmarried woman?”

You hadn’t expected such a question. “Nothing, honestly. It just doesn’t meet their norm.”

“And when it’s all done… What will you tell them? That your fiancé left you at the altar? That you broke off your engagement?”

“By then, if you play along, I will have the job already. And yes, then I will then tell them exactly that. That we’ve broken up.”

“I see.” Jaehyun leaned back, giving you room to breathe again. “Well, if you think so.”

“Can we start with your studies now?” you asked. “We’re not only here for you to question me.”

“Of course.” Jaehyun took the fork in his hand again and broke a piece off the cake that he then led to his mouth. “Go on, what should I know?”

In the two hours you were teaching your neighbor, you came to the conclusion that there was no difference between being his teacher or one to your kindergarteners. Even though Jaehyun was a university student, you could maintain your teaching methods despite having a different subject at the base.

“I’m done!” Jaehyun raised his arms and stretched himself. “Finally!”

You closed the books and jumped out of your seat. “It’s almost 11pm already! I need to go, catching up on some sleep.”

“Ah yeah, my visitor will also be here soon, so you better hurry.”

You rolled your eyes at him. “Can you please stay a bit calmer tonight for me to sleep in peace?”

He winked jokingly. “As I said, you can always join. But today, I will, as a thank you for your tutoring lesson.”

He didn’t keep his promise.

____

“Miss, how do I look?” A little boy from the parallel group appeared next to you, dressed as an apple tree. His expression radiated insecurity, but you remembered very well how pumped he had been about finally landing a role in the play. “The others are all laughing at me.”

You crouched down and took the boy’s tiny hands into yours. It was Wednesday, so this was another evening dedicated to the preparations for the festival. His costume consisted of brown pants and a green shirt. He also wore a headgear that framed his face from which apples made of polystyrene were hanging. 

“You look amazing! Don’t listen to others. Your role is very much important. And you know why the apple tree is so important in the play?” He shook his head and you squeezed his tiny fingers in encouragement. “Because you’re the only apple tree. Without you, we wouldn’t even be able to perform. So regardless of what the others say, remember that you’re one of a kind, that you’re unique and very important. Okay?”

Now, a bright smile spread across his face. “Okay!”

You arose from your crouching position and turned around to let your eyes scan the hall. Then, you spotted your neighbor for whom you had waited already. And he was not alone.

With fast steps, you descended from the stage and nervously approached Jaehyun who was currently having a seemingly nice chat with a parent. And not any parent as a matter of fact. In front of him stood Shi-A schools’ main investor, and you hadn’t prepared him for that kind of situation! 

You had aged Jaehyun up to one year your senior and had also come up with a background story both of you agreed on was believable enough. Of course Jaehyun couldn’t be a student in front of these successful parents who were all directors, doctors and builders. You had first suggested for him to be a lawyer, but, in his words, Jaehyun didn’t want to be “such a stuck up suit-wearer”.

“Ah, miss, there you are!” Mr. Nam, Soah’s father and the owner of several bank branches across the country, welcomed you as you joined their chat and came to a halt next to Jaehyun. “I’m so disappointed that I haven’t gotten to meet your fiancé much sooner! Such a charming and smart man!”

You looked at Jaehyun who had dressed up in suit trousers and a white button up again, his hair neatly slicked back with only one strand falling into his face. His entire presence radiated a successful businessman, inferior to no one. You were quite impressed, he looked very much believable. And insanely handsome.

“Mr. Nam, it’s so good to see you! Yes, my fiancé is usually really busy, so I’m glad he was able to make time today to help out with the preparations for the festival,” you explained. 

“Of course.” Mr. Nam nodded. “I was only able to come today, because I canceled a meeting to see my precious Soah. I know what it’s like to run a business and having to miss important school events, so I talked about that with your fiancé. I didn’t know he was a COO!”

You tried to hide your surprise and forced a smile. Jaehyun had chosen to be involved in running a business according to his major, the age old enough to be COO, but not CEO yet. You just hoped he knew what he was talking about with the professionals, being so close to graduation.

“You know, honey,” Jaehyun addressed you, and it made your skin crawl how he used this pet name for lovers, “Mr. Nam invited us to his getaway in the countryside in two weeks.”

The middle-aged man nodded. “Mr. Jeong and I have instantly bonded over our occupations and our weekend getaway will help him form connections. Several friends of mine as well as parents of this school and other business partners will be present too. Your fiancé is still fairly young and new to the business as a COO, but I’m always pleased to show the next generation their way. It will be a great chance for you both.”

You couldn’t believe what you had just heard. Two years of working at this school and no parent had ever invited you anywhere. But it had taken Jaehyun literally five minutes only to get invited on a weekend getaway with the main investor! 

This was such a big chance for you to strengthen the bond with the most influential parents and investors, and show them that you were indeed capable of doing this job right - with and certainly without a man. 

“Of course we will join, Mr. Nam!” You bowed to him. “We’re very grateful to have received this invitation.”

Mr. Nam went on with his duty of helping his daughter and Jaehyun followed you to the stage. 

“You know that it’s not going to be easy during that weekend, right?” 

“Yes, but I need this weekend. If they see that I fit in, they will acknowledge me as a capable teacher, even without a marriage certificate. This will be the best opportunity to win their favor and then play the broken hearted teacher who they will all sympathize with after my breakup. Only Mr. and Mrs. Nam’s approval is enough, and every other parent will do as they say, that’s how powerful they are.”

“And what does being a capable teacher have anything to do with you being married or not?” he genuinely wanted to know. “You said there was nothing wrong with you being an unmarried woman living alone.”

You stopped in your tracks and smiled crookedly. “Apparently, they pay much attention to tradition, I told you already. And an unmarried woman living alone does not live up to their expectations since they’re very conservative. But I’m sure I can prove to them-”

“This is bullshit and you know it,” Jaehyun interrupted you dryly. “If I were a parent, I would favor an unmarried woman, who is a great person herself, to teach my children rather than someone trapped in a loveless marriage, who passes on her misery to her students.”

“You’re not wrong, but what can I do? It is how it is.” You shrugged. “Are you saying you’re not with me in this now?”

“Of course I still am if you also still want it. But as I said, it’s not going to be easy.”

“Why? It’s going smooth now as well.”

Jaehyun cleared his throat. “Well… we truly have to act like a couple, you know, since it’s a private setting. With all the pet names, skinship and stuff, honey.”

Again, you cringed. “Shut up, Jaehyun, it’s not that deep.”

He laughed. “If you say so…”

You two approached the stage, stepped on the platform and immediately had a group of boys run towards you. 

“Mister, you’re so tall,” one of them said to Jaehyun. “Can you help us hang these lights up please?”

“Of course!” Jaehyun agreed with genuine joy. “Where do you need them?”

“Over there, please!”

He rolled his white sleeves up his elbows in preparation. With much caution, Jaehyun took the string of lights they had been holding out to him into his own hands and attached them shortly over his head to the background of the stage.

“You wanna do this yourselves?” he then asked the boys as they came over to him with another chain of colorful lights.

“But we’re too short!”

“Not anymore now!” Jaehyun got on his knees and lifted one of the boys up in the air. “You’re tall enough now?”

The boy giggled and pumped his fist. “A bit higher, mister, please!”

“Alright!”

Jaehyun laughed along with them and stretched out his arms until the boy could reach the marked spots in the background. The child was effortlessly able to attach the lights onto where they belonged before Jaehyun set him back on the floor.

“Thank you, mister!”

You watched the scene with a smile, unknowingly. The fact that Jaehyun was this good with children had been a secret to you too, until now.

Perhaps, he wasn’t always your prick of a neighbor and there was much more to him than his nocturnal activities. Somehow, this piqued your interest and you wanted to get to know more about him in all sincerity.

____

“So, you got the gist of it, right?”

Jaehyun nodded. “Enough for me to not flunk the exam this time again.”

“Alright.” You snapped the book shut and stretched yourself. “I’ll get going now then.”

“Are you hungry?” Jaehyun asked instead when you made a move to raise from the chair. “It’s past 9 already and I’m hella hungry.”

“Well… I haven’t eaten anything since lunch and just wanted to go to the convenience store to grab a quick bite.”

“I’ll prepare dinner.”

It was a subtle invitation, and although he didn’t speak it out, he wanted you to stay for a reason you didn’t quite understand yet. Reluctant at first, you wiggled in your seat, unsure of what to do. But Jaehyun didn’t leave you much room for decision as he already opened the refrigerator and took out a sealed pack of chicken.

“Should I help you?” you asked and jumped up, eager to put this awkwardness behind you.

“Yeah, you can cut the vegetables. They’re in the fridge, I just put them in there just in case, so they’re not frozen yet.”

“Okay.”

When you opened the fridge, you spotted the cake you had given to him, only halfway eaten and frozen. You didn’t want to admit it to yourself, and surely not openly, but it kind of hurt you. Yet, you couldn’t bite down a snarky remark.

“You could have just told me the truth instead of lying… that it doesn’t taste good.” 

Jaehyun looked up from the chicken he was currently washing, his brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

Your disappointment broke through your facade eventually. “The cake. It’s still there.”

With careful deliberation, Jaehyun put the meat on a cutting board and took out a knife. “Because I don’t want to share it.”

“What?”

“I can’t eat too much sugar at once. So one, at the most two, slices of cake a day does suffice. I used to grind my teeth in my sleep, so they’re very sensitive now and hurt when I eat too many sweets at once.”

“Oh, it’s like that.” You paused. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware of this problem…” Again, it dawned on you that you knew absolutely nothing about Jaehyun. If you had known he wasn’t able to eat an entire cake within a few days, then you would have brought something else. “But you’ve had enough visitors over the past couple of days to share it with them, you don’t have to trudge through eating it to the last bites, you know.”

“But I want to!” he then defended himself and turned around to you. “I want to eat it all by myself, I don’t want to share it with anyone else what you’ve made only for me.”

This was not a joke, nor a mocking comment. He meant it in all honesty. You just had no idea why. 

“Okay.” You closed the door to the fridge with the vegetables in your hand now. “I’ll help you cut the ingredients. But we should probably hurry before your visitor comes, right?”

You didn’t want to sound mean by mentioning this topic, but the syllables fell from your lips much sharper than you had intended. It was none of your business anyway, but as you took the leek into your hands, you realized that you couldn’t help but to be curious about his lifestyle.

He shrugged. “It’s still a few hours, we’ll be fine.”

“But every night a different woman? Why don’t you get a girlfriend? Don’t misunderstand me, I just genuinely want to know.”

Jaehyun didn’t even bother thinking about coming up with a morally right answer. “I did have a girlfriend.”

“And?”

“It sucked.”

“Then you just didn’t have the right girlfriend for you.”

“We were together for three years,” he clarified and proceeded to cut the chicken while you did the same with the leek.

“Did she cheat on you?” 

“No. She stole all my money, lied about it and disappeared from my life from one day to another.”

“Holy-” You swallowed the rest of the sentence, your cutting hand now pausing too.

“My parents weren’t very fond of her from the beginning and told me to cut ties with her as she wasn’t the ideal daughter-in-law for them anyway. But I was a rebel and wanted to date whoever I wanted just because I could. She only used me as a money machine, and everyone knew - except for me as I was in denial. The me back then was so blind and so in love. I did everything for her, and in the end, I was left alone, robbed of my money and unfavored by my parents.”

You didn’t know what to say as you hadn’t expected such an honest conversation with him. The tough and cool Jaehyun had been through some miserable phases indeed, and you somehow regretted not having asked about it much earlier. 

“Jaehy-”

“It’s okay.” He brushed it off and put the sliced chicken in the pan. “Not all women are bad, I just need to pick better. Next time, I need to be a hundred percent sure she’ll be my future wife.”

“It’s odd hearing these words from a university student.”

“Why?”

“Nowadays, from my own dating experience, I can say that marriage or children are not one of the top priorities for many people wanting to enter a relationship anymore. They struggle a lot with these nowadays for so many reasons, most of which are valid, like money and economics. So I’m positively surprised to hear you’re not one of them and actually want to marry out of love.”

“Do you want to marry one day?”

This question took you aback. “Yes, for the same reason as you, actually.”

“Mhhmm. And do you believe there is someone out there for you?”

“Yes, I honestly believe it. When there is you and me already, here in this very room, then there are also more people with the same mindset out there in the world. I’m sure, there are many women who have so much genuine love to give to a man like you, even when you’re still so young.”

“A man like me?” You now made eye contact. “What do you mean a man like me?”

You averted your eyes again as you started to list while finishing cutting the leek, “You’re caring, because when we were standing outside on the night of the fire alarm, you noticed that my feet were freezing. You gave me your shoes to wear even when that meant you needed to freeze yourself. And I was so mean to you that night. You’re helpful, because you come to every single festival preparation date and support everyone wherever they need a helping hand, kids and adults equally. And not a single complaint comes out of your mouth. You’re intelligent, because even if you need my help to understand a subject, you’re quick to solve every answer in your very own way. On top of that, you volunteered to play the part of my fake financé. And to this day, I still don’t know why.”

Jaehyun was about to turn on the stove, but then stalled, looking at you partially confused, partially what you somewhat interpreted as… touched? His features then softened and he was moved by your words, you clearly saw it in his eyes.  

“Look at you, Miss Neighbor. Not knowing what you’re blabbering again.”

You cracked a smile and put the leek in the pan with the chicken. “It’s just the truth.”

“I help you out, because you’re a good person who is being treated unfairly. Is that so hard to believe?”

After how you had acted in his presence before all this? It was very hard to believe. 

“So you think it’s better if I stay in my old position and choose the conventional, non-scheming way?”

“I’ve seen you around the children. I think you’re too good of a teacher to waste your potential on insufferable parents who are too stuck up to question their own values.”

After this short time only, he had seen through this all, and was holding such a high opinion of you?

As you continued preparing dinner right here in room 803, of which you had never imagined setting a foot in, you came to the truthful realization that your neighbor was not resentful towards your behavior from the beginning anymore. 

Then, you started to forgive yourself as well. 

This dinner had been an invitation to do exactly that, and you were grateful for it.

____

“My, my… hello, miss!”

You turned around and encountered Mrs. Nam, Soah’s mother, approaching in your direction. Another Wednesday meant another preparation and practice evening for the kindergarten festival that was set to take place this weekend.

“Hello, Mrs. Nam.” You bowed deeply. “What brings you here?” 

“I heard my husband talk about your fiancé so fondly last time, I wanted to meet him personally since you’re going to accompany us to the getaway next weekend, right?”

“Yes, we feel so honored. What a pleasure!”

A lie. You hated this woman to the core. She didn’t care much about Soah, but more about her reputation and appearance. Yet, she was the main investor’s wife and thus one of the people you had to convince of your capability to be her daughter’s homeroom teacher.

“I'm going to introduce myself,” she declared and strutted away.

Jaehyun was currently sitting in a circle with several kids, helping them prepare their costumes with a glue gun. The kids were talking excitedly to him, interacting with him and laughing along with him. The scene warmed your heart and you smiled the longer you observed them. Jaehyun was so popular and got along so well with them. 

“Miss!” Little Soah stood in front of you. “Look what Mr. Jeong made for me!” She raised her arms and presented a golden crown to you, adorned with pink plastic jewels. “He helped me glue the jewels on. Now I’m a true princess, right?”

You smiled and patted her back. “Yes, you truly are! Here, let me help you put it on.” You got on your knees and settled the crown on her head. “All good now.”

“Miss, when you’ve married Mr. Jeong, are you Mrs. Jeong then? Should we then address you as such?”

“I guess so,” you laughed. 

You weren’t worried about the rest, because you were going to break this fake engagement off anyway. But somehow, her question had caused a lump to build in your throat that you weren’t able to swallow down. 

“Then I’m happy,” Soah beamed through her missing front teeth, “because I like him very much!”

With jumpy steps, she hopped away in her crown as your own expression fell. That was something you hadn’t thought about before. The fact that the kids could get attached to Jaehyun. Or the other way around. Eventually, you would need to break their world apart and rob them of a person they had gotten emotionally attached to. But that was life, wasn’t it?

“Everything alright?” You got stunned as Jaehyun suddenly appeared next to you. “You’ve been standing like this, totally motionless, for a solid minute.”

You nodded. “Have you talked to Soah’s mother?”

“Yeah.” He rolled his eyes. “A very annoying woman.”

“Right?!” you whispered to him with a giggle, relieved he shared your opinion. 

“And she totally has the hots for me,” Jaehyun mentioned almost nonchalantly as he made his way to the stage.

“Wha-” You quickly fell into his step. “What are you saying?!”

“That she wants to rip off my clothes and take me right here and now. That she wants me to bend her over one of these small tables and make her scream in pleasure. That she-”

“Okay, okay, I get it!” you stopped him and feigned choking noises. “She favors you. It’s nothing surprising, honestly. She apparently has a weak spot for younger men and even teachers here. It’s an open secret she stays married to Mr. Nam for the sake of their business, and it’s also an open secret that some men here, teachers and parents equally, have fallen for her charms already.”

Jaehyun grinned. “Charms… Exactly.”

At the same moment, you lifted your finger. “Don’t you dare! I swear, Jaehyun, you’re involved here to help me with my promotion, not cause havoc. Stay as far away from my childrens’ parents as possible!”

Jaehyun stopped in his tracks, lifting his hands in defense. “I know, I know. I get it. Don’t worry! She’s annoying and not my type either way.”

“Because she’s much older than you, hm?” 

Somehow, this assumption put you at ease, but not fully. Because, in the end, you were five years older than Jaehyun as well. You weren’t quite able to wrap your head around the reason as to why this even bothered you in the first place. 

“No,” he denied. “I don’t mind age. Neither do I mind education or status, despite my parents saying so. I embrace smartness, wittiness and the gift to enrich my life.”

“And the girls you bring home are none of that?” It was supposed to be a tease, but your curiosity for an answer dominated the entire question. 

He laughed, scarcely and briefly. “Hell, no!”

“I see.” This was a response you could live with very well, along with the statement that he didn’t mind an age gap. 

“But this Mrs. Nam…” Jaehyun lowered his voice. “She’s neither of those qualities that I’m looking for. She’s only a shell with no personality who’s been living in her husband’s shadow and seeks quick affairs for validation.”

You were quite flabbergasted, because his judgment seemed totally on point. “Well, you nailed it.”

He smiled smugly. “You said I’m smart after all.”

You playfully slapped his arm. “This again?” 

“Nevertheless,” Jaehyun continued, “you’re all that, Miss Neighbor.”

You frowned. “All what?”

“Smart. Witty. And an enrichment to my life.”

With these words, he jumped on the stage where the children already came running towards him.

And you were left behind with hot ears and a feeling you hadn’t experienced in a very long time.

____

As you had expected, the school festival turned out to be a success, and with as many parents attending as possible, you had been able to introduce Jaehyun as your fiancé to everyone who was interested in finding out who that young man was, supporting and playing with their children.

It had warmed your heart, seeing how they all got along so well with Jaehyun that, the further the day had progressed, the warmth had turned into a stingy ache. The sheer fear that probably, you would never find someone like him again to replace the hole that he would most certainly leave when you had to call this entire thing off.

After all, this was only a pretense. 

Wasn’t it?

____

The weekend after the festival, you drove all the way out to the countryside to spend two days in the Nam family’s second residence. Jaehyun had apparently rented a car and he was a naturally good driver, you had to admit. 

The family’s holiday home consisted of three big houses in different sizes that were all connected to each other and formed a huge residence, surrounded by many acres of nature. There was a tennis court, a pool, a festive terrace, and even a few horses grazing in the fields. The residence overall looked both spectacular and intimidating to you, who had never set foot into such a habitation ever before.

“This is your room,” the housekeeper announced to you and Jaehyun when she opened the door.

You swallowed, hard. This was a fact that had totally passed by you. The room where you were supposed to spend the night only had one bed. No couch, no canopy, nothing else to lie down on except for this one bed. 

“Thank you very much,” Jaehyun said gratefully, not having lost a single ounce of his composure in comparison to you who was still too stunned to speak. 

He led you into the room and closed the door behind him, dropping your two bags on the floor. It was a nice room that, apart from the queen size bed, had a balcony and huge windows where the sunlight was able to stream in. 

“You brought your tennis clothes, right?” Jaehyun asked, and at that moment, you were quite relieved he hadn’t encountered your sleeping arrangement problems yet or chose to purposefully ignore it. Either of it was fine for you as for now, there was another hurdle to master before this day would end: lunch, followed by tennis with the Nams, and then dinner.

“Yes, I just haven’t expected that you would be able to play.”

He snickered. “Oh, you would be surprised about many of my skills.”

“Ew, if this means what I think it means, stop it!”

“Come on, did you always have this huge stick up your-”

You lifted one finger to silent him. “Don’t say it out loud!”

“Fine,” Jaehyun gave in and shrugged. “But try loosening up every now and then, even when you’re in teacher mode. I tell you, life is much more fun like that.”

You decided to ignore him and circled the bed that was somehow ironically the center of the entire room. You then seated yourself on one side of the bed where you dumped your bag on your lap and started unpacking. 

“I’m sleeping on this side and you on the other. You're gonna stay as far away from me as possible and we’ll build a wall of pillows. If I catch you breaking through the barrier at any point during the night, I’ll kick you.”

“I promise, I won’t touch you.” And then, he added sneakily, “Unless you say so, of course.”

Luckily, he couldn’t see your face as you arose and put your clothes in the closet. 

Your cheeks were so heated.

____

Lunch went by fast with you not having to interact with the Nams much as you had eaten at another table. But you were able to connect with a few other parents whose favor you had won very easily - mostly thanks to Jaehyun who was perfect in his role and did most of the chit chat himself. You didn’t complain, it played all too well into your cards as smalltalk wasn’t your strongest character trait anyway. 

Jaehyun nailed the late-twenties COO scheme like he was living it in reality. It was insane how well he knew about almost everyone’s work environment as though he had indeed already graduated years ago and could keep up with the other guests in regards to business talk. He seemed well-educated, eloquent and charming. He was perfect in his role.

"We’re doing well, but I feel like we could improve our international growth a bit,” one man on your table, also the parent of a child enrolled in your kindergarten, pointed out. “The European market is proving to be a bit more complex than anticipated."

"I hear you,” Jaehyun acknowledged. “Expanding into Europe can definitely be tricky. It’s a diverse market with varying regulatory environments, consumer preferences, and competitive landscapes.”

“What’s been your experience so far in terms of the challenges?” the man asked back. “Have you already tested the waters?”

You inhaled sharply. How was Jaehyun supposed to answer that? 

“Yes, we did,” he replied almost nonchalantly though and sipped at his water glass. “Is it more about local market adaptation, or are there specific operational or regulatory hurdles that are slowing things down for you? Personally, I can tell-”

It was unbelievable. But you were not complaining and just let him do his job while you shifted your attention to the women at the table. One of them was the business man’s wife who had just asked about the European market, and thus a parent of the child attending your kindergarten as well.

“I heard that you were very popular among the children, miss,” she told you with a smile that didn’t seem quite sincere. 

Perhaps you were just paranoid, but you believed that by now, working among mischievous children for years already, you were able to tell the difference. With another two women turning their attention towards you, you felt like you had been thrown right into a shark tank, and your lifeline in the form of your fake fiancé was in no sight but caught up with the European business market. 

“I heard so too, miss,” one of the other women chimed in. “Tell us, what makes you so different from other teachers? One would guess you aren’t strict enough.”

There it was, the flash of guile that nearly simultaneously was visible in all the women’s eyes for not even the blink of a second, yet it hadn’t passed by you. You weren’t determined to let these hyenas eat you up alive, you had worked too hard to come this far just to let mean girls make you give up.

“I believe I strike the perfect balance between kindness and strictness,” you explained with a calm voice, but under the table, you were nervously kneading your sweaty fingers. “Every child knows they can always come to me, be it for struggles concerning their school experience or personal ones.”

Instantly, the eyebrows of the student’s mother raised up. “Personal struggles?” she nearly squealed, but the loudness luckily got drowned out by the heated business talk of the men at the same table. 

“Does this mean you’re asking them about personal things?” the second woman pressed the topic.

Now, you furrowed yourself. What were they on? “What I mean by it is that if my students ever encounter problems of any kind that they cannot share with anyone else at that moment, my door is always open for them, and they know it.”

“For me,” the third woman intercepted, “it sounds like you’re more of a friend than a teacher.”

“Respectfully, that’s not what I said, and I apologize if I delivered the message wrongly. But-”

“Oh.” They looked at each other meaningfully and let you become quiet before the first woman picked up the conversation again. “Are you saying we are too uneducated to get the gist of your sentences?”

You were completely flabbergasted. You had already gotten to know many parents, but always in a safe environment and in the presence of other teachers where they had never acted like this in any scenario possible. Was this how the parents treated the teachers in private? Was this the environment the children grew up in and you would need to deal with on a daily basis when you got the promotion?

While you were still in your thoughts and preparing a reply in your head that didn’t consist of any curse word, you suddenly felt a warm hand wrapping around yours under the table and giving you an encouraging squeeze. 

“What my fiancée wants to say,” Jaehyun interrupted confidently, but politely, “is that with the educational environment given nowadays, teachers are trained to be strict and rule with an iron fist. They are pressured to push their students towards the top regardless of their feelings and needs. Thus, the children feel pressured themselves and rarely have no authority person they can turn to.” You halted your breath, and the women apparently did as well as they looked at Jaehyun with shock over his provoking words. He was harshly criticizing the entire education system for which, to a huge part, the parents were responsible for as well. “Under these circumstances, they really appreciate a teacher like my fiancée, who does not only make sure that every child reaches its full potential at this young age, but she also gives them the feeling that not all teachers only care for their success, but also for their personal wellbeing. And if this is not a trait that more teachers need to have nowadays, then I don’t know what is. I think your children are very lucky to have a teacher with a strong message like my fiancée.”

The entire table had quiet down at this point to listen to Jaehyun’s words who still had not let go of your hand. He was right, to a hundred percent, but speaking these words out among these people was like an invitation to get you fired on the spot. 

“I agree with Mr. Jeong,” a female voice behind you then said, and as you shifted around, you spotted Mr. and Mrs. Nam standing right behind you. “His fiancée teaches my daughter Soah and not only does she get the best grades, but she’s also very happy with her teacher. I think we need more teachers like her.”

This was a support you had never expected of ever receiving. From them? And then, the men at your table, followed by the women, agreed with the Nams vocally. Was it really that easy, would they go with everything this married couple wanted just to stay in this circle? It was an interesting observation. 

But then, your gaze fell upon Mrs. Nam who stared at Jaehyun, and then everything fell into place. 

Well, if it helped with your promotion, then you would let her look at him as long as she wanted. 

As long as he only looked at you and held only your hand, just like now.

____

“Ouch.”

“I thought you were able to play tennis?” Jaehyun asked as he carried you up the stairs in a piggy-back. “I didn't expect you to trip and fall all within the first fifteen minutes.”

Even though you weren’t able to see his expression, you felt that he had to clearly suppress a laugh right now. “Be quiet, I don’t want to hear anything about it.”

“Ah, did someone maybe sugarcoat their skills a bit too much? To your luck, the Nams were just as shocked and cared more about your wellbeing than your lack of skills, so all’s good. I believe they found it rather endearing.”

You grumbled and lowered your head, resting it on his shoulder. Jaehyun had regularly only worn loungewear, so you had never quite made out the shape of his body. Or you had never been particularly interested in it. But now that you were being carried on his back, you couldn’t help but feel his strong muscles tense beneath your body, lifting you like you weighed nothing for him. 

It was true. You had only taken three tennis lessons and had then dropped it for the lack of time and motivation. But since this had been not too long ago, you had thought the experience would suffice. You had been so, so wrong though. Mr. and Mrs. Nam were immaculate and Jaehyun didn’t fall short on them.

Was there something he did not master?

“Who are you even?” you asked Jaehyun when you were finally through your room’s door. He placed you on the bed where he inspected the wounds on both your knees. “Honestly, Jaehyun. It’s like you’re not only blending in, you’re really… living this role.”

Jaehyun approached the door to leave again and get a first aid kit, but not without pivoting back to you one more time and saying with a meaningful and nearly reproachful tone, “You still haven’t cared enough to get to know me on a deeper level, right? All you wanted to know so far was about women, not me as a person. You’d wonder how easy it is to find information about my family online if only you know enough.”

And with that, he left you alone in your room with not only scraped and bleeding knees, but a heart that slowly started hurting nearly just as much.

It was true. You had been too busy with preparations for the upcoming events, pulling through your scheme and working towards a potential promotion, that you had not once put a single thought into Jaehyun as a person. You had wondered at times, but had never really made the effort.

Wasn’t that what he had preached about you earlier? That you were so open-minded, the children could always come to you? So why did you lack this skill when it came down to your personal life? That was probably also very much the reason you barely had friends left anymore. Too selfish, too focused on your career and only using people for the sake of your own benefit. Like Jaehyun.

But you didn’t want to continue with this behaviour anymore and eventually become like the parents here, so bigoted, condemning and toxic. You couldn’t let that happen to yourself.

So you did what Jaehyun had wanted you to do all this time: You just looked up his name online.

… And stared at him with your mouth agape when he returned to the room with the first aid kit. 

He stood by the door, unsure how to proceed. “So, you know.”

You threw your phone on the bed and folded your arms across your chest. “Why did you never tell me?”

“Well, did you ever ask?” His gaze was sharp, but he didn’t seem reproachful anymore as he had most likely caught on the deep regret reflected in your eyes. “All you ever did was assume based on what you’ve seen or heard in some cases. Assuming I was some lazy student with nothing in my mind except for women. There were enough hints given by me for you to look through this facade. But you never cared in the first place.”

That was true, but it was also part of your job. Children were more likely to never tell you what was going on in their lives, so you had to be really attentive as a teacher. Most of the time, you were right about their current feelings, especially the struggles, despite them not talking about it. 

This skill apparently didn’t apply to adults as you had gotten proven wrong several times today already. Adults were way smarter in hiding who they truly were, only revealing what they wanted others to see. Jaehyun was the perfect example.

“I’m sorry.” Your head dropped and you only heard how Jaehyun shifted in his position, followed by his footsteps approaching you. 

He then knelt in front of you and opened the first aid kit as he started talking, “The corporation is my parents’ business, I have nothing to do with it and don’t want anything to do with it.”

“All this time, I thought it was just a company that you’ve made up yourself when you talked to the businessmen during lunch.”

“Of course my position was made up, and it won’t take them too long to find out that a certain Mr. Jeong, who coincidentally holds the same last name as its CEO, is indeed not a COO, but an entirely different man.” He took out some disinfectant that he then sprayed on your hurt knees. You inhaled sharply and under much pain, but were determined not to make a sound. “I’ve grown up in this business environment, so naturally I’m very conversational in this matter if you had wondered about that. I just know a lot of business chit chat to make them keep talking, nothing that needs too much deep dive into a topic. I also took tennis classes when I was younger and the car we came here with? That’s also mine.”

You gulped. You had not even asked about the car at all. All that you had been doing was assuming and assuming and assuming. You had pegged him as a lousy student from the very beginning, and not once had it crossed your mind to ask him about anything. 

All you ever had to do was ask, and he would have replied in all honesty - just like now.

“You said you wanted nothing to do with your parents’ business,” you repeated his words when he gently patted your knees with a clean cloth. “Why?”

“Currently, I’m still under my parents’ guard and sadly also financially bound to them. I didn’t have another choice after what happened with my ex, even though I really despise my current situation. I was lucky enough that they didn’t cut off my financial support altogether, otherwise I couldn’t study at all. But at least I can live alone and thus can taste a bit of freedom and independence. They expect me to join their business after my graduation, even though I refused so many times already.”

“What do you want to do then?” You were genuinely curious now. “If not joining their business?”

“Start my own business.” He then pulled out a long string of band aid and cut respective pieces from it, two in the sizes of your injuries. “I was able to enroll in this top university with a promise to my parents that I will join them after my graduation. Hell will break loose when I come forward with the truth though, but I will pay it all back to them. That is why I’m now saving up as much money as possible to be independent after my studies. There are so many varieties of fields business management is useful for.”

Gently, Jaehyun put a bandaid on your injury, one on each side. His touch was so tender, almost feathery-light, and you shuddered comfortably. “What kind of business do you have in mind?”

Jaehyun shrugged. “I don’t know yet, but I will eventually find out. After my graduation, I want to travel around first and go to Europe, see a little bit of the world. And then it will all fall into place, I’m positive about that. If anything, I don’t want to be dependent on my parents anymore and follow in their footsteps. I want to be my own person, I need to be.”

“The bleached hair… the women… when you only hung around in joggers… Was that some kind of rebellion?” A glimpse into a life he had never been fully able to live out under his parents’ guard. A bit of fun.

“Let’s say I got raised very strictly by my parents, just like the children in your kindergarten, so I can very much relate.” That was why he could grasp exactly how the parents and children felt. He had grown up in this exact environment. It all made sense now. “My mother nearly fell off the chair when she saw that I’ve bleached my hair and wanted to send me to a hairdresser right away. My father stopped bothering me about joining business meetings. It worked all to my favor. It’s not that I’m not grateful that they still help me out, they just haven’t learned to respect my own wishes. Maybe one day, when I’m successful too, they’ll eventually understand.”

“So, why did you agree on doing this with me then?” you wanted to know when Jaehyun put the utensils back in the kit. “Just to practice your skills for the future? For the connection? Because I don’t believe you need that much tutoring after hearing all this. Or was it solely for fun?”

“Perhaps,” he interrupted hesitantly, “I just wanted to help my Miss Neighbor when she needed someone without asking for anything in return, because nobody ever helped me. Is that too far off when I need to answer this question again? Does it not fit your narrative?”

Nobody ever helped him? Ouch.

So people could really be selfless. People like Jaehyun.

Even though you were older, you were still able to learn so much from him.

“You don’t fit my narrative at all,” you reluctantly confessed. “But I am willing to change it.”

He lifted his head to face you and smiled in agreement. “There you go, all good now.”

“Thank you.”

“Thank you too.”

“So, Europe,” you picked up the topic again, swung your legs onto the bed and leaned back into the pillows. “Which countries excite you the most?”

That afternoon, you learned that Jaehyun had never been outside of the country, which really shocked you considering how wealthy his family was. But you also learned that, as the only son of successful business people, there had never been more to his world than his parents’ own little world. They had offered to send him abroad to study, but he had declined as he had never been on his own and got cold feet. Something he deeply regretted now.

You realized that Jaehyun had been living under the pressure and expectations of his strict parents all along and was only now slowly discovering the world. The fact that he fully went out in university, additionally with another woman by his side almost every night, was a response to his upbringing. You had studied this in your major.

It was the mere acts of a boy who had only discovered freedom, as he should.

“Living on my own was already a huge step towards independence. I can’t wait to see more of the world,” he elaborated, sitting on your bedside now. “Have you already been somewhere out of the country?”

“Japan and Vietnam, yes,” you replied and yawned. “But that was a long time ago, even before I studied.”

“You’ve never been to Europe either?” You shook your head. “Then you should consider coming with me.”

“I’ll probably be a teacher soon, Jaehyun. Even now, I hardly get any time off, so sadly, I won’t be able to do that. But it’s nice to dream about it. Maybe in the future it will be possible.”

“Hm.” He arose from the mattress and suggested, “You seem tired, how about you take a short nap until dinner? I’ll wake you up then.”

“Oh, that would be nice.” You yawned again. “But what are you going to do until then?”

“Making sure you'll get that job you really want.”

He was fascinating you more and more with each bypassing day.

____

During dinner, you were seated at the Nams’ table, exactly at the opposite of the married couple. You didn’t miss the fact that Mrs. Nam seemed to be in really high spirits, and she and her husband had asked about your wellbeing more than once.

“Tell us, Mr. Jeong, how did you meet your fiancée?” Mr. Nam eventually wanted to know from Jaehyun. 

You had prepared yourselves for this, you had made up an entire story about your first meeting with all the details someone could be curious about, and the rest you would just improvise. Jaehyun was supposed to say that you had met in university since you had both aged him up to fit the storyline.

“We first met when she moved into the apartment next to mine.”

Thank god you were already done with the main course, because you were sure you would have choked on your grilled beef they had served earlier.

“It was early in the morning, just a few days after she moved in. She was in a rush and I had just come back from an all nighter at the library. It was exam time and I suppose she was also in a hurry because of these circumstances.”

At least Jaehyun stayed true to the fake story by making you both university students. But what was he up to, why didn’t he follow your plan in all details? 

You desperately tried to lock eyes with him to give him some kind of signal to stop this, but he ignored you on purpose and just smiled at the guests while telling the story. Though he reached his hand out to your lap, searched for your fingers and embraced them as though in reassurance. Reassurance about what when he was not acting according to the plan at all?

“I was in the lobby, about to get on the elevator when the doors opened and a young woman stormed out of it. She had her bag in one hand, books and her jacket in the other, as well as a cup of coffee balancing on her fingers. She unsuccessfully tried to close the lid with the hand that was holding her bag.”

Wait… 

This was not a made up story. You vaguely remembered being in such a situation shortly after you had moved in. Instead of running late to university, you were running late to work, because you had calculated the commute time wrongly from this part of the city, even though it was closer to the kindergarten. You had successfully wiped this memory out of your mind, for the reason of…

“She was so caught up with her stuff that she didn’t see me and just stormed out of the elevator as soon as the door opened,” Jaehyun continued and earned a few giggles from the listeners. “She bumped right into me and the next moment, I had her coffee all over my shirt.”

… for this exact reason. It was too embarrassing to be kept as a memory. And the guy from that fateful having turned out to be Jaehyun himself was the cherry on top. Why had he never said a word about this incident?

Your embarrassment visibly showed on your cheeks as their color changed, gaining you a few amiable gazes from the guests. 

“She barely looked up as she apologized and tried to drop all her things to clean up the mess.”

“But I didn’t,” you remembered, speaking out loudly, “because you said I should hurry up and go to wherever I needed to go right now, and then cleaned everything up yourself.”

“Exactly,” Jaehyun laughed and a few joined. “You apologized three times and ran out, and I cleaned up the mess with the help of the lobbyist. I knew someone in such a haste had to be somewhere important early in the morning, and I didn’t want to be a hindrance to that, even though I didn’t know you yet.”

A few women at the table let out an “awww”, Mrs. Nam being one of them. 

Now, Jaehyun turned to you and met your confused face with a confident expression of his own. “I had barely looked up,” you added, “because I was too embarrassed, so I couldn’t remember your face. I was just hoping that I would never meet that person again, whoever it might have been.”

Jaehyun addressed the guests and declared, “Fate was not on her side when it turned out to be her next-door-neighbor. Luckily for her, I never mentioned it.”

Laughers from all sides now and you had a hard time keeping your mouth closed that was constantly on the verge of falling agape at this story. You had had no idea.

“Why not?” you then pressed the topic, your role threatening to crumble as you quickly filled in, “I think everyone here is curious as to why you have never told me until we got together.”

“Because I knew how hard working and busy you always were.” You returned to looking at each other, now unsure whether he spoke through his role or spoke as Jaehyun himself. “And I didn’t want to teeter your attention and let our first meeting get overshadowed by an embarrassing moment for you that might bear negative echoes. From that day on though, I was determined to win you over another way and kept this story a secret for later on. I just haven’t expected how difficult that would be.”

“A real gentleman,” a woman commented and she gently nudged her husband in the side.

“For two months, I was trying so many things to get her attention. But it turned out to be rather challenging, because this woman wouldn’t look at me even once if it was not for pouring coffee all over me.” Jaehyun covered his face with the back of his hand as if shyness threatened to break through. “I held the door open for her, waited for her in the lobby, took the same elevator or coincidentally ran into her in the convenience store. All to no avail. She didn’t spare me a single glance again. Not even when my attempts went more…” He paused and withdrew his hand, letting a serious expression full of regret flash by his face before it returned to his gleeful mien, “... vocal. I think at some point, she even started resenting me. But for me, it was enough. She finally recognized me.”

You didn’t know what to feel. It was a totally new story for you, and you were so sure he had just come up with it. But on the other hand, the entire storytelling sounded too real, too full of details and emotions to have just been made up on the spot. 

And the way he looked at you while telling all that... It was a story for the public, but the way he delivered it, the way he still held your hand under the table, indicated that he was telling it to you, and only you. The entire table, even the room, didn’t exist anymore, only you two.

Your fingers started to tremble.

“So, how did you eventually win her over?” Mrs. Nam asked curiously and Jaehyun’s gaze swiftly shifted to hers before returning to you. 

“I found out she needed help with a small favor, so I offered it to her. As to not make it so obvious and awkward for her again, I feigned to not be as good at studying as I actually am and needed to get tutored by her. Otherwise she would have never accepted my help without giving anything in return, or the feeling of it. And the rest is history.”

The crowd was partially in awe and partially shocked at this bold move. You belonged to the latter. Was this still part of your scheme? Then why was he telling the story so close to the truth?

“Mr. Jeong saw what he wanted and went for it,” Mr. Nam concluded. “That’s a true businessman here.”

“How did you react?” Mrs. Nam then wanted to know from you. “Finding out he schemed his way into your heart?”

It was supposed to be a funny remark, but you were not amused by it one bit. Yet, you brought yourself to crack a smile that was far too crooked to be genuine and shook off Jaehyun’s hand from yours. 

Luckily, no one noticed. 

Except for Jaehyun himself.

“I was totally shocked,” you answered Mrs. Nam. “But it turns out his scheming abilities have become really beneficial for him as he’s always geeting what he wants, am I right?”

Everyone at the table failed to notice your disappointed tone and made the connection to Jaehyun’s business skills as they all started talking again, first complimenting his traits, then falling back into a talk about what to invest in next.

Dessert arrived the next moment, but as you looked at the Panna Cotta in front of you, you didn’t crave for it one bit anymore. In fact, you felt sick to your stomach, and Jaehyun, whose hand now was placed on your thigh in a comforting gesture to make amends, was the cause of all this.

“Excuse me,” you quietly apologized, but nobody noticed you arising from your seat and then disappearing into the hallway.

Jaehyun followed you instantly.

____

“I’ve been in love with you since the first time we met. Is that so hard to believe?”

“Shut up, Jaehyun, I don’t want to hear a single word anymore!”

He was right at the other side of the door, waiting patiently while you were sitting at the other side in your room, grabbing your head in despair and trying to string together the words that had just come out of his mouth. 

“But it’s true,” he said with a softer voice now. “What more can I say for you to believe me?”

“All these women…” It just didn’t make sense in your head. “You wanted me and still were with all these women.”

“I was only with them, because I couldn’t be with you. Sometimes, I’m just… a little boy still. What else was there for me to do when the woman I love wouldn’t even look at me? I’d rather had her look at me with disgust than not looking at me at all.”

A long pause followed. 

“Yes, you’re just a little boy, Jaehyun. You’d rather trick me than tell me the truth straight up.”

“What would you have said if I had one day just appeared at your doorstep and asked you out? Me, a student, five years your junior, who cannot even compare to the men you meet every day at your job? Sometimes, I regretted wanting to go a different path than what my parents mapped out for me just so that I could keep up with them. But I thought, if you finally got to know the real me, all my other qualities, you would eventually see that I am indeed a match to them. A match for you.”

“But that is no valid reason to lie to me! First the tutoring lessons that you clearly didn’t need just to spend time with me, then…” You gasped. “Had you also lied about getting locked out on that day you appeared at the kindergarten?”

The day he had suddenly exchanged his casual clothes for decent ones and had dyed his hair back to dark. That had not been a fateful coincidence. The fact that he had come to your kindergarten on that exact day dressed like that, it had all been carefully planned.

“I knew you probably thought I wouldn’t be the right candidate for that role with my appearance back then, so I wanted to prove to you that I, indeed, was the best choice with my background, and adapted according to the circumstances. I genuinely wanted to help you, even if not for selfless purposes only. I wanted you to want me too.”

“You tricked me, you manipulated me, and you schemed all your way into my heart.”

You heard him shuffle through the door, probably as perplexed as you were as you repeated your last words in your head. Oh no. You were grateful that he let it pass by him though.

“I’m deeply sorry. I am just a boy who didn’t know how to handle his feelings and who was used to getting whatever he wanted. I think I still have a long way to go to grow up.”

You pulled your knees close to your chest and hugged your arms around your legs. “Why today? Why did you choose today to reveal everything? In front of all these people? Was it one of your schemes too?”

“Not once did I have in mind that I wanted to hurt you. I came out with my feelings today, because they were genuine, and your reaction would be genuine too. And it worked, everyone out there believed it. Isn’t this what you wanted?”

Yes, this was everything that you had wanted. But why was it hurting so much then? Not only because Jaehyun had gone through all these lengths to make your dream come true, but also because you had wasted this much time together. So, so much time.

“So what if I disposed of you right after this?” Your voice sounded icier than it was supposed to, and he noticed it. “Would you have told everyone the truth out of spite?”

“After all, is that what you still think of me?” His pain was almost palpable and you regretted your question right away. Perhaps, because you wanted him to answer differently, but he replied just like you had secretly wanted him to, “If I had helped you make your dream come true, and you had still chosen them over me, then yes, I would have been very hurt. But I would have been happy for you, too. Isn’t that what love is about?”

This was probably the most mature thing he had said to you today. “And if I had chosen you?”

“After tonight, I believe that if it comes down to me and them, you would pick them.”

Was that what he was thinking of you now? Your heart ached when you asked, “Why do you think that?”

“I saw what you’re dealing with, what you try to achieve. You are too much of a hard worker to throw this all away for a normal student with no real plans, no perspective. Someone who can offer you nothing but a promise that he will work hard to help you achieve everything you want.”

A student with no perspective. Was that how Jaehyun saw himself? 

Yes, he had grown up in a business environment and surrounded by wealth, but he was an enrichment to your life without all that too, in ways your workplace and the people in it had never been. Yes, you loved your job and your students, they were the center of your world, and you were working so very hard for achievement after achievement. 

So hard that it had totally passed by you that you yourself had been the center of the world for someone, and it was actually nice to finally have a person look at you when you had only been overlooked by exactly these people before, who you were trying so hard to impress. And what for?

Jaehyun might only offer promises, but he always made sure to live up to them. Wasn’t this worth so much more?

“I’ll go downstairs again,” he then announced quietly when you didn’t say something in an uncomfortable long time. “If you don’t feel like coming, you can stay here and I’ll find an excuse, don’t worry about that.”

Your front teeth sank into your bottom lip. Jaehyun had been right. Perhaps, you would have called him an idiot for having asked you out the very first day you met. 

“Idiot!” you called out to him now for a whole other reason as you opened the door and dashed after him.

With much surprise twinkling in his eyes, you now stood in front of him and crossed your arms. 

“What?”

“You’re an idiot,” you repeated. “If you believe that after everything, when it comes down between you and them, I’d pick them, then you’re an idiot. Because I’d pick you.”

Jaehyun didn’t have much time to process what you had just said as you slung your arms around his neck and pulled him down to you. 

The moment you kissed Jaehyun for the very first time you realized that all of this might not have entirely been a scheme at all, from both of your sides. 

He kissed you back with much passion and fierceness, and you felt that exactly these feelings had been lingering inside of you as well.

You just weren’t sure for how long already. In the end, it didn’t really matter.

____

“Here?” you asked Jaehyun with widened eyes when you fell back on the bed.

He crawled on top of you. “Do you think I’ll wait any longer for this?”

“But everyone is still downstairs, finishing dinner.”

“Good,” he whispered and kissed your neck. “Then no one will hear us.”

You chuckled when his playful pecks turned into sensual kisses and he eventually started sucking on the sensitive skin. Goose bumps spread all over your upper body, and you couldn’t remember when you had last been with a man while Jaehyun… You balked.

Immediately, he heaved up his head, looking at you with a surprised expression. He stroked your temple. “What’s wrong?”

You didn’t want to admit it. The fact that you felt intimidated by his experience despite you being older. That you felt inferior to all the women he’d ever let in his bed that were far prettier than you. Or so you thought.

But Jaehyun didn’t share your opinion when you hesitantly tried to explain your worries to him.

“You don’t have to worry about any noise coming from my apartment anymore. Because you’re the only one who’s gonna lie in my bed from now on. Okay?”

“Okay.” You giggled when he kissed your cheek. “I really like that.”

Jaehyun sat back up on his knees while suggesting you to keep laying still. He reached out his hands and unbuttoned your blouse. You helped him take off the piece of clothing by winding your body to the side for better access. He then brought his head down to the beginning of your breast and placed a light kiss on a spot that made you shudder. 

With both his pointer fingers, he then searched for the straps of your bra and pulled them aside. You wiggled your arms out of the tightness it had provided, having Jaehyun drag the underwear down enough only for your breasts to lay bare. You turned your gaze to the ceiling and hoped he wouldn't notice your flushed cheeks as you weren’t quite sure what to do or how to behave anymore. 

But Jaehyun, on the contrary, knew exactly what he was doing and how to behave. He put your nipple between his lips and started sucking on it, supporting his body with one hand. A pleasurable feeling streamed through your body whenever he wetted the mound and had his teeth gently tug on it. 

With his free hand, he massaged your other breast that had still remained untouched, and the blissful feeling of being pleasured on both sides suddenly started coiling between your legs where you already felt Jaehyun growing hard in between.

“You like that?” He was suddenly up by your ear again, muttering, “By the sounds you make, I take it as a yes.”

You had made sounds? You hadn’t been aware of that, but Jaehyun seemed to enjoy it very much, judging the way he beamed at you. 

He helped you up to a seated position so that you were able to take off your bra entirely before he let you fall back onto the mattress. Jaehyun had his own shirt unbuttoned and on the floor the next moment, and you swallowed a gasp at how well built he actually was. Prominent muscles showed off abs and his arms were unexpectedly muscular. You stared at him in awe, somehow desiring to have his arms wrapped tightly around your waist.

“Like what you see?” He flashed a grin.

Jaehyun was on his knees now, fiddling with his belt that he intended to open, but you couldn’t wait that long to finally touch him. So you arose from your position and grabbed him by his belt yourself. With one swift motion, you had him freed from this barrier, but didn’t withdraw your hands right away. Instead, you unbuttoned and unzipped his pants yourself.

Jaehyun stayed patiently silent during your actions, his hand entangled in the hair at the back of your head. When you were about to drag down his pants, a huge bulge was already foreshadowing what you would find underneath. Yet, you still let out a gasp when you slid down his boxers and his cock sprang free in front of you. 

You lifted your hands, but then halted. “May I…?”

You didn’t know if asking was even necessary, but given that it was your first time with him, you wanted to be sure that he really wanted his intimate favors to be returned. 

“You may do whatever you want with it,” Jaehyun growled in anticipation of what was about to come.

You cupped his entire length with one hand and watched in amusement how his head rolled back in satisfaction. His chest irregularly lifted with each breath when you started moving your hand up and down. 

You cracked a smile, speeding up your motions that then elicited moans out of Jaehyun that he eventually successfully suppressed through gritted teeth. People were still dining downstairs, but you also didn’t want to risk being overheard. With your thumb, you slid over the tip of his dick that was already wet and sticky from his precum.

You looked up to Jaehyun who turned his gaze down to you, probably wondering why you had suddenly stopped. But then he found you looking at him with much lust, bringing your thumb to your mouth from where you then licked up all his precum.

It was one of the hottest things Jaehyun had ever seen, and he immediately brought your faces together to kiss you passionately and fiercely.

Not much later, you were laying on your back again, entirely naked this time, and Jaehyun was settled between your legs, his elbows braced against the mattress on either side of your head. He nudged you to open your thighs, and you were more than willing to finally welcome him.

Jaehyun did everything in his might to reassure you as you distorted your face at the sharp pain shooting through your lower abdomen upon him entering you with his tip. It had been a long time, so your body was not adjusted to this kind of stretching anymore, and it let you feel it. 

Jaehyun moved very slowly though, with pauses in between, until he was fully sheathed inside of you. And eventually, when he stilled to let you adapt, pain turned into the long awaited pleasure. Suddenly, him filling you out so fully was not an inconvenience anymore, but something inside you screamed for him to go deeper than that so that you would feel more of him. 

Your fingers interlaced in the back of Jaehyun’s neck and his lips came down to kiss you over and over again. He wanted to be assured that you were really okay with him continuing before he ultimately started stroking. 

It still stung when he withdrew himself. But after only two thrusts, you felt nothing anymore except for the ungraspable desire for him to push inside you again. And again. And again. Whenever he pulled out, you couldn’t bear to have him in this position for too long, because you wanted him to hit the spot he had just found. And again. And again.

“Shhhh-” Jaehyun halted and laughed quietly before kissing you. “You want everyone to hear you now?”

“Oh!” You brought your hands in front of your mouth to suffocate the moans that you apparently had let out unconsciously. “I’m sorry!”

“Don’t ever be sorry. You can moan if you don’t mind them.”

But you shook your head. “I don't want them to hear, but I just can’t help it.”

Jaehyun nodded in understanding and started thrusting into you again. And again, you let out a moan despite your efforts to keep your lips sealed. You slid your arms under his and hugged his back. Simultaneously, you brought your legs up and hooked them behind him. The bed shook under you, but luckily it was not making much noise. 

Gently, you bit into Jaehyun’s shoulder to muffle your sounds, and as he didn’t react to it with a wince of pain, you got assured that it was okay for him. On the contrary, he got even braver now. Where he had seemingly been holding himself back this entire time, he was now grabbing the headboard and used it as a support to speed up his stroking game. 

He slammed into you over and over, and you were holding onto him like a lifeline now with your head buried in his chest. Your thighs tensed around his hips as you felt the pleasure that had accompanied you all throughout the act coiling up to a destructive ball between your legs. It tugged on every fiber of your body, and you had to squeeze your eyes shut to focus on it, otherwise, you thought, it would tear you apart.

“Oh, Jaehyun,” you breathed, your nails digging deep into his skin on the back. “I-”

You let out a long breath, very well aware of the fact that when the feeling finally came crashing down on you, you would be in no position to hold in the noises that would pass your lips. 

You then were petrified, eyes widening in shock when you suddenly overheard steps and noises in the hallway. People had finished dinner and were now returning to their rooms, it seemed. There was no way you could now end this with noises!

Jaehyun was very well aware of your surroundings too though, but was not determined to let anyone disrupt what he had been dreaming to do to you for months already. He nodded in silence and pressed you back down on the mattress. With his palm flat, he then covered your mouth, but made sure your nostrils were still free for you to breathe properly. You looked at him with glistening eyes, your arms now loose around his neck.

“Scream,” he summoned. “Scream all you want. I’ll make sure nobody will hear you.”

And you did. 

You screamed your heart out into his hand when you came undone beneath him, fingers scratching over his shoulders and toes curled up as your entire body convulsed. And he drowned every single sound so that nobody could hear you except for him only.

When Jaehyun let go of you with a sneaky grin, your mouth was dry and your vision blurry, but you could still watch his sweaty chest arise above you when he prepared himself for his own heights. Deep toned moans entered your ears and you smiled softly as you let him cum all inside you with a few more thrusts that eventually slowed down.

Jaehyun fell limply next to you, but, with his remaining strength, he still managed to pull you up to his chest so that you could find a comfortable spot there. It was already dark outside and you heard one door close after another, indicating that people were now ending the day.

“So, you still want to sleep with a wall of pillows between us?” Jaehyun teased and played with a strand of your hair.

You laughed when you remembered how you had initially been so worried about the one bed setup. 

Now, it was very conventional.

____

You only remembered falling asleep and dreaming soundly in Jaehyun’s arms after two more rounds of muffled screams and shaking orgasms. 

When you woke up much later, still in the middle of the night though, those arms that had held you warm were no longer wrapped around you, and your bed was missing his body.

Your first thought was that Jaehyun had fled and your heart jumped to your throat. That he had realized he didn’t want you after all and just dropped you like that. That you were, in fact, unlovable.

You slowly started to calm down again though when you saw his bag still laying where he had placed it and part of his clothes that he had worn the evening before still neatly folded on the chair in front of the dressing table. 

“Jaehyun?” you asked carefully when you got out of the bed and threw on your pajama pants and a t-shirt. 

You approached the bathroom, but no light was coming from inside, indicating that no one was in there after all, and when you eventually opened the door, you found out that you had been correct. 

Where could he have disappeared to? It was so odd. 

You slid into your slippers with the intention of leaving the room as quietly as possible. You knew you could have also waited for Jaehyun to return, but something inside you wouldn’t be able to casually get back to sleep without an anxious feeling, so you needed to get rid of it in an instant and find him.

You didn’t need to look for long though. The moment you opened the door, he was already standing right in front of you, not less surprised by your sudden appearance as vice versa. 

“Where have you been?” you whispered when he closed the door behind him after stepping into the room.

With a swift motion, he held a bottle of water in front of you. “I was thirsty, so I went to get something to drink from the kitchen.”

“Oh…” You had been so anxious for nothing. 

“What?” he grinned when he went over to the table and placed the bottle on it. “You thought I sneaked out in the middle of the night?”

You shrugged and seated yourself on the bedside with a long sigh while Jaehyun opened the water bottle and drank from it. “When I woke up after my nap this afternoon, you weren’t here either. I know you went to the talk with the Nams, but…”

Jaehyun placed the bottle down again and closed the lid. “Were you afraid I had suddenly left? Or worse… that I was with another woman?”

“Well…” You averted your gaze by turning your head to the side. “You’ve been with many women after all. And I’ve always heard everything.”

Jaehyun didn’t respond until he stood in front of you and had your face cupped with his hands. “What if I tell you that throughout this childish act, there has always been just one woman I wanted to be with, and now that I have her, I don’t need anyone else anymore?”

You lowered your gaze and smiled reluctantly. Despite the darkness, you saw the entire truth flicker in his eyes and believed every word that he said. Why shouldn’t you after all? He had done all this just for you.

“I believe you.”

“Very well.” He kissed you and crawled back into the bed to where you followed him. “So, what should we do when we return home tomorrow?”

You first got on your knees and fluffed up your pillow. “What do you mean?”

Jaehyun grabbed you by your arm and pulled you towards him. The next moment, you laid with your stomach flat on top of him and he brushed through your hair, gently kissing your parting. “I don’t mean we have to get married by the time of your promotion. Yet.” You blushed, but luckily he couldn’t see. “But if you start going out with me, I’d be just as happy, Miss Neighbor.”

You braced your arms against the mattress and lifted your upper body up so that you could wind yourself and face him. “If you think I would ever give up that spot next to you on the bed now, then you’re so wrong.”

“I like the way you think.” 

A deep kiss followed, only interrupted by your muffled whimpers when he pulled down your pants and nudged hard between your legs again.

____

You had parted with the hosts on magnificent terms with Mr. Nam exclusively promising you that he would vote for you to get the job. As of this weekend, you, with the help of your fake fiancé turned real boyfriend, had proven to be the best candidate for the soon to be open position, and if anyone still thought otherwise, Mr. Nam would convince them himself. 

Mrs. Nam had only silently nodded, seeming displeased over something, but you didn’t bother too much about her mood swings since you had never liked her anyway. If you had her husband’s word, then nothing else mattered anymore.

You had one week left to prepare yourself for the meeting with the board, but since everything seemed to be home and dry, you could relax most days and spent every night at your neighbor’s over there in room 803. 

“Scream,” Jaehyun had said the first time you went next door, sitting naked on top of him with your hips locked on his. He had let his hands roam over your cheeks and squeezed tightly into the flesh. “You can scream as loud as you want here. Don’t care about the neighbors.”

And, as a matter of fact, the screams that came out of room 803 from that night on, only belonged to you.

____

“I’m very sorry to deliver this message to you, miss,” the director said, “but we cannot offer you the position at our kindergarten in this city.”

In front of you, you visibly saw your whole world shatter.

What had gone wrong? Had you not spoken to the Nams just last weekend, who had promised you that you had secured the position already and the rest were only formalities? What had happened in the past days that must have apparently changed their minds completely?

“I’m sorry, I think I might have misunderstood,” you apologized, “I assumed the parents who are also part of the investor group, for example Mr. and Mrs. Nam, also have a say in this. Do they not?”

You had already been welcomed with a dreadful feeling when you had opened the door and only found the director sitting in the room. None of the others had been present unlike the last time. Still, you had hoped that you were wrong.

“Oh, they do, miss. Actually, every parent has approved of you.”

“Then, what changed your mind?” You had a really hard time keeping your voice at a respectful level. You had done everything they had expected of you. Save from… “Is it because I’m still not married? They all know I’m engaged and they know my fiancé. I can always hand in a copy of the certificate later, but we do not have a date yet.”

“Miss…” The director lifted up his hand, smiling this time. “I said we cannot offer you the position at our kindergarten in this city. I repeat the last words: in this city.”

Your brows drew together in skepsis. “So that means…” You didn’t want to speak out loud what you were thinking as you didn’t know yet whether these were better or worse news.

“Congratulations!” The director arose from his chair, rounded the table and approached you. “We offer you the position of an elementary school teacher in one of our Shi-A schools in Busan!”

“In… Busan?”

It was odd how the city’s name was the first word that resonated in your head. Not “elementary school teacher” which even meant a significant upgrade from your current position. But the city’s name. A city on the other side of the country where you would need to move to if you accepted this position. Which meant in retrospect that you had to move out of your current apartment, away from…

“Miss?” The director looked at you curiously. “Are you not pleased about this?”

“I am!” you corrected yourself. “I am truly happy over the fact that you offer me an even higher position now.”

“Fantastic! We are aware that you will have to move then, but don’t worry about the logistics, we will provide for all expenses you need. You can start with the new semester, so there is plenty of time. Isn’t it fortunate?”

He wasn’t aware of the fact that this, indeed, was really unfortunate for you.

____

Not long after you had gotten the work contract to read through and sign until the week after that, you were standing outside of the director’s room, petrified to the core. Too many thoughts were flying into your head that you struggled with to organize. 

This was your dream. This was your dream coming true, yet…

“Not happy about your new position after all?” 

In front of you stood Mrs. Nam, arms folded across her chest, standing high on her heels. Her lips were curled up to a smile that was all too wicked and did not resemble the persona she had shown to you the majority of the past weekend. 

You were at a loss for words as you couldn’t define her expression, but she was happy enough to help you out when she explained, “In the beginning, I fancied your fiancé very much. I thought he wouldn’t say no to a bit of fun with me. Nobody ever had. Until then. Or should I better say… fake fiancé?” Your mouth fell agape, but you were quick to close it with a hard swallow. “Yes, my chin also dropped when I overheard your little conversation after dinner.”

“Let me ex-”

But she only lifted her hand to gesture to you to stop speaking. Her nostrils flared, anger clearly mirrored in her eyes. “After our tennis match, before I found out the truth between you two, I met with him and suggested that he would come to me during nighttime. I had so much fun watching you being all giddy during dinner, knowing that once you’d be asleep, he’d slip into my bed.”

You needed a moment to process everything she had said. When you had been asleep, Jaehyun had met with Mrs. Nam who had then offered him a place in her bed? You were furious. A married woman making advances on a taken man… you had heard about her reputation among the childrens’ mothers, but never had you thought that one day, you would become her victim too. 

But more so… Another thought suddenly cut off the air in your lungs. “Jaehyun has not declined?”

Her eyes narrowed. “He hasn’t declined.” Your heart dropped. “When we met during the night, I didn’t mention what I found out. I didn’t care if it meant I could see him more often. But he had recorded the entire conversation and then dared to blackmail me. That bastard had followed his own plan all along. He told me that if you wouldn’t get this position without him needing to share my bed, then he’d play it to my husband, to the entire board and the school if necessary. I told him that if he did that, I would tell everyone you weren’t even together. Unfortunately for me, unlike him, I didn’t have any proof.”

Suddenly, you felt like you could breathe again. Jaehyun hadn’t declined her invitation, because he had his own scheme mapped out and wanted to help you all along.

“Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?” you asked sharply. “Luring taken men into your bed as a married woman?”

She raised one brow in questioning. “As far as I know, he hasn’t been taken at that time, am I right?” Unfortunately, she was, but you kept quiet. “The men I’ve been with have never once been happy in their marriage or have drifted apart from their partner already. At best, they already had affairs going on. The only mistake I made this time was choosing someone who I thought was a naive kid. My fault.”

“Is that why you’re sending me away? To get revenge on him for doing what was right and not betraying me?”

Mrs. Nam slowly moved her head from one side to the other. “I’m not sending you away, otherwise my husband would start questioning. I’m giving you a choice. Either stay here in your old position or move to chase after a more glorious future. After all, that’s what you want, right? The lengths you’re going through to get what you want? What’s making you so different from me, then?”

She had thrown the truth over you like a bucket of ice cold water. You had lied your way into the promotion and dragged Jaehyun along with you in the process. Were you really different from them? It was written all over your face, apparently.

“Exactly.” Mrs. Nam grinned. “You remind me of me when I was younger. I also wanted power and wealth, and eventually got trapped in a loveless marriage. I’m not heartless, miss. After all, it only takes me a few phone calls to ruin your fake fiancé and everyone related to him. His little audio has nothing on my power.”

“Then why?” The contract was rattling in your shaking hands. “Why give me a choice in the first place and not fire me on the spot?”

“My daughter adores you very much, she talks about you every day.” A flash of regret passed over her face, but before you could catch the entire meaning of it, it had already vanished. Perhaps, she cared more about her daughter than she had let seen past, but failed to show it. “Back in the days, I made the wrong decision on what to choose. Perhaps, I hope, you’re going to make the right one.” She turned on her heels and lifted up her hand as though she wanted to bid farewell to you. “I’m sure you’ll know what to do.”

The contract was still shaking in your hand long after she had left.

____

When you walked into Jaehyun’s apartment later that day, your face was still like stone, the contract also still in your hands. 

On your entire way back home, you had read through each paragraph over and over again. It sounded too good to be true. Nearly the double amount of salary, more days off during vacation and your own assistant teacher. You were offered to teach the first two years of elementary school and if necessary, they would even provide housing for the first three months.

This was everything you’d ever worked hard for and dreamt of. 

“I got offered the position of an elementary school teacher from next semester on,” you declared nearly absent-mindedly as you sank down on the couch and handed him over the contract. 

“Congratulations!” Jaehyun wore a solemn expression on his face when he flopped down on the cushion next to you. “You want to celebrate?”

His happiness pulled you out of your thoughts and you faced him with an agonized expression. “There is nothing to celebrate about this, Jaehyun! The position is in Busan! That’s on the other side of the country!”

“Okay calm down…” When you made attempts to arise, he touched your upper arm and indicated to you to stay seated. “I know where Busan is. That’s no problem. I’ll just go with you, because I’ll finish university in two months anyway. And after that…”

You cracked a pained smile. “After that you want to go to Europe.”

He shook his head. “I don’t need to go to Europe. I can go with you and find a job there.”

“And not living your dream? What you have worked so hard towards after you helped me achieve everything that I wanted? You want to drop that?”

He looked at you like you had just uttered the most ridiculous question someone could ask. “You’re more important to me than that dream.”

“Was that what you also thought when you blackmailed Mrs. Nam?”

Jaehyun drew in a sharp breath. “So you know.”

“You lied to me again!” you yelled. “When will you ever stop lying to me about serious stuff, Jaehyun?”

“I was about to tell you as soon as I knew about the offer, when your position was secured! I saw the chance and I took it! What did she tell you?”

You told him about your encounter with the parent and had arisen from your seated position by the time you finished, walking around the living room in nervous circles now. 

“She didn’t just suggest it,” Jaehyun opposed. “She told me, for you to get this position, I’d need to sleep with her, otherwise she would tell her husband what a bad teacher you are. And I was absolutely not going to do it, so I thought if she dared to blackmail me, I could do the same and pretend to be interested just to let it all blow into her face. What would you have done if you knew? There was absolutely nothing you could have done! I turned the situation to your advantage!”

“She could have come forward with the entire truth! She could have gotten me fired and your true identity revealed!” You came to a halt in front of him on the couch and he took your hand into his, trying to calm you down. “Do you know what that could have meant? If you had informed me, we could have tried to figure it out together!”

“And then for you to resent them and quit what you were working so hard for? I was not about to risk that! I was only acting in your best interest.”

You wiggled your hands out of his and shifted around, away from him. “You put both of our futures at risk by doing that, Jaehyun! What if exactly the opposite had happened? What then? Would you have taken responsibility for it?”

He didn’t say anything for a long time and you braced your hands against the table, losing a long breath. 

“I just… I just wanted to help.”

“I didn’t ask for your help! I never had! Look at what happened!”

You were just so, so frustrated. You had only gotten this offer, because Jaehyun had interfered. You had only been invited to the getaway weekend, because Jaehyun had interfered. You had only fallen into the parents’ favors, because Jaehyun had interfered. 

Had you achieved all this without him as well? Something inside you was assured that you wouldn’t have.

And you resented him for that.

“In the end, you’ve ruined everything I’ve planned and worked so hard for! Had you not come into the picture at all, then I would have gained their favors myself! After I’ve gotten the offer, I would have announced my separation and everything would have been fine!”

Suddenly, Jaehyun was behind you, turning you around by your shoulders. “You know that’s not true,” he said calmly. “I know how these people are, and you now know too. It wouldn’t have worked.”

Yes, you knew. That was why your resentment was so strong. Everything you had ‘achieved’ was ‘achieved’ through a man, with the help of a man. Even the board had only consisted of men, and in the end, Mr. Nam had given you his permission after having bonded with Jaehyun, not yourself. 

This was not entirely your own achievement. Everything you had worked so hard for, was in vain in the end, because Jaehyun had only needed to do a bit of small talk, play with his charms, and they were butter in his hands.

Yet, it still hadn’t all worked out in your favor.

“I also have the option to stay, but only in my old position.” 

“As I said,” Jaehyun interrupted you with a gentle voice, “I’ll go wherever you go.”

But you weren’t sure whether you wanted this.

You moved past him and grabbed your purse from the couch. “I need time to think.”

When you walked out of Jaehyun’s apartment, you found two neighbors in the hallway, talking to each other. 

One of them was Mrs. Choi and the other person was the neighbor with the dog. They were trying hard to pretend that they hadn’t eavesdropped all the yelling coming out of room 803 earlier as opposed to the usual noise, and greeted you, but you just ignored them.

That night, you didn’t return to Jaehyun’s room.

____

When you had first voiced the desire to become a teacher, your priority was to support and foster children who really needed special attention. Those who got overlooked in school, who suffered from the intense pressure and who possessed talents that weren’t recognized.

You had landed the assistant teacher position in that prestigious private kindergarten, because you had been sent there from your former teacher’s program when the previous one needed to be admitted to the hospital due to severe burnout. She had never returned and you were able to stay as it was in the middle of the semester. It had been sheer luck.

As an assistant teacher, you were only doing that: assisting. None of the things that had driven you to study this major could have come to use yet, and you were tired. You wanted to become a real teacher, because you thought you could finally get the wheels rolling this way.

Jaehyun saw it in your eyes the moment you opened the door. “You’re going to Busan.”

You bit into your lower lip, nodding almost noticeably. “I’ll go to Busan.”

“Without me.” He smiled in defeat.

“Yes.”

“Is it so hard for you?” he asked. “To just let people you love into your life?”

“It’s not that I go because I don’t love you.”

He had you in his arms and inside his apartment before the first tear fell. “I know. I love you too.”

You squeezed your eyes shut as tears dropped onto his shirt and lifted your arms, holding meekly onto the fabric. “You’re just so young and you’re going to finish your studies soon. You shouldn’t go with me.”

Quietly, he whispered into your hair, “I know.”

If Jaehyun went with you, he would give up his dream of finally breaking free from his parents and seeing the world. You were not going to rob him of that. If you didn’t go, you would need to give up your own dream, and he wouldn’t want that either. 

Perhaps, it was because you were older and more experienced than Jaehyun, but you had felt from the beginning that whatever you had started was going to find an end soon anyway. There was just no future for two people who were at such different stages in their life. 

Sometimes in life, there were no winners in love.

You snuggled up to him more and sobbed, “I’m really grateful for what you have done for me. Without you, I wouldn’t have been able to come so far.”

In the end, you had come to your senses. You were not going to throw his selfless acts away and accepted the gift he had been willing to give to you without anything in return. Just because he selflessly loved you. As simple as that. You were willing to pass this message on to everyone who needed it.

At his age, perhaps it was really this simple to love so fiercely and unconditionally. Later in life though, he would realize that it would take much, much more.

“Nonsense.” Jaehyun chuckled lightly. “You can achieve anything you want, you know that. You were just in the wrong environment. You can still-”

You shook your head and withdrew yourself from his embrace. “It wouldn’t change anything. You helped me achieve my goal and I’m not going to stand in the way of yours. You never dreamed of staying here after your graduation. If you do, even with all the love you hold for me now, you’re going to resent me one day, and I don’t want to take credit for that. Perhaps you don’t understand now, but you will in the future. You have to go.”

Mrs. Nam was wrong. You didn’t choose wealth and power over love. There was a third option. You chose your dream. And Jaehyun should do that too.

“When I’ve finished my travels and started with my business, can I come find you again?”

He wanted a sliver of hope, a silver lining. If it put him at ease, you would give him that, even if the chance was so less, you wouldn’t even dare to dream about it in secrecy.

“I’ll wait for you.”

With the kind of lifestyle Jaehyun had been living before you, you were sure that he would forget about this sliver of hope all too soon.

When he met girls in other countries, he would forget about his neighbor in room 804 at his former apartment complex who had always been so mean to him. Soon, you would only be a blurry picture in a string of memories, joining the ranks of his many, many lovers.

He would not suffer too long, if at all. 

He would be fine, knowing that in the end, you still had picked them over him, just like he had initially predicted.

When Jaehyun kissed you goodbye, you were quite sure that this was the last time you would ever see him again despite living next door, which made getting over this breakup even more painful.

Back in your own room, you took off your fake engagement ring and put it into the far corner of a cramped drawer.

Whenever you went to bed the following days, you hoped that noises would start coming out of room 803 again. 

You were scared that without the noises, he would hear you cry yourself to sleep every night until you nearly passed out from exhaustion and only woke up with a swollen face the next morning over the pain of your heart breaking apart.

But no noise could be heard ever again coming out of room 803.

And it broke you even more, knowing he was suffering as much as you.

____

Two months later, in late December, Jaehyun moved out.

You came home to movers carrying box after box out of his apartment. You had lingered a bit longer at your front door, heart pounding at your throat, just to get a glimpse of Jaehyun for one last time. But he had not been present that day. When you left your apartment a few hours later to grab dinner from the convenience store, his room was entirely empty.

According to the semester plan, he must have finished his last exams by now, so he was unofficially done with his bachelor studies. You doubted he would come back for a ceremony in February, so he was free to do whatever he wanted now. Perhaps, he was sitting on a plane to Italy or France at this very moment. 

A few days later, an elderly woman moved into room 803.

And life went on.

____

One year later

“Teacher, what are you going to do during vacation?” one of your students, a four-year-old-boy, asked.

It was the day before winter break, but working for a public kindergarten meant you would at least get a week to yourself during New Year in January apart from desk warming the remaining break. A week in two months of winter break and thanks to public holidays only, but it was better than nothing at all.

“Perhaps,” you answered while putting one hand crafted paper star after another that the children had made for christmas on the classroom’s windows, “I’ll take a little trip.”

“To where?” another girl, one year older, chimed in. “I’m going to Busan to visit my grandmother!”

“I’m going to Busan too!” the boy then announced. “Teacher, have you ever been to Busan?”

You shook your head, reaching for another star he held out to you. “I’ve never come to visit there. Can you recommend it?”

“Yes!” Both children yelled excitedly. 

“Then I’ll ask you where I should visit when I go there!”

They nodded in acknowledgement and returned back to their work which was crafting more stars so that the entire windows would be covered in them by the end of the day. 

Twice a week, the kindergarteners were divided into different groups which either focused on art or music. The main subjects taught were reading, writing and maths. Apart from that, the children had enough free time to enjoy being real children, which they spent playing together, being outside and getting taught other necessary educational topics like brushing teeth and healthy nutrition in a playful way.

In comparison to Shi-A private kindergarten, where the teachers had paid homage to the parents with impressive courses including Chinese and English, topped with real diplomas and graduation ceremonies as well as teachers who had to work all throughout each break, this public school was where you felt you belonged.

This was where you finally felt you could actually support the children like you had always wanted, in an environment safer for them and their teachers.

And that was the very reason why you had never signed the contract for Shi-A elementary school in Busan in the first place.

In fact, you had never planned on doing so. How else would you have convinced Jaehyun to leave after everything? Just because you couldn’t live your dream didn’t mean he shouldn’t either.

You had never picked other people over him, you had always picked him. 

Before you had gone to him to break up, you had thought about the upcoming decision for very long. You had loved those children, but eventually, they would move on and forget you. While you would have been stuck in a slave contract in a worse environment than before with parents from hell. All the money and other benefits could have never made up for the mental suffering.

It had always been your dream to work for a reputable private school, but one day, you had remembered the little girl inside of you who had not wanted reputation and recognition and was only there to help children.

So you had quit altogether.

And then you had eventually landed a job as a teacher at this public kindergarten where the salary was much lower and the commute took over an hour one way, but the work conditions were much better and the teachers and children just as lovely. The parents were not less strict, but tolerable and nobody tried to sabotage anyone.

Yet nowadays, you couldn’t shake off the feeling that this was still not everything to your life as a teacher. This could not be it, there had to be more you could move in this entire system. You just couldn’t point a finger as to what it could be as this was everything you had ever dreamed of having.

“What are you going to do during our time off?” you asked your assistant teacher. 

“I’m going to meet my boyfriend’s family for the very first time, they’ve invited me to spend New Years with them,” she giggled shyly. “I’m so excited. And you?”

You smiled, happy for everyone who had plans except for you. 

“Perhaps, I’m going on a little trip to Busan. I’ve never been there before.”

____

It was already late when you arrived at home, and as always during winter, it was dark outside now as well. 

While you typed in the door code combination, you wondered which convenience store food you would get for dinner today as again, you were too exhausted to cook something yourself. A small vacation would surely help you relax and start into the new semester more fresh. Yes, you should definitely go to Busan.

You halted though when you opened your front door. Had you accidentally left the lights on?

You hurried through the narrow hall, at one point wondering if you had been robbed during your absence when a voice spoke up before you even reached the living room,

“I still remember your passcode from the day I climbed through your window.”

Jaehyun arose from your couch and your breath caught. 

He was still as handsome as the last time you had seen each other over a year ago. Nicely dressed, hair still dark and neatly combed aside. He looked healthy and happy, and it made you happy too to see him like this.

At one point, you had dropped your bag on the floor while you could do nothing else but stare at him and stare, wondering if this was a dream. One of too many from the past year, of which you had never hoped could ever come true.

“What… are you doing here?” You didn’t know what else to say, you had so many questions.

“I’m living here now.” With a grin, he pointed at a suitcase in the corner of the living room. “Temporarily.”

“Well…” You cleared your throat and feigned braveness. “As far as I remember, your room is the one next to mine, room 803.”

“Yeah, but sadly that one is already occupied by a very nice, elderly lady who was quickly able to assure me that you were still living here.”

Before you could think twice, you had already closed the distance between you two, and he held you tightly in his arms, quietly, for a very long time.

“You liar,” Jaehyun eventually said, with no trace of reproach in his tone though, pressing you even closer to his chest. “You big, fat liar. When I called Shi-A elementary school in Busan. They told me they never heard of you, and when I called your former kindergarten, they said you quit a year ago.”

“I’ll take credit for being a liar this time as opposed to you.” You smiled through your tears when Jaehyun gently pushed you away from him and cupped your face. “I didn’t want you to stay here with me. I didn’t want you to give up on your dream just because I did.”

“Say no more. I understand." His expression was so gentle, his face free of any worry and doubt. “I was a regular student with no real perspective and just one dream. You just told me to do what a good teacher would have told all their students. This time, all the trickery rightfully belonged to you, but I would be really happy if we stop that now.”

You nodded, your tears salty against your lips, but Jaehyun kissed them all away from your cheeks. “I’m so glad you came back,” you sobbed.

“I told you I would.”

It had never been only a sliver a hope for him. It had always been a promise.

“But what if I wouldn’t have been here anymore?”

“Then I would have come to Busan or to wherever in the world to get you.”

You blinked through your blurry vision. “To get me where?”

One corner of Jaehyun’s lips tilted up when he let go of you. “Eventually, my parents came to their senses and didn’t abandon me like they always threatened. The longer I traveled and the more people I met, the more I realized that with my background and roots, I am able to achieve something, to change something, and far faster than anyone else. I am so privileged and took it for granted when I can twist it to an advantage instead of being a selfish brat. When I have the possibility and opportunity, I don’t want to throw it away. So halfway through my trip, I was just building connections for my future. I will join my parents’ business after all, but not to work for them, but for myself. I will build my own sister company.”

“Jaehyun, that’s amazing!” you congratulated him. “I’m happy you figured out your future path! I can assure you, you’re going to do such a great job.”

Sometimes, it just took someone a few months off to figure out where they belonged, what they wanted. If he had followed you, he might or might have not come to the same conclusion. You couldn’t figure out an answer. But what mattered was that he had one after all.

“So all throughout your Europe trip, it was not only drinking and girls?” you teased. 

“Please.” He waved aside. “Everyone was annoyed by the fact that I kept talking about one woman only who I would return to eventually.”

You blushed. “Still, you told me you came to take me. To where, tell me?” 

Jaehyun’s expression turned stern, but hopeful. “To the UK. That’s where I want to build my company, kind of like an overseas branch. I still can’t offer you much, but in a few years, I promise you, when my business is flourishing and we live in a nice townhouse in the center of London with a small garden and a dog and children, you won’t regret it. But…” He halted as though a sudden thought had crossed his mind. “But if you have already found someone who can offer just as much now or even better, then I understand if you decline.”

“How many?” you asked while losing a breath you had been holding in.

“What?”

“How many children?”

Perhaps, that was it, what you were missing. Perhaps, you weren’t supposed to work in this environment for the entirety of your life. Perhaps, just like Jaehyun, you were destined for so much more, for another path, and that path was perhaps not etched into the grounds of this country.

How were you supposed to find out if you didn’t try just like he had?

“T-two,” Jaehyun responded, unsure whether it was the right answer.

He could have said one or ten for all you cared. “Sounds good. I should then tell my fiancé our engagement is called off, because he wants three.”

“...what?”

You shook your head and laughed. “There is no fiancé, neither real or fake. There… hasn’t been anyone since you.”

“Good. It’s good to see you so happy and carefree finally.” Jaehyun approached you and put his hands on your waist, drawing you close to him. “And I’m relieved there is no other man. Because when I’m going to propose to you, it’s going to be for real this time.”

A smile radiating pure bliss left your lips when you got on your toes and finally kissed him.

You were blissfully unaware of the fact that Jaehyun had already picked out the ring before he had left the country, one identical to your fake one, just made of platinum and adorned with a real diamond. Princess cut, two carats. Just like you had dreamed of. 

He had carried it with him whenever he went, like a lucky charm.

The ring was a reminder to him that there was always a reason to come back.

Because his future wife was waiting for him, and she deserved everything she had ever dreamed of. 

[hoiststowline]

responses to an overworked/sleepy s/o [w/ ultra magnus, sunstreaker, & hound]

ultra magnus

Ultra Magnus knows that he’s the biggest hypocrite in this situation, but you’ve yawned four times in the past five minutes. it sends alarms across his processor, observing the way you use the back of your hand to poorly cover such an exhausted gesture. somehow, this less than gentle alert that your body was tired was not enough, yourself shuffling through a stack of papers as you carry on with little qualms. Magnus can feel his optic twitch, unable to quietly fight the urge to knock some sense into you about your health and well-being. adjusting to time and your schedule has come a little easier to him, mostly due to finding himself in your company on a daily basis. understanding what he does now, he finds self-assurance in calling you out about getting some rest, the hour far past the original time you had set to get some rest. 

“y/n?” he rumbles, slightly baffled that you don’t even offer your undivided attention, acknowledging him with a noise he can’t quite label. a thought passes him by: is this how other mechs feel when he’s drowning in paperwork? “It is very late. Perhaps you would do better to pick this up in the morning?” 

finally, your eyes tear away from the papers to meet his, and then Magnus is whacked with the realization he has to stand firm here. you must’ve been at this for hours, fatigue and enervation translating well enough from your gaze and pouring down the rest of your body. “Sorry. Run that by me again?” 

“I will do no such thing,” he’s good at being the bad guy, the one who has to play fair and look out for others. but for you? he’s willing to beg, stand firm in seeing you get some much deserved, and earned sleep. “This will be here when you awake. Rest.” 

your pout works on him, and the worst part of it all is you must know it does. “Five more minutes?” you plead, trying your best to stifle a yawn that Magnus sees far too easily. every bone in your body begs you to relent, but stubbornness finds you once more as you think of all the studying that needs to be done before tomorrow. 

“No.” he’s caged you between two massive hands, leaning forward until you’re forced to meet his stare and not the copious amounts of work spread out around the berth. “You cannot use my own tactics against me. Bed, now.”

sunstreaker

something wakes Sunstreaker up about three hours into his recharge, and with little investigation he comes to find you on the other side of the room. after you’d said three hours ago you’d join him in ten minutes, that turned out to be the biggest lie in the world. disoriented and mildly irritated, his brow furrows when he calls your name, confused as to why you jump in surprise. everything about you breathes burnout, eyes glassy as they eventually lock with his across the room. were you so consumed and entranced by that textbook that you hadn’t heard him grumble under his breath before calling out to you? how dare such a stupid object hold your attention and not him, slowly losing his already depleted patience. 

“Get over here.” Sunstreaker hums, trying once to be nice instead of brash. he’s come to take a second to mull over his words before they leave his voice box, trying his damndest to say what he means the first time. yet, this time, instead of pulling away from your study materials, you only dive deeper. 

“I’ll be right there,” you whisper, as if he was still in and out of recharge. “Just have to finish this chapter, and-” you squeak as he abruptly stands from the berth, lumbering over to where you were sitting on his desk. fumbling with the textbook, your finger saves the page before you close it over, trying your best to appear defiant and adamant, but losing miserably. “What are you doing?” 

“What am I doing?” Sunstreaker counters, expecting no reply. “You said ‘ten more minutes’ hours ago. Bed, or I throw that book.” 

you appear miserable. the happiness that normally contradicts his irritable behavior is nowhere to be found, something that concerns him greatly. you had mentioned earlier in the week about an upcoming test that was stressing you out, but now this studying venture has crossed over into territory that enrages Sunstreaker. you weren’t taking care of yourself, unworried about how a newfound weariness preoccupies you. whenever you speak ill of yourself or doubt your abilities, it seizes him so greatly that he can’t focus on anything else. don’t you know how much he loves you, and knows you’ll do great things, no matter what? 

somehow, you know he means it, sighing in defeat. “Fine, fine.” with a small smile, you close the book over with a defeated sigh. “Sorry. The test is in two days.” 

to your surprise, Sunstreaker mumbles his words, but the sincerity is overwhelming. “I’ll try to help you study tomorrow. But now, bed, and I mean it.” 

hound

you’ve certainly done a lot of typing in the past couple of hours, Hound has noticed. enough that with each hour that slips by, it’s time for him to wrap his tasks up and fully join your company, excited to hear about what you’ve been up to and relax into the evening with no issue. except, that’s mostly thrown out the window as he takes in your body language, surveying the way your palm runs over your face and rubs at your eyes, only to return to your laptop seconds later. the light from the screen illuminates your features, but all Hound can focus on is how your shoulders slump forward, a glasiness overtaking your eyes that he can’t quite decipher the reason behind. you’re clearly spent, drained of the day's responsibilities as they now carry over into time that should be spent away from the computer. 

“y/n?” he tries, using the tip of his digit to run down the length of your leg, vying for your attention, selfish as that may be to admit. “Y’alright? Busy day?” 

for a moment, you pull away from the laptop, blinking wildy before realizing it was only Hound. everything in you yearned to just shut the computer and set this aside for another time, but the idea of being ahead tomorrow entranced you far too much. “I’m good! I’d just like to finish this up, I swear I’m almost done.” famous last words. 

your slight startle at his touch and words worried him, the way you appear so disconnected from reality as you are solely focused on typing a report that didn’t need to be completed at this very moment. though your overworked and tired demeanor concerns him greatly, Hound is willing to yield if only to respect your wishes. he cares so deeply for you that perhaps just this once, he’d overlook the fact that you probably really needed some shut-eye now. it’s like overriding a code, Hound feels as if he’s programmed to look out for everyone and their health, you always residing as his top priority. always number one on his list, finding that sometimes you unintentionally neglect your wellbeing, himself guilty of similar behaviors. 

but then you don’t stick to your original plans. more time has escaped you, and Hound’s fretting has skyrocketed to the point where he isn’t ashamed to implore you to get some rest. “Yer exhausted,” he rumbles, broad shoulders drooping as you tear your eyes away from the screen to massage at your temples once more. “Don’t overwork yourself. It ain’t worth it, ah know it first hand.” 

doing what Hound asks of you is an easy feat, as forfeit finds you. with a sleepy smile, you power down the computer and set it to the side to be tomorrow's problem. this time was precious with him, sacred and not effortless to come by. “Sorry.” you stumble over your words, trying to stifle a yawn in the meantime. “I’m alright. It’s done for the evening.”

[capuccinodoll]

The boyfriend act, part 10: "The one with the skydiving" Pairing: Frankie Morales x F!reader SERIES MASTERLIST

Chapter summary: It’s the day after the wedding, and you and Frankie aren’t being too open about it. You jump together, and it makes sense, of course, that you fall. WC: 8.6K

A/N: Okay, so here’s what happened: I started writing chapter 10 and just kept going and going, and before I knew it, it was WAY too long. So, I split it in two. This is chapter 10, and chapter 11 will be up sometime between tomorrow and monday because, honestly, I can’t wait to share it!!! lol If you want to be in the tag list, let me know. Don't forget to follow capuccinodollupdates for notifications! LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!

Frankie was the first to wake.

He lay on his side, eyes half-lidded, his body heavy with the kind of exhaustion that doesn’t fade overnight. For a few seconds—four, maybe five—he simply existed in the quiet, his mind sluggish, untangling the fog of sleep. And then he remembered.

The previous night played back in pieces: your hands, the soft drag of your voice, the way you had looked at him. He exhaled, the air catching in his throat as his gaze settled on you. Morning light filtered through the curtains, casting pale streaks across your bare shoulder. You were still asleep, your breathing even, your face turned slightly away from him. You looked peaceful. That was the first thing that unnerved him.

The second was the sharp vibration of his phone on the nightstand. The sound cut through the silence like an alarm meant for something urgent, something ominous. Get up. Get out. Now.

For a fleeting, desperate moment, he considered it. Panic gripped him, quick and suffocating. It would be easier to leave. Slip out before you woke, before you had the chance to regret anything. Before you could look at him with the kind of quiet disappointment that would make his chest ache for days.

But he couldn’t do that. Not to you. Not to himself.

If you woke and found him gone, it would undo everything—the slow, careful progress of the past few days. He wasn’t sure what that progress meant, not exactly, but he knew it mattered. And he wasn’t ready to lose it.

So he stayed.

He reached for his phone, silencing the alarm with a swipe of his thumb. 8:00 a.m. His eyes burned, his head ached, but he closed them again, let himself drift in the shallow space between sleep and wakefulness.

When he opened them again, he startled, instinctively checking the time. Only twenty minutes had passed.

He supposed the rational thing to do would be to wake you. Shake your shoulder gently, say your name, ease you into consciousness before the weight of the morning settled in.  

But then he turned his head and saw you, exactly as you had been hours ago. You hadn’t moved. Still curled on your side, facing him, one hand tucked beneath your jaw. Your breathing steady, your face soft, undisturbed. He had never seen you like this—so completely at ease, as if the world beyond this bed didn’t exist.  

And so he stayed quiet. Let another moment pass before dragging you into the aftermath of what you’d done. Another moment before you opened your eyes and saw him there, before recognition flickered across your face, before regret had the chance to settle in your expression like a bruise.  

So he watched you instead. Two, maybe three minutes of memorizing you, as if his mind had no choice but to press the image of you deeper and deeper into itself. The curve of your brows, the dark shadow of your lashes against your cheek, the fullness of your lips—soft, inviting, impossibly close. His own breath felt unnatural in his chest, too aware of itself, too careful.  

Something shifted in him then, a pulse of warmth in his ribs that curled low in his stomach, spreading outward like a lit fuse. Familiar. Dangerous. His throat tightened. His fingers twitched against the sheets. And then, just as quickly, something cold followed—a sharp, sinking understanding. It was too late.

Too late. Something changed.

Almost without thinking—acting on impulse, or maybe just a need to break the silence pressing in on him—Frankie reached out and let his fingers brush against your shoulder. A light touch, barely there. You shifted, just slightly, but didn’t wake.

For a second, he considered letting you sleep a little longer. So he let his gaze wander around the room, taking in details he had never really considered before. He had been here before, of course, but never like this, never with the luxury of stillness. The dresser at the foot of the bed held a neat row of books, their spines softened from use, stacked beside two picture frames. One of you and Emma, arms around each other, grinning at the camera. The other, a quieter moment—your face turned toward your father, something warm and unguarded in your expression. Above it all, the television hung dark and unlit, a black void against the pale wall.

On the floor, a scattering of shoes—heels, mostly. He imagined you stepping into them, then stepping out just as quickly, discarding them in favor of something better. By the window, a chair, half-buried under a pile of clothes, as if you had thrown them there in a hurry, already thinking about something else. He could see you doing it. He could see you standing there, sighing, pressing your fingers to your temples before turning away.

Then, a sound. A quiet, insistent scratch, followed by a high, barely-there meow.

He exhaled, swung his legs over the side of the bed, and pushed himself up. The floor was cool against his feet as he walked to the door. When he cracked it open, a small shape darted in—Mr. Darcy, tail held high, back slightly arched as he rubbed himself against Frankie’s legs with a kind of determined affection.

“Good morning,” Frankie murmured, crouching down to run a hand over the cat’s head. Mr. Darcy blinked up at him, then pushed his face into Frankie’s palm before pulling away again.

He turned back toward the hallway, his green eyes wide and expectant, then let out another quiet meow.

Frankie frowned. “What’s up, buddy?” The cat meowed again. “You hungry? Thirsty?”

Mr. Darcy flicked his tail, like maybe he wasn’t impressed with the question, like maybe Frankie should already know the answer.

The cat turned without hesitation and padded down the hallway, glancing back just once, as if to make sure Frankie understood. He did. His instructions were clear. So, he followed.    

When he caught up, Darcy had already settled beside an empty dish, sitting upright, his tail curled neatly around his paws. He flicked his gaze between Frankie and the bowl, expectant.  

“Yeah, you’re hungry,” Frankie observed, rubbing the back of his neck as he stepped closer. He glanced toward the cabinets, exhaling. He had no idea where you kept the food, and he didn’t want to make a mess looking for it. Still, he crouched down, opened one door, then another, moving carefully, aware that he was rummaging through someone else’s kitchen. Eventually, he found what he was looking for—a nearly full container pushed toward the back of a shelf.  

Behind him, Darcy let out a pleased little chirp of approval. Frankie huffed a quiet laugh.  

“I don’t know if she feeds you at this hour, buddy,” he said, unscrewing the lid. “You better not get me in trouble.”  

He crouched again, tipping just the right amount into the dish. Darcy immediately dipped his head, ears twitching as he focused on his meal, content and undisturbed. Frankie lingered for a moment, watching him eat, then sealed the container and put it back where he’d found it.

The apartment was quiet. He pressed his hands against the counter, letting his weight settle there for a beat. Darcy crunched his food, unconcerned.

Standing there, he let his gaze drift across your living room. His jacket was still slung over the armchair, exactly where he’d left it the night before, and your journal—left open, pages curling slightly at the edges—sat on the coffee table. The sight of it sent something uneasy through him, like he had glimpsed a version of himself that didn’t quite make sense.  

What the hell was he doing?  

Why was he here, in your house, moving through your space with an ease that should have felt unnatural but didn’t? Feeding your cat like it was just another part of his morning routine, like he had done it a hundred times before. Even the smell of your apartment—faint traces of coffee, something floral, something unmistakably you—felt familiar in a way it shouldn’t. As if he had spent more time here than he actually had.  

It didn’t add up. And it was unsettling, wrong. He had no reason to feel this comfortable. 

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

A month ago, he could barely stand you. And you—well, you had made it very clear the feeling was mutual. It hadn’t even been two months since he first stepped into your apartment and you had greeted him with a can of Coke and a look that could’ve frozen him solid. Not even two months since Santiago had taken one look at the two of you and laughed at the sheer absurdity of it all.  

The quiet stretched between him and the sound of Darcy’s methodical chewing. He needed to wake you up. To say something, to break whatever spell had settled over this moment before it unraveled into something he wouldn’t know how to explain.

He pushed himself up from the counter, rubbing a hand over his face as if that might help shake off the lingering heaviness of sleep. The apartment was quiet, the kind of quiet that made him move softer, more aware of the space he was in. He took a quick detour to the bathroom, splashing cold water on his face, running a hand through his hair. It didn’t do much, but it was enough. Then he turned back toward your room.  

You were still there, curled up beneath the sheets, your breathing deep and steady. Sleep clung to you like a second skin. He wondered, briefly, if you’d been comfortable like that, in last night’s dress, or if it had twisted around you in ways that made it impossible to rest.  

His shoes were at the edge of your bed. He reached for them, moving carefully, the quiet feeling heavier now that he was trying not to break it. Slipping them on, he walked back to where he’d been sitting not long ago and lowered himself onto the mattress beside you.  

His fingers found your shoulder, his touch featherlight, testing. He said your name, soft, careful. You didn’t stir. Instead, you let out a small, sleepy sound—one of those drowsy, unwilling whimpers, the kind kids make when they’re being nudged awake too early for school.

He tried again, his fingertips grazing over your skin, your name forming once more on his lips. This time, your eyes fluttered open.  

Frankie watched you, still and waiting. He braced himself for something—confusion, regret, the sharp edge of a boundary being drawn.  

But instead, you smiled.  

“Hey,” you murmured, your voice thick with sleep. “You’re here.”  

“Yeah, I—”  

“What time is it?”  

Frankie glanced at his phone, the screen too bright in the dim light of the room. “Quarter to nine.”

“Oh,” you murmured, shifting beneath the sheets as you pressed the heels of your palms against your eyes. “Shit, my makeup. I probably look like a panda.”  

You sat up, blinking the sleep from your eyes, and fixed him with a squint, like you were still adjusting to the light—or maybe to the sight of him sitting there.  

“Have you been up long?” You asked.

“A little while.” He leaned back slightly, rubbing a hand over his knee. “I fed Darcy. Hope that’s okay.”  

“Ah, well.” You stretched your arms over your head, then you exhaled, your words lost for a moment in a yawn. “That’s all right.”  

Then you looked at him, really looked at him, your face still and unreadable in the quiet.  

Frankie held your gaze, steady at first, until something in his chest tightened. He looked down at his lap.  

“You feeling okay?” His voice was quieter now, less sure.

“Yeah. You?”  

“Good. Not hungover?” He tilted his head, glancing at you from the corner of his eye.  

“I need coffee.” 

Frankie huffed a laugh, shaking his head. “Me too.”  

“I’ll make some.” You swung your legs over the edge of the bed and stood up, stretching again before padding toward the door. “Feel well enough to jump out of an airplane?”  

He smirked, mirroring your movement as he got up and followed.

“Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing.” His footsteps were heavy behind you as you made your way to the kitchen. “I feel good. What about you?”  

“I’m not missing that jump,” you said, throwing him a glance as you opened the fridge. You grabbed a bottle of water, twisted off the cap, and handed it to him. He took it without thinking, his fingers brushing over yours for a brief second. “What time should we leave?”

“Ten o’clock sounds good.”  

Your eyes flicked open wider, a spark of surprise breaking through the haze of sleep. “That’s in an hour.”  

“That’s right.” Frankie lifted the bottle to his lips, tipping it back as he swallowed. The cold water cut through the dryness in his throat, and he gestured vaguely with the bottle before setting it back down. “I’ll go home, take a shower, and come back for you. That okay?”  

You nodded. “Yeah. That’s fine. A shower sounds amazing.”  

Frankie huffed out a quiet laugh. “Okay.”

He placed the bottle on the counter beside you and stepped toward the living room, grabbing his jacket from where he’d tossed it the night before.

“Aren’t you going to have coffee?” 

“When I get back, okay?”  

You nodded again, though the hesitation in your face made him grin. Jacket draped over his arm, hair still a mess from the night, he walked back toward you.  

“I’ll see you in a bit. Get ready—wear something comfortable.”  

And then, before he could think about it, before he could stop himself, he leaned in and pressed his lips to your cheek.  

It was brief, barely a second, but the warmth of your skin stayed with him as he pulled back. The realization of what he’d just done settled in immediately, heat rising up the back of his neck. He turned away, walking toward the door, suddenly hyperaware of his own movements.  

“Uh—wear, um—wear comfortable shoes,” he added, grasping for something to say.  

His hand was on the doorknob when he finally glanced back at you. Your expression unreadable, your posture relaxed, still tucked into the kitchen like you hadn’t quite caught up to the moment either.  

“I’ll be back,” he said, voice quieter now. Then, after a beat, “I’ll be right back.”  

“Bye, Francisco,” you murmured, your voice soft.

Frankie pulled the door shut behind him and took the stairs two at a time, his heartbeat a little too quick, his breath coming out in uneven bursts. His body felt too warm, like he’d just stepped out of a too-hot shower, but at the same time, his hands were cold. By the time he reached the front door and stepped outside, the cool morning air hit his face, soft and bracing all at once. It felt like a reset. Like a kiss against his overheated skin.

But the relief was short-lived.

A creeping discomfort settled in his chest, something uneasy and unformed. You hadn’t said anything. Hadn’t flinched or looked at him funny. No wide-eyed stare, no awkward shifting. It was like nothing had happened.

Hadn’t it?

Maybe it wasn’t a big deal. Maybe you’d already forgotten.

But—no. He was almost sure you weren’t drunk enough to forget something like that. Almost. And yet, the possibility wedged itself into his mind, refusing to be dismissed.

Had you forgotten?

Or worse—had it just meant nothing?

Christ.

He exhaled sharply, running a hand over his face as he crossed the street. 

What the hell had he been thinking?

“Nothing. It was like nothing happened.”

Emma narrowed her eyes at you from the video call, her face filling most of your screen as you propped your phone up on the nightstand. You were sitting on the edge of your bed, pulling on your sneakers, hair still damp from the shower. The conversation had been going since you stepped out, and you had told her everything. Everything.

“Would you have liked him to say something about it,” she asked, tilting her head, “or am I imagining that?”

“Yes,” you admitted without hesitation, before catching yourself. You glanced at the screen. “I mean—see, we almost fucked last night. That doesn’t exactly seem insignificant.”

“What surprises me most is that you even kissed.” She folded her arms, looking personally offended. “When exactly were you going to tell me things had changed this much? I feel like I’ve been lied to.”

“I did tell you we kissed.”

“You told me you kissed at his mother’s birthday. Pretend kissed. For show. That’s very different from actually kissing.”

You snorted, shaking your head as you tied the laces of your shoes. “That was all that had happened until last night. I wasn’t keeping anything from you. Don’t be toxic.”

Emma scoffed, unconvinced. “So just the staged kiss at Helena’s birthday, and then last night?”

“Exactly.” You stood up, grabbing your phone and holding it closer.

She hummed, unconvinced. “Sounds like a lot more than nothing, babe.”

You pursed your lips, shaking your head at her, but the truth of it was sitting somewhere in your chest, annoying and persistent.

“Yeah, well, apparently we’re pretending it didn’t happen.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Don’t wait for him to bring it up. You bring it up. He’s probably overthinking it, freaking out, or some dumb shit like that. It’s not like your relationship is the most normal one in the world.”

“You’re not wrong about that.”

“Exactly. So say something.”

You groaned, tilting your head back. “I won’t.”

“Coward.”

“That’s not true!”

“Are you afraid of what he’s going to say?”

“No,” you said, forcing a smile. “It’s just—awkward, isn’t it? We almost slept together. Am I supposed to pretend like nothing happened? Good God, he saw me half-naked.”

Emma’s eyes widened in exaggerated shock. “No way. Francisco Morales saw you naked? That’s it, you’re going to disintegrate. It was nice knowing you.”

You didn’t laugh. Instead, heat crawled up your neck, settling in your cheeks like a second-degree burn. You groaned, pressing a hand over your face, shaking your head as if that would somehow undo everything.

“This can’t be happening, Emma. Francisco. We’re talking about Francisco. Francisco the obnoxious. Francisco the asshole. Santiago’s Francisco. What the fuck did I do? I completely fucked up.”

Emma sighed, tucking her phone between her shoulder and her ear as she walked through her apartment.

“Uh-huh. You didn’t fuck anything up. Nothing would’ve happened if he wasn’t up for it too, honey.” She adjusted the camera so she could look directly at you. “This is—listen to me.” Her voice softened slightly. “It happened, okay? And you need to deal with that. It’s not your fault, and it’s not his fault. Jesus, you’re two horny adults who almost slept together. That’s all.”

You let out a miserable groan, dropping back onto your bed.

“It’s humiliating. ‘You’re Santi’s sister.’” You mimicked his voice, rolling your eyes at yourself. “Fuck. I don’t even know what’s going on.”

Emma went quiet then, watching you carefully through the screen.

Your stomach twisted. “What?” you asked, more impatiently than you intended.

She didn’t blink. “You like him.”

The words hit like a sharp, well-aimed dart, right in the center of your chest. For a second, you didn’t move.

“No.” The denial left your lips automatically, even as you stayed perfectly still.

Emma’s lips curled into a knowing smile. “Yes, sweetheart. You like him.”

“That’s not true.”

“There’s nothing wrong with it.”

“I don’t like Francisco.”

Her lips twitched, like she was holding back laughter, her eyes bright with something unbearably smug.

“You like Francisco.”

“Emma, listen to me. I don’t like him. I can’t like him. It’s not possible. It’s not—” You searched for the right word, your brain scrambling. “It’s not functional.”

She barked out a laugh. “Functional?”

“Yes, functional,” you snapped. “He’s my brother’s best friend. He’s—he’s Francisco.” As if that alone should be enough. “Do you know what would happen if something like that happened? No—no, it’s not—”

Emma cut in before you could spiral further. “If the only excuse you can come up with for not letting yourself think about him that way is that he’s Santi’s friend, then, babe, that’s not a good enough reason.” She leaned closer to the camera, her voice firm. “And honestly, what does that even have to do with anything? You can like him. You don’t choose who you’re attracted to. It just happens.”

You pressed your lips together, heart hammering.

“And look,” she continued, “you know I don’t like him very much. I’ve spent years listening to you complain about him, about all the shit he’s said to you, the way he acted. I wanted to kill him. It sucked. But everything you’ve been telling me lately?” She shook her head. “I don’t know. It sounds convincing. All that stuff about confusion and about that night ages ago—” She exhaled. “I have good judgment. Really good judgment. And you know it.”

“I know.”

“I believe him. I don’t think he’s that bad. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with liking him either.”

“I told you—”

“Yes, and I don’t believe you.” She crossed her arms, tilting her head like she could see straight through you. “I’ve known you for twenty years; you can’t lie to me. It’s in your eyes. And that whole thing that happened last night, at the wedding? Are you fucking kidding me? That was hot.”

You let out a laugh, but it felt thin, forced. “Yeah, it was hot. But he wasn’t serious. He was just teasing me. He likes to do that—play with me. And since we don’t fight anymore, he’s just… trying to beat me at something else.”

Emma raised an eyebrow. “I doubt a man would be that creative. He likes you.”

You opened your mouth, but she didn’t give you the chance.

“He told you he wouldn’t regret it in the morning. For God’s sake, are you kidding me?”

“He was drunk.”

She scoffed. “Even you don’t believe that.”

“Emma—”

“Okay.” She held up a hand. “Fine. I get it. It’s complicated. Just… think about it, consider it. There’s nothing wrong with liking someone.”

You stared at her through the screen, your chest tightening.

“It’s Francisco.”

Emma shrugged. “And you’re you. So?”

Your throat felt tight. You looked at her, doubt settling over you like a weight you weren’t prepared to carry.

“I don’t even know if he wants to talk about it,” you admitted. “The easiest thing to do is just… pretend it didn’t happen. That it was a mistake, that we were drunk, and…” You exhaled sharply. “It’s embarrassing.”

“I know, I get it.” Emma’s voice softened, but her words carried a quiet insistence. “But listen—he was there when you woke up. He didn’t leave. He fed your cat, for crying out loud. And after you woke up? He didn’t run off. He could have come up with an excuse to bail on the skydiving, couldn’t he? He could’ve said he was hungover, or in pain, or—hell, anything. But he didn’t. He stayed.”

As she spoke, a strange warmth spread across your chest, curling into your stomach. She was right. The easy way out was always within reach. But Frankie hadn’t taken it. Instead, he had kept pushing forward, right there with you, even if his reasons remained unclear. He kept showing up. Helping with the list, coming up with ideas, and maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t out of guilt. Maybe it was something else. But he was still there.

You let out a quiet breath.

“You really want it to be that simple,” you said softly, a smile playing at the corners of your lips. “But it’s complicated. I… I need to take it one step at a time.”

“That’s acceptable.” 

Almost as if on cue, the doorbell rang, sharp and sudden, making you jump.

Emma laughed. “First step: open the door for him.”

You rolled your eyes, though you couldn’t suppress a reluctant chuckle.

“I have to go, but I promise I’ll write you later, okay?”

“Don’t forget to send me a picture of you in the sky.”

“I won't.” You smiled, feeling a little lighter than before.

“And don’t forget to think about what I told you.”

“Believe me, I won’t.”

Frankie set his hand against the doorframe, then thought better of it and pulled away. He took a half step back, creating space between himself and the entrance, listening to the faint sound of your voice from the other side. You were laughing, saying something too low for him to catch.

It was 10:05 a.m. He made a point of being on time. He’d showered quickly, dressed even faster. He hadn’t managed a sip of coffee before leaving, and now the late-morning heat pressed against his skin, settling in the fabric of his shirt. But he felt all right, better than an hour ago. His hair, still faintly damp from the shower, was hidden beneath a dark gray cap. His clothes were light—a black t-shirt, chino shorts.

When you opened the door, you were smiling, phone in hand, still halfway inside whatever conversation you’d been having a minute ago.

"Right on time," you said, stepping aside so he could come in.

He moved past you, eyes flicking toward you, careful and quick. Black denim shorts, a fitted white t-shirt, hair pulled back. You turned, already moving toward the stairs, and he followed, gaze fixed firmly on the steps, refusing to look at you in any way that might betray something unspoken. Especially not from that angle.

"I'm ready now, okay? Just need to check everything before we go," you said, disappearing into the apartment. Then, a brief glance back at him, like you were remembering something. "Have you had coffee?"

"No. You?"

"No," you said, already in the kitchen. You reached for Mr. Darcy’s saucer, filling it with water, your movements practiced, unthinking. His food bowl was still half full.

Frankie watched as you moved through the apartment, methodically shutting windows, pulling curtains closed with a practiced ease. The light shifted, dimming slightly, the space growing cooler. You grabbed your purse from the coffee table and walked toward the door, stopping beside him, your fingers curling around the doorknob.  

"We can grab coffee before we head out," you said, looking up at him.  

Frankie stepped over the threshold as you turned, shutting the door behind you. The lock clicked into place.

"Sounds good. I wouldn’t go for anything too heavy, though."  

"But I’m craving something good," you said, already making your way down the stairs. "Aren’t you?"  

He followed, a small smile tugging at his lips. "Maybe. I think we deserve it."  

"I think so too."  

At the bottom of the stairs, you opened the door, and he stepped out first. You locked up behind him, and as you turned, the movement sent a whisper of your perfume into the warm air between you. Clean, floral—like early summer mornings, fresh and soft.  

"Come with me, it'll be quick," you said, already walking, not bothering to check if he was following.  

Of course, he was. His gaze flickered over the back of your neck, the line of your spine, the curve of your shoulders, the way your arms swung naturally at your sides. Then lower—to your legs, to the sway of your hips, to the way your shorts sat on your body as you moved.  

Frankie cleared his throat, tearing his eyes away, his hand ghosting to the back of his neck like it might ground him.  

You walked a little further before stopping in front of a coffee shop. The storefront was charming, the kind of place that felt tucked away even when it was right in front of you. Through the window, people sat scattered at small tables, quiet in the hush of the morning.  

You pulled open the door, and a rush of cool air greeted you both, a welcome contrast to the warmth outside. Frankie followed as you stepped in, scanning the space as you joined the line. Only one person stood ahead of you.

"The coffee here is really good," you murmured, leaning in slightly, your voice just for him. "And if you're getting something to eat, I recommend the blueberry cupcakes and the glazed donuts. The coconut cake is great too."  

Frankie tilted his head, lowering his voice to match yours. "I’ll probably just get whatever’s easiest to eat in the car, to be honest."  

You grinned, eyes bright with amusement. "No need. Order whatever you want—I can feed you while you drive."  

He let out a short laugh, shaking his head. "That actually sounds kind of fun."  

"Of course it does. I’m very skilled with the little airplane method."  

Frankie laughed again but didn’t respond, his attention drifting to the glass display case lined with pastries. Donuts were the practical choice—no mess, no crumbs, nothing that would end up in his lap while he drove.  

The woman ahead of you collected her order and stepped aside, moving toward the pickup counter, where cups of coffee were lined up in neat rows. Behind the counter, a barista worked quickly, pouring shots of espresso, scribbling names onto cups with a black marker.  

You stepped forward, and the man at the register greeted you with an easy smile. Frankie moved up beside you, resting one hand on the counter, the other settling on his hip.  

"It’s always good to see you," the guy said, his tone warm, familiar. "Made my morning, actually. I was thinking about stopping by to see you yesterday."  

Frankie’s eyes flicked up, attention sharpening.  

You smiled, and something in your body language shifted—smaller, softer. Shy, maybe.  

"Oh yeah?" you asked, tilting your head. "Any particular reason?"  

Frankie’s gaze slid from your profile to the man behind the counter. Was he invisible? 

"Yeah, actually. Two reasons," the guy said. "One—I need a book recommendation for my mom. And two, well, that one’s a little more complicated." He lowered his voice slightly. "I was wondering if we could talk later, if you have time. Nothing weird, don’t worry."  

Frankie cleared his throat, glancing away before looking back at you. You nodded, your expression unreadable but amused.  

"Sure," you said. "Are you going to be here later?"

"I'm afraid I'm only here until noon today," he said, leaning slightly against the counter. "But I can swing by the bookstore later if you want, after closing."  

You nodded, but then your gaze flickered to Frankie, like you’d just remembered he was there.

"Oh, I won’t be in, sorry," you said easily. "We’ll be skydiving."  

Frankie glanced at you, catching the flash of amusement in your eyes, the way you said it like it was the most natural thing in the world. A quiet sort of pride sat beneath your words, like you were pleased with yourself for saying it out loud.

Then, as if just realizing, you gestured between them. "This is Frankie, by the way."  

The stranger’s smile didn’t falter as he turned to him.

"Oh, nice to meet you, Frankie," he said, extending a hand. "I’m Bill."  

Frankie reached out at an unhurried pace, his grip firm but easy, a small, unreadable smile on his lips.

"Bill. Nice to meet you. I heard the coffee here is good."  

Bill’s face lit up a little more at the comment. "I hope so. Let me know what you think. First time here?"  

Frankie gave a single nod.  

"It is," you answered at the same time, looking at him with a knowing smile.  

"Well, then," Bill said, resting his hands on the counter, "it’s on the house. Take your pick."  

Frankie straightened slightly. "Oh, no need."  

Bill mirrored the movement, studying him.

"No, I’m serious. Whatever you want." Then he shifted his gaze back to you, his voice taking on an easy familiarity. "Actually, you and I had an arrangement, didn’t we?"  

You let out a quiet laugh, your fingers brushing against the side of your neck, a movement Frankie caught.

"That still stands?" you asked.  

"Of course," the man said. "Anything for my favorite book dealer."

The laugh that slipped from your throat was quiet, intentional. A sound that felt as if it had been considered before being released. Your eyes narrowed, the corners creasing, fine, barely-there lines appearing for the briefest moment before smoothing out again.

Frankie ordered first. Black coffee, no sugar, no nonsense. Strong, thick, almost aggressive in its weight. Glazed doughnuts. You followed. A latte—also strong, also heavy, but softened with milk. Chocolate donuts because why not. Bill, all easy smiles and practiced efficiency, rang it up, then paused, lifting an eyebrow:

“So, skydiving?” He asked.

Which led to five minutes of you explaining the list thing, skirting around the details, giving just enough to satisfy curiosity but not enough to invite further questions. Bill nodded along, impressed. Wished you both luck. And just before you stepped away, he turned to Frankie.

“How’s the coffee?”

Frankie’s response was a single nod. "It's really good." He said, his cap shadowing his eyes as he reached for the door. That was that.

Ten minutes later, the car smelled like coffee and sugar.

Neither of you had said much, both too preoccupied with the food in your hands, the heat of the coffee on your tongues.

Shit. It was good. Really good.

Through the speakers, I Wanna Be Your Dog by The Stooges pulsed low and scratchy. Frankie chewed, his jaw working as he shook his head slightly, almost to himself, eyes fixed on the road ahead.

Then, still chewing, still looking straight ahead, he spoke. “He’s into you.”

You had your coffee raised halfway to your mouth. Paused. Lowered it.

“What?”

Frankie swallowed. “Bill.”

You frowned. “Bill?”

“Yes.”

“No, he’s not.” You shook your head, attention flicking back to your donut.

Frankie let out a small, almost amused breath. “Yeah. He is.”

He could feel your gaze on him like sunlight pressing against the side of his face. He didn’t look at you. Just smiled.

“No,” you said finally, certain. “I don’t think so. He’s just nice. A nice person.”

“A nice man who’s into you.”

“Mhm.” You made a small sound, noncommittal, tilting your head slightly. “I bet you'd like that.”

That made him laugh. He glanced at you, brief, testing. You were still looking at him and for some reason, it made his chest feel too open, like he’d turned himself inside out without meaning to.

“How’s that?”

“Well.” You stretched the word out, dragging it a little. “If that were true, it’d work out pretty well for you. Maybe I’d get a real boyfriend and finally leave you alone.”

“You think so?”

“Yes,” you said, voice barely softer than usual, but just enough that he caught it. Then silence. A silence he didn’t want to break. A silence he wanted to hand over to you, let you decide what to do with it.

And then you did.

“I don’t need a boyfriend.” You shrugged, the movement easy, thoughtless. “I already have a fake one, anyway. That counts, doesn’t it?”

“Does it?” he asked, watching the road, fingers flexing against the steering wheel.

“Yeah. I mean, you’re here. And you’re good at faking it.” You exhaled, the sound barely there. “Lately, you don’t even need a witness.”

Something about the way you said it landed differently. Not playful, not teasing, just something you were letting into the air, unclaimed. Frankie’s hands tightened, his knuckles briefly going white. Last night sat there between you. He wondered if you were finally going to say something about it.

But you didn’t.

“You take me places,” you continued, as if you hadn’t just given him a reason to stop breathing. “You help me with my list. You even fed my cat.”

A quiet laugh escaped him. He shook his head, glanced at you again, then back at the road.

“I think you’re describing a servant.” His lips twitched. “I am your servant.”

You clicked your tongue. “Don’t say that.”

“Don’t worry. I like helping you. Feels good to be useful for a change.”

"Francisco, enough. Don’t say that."  

He laughed, the sound rolling through his chest like a wave, rising and settling. “It’s okay.”

“Right. Well, let me help you with something too.”

Frankie huffed, shaking his head slightly. “You’re already helping me. You’re my girlfriend, the light of my eyes, my heart—at least in front of my family, remember?”

You laughed, filling the tight space of the car like sunlight through a crack. Frankie caught the slight nod of your head in his peripheral vision.

“Oh, right,” you said. “But I mean it. If there’s anything you need, just ask.”

He glanced at you, longer than he should have, taking in the shape of you in his passenger seat, the way your fingers curled around your coffee cup.

“You’re doing good. Don’t worry.”

You didn’t respond, just smiled to yourself, eyes dropping to the cup in your hands.

A few seconds passed, the kind that stretched out too long, where the air seemed to change in density, pressing down just a little. The music played, filling the space, but it wasn’t enough to stop the creeping thoughts. Frankie exhaled, thumb tapping against the steering wheel, a small, restless movement.

Why weren’t you saying anything about last night? Had you really forgotten?

Without thinking, he reached down and grabbed his phone, holding it out toward you.

“Here,” he said. “Put on some music.”

You took it without hesitation, eyebrows lifting, a slow, triumphant smile spreading across your face.

“Wow. You’re actually handing over control of the music? Must be my lucky day.”

Frankie laughed, his mind drifting somewhere else entirely.

The drive from Austin to San Antonio passed in pieces—fragments of conversation, long stretches of silence thick with things unsaid. By the time you pulled up at the airfield, the sun was high, casting sharp-edged shadows across the tarmac. The place felt wide open, almost empty, the metal hangars spaced out along the runway, a handful of small planes parked off to the side. A flag snapped in the wind, the Texas air heavy with heat and the distant churn of engines and propellers, voices carrying from the other jumpers and staff.

Eric, the instructor, was tall, mid-forties, with a loose, easy smile and a handshake that felt like a formality rather than a necessity. His jumpsuit was blue, sleeves patched with embroidered logos, sunglasses catching the glare off the pavement.

He and Frankie hugged, the kind of greeting that held years of familiarity. Then, casually, Frankie introduced you—his girlfriend. They fell into conversation, catching up on life, exchanging news. Their voices blurred together as your eyes drifted over the space, your stomach twisting with something you didn’t want to name. Then, suddenly, the thought landed fully in your mind: you were about to throw yourself out of a fucking plane.

But before you could sink too deep into that, Eric clapped his hands.

“Alright, first things first—we have to deal with the boring part,” he said, amused, leading you inside a small office. The walls were cluttered with framed certificates and pictures of past jumpers, frozen mid-air, grinning.

He slid a stack of papers across the desk—liability waivers, legal forms outlining all the things that could go wrong.

“Basically, this says that if you die, you can’t sue us,” he said, grinning. “But don’t worry, that won’t happen.”

“Wow,” you said. “So reassuring.”

Eric laughed, and just as you were about to reach for the pen, you felt it—Frankie’s hand, warm against your back, moving in a slow, careful rhythm. Your breath caught slightly before you exhaled.

Once the forms were signed, Eric led you both to a training area where the other participants were already gathered. He walked through the basics: how to hold your body in freefall, how to bend your legs for landing, why it was important to keep your head up and, above all, not to grab at anything once you were in the air.

“It’s kind of like swimming in a vacuum,” he said, tightening the straps on the harness. “The trick is to let go and trust the equipment.”

He checked each buckle with precision, giving them a final tug before patting you both on the shoulder. "Ready?"

You turned to Frankie. He was already looking at you. His black jumpsuit fit snugly, his hair a mess from the cap he’d been wearing earlier, from his hands running through it. Without thinking, you moved closer, your body tilting toward him. His hand found its place on your back again, tracing up until it rested on your shoulder.

"It’s going to be fine," he said, low and close to your ear. "Eric’s a pro. And I’ll be right there, watching you from above when you jump."

"I’m really scared," you admitted, a nervous smile forming before you could stop it.

Frankie pulled you in, his arms warm around you. You let your forehead rest against his chest. Beneath all the noise—voices, wind, the distant hum of engines—you could hear his heartbeat.

After a moment, you leaned back just enough to look up at him, something tight forming in your throat.

"You’ve done this before?"

"No." His lips twitched, his eyes fixed on you.

"And you’re not scared?" You glanced toward Eric, who was deep in conversation with another instructor a few feet away. "I know you’re used to flying, but this is different, right?"

"In some ways, yeah."

You exhaled, shaking your head. "I mean, you’ve seen worse. You’ve probably been through things in CAG that make this feel ridiculous."

Frankie’s grip on your shoulder tightened just slightly. "It’s not ridiculous. It’s new. And to be honest with you, I think it’s going to feel good to fall through the air without being the one responsible for keeping myself alive." He let out a small laugh.

You opened your mouth to answer, but Eric waved you both over.

The group started moving toward the runway. The plane was waiting, red and white, its side door already open. The engine hummed like it knew what was coming. The wind had picked up, kicking dust into the air, lifting the edges of shirts and loose strands of hair.

Frankie walked beside you, hands curled into easy fists, his expression unreadable. Neither of you said anything. You didn’t have to.

"Wait, hey—look at me." Frankie’s voice pulled you back just as you were about to head up the steps.

You turned to find him holding up his phone, his grin bright. 

"Come on, smile." The camera clicked as you obeyed, your expression probably a mix of excitement and sheer panic.

You gestured to your jumpsuit—a black one-piece with straps pulled tight across your torso, the sleeves a little too long. "I look like an astronaut from a budget sci-fi movie."

Frankie just laughed.

The roar of the plane’s engine filled the air as you climbed the metal steps.

Inside, space was tight—just two rows of seats on the floor, the pilot focused on the controls up front. Eric moved efficiently through the cabin, checking harnesses, giving instructions. The side door stayed open, letting in gusts of wind, fragments of conversation from the ground below.

Frankie sat beside you, straps secured across his chest. His gaze was distant, locked on something you couldn’t see.

Your heart was racing, and not just from adrenaline. It was the certainty of what was about to happen, the realization that there was no backing out now. No chance to claim dizziness, to blame it on a delayed hangover—

No.

The plane lifted off, the ground dropping away fast. The streets and houses of San Antonio shrank to toy-sized versions of themselves, colors and grids blending together. The river cut through the city like a streak of silver, roads and fields stretching out until everything looked impossibly small, distant, unreal.

Eric had gone over the plan earlier. A 25-minute flight to reach the jump altitude—9,000 feet. Then, 35 seconds of free fall, plummeting at 130 miles per hour. After that, six to eight minutes drifting under the parachute before landing. They would take pictures. Record a video. But all you could think was: please don’t throw up.

Your eyes stayed on the view, your pulse high and erratic. Your breathing turned uneven, and at some point—without noticing—you started bouncing your knee, shifting your legs. Then, warmth. A hand on yours, grounding, steady. Frankie.

His fingers wove through yours, a quiet, easy motion, and your heart stuttered. His thumb moved over your skin, light, absentminded. You tried to focus on breathing. In, out. In, out.

"Here you go," Logan, the other instructor, cut in, handing you a pair of goggles. The moment shattered. Whatever had been happening between you—if anything had been happening at all—was interrupted.

Minutes blurred together. Eric tugged at your harness one last time, double-checking every buckle, every strap. His voice was loud but distant, muffled beneath the rush of blood in your ears.

"Ready?"

You weren’t. You nodded anyway.

The moment arrived too fast. The door slid open, and the wind howled through the cabin, sharp and cutting, like it wanted to rip you straight out of the plane. Eric led you to the edge.

Your feet met nothing. The space between you and the ground stretched forever. You tried to turn, to catch one last glimpse of Frankie, but the angle made it impossible. If you called his name, you weren’t sure he’d hear you. But he was there.

The wind tore at your face. The city below was impossibly small, the sky endless in every direction. Your lungs clenched.

Eric counted down.

"Three... two... one."

And then—you fell.

Or maybe, the world opened up and swallowed you whole, a deafening rush in every direction. Everything you thought you knew about gravity unraveled in an instant—you weren’t falling, you weren’t floating. You just were. Suspended in nothing, weightless and untethered.  

The wind lashed against your body, hot and unrelenting, turning the descent into a collision with speed itself. And for a second, there was no space in your mind for anything else. No fear, no doubt. Just motion.  

The world spun, stretched endlessly around you, and adrenaline burst inside your chest, wild and consuming, like a star collapsing and expanding all at once.  

And then you screamed.  

Not from fear. From something bigger than that. Something closer to exhilaration, to release.  

The wind roared in your ears, thick against your skin, the force of it making the air feel solid. But none of it mattered.  

Because you were falling. Hell, you were falling. And somehow, impossibly, it felt so fucking right. It was the best thing you had ever felt.  

It took a moment to understand it, to really let it sink in. But when it did—when it fully hit you—your body stopped resisting. Something inside you loosened, unraveled.  

And you laughed.  

The sound barely existed before the wind stole it away, torn from your throat as if the sky itself wanted to keep it. Your heart pounded hard, so hard you could feel it everywhere—in your fingertips, in your toes, in every cell of your body—as the ground rushed closer and the sky stretched infinite behind you.

Eric waved you over, checking if you were okay. You shot him a thumbs-up, your grin so wide it almost hurt.

To your right, another instructor coasted effortlessly through the air, a helmet-mounted camera fixed on him. He waved his hands dramatically, motioning for you to do something.

Without thinking, you threw your arms out, wiggled your fingers, feeling both ridiculous and euphoric. The instructor mimed the click of a camera, then gave you an approving thumbs-up before drifting back, adjusting his position with an ease that made the whole thing look effortless.

You had no idea how long you’d been falling—fifteen seconds? Twenty? It could have been hours. It could have been nothing at all.

But here, in the open sky, with the world stretched out in every direction, with your body weightless in a way you’d never known before—one thing was certain. 

You didn’t want it to end.

But it did.

Minutes later, you touched down in a vast stretch of green, landing just the way they’d told you to. Your stomach was fluttering, your pulse hammering, your entire body alive with an energy you had never felt before. The ground felt too solid, too still beneath you.

Eric unhooked the harness, stepping back as you stayed where you were, hands pressing into the earth like you needed proof that you were actually here, back on the ground. He grinned, holding up both thumbs.

“So, how are you feeling?”

Your breath came out in a laugh, wide and uncontained. “I didn’t want it to end.”

He chuckled, reaching out a hand to pull you up. Your legs were unsteady, not from weakness but from whatever was still coursing through you, whatever part of you hadn’t quite landed yet.

You tilted your head back, scanning the sky, searching. And there—far above—you caught them. Two dark figures cutting through the blue. Frankie and Logan, still falling, still weightless.

Eric nudged you, gesturing for you to move toward the pavement. You followed him, your steps uneven, gaze flicking between the sky and the field, as if you could still feel yourself in both places at once.

When Frankie landed, you felt the pull before you even decided to move. You waited. Ten seconds maybe. And then he got up, a smile on his face as he started talking to Logan, smiling, his body still humming with the same high that was thrumming through yours. But his eyes kept finding you, like a signal, a call.

You didn’t think. You just ran.

Your legs were shaky, the harness still tight around your chest, but none of it mattered. Maybe it was reckless, maybe you were supposed to wait, but you didn’t.

Frankie saw you coming. His arms opened instinctively, and then you crashed into him, his body warm, solid, the adrenaline between you mixing into something electric.

He lifted you, feet leaving the ground again, arms locked around his neck, your breath catching in your throat. You didn’t know if it was the fall or if it was this—him.

"You did it, baby," he murmured, voice low, still breathless. His grin was wide, shining. He pulled back just enough to see your face, his eyes flickering downward for a second—just a second—before meeting yours again. "I knew you could."

"That was insane," you breathed. "I loved it."

"Me too."

"What did you think? Everything looked so different from up there, so small. And the sky—"

His hands were still on your waist, grounding you in a way the earth couldn’t.

"It felt fucking good," he said, laughing, shaking his head like he couldn’t quite believe it himself. "Wanna do it again?"

You smiled, your hand trailing down his chest, feeling the steady rhythm of his breath beneath your fingers.

"Thank you for doing this with me." 

His eyes stayed on yours, locked. But then—

"Hey, lovebirds!" Eric’s voice cut through the air.

You blinked, exhaling a laugh as you stepped back. Frankie’s hands lingered a second longer before he let you go.

dividers by @/saradika-graphics

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[xoxochb]

——— ౨ৎ ⊹ ࣪ ˖

“you’re an angel, perseus.”

in one entire swift movement, you take the blue-colored cookie from percy’s hand, pecking his cheek whilst he settles back beside you.

he mirrors your own seating position, letting his legs dangle over the edge of the fire escape as his hands grasp the bars to steady himself.

“I like to think so.”

you finish the cookie in three bites before wiping your hands together to discard of crumbs. “don’t let it get to your head.” you poke at his skull.

yet, percy takes your wrist, kissing your palm and fingertips before entwining your hands. “too late. tell me I’m the sexiest man you’ve ever met.”

“what about: you’re the most arrogant man I’ve ever met? the most insatiable? the neediest? the—”

“I get it, sweet girl, if you hate me just say that.”

you don’t try to fight your growing smile. “oh yeah, you’re my eternal enemy. we hate each other, remember?”

“careful,” percy warns playfully, thumb grazing your engagement ring. “that’s how you ended up with this.”

“seems hatred will get you far in life.” you nod. “and a husband. nice!”

percy untangles your hands to wrap his arm around your shoulder, tugging you flush against him with a messy kiss to the top of your head.

the sun begins to set slowly across the horizon and tall buildings. you’d waited here for a half an hour, awaiting the sun’s dismissal. percy had opted to join you with eagerness.

“eight-thirty tonight,” he refers to the sunset. each day later than the last as summer approaches.

percy had begun a nightly tradition regarding the sunset’s time, he proposed the idea that each day it got later, would be a day closer to your wedding in the summer.

you had told him that it would be a day closer regardless how late the sun set but he denied your nonsense, claiming that the sun would set the latest on your wedding day because fate.

it was one in the morning and you were too tired to argue further so you agreed with his plan and went along with it to keep him happy.

“what’s your guess for tomorrow?” you reach and kiss his cheek again.

“eight-thirty-five. I bet ten bucks on it.”

you giggle. “well don’t get upset when your ten dollar-less tomorrow night.”

“I love that you have faith in my fortune telling abilities, sweet girl.”

“of course. because your obviously a psychic.”

“exactly!” happily, he places a kiss to the corner of your mouth. “ask me what we’ll be doing at exactly ten-forty-five tonight.”

you grimace sarcastically. “I’ve got a guess but I’m choosing to ignore it, instead reminding you that your mother is sleeping just across the apartment.”

“is that supposed to stop me…?”

“okay—” you stand up, attempting to hide a laugh. “okay.”

“okay to what? my advances? or my carelessness? or both?”

percy stands quickly, following you inside through the living room, closing the door behind him. “okay, you’re a fucking weirdo.”

“that’s just mean, sweet girl.”

you roll your eyes and continue on your way, greeting sally on your way to percy’s bedroom. he doesn’t like that brief pit-stop very much.

but it also turns out he doesn’t like your deliberate turn-downs to his advances. he does enjoy, however, your returning to camp two days later to a very private cabin.

[2therazor]

smut prompt 8 x tbp era mikey way??!?!??! i feel lile tbp mikey is just so dirty nasty tbh like hes so dom idgaf

ignorance is your new best friend

"Open your legs for me, baby. I wanna see you."

(prompts originally from @delusionisaplace)

anon i could not agree with you more… so here we are!

w/c: 2,210k

content warnings: afab reader, rough sex, dom!mikey, brat reader, reader is a sound techie for the band lol, also mikey is kinda a jerk sorry, angry sex, kinda angst but a happy ending

a/n: (finally writing this like three months later.... oops.. sorry...) not proofread, so there may be some grammatical and mechanical errors. also don't rlly know if I like this one... oh well!

you are responsible for your own media consumption.

mikey had always liked to act oblivious. oblivious to your antics, more so. all day you'd been following him around backstage like a sad dog wanting attention, but still, he paid no mind.

was he ignoring you on purpose? trying to push your buttons? trying to see just how far he could get before you would fall right back into his arms (and bunk) for the night.

you tried not to dwell on it, after all if something was wrong mikey would say something, right? you dragged your feet around backstage to the catering table, picking at the stale sandwiches left behind.

"jesus, what's wrong with you dude?" a voice came from behind you, and from none other than frank, possibly the most nosy friend you've had in your life.

you quickly turned around, trying to hide the empty feeling that mikey was ignoring you. you had been sleeping together for some time but had never really had the "what are we?" conversation. you had kind of hoped it stayed that way though, you were just a sound tech for the band, but had known mikey for years.

shaking your head you murmured, "i'm fine frankie, besides it's not really your business anyways" slowly walking away from the catering table, head down. you loved frank, but you didn't really have the energy to gossip about your tragic sex life at the moment.

before you could walk even three steps away, a foot was placed in front of yours, causing you to look up, face to face with frank.

"you're annoying, you know that right?" his smile wide and as stupid as ever. you really weren't getting out of this one, were you?

surrendering your pride, you take a deep breath in, then sigh. "it's mikey, he's kinda just been ignoring me all day. it's pissing me off, and he won't really tell me why either. i dunno, I just wish he'd talk to me about it instead of acting like I'm some plague-ridden peasant or something."

frank looks at you a moment, studying your expression. for a moment, it looks like he's about to say something. then he just reaches out, puts his hand on your shoulder and calmly says: "it's not you, I promise. mikey just has a lot of things he needs to tell you, but instead of telling you, he likes to pretend his feelings will just magically disappear. but he's kinda a fucking idiot so…" he trails off then slowly pulls you into a hug.

you could probably cry, but whatever deep dark secret frank just shared was way too cryptic. what did he mean it wasn't you? what did he mean mikey had things he needs to tell you? it was all too confusing. god you wish mikey would just grow up and tell you instead of ignoring your advances all day. nonetheless, you let go of frank and wipe a small tear forming in your eye. "thanks frank."

"yeah," he rubs your back a bit. "just don't tell mikey I told you, or you might find my guts by your door tomorrow morning." he grinned, dragging his feet on the concrete behind him.

"five minutes everyone!" a loud voice rings from behind you. sound check was done, now it was time to sit through an hour and a half long show and pine over mikey for most, if not all of it.

you sigh, heading to your side of the stage. this was going to be the longest hour and a half of your extremely short lived life.

the show had come to an end, and you weren't really upset anymore, just very very bitter. you needed to talk to mikey or you would drive yourself insane the rest of the tour. so as soon as he stepped off stage, damp and sweaty hair, you grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him aside.

he glanced down at you, a smug look on his face. "hi.." he started.

"why have you been such a dick today mikey? you've been ignoring me since we got off the tour bus, and you won't even tell me why?"

again, he just looked down at you and smiled cockily. "you like it when I play games though don't you? you love having to beg for my attention," he leaned down so his mouth was in the shell of your ear "you love having to beg for my cock, don't you?"

fuck. he was such a fucking asshole. this is the whole reason he was doing this? to piss you off so you'd fuck him?

"grow the fuck up mikey. if you have something to say to me just say it. we're not 16 anymore, ignoring so i'd fuck you is beyond low."

"that's funny you say that," his hand reaches for your chin pulling it up so it faces him. "because you fall for it every single fucking time" before you can retort, he pulls you in for a kiss. not a tender one either, quickly opening your mouth with his tongue and grabbing you by the waist. your knees are weak, your heart is beating fast. he's right. you fall for it every goddamn time.

he pulls away for a second, setting his bass on a stand. "come with me to the dressing room, we have like 20 minutes max"

annoyed and horny, you oblige, quickly pushing your way past the rest of the sound crew and a few other unrecognizable faces.

as soon as the door swung open, you didn’t even have time to think before mikey pressed his lips against yours. the whole situation was so juvenile. sneaking off to make out, him ignoring you so you’d fuck him. you tried to ignore the pain in your chest as he slid his knee to your core.

you stifled a moan at this, grabbing his hair, pulling him in harder. if he wanted to get you worked up, he was gonna have hell to pay.

“god, you’re so pretty like this.” he breathed heavily into your neck after feverishly breaking the kiss holding you two together.

“are you gonna keep teasing or are you actually gonna get me off mikey?” you pushed your pussy further onto his leg, grinding on him as he casually left marks that everyone would defininintely give you shit for later.

“fuck,” he stuttered, moving his hands to remove your jeans finally.

you smiled lightly, knowing you had him right where you wanted him. you moved your hand to grasp his black locks once again, just to bask in the small noises he made, just for you. a ping of jealously hit your chest, just the thought of him making these sounds for anyone else made you want to fuck him harder.

he swiftly took off your underwear after making a show of taking off your jeans, pressing two fingers inside of you before you even had time to think.

“only i get to see you like this, you’re mine” he whispered in your ear as he worked another finger inside of you, slowly moving his thumb around your clit.

that sentence alone almost had you falling apart on his skilled fingers. you shuddered a breath at his possessiveness, knowing that deep down, no matter whoever the fuck else he was sleeping around with, you were his regardless.

“mikey please” you pleaded with him, not even really sure what you were begging for at this point.

“what baby? what do you want from me?” he spoke softly, genuinely sounding sincere. it broke your heart a little more than it should’ve, honestly.

you felt tears prick at the corners of your eyes, but bit your lip as hard as you could trying not to cry.

“shh… it’s okay baby. i’m sorry for being a dick all day, i’ll give you what you want. does that sound okay?” he brought a hand to your cheek, stroking it slowly.

you gulped quietly, nodding your head back at him.

“just- let me eat you out first. please?” he went to kiss your neck again, sucking down another bruise on your skin.

you nodded, trying really hard not to cry this time. he was so caring and sweet, even when you knew he wanted nothing more than to fuck you over the dressing room table.

he picked you up again, your legs wrapping around his hips as he carried you over to the dresser to prop you up.

once he set you down, you looked down at him as he started working you open once again, with his tongue this time. and god did he know how to use his mouth. you briefly locked eyes with him as he worked he licked a stripe up your pussy, occasionally adding a finger. your hand flew to his hair as he added two fingers and worked you open with his tongue. he was absolutely perfect in the dim glow of the dressing room.

“fuck mikey, i-i’m close.” you breathed heavily as he showed no signs of stopping.

“then come. come into my mouth baby, please. please i want you so bad.” he whined.

and just hearing his pleading, your hand gripped his hair tighter as you shook above him. he wasted no time undoing his belt and you couldn’t even register he had too, taken his jeans off as he pressed gentle kisses and lovebites up your thighs.

he grabbed a condom from his discarded jeans, quickly rolling it on and stroking himself a few times. he captured your lips in a kiss, brushing a stray strand of hair from your eyes.

“hey. you’re so beautiful.” he laughed

“yeah yeah,” you rolled your eyes playfully. “are you gonna fuck me now or what?”

“maybe if you’d stop being such a brat.” he was closer to your face now, slowly taking your features in.

“what, are you gonna make me beg again?” you scoffed, wrapping your arms around his neck.

“nope. just gonna fuck you until you cry baby.” and with that, he pushed into you, hard.

your breath stuttered as he continued to pound into you at an unforgiving pace, he was really serious about holding that promise, wasn’t he?

“fuck baby, you’re so tight, open your legs… wanna see you,” he grunted as he bit your shoulder lightly.

you moaned again, pushing him in further with your legs.

he didn’t slow down at all, fucking into you at a brutal pace. “tell me you’re mine. tell me you belong to me.”

“fuck, i’m yours mikey. all yours, please,” you whined, feeling yourself tighten around him.

“and who’s the only one that gets to see you like this?” he added, not faltering his pace as he continued to pound into you.

“you, you and no one else mikey-” you felt the tears that you held back earlier, threaten to fall again. you wanted to tell him so badly that you loved him, and you had secretly hoped he had felt the same way about you. sure, you were his during sex but the thought of being his all the time was making you cry.

“god, you’re so fucking pretty when you cry for me baby,” he wiped your tears gently with the back of his palm. “-m, really fucking close baby.” he added as he connected his lips to yours again.

“mikey please come-” you broke the kiss to say, letting more tears fall from your eyes.

“fuck!” he threw his head back as you felt him twitch inside of you. you came shortly after seeing the dark bruises you left on his neck.

after a few minutes of you both recollecting yourselves, mikey pulled out throwing the condom in the trash a few feet away. he slowly inched towards you again, pressing a gentle kiss to your lips.

“i’m sorry for being an asshole earlier, i just- sometimes i don’t know how to deal with my feelings and-” he blurted out.

“mikey,” you cut him off and said sternly.

“is this you scolding me or?” he started

“god,” you laughed at the absurdity of the situation, running your hand through his hair. “mikey, i like you. and i’m really tired of pretending that i don’t because it genuinely hurts me every time we hook up. i want you, i want to be with you..”

“fuck. i thought you would never say that to me. i thought that maybe if i was just a dick to you my feelings would go away but obviously that was terrible of me.” he caressed your cheek again, looking into your eyes.

“i love you mikey.” you said without thinking, your heart stinging after, scared he wouldn’t say it back.

“i love you too. i’m tired of sneaking around with you, i want to take you out and show you off, you know? i think i’ve been in love with you a little longer than i’d like to admit…” he smiled as he ran a hand through your hair. “i’m still gonna be mad at you for this, just so you know.” you smiled as you pulled him in for another kiss. he returned the kiss, sliding his hand down to your waist. and just like that, your doubts and worries washed away.

[grandline-fics]

Immune To Your Charms

DESCRIPTION: Soulmates are incapable of harming the other in any way. Normally that would be a good thing but not when you're meant to be enemies.

WARNINGS: Usual mentions of brief violence/killing. It's Doflamingo, he's his own warning. Descriptions of illness

CHARACTERS: Doflamingo

WORDS: 2,824

A/N: Health stuff and non-stop interruptions have been keeping me from writing but some of it is calming down a little so I can get some writing done while I can. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and hopefully the next one won't be as long of a wait.

*REQUESTS ARE OPEN*

DIRECTORY | PROMPT LIST

Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five | Chapter Six | Chapter Seven | Chapter Eight | Chapter Nine(here) | Chapter Ten | Chapter Eleven | Chapter Twelve | Chapter Thirteen | Chapter Fourteen | Chapter Fifteen | Chapter Sixteen | Chapter Seventeen | Chapter Eighteen(coming soon)

——————

For two days after the kiss, you and Doflamingo both acted like the incident hadn’t happened. As far as you both let on, everything was completely normal, or rather normal by your standards. Still you threw attitude and disrespect his way while he tried to kill you. Normal. Just how you both wanted it. Because pretending that the kiss never happened was better than admitting it still constantly played on your minds. Even now when you both sat across from each other at the small table in your living quarters Doflamingo’s eyes continually fell to your lips even though he kept forcing himself to look away over and over. Thanks to the dark red lenses the direction of his stare was hidden. As he sipped at his coffee he watched as you stared blankly at the same page of the newspaper, realising you hadn’t turned the page in a while. “Well, what’s got you so interested?”

At the sound of his voice you blinked and your stare sharpened on the words on the page before meeting his relaxed, grinning face. With a frown you glanced at the paper again and set it on the table, sitting back and shaking your head slightly. “Nothing, honestly I was zoned out. Wasn’t even reading.” You explained while reaching for your drink only to stop and instead push it a little further from you. “What kind of poison did you put in my breakfast today? It’s different.”

“No poison today.” Doflamingo explained with a low chuckle building in his chest. “Haven’t tampered with your food or drink for a while now. You trying to say you miss it?”

“Well it seems like it did give a nice kick, must have gotten used to it without realising.” You teased slightly only to scowl suspiciously when the Warlord’s usually broad grin had lessened. “What?”

“Something wrong?” 

“Apart from the fact I’m strangely used to you putting poison in my food?” You asked before giving a tired sigh. “I didn’t sleep great. You didn’t interfere with my bed did you?”

“Your accusation hurts.” Doflamingo returned your teasing remark with one of his own. “I promised you I’d never mess with your sleep again didn’t I?” At that you nodded. He’d promised and so far had kept to his word that your sleep had never suffered because of him or any of those in his command. Even on the mornings you were sleeping in the servants avoided waking you because of the young master’s orders.

Normally you loved the bed you’d been given and found sleep so easily when lying in it but the previous night barely anything seemed to work. You just couldn’t get comfortable long enough to properly fall over to truly restful sleep and when you did fall asleep you were awake after a couple hours and right back to tossing and turning again. You were still feeling the effects now, drained and tired but not entirely like you had when Doflamingo had been on his quest to keep you awake for as long as he could. “I’ll try and fit in a nap or two in between my busy schedule and I’ll be back to my charming, wonderful self by tomorrow.”

You weren’t sure why you felt the need to say something to reassure him but the words were out of your mouth before you could think about it. Still it was strange for him to outwardly be concerned over something as small as you not getting a good night’s sleep. Even with the grin on Doflamingo’s face you knew he wasn’t entirely convinced and you could feel his sharp stare fixed on you, searching your features. The last time he’d looked at you so strongly was the night you’d kissed and not wanting to open that particular can of worms you grabbed your mug and took a drink, looking out the window. It wasn’t long before fanfare could be heard from the city.

“Bit early for fireworks isn’t it?” You asked, your gaze going to the Coliseum in the distance where the noise seemed to be coming from. “What’s so special about today?”

“Nothing really. Diamante felt like throwing a tournament.” Doflamingo chuckled. “Something to break in and introduce the new additions to the arena.”

“You really think they’ll last long in there?” Your lips couldn’t help but curve into a cold smirk. “They weren’t exactly an impressive bunch of pirates.” Doflamingo laughed at your observation.

“Do you even find any pirates impressive?”

“Are you going to be jealous if I don’t say you?” You asked turning your head to look at him again. 

“I don’t get jealous.” Doflamingo answered with his grin spreading when disbelief shaped your features and a subtle look of amusement began to creep into you gaze. “C’mon tell me who.”

“But leaving you wondering seems so much more fun.”

“You have a cruel streak in you, you know that?” Doflamingo laughed only to stop when a single knock sounded at the door and a servant hurried in. Their face was apologetic but his stare zeroed in on the white and blue den-den mushi in their hands. The Marines were calling.

———

For Doflamingo’s call with the Marines, going through the motions of being a Warlord you had left him to talk into private. You knew you didn’t have to leave but felt it would be best. Plus it gave you a while to get some fresh air and have some space from the Warlord. The plan of acting like the kiss had never happened meant having to continue being in his presence which irritated you because of how it was bringing new problems for you. In the beginning it was irritation and dislike that made you speak openly and antagonistically with the man but now you could tell you were both speaking to each other with a little more playfulness and almost civility. You’d accepted your fate as Doflamingo’s prisoner and his eventual victim when he found out a way to kill you with no resistance when you were first brought to Dressrosa. 

Now though? Now you almost felt settled that this was your new life and that disturbed you more than anything. The kiss you wished hadn’t helped matters. It felt like another sign that your mind and body were starting to give in to being the Warlord’s soulmate. This wasn’t how it was meant to be and you had to try harder to keep things as they were. Your hand brushed against the cold metal of a door and you snapped out of your thoughts and mindless wandering to all but curse yourself. You were now outside Doflamingo’s personal office, your body moving there out of instinct or pure subconscious habit. Sighing sharply you forced yourself to step away from the door and continue down the corridors, making sure you were more aware of your actions. 

Thankfully you ran into a servant who seemed relieved to see you and began to talk to you. Normally you embraced talking to someone normal and who wasn’t a pirate but you began to grow confused when it wasn’t idle conversation they wanted to speak to you on, but instead they started to report to you the chores completed for the day and discuss minor issues with the Palace upkeep and some tasks. 

When they asked for your opinion on how best to handle the problems it took a moment for you to snap out of your confusion and shock. You offered your advice as best as you could, seeming relieved when the servant immediately smiled and thanked you, beginning to set off to act on your words. “Wait, don’t you want to double check with Doflamingo or your superior?”

“The young master’s busy.” The servant explained with a small smile, looking at you like this should be obvious. “After him, you’re the next in charge. Thank you again!”

You could only watch the servant hurry off with a smile, unable to catch your mind up fast enough to call after them and tell them that you being second in command wasn’t true. Instead you were frozen in shock and extremely confused. Feeling a headache begin to form rapidly, you shook your head and continued on your aimless walk through the palace, the servant’s casual declaration still repeating in your mind. You didn’t even think anyone was second in command, as far as you ever saw things Doflamingo’s word was law and the only time the elite officers of his ‘family’ gave orders was when they came from Doflamingo or when they told the servants what they wanted to eat for their meals but that wasn’t the same as being in charge. 

Now even more drained than you had been, you turned to make your way back to your room. You’d jokingly said you’d nap but now it was seeming like a good idea. As you approached your quarters you stopped to see Doflamingo casually strolling towards you. “Well? When do you go?”

“Were you eavesdropping?” Doflamingo asked with his broad grin in place. Part of him was confused why you’d need to be sneaky and listen in to a conversation you were more than welcome to stay in the room for. He turned to walk beside you as you continued on your way back to your quarters.

“No, I just know this is normally the time of year they’d be calling you and the other Warlords in for a meeting.” You explained with a shrug.

“The time of year?” Doflamingo repeated in interest.

“If there’s no pressing issue they need you and the Warlords to deal with they usually call a meeting to have you in the Marine building for some visiting nobles or royalty to see you.” You explained as you stepped into your room and shrugged, settling down on your sofa. “A way to reassure them that the Marine’s are in power I suppose. What better way to show that than for them to see pirates of the Warlord rank?” Doflamingo chuckled and perched himself on the back of the sofa, looking down at you as you got comfortable. He’d always known the Marine’s patterns and habits and liked to play dumb but it was oddly surprising and refreshing for you to have noticed it too. “So when do you go?”

“Soon.” Doflamingo answered your repeated question. “Won’t be gone too long.”

“Guess I’ll have to fit in as much destruction as possible then while you’re gone.” You smirked, idly rubbing your temple as you felt the headache from earlier still nag at you. “Want to try and kill me before you go? You didn’t try today.”

“Aw aren’t you sweet?” Doflamingo grinned, leaning down to poke the centre of your head and coax you to lie back more against the sofa. “Sadly, it’s not as enjoyable when you’re tired. Rest and I’ll double my efforts when I’m back to make up for the time away.”

“Big talk.” You grinned, the pain seeming to dissipate slightly in the brief moment Doflamingo’s fingers were against your forehead. “If I wasn’t already lying down I’d be swooning. Go on, have fun annoying Warlords and Marines. See you when you get back.”

———

As expected the Warlord meeting was a complete bore, the only entertainment for Doflamingo came from him purposely agitating those who shared the title of Warlord with him and the Marines ‘in charge’ or leading the meeting and navigating the pirates through the halls. As you had already predicted there just so happened to be visiting dignitaries also walking the corridors at the same time. It was all theatre really. Designed to look as mere coincidence the paths were crossed. On their way to the large banquet room, Doflamingo’s curiosity was piqued at the sound of some high ranked Marines deep in conversation. Normally he wouldn’t care what they had to say but the name of the island they were talking about caught his attention. The island he crossed paths with you. It felt so long ago since that night the warehouse exploded and he came across you. Feeling nostalgic he listened in on their conversation. 

“The sickness is ramping up, they’re at a complete loss what to do.” One Marine told the other.

“The numbers are rising with each day. How did this even happen?” The commander asked in annoyance.

“The virus has a long incubation period. No one realised until the first infected finally started showing signs. We should have a better idea soon now that the source of the virus has been dealt with but it’s not looking good for those already infected. Mortality rate is already severe.”

“Such a mess but I suppose there's one thing to be thankful for.”

“Sir?”

“We lost a full unit there a while ago.” The commander explained. “They would have been infected too given how long they were stationed there. Better we lost them fighting criminals than falling to a virus.” For a heavy moment Doflamingo was rooted in the spot as he absorbed the information, processing what he’d just heard. He hadn’t misheard the name of the island, he knew he didn’t and it was reinforced when they spoke of an entire unit being wiped out. Your unit. 

Snapping into action he began moving once more and strode passed the other Warlords as they were entering the banquet hall. He ignored the Marine officer trying to tell him to not stray too far or wander around so freely. Had it been any other day he would have cut the worm to ribbons for even suggesting he couldn’t go or do as he wished. He only kept the ‘protection’ that the Warlord title gave for mere enjoyment. Kicking open the balcony door he leapt onto the railing and wordlessly left, his strings pulling him through the air as fast as he could to return to Dressrosa.

———

It had been a full day since Doflamingo had left Dressrosa and in that time you’d felt yourself feel worse and worse. Originally you’d put it up to the lack of sleep and not eating much but now you were sure something nasty was working its way through your system. You weren’t sure just how common flus or colds were in Dressrosa or if this was the season for them but anything was possible. With such a crowded city you could have caught the flu from a civilian you passed in the street or touched something already contaminated in one of the stores. You also considered the possibility of one of the pirates you killed having been sick with something and you didn’t realise you’d caught it until now. What you did know was that even with this being the beginning of the flu it felt worse than anything you’d had before.

You’d tried going to bed early and couldn’t rest even though your body felt more exhausted than ever. Everything was tense and ached as if you’d endured punishing training and battles all at once. The pressure against your lungs made even taking a breath difficult and you trembled as your temperature rushed from one extreme to the other. Your head felt like it was being crushed in a vice and stabbed, the pain growing and throbbing against your skull. The effort it took for you to push yourself up in the bed and drag yourself over to the bedside table seemed like scaling a mountain but somehow you managed to do it. With shaking hands and unfocussed eyes you grabbed the glass of water and forced yourself to take a small, painful sip in the hopes the cold liquid would soothe the mixture of fire and shards of glass that seemed to cling to your throat but it only seemed to flare the pain. You needed something to help. Even if it was getting the room to cool down you would take it. 

Struggling against your mind and body you stubbornly rose from the bed and swayed immediately. Your vision swam and the room tilted and spun so violently that your legs buckled almost immediately. In that moment you wished you had a Devil Fruit like Doflamingo’s, something that could open the window or anything to help you now. Hellbent on feeling the cool night air on your skin, you staggered clumsily to the balcony doors and fumbled to get them open. The second they did and you managed the last couple of steps to the railing you hung your head weakly and tried to take a full breath but could only manage a small, broke rasp as anything bigger would have caused more pain and discomfort. Slowly you lifted your head and prepared to make the struggle back to your bed but the sudden motion and your vision swirling at the sight of Dressrosa’s lights in the distance overwhelmed you and too weak to stop it from happening you tumbled over the railing.

———————————————-

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[wileys-russo]

off limits (7) II a.putellas x león!reader

part one part two part three part four part five part six

off limits (7) II a.putellas x león!reader

you blinked tiredly as suddenly you were whisked away from the blissful world of your dreams and slammed back into reality, the shrill blare of your alarm causing you to let out a tired groan.

hand smacking around trying to tap snooze you swore loudly and jolted even further awake as you caught your knuckles on the corner of the nightstand.

sitting up with an annoyed huff you grabbed your phone and pressed stop on the glaringly obnoxious alarm, dropping it in your lap and rubbing your face tiredly.

noticing the time and knowing when your plane was you knew if you wanted to shower and not be rushed you should get up now.

however with barcelona being unusually grey and overcast you found sleep was calling you for just a little longer, so you set an alarm for in a half hour and dropped your head back to your pillow with a thud.

you awoke with a startle what only felt like minutes later to a noise you assumed was your alarm, reaching out and smacking your phone screen tiredly, pulling yourself up to rest on your elbows when the insistent ringing continued.

with a roll of your eyes realising it was a phone call you settled back into bed and brought the device to your ear.

"hola?" you yawned, wincing as alba excitedly yelled back that they were downstairs. "now?" you realised after a beat of silence, ripping the covers off and checking the time, realizing your alarm hadn't gone off and you'd oh so stupidly set it for PM instead of AM.

"noo tomorrow chica!" the girls voice dripped with sarcasm, though hearing you unable to stifle a yawn another beat of silence passed.

"you are ready, si?" alba's tone suddenly became much more serious and you could only imagine the way her eyebrows would furror in annoyance just like alexia's would

"...ten minutes?" you questioned sheepishly, wincing as a string of angry spanish hit you like a wall. "mierda! we will cancel this uber and come up and order another one once you're ready then. apresúrate idiot!" the younger putellas huffed as you agreed and apologized.

"wait, alba who is we?" you clocked her choice of words, not given an answer as the line beeped signalling she'd hung up on you. with a shrug assuming you must have misheard you leapt out of bed and rushed around pulling on clothes, grateful you'd at least finished packing last night.

not even two minutes later and your intercom buzzed as you hopped over to it, punching in the code and letting alba up as you fought to tug on a pair of shorts without falling to the floor, startled by harsh knocks at your door.

"i'm coming i'm coming joder!" you groaned as the knocks continued impatiently, clumsily buttoning up the jean shorts and stumbling to the door, throwing it open and ducking your head to pull your hair up into a messy bun, failing to notice two pairs of shoes standing in wait for you.

"i told you what time we would be here!" alba huffed, shoving past you as you lost your footing and almost went tumbling down, an all too familiar set of hands steadying you.

you glanced up with wide eyes to meet those you knew all too well, her chocolate brown orbs clouded with something you couldn't quite put your finger on as she quietly murmured good morning and let go of you, hovering by the door.

"the uber is waiting downstairs! five minutes or alexia will carry you down there herself." alba warned as she hauled your suitcase with her, missing the way both you and your ex girlfriend cringed a little at her words.

"i thought you were ordering a new-" you started but the slam of your front door abruptly cut you off, leaving you and alexia alone as you avoided her eyes, scrambling off into your room and leaving her behind to her own devices.

alexia's eyebrows curled into a frown as she shoved her hands into her pockets, gaze roaming the apartment which had once seemed so familiar and warm, now feeling foreign and cold as she mentally took note of all the changes.

the guilt settled once more in her stomach as the reality of the last time she'd been here sank in, her heart aching a little to see almost every remainer of your time together was merely wiped away.

the polaroids of the two of you which littered your fridge, gone. though she knew you only put them out when she was coming over, your relationship a secret to anyone outside your little bubble of love.

the snow globes she'd brought you back from the world cup which normally sat proudly on the mantle, gone. you'd also rearranged your furniture which she had a sneaky suspicion would have been ingrids idea, the girl forever going on about the energy of rooms.

but what alexia wasn't to know was all the knick knacks, souvienners, photos, anything that reminded you of her was stored safely in a box under your bed. you'd gotten that box out far more often than you cared to admit, pawning through its contents with the upmost care.

you some days wanted nothing more than to destroy its contents, one final fuck you to the relationship alexia had seemingly thrown away without a care.

head ablaze with thoughts you often flicked a lighter on and off in your hand, conveniently one alexia had gotten from you during an away game in madrid where you'd tweaked your ankle and weren't able to play or travel with the team.

but you could never ever actually bring yourself to do any sort of harm to the box and its contents, so you'd shed a few tears and wordlessly slip it back under your bed, like clockwork.

out of sight but never out of mind.

you expected her to just wait silently by the front door where alba had left her, so your body locked up in surprise as strong tanned arms wound round your torso, her footsteps so quiet you'd not even heard her approach.

"i did wonder where that hoodie went." she murmured quietly as you glanced down to realise the hoodie you'd thrown on in your haste was indeed hers, an old favourite you'd been meaning to give back but again you just couldn't seem to muster up the courage despite how much some days your heart burned with hatred for her.

"alexia." you warned with a sigh, your hands on top of hers trying to gently pull them away as she only clung on tighter. "we can't." you empasized, squeezing your eyes shut.

"but-"

"no. ale the other night was a mistake, por favor i was not thinking right and i should not have agreed to go home with you." you mumbled, her arms disappearing now as you span around to look up at her with soft apologetic eyes.

"i asked you if you wanted to many times, and you still said yes. then we slept together and i thought you stayed the night but i woke up to an empty bed and i had to wonder if it was all some sort of dream, maybe even a nightmare." the older girls eyes flashed with hurt as you winced slightly.

"i know. but i was upset, you were upset, i'd just told you i was going to retire and i was in a really weird state of mind and-" "did it not mean anything to you, nothing at all?"

your stomach dropped at the way her voice was so stripped back, cut raw and barely above a whisper as she picked at a loose thread on her pants, pretending like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"alexia please, can we not do this now? we're about to be stuck together for days and i don't want our drama to cause any problems with the group." you pleaded, swallowing the words on the tip of your tongue.

"our drama?" her voice echoed after you as you wandered into your closet, stripping yourself of her hoodie and tugging on a sweatshirt of your own. "you know what i mean." you sighed, pushing her hoodie into her hands and grabbing your carry on, making a beeline for the door.

"can we just pretend it never happened? please. i'm sorry but it was a mistake alexia." "fine, like it never happened."

the ride down in the elevator together was painfully quiet, alexia looking like she wanted to say something but using all her will not to.

thankfully in the car you had alba who didn't shut up the entire ride to the airport, alexia sat up front lost in her thoughts as the younger putellas talked your ear off.

"i didn't know jenni was coming." you mumbled to alba with a frown spotting the taller girl laughing with the group of your national team mates.

but if alba heard you she made no move to acknowledge it, slinging an arm over your shoulders and marching you toward the girls as alexia trailed behind.

you felt a strange feeling settle over you as jenni embraced alexia and kissed both her cheeks, but you knew jenni had always been like that and that she had a girlfriend of her own anyway, and you had no right over whatever alexia decided to do now.

you'd never actually seen jenni as a threat before now and you weren't sure what changed, the two of you had always gotten along well.

so trying to swallow the strange feelings and push them as far down as you could, you moved forward. it was made easier by the fact the tall spaniard was so easy to get along with, spinning you around in a tight hug not having seen you since she'd left barcelona and you stepped down from the national team.

unknown to you it was now alexia who was fighting the bitter jealousy bubbling up in her throat watching the little reuinion, clenching her jaw and turning away.

the plane you thought might be a reprise from the awkward tension of being around your ex girlfriend and her ex girlfriend who was seeming quite touchy with both of you, though of course neither of you were going to communicate the issues you were feeling even if they were the exact same.

jealousy.

but the plane was no reprise at all as of course alba all but shoved you into a seat which was right next to alexia, sandwiching you in between the two of them as you silently screamed, sending the taller girl a tight lipped smile which she returned.

you felt relief when laia, misa and jenni sat the row in front, engaging the three of you in conversation for most of the flight meaning you weren't subjected to any small talk with alexia who you assumed would still likely be feeling the sting of your rejection from this morning.

however nothing seemed to deter alba who very clearly had an agenda that didn't align with your own as exactly alike the flight you found yourself shoved into a seat next to alexia in the small van that picked all of you up from the airport to take you to the house you'd all booked.

"switch with me!" you mouthed and glared at the girl who slid into the seat next to ona in the row across from you who pretended she couldn't lip read, shrugging in fake confusion and turning to make conversation.

you snuck a glance to the older girl beside you whose attention was fixated out the window and away from you, both of you clearly trying not to touch one another as you leant your shoulders away as if you'd burn each other at a simple nudge or bump.

still a little tired from your sudden wake up call this morning you allowed the hum of chatter from your friends around you and the bouncing around of the van lull you into a much needed nap, slipping your sunglasses down over your eyes to hide the fact.

you blinked a few times as you felt your body shake side to side gently. "hey." you lifted your head and pushed your sunglasses up and off your nose, rubbing your eyes.

"bon dia, we're here." you glanced to meet alexia's amused smile, though as soon as your eyes met hers it slipped away and was replaced with a much more stoic look as she nodded for you to stand.

filing off the van you stumbled as a body crashed into yours almost taking you to the ground with them. "misa!" you huffed shoving her away with a roll of your eyes as she grinned and grabbed your bag for you.

"that was for that stupid goal!" she was now the one to roll her eyes as your lips curled into a grin and you allowed her arm to slip over your shoulders and pull you toward the house with her.

"that goal was earned, completely fair and legal." you laughed in response to the recent el classico where you'd chipped a goal over her head as she'd rushed out to collect it.

"maybe, but still very embarrassing." the keeper sighed before shoving you away from her as you continued to laugh, the two of you falling easily into conversation as you walked side by side, the taller girl still carrying your bag for you.

"that would be cute." alexia glanced up as jenni appeared next to her, suggestive grin plastered to her face as the catalan only shrugged, trying to swallow the jealousy which clawed at her throat at the sight of you laughing and messing about with misa a few metes in front.

the way you used to be with her, before she had to go and mess everything up.

"whats wrong chica? your face is so long it is hitting the ground." jenni nudged her again, raising an eyebrow as alexia brushed it off and mumbled she was fine, jenni dropping it for now with a hum of disbelief.

thankfully when it came to room arrangements it was pairs and you grabbed alba before she could utter a word, dragging her to the first room you could find and shoving her inside, kicking the door shut.

"what are you up to?" you asked her straight away with an accusatory finger pointed in her direction. "amiga, nothing!" the younger putellas shrugged with her hands raised, claiming one of the beds and sitting on the edge.

"alba." you warned, crossing your arms and scowling, knowing too well she clearly had some sort of agenda. "you and misa used to date, no?" the brunette asked, catching you off guard as you gave her a look.

"no? we hooked up once after the euros, we were just happy from the win and very drunk, it meant nothing and we never felt the need to speak about it again. we’re just friends, always have been.” you answered her after she repeated the question. "you know, sort of like you and my sister!" you reminded, speaking a little too loudly as the girl moved to crash tackle you.

"mierda shut up! nobody knows about that and its going to stay that way!" alba grunted as the two of you rolled around smacking and pinching one another like children.

the door opened and a few of the girls spilled in, a horde of spanish chatter filling the room and you groaned as they joined in piling on top of you, a flurry of limbs and hair and laughter.

"chicas! happy hour, vamos!" jenni sauntered in next with a bottle of tequila in hand and you could finally breathe as the pile of bodies on top of you began to depart.

"off!" you wheezed, pushing aitana and alba off last as the two collapsed into giggles either side of you. "that was nearly worse than the euros." you struggled to catch your breath, having scored the winning goal and having half your team jump on top of you had dampened the moment.

"probably less sweaty." "much less sweaty!"

~

the first couple of days passed by without too many issues, you steered clear of alexia as much as you could and she did the same, despite alba's best efforts to force the two of you into unconventional situations which she seemed to have roped aitana and ona into helping much.

though once half the group left to spend a little time with family before club training resumed, it became a little harder to avoid one another.

laid down on a boat in the middle of the ocean you knew you should be at your most relaxed. the drinks were flowing, the sun was shining, the water was crystal clear blue and the weight had been partially lifted from your shoulders as you knew for now what the immediate future held.

or so you thought.

starting to feel the heat prickle at your skin you shifted, beads of sweat dotting your brow as you pushed your sunglasses up and rested on your elbows, surveying the small group laid about on the deck.

"ey, swim?" you nudged aitana beside you who groaned and swatted you away, alba beside her giving you a thumbs down making you chuckle. accepting your solo fate you dropped your sunglasses onto your towel and stood properly and wandered toward the swim deck, diving off into the water, leaving your friends behind you.

surfacing you exhaled and trod water for a minute, watching the blurry figures of people jumping off the cliffs a few hundred metres away.

your skin prickling with goosebumps you dove back under one more time and swam your way over to the small swim deck just beneath the boat, pulling yourself up to sit with your feet still dangling in the water.

leaning back on your hands you closed your eyes and inhaled deeply. "hola." you jumped at the unexpected voice, not having heard anyone else join you as your eyes snapped open and alexia pulled herself up to sit a healthy distance away from you.

"hola." you murmured back, looking back toward the cliffs as a silence settled between you both, the only sound the distance chatter of your friends above you.

"will we always be like this?" you turned your head at that, frowning a little. "like what?" you dared to question, admittedly a little worried for what the answer might be. "pretending the other does not exist." there was a tiny smile behind her words, both of you clearly picking up on one anothers intention.

"or like you hate me." the smile dissapeared for that sentence and you sighed, kicking your legs back and forth. "i don't. i could never hate you alexia, i told you that already." you sighed, looking right at her as now she avoided your eyes, kicking her own legs in the water with a hum.

"can we try to be friends? we used to be, before...everything." the blonde questioned still refusing to meet your eye. "yeah, i'd like that." you answered, not really giving yourself another moment to overthink it and what that might mean.

~

turns out, it was a little easier than you thought.

you stopped avoiding alexia like she had some sort of disease and she did the same, you'd talk sometimes, normally in a group setting to ease the awkwardness of this new adjustment.

alba, ona and aitana somehow only took this as more of a green light to continue with their agenda of forcing you and alexia into increasingly awkward situations.

the most recent of which was alba 'accidentally' passing out in alexia's bed so she had to stay in alba's which was of course two metres across the room from you, that was quite the rude shock for you to wake up to that next morning.

and now you found yourself packed into a club, having had three or five too many shots forced down you and the room a little hazy as you sat back down with another drink thrust into your hand.

"hola amiga." misa chuckled as you sagged into her, sipping from your glass with a hum. "you two look cosy." jenni grinned over the top of her own drink, wiggling her eyebrows as the two of you gave her a strange look and ignored her comments.

you failed to miss a stone cold sober alexia staring at you from the other end of the table, an unreadable look on her face but clear disdain in her eyes at the way you seemed far too comfortable with the goalkeeper beside you.

luckily she didn't have to simmer for long as you were whisked away by your friends onto the dance floor, jenni grabbing a very reluctant alexia next ignoring her protests with an iron clad hold on your wrist, laia in tow pushing her from behind narrowing her chance of escape.

though you were clearly anything but sober it didn't take you long to catch onto yet another one of alba's schemes as she pulled you in for a dance, her hands a little more touchy than usual.

"are you trying to use yourself to make your sister jealous?" you asked her quietly as she ground into you, shoving her away slightly with a raised eyebrow. "no! i can't dance with you now?" alba laughed but you didn't miss the way her eyes flickered over your shoulder to clearly check if alexia was watching.

she was, of course.

the girl in question was trying desperately to contain the burning in her chest and the longing that she wanted to dance with you again. not with her other friends who spun her around and teased her that she wouldn't die if she smiled and pretended like she was having a good time.

grabbing alba you dragged her off to the side ignoring her tipsy whines as you found a semi quiet corner of the club. "stop alba!" you warned as the girl leant into the wall and gave you a confused look.

"stop what amiga?" she smiled innocently as you rolled your eyes. "you know what, we broke up alba and its staying that way. we are trying to be friends and you are making it impossible with all these awkward attempts to force us back together, so stop!" you warned again, tone much more serious as alba now rolled her eyes.

"you and alexia cannot just be friends." alba laughed, the tequila speaking more than she really was as you scoffed. "why not? lots of exes are friends." you argued, a slight slur to your own words as your drinks started to kick in.

"no they are not. you and alexia will not stay friends, i see the way she looks at you and the way you look at her. you still love her hermosa, so go and get her!" alba grabbed your face in her hands, squishing your cheeks in her fingers.

"of course i still love her but its not that simple-" "what do you love about her hm?" "albs thats not what i-" "go on! why do you still love her?" "well you don't just fall out of love with someone when you feel like you have no choice in the break up. but she left me alba, and that hurts!" you sighed, downing the rest of your drink.

"you still love me?" your head whipped around at that and your eyes widened, alba mumbling something and darting away before you could strangle her.

"can we talk outside? please?" alexia asked, eyes pleading as you hesitated but gave in with a nod, following her outside and away from the club, pausing to get stamps on your hand from the bouncer so you could get back in later.

"you wanted to talk?" you chuckled as an awkward silence fell between you two once you'd wandered a little further away, sitting down together on a table from a cafe which was long closed.

"why are we broken up?" alexia asked, neither one of you facing each other. "you know why alexia, we had the whole conversation last week. cried and hugged and then slept together, remember!" you replied rather bluntly, the buzz from the alcohol still present.

"si and then you left, without a word." alexia added on. "si because like you just said, we are broken up." "but why are we broken up?" "alexia we just-"

"no. i mean why are we broken up? i love you cariño, and you love me. i know i made a huge mistake but i don't know how else to apologize for it without a second chance to prove it." you could feel her eyes burning holes in the side of your head as you sighed again.

"alexia we just agreed we would try to be friends again, literally a few days ago!" you massaged your temple already feeling a headache coming on.

"i know but i do not want to be your friend. i want more and i know you do too and you are scared, and that is understandable but nothing worth doing is ever easy." the blonde pushed, grabbing your hands, a little surprised when you allowed her to and actually met her gaze.

"i am still retiring and i am still leaving to work for the UN in that program ale, nothing will change my mind." you stated firmly, heartbeat accelerating.

"i am not trying to change your mind amor. i want you to go, i know what it means to you and i know that you need to do this, for you." she promised, squeezing your hands gently.

"i know you will be gone for six months but planes exist, i will have breaks between games, i will make time for you. you wanted time to find peace with us, to work out how to fix things and how to go back to how we were, this could be that time and that space. but i promise you mi amor am not going anywhere while you take that time and do what you need to. i will be here when you leave and i will be here when you come back, and i will still love you every single moment in between that."

you struggled to come up with a reason to fight her on this, a reason not to crumble and fall right back into things with her like you never stopped.

her eyes bore into yours and you felt yourself slip closer and closer to the edge, your feet slipping and sliding as your legs took their own course and the ground seemed to shift only pushing you nearer and nearer to the inevitable, and then you fell.

the way her lips pressed against yours was different than the rushed messy kisses after you'd poured your hearts out to one another on the physio bench, where it seemed those were trying to scramble and rush to make up for time lost, as if deep down you both knew this was a mistake and that it could be the last time you ever really had with one another.

but this kiss was different.

your hand moved to gently clasp her cheek as her own fell to your shoulder and your hip, pulling your body flush into hers as you melted into one another.

she kissed you like time stood still at her command, lips soft and warm and welcoming, her touch tender and yet still cautious as if you could crack and smash if she pushed just a fraction too hard.

you could never deny the way she made you feel just so entirely wrapped up in love with just a simple kiss, how your head spun like a wheel and your heart swelled in your chest like someone was pumping air into it.

despite the alcohol in your bloodstream the way your head felt light and tingly was a different sort of drunk, and the way you chased after her lips again as she started to pull away just hit the nail further into the coffin that you were truly addicted to the way they tasted and felt against yours.

eventually you both allowed one another a moment to collect your thoughts, foreheads pressed together and chests heaving to catch your breath, pulled out of your lovesick haze by a rogue wolf whistle from a drunken party goer across the street.

"i love you too."

~

nine months later

"and you fly in tomorrow?" "si." "and you will text me as you are leaving and when you land?" "si." "and mami and i will come and get you from the airport?" "si." "and you are all packed?" "si." "you are feeling okay hermanita, about coming home again?" "si." you rolled your eyes at your sisters never ending prompting. "are you saying yes to everything she is asking to shut her up?" "ingrid!" "what? she is not a performing monkey maría she is probably exhausted and sad and a little stressed about coming home, and you have already asked her these things one hundred times!" "whose side are you on here? you are worried too!"

"maría do you remember how you once asked me why i spent more time with you once you started seeing ingrid? and if it was because i felt uh what was it? oh yes! jealous that someone else was 'stealing your time away from me'." you smiled, shuffling your phone to your other ear as your sister scoffed. "...i do not recall that." she mumbled. "well to answer your question i started spending more time with you once you started seeing ingrid because i wanted to spend more time with ingrid, not you!" at that you heard a roar of laughter from the norweigein and your sister and her girlfriend start bickering as the grin on your face grew, quickly muting your phone as a flight was called.

"okay love birds i will see you tomorrow. te amo mucho hermana, adios!" with that you clicked end call, cutting off your sister mid sentence and sighing in relief as your bag finally appeared on the luggage carousel.

your phone vibrating in your hand you chuckled seeing it was a message from ingrid informing she would wait until tomorrow morning to inform your sister you were in fact already home, having conferred with the older girl from the very moment you'd created this plan.

finally making your way through customs you exhaled deeply as you dragged your suitcase out into the arrivals lounge, already knowing where you needed to head as you pulled away from the hustle and bustle of reunions, tears, hugs and prying eyes.

double checking you were going the right way you pushed your sunglasses down over your eyes and grinned feeling the warm barcelona sunshine bathe your face.

you swore to yourself as your suitcase wheel broke, huffing and dragging it the rest of the way along the crossing and into the carpark.

"dios mio! so much luggage, someone might think you have been away for a long time."

the suitcase fell to the ground as you turned around, meeting her twinkling eyes and amused smile as she spun her keys around on her pointer finger, head mostly covered by her hood as she pushed her sunglasses onto her forehead.

"mm i have been on a grand adventure. i am actually waiting for my girlfriend to pick me up, she has been so miserable while i was away, praying each and every day for my safe return." you met her smile with one of your own as the blonde hummed, stopping right in front of you still spinning her keys around.

"you must be a special girl to have someone so hung up on you. funny because i am actually here to pick up my girlfriend who has been away for many months, who i have not visited, kissed, seen or touched in nearly..." she held up a finger and glanced to the watch on her wrist.

"...60 days. so 1460 hours which means 876000 minutes." the taller girl grinned, catching her keys in her palm and within milliseconds her hands landed on your hips and pulled you into a bone crushing hug as you deeply inhaled the forever familiar scent of her favourite perfume.

"make that zero days, zero hours, zero minutes and zero seconds." you whispered in her ear, her forehead pressing against yours as the two of you held one anothers embrace. "still far too long princessa, still far too long." she mumbled, having come and seen you as often as she could while you'd been away.

though the distance was hard it did allow you the time you needed to work through your thoughts, and on her third time visiting you'd made things official once again.

but the bigger picture was that it had allowed your heart and your happiness time to find purpose in something else, and so now you'd returned to barcelona with a new outlook on life and a weight lifted from your shoulders so immense you could have sworn you'd grown an inch or two without its stress.

you realised as much as you loved learning, you had quite the passion for teaching and helping and spreading that joy of learning, and so halfway through your program you'd enrolled to start university back in spain to become a teacher.

some of the coaching staff from barca had reached out to see if you'd be interested in some part time work with the junior academy, cautious in their approach not to push you back into anything to do with football too soon, but also with alexia breathing down their neck for an answer.

you'd agreed, explaining that you still loved football if you weren't in love with football, and that if they would have you then you would be lucky for the opportunity.

alexia had done her best to try and act surprised, even though your sister and her own had kept you well informed of her dealings with the coaching staff who had hardly taken much persuading to offer you the role anyway, more so surprised that you were so interested still.

"welcome home mi amor, for good."

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

i am well aware this has taken awhile! but i have written and deleted this chapter more times than i care to admit, in some endings they broke up, in some (like this one) they got together. i realised no matter what the ending would be there would always be a handful who wished for something different, so i just wrote what i wanted and not what i thought others would, as i have with every chapter of this little series. thank you all very much for reading along &lt;3

[ddejavvu]

Hey :) could you write something for Maul? How about him taking care of his SO while shes on her period? (I just got mine and I am dying ;-;)

hey hun! sorry this is late but you'll have it for the next goaround </3 thanks for requesting maul! i think he's so sexy and no one indulges me so thank you <333

--

Maul knows it's coming before you do. He may be a different species than you, unaccustomed to your more complicated anatomy due to his isolation with the nightbrothers, but he's a natural born hunter, and his nose never lies.

"Blood," He rasps in your ear during the wee hours of the morning, his presence hot beside you where he's draped around your sleeping form.

"Hm?" You answer, neither asleep nor awake, "What?"

"Blood." He repeats, "I smell blood. Your blood."

The word blood and the sticky, gushing feeling between your legs click together like pieces of a crimson puzzle and you dart for the bathroom, barely making it upright before hands close around your arms like vices, forcing you back to the mattress.

"Lay down." He commands, a permanent growl lingering on the undertones of his voice as he pins you despite your struggling.

"No!" You gush, "No, Maul- please! I have to clean up." You can already feel it breaching your slit, surely leaking onto your underwear and the sheets beneath you. You'd been upright for only a second, but it was enough to trigger the downwards rush of blood that's going to embarrass you even if Maul shows no judgement. He's well accustomed to blood, on his hands, on his face, leaking from his own skin, so you never have any issue with your periods. But still, you don't need to paint the bedsheets red.

He stares down at you from where he's got you pinned on the mattress, eyes narrow, unimpressed, and calculating. He releases you and the subsequent relief makes you think you may be bruised tomorrow, but you don't complain. Instead you squeeze your thighs together and make your way to the bathroom, shuffling while trying not to leak any more blood than you presumably already have.

Your underwear are victims but the bedsheets aren't, and you can barely make a trip to your dresser to snag a fresh pair. Maul has already procured a towel, laying it where your hips will rest on the bed and rearranging your pillows to give you extra support.

You manage to secure new underwear and a sanitary pad, something that you'll have to restock the next time you're anywhere with a convenience store. That's not exactly how your isolated dwelling on Dathomir works, more swamp than development, and you're running low on supply. For now, though, you let Maul corral you back beneath the sheets, warmth encasing you as he layers blanket after blanket over your shivering body.

"That should be good." You laugh softly, counting one, two, three, four, five blankets over you, "I don't want to start sweating."

"You need to be warmed." Maul recalls from your last cycles, the warmth of his above-average body temperature soothing your cramping, "But I'm going to get you food. In the meantime, you need blankets."

'Get you food' sounds suspiciously like Maul's going to take a spear out into the jungle and hunt down the meatiest, juiciest, most plump fauna he can find, which you prefer on a plate instead of bleeding on your kitchen floor while Maul skins its fur off. You appreciate his hunting abilities, but you can't stomach anything but a prepared meal. Still, you know he does it with love, in an effort to keep you nourished during your body's plight, so you nod and settle down into the numerous blankets he's draped over you.

"Thank you." You hum, admittedly cozy in bed now that your sanitary pad is preventing any leakage, "Will you bring back some mushrooms, too?"

"As many as I can find." Maul's voice rumbles in his chest, low and soothing despite its rough edge, and his sharpened fingernails scrape your throat as he cups your chin tenderly. Surely he can feel the rushing of your blood, warm and pumping through your veins where he holds your pulse point against his palm. He cradles it, feeling it hot like your skin isn't a barrier keeping it contained. It's a hunter's innate connection with blood, and you're grateful to have a crimson hand to dip between your thighs.

[puckinghischier]

i come to you with a blurb thats been in my head because i desperately need it rn 😭

like,,, idk if its been said before BUT imagine nico helping you study!! youre taking your master's or maybe you're finishing up a long degree! regardless, he's ready to help you with your flashcards and notes and books and he gives you a lil smooch and a chocolate when you get one right! but he's very serious about it being just one kiss!! you have to study after all!! but.....maybeeee....sometimes...he'll add in another and another and another just because you look so cute when youre focused <3 and when he feels you getting tired or burnt out after it all, he obviously gives the best cuddles!

“baby, just one more question, and then you get 10 minutes of couch cuddles until we start the next unit,” nico would encourage you, knowing how frustrated and tired you’re becoming.

“nico i don’t want to do anymore tonight, we’ve been at it for three hours already. can’t we just called it quits after this last question?” you’d whine, ready to just drop out altogether, tired of spending every free moment you have doing homework.

he knows he shouldn’t have caved earlier, letting himself get too carried away when he decided to give you three kisses instead of one when you managed to get ten questions right in a row. the result was a thirty minute make out session that neither of you wanted to cut short, but he fought tooth and nail to get you back on track.

he mulls the thought over, knowing you’re getting antsy and ready to pack everything up for the night, but also knowing how much you’ve been stressing over this test and wanting to help you go into it as confident as you can.

“give me five more questions and we’ll call it a night, deal?” he tries to compromise with you, knowing you’ll complain all day tomorrow if you quit right now.

you roll your eyes and groan at him, throwing a silent fit with the look on your face.

“okay, five more questions then we put everything away and i’ll lay with you on the couch and rub your back while we watch dancing with the stars reruns,” he offers, using your current fixation show against you.

you perk up at the offer, always having to beg and plead for him to even watch one episode with you because ‘why would i want to watch a bunch of washed up celebrities do ballroom dances poorly?’

“deal,” you decide to agree to his terms, readying yourself for a night of cuddles and ripped men with no shirts on.

chuckling, nico picks your flash cards back up and goes through the next five questions with you, smiling proudly when you get all five right.

“eeek! okay, now hurry up and help me clean the couch off, we have a rumba to watch!!” you’d cheer, excited to finally relax with your study buddy.

once the materials are all out of sight and you’re pressed against nico on the couch, you find yourself drifting off to sleep sooner than you wanted, your brain tired after all of thinking you made it do.

“what if i wake up tomorrow and forget everything we just went over,” you mumble into nico’s chest, feeling the rumbles of laughter that erupt at your question.

“baby, i don’t think you’re gonna forget everything. you’ll remember why bruno only gave derek and his partner an 8 instead of a 10,” he jokes, upset that he’s actually managed to get partially invested in this show.

“maybe if they converted the material into judges speeches delivered by bruno tonioli, then i wouldn’t even have to study. the initial delivery would be enough to stick in my brain for forever,” you groggily replied, nuzzling your head further into nico’s chest.

he shook his head and rolled his eyes at you, even though you couldn’t see him because yours were already closed. he knows you’re the smartest person he’s ever met, and you’ll do fine on this test and all of the future ones you have to take.

but he won’t ever let you forget that he helped, claiming he should get his own form of rewards for doing half of the work with you.

[lailols]

Kai’s Pretty Girlfriend

Huening Kai x F!Reader, eventually OT5 x Reader

Teaser, but actually just part of the brain rot that struck me at 1 in the morning instead of sleep despite the fact that I have class in less than 7 hours

—————————————————————————————————————

Kai is many things, but stupid is not one of them. He sees the way that his friends look at you. He’s noticed for a while, actually. At first, he was jealous and maybe even a bit angry. You have been and were one of the only things he had to himself. You’re his, just as he’s yours. Mind, body, and soul. Past, present, and future. But the more he thought about it, the less angry he was. Kai never really minded sharing, especially with his members. They’ve been together through thick and thin, and will continue to be together. Tomorrow and everyday after that. He also knows that they’d treat you right. But how does he approach a conversation like that? Not just with them, but with you.

So, he devises a plan. It’s a bit unconventional but hey, no plan is perfect, right? It goes a little like this.

☆彡OPERATION CONFESSION ☆彡

Step One: See if y/n has an exhibitionism kink with carefully placed dirty talk.

Step Two: If she does, get a little heavy handed during movie nights. Maybe even introduce a toy.

Step Three: Find some way to make the guys notice, which shouldn’t be too hard because you can’t be quiet unless something is shoved in your mouth.

Step Four: Introduce the idea of bringing a third… or fourth…. or fifth…… or sixth into your sex life.

Step Five: Introduce the missing pieces into your sex life.

Step Six: The guys will pull their heads out of their asses and confess is post-nut clarity! (^.^)

Step Seven: Have a very serious conversation about what everyone wants out of this because Kai really loves all of you and doesn’t want to lose you or the guys.

What could go wrong?

[rwshfordgirl]

"SO, HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO US."

all the images were taken from pinterest.

where after a long time without seeing each other, he appears at her house by surprise.

pairing: kenan yildiz x reader!

a/n: i don't have a honest opinion about everything i wrote here 💔 but I hope you like it!

𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞'𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐬

I just spent three hours of my life sitting in the uncomfortable chair in the college library, the only place where I can study in peace without being disturbed by my roommate.

Three hours disconnected from the world outside campus, without giving a sign of life to my family and boyfriend. I was five minutes from home when I picked up my cell phone to check messages, my parents sent photos of landscapes unknown to me and Kenan asked if I had arrived home yet. I sent hearts in response to my parents' photos and sent a photo of myself walking towards my house to Yildiz. This one, in turn, saw the message as soon as I sent  and sent a photo of himself in response. 

"Miss you so much, pretty boy." I sent an audio, holding back tears. I almost sat down on the sidewalk to make a video call with Yildiz and say that I would drop everything here just to go be with him. "I miss you too, aşk" I felt my heart melt after the audio he had just sent.

Three months without seeing Kenan. I feel my chest hurt all the time, I miss being at home with him, I miss his hugs, taking silly pictures with him, going out, watching him play in Turin, I miss everything that involves him. Seeing him every day on my cell phone screen is not enough, but I can't go to Italy right now and he can't come see me either.

I almost kicked a rock when I walked past a restaurant on the corner of my house and saw couples enjoying Valentine's Day. Oh shit, I wish Kenan was here right now.

I also wish I could describe everything I felt when I got close to my house and saw a figure sitting on the last step of the stairs, all dressed in black and with a hood over his head. I ran because I knew it was Kenan, I knew it was him, I think I would recognize him even if he had been completely disguised. He got up as soon as he heard my footsteps.

Yildiz wrapped his arms around me and spun me around. I felt my eyes fill with tears,,"Did you miss me?" he asked while still hugging me, his voice muffled by the urge of my hair. "You still ask? I was willing to get home and buy a ticket to Turin." Yildiz's hands left my back and stopped on on my cheeks. "Juventus gave us two days off, but I can only stay here until midday tomorrow." he explained.

Before responding to what he had just said, I made sure to place our lips together, a kiss of longing. Three months without it almost killed me. "Let's go in, I'll order something for us to eat! I just want to stay glued to you until it's time for you to leave."

I intertwined our hands and pulled him into the house, a note right at the entrance  indicated that my roommate would be spending the night out, I almost jumped for joy. instead I took my boyfriend to my room.

"I think we should go out instead of eating here, what do you think?" he sat in my desk chair "Seriously? you want to go out instead of staying here with me?" I pouted and he nodded with a playful smile on his face "I'll be with you either way." he pulled me close, his legs were behind me and his hands were on my back. "I missed you so much, love" he said before taking my hand and kissing it. "You missed me and yet you want to go out instead of sleeping with me?" I joked with him "but I missed you too, baby boy."

"I brought you something." He said, taking a small box out of his jacket's inside pocket. "Happy Valentine's Day, love." He handed me the object. Inside the box was a necklace with a black circular pendant. "Look inside it." He said, and so I did. "I can't believe it, Kenan! How beautiful." I felt my eyes watering when I looked inside the pendant and saw a thumbnail of a photo we took together on our first date, surrounded by the phrase "I love you" written in several languages.

I hugged Kenan awkwardly due to the position we were in. "Thank you so much, love! I really loved it." I kissed his cheek before sitting at his feet. Kenan ran his hand through my hair and bent down to kiss my forehead. "Promise not to be mad at me? Your gift isn't here because I ordered it online and asked for it to be delivered to your house." He chuckled before answering me "Of course I won't be upset about that, silly!" Another kiss on the forehead "Do you want to know what it is?" He denied "I want it to be a surprise." We smiled together "So, happy Valentine's Day to us."

Kenan's chin was gently resting on my head and I knew he was smiling even without seeing it. "So, shall we go out to eat something? I'm starving." I asked, "You know what, do you want to go?" I rolled my eyes playfully, "Let's go, I know you want to."  I stood up and gave him my hand, intending to help him get out of the chair. "I promise I'll lie down with you watching all the movies you want, as soon as we get back." He hugged me as soon as he got up. "I don't want to watch movies, I want to lie down just admiring you." he gave me a little kiss.

[obsessed-with-book-boyfriends]

Viago the Sitter

Have some of Viago dealing with the mini De Riva!

Viago surveyed the room he’d left Elayne in three hours ago. In her defense, he’d accidentally left her without anything to do to keep her entertained; but doodling on every report and letter he’d had on his desk? He hadn’t meant to leave her alone for so long, the small girl could give him as many headaches as her mother it seems— and she was only five.

The culprit was currently napping on the couch in his office, a book on poisonous plants on the floor in front of her. Peeking out of the pages was a folded sheet of paper. After adjusting her so she was actually laying down, instead of sleeping sitting upright, he plucked the book from the floor. Opening it, he saw it was her mother’s latest letter to her. He hadn’t given it to her yet— hadn’t had the time to spare to sit down with her to read it.

Ellie,

Mamae is in Tevinter now, getting closer to finding the person we’re looking for. There’s a detective we’re going to meet in a few days, who hopefully has the information we need. I know you’ll ask, so I’ll get a few new stories from her to tell you. I’ve also sent along some seeds from flowers native to Tevinter; maybe your uncle could help you plant them in your little flower garden.

Varric and Harding want to meet you when we’re finished on this contract, they’re so excited! They keep coming up with stories of their adventures with the Inquisition and in Kirkwall to tell you. Varric has a whole journal filled with them! I told them your sixth name day is going to be in the next few months, and they’ve each picked up a little something for you.

I have to go now, we’re heading out again soon, but I’ll send another letter as soon as I can! In the meantime, amorette, please keep being good for your father and uncle!

Love,

Mamae

Further down the page, a message to Viago was written.

Viago,

First, thank you for the updates on Elayne. I’m overjoyed to know she’s doing well and is being kept safe while I’m away. I know you don’t think so, but you’re good with her. She adores her Uncle Viago.

Now, as for Solas, we’ve tracked him to Minrathous. We’re still a day or two away from our destination. We’re to be meeting with Neve Gallus in four days to get her intel on where he’s hiding now. I’ve heard there’s Venatori crawling around nearly every corner there recently, so we’ll be moving houses each night as an added precaution.

I don’t want to worry Elayne or Chance, but I have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach at the thought of our upcoming meeting. Please keep them close, Teia too, and stay safe. I’ll write again with an update as soon as I can.

Also, for what it’s worth; I’m sorry about ruining the Crows operation. I won’t apologize for saving those captives, but I realize now there may have been a way to free them without bringing the antaam down on you and the others.

- Violette (Rook) De Riva

Viago huffed. Now she thinks things through. He moved to sit at his desk, reorganizing the mess of papers left in the wake of a bored five year old. He thought about what Rook had sent in her letter. If she was worried, then he ought to be as well. Her instincts when it came to danger were not to be brushed aside, and it had served him well in the past to listen. He resolved to meet with the other Talons again in the morning. By his calculation, Rook and Varric should be having their meeting tomorrow as well.

Viago drew out a new sheaf of paper, and began rewriting the most important reports. He hoped that this time, his favorite little crow was wrong. Maker, please keep that idiot safe.

[helpimstuckposting]

Alright MILF lovers, come get yalls juice

I’m a ghost and you are a shadow

Part one | part two | part three | part four | part five | part six | part seven | part eight | part nine | part ten | part eleven | part twelve | part thirteen | part fourteen | part fifteen | part sixteen

—

Abort, abort, abort, his mind was screaming now to try and drown out the danger, turn back before it’s too late.

The silence that followed could drown a fish, and Steve felt like drowning right along with it.

Eddie nodded his head, knocking his knuckles against the wooden table.

“Well, I can’t do two all-nighters in a row anymore, so I think I’m gonna head up to bed,” he said. Steve couldn’t relate, he’d had more all-nighters in his adult life than he ever had as a teenager, he was used to running on a few hours of sleep at a time.

“You should, too. You need to sleep,” Eddie said, looking at him with far more concern than Steve could handle at the moment. He looked away and nodded, not intending to follow through. Eddie seemed to know that, though, and stayed at the table for a few more seconds. Steve could feel the weight of his eyes on him but he couldn’t bring himself to lie to the man’s face.

“Right,” Eddie sighed, finally getting to his feet.

Steve didn't watch Eddie leave the kitchen. He just listened to the soft footsteps disappear up the stairs, the gentle creak of the floorboards at the top landing. He sat at the table, no intention of going to bed like Eddie had suggested. He knew he still wouldn't be able to shut his mind off enough to slip into unconsciousness.

He was tired, exhausted, and he knew he should listen but he also knew he wouldn't. Maybe he'd be able to take a nap tomorrow. He didn't think the kids would be showing up for the day again, knew they had work and lives to get back to while they figured out next steps.

Christ, they weren't meeting up for another four days. What was he going to do for four days? He was a dead man walking, literally. There wasn't anything he could go out and do.

So, instead of going up to bed like he should have, he sat in the dimly lit kitchen and let the hours pass as he spiraled. He'd felt reassured earlier that day, by Eddie's insistence that he could stay here, that he didn't have to leave if he didn't want to, that they'd fight for him to stay. But what would happen if he did? He didn't have a life he could step into, he couldn't use his birth certificate or even use his name, what kind of life could he possibly have?

Maybe when he wasn't so panicked, when he had his head on straight and he was actually safe and permanently on this side of the dimensional tear he'd be able to collect himself and talk to Hopper. Did this Hopper also come back from the dead? Would he know what to do? Would it even be right to come back from the dead, to replace the Steve of this world, or should he start over from scratch? Though, he wouldn't be able to explain having the same face and fingerprints so maybe starting over was out of the question.

The thoughts and questions wouldn’t leave him alone, rattling around in his head like he’d expected. His eyes burned, but they never drooped, too high off the nervous anxiety that accompanied all his questions. When he heard the creak of the upper landing again, he expected Robin to come stumbling in like the previous morning, or Eddie storming in to check if he’d gone to bed or not.

Instead, the dainty figure of Linda Harrington stepped quietly into the kitchen. Her hair was up, but not in a tight bun — all flyaways slicked back into perfection — it was messy and drooping, stray hairs trying to flee the confines of her elastic. She wore sweatpants and an old white t-shirt, no silk robe tied neatly around her waist. She looked cozy. Steve wanted to reach out and hug her again, commit the feeling to memory, but he held back and stayed in his seat at the table.

Quietly, softly, she took the place Eddie had vacated across from him. He watched her, she watched him, and he wondered where she’d been for the past 24 hours. He hoped she wasn’t avoiding him, uncomfortable in her own home. His confidence in staying wasn’t exactly unwavering if he’d already caused two people to lock themselves away to avoid him, like he was some kind of lurking monster, creeping in the shadows.

Linda looked around, tapping her nails on the table. Her eyes locked with the clock above the stove, a muttered “oh jeez,” slipping from her lips. Steve kept watching as she did what Eddie had, looking all around to avoid Steve’s eyes. She tapped away at the table, glanced from the teapot, to the empty mugs, to the honey bear. She reached out to turn it, little button eyes sliding off of Steve and onto Linda instead. She stared at it, still tapping away, and he wondered if she was gathering up the courage to say something, to tell him that she couldn’t handle him here, that he should go back to where he belonged, or if she had something else to say.

“Do you know why they picked a bear for the bottle shape?” She asked, still looking the honey in its eyes.

“No, why?”

She blinked, finally flicking her gaze to meet his, and quirked one corner of her mouth up into a smile — a little dimple popping out in the low light.

“Oh, I don’t know, I was hoping you would," she shrugged, as if she hadn't just baited him into that response. It startled a laugh out of him, sharp in the dark and quiet kitchen, but his mother didn’t flinch from the sound. She seemed to preen a bit, sitting a little straighter in her chair. He was awed once again, by the figure in front of him — so familiar and yet the least familiar person he’d come across so far. If anything in the world could convince him of alternate dimensions it wasn’t Eddie’s longing smile, it wasn’t the photos hung in every corner, it wasn’t even the sudden resurrection of everyone he loved. It was her. It was her smile and her soft laugh lines, the warmth in her eyes, the flush of her cheeks as she chewed on her lip, searching for something to say.

She was everything he ever wanted in a mother, and yet nothing that he was ever capable of imagining. The Linda he’d daydreamed as a child, arms out for a hug and icy eyes melted with adoration, was nothing more than a cardboard cutout compared to the person in front of him. He didn’t think he’d ever stop feeling like that little boy in her presence.

The silence dragged on as they both continued to take each other in; just watching, just looking, just being present with someone they never thought they would have again. Eventually, Linda broke the moment, eyes sliding away to the bear bottle as she chewed on her lip once more. She fidgeted a little in her seat, soft wrinkles in her forehead creasing with her downturned brows.

She cleared her throat. Steve watched as she pulled out a folded paper from under her leg. No, as she pulled it into the dim light Steve realized it was an envelope. It was white or yellow, hard to tell in the dark, and she flipped it over and over in her hands. Linda took a few deep breaths, staring at the letter like it would burst into flames, but unable to look away.

He was nervous, like somehow whatever was in that envelope would seal his own fate. He knew she wasn’t the same, he knew she wasn’t his mother from his universe, but that didn’t stop his heart rate from ratcheting up like a chronic flare-up. He’d dampened his own emotions for so long, everything he felt here was thick enough to choke on. If his father knew how many times he’d cried in the last two days, Steve would have been sent to a shrink or maybe even an asylum. Richard would ship him off, finally free of his pansy-ass disappointment of a son.

But the look in Linda’s eyes wasn’t angry or vengeful, it was contrite. She was sad about something, something she thought was her fault. And wasn’t that just the theme of tonight? He hoped Eddie wasn’t crying alone in a spare bed upstairs. He should really talk about switching rooms, it wasn’t fair that he was taking Eddie’s, even if it was technically Steve’s as well. He could take the spare, the room didn’t mean anything to him.

“I wrote this letter before you were even born,” Linda started, cutting through his thoughts.

He looked down at the paper in her hands. She was still staring at it, like she could read right through to the words underneath. It was pristine for a letter written nearly 24 years ago, no bends or creases, no tears or stains. He wondered if this was where she’d been hiding all day, searching the attic for a small square letter that had never been opened.

“I was so excited to have you. I wrote down every name I could think of, I spent hours and hours going through baby name books trying to pick out the perfect one,” she laughed. He didn’t think it was that hard to settle on Steven. Pretty generic. But his mother was smiling down at the letter like it held every good memory she’d ever experienced, so he kept his mouth shut. Who was he to question the baby name process? He didn’t have children, and it didn’t seem like he’d ever get there. So.

“Your father wanted a junior. Another Richard running around to stake his claim on,” she muttered, a bitter lilt to her words. His eyebrow twitched, picking up the flat tone. That was interesting. He’d figured she would have some kind of nostalgia wrapped around the Richard of this world, the distance of time enough to dampen whatever kind of man he was before Steve came along. He didn’t think he would have been that bad. He thought — guiltily — that he’d been the reason his father was the way he was. That Steve just wasn’t good enough, didn’t try hard enough, couldn’t be enough to please him. That, somehow, it was Steve’s fault.

Linda rolled her eyes. “Your name was the only compromise he ever made, now look where he is.” She was still mumbling, like she’d forgotten why they were talking about Richard in the first place, or his name itself was enough to snap her into gossip-mode. Steve politely cleared his throat, urging his mother forward, and she shook her head like an etch-a-sketch clearing the thoughts away.

“Anyway,” she continued, “Robin filled me in about where it seems like our timelines split. I’m not really sure how any of this works, really, but she said Dustin was very adamant, and he certainly was while he explained the parallel worlds… thing.” She lightly clapped her hands as an imitation of Dustin — eyebrows drawn tight into a confused glower — and Steve couldn’t help the soft smile tugging at his lips as he watched. ‘It’s his tone, right?’

“Yeah, he’s a real butthead sometimes,” Steve mumbled back.

Linda laughed, eyes briefly softening as she looked at him. She shook her head again, blinking down at the envelope, “Well, it seems like this letter was written before that, so… your mother probably has this same one somewhere in your world.”

She swallowed a few times, blinking her eyes nervously, like she wasn’t sure where to go from here. She looked again at the clock above the stove. The words seemed harder now, as if she could choke on them if she wasn’t careful, and the blinking seemed less like she was clearing her head, and more like she was holding back tears.

“This letter…” she paused, clearing her throat, “I never showed it to my Steve, but I want you to have it. We were the same woman once, and she could have been me. You could have had a mother who was there for you, a mother you deserved,” her voice cracked and even in the dimly lit kitchen, Steve could tell her eyes were red-rimmed and only a second away from tears, now. “You should have had that,” she whispered.

Steve tried to blink his own tears away, clenching his jaw to ease the sting in his eyes and the stiffness in his throat. He thought back to Eddie’s breakdown just hours before, the way his hiccups sounded like knives and hoped he didn’t have to witness another breakdown so soon; hoped this time that squeezing his nose and willing the tears away would work and he could keep some thread of composure.

This almost felt more painful than anything his own mother had inflicted on him. Somehow, blatant neglect was easier to swallow than the emotions currently clogging his chest. He wished Robin or Eddie were still here to pull his head above water. Linda cleared her throat and wiped gently under her eye. No tears for either of them, yet.

“And as much as she could have been me, I could have been her. I could have been absent and rude and indifferent, and I can’t erase that. I’d like to think we’re different people, but honestly I don’t know what kind of person I would be if Richard was still breathing down my neck. That’s no excuse, I know, but Steve, I just… I just wanted to say,” she took another deep breath, reached out to grab his hands and held them tightly in her own, “I am so, so sorry. I’m so sorry,” she said.

It was his turn to look away, now, unable to take the intensity swimming in her eyes as she stared him down, pleading for his forgiveness though she wasn’t even the one who’d done anything wrong. He’d wanted this. He’d wanted an apology for the way his parents treated him, but he wasn’t sure he wanted it like this. It wasn’t this Linda’s fault. She was right, she could have been his mother, under different circumstances, and Steve experienced first hand what she was capable of, but that Linda would never beg his forgiveness. That Linda was too broken to acknowledge what she’d done, that Linda was going to take her silence to the grave whether that grave be her’s or his father’s.

He took the letter. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever actually open it, wasn’t sure he wanted to know what was inside, but he couldn’t just leave it there. That felt like he was rejecting her, turning away from her sincerity, and he didn’t want to do that. So, he took hold of the soft paper envelope, felt the edges of the folded letter within, and looked back up at her. She smiled softly at him, and he didn’t know what else to say.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

She nodded, squeezing his hands. He squeezed back.

“Well,” he cleared his throat, thankful to have gone at least one day here without more tears, “I should probably go to bed before Eddie finds out and kills me.”

She sagged into the table, giggling softly. “We wouldn’t want that,” she whispered back.

—

Guys, I gotta say, it was a struggle trying to make it not sound like Steve was in love with Linda because *I'm* in love with Linda. I've had the letter handoff of this part written since like... june of last year lmao I'm so excited it's finally out here

Tag List:

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[n3ssier]

assist . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁

college au!armin arlert x fem!reader

armin arlert isn't necessarily the type to stay up late playing video games, having even taken a break to focus on his studies. this changes when his lifelong friends eren and mikasa finally get him back online when in need of a fifth player for their five stack, and he's met with a new addition to their gaming sessions, becoming infatuated with her after just one night.

part 3/? - masterlist - part 2 - part 4

the day had went by fairly fast, you weren't a stranger to showing up to lessons on half a night's sleep. you watch as your pizza pocket turns in the microwave, a soft yellow light illuminating the kitchen of your apartment. your phone pings aloud from the kitchen island you were leaning on, and as you reach to grab it you see a message from mikasa.

"hey, if you want to get online and play siege with us you should do it soon, as i've convinced eren and jean to sleep early tonight since we three have a history test tomorrow !" your eyes glance at the time at the top of the screen and realise shit, it's half 10 already, never knew i was capable of studying this late! you didn't often study for long periods of time, but with it being the last week until spring break, your timetable was slowly being filled with more and more end-of-unit tests. the only piece of hope pulling you through the schoolwork was connie's party on saturday, just 3 days away.

you scurry through to your bedroom with the warm plate that holds your pizza pocket in one hand and a can of juice in the other. turning your xbox on and as the light from the starting screen lights up your face, you put your headset on and find a comfy spot in bed to sit as you finally wind down for the night. you load up your game as a small pop-up at the bottom of the screen alerts you that "jean has invited you to a party." you accept the invitation and greet your friends with "what's up guys!" the party is already full, with mikasa, eren, jean, and armin all in the team as they must have been waiting for you before they started.

you spent the first game working with eren as a duo every time you were on the attacking side, with you using your characters ability to reveal the positions of the nearby opponents, as eren would push forward and shoot at them. when your teams turn to play as defenders came around, you would find yourself roaming around the map hoping to catch the attacking enemies off guard as they headed towards the bombsite to defeat your team.

whilst on defence in the second game of the night, you had given mikasa and jean the chance to roam instead, and opted to stay back on site with eren and armin. one thing you had come to notice throughout your time with armin on your team was that armin had a tendency to freak out when in situations of high stakes, for example when he was face to face with his opponents, or when he knew that the enemy team was aware of his location. he was also extremely quiet when he played, this was unlike the other three as they were always giving callouts to let you know of the enemies positions and keep you updated on what they were doing, with eren occasionally shouting and cursing when he got eliminated, even more so when jean laughed and rubbed it in eren's face.

hours passed and by twelve you were playing what mikasa, jean, and eren had deemed their last game of the night. this game in particular had dragged on until the ninth and final round. your team were on defense and mikasa was going to roam the map as everyone else stayed at the bomb site. jean had set up cameras around the nearby area, eren had installed traps, and you and armin were reinforcing walls and doors to prevent the attackers from entering. all these jobs were distributed based on your characters special ability, with yours and his not being useful during the preparation phase, so you opted for strengthening the security of your teams bomb site.

armin's gaze at the screen was strong, and the controller was warm in his hands from the tight grip he'd had on it throughout the night. this final round determined the winner of the game that had somehow lasted 40 minutes, and he wanted to prove himself. he had slightly more deaths than any of you so far in this game, yet the least amount of kills, and through the night he was slowly watching assists pile up under his name as he failed to finish the job before either he was killed by the enemy first or his teammates stepped in to kill them for him. he knew that you and his friends had noticed how much he kept freezing up, and he felt embarrsed first and foremost, but also frustrated at the thought of him being the worst in the group. maybe y/n really does make a good replacement for me, maybe i'm not good at this game anymore. his mind was plagued with insecurities and seeing you perform so well with the others made him feel like you worked better with them than he ever did.

after two minutes, everyone had found themselves eliminated other than armin. it was him versus the one enemy that was left. all cameras around the map that you could watch had been shot out and broken, leaving him with no indication as to where the enemy could be and with no choice but for the four of you to sit and spectate his screen for the last minute that determined whether you would all win or lose the game. the room was still, he heard no movement and was crouched in the corner against a wall, waiting for the attacker to make the first move by entering the bomb site. armin was tense, and he was sure everyone in the party could feel it radiating off of him through the screen.

"armin, there's no pressure, alright? just do your best, man," eren then reassured armin. his encouraging words washed relief over armin, making him feel a bit more confident. "yeah, no pressure. HOWEVER, if you lose this i will be adding you to my hit list," jean said sarcastically into his microphone, but not a single laugh was heard, and armin could just imagine the shit eating grin jean would have on his stupid face as he made the unnecessary comment. "jean, you should let him focus" mikasa then said softly. armin gulped before saying "yeah, thanks mikasa."

at the other side of the wall he was crouched against was a corridor which led to two doors at either side of the room he was positioned in. these doors had been previously barricaded by himself and you, but were now knocked down, this meant that there were two potential entrances for the enemy to enter. his eyes flash across the screen of his tv towards a small drone that the last remaining opponent has sent in to find his position. he shot it swiftly, but he knew that his position was already revealed. armin tucked strands of blonde hair behind his ear as he concentrated on the game as if his life depended on it. he moves his character to quickly barricade the door to his left, allowing him to aim his gun towards the open door on his right that the enemy could freely walk into whilst listening for the newly barricaded left door to break down.

everyone in the party was silent, watching with anticipation to see if armin was capable of winning the game on behalf of you all, and he sat for what felt like forever, staring at the same open doorway intensely as he waited for his opponent to make a move. suddenly his body jolted up in fear as a loud crash is heard and an impact grenade smashes open the barricaded door to his left, armin brought his attention away from the door he was previously looking at as he hurries over to where the sound came from, but as he is just about to peek through the doorway and shoot in the place he believed the attacker would be, he's cut off by your voice calmly breaking the silence of your friends to speak to you.

"armin, shoot the entrance to your right." and without a word he spins around and fires aimlessly at the edge of the open doorway across the room, but at the very moment he pulls the trigger, his opponent peeked out into his line of fire and was shot dead instantly. the words "your team won round nine" appear on his screen and his ears are full of cheers from his friends.

"LETS FUCKING GO"

"armin you did great!!!"

"NICE ONE ARMINN"

he smiles from the words of the three people he's closest to, and then lastly, "good job, armin" he hears you through the microphone. yet, he's so confused, how did she know that they would run around to the opposite door after already going through the effort of making an opening?

the game ends in victory as eren, mikasa, and jean decide to sign off and head to sleep, leaving him with no one but you in the squad and xbox party.

mini taglist: @hitcheddreyse :3

[crybabyddl]

Black Coffee

Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader

Chapter Two

Warning: swearing, miscommunication, awkwardness, coffee shop au, modern au

Author's Note: I apologize for the abrupt end to the first chapter. I wasn't sure how to connect the next plot, so I just decided to post it instead of letting it rot in my drafts like I usually do. Enjoy! :)

Previous Chapter - Next Chapter

----

Eddie spent the day unpacking more boxes, crushing the cardboard down with his boots. He told himself he had to do four hours of productive work before doing anything fun. However, around hour three, he was hanging up his beloved guitar. As his fingers accidentally brushed against the strings, he couldn't resist the siren call of his instrument.

Eddie indulged in his craft, getting lost in the fluid movements of his fingers and the melodies they produced. Today's setlist was comprised of songs from Rush's catalog, as well as some deep cuts from Metallica and Judas Priest.

It was two hours later when his hand started cramping up, and Eddie placed his prized possession back on its mount. Looking down at his watch, he made the executive decision to treat himself to a coffee.

Could he have made some from the Keurig he'd set up on the counter just hours earlier? Sure, but where's the fun in that? Eddie would much rather take a stroll down to the coffee shop he discovered yesterday. He needed to try the coffee a few more times before making the final verdict on this shop being his favorite.

That's how Eddie wound up ordering another small black coffee in the cozy café. To his disappointment, the girl who took his order yesterday didn't appear to be around. Regardless, Eddie tucked himself into the closest two-seated booth, slowly letting the caffeine seep into his bloodstream with each sip he took. He had to admit, it was really good coffee--just as good as it was the day before.

Despite his appreciation for the sepia-toned ambience and warm atmosphere that the coffee shop had, the sound of the pop music station, other customers' conversations, the espresso grinders, and the whirring of the milk frothers became quite overwhelming for Eddie. Not to mention the tension headache he could feel coming on due to the dim, yet concentrated overhead lighting.

As he went to throw his cup in the garbage, Eddie decided to take a risk.

"Excuse me." he approached the side counter where a chestnut-haired gentleman stood, drying dishes.

"How can I help you, sir?"

"I was just wondering if, uh, the barista with the cool eyeliner was working today."

The man paused for a moment before seemingly putting together who Eddie was talking about.

"No, she's not. Did you want me to take a message?"

"No, that's alright. Thank you."

"Sure thing."

Eddie knew better than to say anything, for fear of coming off as creepy. It was already slightly odd to be asking if a specific employee was working there. Maybe it wasn't as weird as it felt, but every action felt awkward, forced, and out of character for him lately. It's part of the reason why he packed up and relocated to the small town his parents moved to when they retired. There was a therapist he was going to start seeing, one that was actually supposed to help him work through his problems, not just listen to him rant about what was bothering him.

On the walk back to his apartment, Eddie tried to anticipate all the talking points his mother and father would bring up when he went to visit them tomorrow after his first appointment with the new therapist. How was the appointment? Did you tell her everything? Did you finish unpacking? Do you need to go grocery shopping? Did you sleep last night? Are you eating enough? He knew his parents were just looking out for him, wanted to make sure he was doing alright, but Eddie was twenty five years old, he was more than capable of taking care of himself... most of the time.

---- the next day...

8:00am

"Oh my god, you guys," you began in a tizzy. "I almost slid into a ditch on my way here."

"The roads are that bad?" asked Nancy, who'd been at the café since five this morning.

"Yeah," you reached behind your back to tie your apron. "It was really coming down over at my house. I think it's supposed to start here around noon."

12:02pm

The cafe had been steadily busy throughout the day, but the hours still seemed to pass far too slowly for anyone's liking.

Two minutes late, like always, Steve makes his grand entrance, bundled in a navy puffer jacket and a plaid scarf, likely from Ralph Lauren.

"Holy shit," he panted exasperatedly as he hung up his coat and scarf. "I almost ran myself into a ditch."

Nancy's eyebrows quirked as she glanced over at you to see if she was hearing your coworker correctly, but you'd since gone over to help a customer.

Once you returned, you and Steve exchanged stories of your treacherous commutes while Nancy tried to predict which of your fellow baristas scheduled for today would be the next to come in with a similar tale to tell.

"Oh, Y/N, someone was asking for you yesterday."

"Really? Who was it?"

"I didn't get his name, but he just asked if the 'girl with the cool eyeliner' was there."

You thought for a moment, trying to recall if any of your friends from high school or other jobs were slated to be in town this week, but nobody came to mind.

"I have no idea who that could be. Most of the people I know either wear just as crazy of eyeliner as me, or would know me by name. What did he look like?"

"He was probably around our age, maybe older. Long wavy brown hair, leather jacket, had on a shit-ton of rings."

You stood up a bit straighter upon hearing Steve's description of the mystery man. It sounded like the cute guy from a couple days ago... he ordered a black coffee... Eddie! His name was Eddie.

"Did he say anything else?"

"No. Do you know him?"

"That's the guy I was telling you guys about the other night."

"Oh, okay. Yeah, that checks out."

The rest of your shift went by much faster, knowing you'd made just as much of an impression on Eddie as he did on you. Even though he didn't come into the shop by the time you finished your shift, just knowing he wanted to see you was enough to hold you over for a while.

7:03pm

Your phone buzzed. A text from Steve.

Stove: Btw that guy came in an hour after you left

Your phone buzzed again, another text from Steve.

Stove: I gave him your number

----

[toomuchracket]

thinking about getting babied by office nerd … this has been done to death a little bit but i’m just thinking about girlie refusing to accept any help so he has to get a teensy little bit commanding and she’s like Oh… okay……👀

- heather

proper fic about you and the nerd realising it's kinda sexy when he's in charge coming during promptober btw... but yes, thinking maybe you're a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to work and you've been editing (not even writing! it's literally finished!) an article for HOURS, which matty gets you need to do and initially is very like "yeah, babe, you just keep working, it's alright". when it gets to after midnight (omg chappell reference), though, and you're kubrick-staring at your laptop instead of getting ready for bed, that's when he puts his foot down; he starts sweet, kissing your cheek and neck like "baby, please let's just go to bed, you need some sleep. i'll proof it tomorrow for you, promise", but still you persist in shaking your head like "no it's ok i'll only be five minutes", blanking him when he says "you said that three hours ago, darling". he tries again, you don't respond, and that's the point he just snaps - the laptop is pulled away from you, and as you protest matty holds your face and firmly says "listen to me, baby - we're gonna go to bed now, and get some sleep, and you're not gonna touch that laptop until after breakfast tomorrow, alright? i'm sorry i have to be like this, but... yeah". and he's just so HOT like this that you can't help biting your lip and being like "i'm not sorry", and when he looks puzzled you smile and say "you're really sexy when you're forceful like that. i think going to bed sounds like a really, REALLY good idea"; matty blinks a few times, processing, before he rapidly ctrl-s's your word doc, and the next thing you know he's scooping you up and carrying you to the bedroom and dropping you onto the bed and kissing you and... yeah. he's still a little sweet, because it's him, but he plays into the dominant role reeeeeeeeeeally well. he did learn from the best tho! <3