#sorry if the ping bothers you ride ^^;

[ilovepaigebueckerss]

the other women.

word count: 886 (kinda short)

pairing: p.b. x reader

summary: After the live incident with Azzi y/n confronts paige.

pt: 2/3 (I think there will be 3 parts idk)

NOT PROOFREAD SO NTM.

i hope yall enjoy thiss. im gonna remake part 1 because it doesnt really fit with this part too well. i mean its good enough for yall to get the plot of the story but ykkk. SO SORRY FOR MAKING AZZI A BAD PERSON YALL ITS FOR THE PLOTTT🙏🙏 tried to do the lil picture thing evb be doing cs i thought it was cute how we feeling?..

-love gabby💋

3RD PERSON

Paige wakes up to an empty bed. She blinks rapidly trying to blink the sleepiness away. Wincing as she feels the hangover coming in. She notices the advil and glass of water on the bedside table you left for her. There was ice in the cup indicating the glass was filled not too long ago.

She doesn’t hesitate to pick up the glass and pills and takes them with one big gulp.

YOUR POV

Whenever you’re mind is too loud you usually vent to Paige and cry in her arms. You couldn’t do that this time so you went for a walk. You honestly had no clue where you were because you were so consumed in your thoughts you lost track of where you were walking.

Youre phone pinged snapping you out of your thoughts.

my fav blonde🖕🏻: Where are you?

You stared at the message not knowing if you should respond or not.

Just out for a walk.

You respond dryly trying to let her know you don’t want to speak to her. You hated confrontation so you didn’t know what you were going to do about the whole Azzi situation.

my fav blondie🖕🏻: Thanks for the advil and water, bug.

You stared at the phone not even realizing you were crying until you saw the tear droplet falling down your screen.

That damn nickname. She had given it to you as a joke when you first started dating and it’s stuck ever since. Whenever she called you it, a wave of comfort rushed through your body. Now it was just making you sad.

“You okay?” you hear a semi-familiar voice call out.

You look up quickly wiping your tears and see this girl from your psychology class. Her name was Addie or something like that.

“Yeah” you manage to croak out.

“You sure? Doesn’t really seem like it.” she says chuckling attempting to lighten the mood.

“Yeah. Thanks for asking.” You say smiling.

She smiles back. She was pretty, she had freckles and was brunette.

“Do you need a ride?” She offers still smiling.

“If its not too much of a bother.” You say embarrassed.

“Ofcourse! Hop in.”

PAIGES POV

Guilt is rushing through my body remembering the events from last night. It all happened so fast and it was a mistake.

my baby: omw home. 🤍 (hearted the msg)

my baby: got a ride from this girl

I smiled seeing her notification.

Theres even a video going around and im just praying y/n didnt see it. She could take it the wrong way. I would have to tell her eventually. She just cant find out through a video on social media.

FLASHBACK: AT THE BAR

STILL PAIGES POV

Azzi was being extra touchy tonight but I just assumed it was the alcohol. I mean she knows I have a girlfriend and she loves her.

“Paige, you look so good” Azzi slurs out running her hand down my chest.

I quickly move her hand off of me. “Thanks Azzi.” I say smiling. She puts her red solo cup up to her mouth “I think you’ve had enough to drink tonight” I say grabbing the drink from her.

“Nooooo” She whines. I just laugh at her drunk antics.

She grabs my face and gets really close. “Never noticed how pretty your eyes were.” She says staring at my eyes.

I just smile awkwardly trying to get out of her grasp. Before I knew it her lips were on mine. I gently push her off me. “Azzi.” I begin. “Paige you know you want me just as much as I want you.” She cuts me off.

“I have a girlfriend. And shes the only girl I want.” I say sharply.

“This is bullshit” She spits, pushing herself off of me.

PRESENT TIME

3RD PERSON

“Thanks for the ride.” Y/n says smiling at the brunette. Who smiles back “Anytime.”

—

Y/n is fumbling with her keys outside of the apartment door trying to find the right one. Once you find the key she puts it in the lock and unlocks the door.

Paige immediately shoots up of the couch and runs to her girlfriend. “Hi babyy.” she says smiling and giving you a hug. “missed you.” she says in your neck.

The feeling of Paige’s breathe on your neck made you shiver.

“Hey.” You couldn’t help but smile, missing Paiges warmth.

You let go of each other and you wander off into the kitchen while Paige goes back to her spot on the couch.

“Hey can we talk?” You manage to say. Paige looks up at you and hums in response already knowing what you’re going to say.

“What happened last night..” You pause and clear your throat “With Azzi?” You say trying to hold back your tears.

“Y/n I promise it wasn’t what it looked like.”

“Then what was it Paige.” You snap all your built up anger coming out. “Because it looked like the love of my life cheating on me with her BEST FRIEND.” You say emphasizing the last two words.

“Please let me explain baby.” Paige says, tears pricking her eyes.

“Don’t call me that.” You say coldly.

“You don’t need to explain anything I saw what I needed to see.” You say before Paige could open her mouth to speak.

You walk out of the door not wanting to make the situation worse.

—

thank you for reading mwahh!

[suhkusa]

EGOIST 13.

PAIRING. Atsumu Miya x f!Reader

CW. plot, feelings, comfort if you squint

A/N. uh oh

-> MASTERLIST.

The ride home is as silent as it was on the way there. You don’t bother trying to fake-sleep to avoid conversation, as conversation never bothered to occur.

Your eyes are locked on the window, watching as the colors of the outside blur together into one. 

It’s hard to reflect on what happened last night, because you don’t even know what came over you. You want to forget it all, but sadly, the one time where you wish you were drunk enough to forget, you weren’t. Which makes it all the more confusing, because you could’ve stopped it. You had enough awareness, control. You just didn’t.

You don’t like Atsumu. Not romantically anyways. Though, after his apology, it felt like you were finally ready to move past everything that occurred. No, you didn’t forgive him, but there was too much on your mind to dwell on things that occurred in high school or months ago. 

Cordial and mutual was all you were willing to offer Atsumu. At least until last night. Boundaries that shouldn’t have been crossed, were definitely crossed. And you’d have to make a mental note to not let that occur again.

The car finally pulls up to the Jackal’s facility. The boys are in the middle of practice when the two of you walk in. You’re greeted by many questions and smiles. You can cry at how happy you are to be back home in familiar territory.

“Y/N,” Coach Foster intervenes with a welcoming smile, “We’ll talk about how the experience was later, but for now I need you to run some errands,”

You smile nervously before grabbing a clipboard from your bag, back to work you go.

———

You’re exhausted when practice ends. Having to come back from a two day trip and get back straight to work definitely took a toll on you. You gather the notes you’ve taken from the videos and leave your office before dropping by Foster’s.

“Here ya go, Coach,” you smile.

“Thanks, I’ll see you tomorrow,” he replies before getting back to clicking on his computer.

You wave goodbye before closing the door and exiting. 

“Y/N!” A voice calls. 

You weren’t so sure if you were really ready to talk to Atsumu, but you had no choice now.

“Hey,” you greet, tugging your bag to readjust it onto your shoulder.

“I’ll walk you out,”

“No, you don’t have to-” 

“I insist,” he smiles. 

You give him a slight nod before going on your way, him right beside you.

“I’m sorry about last night, I know you were drunk but I don’t want shit to be weird between us or anything,” Atsumu says with a genuine tone.

“No yeah, it’s alright. We can put it past us,” you want to put it past you, “don’t worry about it,”

Atsumu nods at that.

The rest of the way is silent but somewhat comforting. When the two of you get to your car, he helps you load your bags in.

“I’m sorry about what happened with Gora,” he catches you off guard with that, “if you ever need to talk to anyone about it, I’m here,”

“Oh, alright. Thanks,” is all you manage to work out, albeit awkward.

He waves you off as you enter your car and drive back home. 

It felt like there was so much your brain had to unpack. But so little you actually wanted to think about. 

You were on autopilot on the way home, you only snapped out of your head when you reached your parking spot. 

Hauling all your bags into your place, you let out an overdue sigh before collapsing onto your couch. Your body nearly melted into the cushion. It was only 2 or 3 days, but you’ve never been more happy to be home.

A ping from your phone interrupts your comfiness, you nearly curse whoever texted you until you realize it was Sakusa.

Kiyoomi [9:36]: how was the trip?

You [9:36]: it was okay, got to meet lots of ppl tho

Kiyoomi [9:38]: yeah i went last year, it’s not that fun

You [9:39]: no ya but i mean it was technically work for me so

Kiyoomi [9:39]: lol at least you weren’t at practice, it was hell

You [9:40]: really?? sucks ha

Kiyoomi [9:43]: mhm

You think back on the night with Atsumu. You wonder what it would’ve been like if instead of him, it was someone else-

Kiyoomi [9:47]: anyways ill see you tomorrow, goodnight

You were so lost in thought you forgot to respond, nonetheless you type out a quick goodnight text before turning your phone off. 

Gathering every bit of strength in your body, you muster up the energy to pull yourself up and make your way to your bedroom.

As the playoffs grow closer, you can feel anxiety pulling at your heart. There was nothing you could do except sleep it off and hope for the best. 

———

There was approximately one more week before the match that determined whether or not MSBY would make it to championships. During every practice, you could feel everyone on their toes. Tense and nervous.

Even so, it felt like Atsumu was staring at you way more than often. Way more. Even when you weren’t making eye contact, you could feel like there were holes being burnt into your head. Did he need to tell you something? Or was he just keen on making you feel uncomfortable?

After a couple practice rounds, the coach called for a water break. The boys gathered around you to grab their water bottles. 

You watched as they stood around and chattered, using towels to wipe off the sweat beads collecting on their foreheads.

“Y/N,” 

You turned around to find the voice who called you,

“Oh hey,” you greet the blonde.

“Did you get back home safely last night?” he asks before taking another big gulp of water.

“Mhm,” you turn back to your clipboard, remembering to take down some notes from the matches earlier.

“That’s good,” 

Before he’s able to continue with whatever he was going to say, Sakusa walks up to you.

“Were you able to catch anything wrong with the new technique I was using?” 

Turning your attention away from him, you went on to discuss with Kiyoomi what he needs to improve on, leaving Atsumu in the dust.

After that, he’d start to talk to you whatever chance he got. Even if it was a small “hey” or “thanks” in passing. Sometimes he’d get ballsy and start a full-blown conversation. 

If that wasn’t enough, he’d text you everyday, every night, whenever he possibly could. Whenever you’d answer at least.

It felt like whenever you’d try to put walls up between you and Atsumu, there was always something that brought them back down. And while you always told yourself that you’d never let him in, it began to feel like he somehow just broke in and made himself at home.

And while it happened against your will, it doesn’t feel like you want to complain about it.

© all writings belongs to suhkusa 2024. do not repost or change.

[whousestypewriters]

its you and me, baby - j.l x reader

pairing: joey lynch x fem!reader [established relationship]

requested: yes / no

warnings: swearing and sadish/insecure thoughts?

a/n: dw guys im still feeding you even tho im not online (this has been ling over due as well sorry to the two anons who requested this for taking so long!!) also i rlly dont like that i kinda not really sorta made aoife a problem in this bc joeyaoife forever!!!

taglist: @lxvebelle, @ecliphttlunar,

you like to think you're not insecure.

really.

but sometimes those small moments of doubt creep in and you find yourself questioning yourself more.

like right now as you watch your boyfriend talk to a very pretty girl at the bar. the same girl he'd been talking to for the last fifteen minutes. aoife molloy. she went to school with you and joey. you never really talked much to her but always got the vibe that she was a perfect shining star, that everyone loved.

example number one; your boyfriends smile right now.

he's smiling brightly at aoife, chatting away while he gets drinks for the both of you, laughing at whatever things she says. the feeling starts to build in your gut, one you desperately try to shove down because its the worst feeling ever.

and you see them too. the slight touches from aoife on joey's arm. fucking hell you're going to need several drinks if this is how tonight is going to go.

aoife's loud laugh breaks through your thoughts and draws your attention - not that you weren't already looking at them - back to her. joey's eyes are alight and you feel a ping of sadness and two ugly emotions you definitely don't like; insecurity and jealousy.

why didn't joe's eyes light up that bright when you two were together? why did he laugh as loud? was it you? were you just not funny enough? or was it something else? that one thing deep, deep down you were always afraid of. that you weren't good enough for him. and that he had found someone better.

"stupid shit thoughts," you grumble to yourself. "shut up, shut up, shut up."

pushing away all thoughts, you decide on getting your mopey ass a drink instead cause clearly someone else can't do that. standing up you make your way over to the bar and just to be petty you slip in next to joey and aoife and call out to the bartender ordering your drink.

joey hears your voice and his head instantly snaps around to you. "y/n, hey baby i was just getting us some drinks," he says with a small grin.

"yeah it seems so," you roll your eyes picking up your drink and heading back to your table. joey seemingly knowing that you're pissed says a quick goodbye to aoife and follows you over with two more drinks.

he sits down across from you and tries to make eye contact. "are you okay?"

you answer with a short nod and a sharp, "yes."

jealousy isn't a good emotion. its such an awful feeling, and you do not like it. so when joe asks, "you sure, baby?"

you kinda snap. "i said yes. i'm fine okay?"

he lets it go for now but you feel his eyes on you through out the rest of the - admittedly short - time you spent out together. you know he knows something is bothering you.

yeah, somthing was bothering you, someone called aoife molloy who's the prettiest person ever and who had joey lynch laughing his ass off for at least twenty minutes before you interrupted.

now you liked aoife, she was a sweet girl, but seeing the way she was with joey tonight really made you wanna bitch slap her. that was your boyfriend not hers.

the ride home you were quiet and you tried to bury the jealousy and insecurity bubbling beneath the surface you really did. but those dumb little thoughts kept weaselling their way into your head creating more doubt.

after you had both gone inside - still not talking - joey had had a shower and started to relax getting ready for bed while you had your own.

the hot - ok more like burning - water did nothing to ease the awful feeling in your gut. it was aoife molloy most guys your age would kill to go out with her. and she had chosen to talk to your boyfriend - who you aren't kidding yourself he's absolutely gorgeous. you've heard girls whispering about him more that a few times - you're not-single-very-taken-boyfriend.

ugh.

so when you come out of the shower and still didn't talk to joey thats when he snapped.

"alright thats it." he shoots his arms out wrapping them around your waist and throwing you on your back on the bed. he leans over you one arm on each side of your head caging you in. "what is wrong, and don't you dare say nothing because i swear to god i will kill you-in-a-non-threatening-way-because-i-love-you," he rushes the last part out.

"nothi-"

"y/n."

"fine," you sigh. "it... bothered me tonight, when you were talking with aoife."

"and..." joey eggs you on.

we're you really about to say this? "and i got jealous and insecure and i wasn't happy about it."

"why were you jealous?"

"because of her!" you cry. "its aoife fucking molloy, she's gorgeous, she's every guys dream girl and she was flirting with my boyfriend! and my boyfriend was smiling right back at her and yes it made me jealous because my boyfriend never smiles at me like that. he never laughs as loud when he's with me so yes. i. was. jealous."

joey's face stays still for a moment before he breaks into the biggest laugh. "oh, my god, y/n!" he chuckles loudly. "you have absolutely nothing to be worried about there. you wanna know what we were talking about the entire time? you." he leans down and presses a kiss on your forehead. "we were talking about you." he presses another kiss to your cheek, "aoife had brought up how grumpy you looked and we got caught up talking about you." he presses a kiss to the other cheek.

"me?"

"yes you, my grumpy little bug." he presses a soft kiss on your lips.

"there is no-one else, you got that? i adore you. i cannot stand the thought i being with anyone else. it physically pains me. i love you more than i'm actually sure is possible." he presses another kiss to your lips.

"its you and me baby. you and me."

a smile overcomes your lips and you pull joeys face down to kiss him yourself. "i love you," you whisper. "so much."

you both pull yourselves up under the bedcovers and fall asleep to the soft kisses and squeezes you exchange.

ok so maybe you are a little insecure but none of it matters as long as the boy who has his arms wrapped around you was with you.

a/n pt2: ok so i dont really know what happened with the ending so i lowkey js gave up on it. i hope you enjoy!!

[lulublack90]

Prompt 14 - Attraction

@jegulus-microfic June 14, Word count 676

Previous part First part

Regulus received a beautifully written email from Effie the following morning apologising for her idiotic son and for upsetting him when she invited Sirius and Remus to dinner. ‘Monty enjoyed their company when we were at dinner in the hotel and thought it would be nice to recreate it. If I had known James hadn’t asked you already, I would have invited you first. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive us.’ And she’d signed it ‘Love Effie.’ 

Regulus had read it, again and again, breaking down each part and beginning to form a response. It was harder than he’d thought it would be. He’d never written to anyone’s mother before, let alone the most wonderful mother he’d ever met. No wonder James was so good and kind with parents like Effie and Monty. 

‘To Effie

Dear Effie,

Thank you for your lovely email. Of course, I forgive you, it was entirely my own misunderstanding. It could have happened to anyone. James is a total dolt! Thank you for the invitation. I am looking forward to dinner. Is there anything I can bring? 

Yours,

From,

Love, 

Regulus’

It was short, but he couldn’t think what else to put without embarrassing himself. He closed his eyes and hit send and relaxed back on the bed next to a snoring James. 

He was brushing his hand through his boyfriend’s scruffy hair when his phone pinged. He opened his emails and there was a reply from Effie. 

‘Dearest Regulus,

From the bottom of my heart, thank you. You are a sweet boy, and I am so glad James tried to bury you in snow. 

No darling, all we ask is for your company, we have everything for you all. See you at 6.

All my love,

Effie xxx’

James stirred next to him. 

“What are you laughing at?” He raised his head trying to catch a glimpse of Regulus’s phone screen. 

“Something your mum said,” He answered, twisting his phone out of James’s eyesight. 

“My mum? Oh gods, what have I forgotten now?” James sighed into Regulus’s chest. 

“Nothing,” Regulus had to chuckle, which made James scrape his stubble over Regulus’s sensitive skin. Regulus’s chuckle turned into a squeal, he didn’t see James’s hand flick out and grab his phone. He scrolled through their messages before Regulus even realised what he was doing. 

“Muuuummmmmm!” James groaned. “She’s such a pest. Sorry,” He added as he handed Regulus his phone back, and Regulus wasn’t sure if he was apologising for reading the messages or for his mum. Either way, Regulus wasn’t that bothered. Barty had done far worse. 

They were going to head over to James’s parents earlier than they’d planned because Monty had called Regulus’s number and, after ordering him to put him on speakerphone, so the others could hear, told them about the fun fair that had set up last night and would be opening in a few hours. Sirius and James had whooped with joy and started to excitedly discuss which attraction they would be going on first. 

“I’m just excited about the candy floss,” Remus had confessed to Regulus.

“Same,” Regulus agreed, “And the waltzers. I’m a sucker for the waltzers,” Remus turned to stare at him. 

“Me too. Why don’t we let those two bugger off and ride all the big rides, and we go and have some actual fun,” Remus suggested, pointing a finger at James and Sirius. Regulus watched his brother and his boyfriend messing around. Sirius jumped on James’s back while James spun around as fast as he could, until he tripped and launched Sirius into the air. Luckily, the sofa was waiting for him. Sirius sat up looking a bit dazed before he cheered. 

“Do it again!” And jumped back onto James’s back. Regulus rolled his eyes at them. 

“It’s a date,” He said to Remus, deciding James and Sirius could put themselves in danger and he'd eat sweets with Remus instead.

“Perfect,” Remus winked at him before he went to try and separate Sirius from James.

Next part

[halloworhorecrux]

Fic idea

10 years after the battle of hogwarts, Auror Harry James Potter comes home to the child at his doorstep (Jaime)

Jaime was raised by a paranoid DLM

He did not have access to the Malfoy accounts and is hunted by death eaters and regular wixen alike.

Jaime is a menace to society. He can pick locks the muggle way (as well highly illegal wixen ways). He has combat training because Draco's wand is suseptible to expelliarmus (thanks, Potter).

Harry tries to bond with him but all Jaime wants to do is break into his office and look at crime portfolios, he has also broken into the holding cells and interrogated a suspect, though Harry cannot prove it but Harry knows. Just like he knew when Draco was up to something, only now he can't prove it. Curse his genes for getting away with things.

Harry is sent into a remote location when Hermione pings him that Jaime is missing from her home, and no, she doesn't know how they did it.

Harry is ready to return home when Jaime pops up out of nowhere with "Don't bother, I stole your broom and cloak, do better wards dad"

Then he starts drawing with chalk ...

"Jaime, right now is not the time for your doodles, and you are soooo grounded. Then whoosh, an anti apparation ward is placed on the compound"

Okay, but hold that thought, and he runs and leaps onto the roof.

Somehow, they knock everyone out

Jaime seems to be fine, so Harry thinks he can call back up only to return to Jaime punching a man yelling, " Where is my father?" Kick to the groin* pathetic then on to the next guy

Sigh they are able to find Draco Malfoy and Harry is equal parts raging mad that he had a child and stunned at how affectionate the duo are.

Only when they are supposed to return and auror are like aren't we arresting Draco Malfoy and Harry is like "No."

Aurors : no?

Harry: No!

Aurors: ahhh no we didn't see the wanted criminal snuggling the child that is apparently yours. Cheers

Draco whispers to Jaime then faces Harry "Take care of our offspring Potter, I'll return for him" then he disapparates

Harry is, of course, ready to wring his neck while Jaime is just like, " So glad you're mad at Father instead of me "

"Oh no you are still grounded until forever "

Right so wanna race home?

We are a half days ride from home, Jaime.

" What I'm hearing is your scared to lose, understandable, father always said you weren't up to the hype "

Gritting his teeth because, seriously, this is a child, Harry is a grown man

They race home and Harry wins but only barely

Jaime wasn't actually racing he just wanted to have fun with his dad of course he couldn't just ask like a normal person, he is half Malfoy.

Anyways Draco is on a mission to rescue his mother. The person holding her hostage is Lucius as a horcrux for the Dark Lord.

Poor Lucius has to die 😢 Sorry, for the spoiler

[somethingsomethingwords]

Hello guys (gnc). Do any of you remember, or even care anymore, about these three bad boys? Yeah, this is the sequel. They are not really needed for you to understand this, but they do give context. As always, thanks to everyone who reads. Enjoy 💜

Ok, so maybe the distance thing wasn't as smart as initially thought.

It did give Lance the time to think clearly and the space to breathe. It also gave insomnia and the feeling of lack of warmth.

So, desperate times call for desperate measures. After that hellish race, 14 hours of travel and barely 36 of being in Canada, he was being driven to the airport, the sun already set and the lights on.

He was fidgeting with his phone, unlocking and relocking it, thinking about sending a quick message to the object of his thoughts.

Fernando had told him to let him know when he landed in Spain, but his thoughts were telling him it would have been a bother to the older man.

Logically, he knew he was going to Spain for the sole purpose of being with Nando, that Nando himself had invited him, but his brain stilled his hands.

So he took the time of the ride to calm himself.

A phone call wasn't exactly in his mind. Nando would have heard his distressed voice and the last thing Lance needed was to appear more pathetic than what he was already feeling.

So, after having passed the security line, he arrived at his gate. He still had half an hour before the flight, so he sat down, anonymous clothes and baseball cap firmly on his head, and started typing.

"hi, sorry if this is last minute, but I'm leaving Montreal, I'll be in Madrid in 12 hours"

Ok, that didn't sound horrible, nor too forward. Just informational enough. Good, safe.

Knowing Fernando, who was never apart for long from his phone, Lance expected him to answer in a few minutes.

When he stopped to think, he realised it was currently 2 in the morning in Spain.

Fuck, he'd already fucked up. He didn't want to wake up Fernando for something silly as his flight, but the thought of Fernando waking in the morning and finding his message and being exasperated, maybe even annoyed by it was just as bad.

He was spiralling so much that didn't notice both the ping from his phone and the last call for his flight. In fact he almost missed it, but was lucky enough to see the hostess almost closing it, and ran towards her, shoving his phone in the back pocket of his jeans.

She took pity of his sorry state, and made him board anyway.

Lance was so stressed by the situation that he only really settled when the plane was already flying.

Only then he took his phone out of his pocket and saw the message notification.

This is a nightmare he thought, as he read the message Fernando had sent him not even five minutes after his own.

"u 📗 the ✈️ for Asturias?"

The emoji were hilarious and helped calm him down.

Fernando could be silly, but most importantly, he understood Lance. He understood him better than Esteban, than his sister and sometimes even better than himself. He knew how hard words could be for him, how a mix of shyness and anxiety could hold him back.

He knew, and still accepted it. Still accepted him.

Despite the altitude and the locked doors, it seemed like a kaleidoscope of butterflies had taken residence inside Lance's stomach.

With a smile on his face, a little bit redder than before, he let himself doze off at the thoughts of bright days and warm arms.

-

Lance used his stopover in Paris to buy some sweets and wine for Nando. His mother had taught him well, and he was already invading Fernando's house, he wasn't going to show up empty-handed.

After finding and sitting at his gate, he quickly unlocked his phone.

On the screen appeared a new notification for a message sent 6 hours prior.

"Lancito? U ok?"

He giggled at his nickname, and quickly responded.

"yeah,sorry,just completely fell asleep on the plane, I'm in Paris, one hour and I'll leave"

Not even 5 seconds later, the phone started ringing. Did this man even have the time to read his text?

He settled in his seat, a smile spreading on his face while he brought the phone to his ear.

"Hola Nando. ¿Cómo estás?"

"Ahora mejor. Buenos días Lancito. How was the flight?"

"I slept the whole time. How is your morning going?"

"Well, stayed up too late. But woke up with your message, so is all good"

Lance could feel his cheeks growing redder and hotter.

Before he could even begin to find a reply, his flight was called.

"Ok, so I'm boarding right now, and I'll land in Madrid and then I'll take the plane for Asturias. I'll see you at the airport?" He asked, praying to see the other man as soon as possible.

"Of course, cariño. I'll see you there"

They said their goodbyes, both dying from the necessity to be near each other.

-

Fernando had always been impatient. With a personality like his, and a job where speed was the most important requirement, nobody could fault him if he didn't like to wait.

What the years had taught him, though, was that sometimes, there are some things that are worth waiting for.

Like that damned 33.

Like a long hot shower after a busy day spent in the mountains, surrounded by snow.

Like Lance.

He could admit to himself that, after the Qatar incident, he had been slowly losing his mind.

Lance had been so vulnerable and honest, it had pained him to leave as if nothing happened. But he understood and respected Lance and his choices.

And most importantly, he knew that even if they didn't see each other during the two weeks break, they would still find each other.

So he spent the first 36 hours being restless, then scolding himself for being so impatient, and then getting lost in his thoughts of soft brown hair and even softer brown eyes.

The cycle was getting to him. He found himself sleeping only a few hours the previous night, and even then he was easily woken up by the sound of the wind passing through the branches of the trees outside his window.

So it wasn't a surprise, when the light vibration of his phone on his night stand roused him.

After managing to not blind himself, he smiled when he saw the sweet update from Lance.

After sending one massage and not being responded to, he sent another one.

He was now fully awake, going back and forth between his bedroom and the kitchen.

When he started calculating how long the trip would be to the Madrid airport, and simply go and pick up Lance, he realised he was becoming insufferable even to himself.

So he forced his body to stop and inhale a deep breath.

There were a million reasons why Lance wasn't answering him. It didn't mean he was ignoring him (he was literally coming to his home to... hang out and stuff, question mark) or something bad happened (unknowable, but no news channel had reported any plane crush; he had checked multiple times, in at least 4 different languages).

Lance was probably sleeping. A bit early if his timezones calculations were right, but at least in this way he could avoid being jetlagged and too tired later on.

Smart boy he thought to himself, fond and proud in equal measure.

Reassured by these thoughts, he finally went back to his bed, and enjoyed the rather few but at least restful hours, before being woken up again by his phone.

When he read the message, he put together that Lance must have landed for his stopover and was now free.

So he didn't waste any time, and thanking his quick reflexes, he pressed the call button.

Lance's voice was like honey for his ears. He sounded well rested and impatient to see him, and Fernando couldn't help but feel the same.

He couldn't wait to have Lance in his arms again.

-

The two successive flights passed in a blur of nervousness and impatience.

When he finally landed to the Asturias airport, he could feel the vibrations running through his body.

He waited anxiously for his luggage on the baggage carousel and took it with shaky hands.

He really should calm himself, but he just couldn't.

The Spanish man was ecstatic to see him. Lance had to control the urge to run to him.

Then he stepped out of the doors, and the first face that he saw, already staring in his direction, was Fernando's.

Oh, was the only thought in his mind, now still and placid like the sea in a calm day at the beach.

He walked at a normal pace, but allowed himself to engulf the shorter man in a long and heartfelt hug.

With every second, he could feel his body relaxing more and more, the nerves leaving him with only the gentle flutter of wings in his stomach.

He disentangled his arms, and really looked at the man in front of him. He seemed to shine with the power of a thousand suns, his smile blinding and his eyes warm. Lance couldn't look away, taking long seconds to enjoy the view and the presence of the other.

They stayed quiet, until Lance's stomach grumbled, evidently empty apart from the butterflies.

As Lance blushed slightly, Fernando grinned but held out his hand.

"Come, lunch is ready. Let's go home" he said, smiling gently.

"Yeah, let's go home"

[pixaho]

Hi! I hope you’re doing well! I’ve been reading what you’ve done I want to let you know they’ve turned out amazing. I wanted to ask if you don’t mind doing a Rocky x Reader x Jesse.

Maybe Rocky and Reader had been dating for a long time and Rocky had started to focus more so on the girls at the club. Forgetting to take care and pay attention to Reader because of the club and girls. Reader has tried to talk to him and he tells her she’s being selfish and they need to protect women. (He is actually trying to take care of them. Not sleep or do other things. He’s more focused on work) Reader finally gets tired and leave him. Rocky gets sad but tries to move on by throwing himself into his work. S.W.O.R.D has a meeting and the Mighty Warriors are invited as well. While at the meeting Rocky sees Reader with the Warriors and tries to talk to her. Jesse steps in and lets him know to leave her a lone and she’s with them. Jesse tells him that even though he’s all about helping women he needs to look more within because he hurt the one women he should have protected but not to worry about it anymore and that it’s his job now.

You're Gone | Rocky x Reader x Jesse

↡ Pairing | Rocky x Reader x Jesse ↡ AU? No | ↡ Word Count | 1023

↡ A/N | I kind of died, and that is completely my bad. I'll also be starting my Alice in Borderland and AOUAD masterlists at some point this week. hehe, sorry!

↡ Warnings | Angst and a few cutesy moments between Reader and Mighty Warriors

M.LIST H&L LIST

You had met Rocky when you were on the way to your job. He had been kind enough to offer a ride and that is where it started. You kept meeting him and eventually you both started to date. He was everything, at least to you.

When he started focusing on Club Haven and the girls there, he stopped giving you attention and the time of day. It hurt and you had been putting off confronting him or talking to him to see if you both could do something. He was also in and out of meetings, paying attention to the other girls, and not even looking at you when he left your shared apartment. Occasionally he'd come home late or never came home at all.

But one of the days, you had enough. You went to Club Haven and tried to talk to Rocky.

"I'm just asking for you to pay attention to me. You've quit doing that. Rocky, please." Your heart was breaking as he just stared at you with annoyance, clicking his cuffs open and closed. "Are you going to sit there and say nothi-"

"Selfish." He muttered.

"What?" Your eyes widened as the word fell from his mouth, something you'd never heard him say.

"You are being selfish, I'm here all the time to protect those women and you want my attention so you can feel better about yourself?"

"That is not what I mean-"

"Except it is. Go Y/N, go home and don't bother coming back here. I don't even want to talk nor see your face right now." He clicks his tongue in annoyance and looks over at Koo. A feeling of regret washes over you, your heart finally pinging with the final pain.

After that, you had gone to the park and cried. You had never done that before and as you did, you couldn't help but hear that word replaying in your mind over and over again. Selfish. You were selfish to him. You were nothing. He didn't have time for you and he'd never have it again.

"Are you okay?" Someone speaks as they sit next to you. You turn to face them, they had blonde hair with the roots being dark, a leopard jacket and looked at you with a puzzled expression.

"Yeah," You wipe your tears. "Just stupid guy troubles."

"Doesn't sound very stupid if you are crying over it," He looks into your eyes, you can't read what is deep within his irises but there is a sincere look to him. At first glance, you'd think he was just another person who had issues with the SWORD leaders but if that were true then he wouldn't be sitting with you right now.

So, you told him everything. You told him about how Rocky had stopped sleeping, coming home, and paying attention to you. How it affected your mental health and how you loved him desperately but didn't think he felt the same way. He listened. He seemed calm, gave you good advice, and even made you feel seen. You hadn't felt this for a while and it felt really good. Something about him was calling you.

"Hey, my friends and I are planning on moving into this bigger club and living there. You want to join us?" He asked, getting up and turning to you. "The name's Jesse by the way."

"Sure, Y/N." Even if you had just met him, something screamed about trustfulness. He was very nice to you and you hadn't experienced that in the longest time.

☆*: .｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆ Time Skip ~4 months~

"If we let the Iemura family take down sword, we will lose." Cobra spoke, his voice not faltering for a second, "Which is why I called this meeting, and despite the old battles we have had, I thought we should bring Mighty Warriors into this too."

Jesse wasn't one for public PDA so he only ever had you close to him and far from others. He let's Ice speak for the group as he isn't the M.W's leader. You had noticed him, and Jesse was aware of that. Directly in front of you sat White Rascals, Rocky staring at you. Although it had been a while since you last spoken there was still that feeling of pain and regret that lingered in your heart.

When Cobra and the rest of the groups stopped talking, everyone was ready to head out. You could hear Rocky speak your name as he got closer to you.

"Y/N!" He pushed past a few people before a hand landed on his chest, stopping him from getting closer to you. Your eyes stinged and you knew why.

Jesse was the one in front of him. "Sarah, take Y/N and go. I'll be out there in a second."

With that, Sarah walked with you out. The air surrounding the meeting was upsetting.

"What the hell are you doing? I wanted to talk to her, you aren't her guard dog." Rocky rasped at Jesse who seemed unamused by his attempt at sounding threatening.

"If she wanted to talk to you, she would." He spoke lowly, not wanting to drag attention to where they were nor to what they were speaking about.

Rocky looks taken aback as he stares at Jesse, "Am I supposed to be scared of you?"

"No, but you should leave her alone. She's with us now, people that care about her and give her attention when she needs it." He takes a little silence before continuing, "You are supposed to protect women, your moto is that you don't hurt them and yet you hurt that one. She's healing, she's getting better, and she got tired of you not giving her anything."

"I-" He attempts to speak but can't find the right words to say. Rocky threw himself onto his work after you had left, trying to get rid of the void that he knew he created himself when you had left. And all he could do was watch as Jesse turned and walked out, a little part of him dying inside.

↡ Mutuals | @talusional @dillpick

[whoslaurapalmer]

me, earlier: oh government, please do not call me back while i'm at the bank the government, calling me while i'm at the bank: hi, we're returning your call. me: .................................well at least i came prepared for this

The Government was actually a very easy phone call and they said they'd get back to me within 10 business days, although i actually have to call them again tomorrow to find out ~where~ they will send my monthly government money for december, because one of the tasks at the bank was 1) getting my accounts in only my name 2) pinging The Government to alert them to put the money in my account 3) closing the account tied to my mom's it was going in, BUT! all of it was handled really really easily!!! and the woman at the bank was so nice. it was really nice. i appreciated that a lot. because my anxiety occasionally peaks to Horrible, Horrible levels while doing things about Managing Everything About My Mom. so. the car ride home was minorly stressful and now my brother has to deal with my anxiety. but he was really good about it. which i greatly appreciated. he went into the pharmacy for me to get my prescriptions because for some reason that was what was literally making me feel ill. the thought of going into the pharmacy. and asking for my prescriptions. thanks, joel vandelay. (although they did not have the fucking freestyle libre 3!! they're on backorder!!

my brother: i'm like.......so sorry to have to give you this information while you are already in tears. me: THAT'S OKAY! I CAN JUST MESSAGE THE ENDOCRINOLOGIST AND SEE IF HE CAN GIVE ME SOME OR SOMETHING the other day he said, we always have samples!! until we don't have samples!! my brother: ............well. he's not wrong? me: it sounded more believable when he said it..............)

in general i am always so. surprised that there are so many people in the world who want to help. i don't know why!! i always thought!!! everything would be. seen as a bother and people would immediately yell at me and tell me i was. doing everything wrong. but. everyone has been so eager to help. and so helpful. and there are so many Forms and things to help, which is fascinating. and people who know The Forms!!!!!!!!! i am so intrigued by paperwork.

[leiawritesstories]

Something About Winter Nights

HAPPY HOLIDAYS ABBY @elentiyawhitethorn!!!!! i'm your yulemas swap gifter :D

because of finals and going home today, the full fic isn't finished :/ but i DO have a little snippet/sneak peek for you and i really really hope you enjoy!!!

~~~~~~~~

“LYSANDRA!” Aelin yelped, wishing she could reach through the phone and smack her friend. “What the hell?!” 

“I’m sorry,” Lys giggled, not sounding very apologetic. “Rowan’s still in town, though, yeah?” 

“Yeah,” Aelin sighed, “but I don’t want to do that to him, I already told him you were taking me.” 

“Something tells me the group hero won’t mind a last-minute carpool,” Lys snickered. “Bye, Ae!” And she hung up before Aelin could protest any further. 

Gods dammit all to hell. 

Grumbling to herself, Aelin reluctantly swung out of bed and texted Rowan. 

<hey, sorry to bother you, but lys and aeds already left >:(

His reply pinged through just as she came out of her bathroom, patting her face dry. 

>shit, that sucks! do you need a ride?

<yeah. 

>i’ll be over in about an hour if that’s ok?

<don’t rush yourself!

<and you don’t need to, i can always either drive myself or try and get another mode of transport

>bullshit. what are friends for?

<you’re too nice to me, buzzard

>love ya too, ace

Her heart did a funny flip at those words, even though she knew full well they were completely platonic. And always had been. And always would be. Get your shit together, Galathynius! Mentally smacking herself, she made her bed, changed into comfy leggings, a t-shirt, and a flannel, and finished packing up her things. 

By the time Rowan knocked on her apartment door, she was completely ready to go. 

“Hey,” he greeted her, strolling into her apartment. “Ready?” 

“For once, yes.” 

“It’s a miracle!” he exclaimed, grinning. 

She swatted the back of his head. “Shut up, Mr. I’m Ready Three Days In Advance.” 

“Never hurts to be prepared.”

“Indeed not.” She winked broadly at him, giving the comment a whole new tone. 

“Ace!” he spluttered, red spots appearing on his cheeks. 

“Hey, we’re both adults,” she laughed. “C’mon, let’s not keep your infernal punctuality waiting, Ro.” 

“Someone’s learned,” he snickered, grabbing her suitcase. “Uh-uh, Ace, let me be a gentleman.” 

“You can do that?” 

“Shut it,” he pouted playfully. 

She giggled, ruffling his pale blonde, near-silver hair. “Very well, Mr. Gentleman Whitethorn. Thank you.” She locked her door behind her and off they went, out to Rowan’s car. 

“Passenger gets to pick the music!” she declared once they were both settled, plugging her phone into the aux cord. 

“Gods,” Rowan groaned. “Remind me why I let you do this, Ae?” 

“Love ya too, grouchy,” she snickered. “Cheer up, it’s five hours to the lodge and I’m sure there’ll be at least one song in those five hours that you’ll enjoy.” 

“We’ll see about that,” he fake-grouched, smirking at her. 

~

“You suck!” Aelin declared, laughing as she hugged Lysandra and Elide. 

Her closest friends smirked at her. “Cheer up, babes,” Elide snickered, “at least you got to spend five hours in the car with the hottest guy in the group.” 

“Fucking gods,” Aelin groaned, her head tilting back. “How many times do I have to repeat, we’re just friends?” 

“You keep telling yourself that, hun,” Lys smirked, patting her shoulder. 

Aelin grumbled something about meddling in my love life and grabbed her suitcase, heading off towards her room. She took the elevator up to the second floor and went down the cozy, wood-paneled hall until she reached Room 224, where she swiped her keycard through the lock and walked in. 

And almost had a heart attack. “What the fuck?!” 

“Fuck!” Rowan yelped, hastily pulling his pants back on. “Has anyone ever told you about this thing called knocking?” 

“This is my room!” she protested, showing him her confirmation email. 

Rowan blinked, momentarily speechless. 

Then his eyes narrowed, and he sighed, flopping backwards onto the bed. “God, Aedion told me we were getting a double room, I’m sorry.” 

“Aedion...” Aelin grumbled something extremely foul. “I should have known he’d do something like this, I’m 99% sure those idiots have a bet on us.” 

“Huh?” 

“Oh, buzzard, you’re so clueless sometimes.” She winked. “I’m pretty damn certain all out friends have a bet on us getting together and Aeds is trying to sabotage it by ‘accidentally’ putting us together in this room.”

“Jackass,” Rowan grunted. He flashed her a smirk. “So which one of us is sleeping in the bathtub?” 

~~~

TAGS:

@live-the-fangirl-life

@superspiritfestival

@thegreyj

@wordsafterhours

@elentiyawhitethorn

@morganofthewildfire

@backtobl4ck

@rowanaelinn

@house-of-galathynius

@tomtenadia

@julemmaes

@swankii-art-teacher

@charlizeed

@booknerdproblems

@chronicchthonic14

@earthtolinds

@goddess-aelin

@sweet-but-stormy

@clea-nightingale

@autumnbabylon

@darling-im-the-queen-of-hell

@llyncooljones

[ylangelegy]

the loser and lover both die at the end ꩜ yeonjun.

── .✦ 💌 inspired by adam silvera's they both die at the end, major character death, alternate universe: non-idol, [heavy] angst, grief/mourning, last day on earth, platonic relationships, slice of life, [possibly] unrequited love.

── .✦ 🚏 this is the last of my non-svt/skz fanfiction for now! first published on ao3... at a time where i was admittedly very obsessed with yeonjun's watermelon sugar x blow dance cover (lol). this is thematically heavy, so please look out for yourself. it's also my first ever kpop fic (whew!) and so my writing style isn't like this anymore, but it's a good time capsule of some sorts.

── .✦ 📟 wc: 12,000+

On the day that he’s supposed to die, Choi Yeonjun learns what it means to be alive.

Choi Yeonjun was in the locker room when he got the call.

It was cruel, really. Everything had been so perfect until then. The cold noodles he had for breakfast were divine. There wasn’t any traffic on the way to the dance studio. And it took him only three hours to film his dance cover of Watermelon Sugar, as opposed to his other routines that usually ate up his whole day.

He had ducked into the locker room to send the group chat a quick text about their dinner plans when his phone started ringing. It was an unregistered number, which Yeonjun wouldn’t usually have bothered to answer— but he was in such a good mood, and how could anything go wrong on a day like this? 

“Yeonjun speaking,” he chirped, using his free hand to sift through the mess of his locker. He was pretty sure he’d packed an extra pair of clothes somewhere. “Who’s this?” 

“Hello. I’m calling from Death-cast.”

A beat.

“Could you please confirm that you are Choi Yeonjun, born September 13, 1999?” the monotone voice on the other end of the line asked.

It wasn’t until later that Yeonjun would realize how standard the entire spiel was. He’d already mentioned his name on the get-go; this stranger was just calmly reading off a script as if it weren’t the worst call of Yeonjun’s life.

“Hello, Yeonjun? Are you there?” 

“Yes,” Yeonjun said quickly. Pulling away from his locker, he slumped down onto the nearest bench. “Yes, this is Choi Yeonjun.” 

“Thank you, Yeonjun. I regret to inform you that sometime in the next 24 hours, you will be meeting an untimely death.” The caller paused, as if to let the information sink in. 

“On behalf of Death-cast, we are sorry to lose you. Live this day to the fullest, okay?” 

“Okay,” Yeonjun responded dazedly. Then, more out of habit than anything, he weakly added, “Thank you.” 

The call cut without another word.

Yeonjun sat in his seat for what felt like an eternity, staring at his phone log. Three minutes. His entire conversation with the Death-cast had lasted only three minutes. 

This had happened to him before. He’d be having a Good Day, but then something small would come around and trip him up.

Maybe the master CD would refuse to play. Maybe Soobin nicked the kimbap he’d been saving. There was always something.

Beomgyu jokingly called them hiccups, and Yeonjun found himself waiting for them; holding his breath for whatever might take away his day’s joy.

The Death-cast call was today’s hiccup. The worst hiccup he’d ever gotten.

His phone pinged, snapping him out of his shell-shocked state. It was Soobin. 

do u still need a ride? 

Ping. Another text from Soobin. 

reply asap i wont hv time 2 make a uturn if u dont reply NOW 

Despite himself, Yeonjun chuckled. What did Soobin know about not having time?

As he keyed in his response, he contemplated skipping out on dinner. Maybe he could just disappear. No one would ever have to know he was dying, and they’d also never know when he died. 

I’ll meet you there, Yeonjun responded instead.

Ping. 

suit urself!!!! dnt b late yeonttomeok ~

The stupid nickname. Yeonjun grimaced at the sight of it. Then, his expression softened, because he realized that he couldn’t do it.

Yeonjun couldn’t run from Soobin or the rest of the boys. If he was going to spend his last day with anyone, he was going to do it with them. 

He left the dance studio half an hour later. He emptied out his locker first, then he walked around for a bit to take it all in. On his way out, he tacked a note on the studio’s student corkboard. 

It would take a few days for anyone to notice. The grieving custodian is the one who finds it; a neon orange Post-It, hiding in plain sight among a sea of reminders and ID pictures. 

Thank you, he’d written. For everything. -YJ. 09/16/21

“You should try some of my pizza,” Hueningkai said enthusiastically, shoving a slice onto everyone’s plates. “It’s to die for!”

Yeonjun choked on his drink. 

On Yeonjun’s right, Beomgyu burst into peals of laughter, mimicking Yeonjun’s hacking coughs. Soobin, on the left, was tapping Yeonjun’s back sympathetically— though also visibly holding back his own grin.

As Yeonjun tried to clear the blockage in his throat, he fleetingly thought that this was it. He was going to drop dead in the booth of an American fast food chain, right before he could even tell his friends that he was on borrowed time.

But then the cola went down, and Hueningkai’s incessant apologies started sounding louder than the fears in his head, and Yeonjun quietly thanked God that his cause of death was not as lame as he thought it’d be.

“It’s okay. I’m okay,” Yeonjun sighed, looking around the table. A sneer for Beomgyu. A smile of reassurance for Soobin and Hueningkai. And for Taehyun… 

There was an odd look on Taehyun’s face that knocked the wind out of Yeonjun. 

It was almost like Taehyun knew. How could he, though?

Yeonjun held the other boy’s gaze, the two of them staring each other down intently. 

“Earth to Yeonjun,” Beomgyu sing-songed, waving his hand in front of Yeonjun’s face.

Taehyun looked temporarily startled by the intrusion before his expression quickly shifted into something more pleasant. Despite both of them breaking into a smile, Yeonjun couldn’t help but still feel a bit unsettled. 

“You’re extra sunny today,” Yeonjun sarcastically told Beomgyu. The latter smiled cheekily and shrugged. 

“What can I say? I love the first Friday of each month,” the younger boy said. As he turned away from Yeonjun to shove some fries into his mouth, it occurred to Yeonjun that this would be their last first Friday.

The five of them had been close friends since 2019. It started off as a small group that enjoyed playing computer games with each other, but then Taehyun quit gaming to focus on his studies and Hueningkai decided he wanted to spend his money on collecting plush toys.

It was Soobin who insisted that they meet up even if it meant not going to internet cafes anymore. That unassuming evening marked the start of a two-year tradition of meeting up every first Friday of the month. 

They still met up outside of those Fridays, of course. Soobin and Yeonjun actually moved in to be roommates half a year ago, and Beomgyu liked to still play video games with Yeonjun every now and then.

But first Fridays were sacred. No one missed out on them, come storms or break-ups. Their Fridays were the glue that kept the five of them together. 

“Sorry. Give me a second.” 

It didn’t immediately register to Yeonjun that Taehyun had excused himself from the table. Only when Hueningkai made an offhand comment about Taehyun taking his time, only then did the feeling of dread settle at the pit of Yeonjun’s stomach. 

“I’ll check on him,” he volunteered immediately, hastily climbing over Soobin’s legs to get out of the suffocating booth.

As he speedily walked away, he could hear Beomgyu cracking a joke to the remaining two boys. Yeonjun missed out on the rest of the story as he ducked into the men’s bathroom.

The overwhelming stench of bile was the first thing that hit Yeonjun; instinctively, he covered his nose with his hand.

From a barely closed stall, he could hear the unmistakable sounds of someone retching. Trying his best not to gag, Yeonjun took a few tentative steps towards the source. 

From where he was standing, he could recognize Taehyun’s Adidas shoes. 

Yeonjun couldn’t come any closer. 

Taehyun, from inside the stall, finally stopped convulsing. A brief moment passed before he flushed and stumbled out. Head bent, Taehyun mumbled apologies before stopping in his tracks at the sight of Yeonjun. For the second time that night, the two carefully regarded each other. 

Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Taehyun made an annoyed tsk sound. Then, unexpectedly, he grinned up at the older boy.

“You too, huh?” he asked quietly. 

To Yeonjun, it felt like the punch line to the world’s worst joke. 

They decided to tell the rest of the boys after footing the bill. 

It was unceremonious at best and merciless at worst, for Taehyun and Yeonjun to break the news outside Hueningkai’s favorite restaurant. And Beomgyu made it so easy, too, by kidding about it as they headed out.

“What are you two so nice for? Don’t tell me you’re dying,” he teased, and Taehyun and Yeonjun shared a look as if to say, Well, now that you’ve mentioned it… 

Even though they talked it over in the bathroom, actually telling the rest turned out to be quite hard. At first, Beomgyu thought they were messing with him; that they’d colluded the whole plot while they were both gone.

As he screeched at Taehyun and Yeonjun that it wasn’t funny, Yeonjun pulled out his phone to show off his last received call. Taehyun did the same. 

Beomgyu got dreadfully quiet after that.

Soobin, ever the soft one, burst into quiet tears. Hueningkai held on to him, looking as though he might pass out if he wasn’t clutching on to something. Taehyun approached the two and whispered words of comfort that Yeonjun caught only bits and pieces of. 

“Have each other… Accepted our fate… Be okay…” 

Lies, the eldest of them found himself thinking angrily. All lies. 

No longer able to handle it, Yeonjun stalked over to Beomgyu. The younger boy was crouched near the sidewalk corner with no discernible expression on his face. His silence spoke volumes to Yeonjun; it was comforting to share, so much that Yeonjun felt a bit disappointed when Beomgyu spoke up. 

“What now?” 

“What now?” Yeonjun repeated.

“Are you just gonna lay down and die?” Beomgyu asked brazenly. Momentarily floored by Beomgyu’s audacity, Yeonjun looked at him like it was his first time seeing him. 

It was a silly notion, honestly. They saw each other practically every day. Next to Soobin, Beomgyu was the one closest to him. Admittedly, though, Beomgyu was also the one who irritated him the most. 

But not today. 

“I’ve always loved how shameless you can be,” Yeonjun blurted out, the heat immediately rushing to his cheeks at the sudden confession. If Beomgyu was surprised, he didn’t show it.

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” he answered with a faint smirk. “Anyway, back to my question. What now? Don’t you want to live the rest of your life fully?” 

“But it’s 8 PM,” Yeonjun said dumbly. Beomgyu promptly smacked him on the back of the head, making Yeonjun yell with indignation. 

“You’re dying and you’re thinking about curfew?” Beomgyu bellowed. “Do you understand just how stupid that sounds?”

“I swear, you’ll be the one that kills me,” Yeonjun grumbled, rubbing the spot Beomgyu hit. 

The younger boy barrelled on. “We don’t know how or when exactly you’re going to die. You and Tae can’t sit around and just wait. There’s so much that you can do in 24 hours!”

“Less than 24 hours.” 

“With all due respect, Junnie—I don’t give a fuck.” 

Yeonjun let out a disbelieving chuckle. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, Beomgyu was right. It’d be a waste to spend his last day in fearful anticipation of the inevitable.

“Do you have a marker on you?” Yeonjun asked suddenly. 

Between the five of them, Beomgyu was the only one who was skilled at drawing. He sometimes carried the most random of art materials around with him and that night was no exception. “Just a blue one,” he said after sifting through his backpack. No questions asked, he passed it over to Yeonjun.

Looking around, Yeonjun zeroed in on the restaurant’s painted wall. It was in a pristine shade of white.��Perfect. 

“Cover for me,” he commanded Beomgyu. The latter did as he was told, shielding Yeonjun from the street’s view. 

After a minute or two, Beomgyu was no longer able to contain his curiosity. “What are you doing?” he piped up, obviously trying to mask his interest. 

The impatience made Yeonjun laugh. 

“You can look now,” he said. 

Beomgyu turned to face Yeonjun.

On the restaurant’s shop front, Yeonjun had left yet another small thing to be remembered by. Along with a doodle of a pizza and a cola was a scrawled note, a note: YJ��s last supper. 09/16/21. 

If it had been any other day, Beomgyu might have commented on the abysmal state of Yeonjun’s drawings or the chicken scratch quality of his handwriting. That night, though, he wordlessly reached out for the marker.

Quickly, he sketched what seemed to be chibi versions of the two of them. 

“Always stealing my thunder,” Yeonjun jeered, though the taunt was softened significantly by the astonishment beneath his tone. Beomgyu’s rendition of them was uncanny. Finishing up, he wrote: Gyu was here too! 

Beomgyu looked up at Yeonjun, and Yeonjun smiled at him in response.

An iPhone note found in Choi Yeonjun’s phone, dated September 16, 2021. Last edited: 8:34 PM. 

☑ Commit vandalism 

☑ Have a good meal 

▢ Film and post a dance video

▢ Play Overwatch

▢ Go to a thrift shop and buy Beomgyu, Hueningkai, and Soobin better clothes

▢ Go on a date 

▢ Write my last will and testament 

▢ Say goodbye to mom and dad

▢ Take photos to leave for Beomgyu, Hueningkai, and Soobin

“You’re seriously going to waste time on Overwatch? On your last day ever?” Beomgyu complained.

Yeonjun angled his phone away from Beomgyu’s view. “It’s my bucket list. Not yours.” 

“Stop fighting,” Soobin said. His eyes were rimmed with red from his non-stop crying. It made Yeonjun’s heart ache. 

The three of them were in the back of a cab, heading to Yeonjun’s family home in Bundang. Though it was the last on his bucket list, it was the first thing he wanted off his chest.

He didn’t intend to tell his parents over the phone. He wasn’t even sure if he should even tell his parents at all. 

Half an hour ago, Taehyun and Yeonjun agreed to not wallow over their impending death. They had individual businesses that they first had to deal with but they made plans to meet up after so the five of them could be complete.

Hueningkai stuck with Taehyun while Beomgyu and Soobin decided to accompany Yeonjun. 

“I’m just saying, you could be spending your time a little wiser than losing to me and Soobin,” Beomgyu quipped. 

Sighing dramatically, Yeonjun removed the goal from his list. 

Before he could hit Beomgyu with another wisecrack, their ride came to a screeching halt. Thankfully, Soobin was strict on always wearing seatbelts; the safety device kept them from launching forward, though Beomgyu’s forehead did collide with the driver’s headrest. 

Beomgyu howled with pain as the driver profusely apologized. “A stray cat bolted in front of us as I was pulling in to park,” the driver explained. “I didn’t notice.” 

Yeonjun exhaled, one hand clutching his chest. 

The three of them slid out of the backseat and onto the Seongnam sidewalk. “You alright?” Soobin asked quietly as Beomgyu went to pay for the ride. 

The honest answer: Yeonjun was a little shaken.

Each step felt like there might be a minefield beneath his feet. He kept imagining a bunch of different scenarios on how it would happen, who would be there with him when it did. He didn’t want it to be any of the three boys, but they were insistent on keeping him and Taehyun company. 

No one seemed like they were ready to let go. 

Instead, what Yeonjun said: “Yeah, I’m good.” 

Beomgyu returned, another unreadable expression on his face. “The driver wouldn’t let me pay,” he reported, shaking his head. “He eavesdropped on us a bit, I think, because he—” A pause. 

The hard-to-read look suddenly became clear to Yeonjun. It was the same look of when Beomgyu polaroids came out all wrong, or when he miscalculated a toy’s position in a claw game. It was a mix of annoyance, and disappointment—and a little bit of sadness. 

“He what?” Soobin prompted.

Beomgyu looked directly at Yeonjun, opening and closing his mouth as though considering how to tell him. Finally, he choked out the rest of his sentence. 

“He sends his condolences.” 

“The worst thing that could ever happen to a parent is to have their child leave this Earth before them.”

Those were the only words that Yeonjun committed to memory. The conversation he had with his parents was not so much a conversation as much as it was groveling, sobbing, cursing.

There was anger. There was sadness. There was all the love they could offer each other. 

Though it broke his heart, Yeonjun begged his parents to let him go for the simple reason that he couldn’t bear the thought of passing away in their presence. He promised to call, if he could. He swore to have Beomgyu and Soobin at his side, at all times, to call them if he couldn’t. 

Then his father told him about the worst thing that could happen—how it was already happening—, and he hugged Yeonjun with a finality that didn’t need any spoken goodbye, and Yeonjun damn near reconsidered throwing it all away to spend his final hours with them.

Holding on to his pride, he hugged his father back. He gave his mother a kiss on the forehead. 

He asked that they both smile so his last image of them would be “not all that sad.”

And, just like that, the Chois let go of their only son. 

The cab ride back to Hueningkai and Taehyun was a solemn one. Yeonjun was thankful that neither Beomgyu nor Soobin felt the need to speak. They had waited outside Yeonjun’s home while he was saying his goodbyes to his parents, and they had let him take the window seat where he could stare listlessly out at the highway. This is the last time I’ll see this strip of road, Yeonjun numbly thought to himself. It was tiring to think in lasts. It was all he could seem to do as the minutes ticked by.

Ping. 

Hueningkai, whose Instagram account previously had zero photos, had just uploaded a photo of him posing with Taehyun. Lotte World all to ourselves!!!~ , the caption said.

“That’s new,” Beomgyu mumbled, looking at the post over Yeonjun’s shoulder.

“We saw each other practically every day for the past two years,” Soobin interjected, voice hollow. He was staring at Hueningkai’s post on his own phone. “Hyuka never saw the point in posting about us, because it wasn’t like we were going anywhere.”

The implication of Soobin’s words weighed heavy in the air. Now that two of us are dying, Hueningkai wants to capture whatever we have left. 

“I’m just glad to finally be Instagram official,” Beomgyu blurted out.

Both Soobin and Yeonjun shook their head, but Yeonjun was secretly glad to have an excuse to laugh. 

By the time they got to Lotte World, Hueningkai and Taehyun were already donning ridiculous animal headbands and sharing some honey butter chips.

“I got you guys headbands, too!” Hueningkai said. He pulled three out of his bag and proceeded to pass Beomgyu and Soobin theirs. Hueningkai asked Yeonjun to bend down so he could put it on himself.

“A fox?” Yeonjun asked, skeptically eyeing his reflection in a nearby shop mirror.

“Don’t you look like one?” Hueningkai shot back.

“How am I a bear?” Beomgyu whined, pinching the brown ears of his own headband.

Soobin quickly retorted, “Because you’re un-bear-able!”

It was a terrible pun but all the boys chuckled a bit nonetheless. Beomgyu yelled “Yah!”, reaching out to hit Soobin— who swiftly dodged, which meant Beomgyu’s slap landed on the small of Taehyun’s back. The chase that ensued had Soobin, Hueningkai, and Yeonjun doubling over in laughter.

“By the way,” Yeonjun mused out loud as they started strolling down the amusement park’s mostly empty avenues. “Why are we here after hours? Lotte World should be closed.”

Hueningkai’s face fell, and Yeonjun suddenly wished that he never asked.

“Lotte World is tied in with Death-cast,” Beomgyu answered instead. He and Taehyun had caught up to the rest, done with their chase. The latter looked a little out of breath; Yeonjun concernedly glanced over at him, to which Taehyun responded with a thumbs up and a gesture to keep listening to Beomgyu. “They allot their after-hours to people who might want to spend their last day here.”

Not wanting to dampen the mood any further, Yeonjun forced on a smirk. He threw an arm around Hueningkai’s shoulders and gave him a light shove forward

“Let’s make the most out of it then!” Yeonjun said resolutely. “Come on, Hyuka. We’ll go wherever you pick!”

That made Hueningkai light up like a Christmas tree. For the first time that night, Yeonjun felt like he’d done something right.

And go wherever Hueningkai picked they did. After around an hour or so, Soobin was already calling for something less exciting. “I don’t think my heart can take any more of this,” he cried dramatically.

“How about there?” Hueningkai said excitedly. Four pairs of eyes followed to see where he was pointing: A photobooth.

 “Perfect,” Yeonjun said. “I’ve been meaning to take some photos.”

 “Why don’t we go first, hyung?”

The other boys fell quiet when Taehyun addressed Yeonjun. Taehyun was smiling delicately, face flushed from the consecutive high-stakes rides. In one hand, he held a squirrel stuffed toy that Beomgyu had won him at a shooting game.

Taehyun looked so serene. So alive, Yeonjun thought in awe.

Yeonjun grinned back at his friend. “I’d like that.”

The two slid into the booth as Beomgyu, Hueningkai, and Soobin looked at costumes for themselves.

“This is part of my bucket list,” Yeonjun shared as he started loading the coins into its slot. “I wanted to give them photos of us, for them to remember.”

“That’s smart,” Taehyun responded. “We won’t have enough photos of each other to go by.”

Yeonjun swallowed the lump in his throat and turned to look directly at Taehyun. Outside the booth, they could hear the sounds of Hueningkai and Soobin arguing over a plastic mustache.

If they tried really hard, they could pretend that it was just like any other day—and shouldn’t it be like that anyway, Yeonjun contemplated. He debated about asking Taehyun whether he thought this was for the best; knowing they’d pass within 24 hours.

As if sensing Yeonjun’s internal conflict, Taehyun reached out to push the last few coins into their slot. The photobooth roared to life, a woman’s voice welcoming them and instructing them on what to click next. Neither of the two tapped on anything on the screen.

But then Taehyun shrugged. “Come on,” he encouraged. “Let’s leave them with good-looking photos of us.”

Before the two could pose properly, though, Beomgyu burst through the curtains of the photo booth. “Cheese!” he screeched, throwing himself over Taehyun and Yeonjun’s legs.

“Hey!” Yeonjun protested, trying to shove Beomgyu off his lap. Meanwhile, Taehyun started giggling and making room for Beomgyu on the bench.

Click. Click. Click.

“Why must you ruin everything?” Yeonjun groaned as the photo strips printed out. In the first two photos, he and Taehyun looked fine; the remaining four were extremely chaotic with Beomgyu’s unexpected entrance.

“You look best here, don’t you think?” Beomgyu said innocently, pointing out the picture where Yeonjun was mid-yell. The older boy raised his hand as if to smack Beomgyu, who promptly ducked behind Hueningkai for protection.

“We can take more,” Taehyun assured. Despite his tousled hair and the beads of sweat trailing down his face, he shone brighter than he ever had. There was a reassuring smile on his face, one that had found comfort in an inevitable fate. 

When all is said and done, that is how Yeonjun chooses to remember Taehyun; the healthy, happy Taehyun of this moment.

Yeonjun doesn’t know that yet, of course. Not while it’s happening. “I want one with our baby Hyuka,” he announced, reaching out for the youngest of their group.

“I’ll get some with Soobin and Beomgyu then,” Taehyun responded.

They took photos with each other and of each other. Taehyun and Yeonjun eventually got their own photo strip without Beomgyu interrupting. The five of them had at least seven different sets together until they’d run through each prop the booth had to offer, and they’d played with every single filter available.

Hueningkai held on to the photo strips as if they were important documents. As they went out to grab some snacks at one of the nearby food stalls, Yeonjun followed Hueningkai wandering over to a corner.

“What are you doing?” Yeonjun asked.

The blonde boy had laid out all the photos and was attempting to take a picture of them. “Oh, I was making a post on my Instagram account,” he admitted, sounding a bit shy of the fact.

“I saw you posted for the first time earlier.”

“Yeah, I never had a reason to use my account before. I guess I just... want to document today. I don’t want to forget anything.”

The slight quiver in his voice damn near made Yeonjun cry. Reeling in his emotions, Yeonjun moved around some of the photo strips. “Here,” he said. “I think it looks better like that.”

Smiling appreciatively, Hueningkai snapped his picture.

“What should I caption it?”

They both paused, contemplating. 

“Ah, I’ve got it!” Hueningkai said excitedly, typing away at his phone. Yeonjun peered over his shoulder to check.

“‘Five forever,’” Yeonjun read out loud.

“Five forever,” Hueningkai repeated resolutely, looking straight at Yeonjun. “No matter what.”  

If he had a choice, Yeonjun would have gone out dancing. 

Dance was one of the few constants in his life. It was something Yeonjun whole-heartedly knew that he was good at. He meant to be an instructor, even, had the Death-cast call never happened.

His peers constantly joked that he was in the running to take over their studio’s director role. Guess they were wrong, Yeonjun bitterly thought to himself as he intently scrolled through his phone for a song. 

His final dance break song. 

The boys had set out after Lotte World to go clothes shopping when Yeonjun remembered one of the other to-dos on his list. Film and post a dance video. They took a detour to the nearest park and loitered a bit, and Yeonjun was reckoned with the most difficult decision of his dancing career. 

All this time, he refused to upload any clips of him dancing. Sure, there were some up on the Internet; group dances from the studio, an Instagram story here and there from his friends. But Yeonjun had never uploaded one himself— never quite ready for that kind of self-exposure. 

Now or never, he decided. 

“You did Watermelon Sugar earlier today, didn’t you?” Soobin asked as he curiously peered over Yeonjun’s shoulder to check the song options. “The remix with Blow. Why don’t you just redo that?” 

“I want to do something new. Something original,” Yeonjun responded distractedly. FEVER? Paper Hearts? “But all of these, I’ve already danced to.”

“What about one of ours?” Beomgyu offered, yawning and stretching absentmindedly. 

Yeonjun stopped scrolling. 

Taehyun, from a bench away, let out a groan. “You know the demos we make aren’t serious,” he complained. “And don’t you have an ounce of shame, Gyu? Those songs were kind of—”

“Don’t you dare call them bad!” Beomgyu interrupted defensively. “Our songs could have made it big if you weren’t so keen on locking them up!”

“Upload it once I’m gone, then,” Taehyun deadpanned. “Call that shit posthumous.” 

As Beomgyu flinched and Hueningkai rained a few punches down Taehyun’s back, Yeonjun sped through their group chat to find the recording of their latest arrangement. They’d composed only around half of it, promising each other that they would continue the rest on their next first Friday. 

The rock instrumentals of their demo LOSER=LOVER struck up and echoed across the empty park. Soobin’s singing came out loud and clear through Yeonjun’s phone speakers.

“I’m a loser, I’m a loser,” Soobin crooned along with the audio. In the background, Taehyun covered his ears and Beomgyu perked up, ready to steal Yeonjun’s parts in the song. 

Had it been any other day, Yeonjun would have rolled his eyes at the younger boy, but his mind was busy putting together the pieces of a possible dance routine. Usually, it took him days to come up with one that he was content with. He didn’t have that much time tonight.

“Okay, I think I’m ready,” Yeonjun announced after one full listen of the unfinished track. He stood and positioned himself between the row of blooming dogwood trees, trying to shake out the lingering uneasiness.

“I can film you!” Hueningkai cried out excitedly, standing across Yeonjun as the latter did some light stretching. Yeonjun shot him an appreciative thumbs up. 

Inhale. They’d all seen him dance before; he could just never fully shake his nervousness. The others seemed to pick up on this, quickly giving Yeonjun small forms of affirmation.

Beomgyu let out encouraging hoots and chanted Yeonjun’s name. Taehyun finally lowered his hands from his ears, smiling assuredly in anticipation of the routine. And Soobin pulled out his own phone, finger poised expectantly over his record button. 

Exhale. 

Yeonjun hit play, and immediately found himself consumed by the music.

It was like second nature to him. Every agile step, every sharp turn. He followed along to the song as if it were something he’d practiced his whole life. Each beat reverberated to his very bone, filling his chest with so much joy he felt like a balloon that just might burst.

“Here comes the good stuff!” Beomgyu squealed as Taehyun started humming along. Love you, love you, love you; no matter what I do. 

“I say run, laugh like you’ve gone mad, ” Hueningkai belted out. Yeonjun almost missed a step because of how it distracted him, but he was glad to have small disturbances such as Beomgyu trying to mimic his dance moves or Taehyun finally screaming the lyrics out loud as well.

The post-chorus was his and Beomgyu’s part. It was the easiest choreography to think of, too. I’m a loser, his pre-recorded self sang, and the Yeonjun dancing threw up an L with his pointer finger and thumb. He broke out into a smile, feeling as if the world were spinning. 

It’s the sensation he’ll miss the most. The heat, the soreness. Even then, he knows that his body will ache most for the rush he had come to adore. 

The song ended abruptly, and Yeonjun snapped out of his trance.

The boys were all clapping and cheering. “I can’t believe you did all that in one go,” Taehyun complimented as Beomgyu and Hueningkai surged forward to envelope Yeonjun in a hug. 

“I’m sweaty!” the oldest boy complained laughingly, allowing them to embrace him nonetheless.

“I have the fan cam version!” Soobin joked, holding up his phone. “Where do you want it?” 

Grinning widely over Beomgyu and Hueningkai’s shoulders, Yeonjun told Soobin, “Everywhere.” 

If there was anything Beomgyu and Yeonjun so intimately shared, it would be their terrific sense of fashion— something the rest of the boys were so painfully ignorant about. 

So when Yeonjun had to choose someone to accompany him to the 24/7 Myeongdeong thrift shops— Taehyun complained that he was tired and wanted to go back to his dorm— the answer was as clear as day. Beomgyu and Yeonjun promised to regroup with them back at Taehyun’s within an hour.

It was a comforting shopping spree, actually. Beomgyu must have toned down his energy, only hitting Yeonjun with the occasional wisecrack compared to the typical several jokes per minute. Briefly, Yeonjun worried that he was being pitied. 

“This would look good on Hyuka,” Beomgyu commented, holding up a light gray sweatshirt for Yeonjun to see. The two were in their last store. They already had eco bags crammed to the brim with clothes, but they’d decided to do a final stop before heading home.

“I was thinking about this one for Soobin,” Yeonjun said in turn, showing off a black and yellow embroidered vest. 

“That one’s nice.”

“I think Hyuka would fit comfortably in that panel shirt over there, too.” 

After snagging a couple more overrun Ralph Lauren pieces and three pairs of specs for Soobin, the two fell in line for checkout. “I can’t believe we didn’t do this more often,” Beomgyu hummed, rustling through the picks. “Shopping with Soobin was so boring. He only ever wanted to go to the department store.”

“I gave up on Hyuka, too,” Yeonjun laughed. He was excited to see Hueningkai’s expression; a lot of the clothes they’d picked for him were sure to fit his style. “This should be enough to last them for a little while.”

“And then they’ll go back to their plain clothes?” 

“And then you’ll buy them more.” 

A long pause followed Yeonjun’s words.

Though he had packaged it as a joke, they both knew the underlying message lurking under the lighthearted tone. You’ll take care of them, right? Yeonjun was asking. 

Beomgyu pursed his lips together and nodded, answering the unspoken question. I will.

Yeonjun gave him an appreciative smile. I knew I could count on you. 

“What else do you have on your bucket list, anyway?” Beomgyu asked in an effort to change the topic. They shuffled forward awkwardly, the line in front of them moving along rather slow. 

“Just some serious stuff left, really,” Yeonjun replied vaguely. To write his last will and testament was still left unchecked. He wasn’t sure how or when he’d do it; sitting down and accepting his fate like that was a terrifying ordeal. “There is one that’s pretty tame, but I’m thinking of just crossing it out completely.” 

“Which?” 

“To go on a date.” Yeonjun laughed at the thought of it. It seemed so trivial now. 

He’d put it down because he hadn’t really had the time to go on a proper date. Though his mother tried setting him up with her neighbors’ daughters— and even though Soobin offered a double date every now and then— Yeonjun found that he was always too busy, too disinterested, too insecure.

A small part of him wished he’d said yes to at least one of them so he could have a memory at a cafe or a cinema. But he was so caught up in thinking that he had so much more time than he actually did, and he thought his first date would be something special— only to have it not happen at all. 

Nothing good comes to those who wait, he thought woefully. 

Beomgyu whipped out his phone and clicked on an app. Leaning over to peek, Yeonjun saw that it was for dating. He knew that Beomgyu and Soobin had profiles. He just couldn’t be bothered to get one, too. Putting himself out there like that felt scary. 

“This is a great way to find a date, even if you’re in a bit of a clutch,” Beomgyu chirped. “I’ve used it before when I needed someone to go with me to a wedding or a school fair.” 

“That’s smart.” 

“I know right? Anyway— we’re not here to talk about the obvious.” Yeonjun rolled his eyes, but Beomgyu barreled on. “Let’s make you a profile.” 

“I don’t know…” Yeonjun started hesitantly. Beomgyu was quick to interject. 

“What are you scared of?” he challenged. “What do you have to lose, really?” 

Yesterday, Yeonjun might have answered his dignity or his pride. In the thrift shop, though, he begrudgingly had to admit that Beomgyu was right. He had nothing to lose. 

“Sign me up,” Yeonjun conceded, and Beomgyu broke out into a proud grin. 

After arguing over which photos of Yeonjun to choose, Beomgyu typed out a prospective bio to go on his profile. Urgent: Dying boy seeking a mind-blowing date that will let him go out with a bang. 

“You make it sound so dirty,” Yeonjun groaned, grabbing the phone from Beomgyu and deleting the entire text.

As the latter protested, Yeonjun tried his hand at a bio. Less than 24 hours left and looking for love. Be my baby before burying me six feet under? 

“How pessimistic!” Beomgyu cried disapprovingly, though both of them were shaking with laughter. For a short while, they took turns writing terrible descriptions.

Beomgyu typed out Let’s kill this love, to which Yeonjun added ‘Till (my) death do we part.

“Okay, okay, that’s enough,” Beomgyu concluded as he gasped for air. “Come on, we’re not even in the actual app yet.”

The next screen asked for Yeonjun’s dating preference.

Beomgyu tapped on the ‘Women’ button, showing it to Yeonjun for approval.

Riding on their shared joy and his newfound confidence, Yeonjun mindlessly blurted out, “Can you actually choose ‘Both’?”

In our life, we often experience “oh” moments. Modest points in time where so many things can shift in a split second. For both Beomgyu and Yeonjun— in that thrift shop line, with their sore arms carrying more clothes that either of them could ever need— that was one of those junctures for the two of them.

“Oh,” Beomgyu said, and it occurred to Yeonjun, suddenly. What he’d asked for. 

Fear went off in Yeonjun’s brain like a screeching, bright red fire alarm. He wanted to take it back. He could say it was a joke.

But there was something in Beomgyu’s face— an expression that wasn’t of judgment or disgust. There was a gentle hopefulness to the way he looked at Yeonjun then. He looked so painfully reassuring, so ready to accept whatever Yeonjun wanted to do, wanted to be. 

So how could Yeonjun lie to him? 

“Yeah,” Yeonjun choked out, clenching his jaw nervously. 

“I never knew,” Beomgyu mumbled before switching the options. Then, quickly, he added: “Me, too. I mean—I chose ‘Both’, too. I’m… I am, too.” 

It was Yeonjun’s turn to say “Oh.” 

“Yeah,” Beomgyu chuckled. “I guess you never know, huh?” 

Yeonjun nodded wordlessly, hoping that Beomgyu wouldn’t prod any further. Thankfully, the cashier finally called them to the front.

As Yeonjun unloaded the clothes they’d shopped, Beomgyu gestured that he’d do it. He shoved his phone at Yeonjun and pushed him to one side.

“If you want a date, you should get busy swiping,” Beomgyu said, beaming with amusement as he geared up for his punch line. “Let them know you’re dead serious.”

Hueningkai, Soobin, and Taehyun were watching something on Netflix by the time Beomgyu and Yeonjun got back. 

The three were settled comfortably on the couch, sharing several opened bags of junk food and two bottles of cider. “Is that Squid Game? You’re watching without me?!” Beomgyu whined, trying to grab the remote from Soobin. 

“I’m dying. I think I deserve to know what happens in episode six,” Taehyun said blankly before popping a chip in his mouth. Beomgyu pretended not to hear him, still scuffling with an indignant Soobin who was trying hard not to tear his gaze away from the screen. Meanwhile, Hueningkai greeted Yeonjun and helped him carry the bags into the room. 

“Oh, this is so soft!” Hueningkai cried, zeroing out on the sweatshirt from earlier.

“Beomgyu picked that out for you,” Yeonjun said proudly. 

“Thank you, Gyu!” 

With Beomgyu successfully pausing the show, Soobin leaned over to inspect the pile of clothes that Hueningkai had toppled over. “This is a lot,” he said in awe.

“Please, this is barely half of what Yeonjun and I have,” Beomgyu scoffed. 

As Taehyun ducked out to go to the bathroom, the boys sorted through the articles of clothing. Hueningkai and Soobin were incredibly enthusiastic, building each other’s pile of new clothes; mixing and matching some on the spot. While Beomgyu was criticizing their pairings, Yeonjun once again noticed a gap in their group.

A space that was left unfilled. 

Yeonjun excused himself and stumbled over the clothes, towards the bathroom. It was unlocked. He peeked inside and found it empty. Something in his stomach sank at the sight of minuscule blood droplets on the toilet lid. How had no one noticed Taehyun slipping away? 

Suddenly hyperaware, Yeonjun heard the distant, muted click of the front door closing. 

Why was Taehyun trying to slip away? 

Telling the rest that they were going on a quick 7-Eleven run— and swearing to the other boys that they’d both come back in one piece—Yeonjun grabbed his windbreaker and rushed out to follow Taehyun. It didn’t take much to find him. He was hanging out at the bus stop nearest his dorm, a city map in his hands. 

Taehyun didn’t look surprised to see Yeonjun jogging up to him. 

“Of course you’d notice,” Taehyun said once Yeonjun had reached him. “Do the others know?” 

“We’re at 7-Eleven,” Yeonjun responded stiffly. The other boy cocked his head to one side as if assessing the lie. 

“Believable. You should grab some bread for Soobin on your way back.” 

“On our way back.” 

“I’m not going back there, and you know it.” 

Cold, callous, and calculating. Those were the typical words one would use to describe Taehyun. In their group, Taehyun was the most stable and reliable; he managed Beomgyu’s erratic moods and always looked out for Hueningkai.

It was easy to forget that he was on the younger end, considering how mature he always presented himself to be. 

None of that maturity seemed to shine through in that very bus stop. Yeonjun saw Taehyun for what he was: A teenage boy counting his minutes left. 

“Why not?” Yeonjun asked. He was firmly rooted to his spot. As much as Taehyun looked like he wanted to be alone, Yeonjun just couldn’t cut him some slack. “Come on, Taehyun. Come home with me.” 

“I’m sick, hyung. I’ve been for a while now,” Taehyun said with a sad, sad. “You’ve noticed, right?” 

Yeonjun had noticed. He’d taken trips to the drug store to buy Taehyun some painkillers. He’d cooked him soup for comfort. He’d even insisted that they should go to the hospital and check it out, but Taehyun was dead set on riding out what they thought to be a run-of-the-mill flu. 

“I finally got it checked this morning. My sister brought me. No one could figure out a proper diagnosis, but right after our appointment—” Taehyun faltered. He met Yeonjun’s eyes. “The damn Death-cast call is so scripted, isn’t it?” 

Yeonjun slumped down onto the vacant seat next to Taehyun.

“Anyway, I told my family over lunch,” Taehyun went on. “I wasn’t planning on letting the boys know—I just wanted to have a nice dinner and call it a day—but you…” 

“How did you know before I told you? You looked like you already had a feeling.” 

“I’ve always been the smartest one,” Taehyun retorted. Yeonjun wouldn’t have contested him either way. 

Humoring Yeonjun, Taehyun folded his hands over his lap and smirked ever so slightly. “We both balked at Hueningkai saying that the pizza was ‘to die for’,” he said. “I don’t think you would have reacted that way were it any other day. For you to react to something as offhanded as that, you must be worried about dying.” 

“Why aren’t you saying goodbye?” Yeonjun asked abruptly, the words tumbling over each other as his curiosity got the best of him. Taehyun winced in the slightest.

Taehyun didn’t owe Yeonjun an explanation, but Yeonjun couldn’t think straight. If he could, he would keep Taehyun by his side for the rest of their 24 hours. It was cruel to admit that Yeonjun didn’t want to be the one left living.

“I want to die alone,” Taehyun said decisively after a pause.

“Where no one I love will have to find me. My family thinks I’m with you. And you,” he looked straight at Yeonjun. “Will let the boys think that I’m with my family.” 

Yeonjun recoiled as if he’d been punched. “You want me to lie to them?” 

“Consider it my dying wish.”

“Taehyun!” 

“Yeonjun.” The missing honorific made them both falter a bit. Taehyun took the edge out of his tone for his next words.

“I won’t be in the middle of nowhere. There’s a wing at the Seoul National Hospital for people who have been called. They make the funeral preparations and when you— when you’re— they let your legal guardian know. My sister knows, so she’s ready to pick me up.” 

“I don’t want any of you to see me lose any more of my strength than I already have,” Taehyun went on steadily. “Let them remember the Taehyun who went to Lotte World with them. The Taehyun who tried his best not to spoil Squid Game. Let that be who I am. Not the Taeyun who’s coughing up blood.” For added effect, Taehyun reached out to clasp Yeonjun’s hands. He clung tightly, even as Yeonjun tried to pull away. “You’ll do that for me. Won’t you, hyung?” Taehyun pleaded, voice cracking. “You’ll let me have this.” 

“You are cruel, Kang Taehyun,” Yeonjun responded through gritted teeth. “You are heartless and insensitive, and I will never forgive you.” 

In turn, Taehyun gave him a gentle smile. The bus was rolling up to the stop. There’s no one here for you, Yeonjun wanted to yell at the driver. You’re not going to take him from me.  

“There are letters on the bedside table,” he said. “I’ve left my phone at home, too, because when they start calling, I’ll want to answer— and it will take everything in me not to.”

Taehyun released his grip on Yeonjun. “I’m sorry, hyung. I’ll never be sorry enough.” 

“If you’re really sorry, you wouldn’t be leaving,” Yeonjun seethed. He knew that he sounded hopeless and whiny, but he couldn’t be bothered to care. Not when he was hurting. 

Taehyun flinched at his words; Yeonjun didn’t take them back. He trusted that Taehyun knew the depth of his distress and why this was so difficult for him. 

It was a sorrow so deep that Yeonjun couldn’t bring himself to hug Taehyun back as the latter mumbled his goodbyes. 

At his own death, Yeonjun will think of that moment. It will be his one regret. 

Taehyun boarded the night bus that would shuttle him to Seoul National Hospital. Contrary to Yeonjun’s belief, Taehyun was oblivious to Yeonjun’s pain of mourning someone who was still alive.

The younger boy sat with his heavy heart, wondering if he was making the smart— no, the right— choice. 

The bus pulled away from the stop and Taehyun glanced at Yeonjun through the window’s reflection. Slumped in defeat, his friend remained motionless before standing. Taehyun expected Yeonjun to head back to his dorm. 

But then Yeonjun hit the ground running. 

He darted down the sidewalk, following the bus’s route. Taehyun sat up. Palm against the window, he watched Yeonjun sprint past pedestrians and haphazardly slide down the pavement.

“That boy’s crazy,” the bus driver commented offhandedly. 

It was a scene straight out of a television drama, and it made Taehyun laugh in spite of himself. Thankfully, Yeonjun’s chase was cut short as the bus stopped at a red light. To Taehyun’s absolute horror, the older boy started banging his fists against the bus’s sliding doors.

“Hey, stop that!” the bus driver yelled. “I’ll call the police on you, you psycho!”

Yeonjun kept knocking, demanding entry. “I just need one minute! Please, just give me one minute!” 

“Get the fuck away from this bus right now, kid!” 

Unnerved, Yeonjun took a step back and did a quick scan of the bus until his eyes met Taehyun’s.

Without missing a beat, the older boy hollered loud enough that Taehyun could hear his sincerity through the glass: “I forgive you, Kang Taehyun! I forgive you!”

The stoplight turned green and the bus quickly pulled away from the intersection, leaving Yeonjun standing dejected on the street. As the bus driver cursed him and the other commuters whispered among themselves, Taehyun buried his face in the crook of his elbow to hide his face. 

He was stupidly relieved to finally be alone. Later, when they give him a room to pass away in, he will assure the attending nurse that he has made peace with his fate. But in the bus where there are nothing but strangers, where no one knows who Taehyun is, he allows himself the grace of fearing death. 

And for the first time in a long time— for the last time in his young life— Kang Taehyun let himself cry. 

As Yeonjun expected, the boys weren’t happy with the lie of Taehyun heading back home. 

They weren’t angry. None of them could seem to be mad at the dying boy.

Hueningkai was upset, constantly ringing Taehyun’s cell; Yeonjun itched to tell him that it was futile. Soobin buried his head in his hands, the forgotten episode of Squid Game playing on in the background.

“The last thing I said to him was that I hated him for watching without me,” Beomgyu said. His empty gaze was trained towards the television. “I’m never going to be able to take that back.” 

“I’m sure he knows you didn’t mean it,” Yeonjun said. He thought of his last image of Taehyun; hand to the window, jaw slack with shock. “This is what he wanted.”

Hueningkai collapsed onto the couch after his nth phone call went unanswered. No one could look at each other, so they quietly sat through the duration of the show’s episode.

The sounds of Soobin’s sniffles echoed in the small room, overlapping with Taehyun’s voicemail recording. 

Hello, this is Kang Taehyun. I can’t answer your call right now. Leave a message after the beep and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. 

“He left letters,” Yeonjun announced as Squid Game ’s credits rolled. “They’re in his room.” 

No one responded. It was as if Yeonjun hadn’t spoken at all. 

“I’m going to go read mine. You can come with me if you want.” 

Neither Beomgyu, Hueningkai, nor Soobin moved an inch. 

Standing so suddenly that he knocked into the coffee table, Yeonjun let out a hiss before glancing at his remaining friends. They refused to meet his eyes. He wished he could do something for them, but he was honestly just as broken and betrayed. 

“Suit yourself,” he said wretchedly, not meaning to have so much venom in his tone. He stalked into Taehyun’s room and made it a point to slam the door close behind him. 

It took Yeonjun a moment to realize that Taehyun had prepared for this. Most of the room was bare, save for a few cardboard boxes in one corner.

When Yeonjun took a peek, he realized that Taehyun had packed away everything; his camera, his posters, his clothes. All that was left was his mattress, where four envelopes were neatly laid out in a row. 

“You’re not actually going to read your letter.” 

Yeonjun didn’t jump at the sudden intrusion. Beomgyu wasn’t asking a question, either; he was stating a fact. 

“No, I’m not,” Yeonjun admitted, staring at the precise handwriting that lined the outside of the named letters. “Not yet.” 

“Okay. Well, I will.” 

To Yeonjun’s shock, Beomgyu stepped past him and snatched the paper that had his name. He ripped open the envelope and got to reading. Cautiously, Yeonjun watched Beomgyu. 

Slowly, Beomgyu’s shoulders dropped. When he bent his head, Yeonjun realized what was happening.

Beomgyu’s sobs were quiet— unassuming and wounded. The grief washed over the two of them like waves. Yeonjun did not know how to keep his head above the water.  

“He loved us, right?” Beomgyu asked suddenly, turning to face Yeonjun. “Even if he left. He loved us.” 

“He did.” 

“And he knows I never hated him. He had to have known that.” 

“He did.” 

With the back of his fist, Beomgyu forcefully wiped the tears out of his eyes. Yeonjun is struck by how young he looks; by how young they all are, to have to deal with all this. 

“I should have been nicer to him,” Beomgyu said. He glanced down at the letter before shoving it into the back pocket of his jeans. “Then maybe... “ 

“It wouldn’t have changed his mind,” Yeonjun said quietly. Then, because he didn’t know what else to say, he simply repeated himself from earlier that night: “This is what he wanted.” 

Beomgyu didn’t point it out, anyway. He sighed heavily and shut his eyes, seemingly letting the worst of the news hit him. Yeonjun knew he ought to have done something then— maybe reached out and hugged the younger boy— but he was too lost in his own misery to realize that Beomgyu’s heartbreak ran deeper, if only because Taehyun’s affections for him were different. The letter gave away as much.

Like a switch that had been flipped, Beomgyu forced himself to speak in a lighter tone. “You’ve still got a few things on your bucket list, right? Why don’t we get them done?” 

“I hardly think that a date is appropriate right no—” 

“‘This is what he wanted,’” Beomgyu parroted, mimicking even Yeonjun’s intonation. “I’m sure Taehyun would hate to see you moping.” 

Yeonjun shook his head, too tired to argue. “I haven’t matched with anyone on the app. And besides, I can’t imagine going out with a stranger who will have no idea what I’m going through.” 

“Then go out with me.” 

The shocked silence that followed stretched between the two of them, filling every corner of the room.

Yeonjun was taken back to the compliment he paid Beomgyu earlier that night. I’ve always loved how shameless you can be. The thin line between brashness and bravery blurred at that moment as Yeonjun gawked at Beomgyu, who refused to falter. 

“I won’t ask why you seem sad or what your thoughts are on death,” Beomgyu insisted. “We’ll grab a coffee. Share a bingsu. And I’ll pretend not to know much about you so I can ask you what your blood type is, then I’ll lie that we’re compatible.” 

“That’s a thing?” Yeonjun asked dumbly. 

Beomgyu gave the older boy a watery smile. “Anything for a second date. But since we can only have one, I promise to cram in everything you’ve been missing out on. I’ll even fight for the bill.” 

“Why?” 

“Why would I fight for the bill?” 

“No, no. Why are you— Why are you doing this?” 

Beomgyu’s hesitation was fleeting. Yeonjun caught it nonetheless. If he had only been a little more observant, he might have noticed the blush tinging Beomgyu’s ear or the tremor in his twitching fingers. 

“Because it’s on your bucket list,” Beomgyu said. “Taehyun finished his. You should get to clear yours, too.” 

There was no way for Yeonjun to know if Beomgyu was lying. Taehyun had kept his bucket list mostly a secret, though he had assured Yeonjun at some point that it was ‘short and sweet’. It was likely that he had divulged in Beomgyu, and Yeonjun wasn’t in the business of doubting such a simple fact.

Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was a little more to Beomgyu’s offer. Yeonjun reflected if the proposition would have still come up had their thrift shop conversation not happened.

But Beomgyu was never insincere, and Yeonjun wanted to give him a tender memory that only the two of them shared. 

And so Yeonjun said yes. When Beomgyu tried his hardest not to smile too widely, the older boy forced himself to quiet the fluttering in his chest.

This was not part of the plan. Vaguely, he felt like he was making a mistake. 

How could he be, though, he thought, as Beomgyu beamed and blabbered about where they should go? 

How could such a good thing be wrong? 

It happened like this.

The two agreed on a nearby breakfast cafe. Yeonjun had avoided counting down, but it was difficult to miss the fact that the sun had already risen. That meant he had only a few more hours before his 24 were up.

Yeonjun got to the cafe first because Beomgyu said he’d stop by somewhere with Hueningkai. Soobin was initially reluctant, finally letting them go and succumbing to the fact that he was emotionally spent. When Yeonjun left Taehyun’s dorm, Soobin was napping on the couch.

Yeonjun made it a point to tuck a blanket around him.

Bored out of his mind, Yeonjun was carving Taehyun’s initials into the wooden table when it happened. 

And it happened so fast. 

He heard Beomgyu calling his name. He looked up to see the younger boy holding a bouquet of tulips.

There was a sweet smile on his face and a spring in his step as he locked eyes with Yeonjun and skipped down the pedestrian lane. It touched Yeonjun, that Beomgyu had gone out of his way to buy him blue and purple tulips; his favorite flowers in his favorite color.

A grin was tugging at Yeonjun’s lips when the speeding car slammed mercilessly into Beomgyu’s frame.

They say your life flashes before your eyes when you’re dying. Yeonjun had always wanted to know what his highlight reel would look like. He had never thought that you could imagine someone else’s life while they were dying.

Vision blurring with panic as he rushed to Beomgyu’s side, Yeonjun found himself flooded with flashbulb moments of Beomgyu. 

The first time he’d lost a game to him. Their arguments over mint chocolate chip ice cream. Beomgyu coining the term ‘hiccup’ for the trip-ups on Yeonjun’s Good Days, after Hueningkai had accidentally cleaned out his hard drive while downloading anime. 

This was the worst hiccup that could possibly happen, Yeonjun thought as he dropped to his knees.

Beomgyu looked dazed, lying motionless on the pavement. As Yeonjun scooped him up, the younger boy looked up at him with a bleary expression, seeming more confused than hurt.

“Hey,” Beomgyu croaked. “I think I got hit.” 

“Hey,” Yeonjun responded, trying his best not to sound too hysterical lest he scare Beomgyu. “You’re fine, though. You’re fine.” 

The driver of the car stepped out of his vehicle, looking horrified. One side of Yeonjun filled with a searing, murderous rage. He was about to stand and swing at the stranger until Beomgyu started coughing vigorously. 

“Call a hospital! Now!” Yeonjun bellowed at the driver. His voice cracked with desperation. “He’s not supposed to die today. He’s not supposed to die!”

“Hyung—” Beomgyu tried to say, failing to finish his sentence as he spat up more blood. 

Cradling Beomgyu’s head in his lap, Yeonjun clung onto his friend tightly. “I don’t understand,” he stuttered. “I don’t—I can’t—”

Beomgyu was mumbling something incoherent. Yeonjun leaned in closer, catching Beomgyu’s repeating words: “I’m sorry, hyung. I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for, idiot?” Yeonjun whimpered. “You can’t die. You’re not going to die. You haven’t been called yet, Beomgyu.”

It’s in that earth-shattering moment— as Beomgyu wasted his breath apologizing, struggling to keep his eyes open but trying his best to look straight at Yeonjun anyway— it’s then that it dawned on Yeonjun.

Beomgyu had known about Lotte World and Death-cast. Beomgyu had tried his best to squeeze into all of Taehyun and Yeonjun’s photos. And Beomgyu at the restaurant fronting had echoed the script Yeonjun heard in the studio’s locker room.

Don’t you want to live the rest of your life fully? 

“You haven’t been called yet,” Yeonjun repeated. He knew he was in denial at this point, but this was the worst possible thing that could happen to him. “Come on. Tell me you haven’t been called.”

Instead of doing as he was asked, Beomgyu reached out to hold Yeonjun’s face.

The slightest movement seemed to take so much of his remaining energy, yet he persisted despite Yeonjun’s protests. Delicately, Beomgyu cupped Yeonjun’s cheek with one of his hands. 

“I didn’t want anyone worrying over me,” he admitted softly. It broke Yeonjun, how uncharacteristically frail Beomgyu sounded. “I thought death would be a little easier on me.”

Yeonjun wailed, doubling over to bury his face in Beomgyu’s shoulder. The sharp smell of smoke and blood hit him hard. “Damn you, Beomgyu. We wasted all your time doing things that Taehyun wanted— that I wanted—”

Beomgyu laughed and winced immediately right after. 

“All I ever wanted to do was to be with you four,” Beomgyu said, and Yeonjun started crying so hard that he was sure this would be the cause of his own death— the way the sobs wracked his frame, the pure fear that struck his heart.

Beomgyu’s voice was barely above a whisper as he went on. “I’m sorry you never got to go on your date, hyung,” he mumbled, gesturing weakly at the bouquet he had been carrying.

Save for a petal or two, the tulips had miraculously survived the impact. Red spots stained the kraft wrapping paper. “I like to think I would have been a good one,” Beomgyu breathed.  

“You would have been the best,” Yeonjun said fiercely. Beomgyu smiled contentedly.

“I know you’re just saying that, but I’ll take it,” he responded. His eyes fluttered to a close and the pained expression on his face softened. For a heartbeat, Yeonjun was scared that he’d lost him.

Thankfully, Beomgyu exhaled sharply, his unfocused gaze trying to find Yeonjun’s own.

“Hey, don’t give up on me now,” Yeonjun begged. He closed his fingers around Beomgyu’s shoulder, pulling the younger boy closer to his chest.

They could both hear the distant sounds of an ambulance siren. “We’ve still got a lot to do. Hyuka and Soobin are still waiting for you.” 

“Hyuka and Soobin…” Beomgyu repeated slowly. “Tell them I love them, won’t you?” 

“Tell them yourself.” 

“I’m sorry I can’t buy them more clothes.”

“Don’t say that. Please, don’t say that.” 

“And I’m sorry to be leaving you, hyung.” 

Yeonjun let out a broken sob. “You’re not leaving me. You can’t,” he said. “Stop apologizing, because we’re going to get you to a hospital and patch you up, and we’re going to go on the best date, and you’re going to live many happy years—” 

“Do you want to hear something selfish?” Beomgyu interrupted. The ambulance was rounding the corner. “This whole time, I prayed to go before you.” 

“Why?” Yeonjun asked wretchedly.

The ambulance parked and the driver ran to meet them. “I can’t imagine a world without you, Choi Yeonjun,” Beomgyu said with bated breath. Yeonjun wondered why he’d never noticed it before; the devotion in Beomgyu’s tone, the star-like shine in his eyes. “And I’m glad that I won’t have to.”

As the paramedics rolled out a stretcher— as Yeonjun kept insisting that he could still be saved— Beomgyu thought nothing of the blinding hurt ripping through his body. He closed his eyes, finding comfort in the fact that he was in the arms of someone he loved. Not everyone could say they were half as lucky, he decided. 

Throughout the night, he was curious what his last words would be; if he would have a choice at all. He had wanted it to be something cool, something awesome. But as he clung to Yeonjun, he knew that there was only one last thing to say.

Grinning, he wiped away some tears from Yeonjun’s panicked expression. 

The paramedics were already swooping in and grabbing his ruptured body away from Yeonjun, but the older boy was still hanging on to him as if his own life depended on it. Beomgyu tried to commit the scene to memory.

Yeonjun, with his wild expression and tousled hair; his lips quivering, his eyes full of fear. It pained Beomgyu to leave him like this. Greedily, it relieved him that he would be the one going first. 

“Take all the time you need,” Beomgyu assured, giving Yeonjun’s hand a final squeeze. 

Beomgyu managed the ghost of a smile. “But don’t keep me waiting too long, yeah?” he said. 

Then he shut his eyes— and nothing much was left after that. 

It turned out that Choi Beomgyu did get to choose his last words after all.

 Yeonjun was the one who made the calls. He let Beomgyu’s parents know, then his brothers.

He called Soobin, who didn’t answer; he called Hueningkai, who picked up on the first ring. 

Hueningkai and Soobin made it to the hospital within ten minutes of the call ending. 

Disoriented, they all listened to a doctor rattle on about comas and chances. “This means he’ll get better, right?” Hueningkai asked no one in particular once the discussion was over. “He hasn’t been called, so he’ll wake up soon enough.” 

The two older boys shared a look. Yeonjun shook his head, and Soobin squeezed his eyes shut. Hueningkai watched the brief interaction unfold, stumped by what he was missing out on.

“Beomgyu didn’t get called by Death-cast,” Hueningkai repeated louder, as if his first statement was simply too quiet to be true. “He’s going to wake up from his coma.”

At a loss for words, Yeonjun reached out to hug Hueningkai. Soobin followed in suit. The youngest tried to squirm of their grip, not wanting to accept the implications of their remorse. “Let go of me. Don’t act like— don’t make me think that he— you’re both being—”

Eventually, Hueningkai stopped fighting.

For a moment, he stayed completely still as Soobin and Yeonjun held on to him. The trio stood there in the middle of the hospital hallway, huddled together while bawling over a betrayal that only they could share.

For Yeonjun, it felt like the world was closing in on him. He was spared by the harsh comfort of Hueningkai and Soobin feeling the same emptying loss.

After what felt like an eternity, they stumbled over to one of the waiting room benches so they could regain some strength.

“Did you know?” Soobin asked, voice hollow. 

Yeonjun shook his head. His throat felt raw from all the crying. He couldn’t imagine speaking without wavering. 

Instead, he turned to Hueningkai, who was staring at a photograph. It was his latest Instagram post from an hour or so ago— a shot of the flower shop he and Beomgyu had visited. The bouquet Beomgyu had bought lay a few seats away from the trio. 

“You should make a post here, too,” Yeonjun said suddenly. Hueningkai looked up at him skeptically. He had a right to be dubious; updating one’s Instagram didn’t seem like it ought to be a priority.

But Yeonjun wanted to honor Beomgyu somehow, wanted to immortalize him somewhere. 

“You have to remember,” Yeonjun insisted. “Even the bad things.” 

The rest of the sentence lingered between the two of them. Because soon enough, I won’t be around to remember any of it. 

“Even the bad things,” Hueningkai repeated.

He took a picture of the hallway. As he typed a caption with shaky fingers, Yeonjun rested his head on his shoulder, and Soobin held Yeonjun’s hand.

They drew from each other what little strength they could share. 

They had no other choice. 

Heading back to Taehyun’s dorm was too painful, so they made for Soobin and Yeonjun’s apartment.

They tried to fall into some sense of normalcy by playing a round of a computer game and putting on some bad Netflix film, but it was difficult to will away their loss and pretend that they weren’t waiting to lose a little bit more.

So they talked about Taehyun until there were no more stories to share.

They shared their favorite memories of Beomgyu, laughing so hard at some of the anecdotes that by the end of it, Yeonjun’s sides were in stitches.

They took photos for Hueningkai’s Instagram. They gave Yeonjun time to write his ‘will’. 

Hueningkai asked him if he was scared of dying.

Yeonjun lied and said he wasn’t. 

Soobin asked if he was lying.

Yeonjun let his silence speak for him.

At one point, Yeonjun glanced at the clock, did the math, and realized he had survived 22 hours. Was it possible to cheat Death-cast? Yeonjun wondered, foolishly amused. 

He didn’t have the energy to dwell on the thought. He didn’t have any energy at all, really.

He was so drained that he didn’t even remember dozing off while snuggling with Soobin. He jolted only at the sound of Hueningkai’s loud snore.

The couch was cramped, so Yeonjun dragged himself to his bed. Half-awake, he typed out a text to his parents that meant to let them know that he was okay and that he’d call them after he napped. He was too tired to even know if he hit send. The moment his head hit the pillow, he fell right back to sleep. 

He was dreaming of tulips and brown-eyed boys when the cardiac arrest happened.

Choi Yeonjun could not cheat death after all. 

Hueningkai found it nearly impossible to live in the aftermath.

It was made particularly difficult by how much the city reminded him of the past. Like how the dance studio had renamed to YJ Entertainment, honoring their star student by using the script on his final note as their logo. Like how the breakfast cafe never threw out the table with Taehyun's carved initials. Hueningkai once sat at it, only to be dragged under at the sight of KT etched into one corner. 

Soobin was an immense pillar of support. The two remaining boys clung to each other in the first few years, doing everything they could to work around their complex emotions.

Eventually, they realized that the grief would never really go away. All they could do was grow around it. 

Their frequent meetings trickled down to weekly occurrences until they decided to stick to first Fridays— it lasted a few months, but it brought the both of them too much pain. They decided not to force it. They went their separate ways and learned how to live with the mourning.

And they did, really. Hueningkai kept up with Soobin through social media. They never lost touch. They just took some time to heal separately.

It had been a while since they last saw each other. Their last conversation was about how Yeonjun's dance break trended, and how Hueningkai's father was encouraging them to copyright the song. 

The posthumous success that Taehyun joked about, Soobin had said laughingly. Hueningkai found some comfort in the fact that he was not the only one left remembering. 

He never went back to the restaurant they last ate at, though it was hard for him to miss out on the snowball Beomgyu and Yeonjun had unintentionally started.

Unbeknownst to Hueningkai, the two had left a doodle that night; he would only see it spreading on social media a few months later, after the restaurant recognized a tradition that was happening to its patrons. 

"This is pretty cool, isn't it?" 

Hueningkai nodded, staring at the scrawled last words scaling up the restaurant wall. Soobin stood at his side, the two having agreed to meet-up for lunch.

Beomgyu and Yeonjun's little act of vandalism inspired a chain reaction of some sort. Now, those who were called by Death-cast could visit the restaurant for their final meal and, on their way out, leave a small part of themselves behind on the storefront.

"I think Beomgyu would be happy to see this," Hueningkai chuckled. "He'd be excited to be so famous." 

"Yeah, he really would."

The two made their way into the restaurant, making small talk and catching each other up as they waited for the waitress to stop by their booth. When she finally stopped by, Soobin looked up directly at Hueningkai as he spoke.

"I heard the food here is to die for," Soobin said casually. 

Hueningkai stared back, momentarily thrown off. 

And then he smiled— finding peace in the fact that he and Soobin could share one last thing. 

hueningkai's instagram account: @hyukatheloser.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

hi raven !! do u have any moots who are people u looked up to before u became moots with them? just curious :-)

Hmmmm... 🤔 A good question!

When I first started out writing, my two inspirations were twstpasta (Mac) and panacea-wishes (Lily). Mac had a very clean and simple interface and a whimsical way of writing, whereas Lily edited together her own banners and focused more on pretty descriptions... I wanted my writing blog to have its own unique flavor like Mac's and Lily's did!

You'll notice that I wrote the last paragraph in past tense, and that's because both of those writers have since terminated their respective blogs and moved elsewhere💦 but to this day, I still really love them and the work that they do! If you’re interested in continuing to follow them too, you can find Mac at @mcdonaldsnumberone and Lily at @fairlyabookie. However, please note that they no longer take writing requests; they only write what and when they wish to.

Another predominantly text-based blog I enjoyed (and still enjoy!) reading is @pianostarinwonderland. It's mainly a dumping ground for TWST thoughts and theories, which I do also sometimes share on my own blog. It's a place I go to when I need to get my brain juices flowing, and sometimes the things they point out make me develop more of an appreciation for the details of TWST! (I also used to be an Azul stan, so I'd run to a fellow Azul stan to feel validated in my screaming, ahah~)

Back around the start of my TWST journey, I mainly relied on @kibadreams and jmee for story translations and rough summaries, respectively. Kibadreams does their best to retain the original “voice” of every character when they translate, and they’re very open about the potential translating mistakes they may have made and they’re striving to improve! Jmee really goes in on the details and the deeper meaning behind character relationships and TWST lore. I really appreciate the work that they have done for the community!

Special shoutout to @mysteryshoptls, whom I first got to know as a friend before they initially set up their translation blog. They’re a great source for vignettes and character lines; their translations really retain the spirit of the original characters in Japanese.

There are also a lot of artists in the TWST fandom that I admire! Seeing their posts always puts a smile on my face, and it inspires me to work hard at my own things too. I especially like seeing their own OCs and takes on certain scenes and characters from the game. It gives me confidence to share my own original works~

@4nimenut (They use very delicate brushstrokes that remind me of watercolors or traditional Chinese paintings! The lighting in their pieces is also very atmospheric~)

@airin-queenz (A very bright and cheery art style! The colors and the shading really pop out.)

@beth-lau (I love how they draw expressions! The arrangement and details... they really bring out the emotions that every character is feeling.)

@k0ushii (Their sketchy art style and color choice is very soft and easy on the eyes! They've also done gijinkas for Cookie Run and FNAF characters, which I absolutely adore the designs for!)

@lolitsleia (I love how dumb their OC Alex and Ace are together! lolitsleia really does a bit of everything, from nice fully rendered pieces to funny little sketches and comics of the characters interacting with each other!)

@myuunji (Their Yuu is really adorable and clumsy! It's lots of fun keeping up their shenanigans in the little doodles and comics they make.)

@pearlwhitecats (Their love for Silver is really pure! I can feel it come off in every Nahime x Silver work they make. I'm also a fan of their cutiepie OC Neviah~)

@renniecirque (Ren has a really unique art style! It almost looks like traditional art instead of digital because of how soft the colors and the line art is. It gives me cottagecore vibes! Very soothing to look at~)

@shimmeryspark (Kana's art is both cute and detailed! While their fully rendered pieces are a treat, I also really like their chibis--they look so round and squishy, I just want to pinch them with my fingers! Their shrimp-based OCs and Kana (the Yuusona) with Floyd and Ruggie are also adorable and pure~)

@stupidneko (I like how big and expressive their eyes are! I also really love the little details they add to accentuate various pieces, like tiny sparkles or little tuffs of cotton.)

@suiiseis (We share a mutual appreciation and intense brain rot for J word I like how dainty their style is, from the lithe forms of their characters to the way they draw eyes and hair!)

@teuffels (Their vibrant, bouncy colors really bring pieces to life! They also get really experimental with poses and compositions, which always keeps you guessing. Plus, their love for Lilia and Xiao is just so wholesome and endearing!)

@tinyfantasminha (I adore their OC Vic's sass and their breakdowns over Jack Howl! They're very talented with drawing poses and coloring in a way that mimics the TWST style!)

@yttrocen (An artist with a very soft and pastel color palette, mainly doing comics and doodles. If I'm not mistaken, they mainly do Tweels, which I can appreciate~)

@zariyen (Yuu Yumehara my beloved he's so cool and hot and-- I'm a huge fan of zari's work on alternate outfits for Pomefiore! Everything they do is really gorgeously detailed; I could stare at their pieces forever and ever!)

It feels like a really big honor when someone you look up to follows you back! It's like one of those "wow, senpai noticed me" moments you see sometimes in anime or manga. Of course, I'm not super close to everyone that I listed in this post, and I’ve also met a lot of amazing people and made friends that I didn’t include here (since they didn’t quite fit the parameters of the ask)!!

Please consider checking out their socials and supporting them!! Let’s keep exploring this twisted wonderland together 🎵

[max15380]

Lob Corp Habit

So a bit back when @ride6artblog had a SFM art stream we started talking about an Abnormality Habit and today I decided to design them!

Ok well not really design more think of a concept for how he’d be like in the game

O-19-57

Dr. Boris Habis/The ‘Dent’est

“I want the whole world 2 smile and b happy! :-D”

Risk Level: HE/WAW (HE in containment, WAW in breach)

Damage Type: White (can also deal Black damage if breach occurs)

E.G.O Items: Tooth Lily

‘You get the feeling of a dream that had been constantly crushed and buried over and over again’

Gift: Brooch 1, SP + 5, HP + 5

Suit: 0.9 Red, 1.0 Black, 0.5 White, 1.5 Pale

Weapon: Short Range, White Damage, Medium Attack Speed, 2-3

A dentist who had dreamt to be a florist, and came from a family who never smiled. After being constantly pressured and suffering through the horrible conditions at his home, he all but abandoned his dream of becoming a florist and became a dentist. Over the years, the dentist became more and more unstable, until they snapped, and gained a twisted idea.

“If I smile big enough, maybe I can get have everyone be happy!”

The dentist opened up an area for people to become ‘happy’ again, only to use a giant machine to put laughing gas through the air and stealing their teeth while they were unconscious, all to make his smile bigger in an attempt to try and make everyone happy.

Some say, in another world, a young flower child made them realize the error of their ways. Unfortunately, there was no flower child in this tale.

He stands in his containment, waiting for his next ‘patient’, while conversing with a single Lily in his room. The small remainder of what used to be his life’s dream.

[jtargaryen18]

His Inheritance ~ Chapter 9

Part 9: High Stakes

Series Masterlist

Words: 3.7k

Pairing: Mobster Steve Rogers x Mobster daughter reader

Warnings: References to mafia families. References to arranged marriage. References infidelity. Coercion. References to spanking. Acohol consumption and poker. This is a dark fic. Please read responsibly.

Disclaimer: The author of this work claims no ownership of characters aside from the reader, and original secondary characters mentioned. This work is not intended for those under the age of 18 due to explicit sexual content and darker themes. By reading this work or any works on my blog (jtargaryen18), you agree that you are at least 18 years of age. I do not consent to have my work hosted on any third party app or site. If you are seeing this fanfiction anywhere but archiveofourown and tumblr, it has been reposted without my permission.

Summary: For @alexakeyloveloki. Your father is the head of one of the most powerful crime families in Boston but he’s protected you from that life. In your quiet home outside the city, you’ve been cared for and protected. When the desires of a more powerful man with the will to dominate bursts into your life, all your illusions are shattered as he comes to claim what is his.

~~~

When you hadn’t emerged from your room twenty-four hours after your confrontation with Steve, Dyson texted, he called. He even came to the door with your dinner, but you didn’t answer, left whatever it was there.

No, it didn’t sit well with you worrying the older man, but you were still riding on anger and pride. Trying to sleep with a growling stomach hadn’t exactly been ideal. But considering that your ass still smarted, and you had to be careful with your movements, it certainly wasn’t the biggest problem you had.

By lunchtime the second day, you were feeling that hunger and the water you drank wasn’t cutting it as well. When your phone pinged, you almost didn’t bother but curiosity had you checking to see who it was.

When you saw it was Natasha, you read the text.

 NB: Hey, I just wanted to apologize to you for the situation with Steve. It means so much that you helped me but I’m sorry for the rest.

 Your heart went out to Nat. You had no idea how Clint was doing but you hoped he’d be okay. You liked them both and to this point, they were allies. You needed that.

You had no regrets. You replied with that.

 NB: Dyson won’t tell me what went down and I’m sure whatever it was, Steve has it coming. But Dyson’s worried about you.

 Guilt bled on your campaign. None of it was Dyson’s fault and he put up with a lot on your account. You didn’t want him to worry about you.

 NB: Just think about it.

 Assuring her you would, you took a nap.

You actually woke up quite a while later. It was dark out. You had more texts from Dyson, a missed call. Blowing out an exhale, you went to grab a shower. Digging out your favorite pair of pink flannel pajamas, you pulled them on.

When you poured yourself another glass of water, you stopped to consider your situation. How long were you going to keep this up? For all you knew, Steve was busy with his business. With Katerina. For all you knew, he didn’t even notice.

You’d just talked yourself into texting Dyson, seeing if he could maybe bring you some leftover or a simple sandwich, when someone knocked pretty loudly on your door.

A deep voice called your name, and it wasn’t Dyson. It was Luca.

You found yourself opening the door. There the portly man stood, his white shirt not exactly pristine. His apron was stained with what looked like tomato sauce and he was wiping his hands on the clean side of it.

“The boss is out for a while,” he told you abruptly.

You didn’t like the way your heart sank when you considered where he probably was.

“Us fellas have a poker game going downstairs. You want in?”

You must have just stared at the man. You? Play poker?

“I’ve never played,” you admitted.

Luca shrugged. “Scott plays like he never has. You’ll be okay.”

You laughed at that.

Were you going to stay up there and mope? Steve wasn’t here. You sure as hell didn’t want to dwell on that.

“Why not?”

You followed him down the stairs, through the darkened living room and dining room.

The kitchen was all warm yellow light, warmth, and amazing smells. Dyson looked so relieved to see you and Scott’s grin was infectious. Within five minutes, you sat at the simple wooden table with them there in the kitchen. You had a huge plate of spaghetti and meatballs in front of you. Scott opened a bottle of beer and placed it next to your plate.

“Take it easy,” Luca told with you with a pointing finger. “You haven’t eaten in a couple of days.”

“How’s Clint doing?” Luca asked Scott who apparently just arrived. Luca served him up a plate too.

“Good,” he told all of you. “He’s awake.”

“The boss know?” Dyson asked.

Scott nodded. “He was talking to him when I left.”

“Who the hell shot him?” Luca demanded.

Scott shook his head. “He never saw them.”

“Where was he?” Dyson asked.

It was obvious how much they looked after each other, cared about each other. When Scott paused in answering that, you exchanged a look with Dyson.

“It’s not exactly a secret,” Scott offered, digging into his plate.

“Someone caught him seeing Nat?” you wanted to know.

Now all three sets of eyes were on you. After a moment, Scott shrugged. “It seemed like that’s where he was coming back from.”

Luca chuckled, digging a box of cards that had seen better days out of one of the drawers in his kitchen.

“What did I tell you?” He pointed at you. “Sharp. Like Billy.”

Having your father mentioned stopped you. “Did… did you guys know him?” You looked to Dyson. “Before…”

Dyson nodded. “Scott here didn’t know him as well. But sure, we did. He was head of the families and a good one.”

You appreciated that even though they probably knew your father as well or better than you did, truth be told.

Scott nodded. “You just didn’t want to piss him off.”

Luca and Dyson nodded immediately at that.

Dyson laughed. “She gets it honest.”

You dug into your meal, grinning because it was an honest assessment. You did have a temper it seemed.

“You always had that temper?” Luca asked, watching you hork down spaghetti like you were afraid it would disappear.

You shook your head, finished chewing.

“I didn’t discover it until I got engaged,” you told them.

That had them laughing and it was an easy conversation after that.

You and Scott enjoyed dinner while Dyson and Luca told you tall tales about the “old days,” about your father. Some of them made him sound scary and they were awkwardly edited in the telling. Those had you wondering just what they left out. Other stories were hilarious.

Maybe it was the two beers you had to wash down all that spaghetti, but you were able to forget your troubles for a little while.

On beer number three, the game started. When Scott went to explain to you how poker was played, Luca bustled over and shoved him roughly out of the seat next to you.

“The boss’s wife isn’t learning poker from an amateur,” Luca told them, getting ready to explain the rules.

“You’re going to teach her how to cheat,” Scott accused, grinning impishly.

“That’s why you suck at this,” Luca told him. “Of course I’m going to tell her how to cheat. She just might need to know how to beat her husband’s ass at this one day.”

That had you laughing. “I’d like that.”

“Then shut up and listen,” Luca told, meaning it affectionately.

 ***

 Steve shut off the engine of the Jeep and paused there behind the wheel in the dark. Everything in his world felt off kilter and he didn’t like it.

It was selfish, he knew, but he really wanted to go back to the peace of mind he had only a month ago. Then things had been pretty simple. He was planning to take leadership of the families, the mantel his father had always wanted for him. Steve had worked hard to learn the business, to gain the respect of most of the other family heads. He was well-positioned.

The final step was to marry the daughter of his predecessor. He’d spent most of his life thinking she was an unfortunate, scarred girl who’d lost her mother and brother when she was a baby.

When he found out she was remarkably beautiful, he’d been pissed at her father. Ah, but she was more than that, wasn’t she? His intended fiancée was intelligent, well-mannered, and well-educated. She’d been so sheltered that her father had flown her under his radar for years incredibly. 

But when he eventually met her, his mind was made up.

Steve would have a wife the others would be envious of between her lineage and her beauty. They’d have beautiful children.

And he wasn’t proud of it, but the fact that she had never known another man? Steve loved that. He wanted that to stay the same so badly he’d made Dyson live there with her until her father passed. It had the additional benefit of having his trusted man size her up, determine what type of woman he planned to marry.

Dyson not only adored her, but he was loyal to her. It mattered. If the men who had his back came to feel the same way, they’d protect her as they would him. They’d help him keep his family safe.

What a difference a month made…

Since he’d moved her under his roof, set the date for their wedding, everything felt like it went to hell.

His fiancée didn’t want to marry him, didn’t want anything to do with his world. She’d run from him, begged him to let her go. Bargained with him, offered alternate solutions.

Yeah, it didn’t do his ego any favors.

And during this, Barnes had found out about his intended bride despite his efforts to keep it a surprise until the last minute. The bastard had barged into his home to see her running around his house barely dressed.

And hadn’t that had him seeing red?

His sister Natasha liked her but that too had gone against him. Nat had gotten to her first, explaining the situation with her husband, her lover. His fiancée had clearly determined that was all his fault. She’d willingly defied him to help his sister in a stupid ploy that could have ended with either of them hurt or killed.

If his suspicions were correct, Clint had been shot while returning from seeing his married sister…

Steve wasn’t sure what else he could do at this point when it came to her. When he tried to get to her know her over dinner, she resisted him, challenged him. When he lost his temper with her, tried to condition her to be a wife in his world, it went very badly.

Hell, when he’d left the house this evening, she hadn’t emerged from her room for an entire day and half. According to Dyson, she’d refused the meals they brought her. She wasn’t answering Dyson’s calls or texts. He had no idea how he was going to deal with that.

To make matters worse, his own men were giving him the cold shoulder too. It vexed him. Dyson and Luca had known him since they were young men and he was a boy. They’d witnessed spectacular fights between his parents when they’d still been alive. Hadn’t batted an eye when his father had to discipline his mother, him, or Nat.

So what was their problem now?

Blowing out an exhale, he fished the envelope with the agreement Bruce had drafted for him out of the passenger seat.

It was time to end things with Kat.

Steve had no qualms about doing it. He just knew it wasn’t going to be that easy.

Shaking his head, he climbed out of the Jeep, wanting to get this over with. The sooner it was dealt with, the sooner he could get back home and try to fix things there.

Kat greeted him at the door with a smile, the dark red negligee she wore showing off her best assets. She was tall for a woman, full-figured. Her long dark hair framed her beautiful face in soft waves. Only her green eyes showed her wariness.

When he kept his distance, she stepped back and motioned him in.

“Where have you been?” she asked once she closed the door.

Steve wasn’t going to answer that.

Kat stepped up to him, pressing her scantily-clad form into him, the sultry notes of her perfume stung his nose. When she slid her hands up his chest to wind around his neck, he stepped back.

The apprehension in her gaze was stronger now. “What’s wrong?”

Steve motioned to her couch. “Why don’t you have a seat?”

He didn’t miss the hurt in her face, but she did as he asked, her gaze then on the envelope in his hands. “What’s that, Steve?”

Blowing out an exhale, he handed it to her, remained standing. “This is for you.”

When she went to open it, Steve cut her off. “Read it later. Let me know of any problems with it, okay?”

Tears gathered in her perfectly made-up eyes, she sniffled.

“That’s it then?” Her accent had always been stronger when she was upset. “Here’s some money. It’s been fun. Fuck off?”

“I never lied to you about how this would go, Kat,” Steve told her patiently. “I’m getting married in a week.”

Swiping delicately at her eyes, Kat nodded. “You need to marry her because her father was in charge before you… I understand that. Marry her then. Things don’t have to change between us.”

Steve blew out an exhale

“They don’t,” he informed her. “But I’m ending it.”

The look on her face when she saw Kat’s text on his phone flashed in his mind. It strengthened his resolve. 

Steve intended to give this marriage his best shot. Yes, because of her father. But Steve also wanted her.

It didn’t make him feel any better to consider the woman in front of him and how he’d used her to pacify that desire for the last two years. It really wasn’t fair to Kat. No, the decision was long overdue.

Kat took his attention on her as an opportunity to change his mind. Tossing the envelope to the side, she struck a seductive pose, perched on the edge of the sofa.

“She’s not going to know what to do with a man like you,” she purred. “She’s not going to be able to satisfy you. You know that.”

Steve’s gaze slid over her. Kat knew what she was doing in bed, had few inhibitions. He’d give her that. But the arrangement between them had been just that. An arrangement. She indulged his desires when, where, and how he wanted. He gave her money, made her life easier. For his part, he’d never pretended there was anything more though he knew she wanted more.

Kat had a point. The young woman at his house was as innocent as Kat was experienced. And she wanted nothing to do with him.

It only made him want her more…

“We’ll see,” he said only.

Steve watched emotions playing over Kat’s pretty face, felt her frustration at not finding a weakness here. He nodded at the envelope she’d abandoned.

“Look those over carefully,” he told her. “It’s more than enough to take care of you until you can find another situation.”

He didn’t like the hurt that flashed in her eyes.

“You might even find someone,” Steve offered. “I’d like to see you happy… It just won’t be with me.”

Kat dissolved into tears at that point and Steve took that as his cue to leave. He couldn’t get out of Kat’s apartment fast enough, feeling free to breathe again only when he was back in his Jeep, heading back to his house.

What would he find when he got there? The tension of the last couple of days had his head aching, unease coiling in his chest. Sure, there was his business, one of his men shot, his wedding to plan, and he’d just broken things off with Kat… 

All he could think about was her.

Had she emerged from her room yet?

The lights were on in the kitchen when he got there which meant someone was still up. It was just before midnight. He hoped Luca was there because between visiting Clint in the hospital and ending things with Kat, he’d managed to skip dinner.

Had Dyson somehow convinced her to eat?

Making his way into the house, Steve had just hung up his coat when he heard it. Laughter coming from the kitchen. Were they having poker night then?

Quietly, he approached the kitchen. He wasn’t surprised to see Dyson and Scott, crowded around the table with cards in hand. Smoke from Luca’s cigar filled the room as he considered his next move.

When he took a closer look, there she was at the table with them, dressed in pink pajamas of all damn things. Steve just knew Luca had fed her. How they’d lured her out, he couldn’t have said. 

Steve was just grateful they did. He stayed in the shadows just beyond the kitchen, watching. No one had noticed him yet.

She looked to be concentrating on the cards in her hand, three empty bottles of beer in front of her with another half-full next to them. She seemed completely at ease there with his men in a way she’d never been with him.

When she finally made her play, her grin was pure mischief. Steve froze at the sight because she was… beautiful.

“Fuck, I’m out,” Scott dropped his cards, grabbing the bottle next to her.

“That’s mine,” she elbowed him playfully, grabbing the beer and finishing it off.

“I’m out too,” Dyson announced, chuckling. “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.”

“You didn’t do too bad, rookie, but…” Luca laid out his cards and her jaw dropped open.

Scott applauded. Dyson laughed along with her, and it stopped him cold. Had he ever heard her laugh before? It was a warm, happy sound. It made him wish…

“I will beat you one day,” she told him with determination, her eyes wide with excitement.

“I like your spirit,” Luca told her. “But nah, you won’t.”

The group erupted into more laughter. And she clumsily rose from her chair.

“I think maybe we should call it a night,” Dyson told them, eyeing her with concern as she made her way to the huge steel refrigerator. Giving the door a yank, she pulled it open and plucked out another beer.

“One more,” she implored them, closing the fridge.

“Beer or game?” Scott asked, grinning.

“Both,” she told them, trying to twist the top off unsuccessfully.

Dyson got up, none too steady himself, and took the beer from her.

“I think you need to head to bed now,” he told her with affection, trying to steady her as she wobbled. “Sleep it off.”

Her frown at him was comical. She was an adorable drunk.

“You’re no fun,” she complained and then she went down, laughing on the kitchen floor.

“And you’re drunk, young lady.” Dyson shook his head at her, smiling. “Come on. I’ll help you up.”

Steve walked in at that point. “I’ve got it,” he told them, itching to get his hands back on her in some way.

Luca and Scott nodded to him as he walked around the table to reach her. Dyson looked relieved, stepped out of the way.

Her big eyes roamed up until her gaze met his and she cut him a smirk. “Hey, Steve. How’s the girlfriend?”

Scott snorted behind him.

Squatting next to her, Steve didn’t take the bait. “Out of my life.”

When she narrowed her eyes at him, he laughed. “How was the poker game?”

“Glad we weren’t playing for money,” Dyson joked behind him.

“Well, I wish we had,” she said, trying to get up by herself but having no traction on the slick tiled floor. “I could have started my divorce fund.”

That had his men laughing. Steve shook his head, scooping her up and rising from the floor with her tucked against his chest. She was warm, soft, her smell a curious blend of beer and flowers.

“I earned that one,” Steve told her, carrying her out of the kitchen. “Say goodnight.”

She wasn’t fighting him. He liked the way she wrapped her arms around his neck and called “night” back to his men.

Just when he thought she was going to get awkwardly quiet as he climbed the stairs, he felt her gaze on him.

“You know, I really don’t like you right now.”

Steve laughed at that. “I know.”

“And I am going to divorce your ass,” she said meaningfully. “See if I don’t.”

Reaching her room, Steve opened the door quickly before carrying her in and lowering her onto her bed.

“We’re not even married yet,” Steve told her, kneeling in front of her. “Want to try that first?”

She pouted then, had him wanting to sink his teeth into that lower lip of hers...

“I’ll bet you’ve never beaten her.”

He knew it was the alcohol talking but he was hoping a sliver of the jealousy in her tone was real.

“I just ended things with her,” he admitted, since she wanted to talk about it.

“Bullshit.”

“I told you I was going to,” he reminded her.

“And I told you not to because…”

Her words trailed off when he slid his hand up her arm, slowly. His fingers traced the line of her jaw, skimmed over her cheek as he leaned closer. Her gaze danced over his face in something like wonder as his lips brushed hers.

Steve didn’t back away. Neither was she.

“But I don’t want her,” he said against her lips. “I want you.”

“Nothing says desire like beating a girl’s ass,” she taunted.

Steve sobered. “I told you why I did that. You ran off with Nat. One of my men had just been shot. We still don’t know who did it. What if they’d gotten to you? Hurt you?”

Her brows knit. “That was a shitty way to communicate that.”

“Maybe.” He’d give her that.

“Never do it again.”

“Not promising that,” he told her. He very much wanted to do it again. Just in a different context...

When he claimed her mouth, she froze in his grip. It let him get his arms around her, to pull her into him. Steve kept the kiss light, enticing. It only took a few seconds for her to relax, to try and mimic him. As her lips danced with his, he just enjoyed the soft fire of her.

His heart hammered in his chest and his body was aching, but tonight it was enough. It was the smallest promise that just maybe…

She looked dazed when he ended this kiss, taking her left hand in his and pressing a kiss to the backs of her fingers, just below his ring. And his heart squeezed in his chest at seeing it.

While Steve wanted to climb on that bed with her, claim her in every way possible, he made himself get up, made his way to her door.

Soon.

“Get some sleep,” he told her, feeling her gaze on him as closed the door.

@saraaras17 @nekoannie-chan​ @capicheleo20 @eralen​ @helenasmirkedno​ @samwinter09​ @kawairinrin​ @tinystudentfirepurse​ @bluemusickid​ @inlovewiththefictionalcharacters @geminievans1​ @daughterofthenight117​ @sunmoonandbucky​ @dwights-new-plague​ @akkinda10​ @aubageddon91​ @sunflowerstony​ @jennisahoe​ @kalesrebellion​ @candy3002​ @tardis-23​ @wish-i-was-a-mermaid​ @cynic-spirit​ @angstsfordays​ @tamashigirl​ @akkinda10​ @laurenreadsfics​ @buckysteveloki-me​ @justlifethingsx @dancer3205​ @shtposting101 @iloveshawnieboi​ @denisemarieangelina​ @moonlacebeam​ @btitannaaaaa @pastathighs @pinkzsugar​ @lunamyangel​ @siriusjohnpotter​ @bababasti @priii​ @retrxbarnes @norababora @savinasavers​ @holl2712​ @4charmed​ @janelongxox​ @sarcasmoverlordxo​ @iridescentwafflesauce @ajbunky​ @dontbescaredtosingalong​ @candy3002​ @joossieisdabomb​ @icrytomuch​ @buckybuckobucky​ @nonsensicalobsessions​ @Bebop282 @onceuponahuntersrealm​ @crashbarbie​ @valsworldofcreativity​ @sunflower-writings​ @siriusjohnpotter​ @naelovescandy​ @rootcrop​ @traceyaudette​ @dre6ming​ @ajdjshei

[kxisuke]

birthday girl

pairings: Iwaizumi Hajime x fem!reader - feat. Oikawa Toru

summary: Iwaizumi knew the perfect present for his good girl. He can’t wait to see your reaction.

warnings: NSFW/smut content, 18+ only! strong/vulgar language, threesome, unprotected sex, dirty talk, fingering, teasing, reader gets tied up, multiple creampies

word count: 2.4k

a/n: hey hey hey! sorry i've been away for a bit i've been kinda busy but i'm back! hope y'all enjoy this <3

Rolling out of bed, you almost forget it’s your birthday until the familiar ping of your phone signals a text message from the Aoba Johsai volleyball group chat.

Issei: Happy birthday y/n!

Makki: Hbd!

Kawa-chan: Happy birthday y/n-chan!

A soft smile settles on your face, and you go to reply to their messages but are stopped by someone pulling you back onto the bed. Iwaizumi’s arms circle around your waist, pulling you close to his chest.

“Good morning, my birthday girl.” He rains kisses on your face, sending you into a fit of giggles. “What do you want to do today? It’s completely up to you.” You look up at him, the morning sun peeking through the blinds, his figure casting a small shadow over you. Caressing his cheeks with your small, yet slender hands, you kiss him softly.

“I just wanna spend the day with you, Hajime.” You coo, bringing his forehead down so it’s touching yours. His hands explore your body, and you shiver under his soft touch.

“Sounds good to me, what did you have in mind?” Your eyes light up, and you get excited.

“Can we go for a walk in the park this afternoon? The cherry blossoms are supposed to be blooming now, and I want to get some pictures.” Iwa nods, heart racing seeing you so excited like this.

“Of course, can we just stay in bed for the morning though? I promise I’ll take you out for dinner this evening in exchange.” You hold out your hand.

“Deal.” He takes your hand, pulling you on top of him so your head is resting on his chest. You close your eyes peacefully, inhaling his scent. To you, Iwaizumi always smells like home. He brings his hand up to rub circles on your back, landing a soft kiss to your forehead.

The morning flies by, the two of you lounging in bed the entire time, ignoring the constant messages on your phones and the bright light streaming into the room. Wanting to stay wrapped in his loving embrace forever, you aren’t too enthused when you glance at the clock and it’s already past noon. Dragging yourself and a very sleepy Iwa out of bed to get changed, you finally look at your phone, seeing the explosion of messages from the group chat. Not bothering to catch up on what’s happening, you change into some fresh clothes. Sliding across the cool hard wood floors to your kitchen like a child again, you quickly scarf down a bowl of cereal, the hunger in your stomach eating away at you. Iwa soon joins you in the kitchen, and both of you eat together. Grabbing his hand, you excitedly pull him to the door, the both of you getting ready to go out.

You head to the park first, grabbing some takoyaki and yakisoba from a food truck for lunch while you’re there. You make a mental note to post the pictures you took on your social media page, knowing it’ll blow up because of the pretty pink blossoms. In the evening, Iwa follows up on his promise of taking you to dinner, the two of you going to some fancy restaurant. Just to tease him, you make sure to wear his favorite dress, a short maroon one that rides up past the middle of your thighs. On the car ride home, his eyes are barely on the road, constantly getting distracted by you sitting next to him, the top of your dress revealing enough cleavage to cause a slight disturbance between his legs.

As soon as the door shuts, Iwaizumi swiftly ties a satin blindfold over your eyes. He’s been waiting for this moment all day, he was excited to see your reaction to his present. Your heart starts to race when you feel the soft fabric being tied around your hair, and he grips your waist, breath hot in your ear.

“Now it’s time for your present, princess.” You can feel the flame ignite in your core, and you subconsciously clench your thighs together. Trailing his hands up your body, he silently guides you through the house, stopping at where you guess is the living room. Pushing you down on the couch gently, Iwaizumi crawls over you, kissing you passionately, continuing to touch you through the thin fabric barely covering your body. Letting out a gasp when he strokes his fingers over your panties, you grab onto his wrist, bucking your hips up to feel some sort of friction.

“H-hajime...” Throwing your head back into the couch and arching your spine, you let out a loud moan when he slides two of his digits into your sopping wet core.

“Mmm, so good for me, baby.” He starts to move his fingers, and you slap your hand over your mouth in an attempt to muffle your moans. Hearing someone slowly walking down the stairs, you start to panic, squirming under Iwaizumi. He only continues his ministrations, smirking at the obvious red on your cheeks.

“Tsk tsk, started without me? Iwa-chan, I thought you said you’d wait.” Your entire body freezes at the sound of Oikawa’s voice, and you clench around Iwaizumi’s fingers so hard that he needs to stop because he can’t move.

“Jesus y/n, I can’t move my fingers when you’re clenching like that.” You cover your face, embarrassment overcoming you at the captain of the volleyball team standing in your living room, seeing you so vulnerable under his best friend. Thousands of thoughts are racing in your head, but they all disappear when Oikawa pulls the blindfold off your eyes, a smirk settling on his face. At that moment, you realize how badly you want this. Iwaizumi starts thrusting with his fingers again, and your mouth drops into a moan.

“C’mon Iwa-chan, let’s go up to the bedroom, there isn’t enough space on the couch for the both of us.” Iwaizumi rolls his eyes but complies, pulling his fingers out of you. Feeling empty, you let out a whimper, hand slowly drifting down to your core. Before you can even get close, Oikawa has his hand closed around your wrist, holding it in place.

Pulling you up off the couch, he guides you upstairs, Iwaizumi following close behind. Now being able to see, you aren’t surprised when the two boys are immediately onto you as soon as you reach the bedroom, the lust in their eyes making them look like predators about to devour their prey. Loving how you have them entranced like this, it makes you long even more for what’s about to come.

Lips are on your skin, and you can feel one of their hand’s creeping up your thigh, another one latching onto your breast, twirling your hard nipple through your dress. You can’t help the breathy moans slipping out of your plump lips, the pleasure already building up inside you, and they haven’t even done anything yet. Oikawa quickly slips your dress off of your body, throwing it off to the side, revealing the matching set of lingerie you chose exactly for this type of occasion. Licking his lips hungrily, he goes straight for your breasts, while Iwaizumi focuses on your core.

Your boyfriend strokes your dripping cunt again, inserting his fingers swiftly. With him pumping his fingers in and out of you at an alarming speed along with Oikawa sucking and twirling your nipples, you let out a strangled moan, letting your first orgasm rip through you like a tidal wave. The world goes white for a moment as the pleasure washes over you, and you grind it out on Iwaizumi’s fingers. Once you can see straight again, the two boys are pushing you to the head of the bed.

Reaching inside the bag that he brought, Oikawa presents a thick, black rope. Your eyes widen when realization kicks in about what’s about to happen. You don’t put up any struggle when Oikawa skillfully ties your wrists above your head, making sure that the surprisingly soft rope isn’t too tight. Attaching you to the headboard, he steps back to examine his handiwork. The sight of you lying there, completely exposed and vulnerable, makes both boys harder than they already were. Iwaizumi slips out of his clothes, stretching his arms over his head.

“Let’s get this party started, shall we, shittykawa?” Oikawa, already undressed and putting his clothes by his bag, droops his head at Iwaizumi’s comment.

“So mean, Iwa-chan.” They both approach the bed where you’re lying, a cocky smirk splayed on your pretty face. You love the way the two of them bicker. Iwaizumi gestures to your body.

“You can go first. I’ll just watch for now.” He smirks at you, settling himself in the chair next to the bed, you and Oikawa in perfect view of him. Oikawa gently turns your chin to him, grabbing your attention. Leaning down so his lips connect with yours, he runs his hands down your trembling body, goosebumps appearing after every soft brush of his fingers. Moaning into his touch when he teases your cunt, you break away from the kiss.

“Oikawa.” The stern and steady voice you use surprises both him and Iwaizumi, who’s silently jacking himself off to the two of you.

“Yes, y/n-chan?” He continues his movements, teasing your folds, but you grab his wrist hard, done with his teasing, needing him inside you.

“I want you to fuck me.” Oikawa only smiles cockily at your request. Collecting your juices on his rock-hard member, he shakes his head with a chuckle, lining up with your entrance.

“Ah, so demanding, y/n-chan. But if you say so, it is your birthday after all.” He thrusts into you quickly, pushing himself fully into you. Throwing your head back, you let out a loud moan. Oikawa isn’t as thick as Iwaizumi, but he’s long. He's barely even moving and you can feel his tip just touching your cervix. He leans over you with a groan, luscious brown hair almost hitting your forehead.

“God, Iwa-chan. She’s so tight.” Oikawa gives you a moment to adjust before starting to thrust slowly into you, and you immediately place a hand over your mouth, trying to keep the moans threatening to spill out inside, only letting out small whimpers. Iwaizumi notices and makes eye contact with you.

“C’mon, y/n, don’t be shy just because Oikawa’s here. I know how loud you can be.” The brown-haired boy on top of you gently pries the hand over your mouth away, and you can’t help but change your quiet whimpers to loud moans. Hearing you chanting his name over and over like a curse sends Oikawa to heaven, and he picks up the pace, chasing his high.

“Mhm y/n, you love it when I fuck you, don’t you? So much better than Iwa-chan.” You can see his ego starting to stick out, but it just makes the man in front of you so much hotter than he already is. You can feel your orgasm approaching, and can tell Oikawa’s close as well. Walls fluttering around his cock, you clench the bedsheets in your fists, crying out as you hit a powerful orgasm, it sending your mind up into heaven. Oikawa follows close after, groaning as he thrusts into you one last time before painting your walls with his hot load. You let out a small whimper when Oikawa pulls out of you, feeling a sudden emptiness. He makes sure to lean over you once more, kissing you softly on the lips before swapping places with Iwaizumi.

“My turn, baby.” Kissing down your jaw, he leaves dark marks on your collarbone, earning a breathy moan from your lips. He pushes into you, still wet from Oikawa’s load, and starts to thrust quickly. Tears start to fall delicately from the corners of your eyes from overstimulation, but it just feels so good that you don’t want Iwaizumi to stop. Lewd moans fill the room, almost all of them spilling out of your mouth.

“F-fuck, baby.”  He continues to thrust harshly into you, and you tearily make eye contact with Oikawa, who’s enjoying the view from the chair. Flashing you a smirk, he points back to Iwaizumi, silently telling you to pay attention to him. Pulling against the restraints on your wrists, you wish you could be able to touch your boyfriend, longing for the feeling of his back muscles tensing and relaxing under your hands. Noticing your struggle, Oikawa stands and walks over, loosening the ropes enough so you can slip your wrists out, allowing you to immediately clutch onto Iwaizumi as he pounds into your throbbing cunt. Already feeling your orgasm coming again, you dig your fingers into his muscular back, crying out in pleasure.

“That’s right angel, cum for me. Show me how much you love it.” Those words alone are enough to send you over the edge. Arching your back harshly, your mouth opens in a silent scream as you have the most powerful orgasm you’ve ever had before. Iwaizumi takes the opportunity to kiss down your neck and chest, occasionally nipping at your skin. Your mind fogs over for the third time that night, and you can feel Iwaizumi release his load inside of you not long after. Collapsing on top of you, the two of you catch your breath.

Pulling out of you, Iwaizumi is met with Oikawa standing next to the bed, handing him a damp towel to clean you up with. The three of you clean up and change into some comfy clothes. Oikawa goes to pack his things and leave, but you open your arms to him from the bed. Turning to Iwa, you stick out your lower lip.

“Can Oikawa-san stay for the night, I don’t want him to leave yet.” Iwa takes one look at your puppy dog eyes and nods, patting you softly on the head.

“Of course, y/n, whatever you want.” He smiles sweetly and climbs into the bed after shutting off the light. Tucking the soft comforter over your slightly trembling form, you curl into Iwa, resting a fist on his chest. Oikawa follows suit, resting his head against your back, arms wrapped around your waist.

“Thank you, guys, that was the best birthday present ever.” You can feel Iwaizumi and Oikawa smile in the dark room, and your boyfriend kisses you on the forehead.

“No problem, princess. You are the birthday girl.” You can feel the tiredness from your encounter causing your eyelids to droop, making it harder to stay awake. The feeling of the two boys around you, arms protecting you from the darkness, is enough to send your mind into a deep and peaceful sleep, one filled with their quiet snores.

[drkcnry67]

Killing midnight

Title: Killing Midnight

note: congratulations to @supraveng for hitting 500 follows!!! keep up the good work! also this is not exact to the point of what happened in the show it is completely of my own doing... sorry if that messes anyone up... :)

Pairing: Soulless!Sam x Reader

Any Fandom Dark Bingo: "you're the worst mistake I've ever made."

H&H: power kink

SPN Kink: Soulless!Sam

tags: mentions of death, sacrifice, blood, gore, shots fired, death etc

rating: 18+ just to be safe

mentioning @spnkinkbingo @heavenandhellbingo @anyfandomdarkbingo @supraveng @sweetness47

you had goten engaged right before your fiance got basically possessed and taken over by lucifer (the devil), in order to start the apocalpse and take over the world.

so in order to stop the apocalypse your fiance broke through lucifer's hold a bit at the last second on the battle field and told you he loved you one more time before his half brother Adam (possessed by Michael) dragged your fiance's body and soul into the pit...

that was a year ago... and let me tell you what a year it has been. you had gone to the bar almost every single night... you left no hunt unturned, you had basically cut all communications with everyone. you had gone off the grid to try and process your grief...

on this particular night you had just finished desimating a pack of ravenous werewolves and gone back to your vehicle when you foudn it trashed and all but destroyed...

yn: can this evening get any worse?

thats when your watch vibrated against your wrist, you took your phone out to see who was calling you... this time as you knelt near your ruined vehicle you decided to pick up the call...

yn: hello...

dean: hey kiddo, how fast can you get to chicago?

you look around at the mess and you breathe in deeply.

yn: i need a ride, im pinging you my location... a pack of idiot wolves destroyed my car...

dean: i got ya sweetheart see you soon!

the line disconnected at the sound of the Impala roaring down the highway... guess dean wasnt kidding when he said that he would see you soon...

you stripped off your bloody shirt and pants and began to rumage through the torn and destroyed clothing to try and find something... you managed to find a pair of short shorts, but no top...

so you decided to see if any of your trunks or bags survived. one of your trunks survived which was good... so you stuck your purse in there and your phone as well.

you then shut the trunk, and sat on it after moving it far enough from the wreckage where you threw a glass bottle of gin at the wreckage and then threw your match book.

the car blazed in a glorious fire... this was a sad but happy sight... for it meant a new car for you and a reunion of important circumstances. it was about an hour ish later when the familiar sound of a purring engine stopping pulled you out of your own thoughts.

the sound of the door opening and the sound of a familiar voice calling you.

dean: hey yn!!!

you got up and ran into the arms of your brother-in-law...

yn: im so sorry dean.. i should have been there for you... i wasnt the only one who lost him... you did too... im sorry...

dean could only hug you tighter...

dean: you have nothing to apologize for yn, its all good... now lets get you and this trunk to the car... we need to be in chicago by morning to meet with bobby...

yn: did he say why?

dean: nope but thats bobby... he'd rather say it in person then on the phone...

You and Dean lug your trunk to the car, and get inside...

Dean: it's gonna be okay... plus whatever this is may take your mind off of whatever is bothering you.

Yn: its nothing just yesterday was the 7 month-a-versary of Sam's sacrifice. So I'm still processing that...

Dean had to check himself he didn't remember about that... he didn't think about how hard this was for you.

Dean: omg yn I'm so sorry. I didn't even think about this...

You placed your hand on deans forearm.

Yn: its okay... we are gonna be late if we don't leave for Chicago now...

Dean: well then hang on tight yn we will get to Chicago before nights end...

You sat back and placed your feet on the seat using your brother in law as a pillow the impala roared across the pavement, within 5 hours of straight driving you guys arrived at a motel in the Chicago border.

You and Dean checked in and walked into the room. You and Dean placed your trunk on the floor and locked the door using the trunk to barricade the door...

Dean: we can now sleep peacefully for a few hours once we salt the windows and the trunk as well...

Yn: I already used your phone to send Bobby a ping of our location and the room number we are in... is every protection up?

Dean: now they are... get some rest Bobby will knock when he arrives.

You and Dean get in separate beds... but facing eachother it was the only comfortable way you could fall asleep. This was the first actual good sleep you had since Sam passed.

Around 9am rolls around and there is a loud knock at the door this prompts dean to get up with his handheld... he slowly goes to the window and peaks through a small crack in the curtain...

he gestures for you to sit up as he lowers his handheld and opens the door revealing bobby standing in the doorway...

bobby: boy seriously what the hell is wrong with you.. now bring that suitcase to the center of the room... let me in and please tell me you have some decent...

thats when bobby's eyes landed on your slightly dazed form on the bed.

Bobby: my god, yn is that you?

You get up off the bed slowly and walk a bit away from the bed...

Yn: hey uncle Bobby!

Bobby who was struck by tears of relief in that moment rushed you in a big bear hug...

Dean: can I go pee while yn tells you what she's been doing...

Bobby: just don't be all day ya idjit!

Dean left toward the bathroom after locking the hotel room door... Bobby sat with you on the bed as you told him your tale of woe...

You told him how you kinda went off the deep end big time, killing every single monster from here to LA and back along the coast... and about the drinking and how you had not given a care in the world about sleeping in a proper bed for almost 7 full months...

bobby: oh my god yn why didnt you call or something...

yn: i was too ashamed... i wasnt sure of the repricutions of my running away and not going to the rite of mourning... i miss him everyday bobby... i cant do anything about it... all i could do was drink my self until i blacked out after every hunt every day since Sam died. i slept in my car all the time... i never stopped at a hotel... i never ever exoected to be welcomed back into yours or deans arms as much as i already have...

bobby: dont worry bout that right now YN just relax and grab one of those beers your gonna need it... yo dean boy get your ass out of that bathroom and we will begin this meeting properly..

Dean had just come out of the bathroom when Bobby had screamed that...

Dean: I'm here, I'm here, so Bobby what's the emergency that was so huge that both me and YN had to rush out here.

Bobby: omens boy, dark ones, same kind that surrounded the apocalypse ordeal...

Yn: wait wait wait woah time out are you suggesting that...

Bobby: at this point we can't rule out any possibilities.... the problem is that we don't know how or when or why or who would/could have brought him back...

Yn: when did the omens start?

Bobby: a week after the tragic ordeal. But I also have been tracking another anomaly it's most unusual cause this one has been following the most explicit pattern. It's been all over the place and it should be here... cause I tracked it here this morning... it was in Colorado mountains with a burned car in the woods...

You and Dean watch as Bobby pulls up the report on the laptop... you turn away and go to the mirror...

Yn: that was my car uncle Bobby...

Bobby takes his emf detection device and holds it near you...

Bobby: good grief yn your lighting up like a Christmas tree...

You pull out the one keepsake that you always keep in the little container in the trunk... you throw it on the bed..

It opens to reveal a test you had taken after Sam sacrifices himself... Bobby and Dean both look at it then at you..

That's of course when Castiel appears intot he room...

Castiel: OK good we are all together yn what do you say we speed you up to date...

Yn: put me at 7 and a half months... I don't want to freak him out if he is back..

castiel waves his hand and your belly suddenly grows to a substantial pregnant belly. castiel breathes in and turns to address Bobby and Dean all of them allowing you to go to the washroom to freshen up and such.

Castiel: dont worry she will be fine...

dean: you helped her hide this secret why?

castiel: cause she had lost sam it was hard enough so she asked me to hide this, to slow it down to give her the year to mourn and to kill everything that got in her way.

dean: so you knew when you came to see me a few months back...

castiel: it wasnt my secret to tell... besides i knew if i had she would have known and the spell i had done would have collapsed... she would have been in danger.

dean now frustrated knocks a candle off the table.

dean: in danger, she was already in danger... this should never have happened... i should never have let her run off like that... but another thanks for being here is do you know if...

castiel nods and addresses the room..

castiel: yes he is back... but he is different... his aura is not the same sam who he was before he was possessed by Lucifer... this one is different... im here to help as a friend, now lets work on this shit and run through it like hell...

you come out of the washroom wearing a pair of leggings and a tank top...

yn: there is something else you all should know as well... Cas i dont know if you could feel it or not but somthing else happened the day that Sam died.

Cas, Dean, Bobby all sat down to listen intently to what else you had to say.

YN: its my physical body, yes im pregnant and yes its Sam's baby... but that night when i went to the hotel outside of Portland... but i had to vomit about a mile out of the hotel parking lot... so i pulled off shut down the car and got out... but instead of vomit i emmited a shockwave of sorts. ever since then ive been collecting various spell books from witches that i have killed... and every single spell ive tried and done have worked...

Castiel: well that explains why your body scan that i had to do when i lifted the protection off you looked different than it did when i first placed it on you...

dean: woah woah woah so wait your telling me that...

yn: that im a witch and it makes hunting so much easier... now lets go find Sam... any idea where to start...

Castiel: he is here in Chicago... and he isnt alone... there were others that came back from the pit with him...

The only person in that room making a lik of sense was you... it seemed in that moment that your mind was just talking for you..

Yn: but I mean we just he was... it's only been 7 months... like it's not been a full year so who...

Castiel: that's what I'm hoping we can find out...

Dean: well first we need to find him and see what kind of state he is in...

Bobby gasps and grabs his fed badge and you do the same so does dean when he gets dressed.

Bobby: I've just received a hit on the police radar... a male matching Sam's description and 2 other males were spotted running through the street fair with machetes in hand... a bunch of frightened fair folk... the police are quarantined off the area. We need to get down there before...

You pull your pistol out and load it up... strapping on your holster... and tucking it in...

You had your shoes and leather jacket on before anyone else did... you snatched the keys to the impala...

Yn: dean can you ride with Bobby.. since you boys aren't ready yet... Cas come with me... it will be easier to hide the pregnancy again while we go through the park...

Dean: you got it kiddo.

You and Cas get into the impala and you smile as she fires right up...

Bobby: I can't believe you are letting her drive the impala... your baby...

Dean: never argue with a pregnant woman... but she won't like it if we are late to the party...

Bobby nodded both of them pulling their butts in gear... you were wanting to get there in no time at all...

Speeding mildly you and Cas badges in hand were at the scene of the street fair where crowds of people panicking.

You tell Cas to clear the crowd while you go further into the fair grounds... your handheld cocked, and in your hand for you are not sure what kind of situation you would find...

Walking a few more moments, you are grabbed and thrown into a dark room... your handheld dropped on the ground in the commotion, your only thought was to fight off whatever or whoever had grabbed you.

You hear footsteps jump you from behind, this goes on for several moments till you are knocked out, loosing consciousness at the view of 4 dark figures who stare at you...

You are the one person who these asshats could never imagine would have been at the street fair.

Meanwhile, at the streetfair Cas finds your handheld in the now empty street, Cas then goes to the entrance finding Dean and Bobby who have just gotten out of the car.

Dean: where is YN?

Cas: she isn't here, I lost track of her in the crowd, her presence isn't here, not anymore, but Sam was definitely here, but other familial presences are also blending with Sam's...

Bobby: as in other Winchesters or something else?

Cas: not John's side, it's Mary's side of the family line...

Dean couldn't imagine what horrors await for them, all he knew was he had to find you. Dean threw his punches at the impala, his baby, his car, there was no way that you were gonna be able to survive whatever was happening.

Dean: we have yo find her, now today and figure out who these freaks are that have my sis in law and future mother of my niece or nephew.

Meanwhile now in a field leaning against a tree stump in the dark cold air... you hear a familiar voice...

Sam: let me do it please let me do it...

Samuel: are you sure you can... boy you did mention how she once meant alot to you..

Sam: don't worry she doesn't mean anything to me anymore.

Chris: good, cause she is radiating huge amounts of power. And I look forward to seeing her squirm...

Sam let out a low hiss, only to hear you groan, you start to move, but are bound to the stump...

You start trying silent spells, all of which bounce off hurting you...

Sam: well well well, the girl I never ever thought I'd see again... I wasn't even sure you would ever remember who I was...

Yn: your not my fiance... your not my Sam, so who are you, you crazy evil son of a bitch and why are you wearing my dead fiances face...

Sam: oh its me alright sweetheart... but the new and improved me... the version of me who finally realizes that you're the worst mistake ive ever made! But surely by now castiel, Bobby and Dean all have noticed your missing and are attempting to find you alive... but they won't... cause your one of which we have hunted our whole lives, your a witch and we never knew... so first I'm gonna strip you of your powers, then I'm gonna wait till Dean and them get here and then I'll kill you to prove my point...

It took a few moments for Dean to track your phone, him Bobby and Cas all speeding to you in the impala...

Your body almost completely drained of magic when the lights of the impala shon through the trees... voices shouting, guns were raised, but deans words were shocking most of all...

Dean: grandpa Samual Campbell...

Samuel: you must be Dean... my God you boys look so much like Mary with hints of your father in you too...

Yn: if your their grandfather then that makes you... oh God, aaaaahhhhh!

You scream once more as Sam, the fiance you once knew, the man you gave yourself too, the father of your baby, drains the final bit of your magic...

You hang your head, your breathing heavy, but something changes within you, sparks of your power shine through Sam's Soulless eyes...

Yn: just do it you Soulless beast, get it overnight cause I can't stand to see you wearing the face of the love of my life. Dean, Cas, Bobby ill bring his soul back I promise!

With that last word the Soulless man before you, rips out your heart and throws it to the ground... the clock chimes midnight and your pronounced dead...

~the end for now~

[snoopdoodle]

yellow! i've come from sunbee's blog :)) i just want to say that i love your writing! you're an amazing author and ill definitely request from you! right now actually! may i request a cc!karlnapity x reader where they're all meeting up and they're at the airport waiting for reader and when reader eventually does show up the boys are all over them and wind up squabbling over reader in the middle of the airport lmao :> thank you!

Y'ellow!! Hi, and of course i'll do this!! I love karlnapity, so this'll be fun! It might be short, so I appolgize, but please enjoy :] <3 (ALSO PLEASE TELL ME IF THIS WENT AGAINST THEIR BOUNDARIES, ILL CHANGE IT IF IT DID!!)

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Plane Rides

cc!Karl, cc!Quackity, cc!Sapnap x gn!reader

pronouns: they/them

summary: reader getting off their plane, the boys waiting for them.

Quackity, or better known as Alex, paced around the small area he and his friends were in. “What if their flight is late?” He asked, worried that the 4 hour wait they’ve been sitting through would be worth nothing. Karl sighed, this was the 5th time he had heard that question. “Their flight wasn’t delayed, Alex.” Karl spoke, filling in for Nick’s words, as he had fallen asleep. “I know-” Alex started, but Karl had cut him off. “Do you? You asked that question 5 times already.” Karl had dragged. Alex sighed. A ping was heard from one of their phones.

Alex picked up his, but alas there was no message, so he shook his head and turned to Karl. Karl was looking at his phone, but shook his head no as well. The duo turned to Nick in sync and stared at the groggy man who had been woken up by the ping, which was filled by a buzz, in his back pocket. He opened his phone and his eyes grew wide. He quickly typed in his phone password, confusing the others for a second. Nick looked at the image, uttering a small “What the hell?”

Karl raised an eyebrow and Quackity pulled the phone down to his level on the floor. His eyes were wide and he quickly stood up, looking in the direction of where the photo was taken. “Y/N!” He yelled, stirring some people awake, but at this point, he didn’t care anymore. You gave a laugh, alerting the trio of your presence behind them. You were trying to go for a scare, but Alex’s scream caught you off guard. “AHHH!” Nick yelled as he ran to tackle you in a hug.

You laughed out in pain as your back hit the ground, but you were so happy, it didn’t matter. “Y/N!!” Karl and Alex yelled in sync, running to jump on the dog pile. You groaned out of pain, barely being able to breathe. “G-Gotta breathe…” You wheezed out. Karl had dragged himself and Alex off of you as Nick snuggled into your neck saying, “No you don’t.” You laughed a bit, shoving him off of yourself. He gave a fake cry of sadness, and you stuck your tongue out at him.

“So, we’re gonna have a boys night?” Alex asked as the 4 of you walked through the crowds to get to his car. You didn’t notice a fan stalking up behind you, until you felt a tap on your shoulder. You blinked and turned around to see a 5’2-5’3 kid behind you. “Hello, are you [Online Name]” He asked. You nodded and smiled. He looked at you and beamed. “Sorry to bother you, but I love your all’s content!” He smiled, his brownish hair waving around as he bounced up and down.You smiled and patted his head. “If you want, we could take a picture.” You offered.

He smiled, and you grabbed the boys in for it. “WOAH-” Nick yelled, not ready for the picture to be taken. You smiled as the kid grabbed his phone, but they stopped and looked up at you. “You sure? You all seemed pretty tired… besides, there’ll be other chances.” He spoke, making you grin even more. For once, a fan thought of you all over themself. He grabbed his phone and handed it to you to take a picture. You did, and when it was done you watched how he walked off. He paused and turned around, stopping himself from walking back to his mom. “I’ll catch your next stream!” He yelled at you.

Alex and Karl laughed as Nick tiredly chuckled. You nodded, watching as he turned back around and went to his mom. You four walked off and went to the car. If everyone was like this? You'd live here forever.